This Thursday evening I am flying out to California to attend the SCAA Conference. That's Specialty Coffee Association of America. It's a place where tons of industry folks get together and look at each other's stuff. Where people meticulously make coffee in clear glasses while wearing white tuxedos. Where people cheer for lattes, listen to lectures, and photograph everything. It should be interesting.

I'm hoping to gain some new insight. Hoping to see some of the new products in the industry. To rest a little and get more excited about making great coffee.

To be honest, it's lonely out here. I have my people. But the industry is scant in the area. I feel like I'm all alone. So it will be nice to be around people who share my same passion. I hope.

I'm not sure what people think of me. Or if they even think of me at all. I run a small coffeehouse/roastery in a city far away from coffee-central. I host a small coffee podcast about the fun of coffee, and I have no idea how many people listen to it. Or hate it. I've said some things that get under people's skin. I've done some things that should make people cheer. But I don't know how they see it. I don't know that it matters to them. I have a feeling most people will blow me off because I'm from Oklahoma. And alone.

Sleeping arrangements in Long Beach should be interesting. I haven't quite decided where I'll sleep yet, but I'm up for adventure, as usual.

Anyway, the DoubleShot will be SHUT at noon on Thursday May 3 and will not open again until Monday May 14. You should plan accordingly.

I'll try to post blogs while I'm away. And I may even record a podcast.

The new website should launch just before I leave, but the online store will be SHUT until I return. I welcome your suggestions about the new site, as I've designed it in my "spare" time, and I'm sure it can use some help. :)

Stay tuned!

Damn. I'm drinking a cup of the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe from MAO Horse today. It's REAL good. I wish people would quit putting half&half in it.

The aroma is beautiful. Big, floral, perfumey notes, very much like Earl Grey tea. Smells very sweet. Like a woman. A cute one. With a sweet, sweet voice. Like the girl (McKenzie) who takes my order for those little, circular stickers that go over the drinking hole in to-go cups in Washington. Dang, she sounds sweet.
Anyway, it's citrusy. The bright acidity tickles my tongue. Still roasty enough to give it some deeper caramel or chocolate tones. Light bodied and clean, it's a coffee I could drink all day. Wait, I have been drinking it all day.

It's a great coffee. The most extraordinary thing about it is the aroma. It's very pleasing and unusual. If you have a cup, you'll see what I'm talking about. It's very familiar. But not in a coffee.

MAO Horse (the Ethiopian exporter) and Royal Coffee (my importer/broker) keep impressing me with these coffees.

After... 6 months? of working this coffeehouse and roastery all by myself, I'm getting sort of tired. I don't know if you're aware of what all goes into the cup of coffee you drink each morning, but here's a short run-down:
Choosing and requesting samples from a broker.
Roasting and cupping those samples.
Ordering.
Carrying the bags in.
Roasting.
Blending (if it's espresso).
Ordering cups, lids, and java jackets.
Stamping those cups and java jackets.
Brewing the coffee.
Serving it to you.
Cleaning up the messes.

It's a lot. I promise. And that doesn't even include the work that goes into the coffee before I get it (which is a lot more). Maybe I'll make a movie about it.

Anyway, I've decided I need to have a pre-programmed day each week to catch up on work and to go outside. It will be better in the long-run for all of us. But the price to pay is that I'll be SHUT on Sundays.

So here are the new Hours of Coffee (subject to change without notice):
Mon-Thurs 7am-ish to 5pm
Friday 7am-ish to 3pm
Saturday 9am-ish to 3pm
Sunday SHUT!

Thanks for your cooperation.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the art on the DoubleShot walls changes now and then. This is one of those times.
The new collection is a series of large black & white photographs by Elizabeth Downing.
They look great on the DoubleShot walls, and we appreciate Elizabeth loaning them to us. Of course they are for sale. And you can learn more at her website: www.bethdowning.com

Come drink some coffee and stare at the walls.

Well, here I've gone and done it again. I stirred up another controversy.
This time, you can listen and read about it yourselves. It all started on AA Café Podcast #39. I recorded the podcast with my friend Candice, and we did a little section where I called out a few "liars" in the coffee industry.
Ok, Ok, I know. Using the word "liar" is a pretty inflamatory thing to do. I was well aware of that, and even felt a little gun-shy on the podcast when I said it. But you know me. I'm an in-your-face kind of guy. I'm as honest and forthright in my business (and life) as I know how to be, and I expect the same from those around me, and from those in the industry who are claiming to be a cut above. The "Third Wave," as they like to call it. It's supposed to be about integrity and quality and transparency.
So I said something about a company called Barefoot Coffee in California. They claim to be buying Ethiopian coffees "farm direct." In my endeavor to do the same, I've found it to be illegal and damn near impossible anyway. So I emailed them to find out how they managed to do it, but I didn't hear back from them. And I called them out on the podcast.
Well, that started a little bit of banter. A little Brian-bashing, as usual. And then, maybe, facing of facts. You can read about some of it on a messageboard called coffeed.com.
People can say what they want about me, but one of the posts says I got bitch-slapped by Starbucks, and maybe I was in danger of being sued by Barefoot now for libel. For the record, between Starbucks and me, I'm the one who did the bitch-slapping. As for libel... I'd have to be saying something that's untrue first.
Andy at Barefoot likes to make little backhanded comments about me, but I'm still right. And he knows it.
So if you listen to podcast #39, you'll get the backstory. If you listen to podcast #40 (featuring Amy Ferraris as co-host), you'll get more info. And if you read the coffeed board, you'll know more than you want to about some problems in the "Third Wave."
Guess I don't mind stirring the pot. Maybe I can be that nagging voice in the middle of the country that is the conscience of the coffee industry. Ha!

So this woman walks in and she looks sort of goofy and confused. She finally asks me for a pound of coffee beans- DECAF.
She also wants a decaf skinny latte (though I haven't brewed decaf nor have I had skim milk for a really long time). So she decided to just have a regular latte (haven't we been over this before?). Then I opened up the bucket o' decaf to shovel her pound into a bag. And, as usual, it smelled like dirty socks, was coated with rancid oils, and just generally made me upset. Why am I selling this crap? Decaffeinated coffee is a crock of shit. And this customer clearly didn't get the concept of what's happening here at DoubleShot.
Frustrated, I took her money and handed over the goods (or is it bads in this circumstance?). But as soon as she left, I took that 5 gallon bucket (still half full) of Decaf Sumatra, walked outside, and chucked it into the dumpster.
Ha!
In the dumpster. Where it belongs.
I've had it with decaf. It's dumb. And I'm not selling it any more. And you should stop drinking it.
Anyway, I felt really good after pitching the decaf in the garbage.
That's the end of my story.
And this is the last blog about decaf. Ever. Probably.