The third annual DoubleShot Duathlon is just around the corner.  October 11 at 9a our distinguished mayor will fire the starting pistol and we'll all chuckle.  And a lot of people will take off running into the woods.  (As they should when the mayor has a gun.)

Amy Ferraris' film about her obsession with DoubleShot Coffee (I think that's what it's about; I haven't seen the final cut yet:) will screen this Saturday at the Kansas International Film Festival in Overland Park.  It starts at 515p in the Glenwood Arts Theater.  Amy and I will be available for questions and autographs after the show.

Isaiah and I flew to Seattle on Thursday and left there on Sunday. From Dallas it takes as long to get to Seattle as it does to get to Guatemala. Strange.
As you know, Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks...


After watching the first round of the latte art competition, we walked around the CoffeeFest tradeshow. There were a few people there that we knew or wanted to talk to. Took a while to walk through the entire show. We drank some coffee and chatted with the salespeople. Looked for new styles of travel cups and hit up a few brokers. Then we walked up the street from the convention center to Victrola Coffee Roasters. The coffee was fair.
Then we walked on up to Stumptown. I put sugar in my americano and it went down ok.
Up to Espresso Vivace at their Broadway sidewalk cafe. The espresso was good by itself.
Then we went to eat. And later we visited a store with the most amazing selection of Belgian ales.

The next day, we went back to the convention center for round two of the latte art competition. The top 10 scores from the two days of competition would go on to compete in the final round on Sunday.
While I was standing around (bored, because the competition is not spectator-friendly), I saw this guy with a waxed stache and quite a unique style. I think he was interesting because he was a barista, and most baristas are "cool" kids with lots of tattoos. Punk rock, skateboard- style. But this guy was classic.

We made friends with a guy named Josh, who works for Ritual in Napa. He was nice and enthusiastic about coffee. Josh is a good guy, and we hope there are a lot more out there like him.

So when it was finally time for Isaiah to compete, he was feeling pretty confident about his skills, though confused about what the judges were seeing. He dialed in his grinder (coarser! coarser!) and made a practice latte. It looked awesome and was the same basic design the guy poured who placed first on Friday. With steely, calculated movements, he deftly created his first competition latte. And it was great. Lots of color infusion, good balance, a difficult pour, a beautiful tulip. A few minutes later, they displayed his three pours, and we waited for the judges' scores.
He needed a 58 to get into the final round. He scored 54. Or something. We were shocked.
It was a little disconcerting looking at the leaderboard after day two. The pictures of the top ten lattes had no obvious order, nothing standing out that separated them from the pours that didn't make it. Number one (ichiban) going into the finals was this triple rosetta.

That night we went to a party at Victrola, where 32 baristas competed in a latte art smackdown. Head-to-head, two baristas, one must go. Isaiah was rocking the milk pitcher. He was unbeatable. Even the cocky guy from D'arte said he was nervous to compete against Isah. He poured quickly through the first and second rounds. Down to the final 8. Against Nicely from Vivace. Chris Defario and another girl were judging (Chris was also one of the judges at the CoffeeFest comp). Boo's and "you suck"s came pouring out of the crowd and when I asked what happened, they told me Isaiah lost. I saw Isah's pour, but didn't see Nicely's. I heard it was a bit of a white cup. We walked outside and someone said, "welcome to Seattle." I guess that's how it goes. Big-timed.

The next day we went to breakfast with our friend Becky and then on to the airport. Isaiah represented the DoubleShot very well, and we walked away with furrowed brows. But that's how it goes.

Oh yeah, we also went to the Salmon Homecoming and saw some Indians. I wish I could dress like that.

We haven't seceded from the US Gov't (yet) but there's no doubt, in this land of "Indian Territory," we DoubleShot people are a tribe. And we've appointed Cheyenne as DoubleShot Chief, with similar powers as indian chiefs of villages in the old days.

Cheyenne and Jason Goodnight are major sponsors of our voyage to the expresso-land of Seattle. And we appreciate them.

While Isaiah and I are gone, Jason will be manning the shop by himself. Amended hours are in order, as follows:

Friday 9/12 7a-1p
Saturday 9/13 9a-1p
Sunday SHUT
Monday 9/14 Resume normal hours (7a-5p)

Thanks for your understanding. I'll try to keep y'all updated as to Isaiah's latte art competition at CoffeeFest.

A few people this week have mentioned to me that they are going to Seattle next weekend, and they want to know where to get coffee.

Funny question. Not because it's SEATTLE (and everyone knows seattle is where they grow expresso beans). But because next weekend at the Convention Center in Downtown Seattle, CoffeeFest is going on. It's the biggest specialty coffee tradeshow in the country, besides the SCAA Convention. So with the convergence of coffee elites, it seems like an opportune time to get coffee in Seattle.

I guess most people from around here are going to Seattle to watch the OU v Washington football game. Isaiah and I will be there, but not to watch football. We're going because Isaiah is one of 40 competitors in the Millrock Latte Art Competion at CoffeeFest. He's going to represent flyover country. It may not sound like much, but it's a pretty big deal. The winner walks away with $5,000 and a lot of prestige in the industry.

Isaiah competes sometime Saturday morning. He gets to pour three lattes and then he'll pick out the one he thinks is best. The judges score it and if he's one of the top 10 scores (out of the 40 who compete Friday and Saturday), he'll compete in the final round on Sunday morning. So if you're around the area, you should stop by the convention center and cheer for Isaiah. It would be awesome to have people from Tulsa in the crowd.

I do, however, have a few recommendations for coffee while you are in Seattle. Starbucks is not one of them. Though I guess it is kind of neat to see the original store down in the Pike Market.

Stumptown Coffee has five stores in Portland, and are renowned in the coffee industry for direct relationship and high quality coffees. They just opened 2 stores in Seattle. I've never been to one of their stores, so I'm just going by reputation, but it's supposed to be good.

Espresso Vivace is owned by a guy named David Schomer. Mr. Schomer is a pillar in the industry and one of the big influences on the methods I use at the DoubleShot. They have two locations in Seattle. Their newest location is an espresso "palace" and our local espresso artist Karen Eland painted a mural in the store that illustrates the history of coffee. Definitely a place to go if you love coffee.

Last time I was in Seattle, my favorite coffee was served at Caffe D'Arte. It's close to the Pike Market and the Convention Center. It's owned by an Italian man named Mauro Cipolla, who has been named as one of the 25 most influential people in shaping the specialty coffee industry. It's a nice looking place. And the coffee is good; that's what's important.

Have fun in Seattle. If you need a couple roommates, let me know. (Those hotel rooms are expensive and Isaiah isn't keen on sleeping in a white plastic chair on the streets.)