AA Café Podcast

As a companion to the "Ten Things" episode Mark and I just released - our annual list of acknowledgements - I decided to make another list of SIMPLE PLEASURES that I would find simply pleasurable should I actually have the opportunity to do them. But I don't. So maybe you will. 

1. BEER AROUND A CAMPFIRE WITH FRIENDS - This is the one that made me think of this ridiculous list. I was listening to a country song in my car and that's what it was talking about. The slowness and lack of consideration for time or needing to get things done sounds reeeeeeal nice. 

2. PETTING MY CAT - Haven't done that since 2016, but it sure was nice during those seventeen years prior. 

3. A LEISURELY VACATION - My vacations are never leisurely. Because I enjoy being active. But I can tell you, if I had all the time in the world, I'd probably take some extra time to slow down and do nothing for a minute.

4. HOLDING HANDS WITH SOMEONE I CARE ABOUT - Holding hands is pretty intimate. It shows a level of emotional connection that's strong enough to express through such a simple act. A physical connection. Something I haven't felt in a long, long time. But maybe 2024 will be the year I open myself up to someone really special. 

5. WINNING A RACE - I used to win races occasionally. Now I don't even try. I couldn't if I did. Felt pretty good when I did though.

6. GROWING MY OWN VEGETABLES - About as close as I've ever come to that is having to weed the garden as a kid and pulling all the wild onions from my yard during the pandemic. I'd imagine there's a lot of satisfaction in cutting onions and bell peppers I raised from seed and consumed with dinner.

7. QUIETLY ENJOYING A CUP OF COFFEE AT A COFFEE SHOP - First of all, I rarely go to other coffee shops because I don't like their coffee. And second of all, I can hardly enjoy a cup at DoubleShot, let alone quietly. Gone are the days of anonymity and ignorance.

8. MOUNTAIN BIKING - A few years ago I crashed mine riding in one of my favorite places on the planet, and that unexpected loss of control left a hole in my psyche about twenty-six inches wide.

9. EATING STUPID STUFF - Like cinnamon rolls, Twizzlers, peanut butter cups, BBQ chips, pepperoni pizza... gorging myself on delicious-tasting junk. I just won't do it. I can't eat a lot of that stuff, but I work too hard to put unnecessary calories and unhealthy foodstuffs in my body.

10. CHATTING WITH MY DAD - A pleasure I lost in 2014. It wasn't the things we said to each other so much as the silences in between words that didn't need saying. 

Mark and Brian sit down in the echo-chamber roastery that has been constructed on the Rookery site. Discussions about Philbrook Museum, the Specialty Coffee Association, and then an interview with Leslie Penrose, the founder of the Nicaraguan community development nonprofit, Just Hope.

DoubleShot Coffee Company is constructing a new building, and it's called The Rookery. Architect and Rookery designer, Joel Collins joins us in this episode to talk about the trials of putting up an old barn in the middle of the city, what this design means to the DoubleShot, and what the structure brings with it.

I just returned from Costa Rica, where I visited Ricardo Gurdian at Hacienda Miramonte, Minor at La Pastora, and my friends at La Minita. Jim tells us the state of the coffee at La Minita. Then I have a visit from my old friend, Tommy Wazelle. Tommy is an accomplished opera singer, and has returned to Tulsa for Tulsa Opera's performance of Strictly Gershwin. Tommy talks about his work and his experiences with DoubleShot Coffee. 

Happy holidays from Mark and Brian at AA Cafe, and everyone at the DoubleShot. This somewhat rambling episode never steers far from the course. Hear the top 8 holiday gifts from DoubleShot Coffee Company. Listen to very informative phone interviews with the producers of the Santa Clara Natural as well as the two Natural Geshas from Finca Hartmann in Panama. And the episode concludes with some introspection and a hopeful list of ten things.

What happens when you travel? When you step out of your comfort zone, where you have to turn off auto-pilot and figure out how to do everything? Brian talks about his latest trip to Colombia, scrambling to pick up the pieces when things don't go as planned. It's a discussion about people and bureaucracies and the quest to source great coffee.

What happens when you travel? When you step out of your comfort zone, where you have to turn off auto-pilot and figure out how to do everything? Brian talks about his latest trip to Colombia, scrambling to pick up the pieces when things don't go as planned. It's a discussion about people and bureaucracies and the quest to source great coffee.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled podcast to bring you a conversation with Paul Bowman, vice chairman of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy. Paul tells of his encounters with bigfoot while drinking DoubleShot Coffee. Mark and Brian explore literary and movie references to the mysterious beast. It's off the beaten path, but well worth exploring.

Paul Bowman behind the mic wearing his shantung-style straw hat

 

Brian's pixelated iphone pic of Rocky Mountain sheep on the flanks of Mt. Shavano (14,229 feet)

Brian and Mark launch into a rambling conversation about things that are not as they seem. These are the questions that plague the honest coffee professional who has to try and debunk what people think they know about certain coffees.
For more information about Kopi Luwak, read these:
https://www.facebook.com/168827138418/photos/a.171652533418.120192.168827138418/171652538418/?type=3
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/end-result-600-a-pound-coffee/

For more information about Bulletproof coffee, go here:
http://gizmodo.com/bulletproof-coffee-debunking-the-hot-buttered-hype-1681321467

This episode is a departure from the usual coffee-centric banter. Brian interviews documentary filmmaker, Kyle Bell, a Creek Indian who grew up drinking coffee on the rez. Mark grew up in Tulsa, but didn't have any Indian friends until adulthood. Now, surrounded by the Native American people, Tulsa is developing a rich culture. Watch Kyle's films at vimeo.com/rayvisuals.

Also in this episode, Brian announces that DoubleShot Coffee Company is moving. They are reconstructing an 1850's barn and creating a new coffee mecca in Tulsa. Stay up to date with construction progress and everything else going on at the DoubleShot at doubleshotcoffee.com.

Continuing the path to understand coffee brewing variables, Mark and Brian dig around the issue of pressure. Doctor Michael Royce explains the technical aspects of pressure and describes the importance of pressure in his occupation as an anesthesiologist. Relating that information back to coffee (and various other worldly matter), discussions ensue. Hints are dropped as to some big announcements.

Co-hosts Brian Franklin and Mark Brown continue their quest to understand each variable in coffee brewing. In this episode, they delve into the mysterious quality of freshness. Fresh-roasted coffee is what Brian built his business on. Dissecting the various nuances of freshness, the conversation takes many turns before defining freshness as it applies to coffee.