I’m just going to leave this here.
Author: admin
Happy National Espresso Day!
November 23 is national espresso day here in the US. Glad tidings to all who celebrate.
If you’re looking to joyfully slug back some of that dark brown nectar today, here are some cafés I highly recommend (basically, all those places that have received The Coveted Asterisk of Quality from my guide):
Ozo Coffee Company, Boulder, CO
Corvus Coffee Roasters, Denver, CO
Crema Coffee House, Denver, CO (Larimer Street)
Huckleberry Roasters, Denver, CO (Dairy Block)
Pablo’s Coffee, Denver, CO (13th & Pennsylvania)
Arethusa a mano, Bantam, CT
Coffee Pedaler, New Haven, CT
J. Rene Coffee Roasters, West Hartford, CT
Brooklyn’s Yemeni-Americans reclaiming coffee
There’s a great article in today’s New York Times about young Yemeni-Americans in Brooklyn building coffee businesses featuring beans grown in Yemen. It’s an enjoyable read and about a lot more than coffee.
Salt & Pepper Diner song of the day for 11/6
There was a guy in college with me whom I didn’t know, but whose name matched ‘Der Komissar’ in inflection, number of syllables, and it ended in -esar. So from that point to the day I die I only hear his name in this song.
SHA!!!!
trying to catch up
Between being off my feet for a while and having to get my grinder serviced, I hadn’t made espresso at home for about a month and a half. Finally got a chance yesterday, and I was a little surprised that I had to work to remember some of the steps. But my first effort I thought was decent as far as the milk art goes.
It was also my first time making beans from Tim Wendelboe, a Norwegian roaster who supplies a lot of fine coffee shops across Europe. I was very impressed, the flavor was smooth and balanced, without the burnt taste of overroasting or the sourness that can accompany some Third Wave coffees. The beans were a two-bean blend from the Finca Tamana plantation in Colombia, you can read the whole story of Wendelboe’s relationship with the farm here.
The pricing wasn’t terrible for being shipped from Norway, though the bag only contained 250 grams of beans. Still worth it.
sorry to be so quiet lately
The current lack of blog activity has been due mainly to being laid up for the past two and a half week after surgery on my big toe. So I’m using crutches when not riding this bad boy,
but at least for the time being I’m able to avail of accessible parking and seating, like at this past weekend’s New Zealand – USA rugby match:
feeling the love
Was with a bunch of family this weekend, and at one point I walked into the kitchen to find everyone was wearing one of these. I was really touched, meant a lot.
a joke for fans of the 2013-16 NBA
So that’s what Sam Hinkie’s doing these days
Oregon redux
Made a quick trip back to the Pacific Northwest to drop my son off at college. Some coffee stuff and some non-coffee stuff to report.
Salt & Pepper Diner Essential Song of the Day for 9/4
I recently read Carrie Brownstein’s memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. Some of you may know her from Portlandia, more than a few of you are saying “Who?“, but I think of her as one third of seminal 90s/00s band Sleater-Kinney. This is my favorite S-K song, try it 21x in a row for yourself.