It’s been four days since I shared my thoughts on how to adapt to COVID-19. Seems almost quaint given what’s transpired since. My current advice?
Let’s work this through.
Continue readingnothing but change
Category: miscellany
loving coffee in the time of COVID-19
As we transition into what we all hope will be a temporary new normal, it’s natural to expect an impact on cafes and the coffee industry as is the case with pretty much every business in every industry.
Here are a few changes that have already happened:
Continue readinga great read that’s not just about coffee
For those who read the report of my visit to Dublin last summer, you may recall my regret at not picking up a copy of Colin Harmon’s book, What I Know About Running Coffee Shops when I stopped at 3fe. I rectified that this week by downloading the Kindle edition, and I’m very glad I did.
Continue readingsunday is brunch day
We had some family and friends over for brunch yesterday. Beautiful day, which allowed us to sit outside. The espresso machine got quite the workout, as I ended up making about a dozen drinks in a relatively short period of time. By the end it was putting out pure crema. Here’s one of my earlier efforts, I managed to get some milk art into a smaller glass for a macchiato.
welcome back, friend
Just into the New Year, Sami of Sami’s Coffee Kiosk made his usual end of the day tweet that he was closing up, this time with a twist.
you meddlesome kids and your interwebs
I’m very much in favor of this. It’s a bit deflating to go into a beautiful coffee shop to find it filled with people on their laptops, making you think you’ve wandered into a library. I’m not one to chat up strangers in cafes (baristas excluded), but I’d rather be around a conversational buzz than quietude interrupted by fingertips dancing across keyboards.
happy Fri-yay
Some spectacular milk art today from my friends at Northside Social
happy 2020!
Here’s to a year of sunshine, great coffee, cool music, friendly baristas, and treating your baristas well.
merry christmas!
Wishing you the happiest of holidays, my friends. I’m grateful for every and any for take a look here – maybe even you, you bots and spammers.
A lovely gift pack of single serves and a mug from Counter Culture were under the tree for me this morning, can’t wait to try them out.
Peet’s is getting hitched
Peet’s Coffee is merging with European coffee company Jacobs Douwe Egberts. It’s a combination of siblings, as both companies are owned by German holding company JAB, whose other investments include pieces of Krispy Kreme, Pret A Manger, and Keurig Dr. Pepper. JDE’s portfolio of brands are found mainly in Europe with some outlets in Asia, aimed toward mass-market rather than highest quality, so it’s a good marriage in that sense. The move prepares the combined unit for a potential IPO, possibly next year.
I wouldn’t expect to see operational changes in individual Peet’s outlets, but the combination and the potential IPO could give them a war chest for expansion with an eye toward eating into Starbucks’ dominant market share. Both also slug it out on grocery shelves for bags of beans, and this may mean we see more Peet’s branded pre-made drinks in retail coolers.