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.
Matty’s Pacific Northwest Coffee Adventures: Part Three
After Portland we headed down to Eugene, so my son could attend first year orientation at the University of Oregon (Go Ducks). We had a nice time here as well, getting to know the town, staying at a nice cottage. However, we may have chosen the wrong places, but frankly the food and coffee were underwhelming.
Continue readingMatty’s Pacific Northwest Coffee Adventures: Part Two
The second leg of the trip was in Portland, Oregon. The city is still scarred from a year of political violence, and there was a sense of uncertainty of when or if some kind of normal will return, and what it will look like. But the attractions of the Rose City are still clear.
Continue readingMatty’s Pacific Northwest Coffee Adventures: Part One
Just back from a family vacation in the Pacific Northwest. Of course I drank a lot of coffee. As when I did my coffee tour of Denver three years ago, I ordered a traditional macchiato at each stop rather than my usual quad shot version. This kept my body in check on those days when I had three or four coffees. So let’s get to it!
First Stop: Seattle
Continue readingin the coffee promised land
I am a few days into a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle now (no, I did not go to Starbucks), Portland next, then Eugene. Drinking lots of great coffee, taking pictures and notes, will do a big post once I’m back.
coffee’s magic knows no bounds
Atlanta Braves All-Star first baseman Freddy Freeman hit for the cycle last night for the second time in his career, and it’s clear why:
“My wife, we had breakfast this morning and we had two cappuccinos delivered — and she chose the cappuccino and she handed it to me and said this is the one with a lot of hits in it. So I have to give this one up to my wife, Chelsea, because if it wasn’t for the right cappuccino pick, I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys,” Freeman said.
ESPN.com
Congratulations, Freddy! You’re a Coffee Achiever!
Power Rankings: August 9
One man’s opinion. Ask me tomorrow and I’m likely to tell you something completely different.
Roasters
1. Onyx
2. Heart
3. Verve
4. Sweet Bloom
5. Counter Culture
DMV Cafés
1. Café Unido
2. The Coffee Bar (Shaw)
3. Baked & Wired
4. Dua Coffee DC
5. Northside Social (Arlington)
HM (alphabetically): Kaldi Social House (Silver Spring), Lost Sock, Maketto, Swings (Alexandria), Takoma Bev Co, Vigilante (Hyattsville)
making our new house a home
We moved a couple days ago. The most important unpacking is done.
new object of coffee gear lust
The folks at Mahlkönig, the German company whose grinders grace the counters of specialty coffee houses around the world, are entering the home enthusiast market with the X54.
photo: Mahlkönig website
The folks at Sprudge were fortunate enough to take it for a test drive ahead of the imminent US release. Sounds like it’s as amazing as it looks, though the biggest problem is the hopper is too tall. I’d suffer through that. Then again I’m not really looking to spend $900 on a home grinder, as magnificent as it may be. But if money were no object, that bad boy would soon be sitting in my kitchen next to a La Marzocco Linea Mini or a Rocket Appartamento.
Salt & Pepper Diner Essential Songs of the Day for June 16
Remember mashups? Thanks to Glee and the Pitch Perfect franchise, there was a hot minute when listening to one song at a time just wasn’t enough. But one way or another a golden opportunity was lost as no one made the right choice.
These two songs together would give us, if the not the mashup we want, definitely the mashup we deserve. Layer these two guilty pleasures together and 1+1 will equal a jillion. Play them back to back 21x in a row and they’ll be all mashed up in your head, you’ll see.