Archive for August, 2007

Good Morning Tokyo!

Published
by
Dave
on 31 August, 2007
in misc
. 0 Comments

That was us… We knew we had three runs, so it was Godzilla destroying Tokyo, then King Kong going ape over Fae Rae, and then the grudge match between them two. It was one of the best derbys that I have ever been apart of…

So, with the derby pretty much wrapped up except a bit of cleanup and thinking about next year’s effort to do, it is time to get back to the roaster. It was soo worth the delay (watch this if you want to know why) but I’m ancie to be roasting with control… and am pondering the wisdom of purchasing a sample roaster while building this one. Bids are coming back slowly where they are al all, and I am going back and forth on the design of the heater—do I build it with gas or electric? Both have their advantages. and may just need testing, and that means more time, which I don’t want to take. or am okay with if I buy a roaster for while I work on this one…

Gorija will Crush your Tokyo!
Gorija will Crush your Tokyo!

Gorija Crushes Fast Down Hill
Gorija Crushes Fast Down Hill

King Kong Loves Fae Rae
King Kong Loves Fae Rae

King Kong takes Fae Rae to the top.
King Kong Loves Fae Rae

The Battle
Gorija vs. King Kong

A little spent, Fae Rae relaxes in her penthouse suite, where the water balloons were hid
Fae Rae

Those poor unicorns… if only Noah hadn’t left them behind
The Left Behind Unicorns

The Left Behind Unicorns

Links for KBOO listeners (and everyone else too)

Published
by
Dave
on 20 August, 2007
in coffee and misc
. 0 Comments

As I mentioned, below are a few links to resources and more information about coffee and home roasting.

Sources for green coffee beans:

SweetMarias.
Run by Tom Owen and his wife Maria, this is the best source for high quality green coffee. Thorough descriptions of each coffee, with amazing transparency given to each. In addition you will find a wealth of information about origin countries, coffee roasting in general, and, well, a lot of other things about coffee. There is also a discussion list there as well.

Seven Bridges Cooperative.
I don’t have personal experience with them, but they have very good descriptions for each coffee they offer.

The Coffee Project.
Again, I haven’t ordered from them, but thier offering include some solid coffees.

Rileys Coffee and Fudge
is another source. Barry’s Decatur Street is an extremely nice espresso.

For more information:

Home-barista.com
is a good discussion forum and information source set up more specifically about brewing technique and methods, but a good portion of the participants also roast their own coffee.

if you are familiar with usenet, alt.coffee is a great, well trafficed usegroup. Topics will range from equpment to brewing espresso (a favorite) to the obscure…

The Coffeetime Shared Roasting Log
While I searching a bit for more information, I came across this link. It’s relatively new, but as a place for home roasters to share information, it has a great amount of potential.

There are many other great resources on the net to learn about the social impact that coffee has and what is being done. There are many more, but a couple very good organizations are coffeekids, oxfam, and The Cup of Excellence program which has been instrumental in connecting growers with purchasers of their coffee - both though their yearly auction system, but behind the scenes as well, where roasters who purchase auction lots often end up developing relationships directly with the growers, which means more long term stablility (and money) for them well beyond the higher prices they typically receive at auction.

The email announcement list.

Published
by
Dave
on 20 August, 2007
in coffee
. 2 Comments

As simple as that. They will be periodic, about once every month or two as there are major announcements to, uhh, announce (like when I am open for business). If you’d like to subscribe, email me at info@deftcoffee.com with “subscribe” in the subject line. You will get a confirmation email (part of the anti-spam system). Just reply to that and you will be all set up. The confirmation email is a manual process right now so please be patient, but it shouldn’t take more than a day for me to add you to the list.

thanks

Monday morning, me, coffee, and the KBOO Food Collective / Food Show

Published
by
Dave
on 17 August, 2007
in coffee and general coffee
. 0 Comments

A bit last minute, but this Monday morning (Aug 20th) at 10:00 am, I’m going to join my good friend Mark Bitterman (of the Meadow, where you can get amazing flowers, finishing salts, chocoaltes and wines) on the KBOO Food Show to talk a bit about coffee (particularly home coffee roasting). If you are so inclined, tune in.

I will post more a little closer to the airing with links and places to look at.

there is a bit more information here, and a link to to stream the show at the top of the page.