First I read this. And I thought, well, if Starbucks wants to put Clovers in their stores, then, I support that. it puts money into a company that deserves to expand. It puts a machine that can be used to help educate people to the variations of different origins, estates, lots, etc in a huge number of stores. Places where asking what an origin is (to the barista) is just a return of blank stares. I am fully aware that it isn’t going to change the mediocrity of their coffee, just as (re)training their baristas for 3 hours isn’t going to turn their shops into a place to go for an exquisite ristretto mean to be savored. But Starbucks isn’t the bottom of the barrel, either.
But then I read the link he pointed to. And my heart sank. Oh shit. Starbucks didn’t purchase a bunch of clovers - which would likely have pushed the price down, making it more reachable to the micro-level, third-wave (insert term of choice) specialty roasters and cafes that really really lust after these things for the sole purpose of being able to present amazing coffees better. They went out and fucking bought the company. I agree with Tom. This is a sad day for specialty coffee.
I guess we all have to start saving for something like blue bottle’s siphon bar.
Ernesto Illy, one of the truly greats died Sunday. We all owe him a great debt for his accomplishments. He will be missed. Illy’s homepage has a link to leave a message for him.
I haven’t written in a while - things is been crazy busy and I haven’t taken the time to get anything posted - and so this is jsut something that has been on my mind lately: That whether you are roasting for yourself, or professionally, it is not enough to simply purchase good green coffee if you expect to produce exceptional coffee. The purchase of a special lot of coffee from a particular farm (especially if it a a well known farm, such as Panama’s Hacienda La Esmeralda Especial - Geisha) can either be an opportunity to challenge your skills as a roaster to achieve the most beautiful expression of that coffee, or a chance to pose that pedigree on yor bag so that the name of that farm or farmer will make people believe that the coffee they are purchasing is roasted as well as that farm grew it… The decision is rooted in integrity and focus.
A belated, but hearty thanks to Keith at Victrola for, well, generally being a great guy who obviously cares about his craft. And to Jen and Chris for creating a business that gives that passion a place to grow. Not that there are any questions about it, but it clearly shows in their cafes and their coffee that they are passionate about what they do. And on top of it, they are very welcoming as well… It just great.
Anyway, I was Seattle last week and had happened into meeting Keith (Victrola’s roaster) on Wednesday when I had a couple early morning hours to get a good coffee…We had a good conversation about coffees, roasting, drum and roaster design and just things. And he was gracious enough to invite me back for a cupping of their Panama auction lot later that day. Sadly, I couldn’t make it then, but he offered to re-arrange his cupping schedule so I could make it back on Friday. I fully appreciate that he was willing to accommodate my schedule - even though showed up right when they were trying to figure out why they had a ton of water pouring down the inside of their walls, and into the roasting room… turns out there was a crazy leak in their ceiling! (I hope that got fixed pretty painlessly…)
So, we cupped some real nice coffees—particrually their Yirg, a Columbian and a new Retro Mandheling that was quite nice and crisply spicy. I was in between one place and another, so was in a bit of a hurry (turned out I didn’t need to rush, shit) so when I left, I totally forgot that I’d meant to get a lb of the Columbian—it’s sweet, nice nutty balance kinda made be wanna drink it all week—espically since I haven’t been placing that much attention on Columbians lately… Ahh well, next time, cause I will be back in.
Thanks again and best of luck with that leak.