Daniel's World of Coffee

The Center of the Known World

Writing from the airport again this time. The NCA conference was really interesting. This is a new endeavor for that organization, a supplemental yearly educational conference separate from their much larger annual trade show in Florida. There were just about 150 people there, which made for a great opportunity to really get to know people.

I spent much of Thursday and Friday morning serving up press pot after press pot of Cup of Excellence coffee from El Salvador. Willem Boot brought the coffee (sent up from San Salvador and then roasted in his lab in California) and I brought the press pots and water kettles and the manpower. The few die-hard specialty people in attendance (remember, this is the commercial-coffee side of the industry) made a beeline for our table and thanked us profusely for being there. But the best part was seeing how many of the others became converts by the end of the two days. They took little, searching sips, not sure what to expect. Most people seemed blown away... some even said they had never had such good coffee before. It reflected extremely well on the Salvadorans. So that was fun.

Willem Boot also gave a talk on laser spectrometry in coffee roasters, a technology pioneered by Fresh Roast Systems of San Francisco. I've yet to see one in operation (though I have played with the control software), but I have a feeling this is a technology we'll be seeing everywhere in the coffee industry very soon. I think it deserves its own post, but essentially this technology allows you to take Agtron readings during the roast instead of just after. Should lead to much more consistency across the industry.

I also gave a little talk on "building community in your coffee shop" centered around how attention to quality, with an emphasis on customer education (public cuppings, etc) can set you apart from the chains and the corner stores. In the afternoon, I helped lead the tour of French Quarter cafés, which was fun and involved eating about 4 pounds of beignets.

Bourbon Street on Friday night? Well, let's just say I enjoyed myself and made it back to my hotel in one piece (barely), but that once is enough for me, thank you. Too many blue-colored drinks, tourist-gouging prices, and general idiocy. Fun, though.

So, then, I'm taking off for Manta, Ecuador (via Quito) in a few minutes. I'll be judging the Taza Dorada competition. It promises to be very interesting. I hope to post while I'm on the road.

Big Easy Bound

Monday evening was our cupping in Brooklyn. It was a lot of fun. We cupped blind 7 coffees I roasted, then I made everyone guess what they were. Then we drank beer. My friend, Koji, who you will remember from the "Japanese-style" pour-over drip event at Beer Table, snapped a few photos, and I am posting them here. Koji, sadly for us here in New York, is moving back to Japan. But he's continuing on in the specialty coffee industry, and he's promised to keep us all apprised of what he's up to there. Thanks, Koji, and good luck!

For the event, Taylor of Crop to Cup let us use the big open area at one end of his awesome collective office-loft (loffice?) space, Green Spaces NYC. We also constructed the world's biggest cupping table. It was really fun and relaxed. I wished I could have stayed there and hung out all night.

However! I had to get ready for another trip. I'm writing you now from the French Quarter of New Orleans. I'm here for the National Coffee Association's Fall Education Conference. We're here promoting specialty coffee from El Salvador to the big boys, and I'll be participating in a panel and helping lead a tour as well while I'm here. I'm staying right on the corner of Bourbon Street and Canal. It's so picturesque and charming! I'll be stuck in a boring conference room (the room is boring, that is, not the conference) on Thursday, but hopefully I can hit the town in the evening, and on Friday we're doing some sight-seeing along with the coffee tour.

Then, on Saturday, I'm traveling to Manta, Ecuador, to judge the Taza Dorada coffee competition, which is a Cup of Excellence-style competition of the best coffees in Ecuador. But more on that later. For now, time to seek out some chicory coffee and drink it down by the river.

Rad Cupping in Brooklyn: October 13

Rain falling and falling in El Salvador right now, in great relentless curtains, but it held off for the last two days before tonight.

My friends and I took a fabulous drive to La Palma, in Chaletenango, just 15 minutes from the Honduran border. There we hung out with some smallholder farmers who were learning to cup coffee for the first time. We took a little tour of the town, where we ran into a children's marching band from the local Jesuit school. They were practicing for the St. Francis of Assissi day celebration (tomorrow), and they let us dance around with them while they wailed on their drums and trumpets.

The ride back was moist, as we ducked in and out of the clouds in the higher elevations. Those northern mountains are the area where the fighting was most intense during the civil war. The communist guerrillas holed up in stone crevasses they used as sniper nests, and there are still bullet casings to be found in the hills. The right-wing dictatorship would shell the hills daily for nearly ten years. The war is something people are hesitant to talk about here in general, I have found over the last year, but this is especially so in Chalatenango. Bad memories for everyone.

We mixed in a little trip to a huge processing mill today, as well as some sorely needed espressos at Viva Espresso back in San Salvador. Tomorrow we're heading to the beach for a little sunshine and relaxation.

But in the meantime I want to announce our next New York Coffee Society event:

Monday, October 13th, at 6:00 pm, we're having a cupping and shebang at the Green Spaces collective in downtown Brooklyn.

Green Spaces is a shared business office space operated entirely by businesses that specialize in sustainable practices. Crop to Cup coffee, our hosts for this event, has a space there. I went and visited it recently and it's really gorgeous. This cool old lofty building right down near Atlantic and Flatbush, with a great, spacious kitchen. It's a wonderful concept and a great execution. They have a few floors of space, and are always looking for more tenants, especially in food and beverages. Check it out here.

I've got some pretty gems of coffee saved up that I will be bringing to this cupping... really going to do it up nice with a presentation and structured discussion after. But not too structured. There'll be beer and bocas after, just to take the edge off.

Space is limited, so email an RSVP soon to [email protected]. We'll be taking up a donation to cover our expenses, so bring a fiver or a ten-spot if you are feeling generous. As always, all are invited... pros, connoisseurs, and novices alike!

The address is 33 FLATBUSH (CORNER OF LIVINGSTON), right downtown. See you there!