Billy Wilson took first place in this years North West Regional Barista Championship.
http://www.nwbarista.com/
Congrats to all!
1. Billy Wilson
2. Jon Lewis
3. Kevin Fuller
Monday, October 23, 2006
Organic Guatamalen Coban
I roasted some of this wonderful coffee on Saturday for my good friend Nobu.
I just finished having a cup. Oishii!
I just finished having a cup. Oishii!
Finca El Injerto
One of our customers, now living in Portland, brought ne some of Stumpie's Guatamalen Finca El Injerto. Even at 7 days, it makes an awesome cup.
Thanks Mike!
Thanks Mike!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Decaf Macchiatto
We have a new customer--just came into town a couple of weeks ago. He comes in twice a day, before and after work, for a decaf macchiatto.
He enjoys his macchiatto, works on his computer a bit, thanks us, and is on his way until the next day.
Cool.
He enjoys his macchiatto, works on his computer a bit, thanks us, and is on his way until the next day.
Cool.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
A Foundation of Excellence
David Schomer wrote in his 1996 article "Creating a Culture of Excellence",
"...We push and pull each other into better, more consistent performance as the cusine advances. Each person is totally excited to do his or her absolute best."
and he echoes this thought in his 2001 article "How to Compete with Starbucks", where he wraps up by writing,
"Soul alone is not enough. It is really the focus on espresso excellence and personal, intelligent service that is the edge over the big corporation, provided the independent can do everything as professionally as the big boys do it. Starbucks is a wake-up call to those dabblers that think the coffee business is easy and I say that is good. We do not want to go the way of the yogurt shops of the eighties. They will force us to create a culture of espresso excellence to survive."
The sad fact is, that while many complain about the problems with Starbucks, they seek only to become an imitation of Starbucks, and expect people to love them because they are a 'local' or 'independent' imitation, instead of focusing on creating excellence. There's always a lot of talk about 'we do quality this' and 'we train all of our barista,' etc., but when you actually find out what many of these shops are doing, the sad reality is they are creating an appearance of excellence with no excellence at their core.
Excellence begins with the heart and soul of the ownership. Ownership must have passion, consistency, persistence, and a desire to improve daily. If the leadership,--owner, manager, lead barista, etc., do not have all of these qualities, they will never really compete, they will be just 'another' caffe. Improvement must be an improvement in quality. Rather than asking youself, "How do I make more money?", ask yourself "How do I improve (my drink, my technique, my knowledge, my equipment, my service, etc.)?" Customers are becoming more educated as more and more quality coffee/espresso shops open up, and those who thought they could compete by having comfy chairs, live music, or a winning smile, are finding out that they need newer gimmicks to keep the customers coming. You will never lose customers if you build on a foundation of excellence, you will only gain a loyal following of passionate coffee friends.
"...We push and pull each other into better, more consistent performance as the cusine advances. Each person is totally excited to do his or her absolute best."
and he echoes this thought in his 2001 article "How to Compete with Starbucks", where he wraps up by writing,
"Soul alone is not enough. It is really the focus on espresso excellence and personal, intelligent service that is the edge over the big corporation, provided the independent can do everything as professionally as the big boys do it. Starbucks is a wake-up call to those dabblers that think the coffee business is easy and I say that is good. We do not want to go the way of the yogurt shops of the eighties. They will force us to create a culture of espresso excellence to survive."
The sad fact is, that while many complain about the problems with Starbucks, they seek only to become an imitation of Starbucks, and expect people to love them because they are a 'local' or 'independent' imitation, instead of focusing on creating excellence. There's always a lot of talk about 'we do quality this' and 'we train all of our barista,' etc., but when you actually find out what many of these shops are doing, the sad reality is they are creating an appearance of excellence with no excellence at their core.
Excellence begins with the heart and soul of the ownership. Ownership must have passion, consistency, persistence, and a desire to improve daily. If the leadership,--owner, manager, lead barista, etc., do not have all of these qualities, they will never really compete, they will be just 'another' caffe. Improvement must be an improvement in quality. Rather than asking youself, "How do I make more money?", ask yourself "How do I improve (my drink, my technique, my knowledge, my equipment, my service, etc.)?" Customers are becoming more educated as more and more quality coffee/espresso shops open up, and those who thought they could compete by having comfy chairs, live music, or a winning smile, are finding out that they need newer gimmicks to keep the customers coming. You will never lose customers if you build on a foundation of excellence, you will only gain a loyal following of passionate coffee friends.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Eye Opening and 'Customers Who Get it'
I live for those 'eye opening' moments when someone takes their first sip--especially if it's my press-pot coffee or a straight latte, cappa, or Americano. When there is an appreciation of the coffee/espresso in the cup, it makes it a great day. Fortunately, we have many of those days.
A few weeks ago a new customer came in, said we were recommended by another shop. He comes every day now and hasn't been back to the other shop. Thank You! :)
When he first came he was looking for 'coffee', we don't do drip coffee, but we do a fantastic fresh-ground, fresh-brewed Americano, and we also do a life-altering press-pot coffee of whatever I have roasted for the week (or additional overrun from customer coffee orders); to make a long story short, he ordered the Americano and was surprised by the depth and complexity of the flavor. He's now bought a new burr grinder, and ordered some of our fresh-roasted coffee so he can expand his enjoyment to press-pot at home. New customers are great. New customers who 'get' it are awesome.
A few weeks ago a new customer came in, said we were recommended by another shop. He comes every day now and hasn't been back to the other shop. Thank You! :)
When he first came he was looking for 'coffee', we don't do drip coffee, but we do a fantastic fresh-ground, fresh-brewed Americano, and we also do a life-altering press-pot coffee of whatever I have roasted for the week (or additional overrun from customer coffee orders); to make a long story short, he ordered the Americano and was surprised by the depth and complexity of the flavor. He's now bought a new burr grinder, and ordered some of our fresh-roasted coffee so he can expand his enjoyment to press-pot at home. New customers are great. New customers who 'get' it are awesome.
Basics
I've been cupping coffees for only about nine months, but I still have a lot to learn. I will be taking a very basic cupping class at the Seattle CoffeeFest in October. I think it's good to make certain I really understand the fundamentals beyond my own table, and progress from there. If I'm not learning, I'm not improving.
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