tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post3214145800447800312..comments2024-03-07T02:31:23.791-05:00Comments on Jay's Strange Blog: Pissing Off The "Gods" Of Coffeeonocoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-50047950557325266532011-03-23T12:19:01.177-04:002011-03-23T12:19:01.177-04:00Aha! Well that all sounds sensible to me. Some of ...Aha! Well that all sounds sensible to me. Some of the knee-jerk reactions against your way of showcasing the AGR would seem premature (though, to be fair, I was leaning that way at first). I agree with CAFEMAKERS (and you, apparently) in the sense that what's needed with respect to freeze-storing is more actual experimenting and less judging. Sounds like the anecdotal evidence from your jbviauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05479614557396546991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-33470796263287587132011-03-23T10:21:41.341-04:002011-03-23T10:21:41.341-04:00jbviau-
First of all, thanks so much for your patr...jbviau-<br />First of all, thanks so much for your patronage and support. The team at Spro really appreciates it.<br /><br />As to why I chose to freeze store the AGR, mainly it had to do with my desire to offer the AGR from both Stumptown and CCC at the same time, kind of like a "head to head" kind of thing.<br /><br />To my mind, one of the most interesting possibilities of the Spro onocoffeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-75824315886141107282011-03-23T08:48:39.625-04:002011-03-23T08:48:39.625-04:00Hi, Jay. I'm a big fan of Spro, and that won&#...Hi, Jay. I'm a big fan of Spro, and that won't change going forward. I can always get my Counter Culture fix at Atwater's or somewhere similar if I really need to, but you all feature so many other great roasters. I *am* curious though about why you chose to freeze the AGR in the first place. Also, any sense of how long this coffee would have been acceptable to serve after thawing? Itjbviauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05479614557396546991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-36337686547793182132011-03-22T17:38:58.800-04:002011-03-22T17:38:58.800-04:00(oops, my blog won't allow comments longer tha...(oops, my blog won't allow comments longer than 4,000 characters!)<br /><br />(cont'd)<br /><br />To my mind, "loyalty" is something that is at the forefront of what we do. We demonstrate loyalty to our customers by consistently offering warm hospitality and high quality product. We demonstrate loyalty to our vendors by continuously offering their product in a manner we onocoffeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-49272880689364733382011-03-22T17:38:28.720-04:002011-03-22T17:38:28.720-04:00James-
Welcome to the Devil's Advocate role.
...James-<br />Welcome to the Devil's Advocate role.<br /><br />Certainly The Spro would not be considered (by most roasters) a "large" customer of Counter Culture. To my mind, a "large" customer would be a company buying in the 300 pound per week range. We are nowhere near that volume of buying from CCC.<br /><br />Also, your rephrasing of "...after you were onocoffeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-49811417243549986852011-03-22T11:47:37.642-04:002011-03-22T11:47:37.642-04:00I just saw you on TV preparing the AGR!!! Whoo-ho...I just saw you on TV preparing the AGR!!! Whoo-hoo yeah!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-75264265812430942182011-03-22T09:55:10.306-04:002011-03-22T09:55:10.306-04:00So just to play devil's advocate - is it fair ...So just to play devil's advocate - is it fair to read this post as saying:<br /><br />Despite not buying much coffee from them, not being a large or loyal customer, you were surprised at how long they continued to supply you and work with after you were continuously negative about the people there? In fact the reason they stopped is that they weren't comfortable with how far from roast James Hoffmannnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-66299257369108547552011-03-20T00:09:39.593-04:002011-03-20T00:09:39.593-04:00Just yesterday, I was unable to make my normal 8:0...Just yesterday, I was unable to make my normal 8:00 am stop at Spro Hampden. A bakery/cafe close to my house sells CCC, so I stopped in on my way to work for a shot of Toscano and a cup of Valle del Santuario. Well, the espresso, served to me in the bottom of a 10oz cup, was way under extracted and tasted more like the paper cup than the quality stuff I know CCC roasts. The brewed coffee was RandyR.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15757137154904731490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-27967951879616205522011-03-19T18:14:45.575-04:002011-03-19T18:14:45.575-04:00I refuse to work with Counter Culture because of t...I refuse to work with Counter Culture because of this sort of thing and they are within spitting distance of my operation. Don't like their "best of the best attitude" and don't particularly love any of the coffees I've sampled from them. Nearly as shitty as what I've sampled from other nationally recognized "artisan" roasters. They also keep sissy company and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-86386828418901522982011-03-19T16:01:39.249-04:002011-03-19T16:01:39.249-04:00DCT-
As I said in my comments to Poul, I wouldn...DCT-<br />As I said in my comments to Poul, I wouldn't allow a coffee to be served unless I felt confident of its character.<br /><br />Which I guess brings us to the other part of your comment - why offer the AGR for a dollar when it's been on the menu for $14? <br /><br />Mainly because we want to. It's our one year anniversary and our customers have been tremendously supportive onocoffeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-69032347647051654242011-03-19T14:44:44.740-04:002011-03-19T14:44:44.740-04:00I think the following statement really is what bot...I think the following statement really is what bothers me about the whole thing;<br /><br /><i><b>"While we will probably remain in disagreement over the AGR issue - just for the sake of argument: as a coffee roaster yourself - what's your stance on getting rid of a wholesale customer because you supposedly disagreed with the way that customer handled less than one percent of the coffee DCTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-42551373613815741362011-03-18T17:58:10.913-04:002011-03-18T17:58:10.913-04:00Poul-
Thanks for taking the time to write.
I shou...Poul-<br />Thanks for taking the time to write.<br /><br />I should be clear. I don't have any problem that you disagree with me, or that Aida disagrees with me. As I've said in the past, agreement is not a prerequisite for a discussion or a relationship. In fact, I'm open to disagreement. Disappointingly enough (though not surprising), as the above post demonstrates -some onocoffeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781160488678845826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-10049929884395314892011-03-18T17:10:24.035-04:002011-03-18T17:10:24.035-04:00I do not have enough information to comment on thi...I do not have enough information to comment on this as a business decision, but can come to the defense of freezing roasted coffee. At the SCAA (Atlanta?) conference in 2004, I exhibited next to Mark Overly (Kaladi Bros) who at the time was selling a sort of one-off espresso lab machine (if you don't remember the thing, it was pretty cool). Over the course of the 3 day exhibition, I recall Display Namehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04619148222094453520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-73051367525558340712011-03-18T17:09:49.837-04:002011-03-18T17:09:49.837-04:00Whatever. Counterculture has some really fine coff...Whatever. Counterculture has some really fine coffees but they ain't the only show in town by a long shot. <br /><br />Spro has been serving up phenomenal coffees since the days of the Hawaiian BBQ in Timonium, and I know you'll find another roaster of equal or better quality. As a matter of fact, there are so many CCC outfits in the DC area that I absolutely welcome the variety.<br /><brUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03564389041322466458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-85856045812093911412011-03-18T14:30:30.621-04:002011-03-18T14:30:30.621-04:00You're so good as making friends! I only wish ...You're so good as making friends! I only wish I was that talented. :)<br /><br />Seriously, be happy that the whims of a single roaster don't impact the nature of your business.<br /><br />Maybe you should email a link to Peter. I'm sure his "sorry for the misunderstanding" apology will be on its way any day now.<br /><br />Now stop whining and make some coffee.caffe d'bollahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11604293376204662143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486674.post-50790409191958282992011-03-18T13:39:56.078-04:002011-03-18T13:39:56.078-04:00Hey Jay, interesting post. I can't comment on ...Hey Jay, interesting post. I can't comment on the Barista Exchange thing. But I can comment on the Aida Batlle issue. I am actually sitting across from Aida at the J.Hill mill in El Salvador. She was really concerned and frustrated by the fact that you were serving up the Aida's Grand Reserve which is now past crop and was roasted in the fall. Whether you froze this coffee, in my opinion Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800604078417563334noreply@blogger.com