Nice & Shiny

In certain circles, it's impolite to ask one's age.

To my mind, the craft is about attention to detail. It's something I try to instill into each and everyone on our staff. Much of this manifests itself in details that the guest may never see or notice. Take this steaming pitcher, for example. Take a close look and tell me how old you think it is.

It is clean. Polished. Shiny. If one were so inclined, one could use it as a steaming pitcher in a barista competition. It looks nearly as good as one straight out of the box. To note, this isn't a display pitcher or one that we use for dressing. It's the main pitcher that our baristas use day in and day out. Lattes, cappuccinos and chais are steamed in this vessel all the time. It is washed between each use. It is a demonstration as to why I think Spro baristas are some of the greatest working baristas in the industry today.

This pitcher that has worked every day making all sorts of drinks, under constant use by our baristas...

Is now five years old.

Camping Out

According to Harold Camping, Christian radio rock star, evangelist and foreseer of the Apocalypse, The End Of The World starts tomorrow at sunrise just off the coast of Australia.

From what I've gathered, a series of earthquakes will begin on Kirimati Island and spread across the planet as the sun advances and the planet is shaken. For us East Coasters, expect our earthquake to begin around 6pm.

Approximately 3% (or 200 million) of the world's population will ascend into heaven for The Rapture.

A five month period of pain and suffering will be followed by the actual End Of The World on October 21, 2011.

In other words, it's going to be Bad - with a capital "B".

To help the nation prepare for the Second Coming, Judgement Day and all the terrible things that accompany this event, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have prepared this website. While it may be a bit too late to run out to buy some of the items, at least you can fill your bathtub with water right now.

As for myself, I've got a freezer full of meats, a wood pellet smoker, lots of charcoal and my handy dandy Nerf weapons cache to ensure safety - and I even have a fresh tank of gas in the Land Rover, just in case I need to break for the hills. Which does mean that I fully expect not to be part of that 200 million being sent to Heaven - much to the delight of the former SCAA President and his cronies.

As the earthquakes spread across the planet tomorrow and people start ascending into Heaven, make no mistake about it, Mass Hysteria will feature prominently in the news. Expect crying, stamping of feet, cars burning, rioting and general pandemonium. Of course, it should go without saying, Spro Coffee will be open for business as usual.

To Note: the library of Spro Towson may be open, depending on the county government, but if it is, the library also serves as a disaster shelter. Spro Hampden simply doesn't close, operating every day in 2010 except for Thanksgiving (yes, we were open Christmas - yet another reason why I will be excluded from The Rapture).

Another reason why I will be excluded from The Rapture is that I'm secretly hoping that The Rapture isn't just about the poor and downtrodden (who will inherit the Earth). I'm hoping that that rich family with the big house, extensive French wine collection and four car garage were devout Christians because I want to move in. Afterall, if I'm damned and going to be obliterated in five months, I want to live in style. And it would be a sin to leave that Ferrari 599 in their garage forlorn and lonely.

Sadly, 200 million people (from a planet of 4 billion) really isn't a lot of people. But maybe with the hysteria going on, people will stay home and I'll have the roads to myself. Of course, the government will probably impose martial law and I'll be forced to stay home anyway. Remember late September 2001? It will probably be worse. Good thing I have some ribs stashed away in the freezer.

Do I really believe that this will all happen tomorrow? That's silly. Though there is part of me that thinks I should have blown my fortune on hookers and booze, just in case.

Of course, if I walk out of the house tomorrow to see millions of people rising into the Heavens, I'm going to feel pretty darn stupid...

And Sometimes I Fail

I'm big on customer service and working to provide the guest with a great experience every time they visit one of our locations.

And sometimes I fail.

Yesterday, I failed in a major - looking like a complete asshole kind of way.

I've been running my own little company for twelve years now and I've made just about every customer service mistake one person could make. I've yelled at customers, argued with customers and kicked customers out - sometimes in a very fiery and spectacular fashion.

Maybe some of those times I was in the "right" on the matter and the customer/guest/visitor transgression was met with a commensurate response that could be completely justified - meaning that I was "right."

However, there has never been an incident where, after cooling down, thinking about it and analyzing the situation, I have ever felt that it truly was the right way to handle the matter and that I couldn't have responded better, and won out with aces.

The situation was this: I'm standing in a walkway chatting with a long-time guest whom I haven't seen in months when an elderly gentleman walks between us (there's about three feet between the guest and I). Instead of the usual convention of saying "excuse me", the elderly man gruffly tells me to get out of the way and makes a disparaging remark on my tummy. At first, I didn't catch his meaning but the snideness of his manner just tweaked me enough to press it a little farther.

Now, it's later in the day (about 4pm) and I had just come to the location to drop off some supplies after spending the morning at the roasteria repairing the roaster and the afternoon in the garden planting tomatoes. So, by this point, I'm looking pretty disheveled: my hair is messy, I'm wearing work boots and probably look slightly grimy from planting the garden. In other words, I look like a laborer.

I press the guy a little on his meaning and he still comes at me with the disparaging remarks. Usually, I don't let these kinds of people bother me but today, I'm in that mix of being tired and dirty from working and slightly irritated about a variety of things, meaning that when this guy comes at me, I lose perspective and become confrontational.

You know, why the guy didn't just do the polite thing and say "excuse me" or "excuse me, but you're in the way", I don't know. Maybe he was having a bad day or maybe he just thought that I was some (to his mind) piece of shit Hispanic laborer that didn't deserve the general respect and courtesy that he would give to other white people (I note this because the guest I had been talking to is white and the guy didn't address him and singled me out).

Whatever the case may be, it started out poorly and went all downhill from there.

Come to think of it, the guest and I were talking about the piss poor ways that the SCAA and WBC treats their volunteers and judges - a subject that always irritates me - and probably was the catalyst (on my end) for the degradation in handling the matter.

I don't remember the specifics but it wasn't pretty. I did not handle myself in the manner that I desired. I was the offended party who thought he deserved justice. Regardless of who was "right", I still ended up looking like an asshole. Not only to the elderly man without manners but, more importantly, to the other guests that were in the house at the time.

I'd like to think that I was justified. That I was "right." I stood up and didn't take prejudiced crap from some jerkoff. But in the end, like every time before, I don't feel that it was the "right" thing to do. I handled it poorly and engaged that elderly man in the manner that he engaged me. I didn't elevate the interaction. I didn't improve upon it. I helped degrade it. And that, to me, is a Failure.

I often talk about hospitality and leadership. That an environment of hospitality and quality can only be maintained if it is strongly demonstrated by the leadership. I'm embarrassed and ashamed that I failed so poorly and brilliantly as a leader during this incident. In front of staff, guests and passers-by. That kind of interaction can only give people a poor impression of who we are and what we are about.

Hospitality is easy when things are running smoothly and everyone is happy. The real test is when you're met with someone as grumpy and rude as that old man. Granted, I wasn't working the bar but anytime that I step into the scene, I should always be "on" and not running in cruise mode. What I should have done was dropped off the delivery and gotten the heck outta there. I had just come from working in the garden so I looked terrible (and probably smelled funky). I wasn't prepared for the "show" that we like to give to our guests.

I just hope that the next time I'm faced with a challenging guest, I'll have more clarity to handle the situation better.

Bacon & Eggs

The kids hiding in the woods must have been thinking: "Look at these two crazy fucks," as they watched us standing by the patrol car, lighting big cigars as blue smoke billowed around us.

We're standing in the wooded parking lot behind Towson High School after a series of calls from neighbors complaining about kids running amok egging things and making noise - a relatively benign call in this not-too-quiet suburban township. "We're gonna get egged," Scott assures me as we enter the woods, flashlights in hand, seeking out this group of miscreants disguised as high school students.

A few minutes later, a student emerges from the darkness covered in egg juice. He's winded, disheveled and tells us that he was jumped by some upper classmen who stole his money. "Are you saying they robbed you?" we ask - a definition that would change the situation from simple civil disobedience to perhaps a felony. "Or did you drop your money and they took it?" Turns out it was more of the latter and we tell the kid to get out of here and go home.

Just then, another group of students are running towards us, this time with cartons of eggs in hand. I wonder to myself, are these kids just dumb? Drop the eggs, you morons.

We instruct the kids to come forward in the middle of woods. It's been raining lately so the ground is damp and I'm in no mood to run and chase after anyone tonight. As we spot hesitation in their eyes, I can't help but to yell at them: "If you make my fat ass chase after you, someone is getting arrested!" Thinking the better of it, they quickly comply.

Eggs are everywhere. Broken shells, runny yolks, plastic bags, empty cartons and even whole eggs are littered around the campus. To be honest, it's all quite humorous and non-destructive. We laugh about it because it's not too different than the stupid stuff we did at that age.

In the distance, we hear light thumps coming from the direction of the patrol car. "Yup, they're egging our car," Scott says as we push forward through the woods, cigar smoke billowing, looking for any other stragglers.

When we return to the car, two other units have pulled up. It's a quiet night in the city so this is an interesting diversion. Perhaps we should call in air support. As we inspect the car, it's covered in eggs. Good thing we rolled up the windows.


The perils of life on the streets.

Back on the street, we find a Toyota Prius slowly cruising the neighborhood. We tail her for awhile and it's a mom looking for her child. Evidently, one of the kids hiding in the woods hoping we won't arrest her. Another group of kids, also sweaty and covered in eggs, emerges from a house with their mom as we sit in the neighborhood. The mom assures us that these kids have been in the house the entire night. Sure, mom. Just get everyone home.

The view of the world is interesting and different from this side of the windshield. While we want to act stern and cross, it's nearly impossible because the whole scenario is just comical. A bunch of kids in the woods egging each other. They're not causing mass destruction. They're not assaulting anyone. They're just out being mischievous and it's difficult to get upset about that - even though they egged the car.

In the end, it's a simple rinse with the hose at the station. The kids tonight are lucky. No one got hurt. No one got arrested. Had it been the other officer watching us rinse off the car, he would have arrested them.

Still Got The Chops

Ruth reliving old glories.

Ruth stopped by Spro Hampden today to hang out a bit. She'd been a Towson barista since 2007 and spent the fall of 2009 working at Philadelphia's Spruce Street Espresso while attending Bryn Mawr College. She's back in Baltimore getting ready for her teaching job in the "real world." And as any first-time teacher, she's excited to hit the classrooms this fall. She stopped by to visit and we promptly threw her on the old La Marzocco to pull a few shots and serve a few surprised customers probably wondering who "the new girl" was.

Phi, Phy, Pho, Phom.

Lamarie and the Spring and Summer Rolls.

It's a beautiful, sunny day in Towson and Lamarie is in the mood for pho - that Vietnamese beef soup that's slightly pungent and cloyingly sweet. For many years, if you wanted pho you had to drive about half an hour away, or suffer with versions unworthy of the name. Not too long ago, the Columbia-based Pho Dat Than opened a Towson location and we've been rejoicing.

While I don't think they're as good as other pho joints, they're the only game in Towson and, therefore, the best. If only they could get their service issues cleared up, they would be a winner.


Pho My Style: Everything with raw beef on the side.

We've gathered today to discuss Lamarie's impending departure from Spro Towson to return home to Oregon and pursue a career in styling. She's got talent for beauty and while I'm sad to see her go, I know it's important that our people pursue their dreams.

We also discuss shop talk. Are we running out of coffee? Milk? Tea? Lindsay gives us an update on who's bothering her in Hampden. Who's causing the most problems and who's making life generally difficult. Not surprisingly, it boils down to one person outside the company. The Hampden baristas are unified in wanting to get rid of this person and I'm seriously considering it.


Lindsay breaks down who's been irritating her today.

Otherwise, it was a lovely afternoon. A little time with some great people. People who I enjoy being around and people who I admire. What better way is there to spend your Thursday afternoon?

Red Velvet Cheesecake

When it comes to baked goods for Spro Towson, I generally let my mom do whatever she pleases. Truth be told, there's really no telling my mom what to do, she just does it and like a dutiful son, I try to go with the flow as much as possible.

When she told me that she was going to try something called Red Velvet Cheesecake, I envisioned some sort of red velvet flavored cheesecake. What I found was what you see above. Instead of the usual Red Velvet Cake she normally bakes, this one is layered with cheesecake. The cake itself is huge. The slices were immense. I can't imagine how any one person could finish a slice in one sitting.

Normally, I don't eat our own product. To my mind, it isn't eating cheaply for our cost on the item, it's the lost revenue. If I eat it, the company makes nothing. If I suck it up and go without, someone else buys the product and the company makes money. But this one looked too good to pass up and I had a slice.

Woah, pretty darn good. But it's still huge. I start wondering how this would be as a mini-cake individually sized for $4.75 - or if we tool hydrocolloids to create a cheesecake ribbon that we braid with red velvet strips...

ph: Mugging It

Weird Science at project hampden.

Ceramic wares for coffee have always been a bit of a problem for me. In spite of the large industry surrounding the coffee world, I find it quite difficult to find really great ceramic cups for coffee service.

Most shops use the "Brown Betty" style espresso and cappuccino cups but to my eye, they're God-awful ugly. Terrakeramik has been making tulip style cups for a couple of years now but at $75 for two, they're prohibitively expensive for service. That is, unless I'm charging French Laundry prices. Sadly, most companies make terrible cups for coffee service. Most of them have poor interior shapes that cause turbulence when pouring or they're just ridiculously large in size. I need a six ounce cappuccino cup, not an 8 ounce sorta shaped like cappuccino cup.

For years, I found respite in the aisles of Ikea where they made very affordable tulip-shaped cups in 2 ounce and 5.5 ounce sizes. Just right for service and competition, but now they're gone and I'm left stuck with nothing.

Ever since my days learning coffee at Hines Public Market Coffee in Seattle, I've been using the ACF La Marzocco branded cups. Those are just right but it's been difficult obtaining more of them and my entire inventory of those is either at Towson or in reserve somewhere. My next alternative is to go with a custom cup from a European manufacturer but I'm still not sure of the design and have been putting it off until we get everything just right. I mean why invest in 300 pieces if you're not 100% behind the design?

Meanwhile, I've ordered a bunch of Illy espresso and cappuccino cups. By far, the Illy cappuccino cups are my favorite. At six ounces with the sloped bowl, they're perfect. Too bad they have the Illy logo on them. The espresso cups aren't bad either.

The real problem comes when you're specifying larger sizes. Because of the trend towards sizes 16 ounces or greater, finding a decent 12 ounce cup for brewed coffee and lattes has been a challenge. But I did find a cup that fits the size requirement and has a pleasing shape. I ordered 48 of these cups in our new Caffeine Molecule design commemorating the opening of project hampden as Spro Hampden. As we transition to a new logo and new look, this will most probably be the very last item we make with the classic logo style.

Now, if we can only get them to work properly!

At Home and Working???

Escaping onto the snow-lined freeway at 70mph.

I've been sitting at home these past 24 hours doing nothing too productive except digging out from the snow and fielding some calls from vendors on the West Coast.

It's kinda odd to be sitting there while the world around you is at a complete standstill and receive calls from people going about their daily business. They're working and making money. You're not. They're ready to work and get things done. You can't do anything except sit there watching back episodes of Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24.

When the phone rang and the caller ID read "Lee" from our POS vendor, I first couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. What is this guy calling for in the middle of a blizzard? Of course, he's in Seattle where they're having their typical grey day and he wants to know which location they should ship the equipment to and which location will be up and running first.

At the moment, none of the locations are up and running. Hampden has passed inspections but need permits - permits that cannot be filed or processed because the government is essentially shut down. And since the government has shut down the building the espresso bar is located, there's not much happening there either.

Both locations shut down due to snow, no revenue, no work hours, how is anyone making money in this storm? Since Friday, we've had 1.5 days of operations and the last .5 day was pretty slow. My Hampden crew has been out of work for a week. I worry about them. Tomorrow is work come hell or high water. People need to eat.

Meanwhile, I've been dealing with a particular issue that's been nagging at me for weeks (months). Something I've been kinda putting off that came to a head with the snow shutting the city down and nothing else to divert the attention. Didn't handle it in quite the way I planned, but Full Speed Ahead. Not quite the outcome I would have preferred but probably the best and most logical outcome, and certainly not the worst. I feel better and stronger about it and I'll just have to see how it plays out.

Snowpocalypse! Huh?

A tractor trailer ready to skid and crash into me on 83 North at 35 mph.

Here it is again. Snow. Up to twenty inches of the stuff. Some of my friends are crying and bemoaning more snowfall. I'm crying and bemoaning the fact that my Land Rover needs a new master cylinder and is not ready for this challenge, buried under thirty inches of snow. Instead, my trusty steed, the GMC Sonoma, has been performing admirably in blizzard conditions.

The weird thing about Baltimore is the general panic that ensues whenever snow is on the horizon. People go nuts. Bread, milk, eggs - they clear them out. The grocery stores are slammed as though people never stock their larders for more than a day. There's a rush on toilet paper??? Do people not keep toilet paper at home??? It's all very confounding to me.

As the snow starts to fall and everyone has rushed home, I've had enough of the fear and venture out to do something. But what to do on a day when everyone has panicked and gone home for the next three days? Ah, the cigar shop will be open!

Off to Towson Faders I go, where I find the usual motley assortment of regulars bored with the snow and being at home.

As the snow grows in intensity, so does the smoke filling the room. Conversation, camaraderie, jokes, stories, it's all good ensconced in the bubble of blue smoke surrounding us. Scott tells stories of explosives and fireworks in Buffalo, Bryan's neighbors don't help out in clearing the common alleyway, Mike's showing us photos on his Blackberry of the big-titted girl he's dating (and they are rather massive), Jim is showing everyone his new phone, Ron is talking about his radio show, Other Mike calls in periodically to tell us that he's on the way (he never makes it), that other guy is irritating everyone else and Ripley is sitting quietly to the side smoking those Nat Sherman cigarettes with the colorful wrappers.

It's a nice time and respite from the blustery weather that's piling snow at a rate of 1.5" per hour. By the time we leave, nearly five inches has fallen and everything is covered in white over a suspicious layer of slush and probably ice. The reports coming in throughout the evening have been ominnous. The roads are bad. Stay home. The governor might declare a state of emergency.

As I make my way home through the storm, the streets are snow-covered but nothing too difficult to navigate. They're nothing like the roads on Friday night - those were bad and I really thought that I could be in serious trouble. Tonight, it's relatively smooth sailing, except for the tractor trailers high-tailing it at high speed on 83 North.

Visitors from Afar and Anear

Jeremy and the Cuban Extra Turquino Lavado.

In his other life, Jeremy is the drummer for Baltimore's Ponytail - a band described by the rock media as either being on the cutting edge of avant garde music today or something not suitable for pregnant women. Over the holiday season, Jeremy and Ponytail toured Australia and New Zealand where he picked up a bag of Cuban coffee (the bean not the drink) from Wellington's Havana Coffee Works.

Whether it's Cuban cigars, Cuban rum or Cuban coffee - as long as it's contraband and considered illegal for consumption in the United States, we're game to try it. The coffee itself wasn't bad but we couldn't tell how old the coffee was or how it should taste because all the bag had on it was a "Use by February 17, 2010" stamp. Oh well, it wasn't bad.


Isaiah visits Lamarie at The Spro in Towson.

Also on today's docket was a surprise visit by Isaiah Sheese from Tulsa, Oklahoma's Doubleshot Coffee. A few years ago, Doubleshot owner Brian Franklin made national news when he beat coffee behemoth Starbucks lawsuit over the name of his company (as though the public would confuse his company with their bottled coffee beverage). But recently (like this week), Doubleshot rocked to notoriety once again with the blog posting over their recent experience at the South Central Regional Barista Competition and telling my former portafilter.net podcast co-host to piss off.

Isaiah was in town accompanying his girlfriend as she toured the medical centers of the Mid-Atlantic and came to pay a visit to see how we do things in Charm City. It's always a pleasure to have coffee industry friends visit our little hamlet as we showed him project hampden, The Spro of Towson and a little lunch across the street at Puffs & Pastries.

More Techie Geekiness

Jessie waves from behind the "nine group" La Marzocco.

The day that Lamarie has been fearing has finally arrived: the Linea 3AV has left the building.

Time to juggle the Lineas around a bit. Over the years, I've managed to collect a small number of La Marzocco Linea espresso machines: a 2AV, 3AV and 4EE. All I need now is a single group Linea and I will have the entire lineup. Crazy.

The 4EE has been sitting in storage for the past three or four years and with the 3AV moving to project hampden, I thought this to be the perfect opportunity to pull the 4EE out of storage and place it in Towson - where the bar is longer and can readily accommodate a four foot long espresso machine.

Unfortunately, when we first installed the 4EE last week, it leaked like a sieve and we had to return the 3AV to operation.


Lindsay replacing the steam wand assembly, sight glass and prepping the Linea for installation.

Today, we brought the 2AV for Towson to use while the 4EE gets serviced and the 3AV moves to Hampden. A quick replacement of the steam wand assembly and the steam boiler sight glass, along with a new drip tray and the machine was up, running and at temperature in 45 minutes. Not bad for a quick swap including shut down, cool down and draining of the 3AV.


Nine groups of delicious goodness.

ph: Working Baristas

Jess and Kimmy silicone the counter backsplash in the project hampden coffee lab.

Rebecca and Lindsay install PVC lines on Charlotte - the three compartment sink.

Lindsay installs the electric and plumbing for the Linea 4EE.

Lamarie shows her displeasure on moving the Linea 3AV to project hampden.

ph: Trial By Fire Saturdays

Jenny, Jess, Ilenia and Lindsay prepare themselves for the onslaught at hand.


After a couple of weeks of holidays, the tribe has gathered again for another group therapy session.  This time the task is to start putting all of the lessons together and delivering drinks in mock customer sessions.

For project hampden, we're making coffee with seven different brew methods.  Add a mix of six to eight coffees per day and top it off with everything being made to-order, on demand and by-the-cup and you're asking for trouble.  Swirl in a complete menu of espresso drinks made-to-order, hot teas, cold beverages and baked goods and you've got a veritable storm on your hands.

With such a radical change in service, there is no current working model.  The shops I know of stick to one or two main brewing methods, and if they have a setup where additional brewing methods are offered, it's on a very limited basis and not part of their standard operating procedures.  At project hampden, those seven brewing methods will be part of our daily operations.

Team Kimmy considers their menu options.

To facilitate the exercise, I divided the crew into two teams.  The task was simple: prepare yourselves.  Each team would order any drink off the menu while the other team prepared those drinks.  The entire menu from coffee to teas to espresso to cold drinks was up for ordering.  How would each team fare?  Would they be able to handle the load from a sympathetic group of "customers"?

Finding your groove can be a difficult proposition - even when you know your brewing methods.  Working with others in a confined space while trying to prepare a continuous stream of drinks in a timely fashion can be downright grueling.  Quite simply, there is no other way to get a team of people into their grooves than just throwing them into the fire.

Kimmy and Jeremy plan their macchiato strategies.

Each team would prepare three rounds of drinks for the other team.   Espresso, cappuccino, macchiato, latte, vac pot, eva solo, french press, pour over and everything in-between.  Not to mention finding a way to squeeze in the drink orders for the real, revenue-generating customers who happened to stop by for a coffee.

Each drink would have to meet my standards in order to be served.  Bad shots, bad milk or a screw up, and the drink would be rejected to be made again.  The proper cups had to be used, preheated and the service had to be correct: with the proper saucers and spoon positions.  While we would stop or pause to clarify certain aspects of the flow or service, timeliness was of the essence.

Some things went smoothly.  Others went not so smoothly.  While the crew wanted to remain positive, I could tell that they were stressed by the exercise.  What they thought they knew and could handle, they weren't as sure at the end of the day.

But that's to be expected.  We're working without a model and writing the book as we go along.  These exercises are meant to be brutal and difficult to encourage the best performance out of them.  Even with a few hiccups today, I'm very excited to see things as they progress and learn to find their groove together.

Until then, we'll keep at it!

ph: The Brews

Our tasting crew points to their brew preference for the Dama Yirgacheffe - aeropressed.

Today was the day to take the coffees that we have selected for service at project hampden and determine which brew methods will be the "default" brew for each coffee.

The idea is that if you're the kind of customer who wants to come in and just try the coffee, you can simply order it and we'll prepare it for you utilizing the brew method that we think best highlights the qualities of the particular coffee. Of course, if you're a bit more adventurous, you can come in and request the coffee of your choice brewed in the method of your choice.

So while the "default" brew method for let's say, the Amaro Gayo Ethiopia from Barefoot Coffee Roasters may be in the Clever brewer, you can also order the Amaro Gayo brewed as a pour over, French press, aeropress, eva solo, chemex or vac pot - giving you the ability to try the same coffee and see for yourself how each brew method will enhance or diminish certain aspects of a coffees' flavor. No other shop in the world offers this array of brewing options - all to order, by-the-cup.


Jenny eva solos the Kenya Gichathaini from Ecco Caffe.

Here are the coffees that will open project hampden in early January 2010, and their "default" brew methods:

Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia – Clever & Cold Brew
Barefoot Coffee Roasters, Santa Clara, CA

Santuario Bourbon, Colombia – Aeropress
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Chicago, IL

Yirgacheffe, Dama Cooperative, Ethiopia – Eva Solo
Ecco Caffe, Santa Rosa, CA

Gitchathaini, Gikonda Cooperative, Nyeri, Kenya – Chemex
Ecco Caffe, Santa Rosa, CA

Finca El Injerto Pacamara, Guatemala – French Press
Stumptown Coffee Roasters, New York, NY

Finca Mauritania, Santa Ana, El Salvador – Pour Over
Counter Culture Coffee, Durham, NC

Aida’s Grand Reserve, Santa Ana, El Salvador – TBD
Counter Culture Coffee, Durham, NC

Kigabah, Plantation A, Papua New Guinea – Chemex
Origins Organic Coffee, Vancouver, BC

Decaf House Blend – Aeropress
Origins Organic Coffee, Vancouver, BC

Espresso Blend – Espresso
Hines Public Market Coffee, Vancouver, BC


Lamarie and Rebecca vac pot the Amaro Gayo Ethiopia.

ph: The Results

Joy, Ilenia and Jeremy ponder their evaluations.

And here are the results for the last three days of service cuppings for project hampden:

Score / Coffee / Origin / Roaster / Roast Date

9.43 Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia - Barefoot, 12/1
8.69 Wondo Worka, Ethiopia - Caffe Pronto, 11/11
8.44 Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia - Barefoot, 11/23
7.50 Dama Yirgacheffe Organic, Ethiopia - Ecco Caffe, 12/1
7.44 Santuario Bourbon, Colombia - Intelligentsia, 12/1
7.40 Don Pachi, Panama - Stumptown, 12/1
7.38 Santuario El Mirador, Colombia - Intelligentsia, 12/1
7.30 Organic Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia - Intelligentsia, 12/1
7.19 Finca Mauritania, El Salvador - Counter Culture, 12/1
6.60 Sidama, Ethiopia - Intelligentsia, 12/1
6.57 Malacara Lot 119, El Salvador - Barefoot, 12/1
6.44 El Injerto Pacamara, Guatemala - Stumptown, 12/1
6.36 Gichathaini, Kenya - Ecco Caffe, 12/1
6.14 Palo Blanco, Guatemala - Barefoot, 12/1
6.13 Cruz del Sur, Peru - Intelligentsia, 12/1
6.00 Los Luchadores, El Salvador - Counter Culture, 12/1
6.00 Tablon 12, El Salvador - Barefoot, 12/1
5.90 Ndaironi, Kenya - Counter Culture, 12/1
5.90 Lot 91, El Salvador - Barefoot, 11/23
5.81 Monte Cristo, Brazil - Barefoot, 11/22
5.80 Gichathaini, Kenya - Intelligentsia, 12/1
5.71 El Porvenir, El Salvador - Barefoot, 12/1
5.69 Nueva Armenia, Guatemala - Counter Culture, 12/1
5.64 Piura Organic, Peru - Ecco Caffe, 12/1
5.63 Sidamo Washed, Ethiopia - Origins, 11/23
5.31 Montes de Oro Honey, Costa Rica - Stumptown, 12/1
5.29 Tingo Maria Organic, Peru - Ecco Caffe, 12/1
5.21 Ixii de Avelina, Guatemala - Barefoot, 12/1
5.00 21st de Septiembre, Mexico - Counter Culture, 12/1
4.80 Thiriku, Kenya - Intelligentsia, 12/1
4.31 Gathuriri Reserve, Kenya - Stumptown, 12/1
4.13 Ndaroini French Roast, Kenya - Counter Culture, 12/1
3.86 La Guatuza, Nicaragua - Ecco Caffe, 12/1
3.75 Pashapa French Roast - Counter Culture, 12/1
3.19 Organic Emera, Timor - Zeke's, 11/30 ?
2.86 Monte Cristo, Brazil - Barefoot, 12/1
2.75 Supremo, Colombia - Kirkland, ??

Again, we used a subjective scale of 1 to 10 and all coffees were cupped on December 4th or 5th, or in the case of the Ecco Caffe and Barefoot coffees roasted on 12/1, they were cupped on December 9th.

project hampden: project cupping

The cupping begins!

It's been over two months since we started on this journey of the barista for our project hampden crew. In the process, we've cupped lots of coffees, learned and proofed brewing methods and visited cows and other coffee places. In training new baristas, I've never taken the route we've taken. For our crew of baristas, I've been doing my best to train the best rounded baristas that I possibly can - and I still wish I had more time.

A by product of tasting and learning about coffees is the formation of preferences. It's simply not possible to taste some of the best coffees available and not become tainted by it. As our time together has progressed, I've been hearing more and more reports on how increasingly difficult it is for them to find coffee that they can enjoy outside of our little world. It is a hazard of our business.




As such, I almost never drink coffee outside of The Spro or my own home. I only drink coffee at select places that I know take the time to do it right. Sadly, most places brew poor examples of coffee. For most people, it's not too noticeable, but when you're drinking some truly spectacular coffees, the difference is starkly apparent.

So, after two months of subjecting my crew to truly amazing coffees, as well as a number of horrific coffees, it's now time for them to take the big step: the evaluation and selection of coffees for the opening of project hampden.

I've always felt strongly that our baristas should be passionate about the coffees we serve because it's far too often that I see baristas (yes, in the Third Wave) that merely recite verbatim the description provided by their roaster. Perhaps that description is accurate but, in our experience, it's not always so. The vision that I have for project hampden is that our team of baristas will evaluate and vet out the coffees for which we feel most strongly.


Jenny crunches the numbers.

I'm lucky to have great roaster partners to work with. Friends in the business who are willing to join me and our crew on this exploration/aberration of the coffee industry. The practice of using multiple roasters is still relatively unheard of in our business and certainly the few places that have done this have not executed to the extent that we are planning to execute.

For project hampden, our primary roasters will be:

- Hines Origins Organic Coffee, Vancouver, BC
- Counter Culture Coffee, Durham, NC
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters, NYC
- Barefoot Coffee Roasters, Santa Clara, CA
- Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Chicago, IL
- Ecco Caffe, Santa Rosa, CA

All of whom are friends and companies whom I believe are sourcing, roasting and producing some of the best coffees in North America.

Our cupping protocols follow along the industry standard but our cupping forms mimic those developed by Counter Culture Coffee for their informal cuppings. In the evaluation of the coffees, I wanted more notes on the flavors, aromas and characters of the coffee rather than the numerical scores given in either the SCAA or CoE cupping forms. I wanted more "gut" feeling about the coffees than the clinical numbers of formal cupping sessions.


Writing their evaluations.

This past weekend, we cupped twenty-five different coffees from a variety of roasters, both named suppliers and outside sources. The results were both surprising and not so surprising.

A new feature to our cupping form was the additional of a numerical score for each coffee. The point scale ranged from 1 to 10, with ten being the highest. Again, this numerical score was completely subjective. Did the barista like the coffee or not? Loved it or hated it? The numerical score would be the easiest way to gage likability by our staff and readily tell me which coffees to target.

Certainly an argument can be made against this system of grading- what are the criteria? None. What does a "5" mean? Whatever that barista deemed it to mean. It's not "fair"! True, it's not fair. But neither is the likes of any customer. It's not meant to be a "fair" grade. It's meant to tell me which coffees our baristas feel most passionate about. Which coffees will they champion? Which coffees will they sell the most? It's human nature to push something you like. Why not fill our selections with coffees our baristas like?


More smelling and cupping.

Of course, that's not to say that the selection of coffees for project hampden is completely egalitarian. project hampden is about my vision and what I want to project upon the world, so if a coffee doesn't meet my standard, it won't make it - even if everyone on staff gave it a "10". Conversely, if there's a coffee that I'm particularly interested in highlighting, it will be there.

But for now, our crew is cupping, evaluating and determining the coffees that will be there the day we open.

Scale To Measure

The Scales of The Spro: Pelouze Postal Scale, Ohaus CL Scale, CAS digital scale and IKEA scale, along with some of the brewing methods we'll be employing.

I don't know how it is for most of you, but I always seem to find details that I just never gave too much consideration towards giving me serious obstacles. Take scales, for instance.

Scales seem so ubiquitous in what we do that I don't really think too much about them. Yes, they're necessary and yes, we've had all the scales we needed at Towson, so I never really put that much thought into them. But now with the impending opening of project hampden and its' multiple brewing methods, the need for really great scales has suddenly come into focus.

Aside from our main scale in Towson, we've gotten by with small kitchen scales, postal scales and whatever we've had at hand. Now that our brewing is more focused and serious, these stand-by scales have started to show their weaknesses. From the ergonomics to the length of time the scale stays on to the shape and space, all of it takes a toll and needs reckoning.

Where once was a void that I didn't have to worry about suddenly has become a kink in our system that's growing more desperate with each passing day.

This week, a new scale showed up at The Spro, the Ohaus CL Series Scale. It's a laboratory scale that is either battery or wall socket powered. It's small form factor means we can set up several brews side by side and its' design allows the scales to be stacked on top of each other for greater storage capability. Plus, the scale stays active for four minutes, much more generous than the 25 seconds other scales allow during moments of inactivity.

Initial impressions from our baristas has been quite positive for the Ohaus CL and I'm thinking that it might just be the one we're going to go with - thank goodness it doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

The Saturday Cup Continues

The sunlight flows as the morning cupping gets underway.

We're back at the Towson espresso bar cupping coffees. This time we're cupping a couple of selections from Greencastle Coffee Roasters, whom we found after yesterday's lunch in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, a selection from Starbucks and a surprise reappearance of Aida's Grand Reserve from Counter Culture.

In support of our cupping efforts, I've decided to create a blog that will chronicle our cuppings and coffee tastings. Originally, we were compiling these notes in a separate database then realized that it would be better to share our thoughts candidly. The site is open for all to see: staff, friends, roasters, vendors, customers - whomever.

thecup.jaylovesyou.com

On the new website you'll find cupping notes for the past few sessions, back to our visit to the Counter Culture Training Center in Washington, D.C. However, I just decided to change the format with the 11/7 cupping. Now you'll get to see all of our tasting notes verbatim on a per coffee basis. From the flavors and aromas detected, to their likes and dislikes about the coffee, to their descriptions of the coffees and my thoughts on the coffee as well.

There are some brutally honest comments within the notes and if you're easily offended, I recommend reading The Coffee Review. The notes you will be reading are the exact notes that we will be using to evaluate the coffees and determine which of them we will order for service to our customers.

The Aida's Grand Reserve that hit the table today was a bit of a curve ball. It is the same bag of coffee from the DC cupping over a week ago - a coffee that many of them raved about. The coffee was kept in the bag at room temperature, with no method of preserving it beyond squeezing the air out of the bag. Did the coffee maintain its' zenith of dazzle or fizzle out completely? Find out now!

I Must Be Desperate

The Aricha Natural brews away.

With this new tide of seasonality in coffee brings scarcity of the coffees I seem to enjoy most: Africans. While I know quite a number of people detest or despise the fruity natural process of East African coffees, I tend to like them Stumptown's 2003 lot of Ethiopia Harrar and Caffe D'Bolla's 2009 lot of Bonko Black Sun were particularly memorable coffees for me.

Lately, it's been non-stop Indonesian and Central American coffees. Non-stop. One after the other. Over and over again. I'm awash in earthy and bright coffees. And I'm getting tired of it.

Yes, this movement towards seasonality is a good thing, but while I've been able to process and put down foodstuffs like corn and preserves, this whole seasonal coffee thing is still new and storing coffees for the lean times hasn't come to fruition (yet).

Meanwhile, the parade of Central American and Indonesian coffees continues and I'm starting to drag. I need variety and I'm starting to despise this whole seasonality thing. At least when it comes to corn in February, I've got frozen stock from the height of summer to enjoy.

Desperate for some relief, I dug into the deep recesses of the freezer at The Spro looking for something, anything that would offer me a respite. Even that Target Archer Foods brand 2009 CoE El Porvenir was looking tempting. But lo and behold, tucked into a deep corner of the freezer was a little black bag with the green "TW" logo of that Swedish barista champion cum coffee roaster Tim Wendelboe.

Tim had given me this bag back in April while attending the SCAA conference in Atlanta. It was a bag of his Aricha Natural and there was just a little bit left. Maybe I could get a small press pot out of it and onto the scale it went.

Six grams.

Ugh, six grams. Six. Grams. That's not even enough to make an eight ounce cup. Crap, I'm doomed. Maybe I should toss it. Oh no, one whiff of the berry explosion and I had to have it. Six grams be damned, I'm gonna drink it all.

After a quick (and careful) calculation, I determined that six grams would produce 3.3 ounces of coffee. Should I run it through the pour over? Ugh, no. French press is my preferred method of brewing and french press it would be.

In the end, I had about half a cappuccino cup of the Aricha Natural. Delicious and beautiful - even after all this time in frozen storage. Thank you Tim Wendelboe and may I have some more, please?