Grinder for sale · Tuesday December 10, 2013 by colin newell
My colleague and friend – Katie Zalazar e-mail ktzalazar@gmail.com – is selling her near new Baratza Vario grinder – ideally in the Vancouver or Victoria area.
In her words…
Hey there readers! -
I have a Baratza Vario grinder that I am looking to sell. I won it in a competition but have hardly used it at all. I would love to sell locally in Victoria or Vancouver (or on the island).
I’m wondering if you know of anyone who might be interested in buying a used (all cleaned up!) grinder. As you know it retails for about $470, so I’m looking to sell it for about $400. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Note my e-mail above. Thanks!
Colin here – there you have it – help a gal out and get a great grinder in the process!
Talking Rockin and Roasting Coffee with Joey Kramer of Aerosmith · Friday June 28, 2013 by colin newell
Talking coffee with Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer
We spoke this morning with a man who is very passionate about the coffee bean – and so much so he has decided to do it right… for himself, for the consuming public and the farmers who grow it – and beyond!
And with 40 plus years, under his belt, with the band Aerosmith – a demanding full time job all its own, a very youthful Joey Kramer has managed to visualize, develop, and market a potentially winning concept.
Chatting with Joey today, I quickly realized that he is a team player – not only with his band of brothers but also with all the mechanisms and machinations that make for a successful venture into the fairly cluttered and confusing coffee marketplace. Because, as Joey pointed out, a lot about coffee is in the education and in the awareness.
Years of touring into every nook and cranny of this Rock and Roll hungry planet left Joey with the sense that he needed a better and more accessible cup of coffee. For Mister Kramer, an avid coffee drinker since his early days, his daily caffeine rituals were often interrupted by simply bad coffee in some unexpected places. The only solution (knowing full well what a great cup of coffee tasted like) was to have some part in producing his own personal great cup of coffee… a cup of coffee he could enjoy on the road, at home, and a product he could share with the rest of the World.
The idea for Rockin and Roastin coffee was born.
And, he added, you cannot do it all yourself. He has a great coffee team – and like the boys in the band, everyone has to pull their weight and find their strengths. If you are going to do it right, you need the right people. And with the full schedule of the touring cavalcade that is Aerosmith, he was not always able to get to all the farms and see all the stages of production – that said, he has been hands on on testing, sampling, testing and brewing his trio of great coffees – at this point he has picked 3 of the World’s most beloved origin beans; Ethiopian, Guatemalan and Sumatra coffee – three classics.
Joey and I talked about the importance of understanding the “value chain” of coffee, its path from farm to cup, the delicate nature of the coffee plants and their caretakers – the farmers who also need to receive a fair compensation for their work. Joey Kramer has done his homework – he knows the value of shade grown and organic coffees – being friendly to the environment, growing coffee in a sustainable way and not harming anything in the process.
Joey admits, “I drink a lot of coffee. Particularly during the creative stages with the band… composing arrangements for new songs…” Coffee is creative fuel, and for Joey Kramer, there is clearly a lot of coffee in his music. I found him exceedingly passionate and easy to talk to.
My next task will be to try some of this bean – and if you want to check them out, I encourage you to head on over to their colorful website
Podcast – If you cannot see the audio player above, click here for the mp3.
Pasta - Scallops in lemon pepper and butter · Tuesday May 14, 2013 by colin newell
Toast 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs
Put some pasta on to cook – enough for 2.
Into Saute pan put 1/4 cup of quality Extra virgin Olive oil to heat.
Put in 1/4 cup of butter
Cut 5 large Scallops into quarters – season with lemon pepper
Toss in the Scallops into Saute pan. Cook for 2.5 minutes.
Remove the scallops to paper towel – add another sprinkle of lemon pepper.
Add some more butter to the pan – add 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped
garlic + heaping tablespoon of capers with some caper liquid.
Put in 1/3 cup of lemon juice to saute pan.
Add 2 heaping tablespoons of dried parsley.
Put on low simmer.
Remove toasted breadcrumbs from oven and toss 2 tablespoons of fresh grated Peccorino Cheese to the hot bread crumbs.
Put 1/2 cup of hot pasta water into saute pan and toss.
Return scallops to pan.
Drain pasta – add pasta to saute pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 of the toasted bread crumb and cheese mixture onto saute pan and toss.
Plate the pasta between 2 plates – sprinkle remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.
Talking Geisha coffee on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto · Thursday November 29, 2012 by colin newell
Talking coffee on CFRB 1010 Toronto!
We were talking to Jim Richards, affable and chatty host of Newstalk 1010 AM Toronto’s afternoon show.
The topic was coffee, $7 coffee at Starbucks – Geisha coffee – the exotic beans from Central America, what they are worth – who is drinking it and why.
Enjoy!
If you cannot see the audio thing above, click here for the mp3.
