Buying coffee stuff this festive season - chapter one · Tuesday November 25, 2008 by colin newell
No year is complete without a guide to what’s hot and what is not in the World of specialty coffee. This year is no different – Well, actually it is: The economy is in a free fall and we have not hit bottom yet. How will this effect the marketplace for the coffee lover? At this juncture and in time for Christmas, probably not much. That said, I am going to approach this annual feature as if there will be some retail phenomenon that you, the buyer, can take advantage of.
Additionally, I would like to stress the importance of approaching better coffee for the home and office thusly: Coffee and espresso is a journey, not a destination. I have probably repeated this mantra over and over… over the years – and it has never been more important than now – I mean, it does come down to dollars and sense for most people. So why not start at the beginning and go from there?
If I was sitting at your kitchen table right now – or office coffee lounge (go on, picture it…) I would have a table covered with some very basic stuff; a handful of coffee filters, a plastic #4 Melitta coffee filter holder, maybe a glass carafe, a thermos, a french press or bodum, a burr coffee grinder, some cups and saucers, an electric kettle and a supply of fresh water (out of the tap – NOT bottled!) These are tough times after all!
Oh yea. and beans. Wonderful beans. Freshly roasted from somewhere nearby. or mail order. More on that later.
Under the table is a box and it contains some surprises. I warned you – you may be required to use your imagination here.
A year ago when I was working on the 2007 buyers guide, I reflected on the overall mood of the year to date – because that guides me as to what to concentrate on for the next issue. A year ago it was not uncommon for e-mail check-in’s and queries to include the phrase “Money is no object” – “Want to buy the best for my (insert) Mate, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, aunt, etc…” That was a year ago. A year or so ago I was in touch with a young lady from London, England who wanted to treat her boyfriend and future husband to “The best cafe served coffee in the World…” – obviously no expense spared.
And I could have sent her anywhere – anywhere interesting… or really expensive. Instead I said: “Come here to Victoria. We have some of the best coffee in the World…” So she came… with her parents and her BF’s parents and her sister… all the way from England… to Victoria.
That was last year. This year I am standing in your imaginary space clutching a fistful of #4 coffee filters. Ho ho ho.
What a difference a year makes! No really. Stay with me on this! I am going to make a point… eventually.
A year ago people were buying everything the market had to offer – without, I think, researching it much – without looking at this site much or any of the other consumer oriented influencing websites – like Geek and Home-Barista. And as much as it is easier to just say to people with bags of money: “Yea, the BFG-5000 super-duper-matic espresso maker at a paltry 3000 smackers is perfect for everyone…” – Well, i wouldn’t really be doing my job now would I? If you read our forums (and you should) you will know that money does not always buy happiness where hasty purchase decisions are made in Coffee World. In fact, if you read some of my reviews of some of the stuff that is out there – it is pretty obvious that I am not a big fan of the big hunks o’ plastic super duper machines – because they can and will break your heart and your bank… More on that subject later.
What I am a big fan of (especially now…) is simplicity and fiscal responsibility (and at the same time, doing something that would benefit the millions of wonderful folks that actually work on the coffee farms.) Trust me on this – the World would be a much better place if you invested some dough in a 3rd World coffee farm instead of a worthless coffee machine cluttering your kitchen counter and wracking you with frustration… Yea. I guess that is a nag, huh? Anyway – waving coffee filters again.
Here is my supposition for 2008. I have a feeling that if you keep it simple this year, you will be feeling way better next year. So. How can we do that and still come off sassy on Christmas morning? Well, to help make that happen, let’s go way back to the beginning… my beginning in the World of coffee exploration – and how, in part, it has brought me to this place and time.
I first sipped coffee in the Spring of 1975 (sorry, no age but suffice to say that I would actively discourage anyone from picking up the coffee habit at this early age. ) 19 is a good age to try coffee – and I sure as heck was not 19 in the year 1975. Anyway, (I was) so captivated by this awesome beverage so long ago that my brother-in-law thought it would be cool to give me a coffee themed gift for Christmas 1975. (One more hint… My brother-in-law was about 10 years older than me.) His choice of coffee themed gift was several bags of ground coffee from Murchies of Vancouver – they had outlets in Victoria and were one of the original inspirations for the folks that created Starbucks. It should be noted that at this juncture of my coffee drinking career (literally less than 6 months…) I was drinking the cheapest coffee my mom would find – typically $2.99 to $3.99 for a 8 to 10 ounce bag. Think Chase & Sanborn, Folgers, Nescafe, etc.
So. Getting 2 pounds of real Arabica coffee for Christmas in 1975 was a really big deal. Ironically, he picked some pretty intense coffee for my taste buds; Dark French and French Roast if memory serves me correctly. Brewing that stuff for the first time (some of it in an aluminum percolator and some of it in an actual Melitta Glass paper filter holder) was completely mind blowing. I had never tasted the real thing before and yet at that young age (just barely a teenager) I clued in that this stuff was the real deal. Good bye tea! At the same time, these were financially tough times for my Mom and family – my Dad having bailed from the scene a few years earlier. Getting food on the table (and the occasional cup of coffee was challenging).
And guess what? For some, 2008 and perhaps 2009 is going to be tough for lots of people. I hope everyone can keep enjoying their coffee experiences – I know for a fact people are not going to be getting those to-go lattes and cappuccinos out as often as they used to… so that brings us to the overall message of the 2008 Buyers Guide. It is going to be simple and it is going to be cheap – and you are going to learn a whole heck of a lot about great coffee – and feel good about it at the same time.
In late November of 2008, my kitchen counter is a pretty basic one – I am testing a Pod machine (the La Piccola Sara) for a detailed review hopefully out before Christmas – and 100% of my coffee prep is dead simple. #4 paper filter (holding them in my hand, remember?) And I have a plastic Melitta #4 filter holder – retail value about $5 from Sweetmarias.com. The paper filters are about $3 for packages of 100 (bleached or unbleached). The very heart of this simple operation is a Bodum Antigua burr grinder from BodumUSA.Com – about $129. At the core, it is a Baratza Maestro with a different shell – it is more than adequate and grinds coffee all-mode – Espresso through French… very important.
And the beans. The single most difficult challenge you may face in getting your caffeine buzz is getting the beans right. Unless you are lucky enough to live near a roaster, you may have to depend on some mail order beans – and in North America there are lots of great choices… Like Batdorf & Bronson (now Dancing Goat), Ravens Brew, Peets, and the like.
So. Gift package number one: A basket of beans, a filter holder, some filters, a coffee grinder and a neat mug. Total cost – Less than $150. Now that is sound fiscal management!
Comment [4]
Summer all fun, food and drink marathon - The Otto Espresso maker · Sunday July 6, 2008 by colin newell
Sydney Australia – A city of 4 million souls who live in an espresso crazy society. For Craig Hiron, a youthful 36 year old living in one of Australia’s most populated cities, bright ideas are merely a cup of coffee away.
And so it was – that he and his circle of free-spirited 30-something friends would gather (like so many other young people around the globe) looking for the answer to life’s age old problems and questions.
Photo above: The Otto Espresso maker is the product of passion, Australian ingenuity and the burning desire for award winning fine design.
For Craig, a young man who has plied his trade as a professional roofer and successfully migrated into the film and entertainment industry… the question burned within him: “What does this city need? Why do my people need? What contribution can I make?”
Sydney is noted for its spectacular Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays and inlets. But on the street level, Espresso coffee is the language of its people. Australia, in general, is quickly becoming an espresso-centric society – and that means, Espresso coffee is the building block of all its coffee beverages. Neato. For me, that means heaven!
Minor digression. Sydney resident Craig Hiron’s creative light-bulb kind of flashed in an unexpected and amusing way. He had urged his friends to talk amongst themselves – and those friends with their tertiary friends… “What is that it thing that we Sydney young people need… that would be really cool? If we can collectively think of it, I promise you… I will build it!”
Good thing – Craig was good and ready to put his money where his coffee cup was… but what came of this exercise?
In the middle of one of their brain-storms, one of the gals popped into it, midstream, offering… “Those blasted people over at Ya-da Ya-da Coffee Company are useless! I am trying to get a widget-gadget for my 50 year old Atomic coffee and they are hopeless!”
The idea hit Craig like a sack of unroasted Arabica coffee.
Take one 50 year old coffee maker. Update that coffee maker. Sydney society needs a coffee maker to put Australia on the map and into the coffee culture history books for all time. It just made sense.
But what of the name Otto? True story. The name of this new coffee maker comes from the 1st born Son from within Craig’s creative and bright circle of friends.
Additionally, all the research and development is taking place within the community of Sydney, Australia – all paid for by Craig and a handful of his friends.
Craig and I spoke over a trans-pacific phone line for over a half-hour. His infectious laugh and sense of humor did little to hide his burning passion for all things caffeine. We will be hearing more from this story – as it happens.
Comment [6]
Saving the Planet one volt at a time · Thursday June 19, 2008 by colin newell
We had the Gem Car road show pop by the campus for a few hours today – and I had the opportunity to pilot the E2 and the E6. Top speed on the E6 is about 40km/hr – the E2 about 25km/hr – an electronic governor keeping it from achieving light speed in under a handful of nanoseconds.
I took these two muscle carts around the campus ring road, much to the amusement of senior-citizens with walkers who bravely (and easily) passed by… and various University staff who looked quizically at the over-sized Pilates ball on wheels.
The Gem looks like a golf-cart on steroids – It’s 12V Gel-Cell and 7 Hp motor giving it remarkable pick-up and range (something in the order of 30 miles between Gerbil feeds…)
The sleepy community of Oak Bay, near Victoria, is thinking of buying a few – We speculate for the Oak Bay Police Department – a community largely consisting of septuagenarian millionaires who, not surprisingly, move around this sleepy hollow… on much smaller electric carts.
I can picture these crime busters now – Racing to the scene of a bank heist in the Oak Bay Village as a 70-something Clint Eastwood wanna-bee tries to knock off the Credit Union. He flees the scene on his scooter reaching speeds of 10 km/hr as he races through the sleepy berg, putting life and limb at risk. Other elderly Oak Bay residents hobble and shuffle for cover. Soon, very soon, the Oak Bay cops give chase – reaching speeds of 15 km/hr. They catch up with the evil doers somewhere near Esquimalt – but not before running many red lights and frightening bystanders into mild strokes and heart attacks.
Yup. I can see it now.
The downside of Facebook.com chapter two · Monday June 9, 2008 by colin newell
I wrote this over a year ago: Facebook.com is a website solely devoted to data mining – extracting your personal information and selling it to the highest bidder – you are giving up your privacy in exchange for a place to deposit every miserable detail of your McLife.
Some tangible reasons why people are drawn to Facebook.com:
-you really need to catch up with that kid that had a crush on you in Grade Six
-you really need to kill the kid that bullied you in Grade 3
-that 19 year old student teacher had a thing for you in 1974 and now that you are all grown up, it’s time for a follow-up
And for this you are willing to publish your birth date, place of employment, social insurance number, preference in Vodka, etc.
God speed friend, God speed.
And yet today, in June of 2008, we are investigating Facebook.com because of the obvious…
Canada’s privacy commissioner is investigating allegations that the social networking site Facebook.com may be illegally collecting personal information such as telephone numbers, birthdays, and instant messaging addresses without authorization.
Hello. Hello. Read the freaking fine print. Facebook.com has you by the DNA from the word go and all you need do is read the user agreement.
Getting Canada’s privacy commissioner involved with this nonsense is a waste of time. I mean, why not spend those government dollars on some more meaningful study… like why Dog’s bite, why Nun’s always have an evil glint in their eye and why there are signs like “Piercing & Tattoo’s while you wait”?
On a more ironic note – yesterday while waiting for my dear Mom-in-law and wife to finish a round of shopping at the Fairfield Thrifty Foods I watched a guy and a gal who had just met over Thrifty Foods sushi on a sidewalk table… interact, flirt, smile, touch and, get this… exchange Facebook creds. Surprisingly, the pretty Girl (Fiona) from Australia spent more time laughing and touching the guy – a slightly younger dude who heralded from a French farming community in Saskatchewan – he had a French last name starting with B but I was not paying that much attention to him. She was confident, older and Worldly wise. He just looked goofy and spent too much time imagining her naked.
And I did all of this with my ears… without the internet connection…
Try it sometime. Turn it off. Tune it out. And use what God gave you… to participate in the World around you.
