Hillbilly Speed Metal Birthday

Is 3x the charm?

Can't read my blog in China

Blue Velvet

TNF

Ken, Monique and Eva on final Approach

Bolivia. Looks like it was a nice day. What a line!!!

The New New Cameraphone

Looks an awful lot like the one I lost in Vegas.

The Perfect Cup

Knock another one off the list.

Went through preliminary barista training from stumptown. Finally, was able to create the perfect latte, from grind to tamp to pull to steam to pour. Took a few tries, and I'm sure it'll take many more, but drinking the final product was a revelation.

Also learned about coffee cupping.

Trainer: "How many of you have cupped before?"

Jesse: "I have, but I don't think what I did is what you are talking about..."

If you google coffee cupping, the first link is a pretty good one.

My first self-created latte art looked like garlic, something like this -

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/home-barista/brewtus-latte-art.jpg

Of course, mine was much better than this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/sets/48921/

Just now coming down from the buzz, after 20 or 30 tastings and probably ingesting the equivalent of 8 cups of coffee.

It turns out, you need to get the same size bubbles in the foam and the crema, so that the milk suspends the bubbles in the crema for longer.

Starbucks is absolutely no threat to these people. You can't corporatize this kind of passion.

bbq