Cold Grinds, Cool Beans...Mas Mocha

Chicago here we come again...

by badbeard 1. June 2010 09:57

Buzz: Killer Espresso, 1644 N. Damen Ave in Wicker Park nabe in Chicago will be serving a special Badbeard's all-Brazil espresso this week as well as Kenya Kiambu-Riuki peaberry at the Clever drip station.  For social media savvy and newbies you can follow the feed at www.twitter.com/buzzklrespresso

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The Grind | The Mill

New place in Portland to sip Badbeard's classic Italianate espresso

by badbeard 1. June 2010 09:46

Classic Crust Bakery has finished remodeling and will be once again (actually never stopped!) churning out the best Euro breads, traditional baked goods and scratch-made foods East of the Willamette (Mississippi River be damned...we have our own, without the flooding!).  Owner and chef Nora Vujovic decided that with her new espresso machine she wanted an authentic-tasting Italian espresso and chose Badbeard's over the rest.  She's the REAL DEAL, and I can't wait to be in the weekly rotation for her awesome Sour Rye in parfticular.  Many vegan offerings will be on the menu. Go Nora!!! Badbeard's custom espresso only for starters, and available for purchase there next week.

Classic Crust Bakery  Inc. 8911 SE Stark St. Portland, OR 97216

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New arrivals for Spring

by badbeard 1. June 2010 09:29

Great coffees from the current crop cycles seem few and far between but our first will be in-house on Thursday...microlot Mexico Terruño Nayarita natural, certified organic and direct trade, farm- and lot-traceable!  This coffee keeps improving every year, thanks to the assiduous overseeing of Jim Kosalos of Kirkland, WA exclusive  importer of all the coffees from this amazing agro-centric project in Tepic, State of Nayarit.  This year even some Mexico City roasters got a shot to buy it and jumped on some lots.  Other novelty this season for the co-op will be the Mexican Barista Champion appearing at the PortaCafe (complete, self-contained lab for growers, which has also taken off in the industry) to pull shots of espresso for the farmers.  They do need to see and taste the coffee they've labored so hard to produce, rather than just immediately shipping it out after full processing and resting!

To you faithful who have waited for this at Badbeard's I'll be roasting it from Friday on, picking it up Thursday.  It's the most amazing Mexican natural java ever to appear on our shores, and in small quantities.  Quality counts big-time.

Uganda abbondanza

by badbeard 18. April 2010 18:40

We just cupped two interesting Ugandan coffees from CroptoCup, a direct trade importer with a coffee etc. shop near  my old 'hood in Brooklyn.  kudos to those folks for bringing in interesting coffees, a bit over-the-top for my taste in the acidity dept. but fine exemplars nonetheless in a region of burgeoning quality.  Uganda and Burundi are producing way better offerings than in years past, and while I'm going to pass on these offerings, I'm sure a few out there will enjoy the edginess and nice body, abundant lemon and other citrus notes.  Signs of good things to come...  

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Portland Microroasters get press...again!

by badbeard 8. April 2010 19:27

Willamette Week contributing journalist and coffee-lover Hanna Neuschwander spent a lot of time trolling the burgeoning microroaster movement here in Portland to give a nice overview of true coffee geekdom The article here.  Nice job Hanna!  We hope her caffeine jitters have calmed down by now....my only emendation as far as Badbeard's is concerned is her incorrect lumping me in with the "NW-style" espresso crowd, since I pointed out to her quite fervently my adherence to Northern Italian-school, Brazil-based blends a la Spella Caffe.

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Food and Drink | The Grind | The Mill

Deep Cello makes its Chicago "debut" March 28

by badbeard 29. March 2010 10:25

Super-duper espresso fanatics Buzz: Killer Espresso in the Wicker Park nabe of Chicago are pulling shots of a unique Deep Cello formulation consisting of our three Brazil offerings.  Awaiting "judgment day" from them but you can follow their tweets and such at www.buzzkillerespresso.com

Buzz, which opened fairly recently, is fronted at the bar by master barista James Liu of Intelligentsia fame.  They serve up a rotation of high-end 'spro and drip coffees from roasters around the country. We are very pleased to be given a shot, no pun disintended!

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The Grind

New crop India Kattehollay Estate Peaberry is in

by badbeard 28. March 2010 12:53

The first KPCI container landed last week here in Oregon and I retrieved our treasured Kattehollay Estate Peaberry yesterday and it is even more beautiful than last year's stellar crop.  The tiny Chikmagalur estate continues to produce some of the best coffee ever to come out of India and we secured as much as we could for this year!  Every bit as interesting as the vaunted peaberry from Tanzania without the extreme swings in flavor profile, and a vibrant coffee in any preparation, including Single Estate espresso.

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The Grind

New crop India Kattehollay Estate Peaberry is in

by badbeard 28. March 2010 12:53

The first KPCI container landed last week here in Oregon and I retrieved our treasured Kattehollay Estate Peaberry yesterday and it is even more beautiful than last year's stellar crop.  The tiny Chikmagalur estate continues to produce some of the best coffee ever to come out of India and we secured as much as we could for this year!  Every bit as interesting as the vaunted peaberry from Tanzania without the extreme swings in flavor profile, and a vibrant coffee in any preparation, including Single Estate espresso.

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Organic coffee in the news..

by badbeard 8. March 2010 19:18

This "flash" came in thru Coffee's Daily Dose, an online rag I receive which has industry details.  Unfortunately this emag tends to focus on the big players in the commercial market, so there's sadly much press about the boring stuff relating to Starbu&*#, McD's, BK wars, etc., with the occasional interesting tidbit about something I actually care about. As reported originally in the Christian Science Monitor...

"Certification Process, Price Lead Farmers to Abandon Organic Coffee

8 Mar 2010 12:29 GMT - Certification Process, Price Lead Farmers to Abandon Organic Coffee 
March 8, 2010 /EIN PRESSWIRE/ Almost 75% of the world's organic coffee comes from Latin America, but farmers there are beginning to abandon the organic coffee trade, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Organic coffee farming is much more environmentally friendly (and human-friendly) because of the lack of pesticides used in production, but both the price and the certification process of organic coffee has turned buyers off of the product.
Beans of organically grown coffee are 25% more expensive than traditionally grown coffee, and it currently takes up to three years for beans to be certified as organic. This means a farmer needs to absorb the production cost while waiting to be able to sell the product as "organic" in a market where buyers are abandoning organic coffee.
    Read more at Organic Food News Today
    Latin America Organic Food news - http://organicfood.einnews.com/latin-america/ 

 Truth be told there'smuch validity to this information. We here at Badbeard's go to considerable length and great expense to source fine green coffee to roast for you, and rely heavily on partners such as Elan Organic (www.elanorganic.com) and others who emphasize sustainably-grown and equitably-traded coffee.  Our preferences are personal and subjective, of course, but the uptick in "digestive-consciousness awareness" is a good thing.  Does "certified organic" mean necessarily that you cup will taste better?  NO.  In fact there are many sources of DE FACTO organic coffee--in a nutshell, produced by farmers who literally can't afford to pay the certifications premiums OR non-organic materials which lead to better crop yields, etc.  Coffee farming is still a bare-bones business in most producing countries, and the quality and equitable-trade practices MUST be consumer-driven.  Quality keeps improving all over the world, but the vast bulk of commercially-traded java is only fair-to-middling in quality owing to the mass production necessities of the market, from source to roast.

Taste is personal first and foremost.  If you can't tell, or it doesn't matter specifically where your coffee comes from, you'll be reinforcing the NECESSITY of inferior coffee in the marketplace.  Those of you who care and are willing to pay those few extra dollars for your cuppa pleasure ormerely caffeine fix can only be encouraged to come to our side to experience the TASTE difference.  Have at it world!==BADBEARD


  

 

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The Grind

What the winemakers also do...

by badbeard 6. March 2010 10:46

Nice front page article in today's Oregonian about the story reported here about the vicissitudes of an organ transplant.  In this case congrats to Lupe, Julio y familia y muchissima suerte! Jason Lett and the whole Eyrie family stepped up when it counted, and while the recovery process is ongoing, folks can still contribute.  La Luz is a WONDERFUL wine, filled with the hallmark boldness AND nuance which has made Eyrie one of our prized gems on the Oregon wine map for many years.  This is what community is all about, IMHO. Love the Letts!

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Food and Drink