This should be fun as usual, though sadly the predominant trade show themes appear to have almost nothing to do with coffea per se, 98% ancillary stuff.  amazing to see how much evolution and pure product/marketing has taken over.  Can't forget that Andrea and I first encountered Mercanta and their exceptional green and great people just last year, and have enjoyed Finca La Perla, a host of great Brazils, and recently the exceptional Kenya Thangathi microlot.

Rumor has it the barista competition might not even transpire there this year, although it's always a pleasure to see the baristi maestri at their best. After last week seen her shining-smile best, Phuong Tran and Cam and the Lava Javans of Ridgefield, WA are always a treat to be with and talk coffee.

Tomorrow night, 4 of us PCPers will be playing with local indie/Celtic/postpunk faborama Amadan at the Doug Fir, show starts at 9 PM and Amadan will commence around 10:30ish.  Master fiddler Chad Marks-Fife wrote us into Pishi and Coming Home, and we'll be thrilled to rock with them

Saturday is PCP at Livewire!, playing before a live audience for future broadcast...rumor has it the Dandy Warhols are nigh....

Then the evening concert at the Gerding Theater @ 8 PM, Saturday, what a day.

'twould be excellent, since a PCP4tet will be recording with the DW's on Sunday....they're awesome.

We of PCP (Portland Cello Project) have been brimming with excitement for tomorrow's (Aug 8, Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland at 8 PM, doors open at 7) HUMONGOUS CD RELEASE concert.  The album is unlike anything attempted and offers a dynamic portrayal of what we and our many fine collaborating local bands can do.  Of course it would be inappropriate to not create a special java for my band, so to wit the merch table will be loaded with bags of PCP MONDOCELLO, as well as the new CD, the EP, PCP tee, and all of our collaborator merch.  PCP Mondocello is a scrumptious blend of three of my best coffees...Mexico Terruño Nayarita Altura (wet-processed gem), Terruño Nayarita Natural (dry processed, awesome orange, leather and floral notes) and Sumatra Triple Pick Lintong.  The 2 Mexican coffees are certified organic, shade-grown and direct trade.  Sales from the coffee will also benefit the Portland-based non-profit organization p:ear, as does sales from WEINMARK, the "other" band coffee I do (with Maker's Mark) for our treasured buds of WEINLAND.

Come to the concert!  If you can't make it, 8/9 afternoon the PCP/collab ensemble will be playing at the Bite of Oregon.  8/10 we'll be at the Triple Door in Seattle at 8 PM.  Seattle ppeps, be there!

justin

No,  not some oblique Obama promo, although I understand the Obamajava blend I donated to the MoveOn.org efforts of a month ago was well received (Kenyan and Sumatran offerings).  The Kenya Thangathi microlot I'll be getting tomorrow is an amazing coffee and will sold on a limited quantity basis, as there is precious little of it in this primerissimo specialty coffee-crazed world.  Kenya coffee lovers stay tuned...

Wine things in McMinnville...it's going to be a strange year in Mac in the Pinot Noir world, but I'm placing serious bets post-barrel tasting on Michael Stevenson at Panther Creek and Stevenson-Barrie and the Eyrie folk (include Black Cap).  Can't wait til November, but it won't be the same without Jim Diamond making the rounds with me, since he'll be teaching chemistry in Beijing and snarfing copious quantities on dim sum and chinese cooking wine.  Hopefully Nick's will have joined the Badbeard family by then and I can count on drinking heavily and then waking up with Carmen's pasta and a few espressi.

Well, we knew that they were watching...taking notice.

Here's Derek Hill's take on the show on mel.opho.be

Another AMAZING sold-out show, heralding new faces in the scene for us who added TREMENDOUSLY to the buzz and playing experience.  On a night in PDX with an incredible number of quality, must-see shows, we're so grateful to those who chose to share the night with us.  You rock!

Revelatory were Sophe Lux, Pacific UV, Blue Cranes and Point Juncture, WA, each adding a dimensionality we've not experienced before in our collaborations.  Horsefeathers, well, what can you say...j-man. you're always spectacular.  I'd go see any of our collaborators solo shows in a heartbeat. 

 

PCP, rocketmen and 'pobitches, awesome.  Thanks Doug Fir!!!!!

To me this seemingly sinking ship hasn't been doing much right these days, and I'm incredulous that with all their resources they can't seem to sell a decent cup of coffee.  You'd have thought that with their proactive feedback loop they'd be able to calibrate something more acceptable than Pike Place Blend.  I just don't get it how within their annual purchases of 300 million pounds or whatever it is the can't roast decently, but alas, it seems the swill gravy train is losing cars.  With the economy shrinking and every 4 bucks counting a lot more we microroasters who NEVER put out a bad cuppa should prosper?!  When will people en masse cotton onto the idea that they can make GREAT coffee in their own homes?

Fortunately for customers in Seattle they can avoid the original *$%#bucks, walk an extra block or so to Seattle Coffee Works (111 Pike St.), and get treated to something special from Sebastian's amazing Synesso machine.

What a friggin' great show, credit to all the bands appearing despite veritable exhaustion and enervating hot heat in PDX all day.  There's no place like home, clearly, and the embrace of our local fokels is immense, life-giving.  A total thrill to be onstage with these bands, and thanx to all who invited our (Portland Cello Project quintet) participation and collaboration, which will be eternal.  Norfolk & Western predictably awesome, A Weather fabulous (first time hearing 'em live).  The now-legendary Shearer tour experiential rant-o-spew-arama was like a fragrant bourride of Spalding Gray, Belew's Neurotica, and Trouble from Music Man, unforgettable.  Not even Corey duBrowa's excellent review in today's Oregonian could capture the essence.  Rock on, dogs!

WEINLAND paused midway through their 2008 U.S. tour in New York, Wed. June 11, to play an all-Portland show at Brooklyn's Union Hall in Park Slope. The intimate setting allowed a capacity crowd to bump up against the band, while frontman Adam Shearer powered through most of the songs on their new album, La Lamentor, in a fast-paced hour-long set that left the crowd begging for more. When someone shouted "play three more songs or we'll kill you" (true to New York style), Shearer immediately responded with "that's the first death threat I can actually get behind". WeinMark coffee, Badbeard's proprietary blend of select beans with a misting of Maker's Mark bourbon, was selling briskly at the swag table. Jacob Golden and The Battle Of Land & Sea were also on the roster that night.