Sprodown Success

You might think that after seven hours of working your own coffee bar the last thing you'd want to do is go work somebody else's for a couple of hours - but you'd be wrong.

In fact we'd love to do it again.

Last night's "Sprodown" at Voluto drew a nice crowd.  We're going to estimate about 60 folks turned up to slurp down some of the best espressos in the US & Canada, but we missed the first half hour, so it could've been more. 

By the time Frank and I finished closing Aldo for the evening, packed up a grinder and drove out to Garfield it was close to 7:30p.  We were admittedly dubious about whether many Pittsburghers would show up on a Friday night to load up on espresso, but as we pulled up to Voluto, the place was jamming. 

A number of other coffee folks appeared throughout the evening - Matt and Trish from soon-to-be-open Espresso a Mano, Russ and Bethany from Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea, Zach and Amy from Tazza d'Oro, TJ from Commonplace Coffee in Indiana.  More important, another 50 or so "civilians" had made the trek to slurp down an estimated 200 demitasses of espresso.

10 espressos were featured.  Local roasters La Prima (Miscela Blend) and Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea (their house blend of Timor and Guatamala coffees) were represented, as well as Tazza d'Oro's new Bicycle Love espresso from Verve and of course, the Epic espresso from 49th Parallel that's the house espresso at Voluto.  The other espressos were being served in Pittsburgh for the first time.  Metropolis Redline (which we've had a guest espresso all week), Terroir Kenya Chania, Barismo Soma, Madcap Third Coast, Leftist Blend from Gimme! Coffee, Hopscotch from Ritual and Aficianado from Counter Culture.

Shortly after arriving, Amelie and Barb, Voluto's owners asked if I wanted to get behind bar.  Who wouldn't?  Such a setup - an opportunity to work with 10 great espressos, all straight up - no frou frou drinks, and a line of customers who wanted to experience it all - is a dream for any barista worth their salt.  It was a blast getting behind the Synesso and finally working with a couple of Anfim grinders (along with some dodgy lower-tech grinders contributed by various coffee folks for the evening, including our GJ).

The Sprodown was the brainchild of Jake Liefer of Beaver Falls Coffee and Morgan Stewart of the Union Project, both of whom are also the backbone of the  the Pittsburgh Area Coffee Association (PACA). 

Jake was taking orders on the back of an envelope and calling them out ("Need two Terroirs and three Barismo!") at a rate that kept us more than busy.  It didn't take much encouragement before Frank was also behind bar, banging out demitasse after demitasse of sweet coffee nectar along with Russ, Barb, Amy and others taking turns on bar.  In fact, it was a good hour before either Frank or I had a chance to sip some of the ones we were most interested in trying (nothing against any of the 10 which were all good in one way or another, but our favorites were the Terrior single origin Kenya  - gingery with berries - and the Barismo Soma - impeccably smooth and loaded with layers of flavor).

It was a great night for Pittsburgh coffee lovers and a fulfilling one for the baristas.  Many folks asked great questions about the differences between the espressos and were interested in making comparisons and discussing what they were tasting. Jake had printed up some profile cards for each one giving info about the region, the beans used and flavor profiles which were reviewed diligently by the line of waiting customers.

All in all, a successful night for Jake and Morgan of PACA, Amelie and Barb of Voluto and everyone in attendance.  A lot of fun, a bit of education and some wonderful tastes enjoyed by all.

At the end of the night, Jake tossed us a couple of bags of leftover coffee for helping out, including the Terroir Kenya.  We're going to try to feature that one this afternoon but it may have to wait for next week.

More photos of the evening here.

Comments

[Russ]

The BFC&T is actually a blend of Guat and Timor, not Costa Rica. No biggie.

[Rich]

Duly noted and fixed. Somebody served me an SO Costa Rica at end of the night, for some reason I thought it was yours.

[Spronomy]

That was from Madcap, I don't think it was meant for espresso, as they just gave me a small sample bag. I wanted to see what would happen with it. Definitely had that Central American brightness to it!