Aldo Coffee Company

St. Nick of Murky Coffee - A Gift for This Afternoon

Welcome back.  Apologies for those of you trying to visit this site yesterday.  Our ISP is in South Florida and was hit by Wilma over the weekend.  Their generators ran out of fuel yesterday, but thankfully this was fixed last night.  They're not expecting full power for another 3-5 days, but have assured us the generators will be sufficient until power is restored.

While on business down in Virginia, I (Rich) had the opportunity to stop into Murky Coffee Tuesday night.  If the name rings a bell, that may be because Murky is one of the "Heroes and Legends" listed at the bottom of this page.

Nick Cho owns Murky Coffee and recently opened his second store, this one in Arlington, VA (the original is in downtown DC).  He's also a founding member of the Barista Guild, which is establishing codes of conduct for baristi as well as working to elevate the professionalism of the espresso-slinging trade.  Nick and his baristi have also been featured on NPR, in numerous coffee magazine articles and on the portafilter.net blog and podcasts.

Both Melanie and I have followed Nick's articles and advice, so as long as I was nearby, I figured it would be a good idea to meet him.

Although I was way behind schedule arriving in the DC area due to the snow in the Laurel Mtns. on the drive down, Nick was still gracious enough to spend a few minutes with me before closing on Tuesday.  We talked about a number of things, like preparing baristi for competition (most of his baristi have competed regionally and/or nationally), the advantages/disadvantages of free wireless and developing a "coffee culture" with employees and customers.

During the conversation, Nick noted that he was a "people person" and has tried to ensure his stores remain customer focused while also producing the best possible cup of espresso.  While many an increasing number of baristi-owners, particularly out West, immerse themselves in the science and process of extracting perfect espresso crema at the expense of basic customer service, Nick's attitude that you can't forget the customer is refreshing.  And, in our view, the only way to run to a business.

I had a double macchiato and also tried their classic cappuccino at the insistence of one of their four baristi.  Both drinks were exquisite - and the macchiato even had a small design - something we haven't quite been able to pull off here with regularity yet (then again, not many of our customers order macchiatos).

We know that many of you do business in the DC area on occasion and we strongly urge you to head over to one of Murky Coffee's two shops and try the best espresso in our nation's capital.

Now, about that gift... I was going to buy some roasted beans for Melanie and I to enjoy at home.  Nick wouldn't let me buy them.  Instead he gave me a 12oz. bag of his Gold Label Selection "Kenya AA auction lot #830 Tegu Cooperative". 

Nick is one of only three coffeehouses on the East Coast lucky enough to have acquired some of this limited edition coffee.  Now we're the fourth. 

We're going to share our good fortune with you.  While it's not a lot to work with, we're going to make a couple of half pots this afternoon.  If you're in the store between noon and three today, give it a try.  I'm drinking a cup as I write this and it's very good - blackcurrant notes stand out among the characteristic spices for which Kenya AA is noted.

Beating the Dreary Pittsburgh Weather

That dank, chilly season is now upon us it seems.  Nobody's out walking on Washington Road, except the occasional dog owner and some masochistic joggers.  Skies are grey, everything seems wet, even when it's not raining.  Having snow is better than this - at least it's prettier.  In general, we're looking at five months of yecch.

So what to do to lighten your outlook?

How about a double pumpkin spice or gingerbread latte?  A cup of warm cider?  One of our fragrant and luscious white teas?  A perfect cappuccino with a chocolate biscotti?  Or a simple cup of today's specials - Kenya and Organic French Roast, brewed fresh all day.

Get out of your funk and treat yourself to something warm and wonderful.  We'll be here all autumn and winter with the perfect concoction to chase away the Pittsburgh blahs.

Holiday Entertainment on Washington Road

Mt. Lebanon will be providing entertainment at several Washington Road establishments between Light Up Night (Thursday, November 17) and the final Friday before Christmas (December 23). 

We're one of those establishments.  Thus our November and December entertainment scheduling is temporarily in limbo until we find out who they're going to provide us.

These performers will be playing from 6-8pm every Thursday and Friday beginning on November 17 at no charge to us, thus, no charge to you.

There is one exception at the moment.  We have already commited to I-Factor, who will be playing here on Light Up Night (Nov. 17).  We hear they'll even be busking on the streets and carrying on their zaniness outdoors before their show "officially" starts.  We love I-Factor and we're trying like heck to keep their show going in Mt. Lebo.   Hopefully their holiday show will convince enough of you that there is a place for comedy improv in town.

Prior to Light Up Night, our entertainment schedule remains intact:
Thursday, October 27:  Alicia Romano
Friday, October 28:  Chance Encounter
Saturday, October 29:  Poetry readings by Joanne Samraney
Friday, November 3:  Zimmerman, Kaufman & Purse jazz trio
Thursday, November 10:  Special Pittsburgh appearance by Nashville singer-songwriter CRAIG CAROTHERS
Friday, November 11:  Cabaret Piano Bar with Ken Bott

As soon as we know what Mt. Lebanon has planned for us in late November and December, we'll post it here and in the store.

Tango Saturday

Just wanted to remind those of you who may have an old calendar, Tangueros de Ley will be peforming tomorrow night, Saturday, October 22, not tonight.

Again, the reason for the shift was to avoid conflict with the Mt. Lebo/Bethel Park football game scheduled for this evening.

Ernesto, Jeremy and Anstasia will be performing from 8:30-10:30 tomorrow.  $5.00 cover includes a small coffee/espresso drink.  Dancers are expected.  See you there.

More Kudos - Keep Those Cards, Letters and Blog Posts Coming!

More kudos from David at the Dirty Portafilter blog, who returned Wednesday morning and again Thursday night:

"Good cappuccino, thick and velvety microfoam, as I said, very good. Andi mentioned that her specialty was latté’s so after I finished my cappa I ordered up a latte. One of the best I have had with a nice little rosetta in the center. Good flavor, velvet foam, outstanding drink, good to the last sip."

It's too bad David lives in Dayton, Ohio and will only be stopping by when business takes him through the area.  We'd love to have him as a regular.

Now all we have to do is convince the rest of Mt. Lebanon to care enough about their coffee as much as David does. 

We should probably also advise David to trademark his "Happy Face" cappuccino before Eat n' Park gets hold of it and starts serving it with Smiley cookies.

Underreported - Hurricane Stan's Effect on Coffee Growing Regions

Bloggle reports on the aftermath of Hurricane Stan - the one that didn't hit the US.

Since the storm didn't hit us, it was underreported in our media.  But Doug offers some detail on the devastation in Central America and Mexico - his words especially gripping because he'd recently visited those areas.

The regions hardest hit by Stan are the highlands and lower slopes of Sololá, regions around Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan… the same coffee-centered communities that I visited last January. The village of Panabaj is gone... most of its residents buried, and thus they will remain, interred in the mudslides. San Juan La Laguna is forever altered by wide avenues of mudflows. Finca Dos Marias — high in the cloudforest of San Marcos — is cut-off from the rest of the world. Roads leading to the farm were treacherous at the best of times; now they’re impassable, where they still exist.

Doug asks that all of us do what we can to help this region through charities operating there. 

Sustainable Harvest and Coffee Kids have established funds to provide direct disaster relief to the victims of hurricane Stan — in coffee-growing communities and beyond.

We know - Aldo Coffee and just about everyone else on Washington Rd. (and Pittsburgh in general) has been collecting for Katrina for weeks , and we still have commitments into November to keep collecting for local Gulf charities that aren't yet seeing all that Red Cross money. 

But as Doug points out, Stan one hits home too - it's up to shops like ours to help farmers in coffee growing regions, so we hope you'll join us in offering some financial aid.

Our First Critical Review

David Stephens from the Dirty Portafilter blog and a regular on the Coffee Geek forums stopped in last night.

While we've had our share of customer testimonials, none of those comments were from people who regularly discuss coffee quality.  So we can chalk this up as perhaps our first critical review. 

Here's what David had to say about his experience.

All in all, looks like we passed muster, although there's still some tweaking to do.   Credit goes to Belle, who while being our newest team member, showed why you'll never get a bad shot of our Black Cat Espresso.

In addition to consistently providing the best service and experience we can, our goal remains to get all of our baristas to the point where they could compete in the regional barista championships if they wanted.  Andi and Lois appear to have already reached that point, with Steve and Cara right behind.  Which makes sense since those four have been with us the longest.  Everyone else continues to practice and get better each day. 

Melanie has been talking about having an in-store competition later this year to give all our baristas a flavor of competition.  Hopefully when that happens, David could assist us on the judging panel if he can make the trip from Dayton.

I-Factor and Tangueros de Ley This Week

The I-Factor improv troupe will be back here this Thursday, October 19 from 7:30-9:00.  There is a $2 cover.  What major literary work will they cover in one minute this week?

Ernesto is back from Argentina and will bring both his accordian and vocals as he rejoins Jeremy and Anastasia as Tangueros de Ley performs on Saturday, October 21 from 8:30-10:30pm.  There will be a $5 cover, which includes a small coffee or espresso drink.  And Ernesto swears there will be tango dancers this time.

If you have a previous calendar with Tangueros playing on Friday, we made the switch to avoid the Mt. Lebo v. Bethel Park football game that night.  Not that you're not welcome to come on Friday... but it'll just be Therese and the CD player. 

There Is No Such Thing As "Panini Bread"

We swear that ad agencies for national chains - and the chains themselves - must think we are really, really stupid (although the case could be made that the agencies themselves are).

If you or your kids are trying to learn a foreign language, discussing the menus at some of these chains can be an educational experience.

Case in point - Panera Bread is running an ad campaign where they talk about their "panini sandwiches".   

This is wrong on a couple of counts.  First, in the Italian language, the technically correct definition of the word panini is "little breads".  Pan = bread, ini = plural of the masculine diminutive suffix ino.  That's covered in the first couple of weeks of Italian 101. 

If Panera Bread was trying to say "little bread sandwiches", they should be using the singluar descriptive, not the plural.  But what they're saying in their ads is "little breads sandwiches,"  which hurts the ears of anyone who's Italian or knows something about the language. 

Second, after World War II, the concept of the sandwich became more universal throughout Europe, courtesy of our GIs.  The Italians had no word for "sandwich" so panino took on that definition as well in the common vernacular.  In fact, there is still no other word or synonym in Italian that means "sandwich".  Thus, if panino = sandwich, then Panera Breads' use of the plural "panini sandwiches" really means "sandwiches sandwiches".

Sounds dumb, eh?  It's simply panino, if you're talking about one, or panini in the plural.  No need to add the word "sandwich".

(We should note that the typical Italian panini you'd find in Rome or Verona or Genoa are pretty simple - a meat, a cheese, a veggie, a spread, if that, often just one or two ingredients, but very good ingredients.  Point is, they're not overstuffed American sandwiches. And they're not necessarily grilled.  Panino are served both cold and grilled - and some Italians consider grilling as "hiding the true flavors".  Regardless, Italians don't worry the South Beach diet). 

To be fair, it's not just Panera Bread.  Taco Bell has been abusing the term "carne asada" for years when they talk about their "Carne Asada Steak" tacos.  Carne asada is roast meat.  Carne = meat, asada = roasted.  That's it.  There is no "set" recipe for carne asada, although just about every recipe we've seen includes chile and cumin.  Even the meat itself isn't fixed.  The beef used might be skirt steak (traditional) or flank steak or top sirloin or even bottom round.  But it's just wrong to say, "roast beef steak" (I lived in Mexico for awhile and made this mistake myself the first week).

We're sure you can find other examples of ad agencies and their clients mishandling foreign languages.  If you have any, please send them along via the "comments" link below.

Oh, and if it needs saying - there is no such thing as "panini bread".  Traditionally, the "pan" in panino has meant "roll" - these might be round (paisano-style), oval (baguette-style) or flat (like ciabattina) but foccacia is used at times, as are other breads.  Thus, panini can be made on any bread:  baguettes, ciabatta, foccacia - or wheat, white, rye or pumpernickel if you're so inclined (although it's unlikely you'll see those last two in Italy). 

Traditionalists may argue about using sliced bread for panini, but with the increasing worldwide popularity of panini, more types of breads are being used in panini preparation in every large Italian city in order to accomodate diverse tastes.  There is a cousin of the panini - the tramezzini - which are tiny snack sandwiches made with white bread with the crusts trimmed.  These are often served as appetizers with drinks. 

So next time you see a restaurant or sandwich joint or bakery that advertises "authentic panini bread", ask them what official measurement they used to determine their bread is small enough to be "authentic" and what old-world ingredients they use make their bread taste like "panini".  Then stop back here and share what they told you so we can all get a chuckle.

UPDATE: There's a new restuarant opening on Banksville Road this winter with a big sign outside that says, "Wood Fired Pizza and Paninis".  Arrrgh!

Rolling Scones Tonight

The Rolling Scones return to Aldo Coffee Co. tonight for an evening of traditional Irish jigs and reels.

8:00-10:00
No cover, tips graciously accepted

Ken Bott returns tomorrow evening of Cabaret Aldo Piano Bar. 

Next week is I-Factor (Improv comedy) on Thursday and Tangueros de Ley on SATURDAY.  We have moved that date so it doesn't conflict with the Mt. Lebo vs. Bethel Park HS football game next Friday night.

Oh, as a followup to Tuesday's post, we had more requests for the 9th St. Beef today... that's like a dozen requests in just four days.  More than we had all of August.  Someone actually took Melanie aside to vehemently complain about its removal from the menu.

But still no pickets outside.