Aldo Coffee Company

What a Night

... to forget the camera.

The dancers were really very good.  We had a packed house, SRO, some whom planned on coming, many others who looked in the window and couldn't believe there was belly dancing going on in normally staid Mt. Lebanon and were compelled to come in.

We have a request.  If you took some photos (and it seems many of you were), please email a couple of good ones to us, aldo AT aldocoffee DOT com.  And if you were one of the folks taking videos, if you plan on putting them on YouTube, please be sure to send us the link.

Thanks again Nancy for putting it all together.  I was happy to play DJ Panini Gee for your group.  Looking forward to doing it again in a couple of months.

Btw, we still have baklava left today - can't believe we forgot to put it out until quarter to ten.

Belly Dancing Tonight

A half dozen or so intrepid local belly dancing students will be gyrating around the shop tonight from 8-ish to 9-ish. 

It's Nancy's idea.  A neighbor and a regular, she decided to take up belly dancing last year and convinced her colleagues to come to our place and show off their abs. 

Nancy even made a CD for the performers.  We were listening to it Wednesday night.  It's pretty good, actually.  There's even a nifty Egyptian Hebrew rap song on it.  I'd play it in my car if I had a copy.

While our professional baristas will be turning out espressos, capps and lattes all evening (or tea if you prefer), yours truly (aka "the hack") will be on my two burner portable stove armed with some cezves, cardamom, brown sugar and some of our house blend ground powder-fine for some sweet, black Turkish kaffe.

P.S. Although the signs around the shop say, "Amateur Belly Dancing", that just means they're students.  There's no tipping and no poles involved.  And this is not a request for just anyone off the street to start dancing.  If you really need to get that out of your system, may we suggest the Sphinx Cafe and Hookah Bar on Carson.

We Got Hearted

We feel loved.

Thanks Lindsay for including us in your list of good things about Pittsburgh (or, as you noted, just outside Pittsburgh proper).

We're compelled to note that we're not exactly in Siberia.  The shop is a mere 10 minutes south of the Liberty Tubes by car.  Certainly close enough for hard core urban-dwelling coffee geeks.  And, as Lindsay mentioned, a half block walk from the Mt. Lebo T stop.

Sumatran You Wouldn't Know Is Decaf If We Didn't Tell You

A shipping mistake left us with a few bags of Intelligentsia's Decaf Sumatran.  We were supposed to get five bags of the high-test.

But this was a fortunate mistake.  As it turns out, late last week yours truly has been put on a non-caffeinated, bland diet (in other words, I temporarily can't eat anything I make at the store, nor enjoy our homegrown tomatoes and peppers), so I've been looking for some decaf that would fill the bill. 

While our house decaf and the Black Cat Decaf are both excellent decafs - probably the best decaf in town - I'd been drinking so much of the regular versions the past couple of years that the decaf versions just weren't cutting it.

Tonight just before leaving I was showing our newest hire, Catherine, how to brew a press pot.  Figured, what the heck, I'm taking a bag of this Sumatran Decaf home to try, let's see what it's like as a press pot.

Aldo Coffee Latte Art is a Mark Of Quality

Latte Art at Aldo Coffee is more than just a pretty drink.

It means the milk has been freshly steamed to bring out its sweetness and to include the proper amount of silky foam -- not too much, not too little.  If the foam in your drink has big bubbles you can pop with your finger, it's not good quality foam.

And it means the coffee has been freshly ground and brewed correctlyly, for the right amount of time, to produce delicious, rich crema and oils.  When brewed correctly, most espresso blends should offer sweetness, not sourness (underextracted) or bitterness (overextracted).

The Cho Knows 'Spro

Congrats to pal, industry good-guy and occasional Aldo mentor, Nick Cho, owner of DC/Arlington's murkycoffee, who won the Southeast Regional Barista Competition this weekend. 

Among specialty coffee retailers, "The Cho" has set an example of quality and professionalism that has earned acclaim from shops throughout the country.  Nick and murky can hold his own against any of the shops in the Pacific Northwest, as can many of his superbly trained baristi.

That said, at least year's MidAtlantic competition, which he hosted, Nick joked about having a "cafe owner's division" of competition. 

So... upon learning of Nick's win this weekend, Melanie began making noises about competing herself in April 2007, in addition to the Battista Baristas and whomever else is up for it. 

LIFE and Starbucks Miss the Key Point on Brewing Good Coffee: Freshness

The Saturday issue of LIFE magazine - you know, that really thin thing that comes with the Saturday P-G and feels like yet another ad insert - had a brief article on home brewing coffee that was, let's say "conveniently incomplete".

The article's source was Nicole Soley, "coffee education specialist" for Starbucks.

The blurb offered four tips for making better coffee at home:  (1) Measure Well, (2) Drink the Water, (3) Mind the Temp, and (4) Grind Right.

But by far the most important factor in brewing delicious coffee wasn't found anywhere in the article - USING FRESH BEANS.

Interested In Becoming a Better Barista?

We're hiring.  If you've got pride in your barista skills and want to be better, talk to us.

We are now hiring for someone who can do Thurs/Fri/Sat mornings, Mon/Tues/Wed afternoons and the occasional evening/Sunday shift.  Could be anywhere from 15-30 hrs/week total, depending on the person.

If you're working for a shop where they taught you any shot between 10 second and a minute is OK, cappuccinos should have globs of spooned foam and milk can be resteamed over and over again, we can show you how it's actually done. 

Our top people get decent tips and have the opportunity to compete regionally and, if good enough, nationally.  If developing your barista skills to the highest level is what motivates you, let's talk soon.

A Major Loss for Area Food Lovers

It's been mentioned elsewhere, but not loudly enough:  Roberto's is no more.

Yes, it was "way up in Bellevue" and we're aware that traditionally folks in the South Hills rarely venture up that way.  But when a city of our size can't support a pizza shop that was as uniformly excellent as Roberto's, that's not a good sign.

So now Ridgewood, New Jersey is the beneficiary of one of the top 13 pizzamakers in the entire country.

Roberto was an important figure in the nascent "slow food movement" here in Pittsburgh.  He did amazing things in his brick oven, including weekly tastings of traditional southern Italian treats that packed the house most Tuesday nights.

How do we let cooks like Roberto get away?  Why is it top culinary talent leaves here while more and more soulless chains move in - and then get rated on local top 10 restaurant lists?  What are we, Tulsa, Indianapolis, ORLANDO for crying out loud?  C'mon people.  We're better than this, aren't we?

Thankfully we still have Ron at Il Pizzaiolo.  For now.

Apologies for the rant. 

On second though, no, we're not apologizing.

The Free Wireless Works

We've been busy running a coffeehouse this past week so we weren't paying attention as to when Telerama would flick the switch from paid to free wireless, but it appears they did finally get around to it. 

Lindsay from I Heart Pgh was in the shop today and asked about the free wireless.  We honestly didn't know, so we just told her to boot up and see what happened.  Voila!  Free wireless.