Aldo Coffee Company

Geography Lessons at the Supermarket

This has nothing to do with coffee except to point out that it's important to understand what you consume.

Was at the Giant Eagle in Bridgeville this afternoon to buy some fish for dinner.  There I encountered some fillets with a sign that said, "Chilean Atlantic Salmon".

Needless to say, that was a head scratcher.  Chile has plenty of coastline.  But none on the Atlantic.

Figuring this was some faniciful name designed to obscure something questionable, we Googled it up upon returning home.  Not good.

Went looking at the tea aisle to see if they had roll-your-own teabags.  They didn't.  But they had a brand of chai called "Pacific Chai".  It was manufactured by a company called Pacific Foods.  Made sense since chai is such a big thing in the Pacific Northwest, and the biggest selling brand of chai in the US is, of course, Oregon Chai.

Then again, Pacific Foods is headquartered in Midlothian, Virginia.

Perhaps this is what they mean when they talk about the "global market"?

Measuring What's in the Cup

We had an interesting encounter with a customer over the weekend.  The customer had ordered a double espresso and was disappointed (to put it mildly) by the volume of liquid in his demitasse.

This same customer called us on Monday to speak to an owner.  He related his version of the encounter with our barista.  Towards the end of the conversation, after telling us that he wouldn't be back because we didn't know what we were doing, he noted that, and I quote:  "I've been to Italy and I know what a double espresso is."

We consider that an interesting comment because many of the best roasters, baristas and cafe owners in the world don't agree on what an espresso is, let alone a double. 

Well, we're confident we do know what we're doing regarding espresso.  We may be guilty of not conveying that information effectively.  So let's try.

Our shots currently pour at a little over 3/4oz.   The precise quantity may change one or more times each year, but over the past 2+ years has never been less than 3/4oz nor more than 1.25oz.    Remember that coffee isn't wine.  It's much more dynamic, affected by green bean storage climate, packaging, time, roasting processes and other factors. 

As the Black Cat espresso we use here at Aldo Coffee is a blend of several coffees, that's a lot of moving parts to work with.  Ensuring consistency at the roastery is extremely challenging.

In Praise of #2

The official results are in.  We didn't win AOL's poll for "Best Coffeehouse". 

We came in second.

While it's indeed disappointing to not finish as #1, finishing as #2 the first year we were included in the poll is something for which we're proud.  We thank the hundreds of customers who took the time to register votes for us.

In hindsight, there's a lot to be said for #2.  Here are a few points to consider on the merits of #2.

- You can do #1 almost anywhere.  But you seek out a comfortable, clean place for #2.

- A good #2 allows you private time to reflect.  You can even read the newspaper or do a Sudoku while enjoying a #2.

- #1s are usually fleeting.  A #2 will linger for awhile.

- A #2 tells a trained professional what's really inside you - what you're really made of.

- You could step into a #1 and not realize it.  When you step into a #2, you know it.  And so does everyone around you.

- Getting #1'd has a negative connotation, often implying bitterness.  However, being #2 is now considered something very good. 

- And, as noted on this blog many times, the most expensive coffee in the world is, well...

So we'll take being #2.

At the end of the day, while we're still #1'd at AOL for not abiding by their own rules, we're happy for the guys at the The Vault (that's Drew of The Vault at left).  They're good guys and many of them are coffeegeeks themselves like we are.  While it would be a travesty to have some of the milkshake shops at the top of the list, there are no complaints here about the top three on this year's poll.

And that's no #2.

Something Brewing Downtown

For a number of years now the La Marzocco Linea (like ours) has been the industry standardbearer for quality in espresso brewing equipment. 

A couple of years ago an engineer from La Marzocco split to form his own company, Synesso.  In building the machine, he used a ton of input from top baristas in the Pacific Northwest, most notably David Schomer of Vivace.

The resulting machine has been a hit with "A-list" baristas because of features like independent boiler temperature control, exposed groupheads, a lever for preinfusing the puck, a lever instead of a knob for controlling the insulated steam wands (many of these features are also shared by La Marzocco's new GB5 model).

And now Pennsylvania has its first Synesso Cyncra - in downtown Pittsburgh no less.  It's at the Caffe Intermezzo kiosk in the Frick Building.  Luke and staff are still learning about it, but the shots are already syrupy and delicious.  With one group optimized for Black Cat, we look forward to seeing what Luke has planned for the other group.

This Week's Featured Coffees

This week's featured coffees include:

Kenya

Organic Sumatra

Tres Santos Colombia - a Direct Trade coffee.

In addition to these featured coffees you can also have a cup of our Aldo House Blend of Full-City roast Latin America beans, decaf Aldo House Blend, Black Cat Espresso blend, decaf Black Cat and Organic French Roast.

All of the above were roasted on Wednesday and are available in whole bean or ground to order in one pound bags (Aldo House Blend, Black Cat and Organic French Roast also available by the half pound).

Another Reason to Hate AOL, It Seems

After exchanging emails with AOL, we've learned this evening that they do not intend on respecting their published deadline regarding voting for AOL CityGuide "Best Of",which includes of course, "Best Coffeehouse" in Pittsburgh.

AOL's representatives haven't come right out and said that we didn't win, but as we were in first place at the published deadline of 3pm but not at midnight - the time they now claim to be official - we expect we won't be named the winner.

Regardless what happens, we thank you for giving us a strong showing.  Every time we reminded y'all to vote, you did.  Our only mistake was telling everyone that the voting ended at 3pm.   We all probably could have continued voting until the AOL site ceased taking votes, but we simply figured they'd roll back the voting to the 3pm deadline.

We do not wish to disrespect any other competitors, but we consider what AOL is doing to be extremely poor policy and a huge disrespect to everyone who went to AOL to vote in the "Best Of" survey.

How a company with billions in assets and one that is a supposed technological leader does not possess the software capability to (a) lock down voting at the published deadline, and; (b) failing (a) above, rollback the voting to 3pm, is beyond us.

Their official winner will be announced on Monday.   

Featured Coffees Week of January 21

Featured coffees this week (roasted Jan. 17): 

La Perla de Oaxaca

Kenya

We offer these featured coffees as drip until noon or as press pot anytime. 

As always, our Aldo house blend, decaf house blend and Organic French Roast are available as drip or press pot anytime.

Joy Ike Tonight, 8pm

Our 2007 live music season opens tonight with local favorite neo-soul pianist/vocalist Joy Ike.

Since she last appeared here, Joy has released a new CD, "Before These Words Were Ever Spoken", which according to the CDBaby notes is, "about the things nobody wants to say but everybody knows."

Joy says:  "Before these words were ever spoken they still existed; but no one wanted to hear them unless they were twisted. So now here it is. This is how it is. The people you love, the people you hate are just like you. Beautiful and broken too…and searching for God."

Show starts 8pm, ends 15 minutes before close.  Free admission - but always tip your musicians (and baristas) well.

Governments and Meter Maids

Anybody who's parked here on Washington Road knows we have someone checking our meters who's similar to this character as described in this nationally distributed column.

She's an extraordinary woman, a legend in these parts. No sooner does a meter pin drop and the meter "expire" than she is there. Park beyond the white lines? She'll nail you 15 bucks for that. Dare to park one second beyond the two-hour limit? Another 15 bucks.

And 15 minutes of fame for our local meter maid?

Civet Cats Smarter Than Humans

Why oh why do people continue to talk about kopi luwak (and I guess we're now guilty too).

Anyway, our roaster's green bean buyer and world traveler, Geoff Watts, adds his two cents on cat poop coffee.

The only thing you really need to know is in #4 on "Fun Civet Cat Facts".

Thanks to Steve Johnson's "Hypertext" blog at the Chicago Trib.