Aldo Coffee Company

World Barista Championships Begin

Tokyo isn't normally a city one would connect with coffee drinkers, but it is the host for this year's World Barista Championships, which begin in earnest today and wrap up on Thursday.

Last year was the first time that a US champion cracked the top three (Intelligentsia's Matt Riddle).  This year's US barista champion, Heather Perry, has her work cut out for her as she learned only this week that Japan has banned the little CO2 cartridges many baristi use for their whipped cream dispensers.  Naturally, Heather has used these dispensers in her routine until now... there's a work around, but according to Nick Cho's notes, it's not pretty.

Current and past national champion baristi from Europe and North America have their own blogs where they discuss their anticipation and strategies for competing.  But what's especially cool about the WBC this year is the blogs from other areas of the world that talk about coffees and relationships that have nothing to do with top shops in the US. 

Improving the quality of coffee being consumed is a passion that is shared worldwide.  As Edwin Martinez notes, the World Barista Championship is not just a competition on who can brew the best espresso, it's a community event where growers, roasters and baristi from around the globe can meetup and exchange notes and ideas to further the progression of coffee excellence.

Swan

We haven't posted any latte art in a bit and we wanted to get John a bit of exposure as he's a terrific barista and we've been negligent in getting new barista profiles done. 

So we asked John to do something so we could include a photo of him in the new website banner we're doing... and he poured this.

A swan.

Btw, the 2nd Annual Aldo Coffee Latte Art Contest will begin later this week and run throughout August. 

Photos will be posted in the shop beginning next week and you're invited to vote on best rosette, best heart and best "freelance".

Now With Off Site Catering!

We've hosted a few private events at the shop in the past 2.5 years, but until this morning we've never done anything outside the shop more than delivering a few airpots of brew and some bagels.

Sylvia and Chuck (Frank's folks) gave us an opportunity to make fools of ourselves for a post-wedding breakfast at their house.  At one point, when a ill-constructed pyramid of juice glasses began falling apart less than five minutes before guests arrived, we were thisclose to shards galore on the floor.  But we caught ourselves, quickly moved the glassware and managed to avert disaster.

Four quiches, a bunch of bagels (with three spreads, tomato/caper salad plus two kinds of smoked salmon), a couple dozen fruit turnovers, eight gallons of coffee, tea and juice, and 50 sated guests later, we were busy cleaning up.

Now all we need is a van.  With our logo on the side, of course.

P.S. As the hosts had about a ton of cookies and cake leftover, we were treated to a dish of the best pignoli cookies we've ever eaten.  We learned that Sylvia made them herself, so, given she's a Bourdain fan, we traded our copy of Kitchen Confidential for the recipe.  Of course, since we did that we can't find our copy of the book to give to her... we loaned it to somebody who must've forgotten from whence it came...

More Ways to Enjoy Espresso for People Who Don't Know If They Like Espresso

We're going to be introducing a new drink this week - the Shakerato.

The Shakerato is a popular drink in Europe and can be found on cafe menus from Italy to Scandanavia. 

At its most basic it's simply espresso and ice shaken together until the crema foams up.  We'll be offering a menu of three different Shakerato recipes:

1.  Traditional (double espresso and ice)
2.  Shakerato Aldo* (double espresso shaken over ice with a simple syrup flavored with star anise and served with a lemon twist)
3.  Chocolate Biscotti Shakerato (double espresso shaken over ice with milk and chocolate and hazelnut syrups)

All Shakeratos will be served in a 5 ounce martini glass. 

Now that we have martini glasses, we expect to be introducing a happy hour soon!

The Shakerato is a delicious way to enjoy espresso, whether or not you're an espresso fanatic.  They're not often seen here in the States, but are an integral part of the Italian/European cafe culture, particularly during hot spells.

* A shout out to 2004 World Barista Champion Tim Wendelboe who gave us the idea for the idea for a star anise syrup with iced espresso.

No Reservations About Durian... Fishheads Another Thing Altogether

While promo for the upcoming "No Reservations" movie is in full swing, we're looking forward to the "real" thing:  the new season of Anthony Bourdain's cult hit show on the Travel Channel starts on Monday.

We caught up last night on a couple of shows we missed first time around: Indonesia and Russia.  There have been numerous posts and articles written about how Bourdain is the perfect host for these foodie travelogues - he's capable of making almost any destination and food seem appetizing. 

Even durian.

We've been hearing about the wonders of the custardy durian for awhile now, but due to its reputation as the foulest smelling fruit on Earth, we weren't going out of our way to try one (and we know of nowhere in Pittsburgh that offers them for sale.)

But now we're intrigued... Bourdain suggests it's similar to a ripe stinky cheese.  And we already know we can do that.

On the other hand, the show that followed NR last night was one we hadn't seen before - Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.  Last night's show was filmed in remote outposts in Alaska and featured dishes of whale fat, seal soup, some fishheads that get buried and left to rot for a few months and an ice cream-like concoction of berries and fat.  During the rotted fishhead portion of the show, Zimmern commented that those delicacies also were reminiscent of stinky cheese.

Now, we're firm believers in whatever gets you through the night and the cold nights of Alaska certainly require level of sustainability due to scarcity, a fatty diet and creative use of a limited palette of ingredients.  But while we're open to durian, the fishhead thing... not so much.

That said, it would be interesting to start a local club of folks willing to try their hand at cooking and serving some of the recipes from these shows.  If you're up to it, contact Rich by using the Email Aldo link at left.

And if we can find a durian, we'll host a tasting.

(As an aside, we noticed that durian is notably absent on the list of competitive eating contests done to date ;-)

P.S.  On the previews of the coming season of No Reservations, Bourdain has an entire show dedicated to Cleveland (airing 8/27).  Now, we know of Michael Symon's (who recently lost to Morimoto on Iron Chef) landmark restaurant, Lola.  And we've had one of our top five meals ever at the Cleveland Ritz Carlton (back when we had money, lol).  But a whole show of No Reservations in Cleveland? 

We need a response - a campaign to get Bourdain to Pittsburgh for Season Five.  Stay tuned...

The Ubiquitous NYC Diner Cup as Mosaic Clarion

This photo was on Seth's blog this morning.  Following the link, we learned that the story is about "street mosaics" with how-to lessons (you can almost hear the chorus mumbling "Only In New York").

We're more inclined to ask about the message.  "Drink Coffee and Destroy".  Sounds alarming.  Threatening, even.

Is the message a tip to evil superheroes that drinking coffee will increase their dark powers?  Or is it an enviro-message that the cups (or the coffee inside) are harmful to the planet (not our Direct Trade coffees, however.)

Or is it simply a sign that the artist themself had consumed too much sugar in his "regular" NYC diner brew?

If you know what this means, please share!

Jazz Rhythms of the Saints Concert Saturday

Wanted to do a shout out for Lee Robinson - an Aldo Coffee crowd favorite - as he'll be leading a unique concert this Saturday featuring rarely-heard African-Brazilian music.

Jazz Rhythms of the Saints is a music ensemble that performs Afro-Brazilian music influenced by the African descendants who live in Brazil and the United States.  The rhythms and songs contain acknowledgement of the deities from the African Orishas, a system of worship that Africans brought to the Americas.

The concert will be held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 105 Gateshead Drive in McMurray (across from the Bob Evans).  Tickets are $10 and must be purchased in advance at Our Redeemer (724-941-7467) or at St. Paul's Episcopal Church (412-531-7153). 

Starbucks Might Be Coming to Mt. Lebo. Woo Woo!

We saw this on Professor Mike's blog:  Washington Park Moves Forward

“We have a contract pending for the sale of three units. Starbucks has expressed interest in coming to the site. We’ve talked to a few boutique grocers."

Well, since Starbucks had to close that store in the Forbidden City, they gotta move somewhere else, right?

If Starbucks is serious, then we welcome our new Double-Ristretto-Venti-Nonfat-Organic-Chocolate-
Brownie-Frappuccino-Extra-Hot-with-Foam-and- Whipped-Cream-Upside-Down-Double-Blended slinging overlords to the neighborhood.

So what's with our happiness?  Well, turns out that pretty much when a Starbucks moves in, business in nearby coffeehouses actually improves. Well, at least at the well-managed ones.  That aren't in China.
 
Seems a bit odd choice of real estate for Starbucks though.  Their location would make them essentially the last shop in the business district heading downtown.  And the cops and fire folks across the street already have their own coffee. 

We always thought Starbucks would be coming to Uptown (rumor has it a local landlord outbid Starbucks several years ago for the old Quiznos location where the new karate school is), but having studied Starbucks' real estate division, we figured they'd be far more interested in the areas closer to the schools as well as on the commuter side of the street. 

Anyway, we don't play Paul McCartney here, so they've got that going for them.

Seriously though, the grocery store concept is one we hope works out - provided said grocery store carries things the entire neighborhood needs, not just the well-to-do condo dwellers.  You know, like tomatoes ;-)

And hey... wine storage in those condos.  Now there's a selling point.

Mexico: Don't Blame Us for Taco Bell

This has nothing to do with us or coffee or panini.  But since Rich lived in Mexico for a year, he's all but manic with giddiness, calling this the best snippet of food news he's heard in this young century: 

The Mexican government is getting serious about educating "norteamericanos" about what is - and what isn't - authentic Mexican.

Turns out, by Mexico's own definition, Pittsburgh offers very little in the way of authenticity.  Taco Loco used to qualify before they started doing burgers and "Mexican Pizzas" in their new digs.  Azul in Leetsdale would probably pass.  But your neighborhood combo plate joint wouldn't. 

There might be others, but we haven't heard of them (yeah, we like the chilequiles at El Campensino and they're the best combo plate in town we've had... but they're not what Mexico considers authentic.)

We don't know if any Pittsburghers were among the 50 restauranteurs the Mexican government flew in for this campaign, but we hope some of the existing restaurants, or maybe some folks in Beechview or another neighborhood are listening.

We think Pittsburgh is ready for the real thing.  Bring it on los hermanos!

Panzanella Is Back: Tomato Season is ON

We've made a couple of minor menu changes this week:
1.  The Muffuletta is being retired (for now). There's one wedge left if you hurry.
2.  The Club Aldo bread is changing from ciabattina to slices of sesame semolina and the cheese is switching from the Fontina to a mild provolone.
3.  Most importantly - PANZANELLA IS BACK!

Tomato season is upon us.  For the next 8-10 weeks we'll be offering our version of the Tuscan favorite. 

In our current version of panzanella we're using locally-grown tomatoes (right now from Simmons Farm, but other sources down the road), mozzarella, croutons from Mediterra Bakehouse sesame semolina bread, capers, onion, fresh basil from our patio, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, balsamic reduction and extra virgin olive oil.  We may add/change ingredients as we go forward.