Aldo Coffee Company

The Argonauts: The Loudest Band Ever to Play Here

These guys are great - excellent musicians, energy and fun.  You have about 45 minutes from reading this post to get down here!

The Argonauts.  They're coming to Easton and NYC next.  Catch them if you can.

Free cookies and EPs, too.

Happy Leap Day - Have a Cookie! (And don't forget Ska tonight...)

An extra day should be celebrated with extras.  So we're celebrating Leap Day with some little extras at the store - every coffee or tea purchase today gets a free cookie! 

We've got lots of 'em - Sonja made some South African zoetkoekies this morning.  We've also got a batch of vegan anise/pignoli cookies and pralines for this afternoon, and later on, Mexican wedding cakes.

Speaking of later on - the Argonauts are in town bringing their high-energy third-wave ska to our place tonight at 8pm.  They've sent us a stack of demo CDs and band stickers.  Take one and enjoy!

Phil's Passion

This is why Phil is loved by everyone in the local coffee community.

In a similar vein, we were compelled to verbally spank the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune yesterday for the following comment:

If you’re selling coffee to customers, I think it’s a good idea to focus on the coffee customer experience. But I also grow a little weary of everyone having passion for something. I don’t expect anyone to have a passion for making a cup of coffee any more than I expect them to have a passion for getting a biscotti out of a jar.

Party On

From the murky party friday night at Coffee Fest. 

Several Pittsburghers make appearances including Sonja (on a computer no less), her hubby Grant and daughter Clara, Drew from The Vault, Matt from LaPrima, our own Johnny and the back of Rich's head.

Breakfast In Bed Being Served This Morning

No, we're not coming to your house with a tray of coffee and pastries.  But this morning Belle and and Lois are prepared to serve a different kind of "Breakfast in Bed"

What we're talking about is our interpretation of the wildest signature drink from this year's Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Competition and the one we enjoyed the most - Jay Caragay's "Breakfast in Bed".

New UK Report: "Fair Trade" Not Helping Poorest Farms

This from African Agriculture, regarding the newly published report "Unfair Trade":

Tom Clougherty, policy director at the Adam Smith Institute, said: "At best, Fairtrade is a marketing device that does the poor little good. At worst, it may inadvertently be harming some of the planet's most vulnerable people. There is nothing wrong with being concerned about the working conditions, wages and environment of workers, but we don't believe Fairtrade is the most effective model. They make assumptions about agriculture in the developing world - that they must be small farming cooperatives, but this is just not sustainable if countries are to develop."

Our coffee roaster, Intelligentsia, developed a different model, called Direct Trade (TM), that addresses most of the weaknesses of Fair Trade, especially in the area of sustainable practices.

The more you know...

Good Luck to Starbucks This Afternoon

There is a lot of fuss over Starbucks' planned closing of all its US stores for three hours this afternoon (beginning at 5:30pm) for the purpose of retraining some 135,000 partners on "how to make perfect espresso".

Maybe the training will make a difference. to the company's declining stock prices, maybe it won't. But that doesn't mean training is a bad thing.  Or, as some imply, a useless thing.

Does this Mean We've Officially Become a "Third Wave" Coffeehouse?

Third Wave Ska is coming Washington Road in the persons of the Argonauts.  Direct from Ska Central in Bowling Green, Ohio.  This Friday, 8pm.

Barista Now Smells In Multiple Dimensions

Belle, John and Rich were tasting a spec roast from a local roaster this afternoon, which resulted in the following conversation:

Rich:  There's something in here like an oily viscosity.
Belle:  I can smell exactly what you're talking about!
Rich:  I'm talking about viscosity.
Belle:  I KNOW!

Seems that bowling trophy has bestowed new powers on our regional champ - the ability to smell dimensionally.  She also is confident she can taste many colors.  Next up, we're offering her to government scientists to see if she can detect time in a cupping exercise.

As in, "I think that's got some bagginess, a lot of ferment, and yeah, a hint of quarter past four.  PM."

Today's Challenge: Make a Quiche from Signature Drink Components

We're taking a break from sanity for the afternoon to do something that's never been done (or at least it's not on Google) - we're making our Sunday quiche using Belle's, John's and Sonja's competition drinks as the ingredient list.

Which gives us:  chocolate, sea salt, olive oil, almond, orange, millefiore honey, half and half, rose syrup and San Pellegrino water in addition to Black Cat espresso.  We're adding eggs (it is quiche, after all) and probably some fresh strawberries, which would be in the spirit of Sonja's "Rosa/Love" drink.

What we ended up doing was incorporating the almonds (and some pecans) in the crust.  The chocolate, orange, half and half and honey (and more pecans) went into the egg filling.  The rose syrup and olive oil were used to coat the strawberries on top.  A ring of Trapani sea salt was added for design after baking was complete.

Never did figure out how to use the San Pellegrino.  Plus, there's no espresso in the quiche itself.  You'll have to order that on the side.