Aldo Coffee Company

Win a $20 Aldo Coffee Gift Card

The entries to our 4th Annual Latte Art Competition are up on the wall.  Grab a ballot and vote for your favorite rosetta and freeform design. 

Voting will run through Labor Day (September 7).  One completed ballot will be selected at random to receive a $20 Aldo Coffee Co. gift card.

That's better odds than the PA Lottery ;-)

Exact Change Will Be Inexact Come Thursday

Note to those of you who come in with exact change for your drink...  as of tomorrow, it will no longer be exact.

A few weeks ago we bumped the prices on the dessert drinks.  Now it's time for increases to the standards - coffee, traditional espresso drinks, tea and chai.  We haven't had an increase on those items in nearly 2.5 years.  It's long overdue.

So here's the deal for tomorrow.  If your exact change is all you've got, that's good enough.  But come Friday, you'll need the new amount.

Checking In On Clara

Clara is slumming her way around London at the moment, touring the city's top coffeehouses among other things.

Before leaving we had set her up with some contacts and told her about the bizzaro world of Ultimate Barista Fighting Championship - a monthly showdown of baristas at James Hoffman's Square Mile Coffee.

Round 2 of the UBFC happened on Tuesday and sure enough, Clara was in attendance (though not competing).  In this challenge, baristas have to spin a wheel with various latte art patterns and pour whatever comes up when the wheel stops.

It's all in good fun, and some contestants come in costume.

Clara's been invited back this Sunday to pull some shots with James, the former World Champion Barista at his shop.  Hopefully she'll remember what he shows her for when she's back on bar here come September.

We Must Be Insane Trying to Sell Coffee While Pittsburghers Want Sweet Drinks

Best of Pittsburgh 2009 has come out.  The editor's selections and readers poll favorites for food and drink can be found here.

Congratulations to Crazy Mocha (Best Coffeeshop) and Coffee Tree Roasters (Best Cup of Coffee: Cafe Caramel) for winning their respective categories in the Reader's Poll segment of the Best Of issue.

Perhaps it's backlash for our being an Editor's Pick for Best Baristas in 2007 and 21st Street Coffee being an Editor's Pick for Best Custom Cup of Coffee in 2008, but judging from the Reader's Poll winners, it's pretty clear that the average Pittsburgher just doesn't care for the taste of unadulterated coffee. 

Thankfully, most of our customers aren't average.

Hey, sweet drinks can be a delicious treat.  Just don't call it coffee.  It's dessert.

Latte Art Contest Deadline Extended

Due to some shift changes and vacations last week, we've extended the deadline for our staff to submit entries.  New deadline will be this Saturday so everyone has an opportunity to submit entries.  There are a couple already logged on the camera that are going to be tough to beat.  We'll post the photos next Sunday.  Customer voting will start once photos are posted and run through Labor Day.

Nicaragua Flor Azul In, Panama Machete, Honduras La Tortuga Out

The Nicaragua Los Delirios that many of you have been enjoying in press pots and Abids has been joined by another Nicaraguan coffee: Flor Azul.

This year's Flor Azul retains the crisp apple-like acidity of past years, with a smooth chocolatey finish. This is our fifth summer of featuring Flor Azul.  As one of Intelligentsia's longest-running Direct Trade projects, the fruits of the project just keep getting better and better.

We'll be featuring both Flor Azul and Los Delirios as our featured morning coffees for the next week.  Either can be enjoyed anytime as an individually brewed press pot or Abid.  We also have 12oz bags of whole bean for your home brewing pleasure.

For those who've enjoyed the Panama Machete (especially those of you buying two bags at a time!) we're down to six bags and there won't be any more.  Also we will not be replacing the La Tortuga after the current stock is sold out, which will likely be this weekend, so hurry if you want some!

Plug: Margaret's Fine Imports

Just wanted to plug Margaret's shop in Squirrel Hill.  She's an Aldo customer and every time we go up to Squirrel Hill to visit she's been a delight to talk to.  She's also a Mt. Lebo resident, so by shopping at Margaret's  you'd be supporting a local.

Had to go out there today to get some tea filter bags.  Wasn't risking downtown with all the hubbub from the various events that are causing traffic tie ups.  We talked about suppliers we share, the economy, tea, seasonal merchandise and even produce (Margaret even sells a small selection of fresh locally-grown produce!). 

Margaret is one of the warmest, most genuine people in our business.  While she doesn't brew tea in her shop, she's got an amazing selection.  If you ever get tired of what we're offering, we're certain she can hook you up with a tea that'll knock your socks off.

In My Mug: Durian

Linking this vid from Stephen Leighton's Has Bean as we get a shoutout and because the second half is pretty amusing.

Stephen watched our durian tasting video and decided to try one for himself.  As with Frank, Stephen ended up liking the taste (if not the smell).

Sidikalang Wrap up from Episode 37 from Stephen Leighton on Vimeo.

The durian part is from 5:10 on.  But the whole video is interesting to us as he's reading feedback from subscription customers on their own tasting experiences.  Even though the coffee being discussed doesn't seem to have won everyone over, it's great to see that Stephen gets the interest and feedback from folks who really take the time to experience what's in their mug.

Sunday Afternoon: The Laid-Back Coffee Shift

Weekday mornings are almost routine: regulars ordering their regular order.  Airpots of hot brew turning over every 30 minutes or so.  Lots of chai.  Most of the tea orders.

Weekday afternoons have little to do with coffee.  That's frappe/smoothie/ice tea/cold drink territory.  Lots of kids, lots of laptops.  Mt. Lebanon is not a big coffee-after-lunch town.

Saturday morning is the zoo.  We often do more business from 8-11 on Saturdays than we do in a full weekday.  It's a veteran bar shift who's job is to get quality drinks to customers as fast as possible.  People who only visit on Saturday mornings seem to think it's that way all the time.  We wish.  After lunch it can get pretty quiet.

Sunday mornings are a relaxed version of Saturdays.  Not as hectic as Saturday, and possibly the most "Eurocafe-like" daypart of the week - tables filled, customers enjoying quiche or baked goods with their cappuccino.

But it's the Sunday afternoon shift that seems to be the most interesting.  That's the time we seem to be visited by new customers or out-of-towners who are truly interested in coffee and espresso.  It's not too busy so we can have great conversations.  People are more interested in savoring a custom-brewed single origin from an Abid or press pot, or trying a Shakerato or signature drink.

As the focus of ourl staff training is on creating the best coffee professionals in town (not bakers, not sandwich cooks, not ice cream vendors), Sunday afternoons are perhaps the most gratifying shifts for our baristas as everyone on staff enjoys the opportunity to converse about coffee, use that knowledge to make informed recommendations and brew the order expertly. 

The slower, more laid-back flow of a Sunday afternoon makes this the perfect time to really get to know us and our coffees.

4th Annual Latte Art Contest Underway

The rules for this year's contest have been issued and the pours have begun.  Our baristas have a week to create a couple of masterpieces, then two weeks of customer voting and we'll have a winner by Labor Day.

While milk texturing skills and latte art pours are a requirement for working bar here (along with preparing consistently excellent coffee), our annual contest continues to be highly anticipated by the staff and customers.  It's also an incentive for everyone to do just a little bit better than their colleagues and learn some new pours.

This year's contest adds a new wrinkle as milk waste will be measured and whatever isn't used for the pour scores against the barista.

With two new baristas in the fold and former champions Johnny C and Lauren departed for "real" jobs, it's wide open for a newcomer or one of our veterans to take the top prize. 

Even Rich, who admittedly doesn't work that hard on pours involving more than a basic rosetta is out to win this year.  He's purposely tanked past the couple of years so that none of the "regular" staff would finish last, but has indicated he's not going to be the nice guy this time out.

We'll post the entries when they're completed next week.