Aldo Coffee Company

Farm to Cup: The Slideshow

Some pals of ours from New Harvest Roasters, Cosmic Cup and Blue State Coffee went on a field trip to origin and came back with this simple yet excellent slideshow on how your coffee gets from farm to cup. 

It's so to-the-point and easy to understand, it's going into our own training library.

Thanks Benjamin, Troy, et. al. for putting it together and sharing.

MARBC Schedules Released: 9 Baristas From Pittsburgh Area

At the start of the month, we were only aware of one Pittsburgh-area barista who was planning to compete in this year's Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition, which is being held next weekend at The Meadowlands in Hackensack, NJ. 

It turns out our region will comprise about half the eligible field of competitors - 9 of the 19 in-region entrants will be from Western PA - including some old friends and alumni.

On Friday, five area baristas will give it a go: 
- Jessica Learish, Ironstar Roasting (Coffee Tree)
- Alexandra Szep, Caffe Amadeus, Indiana (daughter of Aldo alumni Andi Szep)
- Drew Von Arx, 21st Street Coffee & Tea
- Jake Leifer, Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea
- Josh Sklar, Coffee Tree Roasters

On Saturday, four more:
- Rachel Shope, Coffee Tree Roasters
- John Casamassa, Espresso Solutions (Coffee Tree)
- Sonja Schutte, Aldo Coffee Co.
- Amanda Paul, Fox Chapel Coffee Co. (Coffee Tree)

They'll be joining baristas from Washington DC, Annapolis and Philly to vie for the regional championship, several of whom are former finalists, so it'll be challenging to make it to Sunday's finals.

We're happy to see Coffee Tree (and it's various subsidiaries) is in this year, especially the return of Johnny C. to the stage.  We're sad to note that some other local shops decided not to participate this year.  We'll also note that the list of MARBC competitors is about 25% smaller than last year's competition at Cranberry.  Must be the drawing power of Pittsburgh!

There is still time for more baristas to enter last-minute registraitons.  Could this be the first-ever MARBC without a Jay Caragay sighting?

It's Gonna Be Like Reunion Week!

We were looking at being shorthanded next week when Sonja, Clara, Mel and Rich all head out to NJ for CoffeeFest and the MidAtlantic Barista Competition.  Due to other commitments, we were short staff on a couple of shifts.

For many other shops, that could be a problem.  But we're fortunate enough to have alumni who really want to get back behind bar.

So, if you come in next Friday and Saturday and find Belle or Lauren on bar, it's not a flashback.  The Battista Cafe makes its return next Friday afternoon with Frank and Belle on from noon-close.  On Saturday, Lauren gets her portafilter on for six hours with Jess, also noon-close.

And in New Jersey, among the competitors Sonja will be going up against?  Why it's Johnny C. himself, now representing West Mifflin's Ironstar Roasting.

You can take the barista out of the cafe, but you can't take the cafe out of the barista.  Or something like that.

Looks Like Direct Trade in Ethiopia is Back on Track

This post on coffeed would seem to imply that the new Direct Specialty Trading (DST) program in Ethiopia is working - the best lots of coffee appear to be fetching the highest prices. 

The DST program was recently put in place to address concerns from the SCAA and direct trade importers that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange's year-old monopoly on coffee trading was detrimental to the pursuit of continuing quality improvements and that it would 'mongrelize' the best coffees while financially rewarding lesser coffees.

Of particular importance to you and us, that Intelligentsia will once again be offering Direct Trade coffee from the region. As Royal Coffee also purchased some, it's possible Rich may also buy some for roasting at La Verdad.

Regardless, we'll be looking forward to tasting the fruits of this new program come fall.

Good news indeed.

PNG Makes Its Return

We're looking forward to Thursday when one of our first coffee loves makes a long-awaited return: Papua New Guinea (PNG).

During the first two years we were open, Intelligentsia offered PNG coffee.  The green coffee came from a strain of trees that had been transplanted from Jamaica's Blue Mountain region.  And the coffee shared much of the famed JBM flavor and balance, without the high cost.  Even if it wasn't pedigreed as many of Intelligentsia's single origin coffees were becoming at the time, it was still deliciously different and one of our favorites.

As Intelligentsia moved to making more/all of their purchases via Direct Trade, PNGs were discontinued.  There wasn't (isn't) much infrastructure there.  Geoff made his first visit to PNG in 2007 to pursue possible direct trade opportunities.  That process is ongoing.  The Agoga Estate we'll be offering is "direct trade in transition", meaning it's not quite there yet. But hopefully close.

The potential for Papua New Guinea is extremely promising.  As with Ethiopia, there are native heirloom varieties that are growing wild.  It's a topography and climate that should be perfect for growing wonderful coffees in the future.

We're looking forward to Thursday.

In other coffee news, this is the last week for the following coffees:

- La Verdad Guatemala Trapichitos
- Stumptown Rwanda Muyongwe
- Stumptown Colombia Las Vegas
- Stumptown Colombia El Jordan
- Intelligentsia Colombia Los Guayabos
- Intelligentsia Burundi Izikiri Ngoze

We'll be introducing a new La Verdad coffee - Colombia Montserrate - next week.  It will be the sole Colombian for sale for the next couple of months as both Intelligentsia and Stumptown's Colombian stocks have run their course. 

After a couple of weeks of tasting, we made a decision to stick with Stumptown's Burundi Bwayi over the Intelligentsia Burundi Ngoze.  And we're sticking with the Intelligentsia Rwanda Zirikana Bufcafe over Stumptown's Rwanda Muyongwe.  There are other Burundi and Rwanda offerings as well and we'd love to offer everything we can from these countries, but that's simply impractical.  So unless anything changes, we'll have just the one Rwanda and one Burundi.  The roasters indicated that supply of both should last into mid-March.

Above photos by Geoff Watts.

Again With the Decaf BS

Enough already. 

A customer came in Saturday asking about our decaf. Said her mother warned her about formaldehyde and that "Starbucks had the only safe decaf."

It's amazing that people still buy into the crap on websites from 'healthfood' charlatans and the ignorant people who parrot them that encourage these myths to continue circulating.  Using formaldehyde to decaffeinate coffee was made illegal in the US in 1985.  If you're still using coffee roasted pre-1985, you've got bigger issues :0

1) There are four main ways to decaffeinate coffee.  All of them are safe. We feature two of them - methleyne chloride (MC) and mountain water process (MWP).  The MC coffee is used in our morning airpots of decaf.  That decaf is a blend of specialty grade Ethiopia Harrar and Sumatra Mandheling.  We use the MC for that drip so we can keep the price the same as caffeinated drip AND it's the one process out of the four used that is most selective in removing caffeine from the bean while retaining all the good stuff that accounts for flavor.  The result is a better tasting cup.

It's true that MC is a less expensive way to decaffeinate and that it uses chemical solvents.  It's also true that almost all of those solvents have already been eliminated by the time the green beans are shipped and whatever traces are left evaporate during roasting.  The boiling point of the solvent is 104 degrees F and it completely dissipates at 170F.  Our decaf is roasted to 435F.  Any remaining solvent, if there were any, is vaporized during roasting and goes out the exhaust.

We also have two Mountain Water process coffees.  The Black Cat decaf espresso and a single origin decaf Honduras.  If you're still freaked out about the mere thought of chemical solvents, then order a decaf americano made with the Black Cat (which is the only way we make decaf in the afternoon anyway).  If you're buying for home use, then purchase the Honduras coffee.  We don't offer the Honduras decaf by the cup because there's not much (er, zero) demand for it.  And people seem to like decaf americanos better.

2) Starbucks decaf is primarily (to best of our current knowlege) decaffeinated via MC, not the Swiss Water Process (SWP) and has been for about a year now.  So how is it safer?  If you want SWP decaf, head to Caribou.

3) Swiss Water Process is a brand that mainstreamed the "water process" method.  They did a very nice job of developing their brand while promoting the 'purity' of water process vs. those scary chemicals.  When it comes to our society, emotional appeal seems to beat hard science every time. 

We wish them continued success.  However, of the available water decaf processes, our palates are much more impressed with Mountain Water (MW) Process, which is done in Mexico using glacial waters.  ("Mountain water" sounds much better than "Mexican water", doesn't it?).  The MW process leaves more coffee taste in the coffee.  Period.

4) You want scare tactics, we'll give you some.  The chemicals in flavored coffee are what you should be concerned with.  Many flavorings contain proplene glycol - same stuff that goes into antifreeze. Workers who handle it are required to wear gloves as it's a skin irritant. We could tell you more, but it's so much more fun to just put the scary stuff out there without the rest of the facts.

Can we move on to more enlightened discussions?

6 Large Dark Roasts to Go. And Use These Bottles.

The first time we heard this request, we thought the guy giving it was a bit nuts. And we weren't even certain we could fulfill the request according to the health code. But we did.

And we continued to dozens of times.  120 ounces of hot dark roast parceled between six empty sanitized bottles.

Sadly, it's an order we'll never hear again. We just learned that Jack Smith passed 11 days ago.

Jack first visited us sometime in the summer of 2008.  After a couple of visits we got up the nerve to ask what he was doing with all this coffee. Jack had oral cancer. He couldn't take coffee via the usual route, so he "drank" it through his feeding tube.

He'd show up once or twice a week with his bottles.  As our airpots didn't hold that much coffee, he'd patiently wait while we brewed another pot.  So we got to talking.

Sometimes his cancer treatments left him unable to talk much.  But on the days he could talk... boy, could he talk!  And we'd let him until he was too tired to go on. He'd been places, knew people and done things that were intertwined with some of the more interesting developments back in the 60s and 70s on the West Coast.  He'd known Jimi and Janis and Jerry and Abbie.  He'd even been on the bus (although he denied taking part of the proceedings). 

There were times when Jack came in that we'd want to lock the doors behind him so we could just sit and listen to his stories.  You never knew exactly where his tales would lead, what famous characters would make an appearance or what major event was the circumstance.  You just knew his was one-of-a-kind life and hoped he'd put all his thoughts into a memoir for posterity before it was too late. 

As the summer turned to fall and fall into winter, Jack had increasing difficulty talking and you could tell it was frustrating for him.  And then he stopped coming in at all.  We figured the worst had happened, but the a couple of staff reported seeing him the following spring. And then we bumped into him outside Aladdin's last summer.  He seemed in good spirits and voice.  Turned out his doctors had ordered him to quit putting coffee into his feeding tube and he resigned himself to following those orders.  He apologized for not telling us and we simply asked if he would just stop by every now and then to say hi when he was up to it.

We hope you're enjoying a nice cup of coffee up there Jack.  Wish we'd had more time to spend together.

Happy Valentine's Day

The pastry case is full of stuff Melanie worked on yesterday: heart cookies, individual heart-shaped crumbcakes, big chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate tart and red velvet cupcakes.

All this plus a roasted red pepper, onion and arugula quiche with pecorino romano and our standard baked goodies.

And, of course, some of the sweetest coffees you'll find in town, including three Colombias: Las Vegas (this week only), Los Guayabos and El Jordan, Rwanda Zirikana Bufcafe and Sumatra Gajah Aceh.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

So We're Competing After All

Sonja has decided to compete in this year's Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition, March 5-7 at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

While Melanie and I had planned to attend the CoffeeFest trade show, which is hosting the event, we were not figuring on having any competitors this year.  However, due to an illness, Sonja missed the opportunity to take part in last year's competition in Cranberry.  She said she wants to take one last run at it, bringing daughter Clara along as a competition volunteer, so Clara can "experience the experience" and perhaps catch the fever herself (Clara has already spent time with two World Barista Champions, so we think she'll be ready next year).

Given Sonja is a two-time regional finalist and two-time USBC competitor, we know she can be ready in time.  As she's also one of the fastest competitors out there (she's left more than 2 minutes on the clock a couple of times), it opens us up to a lot of possibilities regarding what can be packed into her performance.

We'll have decided on the final espresso by middle of next week.  We're working with one of our coffee suppliers on several single origins roasted specifically for this performance.  This may mean that the Hairbender is unavailable at times in the shop so we can use that grinder to work on Sonja's competition espresso. Apologies for that inconvenience, but it's for a good cause. (Black Cat will still be on bar).

As for the signature drink, a lot of work left to be done there.  But we have some ideas. Stay tuned.

Sometimes You Make the P-G Just for Showing Up

Fun read from Sunday's Post-Gazette on how much of Pittsburgh handled "Snowmageddon".

Frank got a few paragraphs.  Like most of us, he didn't have power, but made it in to open.

Frank Battista was luckier. He awoke at 5:45 a.m., took care of his dog, shoveled off his car and then drove from his Mexican War Streets home to help open up Aldo Coffee Co. in Mt. Lebanon at 7:15 a.m., where he's a barista.

It's a good thing he did: business was extremely brisk, thanks to a mix of regulars and others who'd trudged though snow-caked and largely deserted streets to find the lights on and coffee brewing inside.

"Our phone was ringing off the hook," he added. "We should have had, like a ski report, you call in and we say 'We have five lifts open.' "

For all the people without heat and power overnight, "This was a warm place to come to, that had coffee," Mr. Battista said. "Everyone's been very friendly -- just happy to have a place to go to."

Everyone made it in, on time.  Thankfully Frank has 4WD.  Jess walked, having left her car in the back lot Friday night.  It took her 90 minutes to shovel it out.  Sam walked a mile or so as the T was down (but got a ride home).  Sonja and Clara both trudged the six blocks from their house.  They were all our heroes for the day.