Aldo Coffee Company

A Brief Interruption...

We were going to adjust the laser on the roaster to calibrate with the FRS specs when we inadvertantly shorted a wire. Which resulted in what's probably a blown fuse. Problem is getting to the fuse is a bit beyond our pay grade.  Messing with capacitors that hold a 400V charge even when not powered up is not in anyone's job description here.

So while we're figuring out whether we should just get a new power supply or try something really stupid like replacing the fuse, we can't roast coffee.

With Saturday being our busiest morning of the year thanks to the Halloween Parade, we've pretty much blown through all the Stumptown coffee that should've lasted until Thursday.  We didn't order from Intelligentsia last week, figuring we'd be roasting our own to replace that coffee (we did place a contingency order on Thursday that'll be here Monday, but it's only for Black Cat espresso, not drip).

What to do, what to do...

Some Social Commentary

So Pittsburgh was just rated by CNBC as the #1 City to Relocate.

Coming from a food perspective, it's always interesting to see how visitors to Pittsburgh perceive our local food scene.  So here are some selected links we bookmarked for posterity (and for our own giggles):

Kjsass via Huffington Post

Meghan via Urbanspoon

daviddennis via epinions.com

Those are in particular order of evolution. Kjsass seems to want a 5-star dinner outside her door 24/7.  Meghan started out all hot and bothered but calmed down once she tuned in to some neighborhood spots. And David ventured far and wide throughout the area to find things he liked (which seemed mostly Asian in nature).

From our perspective, we love what's happening with food in Pittsburgh.  It's evolving and getting more interesting all the time.  And it's only going to get better as more people from outside the region move here.  We're guessing it won't be long before we have our own tweeting taco trucks, more regional Indian/Pakistani and Southeast Asian places, more head-to-tail bistros, close-to-authentic Central/South American offerings, maybe even a resurgence of Eastern Euro. Anything but more mediocre chains.

Why a Bad Cup of Coffee Will Cost More

On a percentage basis, you can expect significantly higher increases for Exchange Grade coffee in the coming months than you will for Specialty Grade coffees, particulary those souced via Direct Trade.

The reason for this is that Exchange Grade coffee is subject to the ups and downs of the commodities market which affects whatever is available, whereas Direct Trade coffee is a fixed contract for that year's crop.  It's a bit more complicated than that (e.g. the role of speculators), but for the most part, that's why chains and coffeeshops that source primarily Exchange Grade coffee are panicking about having to raise prices in the midst of a recession (which will also affect supermarket coffees).

Here's a great explanation on the differences between Exchange and Specialty Grade coffees from Gimme! Coffee: They Drive the Market.

And a different take from former World Barista Champion James Hoffman: The Specialty Coffee Crisis.

It shouldn't need to be said again, but we source only Specialty Grade coffees through direct trade programs like those from Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Atlas' Relationship Program and Sweet Maria's Farm Gate.

Brad Asks "Why Did You Buy a Roaster?"

Brad, a regular customer, asked the following question in the comments section to another post.  It's a great question and we felt it deserved it's own post.

BRAD: I'd love to hear why you've decided to roast your own beans. I bought a great bag of pre-roasted coffee from you yesterday, and it's fantastic coffee. So I'm wondering, could it really get that much better? Or are their other reasons for investing in your own machine?

Last night we did three different two-pound roasts of an Ethiopian coffee to the exact same color.  The roast profiles differed in how fast we heated the beans and how slow we developed them after first crack.  The times of the roasts ranged from 12:56 to 15:41.  We're going to cup them tomorrow and talk about the differences in the cup.

While it seems that doesn't answer the question, it really does.  We're going to be talking an awful lot about the coffees we're roasting in the coming months, along with what we're learning and how having the roaster in-house is adding to our learning curve and helping us further develop our own ideas on how to best represent the coffees we've chosen to offer here.

What He Said

Tony Dreyfuss of Metropolis Coffee in Chicago just explained their roastery's decision to discontinue french and italian roasts in a much more diplomatic way that Rich is capable of doing.  So ignore all of Rich's posts on that subject and just watch this.

Hey, Where's Our Masthead?

Typepad (the platform this site is built on) is all sorts of goofy right now. Woke up to find our masthead was missing. Problem isn't on our end. Enjoy the big maroon box above.  For current operating hours click the link on the top left.

UPDATE: appears to be fixed.  something odd about how we had to go about doing it (figured it out on our own). had to recall our root domain instead of aldocoffee.com to pull it off. not that anyone cares :-)

A Great Discussion on Acidity in Coffee

Must reading:  "Do You Really Like Acidity?"

Nothing against all the other World Champion Baristas out there, but James Hoffman remains at the top of our list not just for the actionable advice and terrific product he puts out there, but also for the introspective questions he asks of and about our industry.

"Acidity" in coffee is often misunderstood. Many of our own customers confuse the term with coffee's (caffeine's) sometime association with stomach acid. But that's not what we're talking about. 

Rather, it's "acidity" as a flavor/sensation component and how that does/doesn't add/subtract from what you're tasting in your cup.  Does it present itself as a pronounced "sourness" or does it lend a vibrant "brightness" to the cup, enhancing other flavor notes while providing a pleasant sensory experience?

How To Drink Coffee

Yeah, we know a lot of you still aren't ready to just give in to the wonders of black coffee, but that's not going to stop us from trying to convince you.  Here's a great post from some Denver-area baristas on converting to an unadorned cup of black:

How To Drink Coffee.

It's On a Truck

Our month-long wait for the roaster that was supposed to be here mid-September seems about over.  We have a bill of lading. It's on a truck.  Unfortunately we still don't know when that truck will get here, but we're delighted to actually have progress! 

UPDATE: It's supposed to arrive Friday between 10a-3p. The challenge will be getting a 1500 lb box over the curb.  We're going to try and reserve the two spaces on the south side of the store as we hope to unload it directly onto the cutout part of the curb and roll it uphill from there - which should take three of us - and even that may prove difficult as the sidewalk is not a smooth surface, nor is the curb area we'd be unloading to.  Wish us luck and strong backs.

UPDATE 2: It's here.

Good Luck to Tour de Mt. Lebanon Riders

It's not a race as much as it is a scenic ride given all the hills en route, but this morning's 1st Annual Tour de Mt. Lebanon is one more thing that helps separate our town from the staid subdevelopments to the south.

We were up at 6:30am to brew a few gallons of fuel for the several dozen riders taking part this beautiful morning. And happy to do it. Congratulations Eric and Mt. Lebo officials for a great idea and addition to our "cool" community.  We hope it continues to grow in coming years.