Saturday Morning Coffee
Perhaps my favorite thing about Saturday is a relaxing cup of high quality coffee in the morning. I drink coffee all week long, but on weekdays it's usually Starbucks beans through a drip machine in my office—which is not quite as enjoyable as the work-free coffee I treat myself to on Saturdays. Don't get me wrong . . . I love and appreciate the weekday office coffee, but Saturday coffee really rockz. I usually make my Saturday coffee at home using a French press (pictured above) . . . and right now I'm making coffee with beans from a small roaster in Palmer Alaska, the Charter Blend from the Coffee Roastery—that my sister sent to me last month.
The past week's been packed full of interesting coffee information and I've been meaning to blog about it all week, but didn't get around to it until Saturday coffee time. So what did I learn about coffee this week? Well, for starters, there was this fascinating article in the NY Times about a new $20,000 coffee machine called a siphon bar that coffee houses here in the US have begun importing from Japan. The article was written by the son of a friend/former co-worker, who emailed to alert me to the very cool and impressive fact that it was her son's 50th article published in the NY Times. The article's written by Oliver Schwaner-Albright and is accompanied by a series of beautiful photos by Peter DaSilva. In addition to profiling the $20,000 siphon bar, the article also profiles another high-end one-cup-at-a-time machine . . . the $11,000 Clover, which is also growing in popularity among professional coffee makers around the US. Together, according to Schwaner-Albright, the recent growth in the popularity of these machines signals "the resurgence of brewing among the most obsessive coffee enthusiasts." The espresso method of making high-end coffee is still by far the preferred method among most coffee fanatics, but this article definitely makes me want to try some of this fancy new-style brewed coffee. Anyone know if there are any coffee shops in the DC area with a siphon bar or a Clover?
Although I don't know whether there's a siphon bar or a Clover in DC, I do now know of a very cool operation here in DC called Counter Culture Coffee. I have a very good friend living in Brooklyn, who not only made me the cappuccino pictured below last Saturday moring, but who is also my go-to source for all coffee-related information.
This friend of mine is studying and writing about sustainable coffee production and distribution full time and taught me a lot about the issue when I was visiting her last weekend. I'm not gonna go too deeply into what she taught me, because I want you to hear it straight from her—I need to bug her to do some guest blogging. But, in a nutshell, she was explaining to me a current trend toward cutting out the middle-people in sustainable, socially responsible coffee distribution. Much like I enjoy shopping at the farmers market on Sundays because I can speak directly with the farmers—and don't need to rely on an "organic" certification (with standards that are gradually being watered-down by big business that wants a piece of the trendy "organic" action) for assurances that a product was sustainably-produced—so too are some coffee lovers going directly to the growers . . . working directly with the growers to make sure the product is of the highest quality and to make sure that the growers themselves are being fairly compensated for their sweat and hard work.
This is where Counter Culture Coffee comes in—a coffee roaster with its home base in Durham, NC, but with a "Regional Training Center" here in DC (1836 Columbia Road NW, Suite 202, Washington DC 20009) where they hold a free "cupping" (coffee tasting) every Friday at 10 AM that's open to the public. I've never been to one—in fact, I just checked out the organization's Web site for the first time today—but I'd love to go to a cupping, so let me know if you're interested in joining me. The Counter Culture Coffee Web site is very nicely put together . . . very informative. Check it out. Happy coffee drinking, folks. Enjoy your weekend.
damn. that better be good coffee!!!
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There used to be a restaurant, a Chinese restaurant on K Street, MR. K's, that served coffee this way. They are no longer there and it looks like they didn't relocate in DC, but closed all together. They are open in NYC.
The Coffee is wonderful. I liked it so much more than the standard drip or espresso variety coffee drinks. Maybe your next trip to NYC you can look them up.
Here's the post from when I wrote about the place:
https://sseichinger.blogspot.com/2005/06/special-k.html
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Thanks for the tip, Scotte. I'm sorry I missed this particular siphon bar experience in DC. I'll definitely look up the NYC location before my next visit.
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that coffee machine is a down payment on a house!
but i love the last picture, food rockz man. the reflection is such a tease to your audience!
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Yep . . . you know me, cuz . . . "tease" is my middle name.
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So I've heard. The girls are still swooning on Edna Ave.
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Oh, I want to go to that cupping!Great post.
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The trick for me to make it to a Friday morning cupping is that my boss occasionally reads this blog . . . so a "sick day" strategy isn't going to work! Fortunately, my boss is cool and appreciates great food/drink . . . so honesty will undoubtedly be the best approach. No harm in using a couple of vacation hours on a Friday morning to learn a bit about coffee, right? Hell, I'll even bring some back to the office for my coffee-loving colleagues.
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Indeed, honesty is the best approach. I've just been cleared to take Friday morning (2/1/08) off to attend the cupping at Counter Culture Coffee. Anyone want to join me?
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Dang. I wish i could join you (going away). Maybe next time? I'm off wed-fri.
Let us know how it goes!
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Hey FRM,
I don't have class on Friday and would love to join you for the coffee tasting. Maybe your kind and generous boss would like to join us?
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Excellent! So far, you make the fourth member of our crew. Maybe we should all meet up for some quick breakfast somewhere in the Counter Culture Coffee neighborhood. I can't be swilling large quantities of Joe on an empty stomach! Whaddaya think?
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Yes, best not to drink too much coffee on an empty stomach. I am definitely in for breakfast. Let me know when and where you'd like to meet!
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So... how was it? I'm thinking about going this week.
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It was great! I wrote about it here. I definitely recommend it.
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Word is that Grape and Bean will have a Clover when they open (soon, in Alexandria).
grapeandbean.com
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Thanks for the tip, Lana. I hadn't seen your blog or heard about your coffee shop before I clicked through your comment here. I'll have to get over to 1st and R to check out out your place. Sounds like you're doing great things with coffee. I'm going to add a link to your blog to my blogroll. Cheers!
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Grape + Bean is NOW open and they do have a Clover which makes fantastic coffee. They are serving counter culture beans. Go check it out 118 South Royal Street, Alex, VA 703.664.0214
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hey you DC inhabitant. how are you??? just dropping by to say hello... you are too tempting with that good looking coffee.. i quit a couple months ago...so i'm gonna have to just look and admire...
B-
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Hey B . . . thanks for stopping by. I gave up coffee once . . . back in 2000 . . . for about 6 months. I don't know what I was thinking! Return to the dark side, B . . . return to the dark side.
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I appreciate your appreciation for coffee (and the coffee press). You should give a stovetop perculator a try. It's the closest to espresso you can get at home w/o having an espresso machine. We blogged about it awhile back if you're interested: https://neverfull.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/european-roast/
amy @ https://www.neverfull.wordpress.com
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Thanks, Amy . . . for stopping by . . . and for the tip on the stovetop percolator . . . and for tipping me off to your blog, which I hadn't seen before. I lived with a friend years ago who had a stovetop percolator . . . and visited a friend in Brooklyn two weeks ago who has one . . . I hadn't seen one in years. All of this together has me thinking that I should pick one up. They're certainly more affordable than an espresso machine. Cheers!
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They totally are! AND, they are super cheap... I think ours was $5.99 (it's ain't no high-brow kind, but it works!) In fact, I'm sipping some of my morning coffee now. Buy yourself some of your favorite beans and enjoy the strength. It'll def. put some hair on your chest if you are used to pansy-ass thin coffee (that's prob. not a good thing fro me as I am a lady). Cheers to you!
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oh! thanx for this story about coffee! and when i can expext you to write some best recieps of making coffe?)))
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i think that coffee's taste much depends on the cup itself, i mean on material: glass, china...
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