Filed under: coffee, travel | Tags: Le Petit Outre, Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City, Weiss Distribution Technique
…Well, I’ve been meaning to finish up the travelogue, so here we go. Waking up in Missoula, I saw the city for the first time in the daytime. It was a cold morning and espressomap.com had advised me that this was probably the last place for a while where I might find some good coffee. Le Petit Outre is a small bakery outlet and cafe in downtown Missoula. I arrived shortly after opening to get an early start on the road and it was already filled with locals enjoying their morning coffee. When I walked in there was a delicious smell of fresh pastries behind the counter. I almost forgot about the coffee and lusted after a nice looking apricot pastry. Deanne, the barista on bar, pulled me a couple of excellent shots of Vivace off their Synesso. I have to say, I think I liked them more than the shots I had at Vivace itself a few days earlier, but they were also more tight and ristretto’ish. Deanne mentioned she used to work at Lava Java and found her way to Le Petit Outre via espressomap as well. I was then on my way again, this time for Rapid City, South Dakota.
Driving out of Missoula, the interstate took me alongside the Clark Fork River. It was a crisp morning and mist was rising as the sun was cresting over the tops of the peaks of the valley. It was amazing passing through all these places I knew by name in old westerns. In Butte, I got off the interstate to follow a highway up where I could take a picture of me and the truck, the same picture used the Barista Magazine article. This highway also overlapped what is the continental divide and takes you up to Calgary if you continue north.
I stopped briefly in Billings Montana for some lunch and hoped to find a decent espresso somewhere. Earlier in the week I had googled upon a youtube video of a guy coming up to a small espresso booth and telling the owner: “I’ve had a lot of espresso in Billings and yours is the best one”. I didn’t manage to find him and ended up settling in for some of McDonalds “premium” coffee. I had never tried it and it just recently became available in Canada, accompanied by a huge marketing campaign. I had read a post on the roasters guild speculating on exactly what coffees Mac’y used in their “premium” coffee. What I did find interesting is that the coffee seemed to have a roasty note which would appease your dark coffee lover but also still had a lightly roasted brighter component for those who might prefer it.
The GPS directed me via older smaller state highways in the bottom east of Montana. These were the kind of parts where oldtimers would pass you buy in their 60’s pickups and wave hello to you… Is that you Uncle Jesse?… After a brief journey through Wyoming, I finally arrived into Rapid City, S.D., at a late hour. Rapid City is well known for it’s proximity to Mt. Rushmore, but amongst coffee lover/geek circles it is also famous as the stomping ground of John Weiss aka RapidCoffee, the inventor of the Weiss Distribution Technique. It totally escaped me that John lived here and I wish I had tried to make contact to say hello or at least find out where I might find some great coffee (apart from his house).
After checking in at my hotel, I wandered into town and somehow luckily found my way to an amazing restaurant called Corn Exchange. The chef owner M.J. Adams kept me entertained as I sat at the bar…”this place has changed, I mean there’s all these soccer moms now!” The food was delightful, It was nice to treat myself as this was about the mid point of my trip.
The next morning I was up early and off to check out Mt. Rushmore before continuing on to my next stop, Sioux Falls, S.D. But first I needed coffee. I headed down to the local Dunn Bros. Coffee who I had first encountered at one of their flagship locations last year in Minneapolis when I attended SCAA Conference. I walked in and it seemed promising given they had a Diedrich roaster on the premises. I ordered the lighter of the two roasts on offer, what they called a Medium roasted Kenyan. It was extremely disappointing, roasted a bit too dark for my liking and also brewed too weak. Oh well, it was my fuel for the drive to Mt. Rushmore and made its way into the cup John Lewis had given me. Before Mt. Rushmore, you go through Keystone, which was eerily bizarre given it was November and everything was empty and closed for the off season. The gentleman at the gate of Mt. Rushmore told me they weren’t open yet, given it was 7:3o in the morning. He said I was welcome to drive up and have a look. It was actually a really nice peaceful way to experience the grandeur of the monument. Places like Mt. Rushmore fascinate me, given it’s rich and controversial history both as a national patriotic symbol but also representative of the destruction of native culture in America. On that weighty sentence…next up Rapid City, S.D. to Minneapolis, MN, via Sioux Falls, S.D. to visit the guys (and girl) at Coffea.
Well, it’s official, my article for Barista Magazine is now online. I’ve been an avid reader of it for years and I’m so happy to be published by them in conjunction with the launch of the roastery.
Speaking of which, things are finally coming together. Ordering the chimney for the roaster was a 3 week ordeal by the time we figured out everything we need. Positive pressure double walled venting isn’t a normal item around these parts. In addition to being incredibly expensive, it also has a 4 week build time. In the end, other things have not progressed as
fast as I would like but we are looking good for opening the first week of March.
Last week we took down the wall between the two principal rooms in our space. A huge floor radiator came out to make way for a pair of industrial doors where our coffees and customers will enter. Subfloor was laid to make way for tiles that will come in a couple weeks. Electrical will get started and the first coat of primer is
on. Even more exciting is that the Diedrich, which has been spending the last 3 months in a green house, is making its way down in a couple days. I’ll be spending at least a couple days cleaning it, installing a manometer, adding a light kit from Diedrich above the trier and likely installing an extra thermocouple into the drum.
On another note, through some luck and good karma (after volunteering our pourover station at a fundraiser and giving away a coffee for a year auction item), we received a design package from a big design firm in Toronto. We asked them to help us design our bags. They were really excited by the project and presented us with 4 options last week. We have narrowed it down to two, each with a very different approach. Once we decide we’ll be sure to post a preview. Also look for a redesign on our logo.
Filed under: barista, coffee, roasting, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Diedrich, Mercanta
…Well, here we are, part three of my road trip with my Deidrich roaster. I won’t give away too much in this post because I’ve written an article about my trip home from Portland for Barista Magazine‘s Feb/March issue. However, I was limited to 1500 words and there’s room for some more detail in these posts.
My day started Monday at 7am picking up coffee from Mercanta’s North American warehouse. This was my first coffee purchase and very exciting. It also signified that my trip home was finally underway. I was picking up coffees that i had choosen after blindly cupping more than 30 samples: One bag of Kenya Thangathi, one Kenyan Makwa, Brazil Rodomunho, and some El Salvador Finca Suiza and Finca Alaska peaberry. Thankfully, Albina Press’ North Portland location opens early, and I said goodbye to Portland after a couple great shots of Hairbender.
I would be entrusting espressomap.com to help me find good spots for coffee on my journey. The drive out of Portland took me up the scenic Columbia River Valley. Little did I know that I would be following in the tracks of Lewis and Clark for a large portion of my trip. How fitting then that the two explorers were on the logo of the first cafe I would briefly visit: Dog River Coffee Co., in Hood River, Oregon.
I had emailed Jon Lewis, who I had read about in Barista Magazine and arranged to meet him quickly at Grinders in Spokane. Jon and his wife and kids were waiting for me in the parking lot as I pulled in. It was just warm enough to enjoy our coffee outside beside a little fishpond that Jon’s two girls were very interested in exploring. We talked about Jon’s experience running Bumper Crop Coffee out of Coeur d’Alene and what I was hoping to accomplish with my roastery. It was a pleasure and inspiration meeting with him.
During this leg of the trip I was hoping to have my roaster checked out at Diedrich manufacturing an hour away in Sandpoint, ID, who had built my roaster some 10 years before. Unfortunately, after playing phone tag back and forth during the weeks leading up to this trip, the timing didn’t workout for an inspection. It was really too bad, because just meeting everyone, especially their expert tech Naomi, would have been worthwhile.
Before I knew it, I was passing through the mountain passes of northern Idaho. Luckily, the weather was cooperative and the snow hadn’t hit yet. I had forgotten somehow that the sun was still going down early and each day I was moving further and further East into darkness. There is nothing worse than driving for 12 hours, and the last 4 hours or more being in the dark.
I finally pulled into Missoula. I didn’t know too much about it, only that it was a university town of sorts and that Jon Lewis was moving here to join Cup of Excellence. Had I known sooner that COE was based here, I might have tried to set up a meeting with Suzie Spindler the director of COE. Unfortunately, Missoula suffers from the same blight as many smaller cities…the sprawl of big box stores and malls on it’s outskirts. I seemed to pass through miles and miles of it before getting into my motel. As I was to discover, Missoula has a really great city centre. I managed to find my way into a pizza place in town. Eager for a beer, and surrounded by patrons with 6 packs on their tables, I ordered one. “I’m sorry sir, unfortunately we don’t have a “cabaret” yet. We are hoping to get one, you are welcome to bring your own”. A cabaret? Briefly I pictured a burlesque act…then I thought, maybe the “Old West” isn’t dead… next up, I leave Montana for Rapid City, SD right next door to Mt. Rushmore….
Filed under: barista, coffee, cupping, espresso, travel | Tags: Albina Press, cupping, espresso, Portland, Stumptown
…Next stop on my our road trip: Portland. First off, let me just say, when you are driving solo in unfamiliar territory, what a blessing GPS is. I’m usually a map only, always know which way is North type of guy. But the GPS made my travels easy and stress free. Having said that, I wasn’t aware that in the”avoidance’s” setting in the GPS, “Ferries” wasn’t selected. So the day before on my way to Bremerton, it had me drive down into a small town to catch the ferry across Puget Sound. Lesson learned.
I arrived into Portland at the “Thriftlodge” on Burnside. Maybe my GPS should have an avoidance for bad motels. Oh well, it was central, had parking for my cube truck, and was across the road from a pretty cool Restaurant/Hotel/Club: 
Doug Fir Lounge. The next morning I started with some an awesome omelet at Screen Door down the street on Burnside. I kinda hate dining alone, but at least they had a bar to sit at. Next I was off across the river into downtown to check out the Portland Saturday Market. To be honest, I couldn’t really get into it, but I wasn’t in the mood for shopping either. I think the only thing I even considered cool was the guy with the duct tape wallets.
Next I was off to Stumptown’s downtown location. I had an amazing shot of hairbender pulled for me. I was struck by the dark crema and the huge chocolate and caramel and citrus notes. Really loved the location as well. Gotta love them spinning vinyl!
I then walked over to the Portland Farmers Market at the entrance of the State University. I knew my wife would have gone crazy at the sight of the beautiful chanterelles that were on offer. I visited the guys from Cafe Velo who have a
pourover station as well as airpots that they french press (or as we call them in Canada “Bodum”) coffees into. I had what was soon to be some of the last of the El Injerto Bourbon left for the season.
The rest of the weekend was spent visiting more coffee shops. I had some really nice coffee and conversations at Albina Press with Kevin and Extracto with Chris. I was struck by the care and attention that baristas everywhere took preparing my coffee, without even knowing that I was into coffee, ometimes pouring a shot 2 or 3 times before they would serve me a drink.
I also visited Stumptowns Annex location for the public cuppings they do twice daily. I cupped some of the same coffees I had tried in Seattle. The Kenyan Gaturiri Reserve really shone. It is unusual for Kenyan coffees to bypass the auction system. This is Stumptowns first offering from Kenya via their “Direct Trade” program. What I found amazing at the Annex was watching and listening to the customers coming in. It has become part of the culture for people to come in and buy their freshly roasted coffee every week. They also seem to understand that coffee is seasonal and were ready and willing to try something different even though their latest favorite was no longer available.
My weekend in Portland was coming to an end. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Portland, sure I loved the coffee, but I wasn’t sure it was the city for me. Maybe I was just itching to get moving homeward and grumpy from all the noisy people wh
o stayed at my motel following a Vic Chesnutt concert across the road at the Doug Fir. I do remember passing by a shop somewhere on the East side with a big sign above saying “Keep Portland Wierd“. I think maybe that kinda summed something up for me…. Coming next the road trip home….
Filed under: barista, cupping, espresso, roasting, travel | Tags: Diedrich, Mercanta, Stumptown
Well, the above pictured map pretty much sums it up. In November of 2008 I flew down to Seattle WA to pick up my Diedrich IR12 roaster. It was a 2800 mile drive back, across some beautiful country and I had some exquisite coffees along the way.
Going to the west coast for the first time felt a bit like travelling to Mecca. I’ve read for years about Stumptown, Albina Press, and Vivace and even sampled some of their coffees but there is nothing like visiting them in person. After landing in Seattle I picked up my Penske cube van (I was told that Uhauls were a bad idea) and valiantly but nevously drove my big truck into Seattle to get my first west coast coffee. My first stop was Vivace at their newest location across from the REI store. I had sampled their Dolce and Vita espresso blends a few years back. I can’t remember which one I prefered at the time but one of the blends has a very distinctive “funk” clearly evident of Monsooned Malabar in the blend. I’ve played with MM in blends at home over the years
and can see how it can be interesting in a blend but its really not my favorite.
After visiting Vivace, I managed to visit both Stumptown locations, finishing at the roastery. Luckily I was early enough to participate in their daily public cuppings. I chatted with their roaster, Wolf, about my trip and we cupped numerous coffees including a beautiful Maragoype from El Injerto in Guatemala. I loved the idea of regular cuppings involving the public. I think it is a perfect way to introduce people to experience the complexity of coffee and connect them to the whole seed to cup chain.
The next morning I met up with Leah Warren of Mercanta Coffee at Victrola Coffee. Mercanta just recently set up North American warehousing for some of their coffees. I had the pleasure of sampling some of the coffees, including a beautiful Kenyan Thangathi, before I left on my trip and I was meeting with Leah in person before picking up coffees from their Portland warehouse.
I had the pleasure of spending the rest of the day training with Chris Davidson of Atlas Coffee Importers. I first met Chris at a roasting workshop in Minneapolis at SCAA conference. At Atlas’ training facility we cupped like crazy, and roasted a bunch of coffees for single origin espresso and also played with blending. One highlight, if you could call it that, was Chris exclaiming “Hey, here’s your defect” as we cupped a Sumatran. It’s so rare to find defects in specialty grade coffee and I gleefully came over to experience rotten fruit taste myself.
I woke up the next day filled with excitment. The big day was finally here. I was off to Bremerton to pick up my roaster from Phil and his wife Leah who run Ootopia coffee roasters. They had decided to buy a bigger roaster, an IR24, for their wholesale roastery. I spent a few hours with them, hearing about thier experiences in the coffee business. It was good to get Phils perspective, especially reminding me that passion and ideals are great but in the end, it is a business and the numbers have to work in order to be sucessful. Loading the roaster into my truck was interesting to say the least. Their neighbour had a forklift to help get it into my truck and it just cleared with 3″ to spare. They handed me the awesome old school manual for my roaster and off I was for Portland, but that is another story…
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