French Press Phun

Yeah!
I was doing some random coffee-interweb-research the other day, and stumbled upon an article on Coffeegeek about the "Tim Wendelboe" method of doing french presses. I was extremely interested to see how, if at all, this would effect the flavor and other variables. It was hella slow the other day at work, so I decided to make a little gauntlet, if you will, of different french press preparations with the same coffee. That coffee was the ever-so-tasty Hermosa Reserva, from Finca Vista Hermosa, curtosy of my boys down at Barefoot.
From left to right, we have.
1. Regular French Press. 4 min steeping time.
2. Wendelboe method. Initially saturate the grounds, cover with a saucer, and let it steep for 3:30 mins. Then scoop the crust off, then press.
3. French Press, with another filtertration after initial brewing. 4 min steep time.
4. Wendelboe method without scooping off of crust. 3:30 steep time.

We used a standard 20 oz press, with each press having 43 grams of coffee, with a starting water temperature of 197 F.

The results ranged from typical to outstanding. In a regular french press preparation, the coffee was as I've always tasted it: extremely balanced, clear acidity, notes of meyer lemon, subtle strawberries, hints of chocolate. The Wendelboe method had much of the same, but clean in a way that I can only describe as "Clover-esque". Obviously, no sediment whatsoever, and tasting between a regular press and the Wendelboe was akin to chewing gum with the wrapper still on, and having the best artisinal gum you've ever had. The double filter press was somewhat in between, and the un-scooped Wendelboe tasted like somebody fucked up your press on purpose.

In my opinion, it does take relatively little effort to transport the delicious french press to new flavor territory. Next up to bat is the Wendelboe method with different brew times, gram amounts, and water temps.

-bza

LIKE A 10,000 POUND.... FIST!

Hey.
Sacramento drivers who don't stop at stop lights: I ask you, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?! Seriously, do you think the rules dont fuckin apply?
Let me lay out a scenario:
I'm rolling down 26th St, going under the 1-80/Highway 50 underpass, pretty much. I've had the green for more than a few seconds. I'm doin near full speed. As I'm quite familiar with Sacramento drivers, I get as far left as I can, to peak at the oneway traffic coming from the right. I'm leaned forward to get a good look (bad decision). I'm 15-20 feet from entering the intersection at my designated time, when I spot out of the corner of my eye, a truck going full speed, entering from the right. Instincs kick in, and I throw on the brakes. Well, I end up doing a full gainer over my handlebars. Luckily (or, unluckily), my feet fly out of my cages. I land face first in the middle of W St, and skid a good few feet. I hastily look around for more traffic, and more importantly, my bike. Half a second later it comes crashing down on the back of my head, giving me a nice 5 inch gash. The light turns, and traffic doesn't stop: Oh no, these cars simply GO AROUND me. I'm laying in the intersection, bleeding from the back AND front of my head, BOTH arms torn down, hobbling with my bike to get out of their way. The only person who ever thought to stop and ask if I was ok was... yeah, you guessed it, another person on a bike. I waved them on.
So, long story short: Not only did some complete fucking dickless retard run a blatant red light, but other drivers, atleast a handful, passed by a bleeding man in the street.
Man, I can't believe that I belong to this race sometimes.

Updates much?

Fuckin A I've been busy.
Anyway, on the coffee front, T2 is barreling forward like a wayward locamotive powered by the energy of the collective coffee consciousness. In short, its going really well. Over the next few months, I personally have a few things that are pretty cool:
1. I will be partaking, once again, in the Millrock Latte Art Competition up in Seattle at Coffeefest, which happens the end of this month. It will also coincide with the NWRBC, so I can scope out what everyone is doing this year, and try to get a feel at who (albeit a small sample) I will be facing off against at the USBC next year.
2. Oh yeah, I'm competing again this year. I'm currently talking with my boy Rudy (Rotsko at Barefoot) to see if we can come up with a "so-sick-that-it-will-knock-the-poop-outta-yer-butt-then-it-will-flush-itself" SO light/dark profile blend with the Amaro Gayo, which should be fucking dope.
3. I might (more than likely, actually!) be going to Uganda in November, to, you know, go to FUCKIN AFRICA and visit coffee's actual home!
I've included pics of some practice pours I did the other night. I'm feeling pretty good. Any thoughts or insights, or constructive criticism from the two people that read this blog is always much appreciated.


Pace!
-bza

Getting the farts pounded out of you.

Hey yall.
We had a great Sacramento Barista event on Saturday. It included an awesome cupping flight of Barefoot, Ritual, Old Soul, Verve, and Ecco. All was tasty, with the Guat Finca El Injerto from the Padre standing out in my mind. This month's event was all of the representing cafes (Temple, Old Soul, Chocolate Fish, Bloom) pulling espresso and generally just fucking around.

And yes, I've been hella fuckin busy (270 hours within the past 4 weeks), so thats why the updates have been few and far between, but here are some pictures from this past weeks event.

Holla
-bza

The same damn Lewinsky jokes over and over

HEY!
This week, I threw Papua New Guinea on bar. The Tribal Aromas is a goddamn amazing coffee on its own, with a heavy yet mellow body, sweet notes of papaya, banana, and other tropical fruit, and slight spice in the finish. As an espresso, its more of the same, and pairs well with milk.
As far as our party on Saturday goes, it was off the hook! Two kegs, 13 bottles of wine, lots of whiskey, and lots of pizza. Thanks for everybody that showed up and chilled with us.
Also, the big boss and I finalized the training schedule for the next 6 weeks. Almost every single day until Sept 3rd, there will be training of some sorts. We will have 10 staff members with less than two months experience out of a total staff of 20... damn.
Finally, I've added some links to some people you should check out. Local shit, coffee folks, and just randomness as well.
One love
benza

ps. plus a smokey pic from the training bar.

Diarrhea Mustache

So,
In case you haven't noticed, I've been pretty damn BUSY since we opened the doors on the new Temple. The response thus far has been great... considering we did a soft open in the middle of a Sacramento Summer. Soon, new baristas will be trained, the hours will expand from 6-6 to 6-11, and we'll start roasting.
Before I forget, we bought a car last night! 97 Subaru Outback Sport. Pretty low miles, some cosmetic damage, but hey, it works like a fuckin dream. 2900 out THE DOOR!
Anywho, there has been some awesome Sacramento coffee community shit happening the past few months: Old Soul and Chocolate Fish have been holding cuppings. Everything considered (new location, new house, etc), I haven't been able to go... UNTIL THIS LAST SATURDAY. And lemme tell you, I think the wait was worth it.
Not only was Andy and Edie (chocolate fish) there (along with several staff members whose names I unfortunately forgot already), but Andrew Barnett and Drew Cattlin from Ecco came up to represent, Sarah and Lucas from Bloom also partook... along with 15+ other Sacramentans that just love coffee!!!
The cupping also included four brewing demonstrations: Lucky on the Mellitta Pour Over, Drew on the Siphon, Lucas on the Eva Solo, and yours truly on (what else) the French Press.

It was a huge fuckin blast, but damn it, my camera ran out after I took all of THREE FUCKIN PICTURES.

Stay tuned for Temple Classes, new training, and possibly me going to LA to do shit with the SCAA/BGA.
Wacky

First Day

Word.
Finally opened the doors on this beast, and have gotten non-stop people since 6am. Here's some pics.