Aldo Coffee Company

The NYT on Decaf - It's Getting Better

2010-03-10T09:59:02-05:00

As someone who's been fighting GERD for 20 years, I've long been interested in a better tasting decaf. When coffee is part of your daily job, you drink a LOT of caffeine. Finding a good decaf to enjoy away from the job would be a godsend.

Today's article in the New York Times suggests those decaf coffees are already starting to appear or will be soon. A focus on tasty decaf is indeed long overdue.

Taste is one reason we've abandoned Swiss Water Process coffees. No matter what the country of origin, whenever we took three coffees from the same area and blind cupped them side by side, the SWP would always lose to Mountain Water Process (MWP) and methylene chloride (MC). It was simply flatter, something we've noted before on this blog.

Decaf drinkers may have noticed that the flavor of your morning cup might change a couple of times a week. That's because we've been testing a bunch of decaf coffees this month, both as single origins and blends. I'm working with an MWP Brazil for LaVerdad that I've been blending with various MC decaf coffees to get something I'd drink daily. We've been alternating decafs in the morning airpots to get feedback.

Meantime, we recommend a decaf cappuccino or Americano made with Decaf Black Cat or the decaf Finca El Puente Honduras coffee from Stumptown done as a pourover. Both are Direct Trade coffees.

We love Peter Giuliano's quote in the article.

“We have a special obligation to the decaf drinker. Those guys are the true believers. They’re not drinking coffee because they need to wake up. They’re only drinking coffee because they like the taste.”

And yes, decaf is more expensive for us to purchase. We've never passed that cost on. But as we work toward bringing you decaf that's every bit as tasty as 'regular', that might change.

First Pittsburgh Coffee Society Cupping Here on Friday 7pm

2010-03-09T16:21:46-05:00

The newly formed Pittsburgh Coffee Society was established to get coffee professionals and die-hard enthusiasts together under one roof in order that we can collectively improve our professional skills.

The PCS will be hosting cuppings, triangulations and other palate development exercises here and at other coffeehouses in the region.

Any and all coffee and/or food/beverage professionals are invited to attend. It's free of charge, although donations for supplies are appreciated.

This week's cupping will feature at least three coffees - a Colombian, a Burundi and either a Rwanda or PNG. We may also do a triangulation depending on how many are coming.

If you're interested in attending, please comment below or drop us an email (aldo@this site domain).

Best Coffee Conversation of the Century (so far)

2010-03-09T09:33:17-05:00

One month ago a conversation was begun on James Hoffman's blog on the merits of naturally processed coffees vs. washed process coffees.

It's still going on.

The naturals vs. washed conversation is kind of a 'big deal' subject as it pertains to everything - consumer preferences, specialty coffee education, farmer income, environmental responsibility, sustainable agriculture, demand vs. supply, pricing... you name it.

In short, the general contention is that washed coffees are more sophisticated, consistent and representative of the 'specialty coffee ideal', but use far more resources (especially water) to produce. Naturals are more 'wild' tasting, are easier for customers to differentiate and understand, but are less consistent in quality, thus more risky for growers - however, at the benefit of requiring fewer resources to process.

The conversation involved every part of the supply/demand chain: consumers, industry gadflies, baristas, retailers, roasters, green bean buyers/importers and resellers, and perhaps most importantly, growers. We were treated to perspectives on what retailers thought their customers wanted, what roasters/buyers thought was good for the industry and what growers think is sustainable for them.

It's a fascinating look at the specialty coffee industry and how our opinions differ within the industry. It's also quite the education and should be required reading for every barista and roaster.

We imagine Geoff Watts will be talking about some of this when he comes to Pittsburgh on the 24th.

MARBC/CoffeeFest Recap: How We Spent Our Weekend

2010-03-08T10:34:45-05:00

OK, so DC whipped Pittsburgh's butt again. But Pittsburgh beat Philly, so we've got that ;-)

Much as it would've been great to see Drew or Jake win the thing for Pittsburgh, we're really happy for Jeremy Sterner, your 2010 MARBC champ.

We first met Jeremy and Bethany Sterner three years ago at the MARBC when he entered as a barista from Caffe Pronto in Annapolis. He finished 3rd and decided to go to the USBC but was let go shortly before that competition (thanks Nick for the correction). He decided to compete anyway as a freelancer and had to scramble for equipment, supplies and coffee. A bunch of us pitched in to provide what we could. And the Sterners became friends.

Jeremy hooked up with Peregrine Espresso shortly thereafter, came in fourth at last year's event in Cranberry (but 2nd in our book!), and now he's got the 1st place hardware. To top it off, he also won the Millrock Latte Art championship earlier on Sunday, which pays $2500. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy or a sweeter couple. Congrats Sterners!

If there's an out-of-town shop worthy of emulation in Pittsburgh it would be Peregrine. All props to Ryan Jensen who not only elevated the old murkycoffee space into DC's best coffeehouse, but also for his continued contributions to the competitions as a volunteer, judge and an owner who's assembled an amazing team of talented folks that exemplify what the craft is all about and is willing to invest in them.

The Peregrine crew is a team. And while the awards are individual, you know Randy and Grant had a part in Jeremy's win and Jeremy and Grant had a part in Randy's 3rd place trophy. And both Randy and Jeremy had a part in getting first-timer Grant into the finals. It's a great thing to watch their camaraderie. One of the best moments was when Jeremy bolted from seat to give Randy a bear hug after Randy finished his finals performance. Like we said, it's a team.

While the MARBC and CoffeeFest are obviously about coffee, for us it's become much more about hooking up with friends we've made over the past five MidAtlantic competitions (and three Northeasts). It's touching when some of the kids we've met/judged/hosted come bounding over for hugs. We seem to have become some kind of unofficial aunt and uncle to a few. We love hearing about what the kids are up to - Sam Penix is now running Everyman, Anne Boatner is opening a shop at her college, Peter Droste started an espresso service company, And so on. It's great to see them advance and take on bigger roles in the industry.

Of course it's also fun to mix with folks closer to our age group. Coffee Tree's Bill Swoope is always fun to hang with and his dad, Bill Swoope Sr. was generous in picking up our tab for burgers Friday night while regaling us with wild stories about his trips to origin.

CoffeeTree and its various subsidiaries entered the MARBC for the first time with five competitors (including Johnny C.). While they didn't make finals (it's hard to do first time out), all of them also exhibited the kind of camaraderie that will do them well in future competitions. The CoffeeTree crew looked like they were having a ton of fun and did well in their performances while making a bunch of new friends and earning the respect of peers. We're hoping to see them again next year. And Johnny, true to form, upon learning he wasn't in the finals volunteered for machine maintenance on Sunday. He's a pro's pro.

Andi's daughter Alex Szep finished 4th in the Millrock Latte Art competition and also competed on the MARBC stage. She's all of 17. Watch for her in the future.

Melanie, Sam and Barista Magazine's Sarah Allen got into some serious discussion about why such a high percentage of barista finalists are guys over drinks that eventually made it to some ears from the SCAA. There's more to that story regarding the reactions to, but you'll have to ask Melanie.

We're disappointed we didn't take up Anne and Neil's invitation for tacos in their Brooklyn neighborhood. An escape from the chain food that was all around us would've been welcome, but at our advanced age, it gets tough to hang out late into the night every night. Besides we wanted to spend time with Sonja who was heartbroken over her performance slip up. So it was Cheeseburgers In Paradise over margaritas. We introduced the Schutte family to fried pickles. As we pass through NY often enough, we hope to accept their taco invitation later this year.

We got to spend some quality time with Jay Caragay, Mike Love and Troy Reynard (who gave us a wonderful pizza recommendation for our ride home). Mike is growing a ridiculous beard for a competition in Norway next year. He had some wild stuff to share about making espresso popsicles with his new 30-quart liquid nitrogen tank, as well as creating a signature latte that involved sous-vide french toast. Jay is Jay. Troy's annual Easton barista jam will now be in Providence with New Harvest Roasters this June.

Got to finally meet Jason Dominy. Ben Wilkinson is looking an awful lot like Kenny Loggins these days. Got a brief explanation of happily-married and "Muncied" Chris DeFerio's sig drink for next week's Great Lakes regional. He's a gifted storyteller in addition to a great barista, so that should be interesting.

I eventually got onto the show floor to get some questions answered about the Ambex at Kiva Han that I use for roasting our LaVerdad brand. Turned out I'm not as dumb as I thought. We've got some interesting and exciting developments on the LaVerdad front that I'll report on later once we confirm everything. And we tasted espresso made with Dippin Dots. No crema, but surprisingly not offensive - more like Aeropress than espresso though.

Great seeing Bob Garver again - he's almost got me convinced to go to Boston and judge again (but for the hotel costs!). Also got to catch up with Daryn Berlin, Phil Proteau and Peter Giuliano of Counter Culture (oddly about the only roaster we didn't talk with was one we use - Intelligentsia). No coffee event is complete without seeing Liz Clayton, who was running the Aroma Challenge (you identify aromas commonly found in coffees using a fragrance kit called Nez du Cafe). Melanie beat me at it, but I'm claiming a sinus condition. Gimme's Lance Nichols won the challenge, getting 13 of 18 correct. And pretty much everyone agrees 'toast' doesn't smell like that.

As far as the venue, let's say we're looking forward to having next year's event anywhere else. It's a long drive. And it's New Jersey, where a wrong turn can cost you a half hour. The competition room was cramped compared to previous events. Turnout was tiny compared to last year's competition in Cranberry. If it's not coming back to Pittsburgh, we'll take DC or Baltimore or even Philly before having to go back to the Meadowlands.

It's good to be home. Only one question - almost all the snow in the NYC area has melted. Why is there still a foot in our backyard?

Sonja Out, 2 Pittsburghers in MARBC Finals

2010-03-07T09:31:48-05:00

You just never know. For the first 13:30 of her performance, Sonja was killing it. Shots looked good, cappuccinos looked good and the presentation was heartfelt and emotional. The scoresheet reviews confirmed that.

Then a brain cramp. After skimming the crema off her final set of shots for her signature drink, she was supposed to add the remaining espresso to a puree before frothing. Instead, she frothed without the espresso and started layering the puree on the first two drinks. She caught herself, but in trying to compensate for the mistake, forgot to use all the espresso.

Perhaps flustered at the error, the last minute just went downhill.

As there wasn't 1 ounce of espresso in each drink, the judges had no choice but to give her zeroes for that part of the performance. Not suggesting she would've made the finals anyway, but experience leads us to believe she lost 20-24 points in that final 90 seconds.

It was a shame because she really worked hard the past couple of weeks and knew her Burundi Bwayi coffee forwards and backwards.

While Sonja is out, Jake Liefer (ex-Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea) and Drew Van Arx (21st Street) are in the final six, joining the Peregrine trio of Jerremy Sterner (2008/2009 finalist), Randy Kindle (2008 finalist) and Grant Machamer. Rounding out the group is former murky barista and 2009 finalist Allie Turner.

The finals start noon-ish. Good luck to all.

Intelligentsia's Geoff Watts to Speak on Direct Trade in Pittsburgh, March 24

2010-03-04T00:30:03-05:00

We've waited 5+ years to say that. We are extremely excited that Pittsburghers will finally get to meet Mr. Geoff Watts.

He'll be speaking on 'seed to cup', Direct Trade and globetrotting in search of the perfect coffee.

The event is being hosted by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

Where: Firehouse Lounge, 2216 Penn Avenue
When: Wednesday, March 24, 6:00-8:00pm

We'll be doing a tasting of several Intelligentsia coffees in conjunction with the event.

Tickets are $15 for World Affairs Council members, $20 for non-members. You can register here.

After all the times we've mentioned Geoff's name here on the blog, you should have a pretty good idea of how high our esteem is for his work. We hope you'll join us at the Firehouse Lounge for what will be an informative, enlightening and entertaining evening.

Photo credit: Tonx

Farm to Cup: The Slideshow

2010-02-27T10:49:42-05:00

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

2010-02-26T02:41:44-05:00

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!

2010-02-24T13:32:01-05:00

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

2010-02-20T13:28:44-05:00

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.