DoubleShot Coffee Company

Longer Hours...

2009-11-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Starting TODAY the DoubleShot will be open until 530p M-F. Saturday hours have been extended by one hour in the morning, now opening at 8a. We're still SHUT on Sundays. Hopefully these changes will accommodate your coffee-drinking habits and allow you to get here more often. Come by after work for an afternoon pick-me-up (we don't have decaf). Or if you can't seem to get here during the day to buy coffee beans, this is a good opportunity to drop by on your way home.

So the new hours are as follows:

Monday- Friday 7a-530p

Saturday 8a-3p

Sunday SHUT

My Girl Shelley Olds!

2009-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't need to write it, but she's BAAAAAAD!

And sporting the DoubleShot Indian sticker on her wheel. I love it!

Shelley just earned 3rd in the Scratch race in the World Cup in Manchester England last night.

Oh yes.

(more here: www.ShelleyOlds.com)

Technivorm Moccamaster

2009-10-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

For the longest time we didn't sell any automatic drip coffee makers. That's because there is only one on the market that I think is worth owning. And it was too expensive for me to stock. But a year or so ago, we decided to take the leap. And now several of our customers use the Technivorm Moccamaster at home to brew DoubleShot Coffee.

It really is a great coffee maker. I gave one to my parents for Christmas last year and the coffee went from being indistinguishable (using a Bunn) to my being able to tell which coffee we were drinking. That's a big deal. I don't like to drink my own coffee at my parents' house and not be able to tell which one it is. And not enjoy it. So what a relief to have the Technivorm in my mother's kitchen.

The November/December issue of Cook's Illustrated has a list of the "Best Small Appliances," and the Technivorm made the list. See here:

Nov-Dec%20Cooks%20Illustrated%20Best%20Sm%20Appliances%20-%20Technivorm.pdf

Cook's Illustrated also has a video review of different coffee makers on their website that is interesting: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/video/default.asp?docid=17108&newVideo=y

If you're convinced, come in and buy one at the DoubleShot. Or order one online: http://doubleshotcoffee.com/store/index.php?productID=81

Glenn Beck

2009-10-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

This makes me laugh:

http://obeygiant.com/headlines/mccarthyism-today#more-8850

Mostly because it's true.

Regarding new coffees, we have new crop Tanzania Songea Peaberry, Kenya Chania that is a French Mission Bourbon varietal, and an Ethiopia Harrar East Haraghe Highlands. You're going to like these. Also on the way is a Brazil Ipanema that is a Yellow Catuai varietal (Icatu Amarel0).

Espresso, Weather, Crema, and James Hoffman

2009-09-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

I can't help but comment on this. I've held my tongue a lot lately... about a lot of stuff. But today I'm going to respond a little.

I think we've gone through a little bit of the differences between the way we (at the DoubleShot) make espresso and the generally accepted methods in the Specialty Coffee Industry. But I'll rehash a little.

We tamp HARD. What does that mean?

When making espresso, we grind the blend of coffee beans (which we call Ambergris Espresso Blend) and dose them into the portafilter (the thing we hit on the knockbox so loudly). We level the grounds in the portafilter and mash them with special tampers that were made by Reg Barber. We love Reg and the gang. Mashing the grounds in the portafilter (tamping) compresses them into a compact puck. If you've done a good job of grinding, dosing, and tamping, when the water flows through the puck at 9 times the force of gravity, it will evenly extract the delicious flavor compounds from the coffee. If you don't do a good job, you can get wormholes in the puck (water will take the path of least resistance) or maybe one side will extract more and the other side less (due to an uneven tamp). We tamp really hard. Most people in the industry tamp very softly. We get down ON IT. We do that because, in my experience, a harder tamp produces a sweeter shot. This isn't just my opinion. It's true. At least with our coffee.

Now, there are many variables in making espresso. A few of them are grind size, tamp pressure, water pressure, water temperature, extraction time, volume... And there are a LOT more. They're all dependent upon one another. So when one thing changes, you can adjust something else in order to compensate and achieve a similar result. Since we tamp pretty much as hard as we can, we have to adjust the grind coarser to make up for it. Probably one reason the coffee is sweeter with a harder tamp is because less surface area of the coffee bean is exposed to the water during extraction.

With all these variables to deal with when making espresso, we try to keep as many constant as possible. We keep the water temp, water pressure, and tamp pressure the same. Little things cause changes in extraction, so we use extraction time (slightly), volume (slightly), and (mostly) grind size to make up for it. That's why you see us changing the grind adjustment collar on the grinder every so often. And some days the coffee pulls longer shots than other days. We roll with it and stop water flow when we see the coffee is fully extracted (not over-extracted). One of the main things that we've found to affect the grind and length of shots is the weather. Generally on hot, dry days, we pull shorter shots. And on rainy days, it seems like the coffee will pull forever before the good stuff is fully extracted. When it's hot outside, we have to make the grind finer and when it's raining, we have to make the grind coarser.

Today I read this: http://twitter.com/jimseven/status/3823889688

James Hoffman is a former "World Barista Champion." He has been writing things like this lately, trying to challenge long-held beliefs in the industry. Nothing wrong with that. But the things he's been writing are... Well, I'm just going to say it. I think James Hoffman is wrong.

The last time we heard from him, he proclaimed that he thinks the crema on espresso tastes bad. He thinks it's better to scoop the crema off the espresso before drinking.

No, I'm not kidding. You can watch him explain here: http://www.jimseven.com/2009/07/06/video-1-crema/

Espresso is a brewing method that has been developed to coax the tasty flavor oils and aroma gasses out of coffee. That's what crema is. It's basically bubbles of oil with aroma inside. When the crema dies, the aroma has mostly dissipated into the air. That's why we want you to drink the espresso right after we pull the shot into a demitasse. If you don't like crema, you probably shouldn't make coffee using a brewing method of which the sole purpose is to produce crema. There are a lot of different brewing methods out there.

I won't go into another harangue, but with the recent idea in our industry that coffee needs to "de-gas" before being used to make espresso, it's no wonder James doesn't like crema. Once the coffee de-gasses, all the carbon dioxide (which protects the flavor oils) has escaped and been replaced by ambient air. The oxygen reacts with the oils, and the oils become rancid. So the crema is basically rancid coffee oil and ambient air. Nothing special. The fresh coffee aroma-containing CO2 has long been gone before they decided to dump the coffee in the hopper.

I disagree with all of this. They're not doing it for you, the consumer. They're either doing it to make it easier on themselves (consistency and reduction of time-constraints, like Starbucks) or they're not thinking clearly. Every time I interact with people of this persuasion I walk away trying to make this decision: are they ignorant or unscrupulous? Either way, they're wrong.

There, James. I said it.

Labor Day Hours

2009-09-06T18:03:00.001-07:00

YES! The DoubleShot will be open Monday 9/7.

9a-3p.

Come have a cup with us on your day off.

Milk

2009-08-31T10:13:00.001-07:00

See, I've always said you milk-drinkers were freaks.

Stop the milk madness.

Sixty percent of adults can't digest milk

The Perfect Cappuccino at The DoubleShot

2009-08-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 10 at 7p

DoubleShot Coffee Company

Finally you can see Amy Ferraris' independent film, The Perfect Cappuccino, at The DoubleShot. On the medium-sized screen. Much of the film was shot here in Tulsa, so I hope you'll take a couple hours out of your schedule to see what everyone is talking about. Amy has been taking the film to festivals over the past year or so, and we've certainly experienced a growth in recognition from it. People have driven here from other cities to check out the DoubleShot, and sometimes when I go to coffee-centric events, people recognize me from the film.

Hopefully the local cast of characters will be in attendance to make the showing extra fun: Mark Brown of the Tulsa World, Ryan Sacra of Conner & Winters, Audra Hamilton of AKHLaw.com, Josh Downs- sushi cutter at In the Raw, Jason Westenburg still of the DoubleShot, Curtis Campbell of Salon Glo (across the street from the DoubleShot), Robert... who knows where he's from. And there are many more local "celebs." And of course I'll be here signing headshots (kidding). After the showing, we'll have a live video web chat with Amy Ferraris, which should be a fun reunion. (For more details about the film: www.CappuccinoMovie.com)

Doors will open at 6p and the espresso machine will be open for business. We'll start the movie at 7p. Run time is approximately 90 minutes. Admission is free!

Mark it on your calendar. You won't want to miss it.

Thursday, September 10 at 7p

DoubleShot Coffee Company

Mucho mucho

2009-08-07T04:41:00.001-07:00

I realize I haven't blogged for a while. It's not because nothing is going on around here. It's because too much is going on. So I'm going to take a moment to recap.

The first race of the DoubleShot Duathlon series is this Saturday at Keystone Lake. We're putting on an off-road duathlon (run-bike-run) and a ~5K Trail Run. Come out and race, volunteer, or just hang out and enjoy the environment. www.DoubleShotDuathlon.com

We just finished up a 6-hour mountain bike race at Turkey Mountain called SIX IN THE STICKS. We had a good turnout and I think almost everyone had a good time.

Next week I'm heading for Leadville Colorado to race in the Leadville 100 bike race. Should be exciting. I've attempted the 100 mile run four times, but this will be my first time toeing the line in cycling shoes. It's a pretty big race. Lance Armstrong will be there trying to up his second place finish last year. You can sign up to watch four live webcasts from the race on the leadville website. You should go there and watch the video on the homepage anyway: www.leadvilletrail100.com. And if you want to read my personal drama-filled racing accounts, check out this ridiculous blog (named after my poor, injured mountain bike): http://mtbnemesis.blogspot.com/

A while back, my dad and I started a company called Native Bikes. We're taking bikes that have seen better days and re-painting them, polishing them, and making them into ridable pieces of street art. This, by itself would probably be enough to keep me busy. Thank goodness the apple didn't fall far from the tree, and my dad is much better at this than I am anyway. Check out our latest projects on http://NativeBikes.com.

Amy Ferraris finally released her film, The Perfect Cappuccino on DVD. We're planning to have a showing of the film here at the DoubleShot on the evening of August 27. This will be a Coffee Illuminati event, therefore you'll have to check that blog for details (or look for signs up around the store): coffeeilluminati.blogspot.com/

Podcasts... Isaiah and I recorded our experiences while in Colombia. That was the last AA Cafe Podcast to go up. Before that, Garth and I talked about everything BUT coffee. On accident. We're going to give it another go next week and see if we can stick to the pertinent subject matter. All that can be found on iTunes or on Feedburner. I did record a podcast recently with Jennifer Iannolo of Food Philosophy fame. She took off to lollygag in Scotch (or is it Scotland?) for a while, so I'm guessing she'll post the podcast upon her return to soberville (NY). You can find her here: www.FoodPhilosophy.com. (See that picture of her eating grapes? I have one of myself... and coffee.)

Sorry for all the links. This is ridiculous. I told you I've been busy.

Oh, I'm also on twitter now: http://twitter.com/thedoubleshot

(Did I say that already?)

www.DoubleShotCoffee.com

Art Show!

2009-07-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

We have once again changed the art on the walls of the DoubleShot. The new art is by Chandra Leming. Chandra used to hang out at the DoubleShot back in the days when we were open until 9p. I ran into her recently by chance when I was in Norman for a mountain bike race. I went to a brewpub for dinner (and some beers) and in walked Chandra. I then found out it was her birthday, so I sat with her and some other familiar faces for a while. It was a nice surprise.

So now Chandra's art is in the DoubleShot. She's having an opening reception this afternoon from 3-5p. Please stop by if you can, check out the art, enjoy a cup of coffee, and meet Chandra.

Today (Monday, July 20)

3-5p

DoubleShot Coffee Company

Ebay auction

2009-07-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to assume the majority of you guys don't subscribe to twitter. And maybe you didn't think to check ebay for a great deal on DoubleShot paraphernalia. So I'm going to excuse you for not bidding yet. But there's less than 24 hours left to bid. And to win free coffee!

Check it out here.

Shelley Olds at Giro Donne

2009-07-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hey folks. Maybe you're tired of hearing me brag about DoubleShot sponsored rider, Shelley Olds. I hope not. Hopefully you're following her career.

She has been in Italy racing in the Giro Donne, the women's cycling version of the Giro d'Italia. It is probably the most competitive women's cycling race in the world, and Shelley was fortunate to get an invite to race on the US National Team. The Giro Donne is a 9-day stage race that concluded yesterday.

It has been really difficult to tell how Shelley is doing because I haven't had any contact with her since she left, and the coverage is pretty shoddy. Basically every day I can read a short report of the day's events and the results. She seemed to have a bit of a slow start. 131 women were racing, which is a huge field. Below I will list what place she finished each stage:

Stage 1: 92

Stage 2: 42

Stage 3: 118

Stage 4: 9 (Atta girl Shelley!)

Stage 5: 82 (That was my number in college football. Coincidence? :))

Stage 6: 22

Stage 7: 38

Stage 8: 2 (YES!)

Stage 9: 13

Damn, Shelley. Listen, I know most of you don't follow women's cycling, but you can read into these numbers and see that Shelley is the real deal. Great racing Shelley!

I'm really proud of her, as you can see. She finished 29th overall, 15th in points (whatever that means), 13th in the mountains, and the US National Team finished 13 out of 18 teams. If you want to see the course profiles and write-ups and a few photos, click on each day above to take you to the cycling news site.

Coffee Illuminati

2009-07-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Coffee Illuminati will be having another event tomorrow evening at 7p here at the DoubleShot. Isaiah and I will be showing our pictures and talking about the trip to Colombia. It was a good and successful trip, and some of the pictures are beautiful. Hopefully if you want to hear the story and learn more about coffee, you'll be able to join us.

I'll be brewing complimentary coffee from our friend Alfredo Correa of Finca San Rafael. It's one of the most delicious coffees in our arsenal. So plan on coming, and bring a friend. And join the Coffee Illuminati!

Thursday, July 9 @7p

DoubleShot Coffee Company

The Days of Independence

2009-07-02T08:41:00.001-07:00

As much as we, at the DoubleShot, would love to declare our own independence, we're going to stay the course and delay our secession.

We'll be open regular hours.

Today until 5p

Friday 7a-3p

Saturday 9a-3p

Support your independent coffee shop.

Colombia Report

2009-06-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Isaiah and I returned Tuesday night from Colombia. It was a great trip. We went back to Concordia, Cristina Garces' hometown. I ran into some of the same people I met last time I was in Concordia, and everyone was gracious and kind. The people fed us too much delicious food- beans, rice, plantains, yucca, avocado, potatoes, pork, chicken, beef, fruit juices... sometimes all in the same meal. It was ridiculous and I ate every bite.

We discovered things we didn't know, like the tree tomato, which tasted like a tomato with apple-type sweetness. We did things we've never done, like riding fiery show-horses. We met people we've never met, like Cristina's boyfriend Ariel, who has agreed to help us learn even more about coffee. Ariel is doing some experiments for us. He is going to separate one lot of coffee during this fly crop harvest and process parts of the lot in different ways- no fermentation, 20 or so hours of fermentation, pulp natural, and fully natural. So, in theory, we'll get to taste the same coffee processed in these four different methods, so the resulting differences should be the difference in processing only. That's exciting. And what if one method is far superior to the others? Time will tell.

We were fortunate to spend a good deal of time with Alfredo and his wife. They are fantastic people, and I like them a lot. We took some coffee with us from last Monday's roast and we brewed Alfredo's coffee, San Rafael, for him to drink. He drank six cups of it. They don't normally drink their own coffee in producing countries. They only drink domestic consumption coffee (which is the worst coffee) or instant coffee (I don't have to say anything about that). So he was excited to drink this top-tier coffee that he produced, and unlike normal, he didn't put any sugar in it.

There isn't a lot of coffee being harvested right now, and it rained every day we were there. This time of year is a second summer for Colombia and they have what is called a "fly crop." Their main harvest is October-January. This harvest is much smaller. Last harvest, remember, they had so much rain that production was way down. The talk this year is that the weather has been cooler, but not the heavy rain they had last year. So it looks like they're going to have a good harvest, and it will be more of a slow-and-steady ripening of coffee. Which is better. Some years, the majority of coffee ripens at the same time, and they have to hurry to get it all picked and processed and dried. When it ripens slower and more spread out, they have time to pick and process more carefully and produce better coffee.

I brought a few samples back with me, so I'll be cupping some fresh Colombians this week. We cupped with Natalia (Cristina's cupper in Concordia) every day, and one coffee we tasted while we were there that was really good was one from Octavio Restrepo. His farm is called La Alondra. Hopefully soon we'll get a sample of that and maybe eventually have some for sale.

I know that the history of Colombian coffee has given most of us a negative slant on it. We talked about that while we were there. The mark "100% Colombian" isn't something to brag about; it's something you see on a can of Folgers. The Colombian Coffee Federation hasn't helped. With the creation of Juan Valdez and the standards they enforce, the Federation strives to maintain one standard for Colombian Coffee. They want all Colombian coffee to taste the same, which is ridiculous when you consider that no two lots from one farmer tastes the same. And there are 15 different coffee producing regions in Colombia with innumerable micro-climates. And at least seven different varietals of coffee tree. So I hope you will forget everything you know about Colombian coffee and join us in tasting the diversity of flavors, aromas, acidity, and mouthfeel in Colombian coffee. We're not buying "Colombia Supremo," we're buying coffee grown on Alfredo Correa's farm, Finca San Rafael, which is from Caturra trees grown around 6500 feet in the Andes Mountains near Concordia. They were picked, sorted, depulped in his small mill, fermented, washed, stored in clean water for 5 days, and dried in a static dryer that is heated with coal. Alfredo works the land with his hands, and incidentally he's a great guy to be around, with grand visions of buying more land, growing more coffee, and hiring more people to work so the community will be better and people can afford to feed their families. As I explained to him when we brewed his coffee, the best I can hope to do when I get his coffee is to not screw it up. I do my best to preserve the coffee flavors that he and the land created. And when we drink Alfredo's coffee, we experience all his hard work and vision in that cup.

In Colombia, there is a heavy emphasis on family and community. I miss that already. I hope to institute that more in my own life here in the states.

By the way, thank you Cristina Garces. A big thank you.

I want to write more soon about a community project that has been proposed in Concordia. Maybe it's something we can help with.

Sorry to ramble.

You can see my photos from the Colombia trip here: http://www.doubleshotcoffee.com/Origin/Colombia_09.html

Colombia

2009-06-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

Isaiah and I are headed to Colombia tomorrow morning. We'll be gone for a week- returning next Tuesday night. We'll be flying into Medellin and visiting Concordia, where the San Rafael comes from. Hopefully we'll learn a lot and bring back more info and great coffee for you.

The DoubleShot will be open regular hours while we're away. The dynamic duo, Jason and Garth, will be holding down the fort. Thank your baristas.

I'm not trying to say anything...

2009-06-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

I'm just saying. Shelley Olds? Yeah, she's fast.

Shelley won the Women's Pro race on Saturday and Sunday. She was first overall for the weekend.

I know she's fast and I know she's a great racer. But I also know that I made her a latte on Saturday and Sunday. YEAH!

Congratulations to Shelley and her teammates, Rachel Neylan and Cari Higgins.

Meet Shelley Olds

2009-05-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend is Tulsa Tough. If you don't know what that is, click the link because it's worth going to.

This Saturday is a very special day at the DoubleShot because our own Shelley Olds will be here from San Francisco. She's a pro cyclist and will be racing in the criterium races this weekend. She has volunteered to come to the DoubleShot on Saturday at 1p to meet our customers and talk a little about pro cycling and Tulsa Tough. She can't stick around too long though because she races at 4 o'clock in the Brady District. And you can be sure we'll head that way to cheer for Shelley as she out-sprints the field for another victory.

Lest you think Shelley is just some girl who rides a bike, she was the only female from the U.S. to be invited to the World Track Championships this year in the Netherlands. She's won numerous races and excelled in a short amount of time on the bike. And her next big thing is that she's been invited to race in this year's Giro d'Italia. To be honest I don't follow bike racing other than Shelley, but she tells me this is the toughest stage race in the world. The women's race is July 3-12. The mens' race is going on right now.

Shelley races for a team called Proman. She has a minor sponsorship from the DoubleShot, so she'll be warming up under our new tent. And her fiance, Rob Evans, will be racing in the DoubleShot jersey!

Ok, details one more time.

Come meet Shelley Olds

this Saturday 5/30

at the DoubleShot

at 1p

Tell your friends.

Custom

2009-05-19T19:34:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about custom products. Things that are custom-made just for you.

Partly I've been thinking about it because of the bike company I started, called Native Bikes. We don't build frames, but we take bike frames and build bikes specifically for one person. It's cool because when you get on a bike that was built just for you, it feels right. What's the difference between a stock bicycle and a custom bike I might produce? A lot. Stock bikes

come with pretty much

whatever parts the bike company could get the best deal on at the time and the frames are mass-produced. Stock bikes are like one-size-fits-all tshirts. They don't fit anyone. That's not necessarily true about bikes, but there are things about a bike that are important to riders but not to bike companies. Their job is to sell bikes. You say you want a blue frame? No problem. The bike that Chad Shanks and I put together for Joel Collins was the color and size that Joel wanted with all the specific parts he needs to ride solid for a long time. And it's a hot bike. Guaranteed people stopped in the parking lot at Keystone on Sunday and started asking questions. Ya damn right!

You want a vintage cruiser? Of course you do. Dr. Caren Eichor got hers. My dad and I took a 1950's cruiser bi

ke and painted it milk chocolate brown and Guinness cream, stenciled her name on the chainguard, doggie prints on the rack and flowers on the tank, and rebuilt this beauty with white-walled balloon tires and polished chrome fenders. The first bike we started working on isn't finished yet. I'll tell you about it later. But check out this custom head badge!

The point is, custom products are sweet. Jason and I were talking about how cool it would be to have a tailor make us custom suits. I was just reading this article in Esquire Magazine about custom suits and it got my interest up. So many things you wouldn't know about suit quality unless a professional told you about them.

And that's how it is.

That's the beauty of buying something quality from a small, custom- producer. I've been thinking about cars a bit. How cool it would be to buy, not a car from one of the huge automakers, but a car custom-built by a small car company. Someone who does quality work and makes cool cars to suit their clients. You'd never stop at a stoplight and have someone in the exact same car drive up and stop next to you. In the good old days it wasn't so uncommon to find custom producers. A few years back my dad bought an old, beat-up roadster that had once graced the floor of the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. He restored it to its original condition, which was beautiful. Along the way we found out that it was called a Falcon

Knight and was custom-made for Jim Howe, the man who invented Tums.

Imagine living in a house built just for you. Maybe you're like me and you have a problem putting away your clothes and you just need drawers to throw stuff in and a shelf to put all your jeans. And maybe your architect could design that into your house. I cook whenever I can and would love to have a bigger kitchen- and one of those big center islands with a butcher block maybe. And in the bathroom it would be cool to have a big shower that is open, like the one I used in Costa Rica. People like Joel Collins (of earlier custom bike fame) design these types of houses, and if you can afford it, why would you buy mass-produced floor plans off the internet? That doesn't make sense.

You've all probably seen the tv show about the dudes who build motorcycles. I think it's called American Chopper. They use their creative skills and expertise to build custom choppers for their clients.

And that's the thing about custom. You don't go to the Orange County Choppers guy and say, "I want you to build me this bike" and then tell him every little detail. And you don't ask him to build you a Harley Davidson. He's an artist. And a scientist. He knows what works best, visually and technically. You give him the gist and then give him the reigns.

My mom once told me not to go around asking just anyone for advice. She told me when I need advice I should find out who knows what they're talking about in whatever area I need advice, find someone whose opinion I trust. Ask that person for advice. And take it. Because it's rude to ask for advice and not take it.

I think THAT is good advice. Leave it to the experts. You don't have to know everything, just know people who do.

But wouldn't it be great to have everything custom made? I wish I could. But I guess we do what we can.

Maybe you can kind of think of your coffee here at DoubleShot like a custom suit. Certainly you don't understand coffee the way we do because we have our hands in it all day. But you don't necessarily have to understand. Just figure out what you want and leave the rest to us. It'll suit you like a fixie in Bartlett Square.

(By the way, if you're looking for a custom bike, I'm your man: brian@doubleshotcoffee.com)

Art Opening

2009-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late with this blog, but hopefully you all will still take the time to pop into the DoubleShot tomorrow evening between 6p and 830p for Marty Coleman's art opening.
Marty is the napkin guy. His art is hanging on the newly-installed gallery system on the walls of the DoubleShot. Marty's napkin art was featured in the Tulsa World a while back and that's when I first saw him. That story was about his Obama napkin, which was in Time Magazine this past December. You can check out his website here.

He was also featured on the blog Tasha Does Tulsa this week, which you can see here.

Never a man to shy from publicity, he's also in the Urban Tulsa this week, at the bottom of the art section, and he'll be on Good Day Tulsa tomorrow morning on Channel 8.

Stop by and chat with Marty tomorrow evening. I'll be open and selling coffee during the opening. Marty's daughter Chelsea will be here singing and strumming her guitar.

Latte Art Results

2009-05-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hey all you latte art enthusiasts! I hope you enjoyed watching the Latte Art Throwdown, whether you were in-house or online. It was all still a bit of an experiment for us, so hopefully it was enjoyable. If you have suggestions for ways we can make it better next time, let me know.
Our winners:
Janette from Nordaggio's took first place.
Taylor from Coffeehouse on Cherry Street took second place in a tight battle that required a rematch at the end.
Isaiah finished up in third place.
And Danny from Jude's up in Bartlesville followed up with fourth.
We had a good time, even though we discovered that the air conditioner is busted and we were all sweating bullets.
Hopefully everyone enjoyed the experience and were inspired to improve the craft of professional barista.

Channel 6 came down and did a story on the Throwdown. Check it out here.

Latte Art Throwdown!

2009-05-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday: the day of the LATTE

2009-05-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

I don't even like milk.

No, that's too understated. I dislike milk.

But tomorrow at the DoubleShot, we'll be featuring... milk! It does a body good. Seriously, you need calcium.

Two events you should know about tomorrow...

All day (until we run out) we'll be making Fruity Pebbles Lattes. That's right. You know the milk that's leftover when you finish your bowl of Fruity Pebbles? Just imagine making a latte out of that. So if you like Fruity Pebbles (and who doesn't?) and you like lattes, tomorrow is your lucky day. Small $3.75, Large $5.00.

Thanks to the culinary genius of the wild and ridiculous Jay Caragay for coming up with the FPL.

Tomorrow night we're hosting a Latte Art Throwdown. At least 20 of the best baristas in the area will descend on the DoubleShot to steam and pour rosettas, tulips, hearts, and whatever other wacky art they can make on the top of your coffee. It's going to be head-to-head competition, two baristas at a time, single-elimination tournament. It should be a blast. This place will be rocking and you are cordially invited to join in the festivities. Complimentary DoubleShot Coffee will be served, plus someone needs to drink all the lattes they pour. We're setting up a video camera and monitor so if you're in the crowd you'll still be able to see all the action. If you can't make it but still want to watch, we'll be streaming it live on ustream. I will put the live feed on this blog tomorrow.

For more information, go here: www.DoubleShotCoffee.com/LatteArt

Espresso, Americano, Coffee, what's the diff?

2009-05-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ok a friend of mine (let's call her... Jenni) emailed me today and asked a question that I thought was really good and deserved a few lines in my blog. It goes back to one of my college rules: "If I have a question, a lot of other people have the same question." So I'm sure a lot of you are asking yourselves these same things.

Now, on with the show:

During a lovely brunch in new york, the topic of coffee came up and my friends enquired on the difference between an Americano. Espresso and water. And just coffee. Coffee and also water?? We realize that one involves espresso. So I guess what exactly is espresso? How does it differ from just coffee? Etc etc etc…

Peas espain. Tanks.

Ah yes. Coffee, espresso, americano, etc etc etc.

I love it. I love it all.

Let me begin.

Coffee is a large, all-encompassing term. All coffee- and espresso-based drinks are made with coffee. Coffee is the name that begins with coffee trees and ends with... I just drank a cup of coffee. I guess.

Whenever I'm doing a talk on coffee, I always try to begin like this: "Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee cherries." Sometimes I go on and assume people already know that, when in reality most people don't have any idea that's the case. I won't take the time to describe the various coffee processing methods that take place between the time the cherry is harvested to when it arrives at the DoubleShot in sacks made of fique or jute. Let's just say, for now, that the beans inside the cherries are dried and sorted and bagged and sent to me. They're not usable until I roast them. I roast every Monday night and then again either Thursday or Friday morning (whenever we need it). I do that because coffee goes stale very quickly and I love the taste of fresh coffee.

These roasted beans are what we consider coffee beans (from coffee cherries that grow on coffee trees). In order to make coffee (in every way we currently know how) you have to grind the coffee (or crush it) to expose more surface area of the bean. This is where everything begins to deviate. Because depending on the type of brewing method you are planning to use, you need different coarseness of grind.

The answers to your questions are coming, I promise.

Coffee, as most people know it, in liquid form, is brewed using the drip method. Drip brewing is basically an automated version of the pourover method of brewing. Coffee ground to about the size of table salt is put into a filter basket and hot water is poured through it into a carafe. That's one brewing method, and the one that most people are familiar with and that is generally referred to as "coffee." "Like a cup of coffee, hun?"

Espresso is another brewing method for coffee. Still coffee. But this time, instead of letting gravity push the water through the ground coffee, we use a machine that pressurizes the water to push through the ground coffee at 9 times the force of gravity. Because of this force, in order to get proper extraction of the good stuff inside the coffee, it must be ground finer and packed into a small "puck." The amount of coffee that comes out during this extraction is less. With around 7 grams of ground coffee, you can expect about 4 fluid ounces of drip coffee or 1 ounce of espresso. So espresso is concentrated. In general, there is one-fourth the water and the same amount of coffee. That's why espresso is so intense. It's meant to be shot within a few seconds of extraction and then the flavor oils remain on the palate for a long time after, which can be enjoyable if the espresso was good.

An americano is espresso in hot water. It's watered-down espresso. When I say it like that, people don't tend to want it. I like to say it like that because it's ironic. It's like saying DoubleShot Coffee is not the worst coffee in flyover country. The americano, made correctly, is my favorite drink. Since it is made with espresso a more complete extraction is made from the ground coffee and the drink tends to be richer and have more depth. It should have a bit more body and more complexity, but that could be from the blend of coffees used in the espresso. It's really good. You should try it. It tends to be a bit sweeter than a straight drip-brew too, because it seems that more of the coffee oils and sugars are forced out of the ground coffee. It's really the flagship drink of the DoubleShot.

So when someone asks me if I want a coffee, I say yes; a small americano please.

Does that answer your question? Maybe I went too far. Or not far enough.

Thanks for asking. I like talking (and writing) about coffee.

Brian

ps. You looked really good in that blue dress you wore yesterday. I like those shoes.

Sticker Challenge - ONGOING!

2009-04-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

I challenged you to design a sticker that represents the DoubleShot and a few of you responded. I like what I see thus far. I have printed a few of the first two stickers: one from Andrew Saliga and one from BJ Zorn.

I'm still taking design submissions. If I like your design, I'll print at least 100 stickers and give you a pound of coffee beans.

I'm looking for variety in submissions. If you can make it cool and graffiti-style by drawing it with a sharpie on an express mail sticker, then that's what you got. Give it to me. I might think it sucks, but I'd still like to see it.

I have a couple more stickers going to the printer soon. I'll keep you updated.

Click here to see the original post.