I’m not sure where to begin
Life has been exciting, overwhelming, and deserving of many blog posts recently. As ideas stack up, choosing what to write about becomes increasingly more intimidating, so I apologize for the gap in my posts. Here are some of the things that have happened:
NERBC
I would be lying if I said that this year’s competition wasn’t somewhat disappointing for me. Not only did I score lower than last year, but I went 3 minutes over time thus disqualifying myself. My shots didn’t run great, especially the first ones. I messed up my cappuccino pours, and nearly spilled one of the drinks. It was obvious that I felt uncomfortable with the espresso machine and grinder, both of which are very different from the ones we have. After I called time, all I wanted was to go on a walk by myself in the park. Instead, I had to face a large group of supportive friends who insisted that I did well (which turned out to not be so bad. Thanks friends).
Pouring the infusion for my specialty drink
What really frustrated me though was that I’ve learned so much about coffee and preparing espresso over the course of this year. In preparation for the competition I developed a more in-depth and specific understanding of my shot recipe, and learned much more about pouring methodology. I know so much more about the coffee that I used (Rwanda Coopac) and about why I roasted it the way I did. By not being able to present it well, I felt robbed of the experience I could have had.
But then I realized how much the competition forced me to grow. This year, I focused almost all of my efforts on improving my technical skills, which is something that lasts and that I can keep using. While I didn’t make the drinks I hoped to make at the NERBC, I can make drinks that I am quite proud of every day at the shop now. So I am thankful for the whole experience, and I know that I can always learn a lot from failures (or at least setbacks).
Also, I found a video of me at the competition. You can see where I almost knock the cup over.
The rest of New York
While the competition was frustrating, the rest of the trip was amazing. After I gave my presentation, we went coffee bar hoping. We tasted some delicious coffees, and saw some beautiful cafes. It’s always so interesting to me to see how different places approach coffee and design. Every company has their own feel, style, and personality. I love that. Especially when it’s birthed out of genuine passion. At Birch coffee we got to talk to the owner for a bit. He had us taste a few of his coffees, including a kyoto style cold coffee. Not only was this a unique brewing method – the coffee was Rwanda Coopac, the same that I used for my competition espresso! Needless to say, I’ve spent quite a lot of time tasting and cupping this coffee. In the kyoto it was completely different, almost tasting like a scotch. Very interesting!
Birch coffee with kyoto style drip
That night we went to a latte throw down. Never before have I seen a crowd cheer for latte pours. I’m sure that only coffee nerds would find an event like this engaging. Being one myself I rather enjoyed it. Check out this low quality cellphone video:
In other highlights, my good friend Eleni gave me a ceramic Chemex that someone in her ceramics studio made. It was a late Christmas present, and much appreciated. Also quite interesting to use, the ceramic holds heat much better than glass does.
Joe Bean Roasters
Of course, Joe Bean is continuing our work on the new space! We are working hard to complete everything before our grand opening on May 6th. This has by far been the most consuming aspect of my recent life, and is hard to summarize. To begin, Joe Bean is now an official member of first fridays in the city. If you are unfamiliar with this, it is a city wide gallery tour sponsored by Rochester Contemporary Arts Center on the first friday of every month. Different galleries hold shows and open their doors – now we are one of them. We have been working hard to get the space ready to display art in a professional manner with the help of some gallery planners, and we are nearly there! Our first show will feature coffee themed photography, which seems quite fitting.
We have nearly finished construction in the space. One of the most exciting new additions (for me at least) is some old barn wood that we got from a farm in Williamson. I get excited about old, worn-in wood. The barn wood bar and shelves, along with a good deal of other construction was done by a long time friend of ours, Brian Caine. He recently launched his own construction business, and we were his first official client!
The bar is up and running for the most part, and our roaster is now into full production! We aren’t officially open yet, but we’d love for you to stop by and say hi. And if you’ve run out, we do have a few bags of coffee that you can get. If you can, come in around 4:30ish, the lighting is outstanding.
I feel like there is much more to talk about, but this is already a long post, so I think I’ll be done. I’ll do my best to keep people updated about all the exciting news in the world of Joe Bean! Also, I apologize for the lack of photos of Joe Bean. The camera isn’t at the shop now. This one isn’t completely new, but is fairly recent.
Photo by Bethany Woelk
