Regular Coffee #1: Just Shoot Me!
Monday, October 29, 2007
posted by roastmaster
WHAT IS REGULAR COFFEE? How about a Clover coffee? Who is John Galt? Why so many questions?
Recently I have run into two conflicting phenomenon. The first is the growth in people willing to drink espresso straight. The second is people bewildered and asking for “just regular or black coffee.” I will admit that I have been admitting to people who request regular coffee that I don’t know what they are asking for. Is there something confusing going on here where we are conspiring to sow discord among...
scene I: tribal farming
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
posted by roastmaster
The road rose to meet us, the wind was at our back, the sun was shining on our faces and the rains were falling softly on the fields. The Irish blessing my mother had read to me as a child seemed appropriate even in Indian coffee country. Thanks to those wacky colonial Brits I've been able to drink espresso on Connaught Place in Delhi and eat curry in a pub in Dublin. Somehow life ties it all together. We continued our road through the strangeways of Wyanad District driving around massive craters and...
prologue-into the mountains of kerala
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
posted by roastmaster
I knew we were in for an incredible adventure when a Toyota LandCruiser showed up in front of the hotel in Calicut. It was one of the nicest vehicles I'd seen in India. The driver was immaculate. He had a steely stare, never spoke, even to the Indians, never blinked and navigated awe-inspiring switchbacks and chaotic city traffic with equal aplomb. He was born to the task. As we started up into the Ghat mountain range from Calicut, wherever we saw a watersource, men were stopped with their trucks. They...
Mysore Nuggets
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Feeling safe and secure in your job? Worried that too many jobs are being outsourced to places like India? Well, I wanted to see if we could reverse this trend on my recent trip to India. Where I went was far from the densely concentrated call centers of Bangalore where you will be routed if you try to reach me when I’m not in the office. I went up in to the mountains of Southern India to a Kipling-esque area of beauty and oddity. The place names bounce off your tongue with an odd cadence: Kerala, Karnataka. They may speak English at the call centers...
Schoolcraft Funday
Monday, September 24, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Schoolcraft College had its annual Culinary Extravaganza on Sunday and we have been doing it so long it felt like old home week. In the past we had taken a Jura superautomatic machine for the convenience of a one-button cappuccino but it made a lousy espresso shot in spite of its price. Now I bring a traditional one group Cimbali espresso machine with a high-powered Azkoyen grinder. Each shot is ground fresh and the Junior Cimbali has plenty of pressure...
heart of darkness
Monday, September 24, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Heart of Darkness is a story written by Joseph Conrad about the evils of imperialism in Africa. Marlow, the narrator takes both a physical and psychological journey into the heart of Africa in search of Kurtz, an imperialist trader who has committed unspeakable atrocities. We have uncovered a parallel story about the evils of imperialistic coffee.
Our story...
Vedi, veni, vino
Monday, September 03, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Had a chance to combine two passionate pursuits at two different events which had a common thread: wine and coffee. I took an espresso machine to two wine events last weekend. The first was an open house at California Grapes Company on Fort Street in Detroit across from the produce terminal. There, Guiseppe Pracilio imports grapes from California and Italy and sells all the paraphernalia to make wine at home. I knew it would be a primarily Italian crowd so I developed an espresso blend that would appeal to their particular palate. Italians like the body and crema...
india here we come
Monday, July 23, 2007
posted by roastmaster
The ark of my itinerary to India shadowed the unusual ark of my life--Detroit to Paris to Delhi. At the university, I studied international relations, French and law. Now, somehow the disparate areas were being blended together through coffee. Coffee is the second most widely traded commodity in the world after oil. Coffee has its international bona fides. It has green ones, too, since coffee grows in its own self-sustaining ecosystem unlike oil which requires pollutions both to extract it, refine it, transform it into consumer products...
Coffee In The Balance-costa rica tarrazu ft/ra
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
posted by roastmaster
BALANCED between North and South America, between the Carribean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, lies Costa Rica. Even the name of the country is balanced, rhythmic. We have sourced a new Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance certified Costa Rican coffee from the Tarrazu region which is equally balanced. The Tarrazu region is situated in the high interior mountains of Costa Rica in a climate blessed with volcanic soils and touched by moisture created by the rain forests below. The scrupulous processing of the beans with fresh water ensures a clean cup of coffee.
Good Things Come In 3's (A Call to Coffee Action)
Friday, May 11, 2007
posted by roastmaster
This post is part summation of the SCAA convention, part manifesto.
The third day of the convention wrapped up three days of coffee
carnivale. We all know that good things come in 3's: father, son and
holy ghost; tonto, tarzan and frankenstein, Jesus, mary & joseph
what am I talking about. The thing about coffee is that it loosens the
tongue, along with the fact that everyone at the show is selling
something and it makes for a surfeit of conviviality. Plus with all
the parties and cinco de mayo, I wasn't sure if it was a coffee or a
tequila convention. ...
Goin' Back to Cali
Monday, May 07, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Today marked the second day of the conference. It was truly difficult
to go inside as the weather was perfect, 70's and sunny. Now we know
the brilliance of site selection. The hardest part of the day was
deciding where to have an espresso or coffee. The clover machine
seemed to have rock star status with a crowd three deep around the new
latest thing. The idea behind the clover combines the french press
with the vacuum system to brew each cup of drip coffee uniquely. The
coffee is ground then steeped in a chamber before a piston rises and
the coffee...
Coffee and California, these are a few of my favorite things.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Hot beverages and warm weather. Delicious. The Specialty Coffee
Association of America, or SCAA, is holding its' annual convention in
sunny southern California; Long Beach to be more specific. I know it
seems like a convenient place to have a conference especially while
Michigan's economy is going through tough times. I had read in the
paper just before I left about the municipal officials going to Hawaii
to learn about public pension issues. Strangely enough, I saw Kwame
Kilpatrick and about five large men in dark glasses at the Memphis
airport on the...
A Votre Sante
Friday, March 09, 2007
posted by roastmaster
A votre sante in French is the way you propose a toast. It means to
your health. When you toast someone you probably think of champagne as
the proper drink. What if you loved champagne enough to take it out of
its normal realm and create a new paradigm. That is exactly what
Christian Borden, the chef, did recently at a champagne dinner at Atlas
Global Bistrot in Detroit. He put together a six course dinner matched
with six different champagnes from the French house Veuve Cliquot. As
he said during the dinner, most people view champagne as something to
begin...
Alternative Espresso Lifestyle
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
posted by roastmaster
The meandering opening riff of Radiohead's Let Down plays on my ipod as
large flakes of snow dance and drift on the winter breeze. Smoke rises
from the grill (a whole ny strip), my la gloria cubana cigar and a
thimbleful of hydro espresso. Primal! Have you noticed how you can
now get a cup of espresso or a cappuccino at almost any place when you
are out and about: the bookstore, the market, the home goods store.
We are finally catching up with a lifestyle that others have known
about for centuries. Armenian carpet sellers have been offering little
cups...
Sniffing Around
Monday, February 19, 2007
posted by roastmaster
I was out at
Atlas Global Bistrot the
other night for dinner and as I tried to decide what I wanted for
dinner from the eclectic and execellent menu, and an arresting aroma
wafted toward my table. I began to sniff. This was a habit I had
picked up from the old Italian guys I would see at Randazzos produce
market on Outer Drive in Detroit as a child. They would pick up a
piece of cheese and hold it uncomfortable close to their noses. I
wasn't raised to smell food like that, at least by my mom. But those
guys...
Cigars and Coffee? Yes, please!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
posted by roastmaster
At Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company we are continuously trying to
make the case that coffee is the new wine. That is, we want to elevate
coffee from a commodity at a convenience store to a cup of passion,
combined in various ways with food. We attempt to break down and
identify flavors, sometimes recombining them in pleasing espresso and
coffee blends, then pairing them with similar and complimentary flavors
in food. The same principle applies to coffee and tobacco. You may
have heard of coffee and cigarettes. There is even a series of short
films called...
Grind Me A Pound
Monday, January 29, 2007
posted by roastmaster
GRIND ME A POUND!
INSTANT GRIND ON DEMAND
At
Espresso Source International,we are passionate about coffee. In our
pursuit of this passion we have decided to carry two new lines of
espresso grinders. One is Italian, Mazzer, and the other Spanish,
Azkoyen. Both are Latin and we know how passionate...
Who is the Roastmaster?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
posted by roastmaster
Friends, Romans, Coffeedrinkers, lend me your ears.
For those of
you who do not know me yet, allow me to introduce myself. My name is
James Cadariu. Here at Espresso Source, International and the Great
Lakes Coffee Roasting Company my title is Roastmaster. What do I do?
Among other things, I am involved in:
Great Lakes Coffee Hello
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
posted by roastmaster
As you turn from Square Lake Road north onto Franklin in Bloomfield Hills, you can sense you are near Espresso Source International and The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company
by the aroma. Your nose knows the scent of freshly roasted coffee. When
you walk into the showroom, you experience coffee nirvana. The coffee
you smelled roasting is now ready for your cup. Four espresso grinders
flank a traditional commercial machine as the barista works his
alchemy. Super automatic machines burr and whiz making espresso...