Get it Fresh: Intelligentsia Zirikana @ Whole Foods
Feb 10, 2010 coffee, groceries
Delivered Monday to Whole Foods Brentwood was a Direct Trade Intelligentsia coffee, the Zirikana, Rwanda: Bufcafe, that was roasted 2010.02.04.
Here’s what Intelligentsia has to say about the coffee..
Extremely fruit-forward and sincere. Peach nectar precedes a honeyed mouthfeel and an extended flavor of grape, lime and nectarine. A finish of cacao and walnut frame the experience.
Get it while it’s fresh…and sorry I didn’t mention it sooner.
Note: Because coffee is so much better fresh, I welcome any coffee roaster or merchant of specialty coffee in St. Louis, that has dated roasted products, to email me when you have a freshly roasted coffee. I will post it for people to snatch up at its best.
Tags: coffee, intelligentsia coffee, Rwanda, Whole Foods
Buckle Up For Caffeine Insanity*
Jan 31, 2010 St. Louis, coffee, missouri, restaurants
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| Pi’s 2-group Linea w/ PID rebuilt by Barry Jarrett–formerly of Riley’s. |
Due to the unfortunate closing of the Central West End location of Companion Bake House, today was to mark the opening of Chris Sommers’ new Pi Coffee Bar–located under the loft of Pi’s new Central West End location. Teaming up with Matt Herren and Debbie Sultan of Edwardsville’s Goshen Coffee and 222 Artisan Bakery, the plan was to begin carrying a full line of Goshen’s coffee and teas as well as Sultan’s award winning pastries.
Of course, to run a great coffee bar, you need a great manager and barista, and when the topic of who to run the bar came up last Thursday, Herren told Sommers there was only one choice: Alex Brooks. In a whirlwind of a day, the call went out, and an offer was made, mulled over, and accepted by Brooks.
For St. Louis coffee fans, this is great news. A more passionate coffee professional you will rarely find. It does, however, mean that the opening has been delayed as Sommers feels it wouldn’t be right to open without Brooks at the helm. Sommers is, after all, hoping to raise the level of what coffee can be in the Central West End saying about the Brooks acquisition, “I can’t afford him, but I can’t afford not too.”
Speaking with Brooks last week, he is currently putting the finishing touches on his employment in Portland and is excited for the opportunity to be back amongst his friends putting his mark on St. Louis coffee.
At this time, the plans are to now open Monday, February 8, with the hours being Monday-Saturday 6-11AM. Be sure to stop in to welcome Alex home.
Full Disclosure: Alex Brooks, Matt Herren, Chris Sommers, and Debbie Sultan are all friends of mine.
* The title is lifted from a text message Sommers sent to me.
Tags: 222 Artisan Bakery, Alex Brooks, Chris Sommers, coffee, Debbie Sultan, Goshen Coffee, Matt Herren, Pi
St. Louis Specific Updates to Food-Related Wikipedia Entries #1: Barista
Jan 27, 2010 MO, St. Louis, St. Louis Specific Updates to Food-Related Wikipedia Entries, Television, general food, missouri
While reading up on the scully cap I noticed, like many Wikipedia entries, not only was the included picture of poor quality, it was just some random dude with a stupid look on his face. Figuring he probably uploaded it himself, I’m embracing the power of the internet and am making accurate, St. Louis specific updates to food-related Wikipedia entries.
I begin with Barista for three reasons…
- There wasn’t a current barista photo.
- I love coffee and was trying to find an entry that was currently without a picture for sticking power.
- Although the barista in the photo, Alex Brooks, is no longer a barista in St. Louis, he is a friend of mine and often wears a scully cap–which I now know is more accurately called a flat cap.
Tags: Alex Brooks, barista, coffee, wikipedia
Coffee Shops: A Public Debate
Feb 25, 2009 coffee, general food, restaurants
Who knew this would be the one to get me to dust off that seldom used computer keyboard?
A response to Brooke Foster’s, Annoyed, Party of One
Brooke (or anyone else for that matter minus the first paragraph),
I know you. I like you. Alot actually. You and your husband, frankly, rock. You make St. Louis better. But for the sake of debate (I love to argue) I offer a rebuttal:
First, the parented-by-conservatives in me has never been able to remove myself from the fact that at best, a jumbo super latte is like $6.00. Having people hang around for 3 hours when they’ve spent $6.00 doesn’t exactly spell “good business practice”.
Second, as an admitted coffee snob, I actually hate shops with this kind of loitering. Many times I have gone into the Carondelet Kaldi’s to (for once) enjoy my cappuccino “for here.” Met with an endless sea of MacBook* toting students intent on sipping $6.00 lattes for hours, however, I had to take it “to go.” I do not blame Kaldi’s for this in any way. Their Carondelet shop is still the best coffee shop in St. Louis, MO proper, but it is annoying just the same.
Third, I do not know where you live, but I have an idea of where you live. As I don’t see you patronizing the sewer of St. Louis coffee (MoKabe’s**), I offer to Gut Check readers both Hartford and Shaw’s as possibilities. If you, in fact, enjoy coffee, Hartford should probably be avoided anyway because they don’t particularly try to make good coffee. When last I went they had a super-automatic espresso machine. Though, perhaps, that makes it a good solution to studying and paperwork as there won’t be all those pesky coffee lovers to contend with.
Lastly, the $6 latte is not coffee. If the $6 latte is your preferred drink of choice–or worse still you like your $6 latte iced–you could just go get yourself a coffee flavored milk shake at Jack In the Box and do your work there. It’s not a very big fast food restaurant though, so the tables might still be too small to really spread out.
* I tote both a MacBook and an iPhone so I have no room to talk.
** If you’re sitting there thinking, “Fuck that Bill Burge. He doesn’t know what MoKabe’s does for Gay and Lesbian rights in St. Louis!” The reality is I do know what they do. I applaud what they do. But that doesn’t make their shop any cleaner, or their coffee any better. As a coffee shop, it still sucks.
Kaldi’s Coffee Series @ Whole Foods
Jan 12, 2009 St. Louis, coffee, farming, groceries, missouri, sustainable agriculture
What’s that? You love coffee but you wish you knew more about it? Well then you’re in luck because the Galleria Whole Foods will be hosting a three part class with Kaldi’s Coffee starting later this month.
Held one Saturday a month from January to March, the classes will be led by Kaldi’s roaster and coffee buyer, Tyler Zimmer, and head barista trainer Mike Marquard. Together they will cover what it takes to get coffee from the farm and into your cup (January 24), how to brew the best possible cup at home (February 28), and espresso (March 21). Marquard will, no doubt, be leading the espresso class as he came in 21st (out of 50) in last years United States Barista Championship in Minneapolis. This makes him one of the more qualified locals to talk to you about quality espresso (and the reason I signed up). With class size limited, and registrants basically getting a 50% discount in the form of a free bag of coffee, sign up soon if you’re interested!
You can register online at wholefoodsmarket.com and, full details (and a bonus) can be found after the jump.
Tags: barista, coffee, espresso, Kaldi's Coffee, Whole Foods
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?