Two Unrelated Points About Coffee
Oct 14, 2010 St. Louis, coffee, groceries, missouri
If you truly love coffee and you’ve written Kaldi’s off, don’t!
While I’ve personally been critical of them in the past, I’ve never disliked them as a roaster and it’s time for an update because over the last couple years, as they’ve gotten into direct sourcing of green coffee and consumer education, they’ve raised the bar in regards to what coffee can be in St. Louis. Many of these beans have been fantastic and Kaldi’s regularly hosts educational cuppings and brewing demonstrations in each of their locations to teach you about what the various regions and varietals of coffee taste like, and how to get the most from them at home.
Additionally,
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cappuccino, coffee, espresso, iced coffee, Kaldi's Coffee, Rwanda
Event: Midwest Regional Barista Competition
Jan 12, 2009 St. Louis, coffee, events, missouri
In other Kaldi’s Coffee news, don’t forget they are once again hosting the SCAA’s Midwest Regional Barista Competition. Last year’s event, held at Third Degree Glass factory, was a huge success and this year’s is shaping up to be even better. Changing venues to the Soulard Preservation Hall, I’ve heard rumors that several baristas from local shops not represented last year will be competing. For coffeegeeks, this is exciting news, and I’m hoping it will add a new dimension to the local barista pool. However, with the depth of talent at the Crescent Kaldi’s, and two top five performances for them last year, Kaldi’s is still the local shop to beat.
Kaldi’s, however, has a formidable opponent in the PT’s Coffee crew who will once again be rolling in from Topeka, KS. Taking first and third last year, their barista, Pete Licata, took the the top spot before going on to receive second place nationally in the United States Barista Competition. (It seems Pete works for Kaldi’s now) Additionally–though not barista news–another strong showing for them would be like icing on the cake as they were recently named the 2008 Roast Magazine [Macro] Roaster of the Year.
As for the remaining spot in last year’s top five, it went to a barista from one of Kansas City’s top shops, The Roasterie. Like last year, their competitors should be good and relaxed for the event as, even when they aren’t bagging trophies, they prove they know how to ride in style.
Full details on the competition can be found at kaldiscoffee.com, but the general break down of the weekends events is as follows:
- Friday, January 30, 2009: Round 1: Day 1
- Saturday, January 31, 2009: Round 1: Day 2
- Sunday, February 1, 2009: Final Round
After the jump, check out Pete Licata’s winning performance from last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Kaldi's Coffee, Midwest Regional Barista Competition, Pete Licata, PT's Coffee, The Roasterie
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
The Boobs are Back
Apr 9, 2008 St. Louis, coffee, missouri
They shut stores down to discuss quality and renew “focus on espresso standards.”
They bought the Clover prompting coffeegeeks to shudder and Stumptown to pull them from their stores.
And starting yesterday the original topless logo has returned to signal Starbucks commitment to quality along with their new Pike Place Roast which Howard Schultz says “is truly one of the best coffees we have offered our customers in our 37-year history and it will reinvent brewed coffee.”
They have also migrated to “30-minute hold times for brewed coffee” and with a renewed focus on quality say that The Pike Place blend is both “Fresh” and “Hand-Scooped.” With all the bags on display in the shop I went to having roasted dates of 3/24 though, it was already two weeks old the minute it arrived.
So take note when you go to buy that next bag of coffee that while local roasters like Goshen, Kaldi’s and Northwest may not have topless logos, they do have fresh roasted coffee that was hand-scooped all along.
Do you think they’ll have to change all those green signs to brown now?
Tags: Goshen Coffee, Kaldi's Coffee, Northwest Coffee, Starbucks
Clover Coffee Searches
Mar 5, 2008 Illinois, coffee, general food
In the CMS that I use for stlbites I can see what people were inputing into search engines before they chose to right click their way on in.
Surprisingly, one of the most searched terms is “clover coffee machine” and as such one of my most viewed posts is the one I previously made about the Clover coffee machine.
In light of that I thought I’d go ahead and post about this article in Slate regarding the Clover that Daniel Dick sent me earlier today.
It’s worth reading if you were further interested in why someone would pony up $11,000 for a coffee machine as it sort of details the reasons why someone would want to be so scientific about their brewing and how slight variations in say brew temperature can dramatically change the resulting cups flavor.
Also, don’t forget, Kaldi’s Downtown Clayton location is the only place in St. Louis that has a Clover if you were wanting to check one out yourself. When I was in last week they still had some of their COE Nicaraguan coffee to brew in it, and if you like coffee, you should really have a cup before it’s all gone…in any other city it would be!
Tags: Clover, Cup of Excellence, Kaldi's Coffee
SCAA Midwest Regional Barista Competition
Feb 10, 2008 Illinois, coffee, general food
SCAA Midwest Reginonal Barista Competition Round 1 Day 2 that is…
I’m not yet styling a DSLR like some of the other photo snappers I saw (McCracken), so while I’m sure some better shots will come out of the weekend, what I lack in quality I make up for in swiftness to the web.
On my initial quest for good cappuccino in St. Louis Ellie and I somehow found ourselves in St. Charles at Picasso’s Coffeehouse. Alex worked there, and he was the first person in the city I didn’t have to have a conversation with about what I wanted. He just did it right.
On the weekends we knew he was working we’d go after dinner. And then one day he was gone.
Honestly, I was pissed. It was like losing a dealer; until I found Goshen Coffee that is.
So then Matt tells me he’s hiring a new barista/sales guy for Goshen a few months ago. “Alex” he tell’s us. Ellie and I churn it over, put two and two together, and sure enough, it’s Alex…”Picasso” Alex…our Alex.
You’d be pressed to find someone more enthusiastic than Alex about coffee in St. Louis, and I personally find the whole thing pretty amazing because he was barely 20 when we first met him. He’s 21 now.
If you want a good shot of espresso go to Goshen when he’s working and have him pull the single origin yirgacheffe.
He’s from PT’s Coffee. PT’s is based out of Topeka, KS, but he is the manager of their store in Overland Park.
Where Alex seemed a bit nervous competing for the first time and didn’t talk much, Licata seemed a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. And he should be. Licata came in second at the US Barista Competition last year, and was therefore the alternate in the World Barista Competition in Japan.
Though I’ve never seen one of these competitions before I can only assume he did not perform as well as he must have at the national competition last year, because his latte art was a bit sketchy from pour to pour. Still you could tell he has skills, and although I didn’t stick around to see who made it to the finals tomorrow, I’d imagine he did fairly well.
Congratulations to everyone that competed though. I’ll be the first one to tell you your coffee sucks, but I can’t even pull a shot of espresso now can I?
But then I don’t have an espresso machine either
If anybody has about $1000 extra dollars to pitch in on a used Rancillio S27, I’ll be happy to practice my heart out and pull you a shot. Another $500 for a Mazzer Mini grinder would be cool too.
Thanks to David from Kaldi’s for the rule info. He made some sort of umami heavy specialty shot with mackerel and seaweed that was far to involved for me to remember. I’m curious what it tasted like.
And here’s the rest of the flickr photo set from Round 1 Day 2:
Tags: barista, cappuccino, espresso, Goshen Coffee, Kaldi's Coffee, latte art, Midwest Regional Barista Competition, PT's Coffe
Kaldi’s…Do I Like Them?
Dec 18, 2007 coffee, general food
If you recall I went to Kaldi’s new downtown Clayton location on its opening day during my lunch break to take a look at the Clover in action. And as I hadn’t completely cared for the Timor, I promptly returned the following day for another crack; this time after work so the time constraints of lunch would nofol longer be a burden.
Having spoken to so many people at length on Wednesday, as introductions were made, I was in a position where I had to tell them who I was. And this proved interesting.
On visit number two they had now read my expansion post, and with even more employees in the shop this time, all proud of the work they’re doing, I found out the woman I thought was the manager the previous day was in fact one of the new owners, Tricia Zimmer-Ferguson.
As she should be, she was extremely eager to defend her brand and she pounced in the friendliest way possible. She felt I didn’t have enough true inside information about Kaldi’s to come to my opinions, and believed I had made a statement of fact rather than an (obvious) statement of opinion. Reading the post now, I can see how it could be interpreted in this way, and while I won’t apologize, I will elaborate.
But before I get into that, let’s get a little housekeeping out of the way. Just how do I feel about Kaldi’s coffee in general?
Before the Bill Burge running boom of ‘04, I used to be a big guy. And I’m not talking muscle. Years of cooking taught me to love food, years of computer work taught me to love sitting, and the two do not mix.
When I began losing weight I cut soda out of my diet and with it went my one source of caffeine. While that might not seem like a big deal, if you ask Ellie how easily I get tired, the picture becomes much clearer. More than anything it was affecting my commute home from work and I would often nap in a Quik Trip parking lot for a few minutes midway home. The thing is, I only worked fifteen minutes from home; it was pretty sad and something needed to be done.
So the quest was on. I needed a low calorie replacement for soda, and as I dislike tea, short of popping No-Doz, the only real option was coffee. The problem with that, however, is that I’d only ever had one cup of coffee I’d truly cared for at Printer’s Row in Chicago.
My parents, they were Folgers types, and while I would pass Gloria Jean’s in the mall during high school and think to myself that coffee smelled so awesome I should love it, attempting to drink it at home was simply pure torture.
Having no real idea what I wanted (other than not Folgers), Ellie came home with Starbucks. Fortunately we did have a grinder–an untouched wedding present–and were able to at least go the whole bean route from the start. It was better than Folgers, sure, but still it was mostly terrible because it was very bitter; a result of what I now realize is Starbuck’s almost signature over roasting.
Fortunately it was around this time it occurred to us, at I think Atlas, that of the restaurants we would occasionally get coffee in, the times we most enjoyed it were the ones where Kaldi’s was served. And so began my buying half pounds of Kaldi’s every weekend.
Over the course of a year I tried virtually every coffee they roasted and got a feeling for the individual characteristics of the wide variety of single origin beans available. It is because of Kaldi’s I know my preference is for Central American coffees with their acidity being less wine like, and South American coffees with similar flavors, but slightly heavier bodies. I know that while I like the Indonesian coffees of Sumatra, and especially the Lake Tawar region, I’m not as big a fan of other Indonesians like the Timor on the whole. And I further know that although the supposed true connoisseurs of coffee fawn over them, I just don’t like African coffees much.
And that’s all before the roaster even roasts the coffees. From lighter roasts like City+ and Full City, to darker ones like Vienna or French, each expresses something different. Even with the finest green beans you can buy a coffee can be destroyed swiftly because the darker you go, the less you can truly taste the flavors of the beans, and the more you taste the bitterness of the roasting process which is basically nothing more than a slow controlled burn.
So how do I feel about Kaldi’s Coffee?
Kaldi’s is my favorite roaster in St. Louis proper.
I have questions, sure, and even a few complaints, but at the end of the day I believe they are the one St. Louis roaster, west of the Mississippi, which does not continuously hammer out overly dark roasted coffees which leave you with a taste of burnt bitterness rather than a taste of the beans for which they, and inevitably you, are paying money forcec.
In my opinion, they mostly do things right, and I was truly disappointed my opinion came off the way it did, because even with my critiques, I’d meant for them to be more along the lines of constructive criticism rather than pot shots at a growing company and my want for them to stay small.
to be continued (further)…
Tags: Kaldi's Coffee
I am…
Dec 10, 2007 coffee, general food
That’s one word for what I am. This coffee mug is pretty unique too right? I could wax on about how it came from a thrift store, or how I bought it for the hilarious irony of it all, but no, I bought it new, in San Francisco, on Fisherman’s Wharf, in about 1983, when I lived in the San Joaquin Valley, in the city of Modesto, 90 minutes outside of San Francisco.
At the time I thought the mug was awesome, and while that might have signaled something was obviously amiss with me early on, I think I deserve some slack, I was like 7.
Now the mug sits in my cabinet; one of few in my arsenal to host a delicious assortment of brewed coffees from my Presto Scandinavian coffee maker–the cheapest drip coffee maker that brews at the correct temperature ( so cheap–$19–I have backups)–and Ellie makes fun of me every time I use it.
Yesterday the mug contained a drip brewed cup from the half pound of Stumptown’s Hair Bender Espresso which Matt (Goshen) gave me on my weekly trek to Edwardsville. He has this wacky (read awesome) idea to bring in guest roasts from other shops all over the country to show people what other great roasters are up to, and they’d been pouring the Stumptown as drip all week. (Matt believes a great espresso should also make a decent drip brewed cup) As a coffeegeek I think it’s a great idea as roasters don’t all go about things in the same manner. It’s cool to see the variations of what a shop is doing as I travel.
Using just Kaldi’s and Goshen as a local example, Kaldi’s roasts in San Franciscan drum roasters, where as Goshen roasts with a hot air roaster Matt built himself because he finds he can finesse out of it more of the flavors he’s after. Generally people believe drum roasters to be superior because they think air roasting leaves coffees brighter than drum roasting. To these people I can only say I was shocked when Matt told me he air roasted–try it for yourself.
As for the Hair Bender, Matt tasked me with noting something in the finish, and I hope my emailed response didn’t fall completely off the mark, for that would be embarrassing and I’d lose what tiny bit of coffee street-cred I’ve got.
To be honest though, I’m not great at picking flavors out of beverages. What I mean is, it’s one thing to say a wine tastes like fruit, it’s a whole different thing to specify fresh or dried fruit, and another thing entirely, still, to specify what fruit exactly. Currants? Cherries? Blueberries? They all taste different, and I’m only now beginning to get better at picking this stuff up with that kind of clarity.
My answer, by the way, was caramel apples. But it could have just been something I ate.
Oh…and Matt hired my favorite barista in St. Louis…some kid named Alex that used to do some amazing things with Chauvin at Picasso’s in St. Charles.
Tags: Goshen Coffee, Kaldi's Coffee, unique
A Man Walks Into a Coffee Shop
Dec 10, 2007 coffee, general food
I have visited Kaldi’s new Clayton location three times since opening. I will tell you about them–one at a time.
Two weeks ago when a quick email response signaled that Kaldi’s Clover would finally be landing in their new downtown Clayton shop my lunch plans for the following day, a Wednesday, were set.
You might find it surprising, but although my love is addictingly strong, I really don’t drink that much coffee. So, having saved the days caffeine consumption for Kaldi’s exclusively, I cruised over to the shop at noon–six hours into its existence.
Entering, it came as no great shock I recognized a handful of people in the store as it was filled with a who’s who of obvious Kaldi’s notables I’d mostly seen before. Maybe that’s sad, but for a food and coffee geek like myself, I remember industry names and locations in the same way normal guys remember sports stats like innings pitched and receptions made.
The shop itself is in the same vein as the other post-Demun shops like Kirkwood and Chesterfield, but, from a visual assessment anyway, much smaller. Because of the reduced size and their segmenting it into various rooms, it also felt much warmer–sort of a nuevo Demun as it to is separated off into various rooms.
Approaching the counter I must have said I was there to try the Clover as I was asked by the woman (wo)manning the register if I was the one who had emailed them about it on Tuesday. Having responded yes, she recommend I try the Fair Trade Organic Timor Ermera, as it was one she’d had for the first time that morning and really enjoyed.
She and the notables were eager to hear what I had to say about my first impression of the Timor and my first taste of Clover brewing.
The coffee was good, but for my own reasons, not exceptional, but mostly because it wasn’t in line with my own preferences. I found it a bit thin, and its sort of molasses flavor (they say brown sugar) didn’t overcome the coffees acidity for me. Some people do love bright, acidic coffees like this, but my favorites come from Central America. While they often lean to the bright side of things as well, it tends to be more of a citrus-like acidity rather than a wine-like one, and it usually comes coupled with flavors of chocolate or caramel that give them a sort of creamy mouth feel and body. It did, however, have a definite freshness (as it should have) which was a welcome change from the stagnant drip brewed coffees in carafes at any shop.
The woman who rang me up, who I assumed at the time was the manager, also commented to me about the color being different from coffees brewed in the Clover versus traditional drip. As this was my first experience with the machine, I really couldn’t say without a side by side comparison.
The one notable I knew by name, Kaldi’s Barista Trainer Alex McCracken, whom I recognized from photos of his 15th place finish in the SCAA US Barista Championships last year (that’s actually really good), spoke to me briefly about cupping–something I admitted haven’t actually done before. Apparently, when they had the Clover at the roasterie, they found it to be a good way to taste coffees true flavors. In a pinch, they utilized it as the second best method when there was no time for actual cupping. Also, he told me they do a public cupping almost every Friday at 2PM at the roasterie, a fact I would have known if I had seen their blog sooner than two weeks ago.
Basically uneventful, that’s it for visit one. Introductions were made, hands were shook, and I scurried back to work before the end of my hour long lunch break.
Overall first impressions: the shop left me pleased by the enthusiasm of the Kaldi’s staff. They seem–at least visually–to be trying to raise the bar of the St. Louis coffee scene, and that’s always a good thing.
Stay tuned for visit two in which I get called out by a Zimmer.
Tags: Alex-McCracken, Kaldi's Coffee
Cup of Excellence Hits Kaldi’s
Dec 7, 2007 coffee, general food
I visited the new downtown Clayton location on the first and second days of operation last week, and although I’m diligently typing up my experiences of that, I realize now I forgot to slip out that I did find, after scouring Google, the Cup of Excellence Coffee they purchased was Lot#: 19 Prodecoorp R.L – Cooperativa Luis Alberto Vasquez.
Purchased by seven roasters, with a total lot of 18 154 pound bags, it scored 86.05 and sold for $4.64/lb bringing in a total of $12,704.98. Kaldi’s bought two of the bags.
Jurors had this to say about the coffee:
Jury Descriptions: light lemony citrus (12), sweet bright acidity (14), milk chocolate (10), creamy (17), complex (7), balanced (6), sweet finish (2), smooth velvety body (1), sweet citric, floral note, sweet round acidity, caramel, dry aroma
Please Note: If a number appears in brackets next to a description it indicates the number of jurors that agreed with that particular description.
The truth is, this information is easy to find as you can see who bought every COE coffee on their website. You can also read brief biographies about the farmers that produce each lot, as well as get detailed cupping notes (like above).
As I mentioned previously, a top ranking coffee can bring in quite a bit of coin. As a great comparison to Kaldi’s lot, and an amazing example of the kind of money a top ranking COE coffee can profit a farmer, the Lot#: 1 Marcio Benjamin Peralta Paguaga – Las Golondrinas was a lot of 14 154 pound bags. It sold to Stumptown only, and they purchased it for $100,000 — $47.06/lb.
Not bad considering the average price per pound Starbucks paid in 2006 was $1.42 and the industry average was $1.04.
They sent me the press release this afternoon, and starting today…
Kaldi’s Coffeehouse at the Crescent in downtown Clayton will be the first of the company’s six shops to carry the limited edition coffee. Customers can purchase a half pound of the beans for $15 – packed in a limited edition copper bag. Customers can also purchase a 12oz. cup of it brewed at Kaldi’s for $4.25.
Read the full press release as a Word document here.
Tags: Cooperativa-Luis-Alberto-Vasquez, Cup of Excellence, Kaldi's Coffee
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?