in a major way…

just got my major from Tag-Ex/Ebay the other day; I am a happy man indeed.
I had big plans of tearing it apart, sanding it down and doing some custom stuff to it but it actually looks pretty good already.

the burrs on this thing kick the shit out of my super jolly burs…big dogs. I got a new set on the way along with a hopper/lid. I’m gonna do the same doser sweep mod that I did with my super jolly; a bit of thin sheet rubber attached to the star assembly that makes contact with the bottom of the dossing chamber. Works like a charm with zero ground coffee left after sweep. Major burrs on the left, SJ on the right

Can’t wait to work with this to see if I can get in a grove with it. I wish I had the cash to buy enough coffee to keep a SO or blend from another roaster on the bar at all times but coffee gets pretty pricey if you don’t get wholesale prices. Well it’s off for some comparisons…SJ vs. Major. On a side note my house seems to have coffee stuff all over it; cups, pitchers, spoons, grinders, 2grp HX machine collecting dust (gotta get that s**t plumbed in), etc…hope I’m not upsetting my housemates. Peace.

the cupping room

cup cup cup. I’ve been wanting to hold a cupping in the Central Valley for a while now and last week I locked it down. With the help of my squad (Tony, D. Castro, and The Doug) I was able to pull off what turned out to be a fun evening. We decided for the first of these events to use the house roaster: Taylor Maid. They shipped us three SO’s that they’re tweaking for a new spro blend. They were kind of light on descriptions and we recieved bags labeled: Brazil, Washed India Robusta, and Timor. According to Rob the Brazil was COE #5 Fazenda Água Limpa; the other two coffees were suprises, communication was uh…strange.

My main goal with this was to get people from other cafes involved and stimulate knowledge. We pulled a nice diverse crowd and had baristas and owners representing about 5 cafes (Plantation, Queen Bean, Deva, Jitters, and Coffe Creek), plus a few future cafe owners. Most, well just about all of these people had never cupped coffee before…time to change all that.

Anyhow, everyone seemed to have a good time and was fully interested…word. Chances that you’ll go to a cafe in the valley and get a good drink are slim to none, but I think the interest is here. This event gave me the chance to talk to a bunch of baristas with a lot of passion and energy but sadly they either don’t have the tools and/or training to get where they want to be. I hold owner/operators and roasters responsible for this. As an owner/operator you are responsible for setting the bar and giving your workers the knowledge, equipment, and training they need to produce the best product they can. Roasters: if you supply coffee you should supply training and constantly check up on your accounts…this only works in your favor. By training, re-training, and educating you are making sure that your coffee is presented in the best possible light. Anyway…enough, I could go on for days.


To cap off the night I rocked the bar for everyone, espresso a-go-go or the Brazil (cause we had 5lbs compared to the other coffees 2lbs). We serve a-go-go on the daily so most opted for the Brazil…spros, capps, macchiatos, americanos; 5.5 ounces or less crackas. I got all pumped…lots of espresso went out. Me and my dirty bar…

Well, thanks to all that came and all that helped out for sure. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction to elevate skill and enthusiasm in my area and push everyone from baristas to owners to step that shit up. See you soon…oh yeah, tasting notes to come.

portland…4 days

I’ve been wanting to get to P-town for a long time now and last week I got the opportunity so both with different agendas the lady and I hit the road in hopes of a good time.

My first stop for coffee landed me at The Albina Press. After poking around a bit I ordered a capp and it was shortly served by a fellow named Dan. We chatted for a bit and I ended up throwing back two dubs of a single origin Harrar…both were good the second was the one though.

We talked for a bit more and he suggested I come in later and get a drink from Billy…I took his advice and went by later on to treat myself to an americano. I hate buggin’ people I don’t know but I imposed myself on him and we talked about Charlotte and my amazing 29th place finish compared to his 2nd. A few more mutterings about coffee and an americano later I was on my way.

Later in the evening the guys from Albina were cool enough to call me up to have a few beers and chat coffee and the like…Amnesia = good beer, Albina Press = great coffe and really cool people. I came back on Thurs. and they let me pull some shots on their bar…nice, you guys rock.

Next day it was Stumptown time…Duane was nice enough to take some time out of his day to join me in a cupping and take me to the roastery, all of his cafes and get some lunch with me and talk coffee. He knows so much it blows me away, I felt like an annoying little kid asking question after question but he took it well…thanks Duane, I know you’re a busy cat.

The rest of the trip the lady and I just kicked aroud town and hung out. I’m glad she was patient with me and my coffee ventures cause I’m sure at times she was bored out of her mind. Portland is an awesome place to be but it was nice to sleep in my own bed after 4 days on the rock hard hotel trash. Until next time…