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  • SCRBC 2012 Update: Registration Now Open
  • SCRBC 2012 News
  • Barista Throwdown League – West Texas

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SCRBC Begins Next Week.

There is a better mix of competitors this year, with folks from Austin, more from Lubbock (yay!), from Denton, Spring (from Austin last year), College Station, Webster, Dallas, Tulsa OK, and Cabot AK.

Last year, it was a TX love fest with folks from Austin, one from Dallas, and me, from Lubbock.

I’m liking the diversity! We need to get more Louisiana love into the mix.

In the Southwest Regional, there is only one company listed as of the last official update from Michelle Campbell. That company is Cartel Coffee Lab. Four competitors from CCL! (It’ll be good to see JS again).

The reigning champ, Patrick Pierce, will be the first to go on at 11:16am on Friday, Oct. 31.

The competition is free to attend, and we would like to encourage EVERYONE who is able and interested in watching to COME. Yes, it’s a competition, but it’s more than that. It’s community building, and an educational experience for all. It’s one of the best ways to build our regional ties so we can raise the proverbial quality tide in unison.

I have some good stuff coming. I apologize for the lack of new posts. I’ve been quite busy, but I’ll try to get some new things up soon.

Thanks for reading.

Everybody get happy… with the Tamper Dance!

via: bX

Latte Art Throwdown TONIGHT! @ Catalina Coffee: Houston, TX

Remember this post?

www.catalinacoffeeshop.com

Latte Art Throwdown

• @ Catalina Coffee

$20 to enter – winner takes all.

Baristas will have 7 minutes to make up to three lattes, choose one to present to three judges.

Judging will be based on symmetry, contrast, and technical difficulty and complexity of the art.

Free-pour only, no etching.

Yeah, well, it’s tonight! Bring $20, Bring yourself, and Bring your A-Game. And for the love of coffee in Texas, bring a camera! I won’t be able to make it, but I’d like to document a recap on TX-Coffee.

Have a blast, for those who WILL be making it.

2008 South Central Regional Barista Competition

Is Coming!

All we know is that it will be held in Austin, TX from Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Rules/regulations and score sheets are up, as is the information about this year’s equipment sponsor.

If you’ll notice, there is a new tab just to the right of the “Home” tab up top entitled, “SCRBC”.

This tab will take you to a page which will be updated as frequently as updates become available for news about the SCRBC.

Polish your pitchers.  Practice your efficiency and consistency.

Polish those skills, and bring it to the 2nd SCAA SCRBC.  2007 was a blast, and I am hoping for 2008 to be even better.

p.s. - remember last year?

Aduro Bean Micro-Roasters: Ft. Worth, TX

I received an email a few days ago from Nancy Crabb letting us know about their roasting operation in Ft. Worth. Nancy writes,

[I] wanted to see if we could get listed on your roaster page. At present, we’re the only non-industrial roaster in Fort Worth. We’ve been open for year and carry only specialty grade coffee—90% of which are fair trade and organic.
Thanks.
Nancy

Interestingly, they offer coffees at “custom roast levels”, meaning, you can choose whether you want your coffee at a light, medium, or dark roast. While this means your coffee is roasted to order, there is no guarantee that each level will be optimum for that particular coffee, however, that is not to say that it is not.

I also noticed something that is rare to find on a roaster’s website:

Because we are a micro-roaster and wish to provide only the freshest beans possible, Aduro Bean’s coffee stocks change from month to month.

Nice. It’s not often communicated to the consumer that coffee is a seasonal product just like any other harvested fruit.

I also found this on their “About” page:

We believe that coffee drinkers who seek the best, who wish to avoid impersonal, bulk corporations and who desire to purchase and consume fair-trade, organic and co-op coffees should stick together!

We should all make very effort to ensure that the dollars we spend fulfilling our coffee desires, be they light and tangy or dark and morose, go to those who actually make our desires a reality, rather than bottom-line corporations that purchase from huge farms using cheap labor.

We purchae our beans with an eye towards fairness and sustainability and hope that you choose the same.

While I like the basic philosophy, they do have another page entitled “Fair Trade”. I realize most people still hold on to the notion that Fair Trade is indeed a fair program, while others have looked deeper into it and discovered that this is not always the case. They are fans of Fair Trade, and while FT may not always be Fair, it’s good to see a roasting outfit that is concerned not only with the quality of their coffee, but also the equity of its handling. (or is it the other way around?)

Aduro Bean Micro-Roasters has been added to our List of Roasters.
6745 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Ft. Worth, TX 76116

Coimex Trading: São Paulo, Brasil

http://www.coimextrading.com.br/

I received an email a little over a week ago from Natália at COIMEX Traiding Company to inform roasters in Texas about their services.

Their website lists coffee under the “Commodities” category, which may or may not be telling.

Natália writes,

We are a full service worldwide coffee exporting company looking for small Texas roasters with whom to start a less-than-container load coffee selling/buying relationship.  We offer all Brazils, both mainstream and certified, including organic and Fairtrade.

Please contact me for more information.

Natália
nramos@coimex.com.br

If you’re curious, take a look at their coffee program information page.  http://www.coimextrading.com.br/conteudo/page_cont_68_2.asp

SCAI: Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of updates to the TX-Coffee.com blog.

I have had issues with internet connectivity lately, which should soon (hopefully) be resolved.

I promise that the supply of content will be back into full swing when this occurs.

In the mean time, here is some interesting news.  I received an email a few days ago from a Dieter Fischer to let us know about the SCAI.  Quite interesting!

Fischer writes,

Greetings,

I am working with the specialty coffee industry in Indonesia.  The industry here recently formed a trade group called the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia (SCAI).

If you are looking for contacts in Indonesia, please let us know.  SCAI has members who are farmers, exporters, roasters, retailers and importers.

We would love to appear in your list of external links.  The website for the association is www.sca-indo.org

Best,

Dieter Fischer

SCAI member

Very cool.

The SCAI has been added to our list of external links, as well as to the Internet Coffee Database, provided by TX-Coffee.com

Coffee Slingers(O.K. City) mentioned by Food & Wine

No, they are not a TX Retailer, but our stately neighbors to the north have posted a job here, and have been like a close cousin to the TX Coffee Community.  I found this article from a Facebook post by Mike White of Gimme! Coffee in New York.

Where to Go Next: Best U.S. Coffee Bars

Food insiders are as excited to talk about coffee bars as they are restaurants: The quality has gotten that good. Here, the classic and new places around the country with the most fanatical devotees.

By Nick Pandolfi  more…

Fantastic!  Maybe now we’ll start seeing coffee retailer reviews where they actually talk about the COFFEE.  It seems all they can ever talk about is the food, pastries, decor, and the neighborhood it’s in.  Here’s hoping this article is a sign of certain change.  A movement in the right direction.

If you are too lazy to read the entire thing and see mentions of some so-called(by the article) “Old Guard” shops as well as some lesser known so-called(by the article) “New Guard” shops, here’s the important bit:  The nod to our friends in Oklahoma City at Coffee Slingers.

Oklahoma City

Coffee Slingers

Melody Harwell brought serious coffee to Oklahoma City when she opened Coffee Slingers in a renovated car dealership in March. She’s such a stickler for quality that she insists all of the cappuccinos be served exactly the same way, in seven-ounce ceramic mugs, and she’ll only make coffee with a French press using single-origin beans. 1015 N. Broadway Ave.; 405-606-2763 or coffeeslingers.com.

Kudos to Melody and crew at Coffee Slingers!
(we should see them at this year’s SCRBC)

Gachet Coffee Lounge: A visit

(images from http://gachetcoffee.com)

This is a shop that has gotten some good reviews in the past, and I had never actually made the trip myself.  I was planning to be in the area, so I made it a point to stop by. (this was made stronger by the pounding headache suffered from a lack of caffeine intake.. apparently, I am addicted)

They serve a variety of loose-leaf teas the source of which I did not catch the name of.  They are serving coffee roasted by Coffee Eiland.

The first thing you’ll notice is the fact that it does not have a street front.  The front faces a wide open pedestrian space in the Victory park area of downtown Dallas.

You’ll notice the patio furniture, and the fact that it looks strikingly similar to indoor furniture.  (The chairs looked like overstuffed chairs you would not expect to find outdoors)

You’ll walk in, and notice a “news stand” book store to your left, and the striking white design of the space.

The space is beautifully designed and set up.

When you walk up to the counter, you’ll notice what appears to be a 1grp La Marzocco GB/5, a variety of loose-leaf teas, and a short menu that I could not find a “traditional Cappuccino” on. (or even a Cappuccino)

But, upon asking, they do indeed serve a “Traditional Cappuccino”.

It was served in a white flat-bottom mug-shaped cup at around 8-10oz in size.  The dome of foam increased this volume by another ounce or two.

The espresso was decent.  It was not bitter, but it was not too terribly complex either.  Nice if you don’t want to think about your coffee as you’re drinking it.  Of course, it could just be that the blend they use does not fair well in large quantities of milk.

The foam left much to be desired.  The bubbles were large, and the flavor of the foam delivered exactly what one would expect upon visual contact.  The temperature of the drink, however, was nearly perfect.

My companion ordered a small caffé latte in a to-go cup.  The cup felt extremely light in weight for a latte, but the attempted latte art was a nice touch, that I think would have been better had the barista stretched just a little less during frothing.

I was assured, the foam in the latte tasted good, and that the espresso agreed with my previous impressions.

The short story is this:  It’s definitely worth dropping in if you happen to be near by, but it’s not worth going too far out of your way for.  Its’ a great atmosphere, decent coffee, and I wish I had had more time to sample the loose leaf tea offerings.

If you are interested, here are some reviews from Yelp.

Gachet Coffee Lounge
2336 Victory Park Ln
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 953-1234

And… We're Back

I apologize for the delay in getting this thing back up online at its usual URL.

We are now officially on a private server (so you’ll probably see some changes happening here and there as we go along). This opens up a whole new range of options that were never available before.

Naturally, it will take time for me to learn the ins and outs of everything now at my fingertips, but such is the nature of things.

Thanks to those who clicked through at a mild inconvenience.

It seems comments were lost in the move, and I’ll see what I can do about bringing them over.

I know the header image is too small, and I know that there are a couple of missing page links up top, but sit tight.  I’m working on it.

Enjoy the new and improved (improving?) TX-Coffe.com – Texas Coffee People.

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