All is well

Sitting here at one of my favorite coffee shops, 1515 Broadway, down in the D, nurturing a wonderful americano (thanks Danny!) and reflecting on all that has happened thus far. 2 months in, and I really have to say, it's a fantastic journey and all is well. Seems like we are meeting all the right people, making all the right connections, learning and relearning so much. And if it's been this much fun in just the first 2 months, I cannot imagine what the future holds. I know, I know, you're saying "yeah, just wait til you're open and working ALL day every day". Well, to that I say, "I can't wait". I'll take 80 hours (and more) each week at the shop over 40 what I'm doing now any day. I mean, I already have "relearned" more about coffee and "the business" in the past couple of months than everything I know about my current industry, and I've been there a solid 10 years. Opening the shop is not something I need to do, I mean, I'm not losing my current job and there is no great urgency to switch careers... I have all the time in the world to open the shop. But, as I think of what I just said, this IS something I need to do. The end of getting in the car each morning and driving to the job where my main focus is getting through the day to get back in the car and go home is on the horizon. Ah yes, with just that in my noggin, how can all not be well? The dream is alive and growing and with each day, each thing I read, every person I meet, I find another reason to take the next step. Yes, truly, all is well....

*And as if I needed another reason, about halfway through this post, I went up to the counter to get another americano, and Danny said it was on him. Thanks again.. Next time you're down around Broadway and John R, stop in to 1515. You'll get a great java and conversation...

Caffeine Super Hero

Coffee Junkies, UNITE!

(Picture a superhero team of jittering, shaking, super-caffeine-charged muscle men and women in brightly colored unitards clanking their cafe-stained mugs in a rally call to go forth and fight.... um...  caffeine withdrawl?)

I'm feeling like that superhero right now, sipping the end of my iced coffee... the beans for which I roasted last night.  Peruvian Fair Trade Organic... city roast.  Yum.

Why, you ask, do I feel this way?  Because we were ON the LIST!  Yeah, I'm not sure how much clout that actually earned us.  BUT, a coffee blogger out there who seems to have some kind of clout in this crazy underground world (at least he has sponsors on his web page) INCLUDED us as eighth on his list of must read coffee blogs.

Yeah, I'm cool like that.  (And when I say "me," what I really mean is "we.")

Not to mention that we sold out of ALL our coffee last week (shhhhhh... this is a clandestine operation... just friends sharing coffee with friends.  winky wink)  One of our friends who has a really delicate palate, and has been ordering twenty-something-ish dollars a pound Italian espresso... really liked our French Roast!  Of course, I don't remember what kind of beans they were.  I think Ethiopian.  We are working on setting up a database so we can "remember" what our friends like best, and of course, what they abhor.

Hey, any tech friends want to write a FB app like the Friend Wheel... only for coffee preference?  I won't take a cut of the profit, as long as you let us use it for free and name it "Caffeine Junkee."  Mmmmkay?

All right, super coffee junkee- out.

Caffeine Junkee- When one cup just isn't enough

I worked VERY HARD on this label.  Well, it wouldn't have been so hard if I had already known how to unzip a file and drop it into my computer's font file.  Nor would it have been so hard if I had been able to USE said font with the Avery Label Maker Template.  Needless to say, I did everything the old fashioned way... and I LOVE IT!

Now, I know this is "just" friends sharing coffee... and we are not an established business *yet*.  But, creating things like this is really exciting for me.  I do it for everything... Christmas cookies for the neighbors would never be on paper plates with cling wrap crumpled across the top!  Nope, custom labels on smart bakery bags or layered in jars with a pro-quality sticker on the front and perfectly printed recipe.

It was mortifying to me when Jay handed people bags with the word "nuggets" scrawled across the top in black magic marker.  Mortifying.  So here they are, the new custom labeled bags.  These two were custom roasts for Aaron... "Aaron's In Your Face Roast" and "Krieger's Good in the Sack Roast."  Think about the possibilities with this roast... do you want a bag of coffee as a gift for a friend who can take a joke ("Black as My Soul Roast"), or to leave by the coffee pot at work ("Get Back to Your Desk Ya Slacker Roast")?  For you wife ("Martha is Lovely in the Morning Roast"), or your husband ("Jason Can Work the Coffee Pot Roast")?  Let us know, as these very cool custom labels are now at the tip of my fingers!

So go down to the right of this blog... ===>>>  Click on that PayPal "Add to Cart" button, and get yourself one of the coolest bags of coffee in town.  (Starting next week, we will be roasting on demand.  How often can you demand something of someone... and have them actually jump to it... I mean really?)

Yup, I'm happy

Wow. I experienced a little coffee nirvana this afternoon. I decided to take a drive out to Chazzano Coffee in Ferndale, and was beyond pleased. I went in hopes of meeting Frank, the owner, and hopefully talk shop about roasting and coffee in general. Frank however was not to be found today. Turns out he was spending the day with family, but that didn't stop me from spending some time at the shop hanging with the staff while enjoying an absolutely fantastic americano made with some Ethiopian Sidamo and buying a few pounds of green beans. Although Chazzano is primarily a roaster, there is a nice espresso bar with seating for only about a dozen or so people. This afternoon during my visit, a young musician was singing and playing guitar, something you wouldn't expect on a Sunday afternoon. Absolutely wonderful. 

 I have already roasted up my Honduran Santa Rosa, and within a few days will do the Nicarauan Jinotega. 

I cannot say enough great things about my entire experience today. The space, the people, the product... I will definitely be frequenting Chazzanos as often as possible, and suggest you head there as well. Hey, I have an idea, let's meet there soon for a coffee. What say you?

From a Little Green Seed

Mary, Mary, quite contrary.  How does your garden grow?

In an empty coke bottle with soil and water,

See it!  It's the tiny vertical line in the middle.

that's how my coffee garden grows!

There's a sprout!  There's a sprout!  Two of the six Guatemalan green beans that Chailyn and I planted in our home-made coke bottle terrarium have shown their leafy heads!

Do you see how many exclamation points I have used?!  Can you tell I am excited?!

Now, I have to tell you that I have a black thumb.  Seriously, I kill everything except tomato plants.  And maybe the red chili plants in my garden.  But if it's INSIDE, it's as good as dead.  So... we shall see if these little things make it past newborn phase.

And should they survive- there are also negative consequences I will have to deal with:  If I grow them hearty enough to eventually bear fruit, my sunny meditation room will feel like The Jungle Book.  However, in three years we'll be able to brew about one pot of coffee from the painstakingly fermented, dried, and roasted cherries.

Stay tuned!

The Alchemy of Great Work | Box of Crayons

Hmmmm, just one more sign. Thank you universe...

The Alchemy of Great Work | Box of Crayons:

'via Blog this'

Orange Flower's Purple Life

Last night I took the kids to City Coffeehouse.  http://www.citycoffeehouseinc.com/  The ambiance in there is great... cool, eclectic, inviting... with its red walls and giant mural of the Detroit skyline.  Friday nights they host live music... aspiring young musicians rocking the foggy front corner window to a crowd of aspiring hipsters.

We spent a few minutes chatting with Joe, the new owner, before ordering- a coffee for me, just the City Roast brewed cup (we are on a budget).  Chailyn ordered a tiramisu and paid with his own money (so much better than spending it on candy and video games).  As we listened to the acoustic guitarist, Kayden checked out the local artwork for sale on the walls.  Her eyes grew large.

"Mom," she said, pointing to a painting of grass with a ladybug.  "I could totally do that."

"Okay," I replied.  "Then do it."

Today was spent painting.  I told my young artist that if she completed a dozen (or so) really good paintings, we would take a portfolio down to Joe at City Coffeehouse and ask if she can be a featured artist.

Here is the culmination of today's efforts- she calls it "Orange Daisy's Purple Life."

Her inspiration is on the left, her painting on the right (just in case you couldn't tell which was which).  I kind of want to hang it in our music room... but she hopes to put a whopping $20 price tag on it for her coffee shop exhibition.  Personally, I think she could get twenty-five.

The Reason Why

And THIS is why I need to open the cafe...

Words of Wisdom

Last week I happened to run into an old friend of mine whom I had not seen in a long time.  Just so happens that her ex is the guy who bought our old Milky Way coffee equipment.  What with the recession and all, he apparently left the cart and equipment covered and untouched in his garage.  A beautiful commercial espresso machine, two grinders, cash register, and all little delicates that go along with the trade (hand tamps, pitchers, espresso cups... my heart is beating faster).

"Do you think he'd want to sell the stuff back to us?" I asked, trying to disguise the excitement in my inquiry.

"Ummm, yeah," she replied, as if it was a no-brainer.  YES.  I had to get home and tell Jay.

I told my husband about our encounter across the dinner table that night.  Jason was very, very interested... adding a few other recent events that are too serendipitous to have been circumstance.  As we sat pondering, my daughter pointed her finger at Jason and stated, very matter-of-factly:

"See, God WANTS us to have a coffee shop."

Roast, roast, roast...

Having lots of fun learning about roasting thus far. The smells, the sounds... Approaching 10 batches of beans, haven't burned one yet! Decided to do a roast of the Guatemalan today that we did as our first batch, but tried a lighter roast. The results - 

  

                  

Yup, same beans. Funny thing is that I roasted the lighter beans on a different setting for LONGER! Next, I'll have to do a few batches of the same bean and do different roasts at different speeds and try them side by side.

One thing I have definitely learned thus far is how important listening is. See, beans "crack" when they heat up. Not once, but twice. And its CRUCIAL not to let the beans roast past the second crack, or you end up with charcoal. No this has not happened yet, but I have had to stop the roast on a couple batches. Likewise, I have had to add time on a batch to get the darker roast I was looking for. Listening is everything...

Think I'll go try another batch.

Because of you...

Apparently, I am not the most prolific writer on this blog.  So I guess what I lack in quantity, I will have to make up for in quality.  Reading a piece of writing can be like drinking a cup of coffee... you want it, so you consume it.  If it's decent, even slightly on the crappy side, you'll simply consume it quickly and be done.  If it's delicious, smooth on the palate, exciting to the mind, you will take it in slowly... relishing every moment, returning for more and more.  For you, my friend, I will do my best to make it delicious.

My friends.  

I cherish each and every relationship in my life.  My dad always said, "Friends are your family of choice."  The older I get... I mean the more I live... the more I realize the truth of those words.  I have girlfriends who are like sisters, who sit on my couch in jammies with wine or coffee and talk and laugh without pretense.  We call (or text) each other when we are in need of comfort, or to share a joy, or just to check in when too much time has slipped between us.  I have guy friends who would go to bat for me like a brother.  With these friends, I talk into the middle of the night and laugh until my ribs hurt.  Our children annoy each other, and love each other, like siblings.  It's perfectly real.

Beyond this closest circle, I have many friends with whom I talk over a cup of coffee or tea or a shared meal. We discuss important personal issues.  We exchange play dates, child care, expertise, children's clothing, and recipes.  We share our dreams, and our gossip.  We help one another bear the load of every day life.  These people are incredibly important to me.  No-one should have to walk this road alone.

And then there are those friends that were from another time in my life, with whom there is still a deep connection, even if we don't keep in close touch.  They are important because they helped shape who I am, and because they know me in a way that's different from new friends.  We check in with one another on Facebook, send Christmas cards, drop a line when we are in town.  It's comforting knowing they are there... 

Okay, okay... so I could get really sappy and sentimental very easily.  But I won't.  I will just say there are many people in my life that I know through my homeschool group, church, the neighborhood.  Those that I poached from friends' Facebook pages, (or that poached me).  We "comment" and "like" each other's thoughts, status updates, and inspirational quotes.  From you, I get links to the most important news, parenting articles, funny cartoons, and heart-wrenching videos.  You make up the content of my daily conversations, and consume a great deal of my time. (Which I will never get back. Thanks.)

So what, then, is my point?  Writing about all my friends on the coffee blog...

When we started our coffee shop up north, we had ONE friend helping.  My dear, sweet, Molly helped paint and build and taste and dream.  I have been friends with Molly since we were both in utero.  Our dads are bestest friends, and she has been with me at all of the important points in my life (including the thirty hours of labor and delivery of my son).  She is wonderful.  But she is ONE. (I think maybe Zack was around a bit too, back then!  So maybe they were TWO!)  Even though we had our first shop back in my home town, I didn't really have close ties there any more.  Jason and I were essentially building a new life.  

Our future coffee shop is something I envision as a gathering place, a "hub" if you will, of our community.  A place for friends to gather, relax, laugh, play, learn, connect.  Through our blog, and our conversations, I feel like our friends- old and new, close and far- are truly fellow journeyers on this caravan.  They have a stake in it, they have a very important part to play, and that's EXACTLY how I want it to be. 

I want each and every one of you to feel like you own a piece of this dream.  This will be OUR coffee shop.  Yes,  yours and mine... Your family's and my family's.  We promise to run it well, to listen to your thoughts, entertain your ideas, to utilize your expertise.  We will open after hours to host your daughter's sixteenth birthday party, your fortieth anniversary, your husband's retirement party, your Goddess group, and your Dungeons and Dragons club.  We promise to be ready with a warm cup and a comfortable chair.  We will do this for you... but more importantly, we will be able to do this BECAUSE of you.

Thank you...   

(And weather you thought it tasty or not, writing this post was delicious.)

The First Roast

Our journey begins...


The roaster arrived yesterday along with our 8 pounds of green beans -

1. Bolivia Montana Verde Fair Trade & Organic
2. Sumatra Lintong Grade 1
3. Brazil Yellow Bourbon Natural
4. Guatemala SHB Finca Transito Bolivar
5. Columbia Concordia Santa Monica
6. Peru Fair Trade & Organic
7. Costa Rica SHB
8. Ethiopa Yrgacheffe Kochere. 

Needless to say (but I will), we were very excited. For the first roast, we decided, okay, I decided, to do a 1/4# of the Guatemalan.

We got out a bowl and weighed the green beans. 

And then, it was time. After a brief preheat, we put the beans in the wire drum, the drum went into the oven and the magic happened.

About six and a half minutes into the roast, we heard the first "crack" and things REALLY started happening. The green beans turned a rich, dark brown right before our eyes and after the cooldown cycle, we removed the drum and smiled upon our first attempt at roasting. It was beautiful. 

We let the beans sit overnight and this evening after dinner, we ground and brewed our first press pot. 

In the words of special agent Dale Cooper - "That's a damn good cup of coffee"

Coffee Gaming

     Gaming in a coffee shop?  Yes, I would like to have video games in the coffee shop.  Maybe even some computer stations.  Or we could have a whole separate room like an arcade.   I especially want the computer stations so I could play toontown or World of Warcraft on my lunch break.
      How will get all that equipment, you ask?  Well, we probably won't have the shop for a few years, so I'll have plenty of time  to save up.  And if we have computer stations, I might already have the highest level on World of Warcraft and toontown.  And I'll be kicking butt at both games no matter what.
      And yes I would pay for all of this.  I'll also make desserts for the coffee shop.  It will have donuts, cakes, muffins, and lots of different things.  There might even be paczki's and cheesecake.  I hope I get paid more than minimum wage.

In The Beginning

Welcome to Caffeine Junkee, a blog about all things java and our adventure on the road to opening a coffee shop.  Written from several different perspectives, you'll get one family's varied viewpoints... so it should be entertaining as well as enlightening.


Why are we doing this?


Well, grab yourself a cup of coffee (if you dont already have one), sit back down and I'll tell you.


Rewind fifteen years into the past.  Melinda and I actually met in a coffee shop where she was a barista. Several years before the birth of our first child, we decided to dive deeper into the world of coffee.  The interest was so strong that we actually attended a coffee conference in Denver in 1998. The following year, while living in SE Michigan, we heard of a coffee kiosk business for sale in Northern Michigan. We checked it out, put together a business plan, and moved to Harbor Springs.  Just like that, we were in the coffee business.

The Milky Way

Melindas artistry

During the summer months, we were set up at the foot of the dock at the marina, while the winter found us inside the lodge at Nubs Nob. Within a year or so, we had rented a tiny building set off of Main Street and opened a shop. Granted, we could only seat about 6, but it was an actual little coffee shop of our own. I had huge plans of expanding, going into roasting and eventually moving into the coffee importing side of the business. It could have been WONDERFUL (and it was) had I not had such poor business sense. Between making just enough money to squeak out our bills,  and my father continually asking to move back to the Detroit area to help him run his business, we finally folded.  Sadly, we sold our house, closed up the shop and moved the kiosk into storage, to be sold a short time later.


Thus began my "career" at the chemical plant. I had gone from  slinging coffee at our kiosk by the water... to the black hole I call my job, in an office with bars and a steel grate on the windows.  It's exactly like prison, except at the end of the day I get to go home... And I have served nine years of what was destined to be a life sentence.

Fast forward to February 3, 2012.






We sat down as a family unit to watch an episode of How Stuff Works. This particular episode was on coffee, (check it out here) and the more I watched, the heavier my heart felt. Something happened. A spark ignited and the following day was filled with conversations about coffee and our previous business. The wheels were set in motion and within 48 hours of watching that show, we ordered a home roaster...











My share of this blog will most likely be about the things that are happening, what we are learning, and generally what progress we are making towards opening our little dream shop. Stay tuned...

Polish Desserts

     You may know fat Tuesday.  And if you do, you may or may not know about paczkis.  Well paczki's are polish.  That is why the word paczki is spelled weird.  I am also 1/4 polish.  
   Paczki's are polish donuts that are deep fried and are filled with custard and served with icing and orange peel.  They originated in the 18th century.  This is the polish donut.  It is often enjoyed at a bakery.  It is a sweet treat.
   Another treat that everybody loves, is cheesecake.  This too started in Poland.  Often we eat it and make it with a graham cracker crust.  But there are many different ways to make and enjoy it.  One very common way was a sponge cake with cream cheese added to the mix.  This dessert is a very popular one here and in Poland today.  
   I know you thought this blog was gonna be about coffee and the coffee shop we wanna open.  Well it is.  Cuz' what goes better with coffee than a paczki.

COFFEE!

     The star here, is coffee.  Coffee is a drink all people over the age of 5 should  be allowed to enjoy.  It is known all over the world.  To me, it is better than soda.  I drink it black, and with cream and sugar.  I also drink different kinds of coffee.  Iced or hot.  
  I also drink it mocha and cappuccino style.  Normally I get it iced with caramel.  I like to have coffee anywhere I can.  Normally there's a Starbucks around.
  We used to have a coffee shop called the Milky Way.  It was in Harbor Springs, where we used to live.  I don't remember much of it because I was just a baby when we owned it.
  We are going to go back into the coffee business tough.  We don't know what we are going to call it yet.  I was thinking about Coffee Craze.  My mom thought about Caffeine Junkie.  
  But it's not going to be all coffee.  My sister is going to sell homemade cotton candy, her business is called candy cloud.  And I'm going to be making baked goods, like cookies, pastries, and kettle corn.
   I hope the place has lots of space.  Then we'll have lots of room for customers and tables, an chairs.  It would also be nice if it had a fireplace too.  That would be really nice for the winter.
   And maybe we could even set up little stations for kids to play with legos.  Or a place at the counter where kids could dip fruits and marshmallows into fondue. 

Secret Society of Caffeine Junkies

I am currently drinking a cup of coffee. It's amazing, all I did was boil water and pour it over a pile of grounds... wait... press... pour. Anyone can boil water, and both of my kids learned to pour when they were wee tots. So why does some coffee suck, and other coffee provide a sensation of pure elation? That, my friends, is the coveted secret of a very few: a society of caffeine-addicted elite so far under-ground that they don't even know they exist. Caffeine Junkees. But not the Mt. Dew slugging, Diet Coke chugging types. They are NOT allowed. (amateurs) No, the art of the perfect brew is a craft, an art, and one that Jay and I have perfected once... and now aim to perfect to the point of crema-induced enlightenment. That's right, we want to have our future patrons praying to the coffee gods, experiencing espresso nirvana.

We start... with a dream... and a roaster. (Screw the mortgage, one can live without a house. One can not live without good coffee.) We perused various options, including the Roaster in a Dryer option (which would make our clothing smell delicious- bonus), the BBQ Conversion Roaster, and the roaster made of a steel coffee mug and tinker toys. In the end, we realized the extension of our passion stopped at the edge of actual engineering. We opted for the counter-top model. It arrives Wednesday, and I am shaking with anticipation. Or maybe it's just caffeine withdrawal. Either way, its arrival marks the first step toward our master plan- a life completely centered in coffee.

Okay, just in case you think I'm borderline obsessed with little brown beans- Not exactly. I am in love with the coffee culture. I love standing behind the big, steel machine with a tamp in one hand and a bar-cloth in the other. I love making the perfect espresso macchiato for the customer that needs something to make his life worth living. I love the sound of frothing milk and the burn of a pitcher heated to a precise one-hundred-eighty degrees without a thermometer. I love mocking the people who spell espresso with an “x,” but only behind their backs because saying it out loud would be rude. I am a barista at heart. I gravitate toward like some people are gravitated toward water.

But wait, there's more! I want to provide a place for people to gather, to feel welcomed, to hang out a talk, to play their guitar and read their poetry. I imagine a cool, funky, eclectic shop with big leather couches and a checker board painted on one of the wooden tables. Chailyn would have a hand in all the baking... because his desire has been (for several years running) to be a pastry chef... and judging by his chocolate death pie (handed down from father to son), he's doin' all right! Kayden could spin her organic cotton candy in the certified kitchen, re-branding it “Sugar Buzz.” It would give us something to work toward as a family, together. As a home schooling family, it is the perfect platform for learning about life, about economics, about work and money management. Chailyn voluntarily read a book called “Beat the Rat Race” last night, and gave me a run-down of assets and liabilities this afternoon. We also watched a video about coffee production, from plant to cup. They were fascinated.

While Jason gets roasting, the kids and I will be starting a tiny little windowsill hydroponic coffee farm. (No officer, those are coffea arabica plants. Like a cup o joe, Joe?) I seriously think it's the logical next step in the world of the caffeine junky. However, it takes three years to achieve a cherry. (These plants are nice Catholic girls.) In the meantime, the lovely process of growth and germination will provide us with excellent botany lessons! I also hope to plant some various potted tea herbs. Making our own delicious herbal-brews may also be on our horizon. Why do it if you're going to do it half-assed, right?

Okay, my buzz is wearing off so I'm having a hard time keeping my train of... Hey! If you want some of the freshest coffee you've ever had, come over some time next week! You can just follow the smell of bliss to our very secret location, deliver the super secret knock (rap-rap then come in), and bring your mug. We'll keep the buzz on for ya'. (Available for $10 a pound, with your own personalized label. How does a cup of Christie's InsMOMnia sound?)