Metro Boston's First Jam @ Taste this Friday

We have quite a few cafes confirmed and a full list of barista showing up for this event. It's impressive to see the community coming together. I am sure I am forgetting something but here is the general idea of what's happening Friday Night. Schedule subject to change as we are just going to go for it.
5:00pm
Kranky's introduction: barista sign in and welcome. Name tags and id's please!
Coffee: Per Cup Bar - barismo
Espresso: Shots and Machiatto - Taste
Limited Edition Coffee Ice Cream - Toscanini's
Live music till late!!!
5:30pm
The Boston Metro '09 Latte Art Throw Down:
Entry is $5 each, all comers welcome: One shot, one pour. Prizes for best pour, most creative, and most difficult pour. Prizes include tampers by Fazenda (equipment division).
6:00pm
Kranky's Latte Chug Contest:
The challenge is to make a latte and then chug it in the fastest time. Entry is free and the prize will be decided day of the event, sponsored by Taste.
6:05pm
Beer and chips barista social sponsored by barismo.
7:00pm
Winner's announcement and prizes handout.
8:00pm
Last call.

We need volunteers, judges, and general help getting the word out so don't be shy. I will update this post as I have time.

Then there's tomorrow

The roaster's creed is always about what the next roast is. Rarely is it spent dwelling on last weeks roasts but it's always about moving forward and adjusting as we go. The weather is always changing and the coffees are always aging, nothing is really that firm and predictable.

We have new accounts on the way working the program slowly and surely but right now the big goal in front of us is Kranky's barista jam. Looks like a lot more shops are interested in it than you might expect. We haven't had a lot of SCAA sponsored events here (this one isn't) and in fact, the jams and competitions seem to get farther and farther from New England every year to be called New England. It's refreshing to see our scene forming and what's next is the real question.

In the meantime, the barismo lab will be undergoing several stages of renovations while we build out our kiosk so we can offer a little sampling to the Arlington public. That will be a great space to unveil a new prototype to help us brew our per cup offerings. More on that later...

The big event

The invitation, originally uploaded by coffeedirtdog.

An invitation arrived this morning. The first of what would be several that went out today. A bottle of wine with a special invite printed on the side.

The big unsanctioned unofficial barista jam over at Taste on April 3rd. The Jam was organized by Nik aka 'Kranky' (w/ Jamie and the crew very involved) over at Taste and we @ barismo are providing a support role.

The event is going to be an attempt to get a bunch of barista into one room, have some prizes, some gear, food, drink, and conversation. The idea is to remove the animosity and build a bit of camaraderie. With best intentions, it is about building a real community. Not within a single shop but across a few shops.

It may seem a bit foreign but the idea is that raising the bar requires a bit of understanding. Knowing your neighbor across town is passionate but has differences in palate is better than thinking they are simply wrong and disregarding them entirely. While I guarantee there will be representatives from all our accounts, the trick is seeing who shows up that isn't in our immediate circle of friends and partners in the coffee business.

If you are a local barista or otherwise a coffee professional, give us a heads up and join us at Taste. See you there barista.

Shaking things up

Things seem to snow ball as they get up to speed. There are some guest coffees coming into town from some of our buddies on the west coast and there are going to be some new per cup programs coming to fruition over the next two months. This is a big change from the same old same old in the area.

I will be excited to see the changes and how the community continues to grow. As for us, we have a lot of work ahead of us and little time to wax poetic. There will be some new events off site during the coming weeks as the shop is remodeled and a barista throwdown to be announced shortly.

Keep tuned!

A day off

The next few weeks will be a big mess in the lab. We are going to start setting up the Kiosk and the equipment that has been sitting around will go to good use. We are shooting for mid to late April. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.

Tomorrow will be a day off. Only a short roast session and a small amount of coffee related bits to work on. I'm looking forward to taking a little vacation soon and getting some rest!

Events

Thursday Mar 19th 7pm - Third Thursdays at Capitol Sq.
Open house & tasting
Saturday Mar 21st 2pm - Espresso

Some short notice reasons to get out to the lab. The weather is getting nice and the shop is busy these days. Drop in and say hi.

Wed updates

Some backlogged Hario equipment has arrived! Hand Mills and Kettles are back in stock and we have a few goodies for those who make the trip down to the shop to check out. I'll send out the reminder email tomorrow to those on the back order list.

Taste is having an anniversary party on Friday the 13th. We aren't very superstitious and you shouldn't be either. I recommend taking them up on the espresso offer.