The first being that Hong gave birth to our first child, a daughter named Sofi on April 7. Since then, we have been blessed with this wonderful distraction that keeps us grounded and quietly focused. I promise never to tie her allowance to whether she will drink coffee with no milk (Ridiculously enough, I've heard stories an industry old timer nearby did this with his kids).
While short on time and working hard to keep things moving, our priorities have obviously been focused away from what is happening in the industry at large. With that being said, we somehow found the time and resources to sign a new space. We will be opening a new coffee bar concept in the following months. It is a barismo sponsored project but is really a complete and separate business from what barismo does and will carry a new name. A preview of what is to come will arrive in two months: A manifesto reflecting the mission statement, the rules for submitting coffees for the guest program, and a public review process that provides a feedback loop. We are planning on an event schedule of rotating speakers and unique industry topics as well. As to the gear on bar, it will be a new template for the modern coffee bar, able to do quality and volume without compromising. On the whole, we feel it will be one of the most thoroughly developed and well thought out coffee bars in the nation from day one. We intend to put the Boston metro/greater Cambridge coffee scenes on their respective heels.
A lot of this reflects what barismo was at it's core, in the beginning, or one could say the vision the founders of the company had (still have?). Holding a higher bar of accountability for the products we serve and communicating the reasons behind that will be a key aspect of this new project. I expect to ruffle a few feathers with the approach we will be taking but it's inevitable. We've been quietly working towards this over the last six months and the excitement about the space is building. The work is just beginning and we have a lot more still to do. We are about to turn 3 this year, in September, and have a strong appreciation for the hurdles we have overcome to get where we are.
In shop, we are quickly running out of several coffees. The despair of empty space in our storage can only be buffered by the serious amounts of coffees scheduled to arrive shortly. We have some fresh new Colombias on the shelf and a slate of El Salvadors arriving soon. To follow that, we have Costa Ricas coming in and then finally some new lots from Guatemala. A busy slate of new coffees this summer!
