I feel its time to rant a little on the blog, and I also feel its time for a little commentary on the industry I live and work in. OK so maybe rant is a bit strong, but throw out opinion and thought. A recent blog post (shout out to Alex Redgate http://awlred.wordpress.com/ ) questions the community outside of the London scene or lack of it, and its kind of made we want to post about the “London Scene”. This is in no way a dig at Alex, hes a top man, and we love him here. There has been a hum of “isn’t the London scene wonderful” and I must admit I agree, to a point. Its great to see our capitol city picking itself up introducing competition and diversity from what was a one horse city. But the swipes at lack of community outside of London disappoints me. It disappoints me as I hear it a lot from people that have no idea whats happening in our city’s around the country. I personally think there is plenty of community outside of London, I also know there are many many amazing outlets outside of London. but like everything from down south they believe they do it best because of the transport links and of course the much larger audience. But lets not forget a few short years ago, there was Monmouth, there was flat white selling Monmouth and there was Fernandez and Wells selling Monmouth and that was it. Coffee tour was over in a flash in one of the most cosmopolitan city’s in the world. At this time the hub of the UK was on the Halifax, Huddersfield area, one that that was way ahead of London (just look at the northern heats compared to the canceled London UKBC). If you Go to Scarborough, or Leeds, or Liverpool, or even Manchester now (for years a black hole of coffee culture) or Derby, Burton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York (and there are many more) there is at least one place to go to get a great coffee experience. But you have to look for them and often these people are just tring to run there business and don’t have time (or inclination) to create a scene. I get tired of the “only good place is London blah, blah” its as boring as the other international destinations I’ve heard the same of (Vancouver, Copenhagen, Portland etc). This is not the fault of people doing great things in these city’s, to the contrary its because of them they have these powerful emerging coffee shops and roasters. Its also that a press is very city centered, take a look at the independents 50 best coffee shops, they seem to agree that most of the best are in London. I tip my hat to everyone that makes these places stand out on the coffee maps of the world, but they quite often either spread the word effectively or empower there customers to do so and build a strong tribe that spread the word for them. Armed with a press that listens (and is normally a tube ride away) and these powerful advocates you can see why it happens. But I know I haven’t been to 1% of the coffee shops in London village, let alone the many outside, so I cant write off every coffee shop, on what is or isn’t being done in them. So often we judge a coffee shop by the coffee roaster they use, or the machine and grinder they make it on or the decor they have fitted out their store with. The barista doesn’t seem matter so much how much care attention and pride they put into their shots. I bet you in every town there is someone who wants to make better coffee, I bet you in every chain store there is some one with the passion for better coffee that just doesn’t know it exists. Don’t moan or grown that there isn’t a “scene” in your town but get off your backside and make that scene happen, organise something go into the coffee shops in your local town and speak to the baristas and see if they would be interested. Post blogs that inspire people in your local area I don’t know anything to drum up support. Of course you could just move to London.

I’m sitting on my first Amtrak train on a warm unexpected spring evening in Chicago. Its chugging along slowly, taking me away from Union Station, back towards the direction of my apartment west of downtown and in a moment, past the roasting works of Intelligentsia Coffee, the company I now work for. During the day, the two floors of the works are busy with people slurping, hauling, pouring and thinking about coffee as well as an ever growing contingent thinking about tea. Its 8pm and normally the works are empty at this time but as I look out for the now familiar corner of Fulton and Wolcott rushing past, I know that there is one room on the second floor that is not empty. That room is brimming with a ridiculous collection of spices, glassware, napkins, spoons, cups, sugars, dried fruits, fresh fruits, milk, delicious coffee and coffee machines. In addition there are two friends working tirelessly to perfect a fifteen minute service of twelve plus espresso based drinks in anticipation of the Great Lakes Barista Regional Barista Competition which begins this Friday in Milwaukee, the city I’m currently en route to. We have three people entering this regional; Charles Babinski, Jesse Crouse and Michael Phillips. They have somehow found time in whats been a hectic start to 2010 to find the right coffee, hone the necessary skills, source the necessary tools and create a signature drink that communicates their approach to coffee, and their mastery of brewing. If they place in the top three, the company will book their flights and accommodation to go compete in the USBC in Anaheim this April. I think each of them has the ability to do just that but am conscious of the serious standard this regional boasts. Judges will be treated to some of the best in the country brewing drinks with clever but earnest passion. The train is going a lot faster now and its hard to type. I’m worried the music I’m playing in my poor quality ear phones (I left my Grado on my desk) is disturbing the other passengers. I am the reluctant cliche of an ex pat who starts to cling to his homeland only when he’s far from it; currently Paul Brady’s cover of Arthur Mc Bride is humming away. Despite such attachments though, I’ve been softly informed by my girlfriend that I’m picking up a few too many americanisms and a little too quickly at that. I say ‘right’ and ‘nice’ a lot more than I used to and at unusual points in conversation. I like to think I do it to only to make sure I’m understood ( something thats always been a challenge), but I suspect these habits may become me. I don’t know for certain either way, nor do I know with any certainty how the next few days will pan out. The only thing I’m assured of is that this weekend, Milwaukee promises good coffee, good people, and a new city. How does your weekend look?

We have been asked to post this. Maybe it is of interest to someone. “The Swan at Mirfield to be transformed! The Swan at Mirfield is a site that has the potential to become and really popular and trendy café and wine bar with an investment and refurbishment planned to the value of nearly £100,000. Already benefitting from a great location compared to its local competitors, it has the scope to provide a unique offer that no-one else currently provides. The investment will turn the Swan into a contemporary, modern venue with a café bar theme to offer coffee, pastries and paninis during the day and a stylish wine bar in the evening. Punch are now on the hunt for someone to take on the Swan as their own business and get involved in the plans! For information on how you could be the next landlord of the Swan contact Amy on 0844 848 3261 to find out about the Open Event we are holding on 23rd March!”

Just spoke to Karen from Birkenhead. I went over to Liverpool a few weeks ago for a barista training session. The cafe has absolutely wonderful staff, all girls which scared me a little, and they were making coffee pretty badly I must say. But the great thing is that Karen knew this and so the training was wonderful. I felt the girls really understood it all and they were making very good coffees at the time of the training. Big bubbly foam and long watery espressos turned into short flavourful espressos and thick creamy foam. Job done, training successful. Right? Well not quite! Knowing how to do it correctly and actually changing your habits is a whole different thing. And don’t forget that when you have been working in a cafe for 25 years and have been making coffee the same way for all those years a change can be a little difficult and scary. The same counts for the customers. Their customers expect a lot of bubbles and extremely hot coffee… or do they really? It can be very difficult to change things. They now know how to make really good coffee, the question is whether or not they are actually putting it into practise. A big problem is that the girls who are sticking to the old method do not drink coffee themselves. Since they don’t coffee it might be difficult to understand the importance of it all. So surely it is easier for them just to stick to the old way of making coffee. So how can you push the change? One of the best ways I think is to work with the person inside the cafe who is most passionate about making coffee. Someone who is doing it the right way and actually cares and enjoys about the art of making coffee. Why not make this person the ‘coffee manager’ and put her/him in charge. Set up a new system for making coffee and make the staff realise that everybody has to make coffee the same way. Not exactly the same way as we are not robots but at least to the same standards. Get the coffee manager to push it as well and be firm. Make the staff realise that this is the best way and that by doing it so eventually they will enjoy the job more and make the customers happier. Better coffee leads to happier customers. For a real change to happen you just need to believe in it yourself. If you are convinced that this is the best way then it will translate to your customers as well. Just do it, make coffee the way you think it looks and taste best, and you will see that eventually your customers will agree as well. Point out that you have been on a barista course and that you have done your research. Explain about the beans and why you do it a certain way. But most of all: believe in it, do it and stay positive.

For a while all has been quiet on the Uber front. We shuffled some stuff around at the roastery, and as part of it we chose not to cut the old Uber into the new worktops as we planned to upgrade – the new Uber having a different (smaller) cutout. The new Uber arrived today and I am very excited. This probably could have been a post for the Square Mile Blog , but there are many more exciting/important things to post on there! What’s different about this Uber? The capacity is bigger. We sometimes used the old one for cupping, but it had more of a cafe use/quick recovery capacity so couldn’t do many bowls. This one has a 6 litre boiler – very exciting! This one has a flow control dial, instead of an button control. It also has some beta software for us to test out. I missed the Uber when it was gone. My brewed coffee consumption dropped (a bad thing). My experimentation also dropped off a little (also a bad thing). I hope to get that going again. I also grew irrationally annoyed with kettles (a weird thing?). Before anyone accuses me of spam (perhaps fairly) I should make clear that we don’t make any money from the sale of Uber boilers, though yes – they are now available for sale . It is just a project that we’re really excited about and it has been, and will be, a great tool for exploring coffee. We’re extremely grateful to Marco – they are splendid! Related posts:UK Cupping Competition Just a quick post really about entering the Cupping competition... Introduction to the Uber Meant to cross post this on here after posting on... A grand unified theory of espresso Not too long ago I posted on Home Barista about... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin .

Photo courtesy of salxhart Huge congratulations to John Gordon on winning the UK Barista Championship this year. (We know the competition was over a week ago, and we’re a bit behind!) Having joined the team at Square Mile around six weeks ago we’ve seen first hand the huge amount of effort and work that John put in, with great support from his fiancee Jess. John had already started working on his UKBC blend with Steve at HasBean before he joined us, and knowing how hard Steve works and how good he is we had no intention of getting in the way of that relationship. We’d also like to congratulate James Phillips of Dose on placing 5th – impressive considering he wasn’t going to compete until a couple of weeks before and this was his first time at the UKBC. We were also extremely grateful to Jon Sharp of Kilimanjaro, Carl Fleischer of Opposite and Gary Whiteley who did an incredible job with our coffee in the semi finals.

Grilled Hot Dog with Mustard, 50th and Broadway. The hot dog. In New York City, they're the ubiquitous street food. I've had dozens of them over years and I don't even live in New York (anymore). A long time ago, I came to the realization that the "perfect" hot dog for me is the Sabrett. As such, I keep a stash in my home freezer for those times when I'm feeling the desire to eat a hot dog - usually in the morning pan fried in butter with fried eggs, rice and a press pot of coffee. During my last trip to the city, I uncovered the grilled hot dog and I've been thinking about it ever since. Hot dog carts are everywhere in Manhattan. They're so popular you can even find them at Gray's Papaya, Papaya Dog or any of the seemingly dozens of "papaya" named places (or at Nathan's). This time, I'm at 50th and Broadway heading for the New World Stages to see Avenue Q when I spy the Kebab Guy. Kebab Guy is like many New York vendors. He's standing by the corner with his stainless steel cart, chatting with a buddy, feeding the hungry masses. He's got a good spot in midtown where lots of unsuspecting tourists happily feed his trade while eating something "authentically" New York. The Kebab Guy sells, of course, kebabs but he also sells hot dogs - because what fool with a cart doesn't sell hot dogs in New York? Kebab Guy grills my dog. If you're lucky, you'll find a Kebab Guy who also sells Sabrett hot dogs. Lucky because you're about to be treated to a hot dog full of flavor with a skin that crisps just right under fire. Kebab Guy is waiting for your order. I'm guessing that since he's Kebab Guy, he'd prefer to sell you a kebab. But since you're just another Dumb American, who can't appreciate the difference between a falafel and a coquette, he might as well sell you the hot dog that's been heating in the cart's water bath. But no, here's where you separate yourself from the charlatans. You like and can appreciate the finer points of ground lamb kebabs, you just want a grilled hot dog. You ask the Kebab Guy if he would grill your hot dog over the hot coals. He gets to use the grill he's so proud of for preparing kebabs and you get a nice, crispy grilled hot dog that's better than anything else. Add the condiments of your choice.

Ok, so I’m a slack-ass for not posting for nearly a year, and the reason I’m posting is Scottie Callaghan has linked this blog from his blog (so there may as well be something relevant to read). And it’s not like I haven’t been up to anything. Last year, there was the Coffee Chain [...]

The view from the back of the line Meat Loaf once wrote: Maybe I'm crazy, but it's crazy and it's true. I'm standing in line, in the brisk chill of a New York Sunday in The Village, and I'm waiting for cupcakes. Once upon a time, I was a jet-setting, thrill seeking, swashbuckling, Dragon Slayer - and now I'm out in the cold with hundreds of women enamored with the Sex In The City lifestyle. Somehow today, I've found myself waiting in line outside of the fabled Magnolia Bakery. And I don't even like Magnolia's cupcakes... Not to rain on anyone's parade but Magnolia's cupcakes are dry. Dry, dry, dry. Like you need milk, kinda dry. Dry and sweet. Super sweet. Like Krispy Kreme doughnuts are bland kind of sweet. All sweet and very dry. Not fun. But since we were unable to pickup some samples of Magnolia last night, I thought I would hop down to the Village to pick some up. Three Japanese Girls for BrowserMetrics to ogle. The couple of times I had been to Magnolia in the past, it was a simple job of jump out of the cab, pop in, grab a few and pop back out. I might have spent a combined total of ten minutes getting cupcakes at Magnolia. Not this time. This time there was a line. I had heard the stories of immense lines at Magnolia but never had experienced them. I had been lucky. This time, I would face the beast myself. As I recall, I was the only male in line. Imagine: hundreds of women from around the world descending on this very spot, hungry for something sweet and delicious. Six months ago, I would have found myself in a TRE (Target Rich Environment)- but today, they're just in my way. Oh, the times, they are a-changing... I looked at the clock on my iPhone: 5:15pm. Good thing Avenue Q doesn't start until 7:30pm, I've got time. I can wait. I can wait until about 6:45pm before I start to jeopardize my ability to make it to the theatre on-time. There's lots of chatter around me. In various languages. The odd one is the lady behind me who's speaking German, then Dutch, then back to English. She's rambling on about something or other in very animated phrases. I can't understand the languages but she's punctuating whatever she's saying in English. I'm guessing she's quite agitated. The Japanese girls in front of me are here probably because Carrie and Miranda did something here. I can't understand them either but they giggle every 77 seconds. A group of friends behind the German-speaking lady at talking loudly about how their names are spelled: Kathryn with a "Y", while the other girl is Katherine, with an "I". Their friend is commenting just how perfect it will be to have Magnolia cupcakes while watching the Oscars tonight. After forty-five minutes, I make it to the portal where a friendly staffer is doing traffic control. The bakery itself is very small and the crew of seemingly hundreds is busy churning out cupcakes and frosting at high-speed. They have to, otherwise hordes of angry and screaming women will descend upon them - and that is downright frightening. A pair of cupcakes: chocolate and vanilla with the appropriate green icing. They didn't have gray icing. I asked. He's letting only a few people in at a time, which I don't mind when I consider the chaos that would ensue if someone wasn't monitoring the door. I probably wouldn't make it out alive. Finally, it's my turn. The cupcakes are placed right at the front window for all to see. A continuous stream of cupcake trays refills the larder almost as fast as the gaggle of women can deplete the supply. I take a two box that has cute little cutouts to hold the individual cupcakes. Clever. There's an assortment of both chocolate and vanilla cupcake, but there's only one vanilla cupcake with green frosting left. As the girl in front of me ponders her selections, I cannot afford to allow her to choose the last green frosted cupcake. Bitch better not take my cupcake. Screw pleasantries, I'm grabbing that green frosted cupcake before she does and swoop my paws in for the kill. Hmmm, green cupcake. A matching gray frosted cupcake would be perfection. I ask the workers if they have gray frosted cupcakes. They look at me as though I'm the weirdo guy in a sea of women. I feel as though the entire bakery, its workers and female patrons have stopped to stare at the freak asking dumb questions. Am I such a pervert to ask about gray frosted cupcakes? Okay, okay, no gray cupcakes. I grab a chocolate cupcake. Crisis averted. I look at my iPhone again: 6:13pm. I've been on this quest for about an hour. Luckily, I've got time to get uptown to the theatre. Problem is, I now have to care for this little box of cupcakes. As I walk across Bleeker towards Sixth Avenue, I feel victorious. I've achieved my quest for the day and will now take this box uptown to deliver it to my maiden. Through traffic, pedestrians and into the subway I go. An NYC Cop eyes me suspiciously on the platform. A homeless guy eyes the box hungrily on the train and I must balance the box as I bound up the stairs back onto the street near Times Square. All along the way, I must remember not to put the box down and leave it somewhere by mistake. Somehow, I feel stressed about carrying this damn little box - I've gone through a lot of trouble to get it here. Finally, she's here and I hand her the box. This little box that has traveled so far. I'm holding it for her, balancing it on top of another box when I stumble a bit and the little box from Magnolia tumbles through the air. And lands upside down. Crap. I can't look. I know it's carnage. It could have tumbled and landed right side up, mitigating damage to the chocolate and green cupcakes inside. Instead, it's upside down where it landed with a thud. Carnage. I imagine the cupcakes splattered on the inside of the box top. I can't look. I've gone too far to look now. Oh, poor cupcakes how I have failed you! As we sit in the darkness watching Avenue Q, Princeton sings: "Moving boxes and others, He's gonna find his purpose, And I wonder what my purpose is. I'm gonna find my purpose Guess I know what's not my purpose... Magnolia Bakery 401 Bleeker Street New York, New York 10014 212-462-2572 www.magnoliabakery.com

Competition season often leaves me with an uneasy relationship with a drink I usually find very enjoyable. I should add that my own view is in no way representative of competition judges, or competitions or anything like that – just a thought rolling around my head. Generally, it seems, we treat milk as an enemy. People talk as if steamed milk is trying to hold a pillow over the face of coffee flavour. We talk about whether or not a coffee “cuts through” the milk. I’ve never really been thrilled with that phrase or way of thinking about coffee but I have to accept that I am in the minority here. To get a blend to cut through milk we have a few choices: Roast darker By and large we end up with a flavour in coffee that is often described as having notes of chocolatey, nuts or caramel. These flavours are generally a byproduct of roast – results of maillard/caramelisation/strecker reactions. Roasting coffees a bit longer will create more of these, losing more of the original characteristics of the coffee and increasing bitterness. The argument has often been that milk combats the bitterness and allows these kinds of flavours through. Fair enough – I can’t really argue this point. Distinct components Often people use very heavy bodied coffees in blends designed to be used in milk drinks. Typically either coffees from Indonesia/PNG that will have heavy, earthy or woody notes or a robusta. The woodiness of the latter is extremely present through milk, an easy to get “coffee” flavour – though whether or not you find it pleasant is a whole other thing. It seems to me that whatever we do we end up with a fairly homogenous tasting global cappuccino – speciality or not it is likely that we are all using a fairly small number of descriptive terms to communicate the most purchased and accessible espresso based drink in the world.1 What if? Adding milk to coffee is a good thing. As much as I am pro-purity in coffee, I am more pro-enjoyment. Most people like adding coffee to milk, it adds sweetness and reduces bitterness and intensity. I can’t help but feel that milk could also be a great vehicle for getting people to explore coffee further. If you brew a wonderful citrussy washed Yirg as espresso and add milk surely you could sell a cappuccino that tasted like a lemon posset. A massively juicy coffee from Nyeri turned into a drink that is reminiscent of fruit compote and icecream. If we stopped looking at milk as getting in the way of coffee flavour, and instead saw it as a very accesible way to deliver coffee flvaour then would we start using more varied and exciting coffees alongside more traditional ones? Footnotes:I am gambling on the fact that globally cappuccinos just edge out lattes, like they do in the UK Related posts:Morning coffee I have a confession to make: I used to, in... So what exactly is a macchiato these days? This hasn’t exactly been bugging me but perhaps it is... Phantom Potato We cupped a few coffees today, and in there were... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin .