Change change change

I haven't blogged in a while. Sorry about that.
I may have mentioned before that we're working on re-structuring the Coffee Illuminati, and I may need your help.
And patience.

Part of what is taking up so much time is the impending expansion into the space next door, where Chrome was. That new space will be our main counter and seating area, with some seating still in the old space. There is a door between the two, which has been hidden behind the lockers. You may have seen us walking behind the lockers and disappearing lately. Not Narnia.

The story about us and El Boton Natural finally came out in Wine Specator. It's in the current issue, which may or may not yet be on the shelves, but subscribers are receiving the issue now. This is exciting for us. For one, it's a huge magazine- it has the biggest readership in the world. It's well-respected and read by people who, theoretically, can appreciate what we do. And hopefully it will mean a large, sustained increase in online sales. So far so good.
I'm trying to remind myself that, even if we didn't get a jump in sales, it's still a big deal.

Last night I roasted 20 new samples. Some are from Cafe Imports and some are from a new broker I haven't used before, called Mercanta. I'll be tasting them over the next couple days. Hopefully we'll find some gems.

I also have been working hard to try and make new contacts in various countries for coffees. I met a girl named Rouki at SCAA who lives in Guatemala City and has a lot of contacts with producers around the world. She has been connecting me with people in Guatemala (she says there are farmers producing some Geisha), Honduras, Nicaragua, and Kenya. I'm also trying to work out trips to these places if the contacts play out and I am able to acquire some unique and delicious coffees.

Kari and I have been trying to find time to plan for the DoubleShot Duathlon this year. It's going to be October 2 at Osage Hills State Park. Just one race this year. The proceeds from the races we put on go to help out various projects for coffee producing families. Check out the (very minimal) webpage: www.DoubleShotDuathlon.com

We've been talking about having a tasting of all our coffees, but time keeps getting away. We may wait and do it in the new space. That should be cool.

One last thing. I did buy another coffee from Ninety Plus, the people who brought us the Aricha and Beloya. It's called Nekisse. I think it's even better than the coffees from them before. Which is saying a lot. I suspect it won't be long until I roast it. Burning a hole in my pocket.

If you come to the DS, today there are two coffees sitting out on the cupping table. They are supposed to be the same coffee. The one on your right is the high-quality coffee we're used to seeing in this coffee and the one on the left is what we were sent this time. What a problem. You can see that there can be extreme variations in quality, and if I'm not careful and attentive, we can end up drinking crappy coffee. I guess I'm going to have to probe each bag that comes in and make sure it is what it's supposed to be. One more thing to add to the list.