Part 1 - lost with caffeine in the city of angels

customized toe-rings, super sized-burgers and the flip-flops of venice beach. was it a mirage? an unreal oasis? a mirage of my withdrawal symptoms?

Curiosity pulled me away from the boardwalk and into the intelligentsia of addicts. Where baristas take you on one-on-one...melissa did me a machiato. Spotted the four leafed clover and almost jumped over to rub it for luck. Somehow there was a haze in the place as there were mirages of synessos and robur E's everywhere...the buzz was oh how do they say it in california? "FAR OUT MAN!"












And so I braved the !@@##%$ LA traffic and made it to a lake shining in sliver and that black powder. To a world of mist fans, mosiac bars and very tall baristas. That sweet black cat had a twin, and all was well and buzzing. ..until my bladder came a calling, that is.

Cupping on the 02092009

Hi all, today we have Vic joining us on our weekly cupping of our coffee. Before i go into more details on the tasting notes by Keith, Vic & myself, i would like to inform everyone that we have made some modifications to our Oriole Blend.

Before all of you start screaming 'NO!'... i would like to assure you that although the blend has been changed from Colombian, Guatemala & Panama to a Blend of Mexican, Peruvian & Panama, the flavours and all other attributes has been retain. The reason why we are changing certain coffee in our blend is because we are always in search for coffee that are 'IN-SEASON' Coffee that will bring our the best flavours in our Blend. So be assure once again that your are in good hands.

Back to our cupping session today. This is Vic's 'Virgin' attempt at cupping. He got Oily musky aroma, nutty and earthy in the body. Bitter sweetness in the after-taste. Pretty good descriptors for a first attempt.

Keith, with his usual wonderful palate, describe the fragrance as musky, wet wood, lemon peel. Aroma at break with blueberries, lemon, salty. Dark herbal, gulamelaka, cinnamon, cardamon in the flavour. Orange like acidity, almost close to orange peel. Medium body with bitter choc after-taste.

And I got Chocolate in the fragrance, earthy & musky aroma, more inclined to lemony acidity, earthy body like a good Indon coffee. overall a balance coffee.

Well, done blogging about our cupping session for today.

Some Interesting Latte Art

Here are some pictures that were taken sometime ago when we were all mucking around..but can't remember when! I was trawling around the computer and thought I'd post it before I accidentally deleted it! We know that one looks like a dragon, and the other's a panda , but the verdict is still out on the other.

Swan, squirrel or goose?

My Coffee Trip

Travelling to a friends wedding next week and since I'll be in San Francisco and LA I might as well hit all the top coffee joints there!




I'll be in LA first so first on my hit list are the juggernauts Coffee Klatch & intelligentsia silverlake coffebar. I'll also be trying to stuff as many coffee beans as I can...maybe I'll ship them back. In fact, I'll have to ship them back as I'l be travelling on to Napa, half-moon bay and then to SF.

...and in SF I'll be visiting Peets, Blue Bottle, Ritual,







And I'll also be making a pilgrimmage to the birthplace of what most regard as the standard for irish coffee: The Buena Vista



Last but not least, god-willing, I might be able to sample some Hacienda La Esmeralda. I've found a source but will update this blog if it comes to fruition...


p.s. - to all reading: please forgive the disastrous layout and editing of this blog. I'm still very VERY new to this and am trying to make everything neater and more legible.