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  1. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Wasn't trying to imply that roasting wasn't important, just that it's relatively less important than the brewing process is in the world of craft beer. A lot of the self-mythologizing that small roasters do tries to treat it as analogous, but it isn't. In the world of craft beer, the brewing...
  3. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Yes. Being a small cafe and deciding to start roasting is almost never economically preferable. Unless one is going to invest heavily in the wholesale business, roasting is generally a money suck.
  4. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    FWIW What you are describing isn't isolated to NYC, but is an industry problem in general. Roasters under a certain size can't afford to really manage their own sourcing, and so they end up "spot buying" coffee from a small group of importers who are willing to work in small volumes. The result...
  5. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Most of those places in Seattle really do just survive. Those that are connected to roasting businesses (Caffe Vita, for instance) tend to be heavily subsidized by their wholesale operations.
  6. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Doesn't mean anything. The bloom is just gas release. Coffee off-gasses naturally after being roasted, which is why bloom gets less and less intense the further out from roast you are. But there's also going to be variation from coffee to coffee. Don't overthink it.
  7. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    I'll message you offline.
  8. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Yeah no worries. I'm at Muchacho more than I should be. Grant Park is a tough location. The area is increasingly crowded with competitive uses, the parking situation is terrible, and the nature of the space sharing agreement with Little Tart makes it impossible for us to update/operate our...
  9. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    I try to stay off here, but feel like responding to the direct call-out. The price of Nitro was raised from $5 to $5.50. This is a 10 percent price increase, and was part of a larger set of price changes designed to cover the rising cost of providing health insurance for all full-time staff...
  10. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    The actual BKON brewer isn't worth the price. That said, they are using the same technology to produce cold brew at scale, and the product is really remarkable.
  11. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    This is the first I've seen a US specialty roaster sourcing coffee from Nepal. I can't speak in too much detail, but my gut is that like most Asian coffees, the quality probably isn't stellar. This is usually driven way more by farming practices than by inherent climate issues. On the one hand...
  12. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Colombia is one of the few countries from which roasters have access to fresh crop year-round. As a result it makes up the basis for a LOT of blends and volume generally. I suspect they are under a lot of pressure to reduce their costs on Colombian coffees.
  13. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Varies a lot. Their blends are increasingly bad. Some of the higher-end single origins are still alright.
  14. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    My point was a little different - even if they'd made the best instant coffee the world had ever seen, I still don't believe there would be a market for it in the US.
  15. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    Sudden Coffee is such a hoax. With basically no revenue, they convinced tech investors to give them $2m at a $9m valuation. There is and never will be a meaningful market for instant coffee in the US. The idea that there's a market for a "better" instant coffee is laughable.
  16. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    http://sprudge.com/cherry-street-public-house-116472.html The old Cherry Street locations are meh, but this is the first one where they've let the daughter really take the lead. She's a badass and this place looks cool.
  17. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    So we are open at SQ5 on Spring/5th, but it's really just a walk-up bar, not a real store. We also took over the coffee bar for West Elm at Ponce City Market. I know we ship beans to stores weekly, but not sure what day of the week. Ordering from the website isn't too bad, and everything is...
  18. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    This is one of the reasons we don't use the Italian naming conventions on our menu: too much uncertainty about what a particular drink is supposed to be. As most other people have said, the foam/milk issue is a distraction and is about personal taste more than anything. With all of the espresso...
  19. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    I like: Workshop Coffee Caravan Coffee Notes Vagabond Timberyard
  20. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    What I do like about the Handground model is the vertical crank. Makes it so much easier to use.
  21. joshuadowen

    Lets talk about COFFEE

    New company: https://handground.com Kind of ugly but I've heard good things. Chatted with the founders a few times and they are nice guys. Worth giving a go.
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