out of town coffee

So about a month ago Chachi (my brother) asked me to go to Asheville N.C. on the first weekend of November. I half-heartedly agreed, and forgot about it until sometime this past weekend when he reminded me of my agreement, and to be honest as much as have wanted to go to Asheville the trip was not one I was looking forward to because of the work load at Blackbird; but I went.

The ride up was gorgeous, once Chachi and I left the fifty mile radius that Chachi refuse to call unfamiliar because we've seen it so much we settled into the north Georgia foot hills, and a Chik-fil-A in Commerce, Ga.

Gobble gobble and get back on the road, and we cruising. An hour or so more and goodbye middle Georgia flats and "hills", hello 6:00pm sunset ( surrounded by mountains = awesome......and early dark). The colors on the trees lining the mountains were as vibrant as Martha Stewart's fall collection of towels....I would imagine, but it's a good image either way.

Finally, South Carolina. And freedom from all that is where I grew up. I love my home but I needed a break apparently, and as soon as I saw the the mountains, literally everywhere, I took in the deepest breath I could, closed my eyes, and laid back for a minute. Funny how little it actually takes to be pleased.

We arrived in decent time to Asheville, after only missing one turn- Chachi was driving, saw a Young Life sticker, and while waving missed the exit, hahaha- classic.

We stopped off at the visitor center for stickers, and met this older guy named Dan who gave us advice on where to, and where people our age go, but honestly I wanted to go have a beer with him and just let him tell stories; btw he knows where Milledgeville, Ga is, even better.

From there we wandered and found some of the coolest art galleries that I've ever seen. there was your traditional quilted stuff, and other added beauties, but then there were amazing things and indescribably astounding ingenious artwork. I grabbed a couple of business cards, and I'll post the links as soon as I fish them out of the bottom of my bag.

We then stopped at this cool bar which I regrettably have forgotten the name of but if you are ever here it's just down the street from The Asheville Civic Center. Next, more wandering time, found a couple coffee shops most of which I thought we a little less than Blackbird, but not in a snobby way, although maybe just a little biased. Then we found this really awesome Tobacco/ Head shop,that's not what it was called but lets just say you don't need Einstein to figure that out sometime, and let's all be honest, even if you don't partake in either of the options in these places they intrigue you; therefore gaining a mention in this blog. After that we went To Brandon Murphy's house and and chilled for quite a bit just catching up with a friend and checking his new house.

After unloading and decompressing we headed to dinner at this killer burrito shop that Barberitos and and Moe's should be glad has no existence in Georgia, they wouldn't stand a chance. Then on to a tavern, a few beers, long conversations with random strangers, then back home for the evening.

Meant to get up for church, but didn't make it. I love going to church out of town, for some reason it works for me, except for this Sunday I guess. So, instead we headed back to town. Last night the kindly drunken strangers told of the local land of milk and honey, at least that's what I think Chachi and B-muprh heard when the guy said something about Chaco's on sale for $32, and there's a brand new two-story R.E.I. here. I opted to be left in the city to wander.... ;)

First stop was this really cool bus+ coffee shop place dbldecker.com. What a great idea. Please go to the website and check it out if you are ever in Asheville. Since it was my first caffeine fix for the day, I just ordered a cup of coffee black, it was Yirgacheffe Ethiopia Organic Shade Grown. it wasn't stellar but it was perfect for the moment and to be honest it went wonderfully with the morning's Bali Shag. Hung out here for a while and read a bit then headed on down the street to where I am now, writing this.

The Green Sage. Yet again, you wanna check this out. Friendly staff, delicious coffee, good foods and very "green" for more than trendy reasons. Baristas know what they are doing and if you bring something up they don't know about they are eager to learn (experienced that :P !!!!!). Live music some nights and a clean environment. I got here about an hour ago and started with a Double Cubano Macchiato. The girl behind the counter didn't know what it was but the barista di and she showed it! There was no artwork to, simply perfection. Their espresso finished so well and the raw sugar didn't overtake the flavor. She put the perfect sized dollop of foam on top perfectly marking the drink, and adding just a hint of sweetened lactose: love at first sip. Now I'm off to wander.

ciao- Chris

repairs

So today I met Gary. Gary is the owner and lead repairman of Espressofix. One of the most pleasant and knowledgeable people that I have met in person in the coffee world; albeit I am fairly green in this this "world".

Our Astoria double head machine was, for the pleasantries of understating, in dire need of attention. The back flush button casing had broken and was hanging on by a "string". A couple of our grinders had more or less stopped working. And the group heads on the machines were starting to leak a little bit. He took care of it all, and the whole time that he was working he was explaining everything that he was doing, teaching me how to do each thing. It was the single most instructive two hours I have experienced in hands on training in the coffee world since my inception into this business. Awesome!!!

So with all of that we have a the Sweetwater Festival coming up in Milledgeville this weekend. We have some serious business ahead of us, we have in the past made a week's worth of income in one day. Busy is entirely an understatement. But I honestly can't wait and listening to the bartenders complain to me about the amount of work they'll have to do around that time is rather entertaining.

I have also been in contact with M'lissa Muckerman now for about a month just conversing over coffee and learning new things. I love coming in contact with people that know more than I do, that are also willing to share, with patience, their knowledge and to encourage the growth of willing listeners. I've also been reading about and studying the works of the late Dr. Ernesto Illy. If you care at all about coffee knowledge history and what has gotten us to where we are now, read all you can of this man.

thats that for now.
g'night, - Chris

To passion and the nurturing thereof ....

To a man that changed what we know as a job...click this

If you have read the above link, then writing anything else is wasted energy, but for kicks I'll throw some quotes that have inspired the way I look at and/or approach coffee and the passion that I have and am ever developing.....

A question posed to the late Dr. Ernesto Illy
"How do you make the perfect espresso?"
Dr. Illy -"Why, it takes love, of course."

"There is no mystery to cupping, only endless intrigue."
-Geoff Watts

"Coffee is a love affair....you must love what you do, the espresso that you serve or the cappuccino that you serve must be perfect, the foam of your cappuccino must be perfect....the most important thing to remember is, the customer will not return because the ambiance is elegant or beautiful, they will come back in more and more and bigger numbers if the content of the cup is perfect. if you have no complaints it is not enough. Look at the faces, look in the eyes of your consumer, look to their smiles; if they smile they will come back...."
-Dr. Ernesto Illy

Coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with.
-Drew Sirtors

the difficulties of patience

First things first, it's been a while since my last entry, and for the sake of this blog I apologize. No one really reads it but for it's intent it must be kept relevant, ahem...it' just takes me a bit to get going with these things. So Blackbird Coffee(sometimes ground zero and sometimes home base depends on the days happenings) has seen some real action over the past month and or so. We've gotten rather busy, and sales have reflected that it's not just foot traffic(insert Southern Baptist styled "Hallelujah!").

The team of baristas here seem to have started to really step up there game. To their credit, there hasn't been a check and balances for them here in quite a while, and they have really pushed themselves to learn in there own time and also to help create a great atmosphere of coffee knowledge and neutrality in the shop. The new standards are probably a bit strict, they have taken to the new adjustments well, and although there have been a few kinks here and there, there has been an obvious effort on all ends to step up their proverbial game.

On that note I would also like to welcome our newest barista to join the flock, Clair Guy. She is still going through training and is showing some promising colors. She's been really receptive of instruction and is great with all of the people coming through the shop. Good luck Clair.

For the longest time Blackbird has quite honestly just been about making the money to pay the bills. I think gradually the owners are beginning to see the positive idea of taking your time and cultivating a product that draws people as a specialty worth a bit more, rather than just a stop along the day that one may or may not get to.

A lady just contacted me about helping her and her husband open a coffee shop. They actually know nothing more if not less than what the owners of Blackbird knew when they first got into this idea, so she has a chance here. She sent me a list of what she needs to know though, and it won't be a quick lesson. Simply put.

Last Friday night the grinder in the store stopped working, great. I took it apart from the top and cleaned grime from no telling how many months of disregard concerning equipment, after that it would work for a handful of beans, but anything over an ounce would make it literally grind to a halt. So I took it completely apart, everything unscrewed on the table apart, and the burrs (parts that do all the grinding) were caked so thick with old grinds that you could barely see the teeth, this is when a cigarette entered the picture :) Apparently there has never been an sort of cleaning regiment here....that just changed.

In other news I have begun recycling the burlap coffee sacks that our green coffee beans come to the store in. I started making messenger/satchel bags out of them, and they will soon be for sale.
Last but not least, we finally got a new coffee!
Welcome El Salvador Santa Barbara "Bourbon" Certified Rainforest Alliance to the line of Fresh Roasted Coffees delivered by Blackbird Coffee.

We will be doing free in house tastings of all of our coffees, in about a two weeks. They will be led by my long time friend and coffee compatriot Erik Gotrich. He is young in his coffee indulgences but the extent to which he researches the coffees he will discuss or the zeal for understanding that information and explaining that to willing listeners is unparalleled in this middle Georgia area we currently call home.

hope to see you around the shop,
Chris- amor y paz

the climb is yet uphill

I have recently come upon the discovery that, as I seem to do once a day a Blackbird, this will be quite the upward trek. The best views are found at the end of a tough climb though.
I have found myself to be focused more than ever, but still with much room for improvement.
Today at Blackbird I began an open, mid, and close mandatory checklist, things that must happen each shift. Hopefully I'll finish it up or at least through the mis shift tomorrow. This should provide some structural foundation to the floating establishment that is now my passion.
I plan on starting to do evaluations after we get back into the swing of tings with the fall semester.
All these rules and standards I can already see are going to be tough for some people to embrace, and the biggest reason for that is the prior lack managerial guidance, and that is not a statement aimed at any one person.
Another big problem there is the gossip- fueled poor moral. But there again had there been a structured way of dealing with things I think it would've been different. These people need to be taught how to confront a situation when it happens, instead of letting it brood over night, or over a week for that matter.
I think this is a good place to stop and say something positive about the management prior to myself. I think for the amount of time that they put into this coffee shop, they have done very well. The doors are still open, and patrons are not only still coming, but they each return with a smile. I think the main difference between myself and past management is commitment. This has never been any of other manager main focus, or occupation.
I seriously do still go into work each day with gleeful anticipation for what we can accomplish. And I think that is the magic key to the door of success- working together, as a team to create a positive experience for the customer and the barista in the same instance through the means and combination of coffee and community.

amor y paz

The first post.

This past Thursday I became the general manager of Blackbird Coffee shop. I want to use this blog to sort of chart my progress. I love all things coffee. One day in the not so distant future I would love to own a coffee shop of my own, or at least co-own one. I want to travel to Italy and learn about the coffee culture there, also I would love to go to some of the coffee farms in other countries, to meet the farmers that grow the crop we so zealously guzzle.
One of the biggest things that draws me to the coffee world is the sense of community that is found in abundance amongst coffee professionals. Although this is a commercial world of competition all to itself, there seem to be very few secrets held from opposing businesses, with the exception of some larger corporate companies and some uninformed smaller independent shops.
The coffee shop that I manage is called Blackbird Coffee, and it is located in downtown Milledgeville, Ga. We proudly roast all of our own coffee in the shop; in small batches and only as needed. We have our own House Espresso Blend, and all of this is done by our certified roast master Don Harris.
We serve Italian traditional coffee beverages and some of our own recipes as well. We serve Italian sodas, frappe's , and a various assortment of novelty drinks.
We also serve hand made sandwiches, as well as as, delicious desserts and satisfying snacks.

But to be quite honest the management of this place is in shambles, and the moral is not the best it could be. Coming on board each day I seem to see more and more things that need to be done, and the inclination of this hill seems to be turning into a rock climbing expedition rather than a uphill hike.....but that's only on bad days, and usually before my first cup of coffee. I am extremely excited to see what I can learn, and what I will have no option other than learning from, in the future.

I have been given pretty much full trust for this shop. I only hope that I can do with it what I think I can.

More later, I have to open in the morning.

Amor y paz