The Big D and I Don't Mean Decaf

  Posted on September 20, 2015  |  3 minutes (487 words)
I spent the week in North Texas, traveling to Dallas and beyond to Texarkana to visit family. While in Dallas, I visited a few coffee shops on my list: Ascension Cultivar Coffee Oak Lawn I also attempted to visit Tweed Coffee’s “roasting den”, but was unfortunately turned away. They don’t serve coffee there (or give tours, apparently). It’s ok though, it was mostly a gamble anyway. I had great coffee in Dallas, but I had to settle for Starbucks in Texarkana. [Read More]

A Quick Tasting Tour of Houston

  Posted on September 8, 2015  |  4 minutes (765 words)
As I said in my previous post, I spent the Labor Day weekend in Houston. I toured the Katz Coffee Roasting facility, and went to three coffee shops that were highly rated in the city: Boomtown Coffee Antidote Catalina Coffee I didn’t make it over to Blacksmith, but when traveling not everything goes perfectly according to plan. By the time I got over there parking was a bit difficult to come by so I passed it up. [Read More]

Touring Katz Coffee

  Posted on September 7, 2015  |  2 minutes (399 words)
My Labor Day weekend was spent in Houston taking in a baseball game and drinking some great coffee. As laid out in my plan for my sabbatical, I toured the Katz Coffee Roasting Facility on the North Side of town. It appears Katz started in one warehouse and grew along their center room by room as their business took off. Our tour guide told us they would be moving to a new facility soon. [Read More]

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

  Posted on September 3, 2015  |  2 minutes (214 words)
Today I began my roasting internship at Brown Coffee! I had a great time working at “Roasting Fantasy Camp” as Aaron called it, which is probably the perfect name for what I’ve been up to. Roasting was already in progress when I got there, so I was able to jump right in and NOT DO ANYTHING. I was there to learn, so I was very happy to watch a bit while the experts transformed green coffee: [Read More]
#sabbatical  #roasting 

Brew Method Tasting

  Posted on August 30, 2015  |  3 minutes (446 words)
My sister-in-law (and San Antonio’s “Social Llama”) Kelly came over today with a bag of coffee from Mildfire Coffee Roasters here in San Antonio. This is an Indian coffee, sun-dried then exposed to Monsoon moisture. There’s something magical about opening a fresh bag of coffee: She had offered to bring some to me in exchange for a brew method tasting, using three different brew methods: Chemex French Press Keurig (custom refillable pod) I was happy to oblige! [Read More]