In-Flight & In Print

The Buzz Around Town/Spilling the Beans was featured recently in an in-flight magazine. Pretty sure you don't get much higher up the ladder than that, right?

Horrible puns aside, I'm not sure what they did to my photo, but it looks like I have impressively big hair. Here's the link to the article: GO! AirTran's in-flight magazine, "Emerald City Buzz."

An expanded version of this article (actually written by me) was found in the Voracious Top 5 columns, a couple months ago: Seattle's Top Five Bars for Coffee Cocktails

And two of those picks (Liberty and The Diller Room) made it into the print edition of The Weekly's dining guide. It's been a good start to 2011 for The Buzz! Busy as anything, but good. No more coffee cocktails for a while, though.

BARK!

​It is 1:30 on another generically grey Seattle afternoon, and I am making a second pass around a block which my smartphone swears is the block I am seeking. Or rather, the block containing the coffee which I am seeking. The smartphone and I don't always see eye-to-eye on things like the crucial nature of correct directions, or what the phrase "between [thus] and [such] streets" might mean. This can lead to above-average excitement in navigation, but fortunately, today's destination isn't difficult to find. One extra circle of the block puts me in view of BARK! Espresso and its parent venture, Great Dog...

Read: Hair of the Dog at Northgate's BARK! Espresso

NWRBC: Final Results and Initial Thoughts

[excerpt]

If you're not a barista, you may be thinking to yourself, "Wait, wait. There's a barista competition??" And yes. The answer is, yes. In fact, there is a veritable Olympics for baristas. A thoroughly timed, meticulously judged, surprisingly well-attended contest, with pages upon pages of rules and scoring details, for which individuals train months at a time to jump through regional and national hoops in hopes of reaching the World Barista Championship stage (this year: in Bogota, Colombia). A stage on which that kid making your morning coffee may achieve a type of stardom normally associated only with athletes in our society.

Read the article at Seattle Weekly - The 2011 Northwest Regional Barista Competition: A Reason to Spend a Weekend in Tacoma.

Brain? At capacity.

This weekend: Northwest Regional Barista Competition in Tacoma, WA.

So many things to see and learn, so many people to meet!

The six finalists announced yesterday...

For the Brewer's Cup:
Matt Miletto
Nate Jones
Devin Chapman
Mark Pfaff
Neil Oney
Will Frith

For the Barista Competition:
Sarah Dooley
Ryan Wilbur
Laila Ghambari
Tyler Stevens
Robbie Britt

Final round today. Results should post by late afternoon. Stand by!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

One year ago, on the 8th of January, I unintentionally wrote the first coffee blog. One day later, I wrote the first intentional coffee blog.

Since then, at least one coffee blog per week has been written. And now, an entire year later, it is time to wish the blog happy birthday.

In celebration of which, and more: in appreciation of all you who've spent the last year actually reading this... The first three people to respond to this post get a coffee date (either together, or individually, your choice) with the Buzz Around Town.

Which is to say: I will buy you coffee.

I would buy you all coffee, but coffee blogging just doesn't pay that well.

Ristretto What?

An old, but entertaining article I happened across earlier today. The Coffeegeek archives, regarding reasons not to order "ristretto": Coffeegeek Etiquette & The Ristretto Shot.

I am now guilty of being one of those people who laughs out loud in a public place, while sitting alone and staring at my computer screen.

Read. Ponder. Comment.

A complex issue for discussion: the price of coffee.

From Why Not Coffee: "What's it worth?"