Guatemala

That’s right. Gabe finally got to go to origin. Thank you Slow Food! This is a post to be written when I have the time, and the patience and the zen mode turned on with a glass of Ron Zacapa 25+ year next to me. For now, a picture.

photo credit to Tonx.

I called Mae from Finca Agua Blanca at about 1800 meters? Tony? help me out here!

This trip if anything, taught me to take nothing for granted, and to be as aware a human being as possible of my actions and what I have. Also, never in my life have I felt more proud of my Latino heritage as the people I visited embraced me as their own. Made me miss my family back in PR. I learned a whole lot about the agricultural aspect of coffee, and the socio-economic political issues involved with coffee in Guatemala.

I’m hooked. For real this time. Anyone want to pay me to buy coffee for them in Latin America?

I am looking forward to going back with my wife, to show her what hard work, beautiful people, amazing food, humility, pride in their coffee and country looks like.

Best Newcomer

WRBC 2008 CHAMPION

photo credit to sL (scott lucey!), Chicago 2007, Intelligentsia Roasting Works (GLRBC07)

This is what 798 points looks like.

Oh My, am I proud of him and DREW. If they were up against Ryan and I when WE competed, they would have whooped our asses.

congrats to all the competitors. tough ass muthafuckin region. jesus christ.

and also, god damn Intelly’s Rwandan coffee blew my mind as did Heather Perry’s espresso.

CoffeeLandia

The subject line was inspired by this great restaurant that my wife M, and Ryan and Drew went to a long time ago…specifically Puerto Rican and Cuban food, like my aunts and mom make. Damn tasty. The place was called Frutilandia. Fucking weird joint, but good folks and good food. I am gonna miss the Mission…yeah I said it. I mean, I don’t miss living there, but I will miss the little weird joints with great food and no pretentiousness or tasting menus, or taster’s flights. Just good down home latino food with immense flavor and cheap napkins.

I have a lot going on in my life right now, so I decided to sit down and have a good fucking breakfast. New York Strip Top sirloin with caramelized onions, some garlic and of course tons of butter. Fried eggs with sea salt thrown together on a cheap white plate with some serious hot sauce. Jesus Christ, just what I needed. So simple. So fucking good! I really wanted to share that.

On the side is a slice of home made honey & coffee bread my wife made last night (the coffee was a bit of our delicious el Salvador Bella Vista CoE coffee) and some raspberry jam on top (with some more butter), and in a Ritual mug, Barefoot’s juicy Rwanada Humure Co-op coffee made in the french press I bought years ago from my first stint at gimme!coffee.

I am registering for the SCAA trade show. Lots of things to look out for and get excited about, besides the USBC. I am purchasing my ticket now for Minneapolis and they are cheaper than I expected. Now for the room…

I’m throwin all this down to say I love coffee. I love people even as a hardcore anti-socialite. I love the connection you make to other things you would have never found had it not been for coffee.

My wife and I are moving back east early spring /summer. Plans abound. But exciting.

funniest shit in a while

white people

If I can make it there, I’ll make it….

oh yeah. Grumpy has our beautiful Guatemala Cup of Excellence winner (#3) San Jose El Yalu brewing up in Chelsea. I am so excited about this. I love this coffee. Seriously delicious.
Good luck you guys! sell that Yalu goodness!!!

I am also excited because I love this company. Really, I do.

photo credit, Liz Clayton

Sexy Blue Bottle

Great article in the good ol’ New York Times about the current obsession with coffee quality, Clovers, Siphon bars and our very own Bay area coffee manJames Freeman

What I love about this, is that Blue Bottle coffee was the first coffee I ordered as per Kevin Cuddeback’s suggestion when I moved to the bay area…it was SERIOUSLY the only small roastery, doing quality coffee here. Oh man, how times have changed from roasting on a perforated cookie sheet! CONGRATS TO JAMES and the Blue Bottle folks!

coffee fellowship

I have been sending friends and family lots o’ coffee for the holidays. I love this part of being a roaster, and of being a smaller company. we have a small community, and friends that want to support the little guy (yeah yeah, I have heard EVERY short joke, move along now). Also, I believe (as all of us do at Ritual) in feedback. We believe in putting ourselves out there ALL the time to get people’s opinions, suggestions, critiques on what we are doing. Even if we do not agree, knowledge is power. We are pretty much doing this whole roasting thing on our own, and using what we know from being in the industry for years to do this thing. I think we are doing well considering how young and small we are as a roasting company.

We had some help in the beginning, but this shit is all on our own now, which makes it SUPER exciting and gets the people we call friends excited and supportive of us. I couldn’t keep doing what i do without my peers. Really. Be it at the shop/mini-roastery or online, or thousands of miles away by mail. The community keeps me motivated and moving and learning and growing. I don’t know if I will ever be bored roasting coffee.

Wholesale is a different animal, and a speech I will leave to our future official wholesale person. I am a coffee person first and foremost. It’s been great to be able to work bar and roast coffee, and now getting wholesale accounts is becoming exciting.

I have yet to go to origin. I ain’t sweating it. My day will come. For now I just want to make sure we are doing as much as we possibly can with the coffee we are buying and roasting, and getting people stoked on the consumption of it, and what it means for farmers and their families.

So here are well wishes for a new year creeping in around the corner to all of our coffee friends from Vancouver to Portland, to L.A. and Chicago, Milwuakee to HOTlanta and New York…HAPPY NEW YEAR MOTHERFUCKERS.

bells

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Bah Humbug.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ritual Wholesale

Know a coffee bar in your area (in California) that needs a good coffee roaster? Hit me up real quick. We are so stoked on some developments on the horizon. Plus, I wanna roast more coffee BIYATCH!!!!

ritualcoffee@gmail.com

yes!