Oh-Nine in Review
After providing a state of the state in Specialty Coffee for the upcoming decade in my previous blog post, I thought that a 2009 Intelligentsia recap was in order.
The Next Movement
A new decade is arrived. Are you ready for it? Is the world of Specialty Coffee ready for it?
Just to help ease the transition I put together a little list of things to look forward to in coffee, along with some things I hope get left behind as artifacts, as we flip the pages of the calendar.
Things I hope become historical footnotes:
Taste of the Nation
On August 13th, Intelligentsia participated in the Taste of the Nation Event held here in Chicago. Taste of the Nation is actually a series of events held around the country and hosted by a charitable group called Share Our Strength. The goal of Share our Strength is to raise enough awareness and money to end childhood hunger in the US by 2015.
Cross-cultural Coffee
Okay, I have to admit I'm jealous. A number of Intelligentsia folks gathered in Colombia this last week at our first annual Extraordinary Coffee Workshop… my NYC sales colleague, Steve Mierisch, included. You'll no doubt be hearing a lot about this event here on the blog, so I won't go into detail. Let's just say, I'll be attending next year's workshop without question.
And Now For Something Completely Different...
If you read this on Sunday June 7th, I am somewhere in the air heading toward Cali, Colombia to the 1st Annual Extraordinary Coffee Workshop. The event will be held in both Cali proper and at Finca Santuario in the Cauca Valley.
NRA redux
I am the National Sales Manager for Intelligentsia and my team sells coffee to restaurants, coffeebars, and hotels. On Monday I made my annual visit to the National Restaurant Association Show.
Happy Inauguration!
I don't know about you, but I am gushing with excitement - an anchored excitement, if that exists. I know that our president has a lot of work in front of him, but by golly, he can do it. It's interesting to hear all of the people interviewed by NPR talking about their hopes and dreams and newfound sense of pride in being an American.
Coffee Quality Must Never be Taken for Granted
I spend most of last week traveling around Colombia with the now world-famous barista Stephen Morrissey, and I liked it. Not in a Kate Perry kind of way, but rather in a manner that reminded me how important it is that buyers, roasters, and baristas understand that they are mutually interdependent.
New York. Gotta love this place.
The energy in NYC spills out onto every street. There is a feeling of constant activity, a rhythmic breathing that makes me want to DO something. Very cool indeed.
