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.
I recently had the opportunity to visit our newest location in lovely Venice. It was great to finally see it open since this really is the first time Intelligentsia has been able to offer a near perfect tea experience. I would like to thank Kyle Glanville for the opportunity to do something revolutionary and unique with the tea preparation.
I'm always excited when Americans start to embrace the customs and habits of other cultures. With the influence of Mexican culture growing over time, I've noticed a surprisingly large number of Mexican eateries focusing on regional Mexican cuisine that was previously unheard of in this country.
While there is very little of the craft of coffee that we take lightly here at Intelligentsia, there are some things that on occasion we take a bit more seriously than some would imagine. The training of our shop staff is one of those things. We have long held high standards for how we prepare our drinks, what we ask our staff to know about coffee and the level of service we offer.
Recently, I had a conversation with Jason Lips, a roaster here at Intelligentsia, about some of the similarities between sourcing coffee and tea. My efforts to purchase this year's teas made me think a bit about the importance of freshness, which led me to also consider coffee freshness and Intelligentsia's commitment to offering both fresh, new crop coffee and tea.
I often get asked, “What is it exactly that a tea buyer does?” I usually answer with a sarcastic comment and a smile. It’s not that I don’t want to explain what I do or that I don’t enjoy my career in tea; it’s just not always the most interesting thing to describe. The truth is that I spend a lot of time writing copy, managing inventory, and training employees.
