This Post Is Not About That

I was going to write a post about how no one is talking about the way the press is always comparing Starbucks to fast food joints. I was surprised how hard this was to do without coming across as snarky, or inviting a Starbucks bash-a-thon. So this post is not about that. Not any more. This post is about the importance of words.

In my other life, I’m a writer. It makes me crazy to find words so overused or widely applied that they lose their currency. Take for example, “bold”, or “fine grind”. These words on their own don’t mean anything. If someone asks for a fine grind, I need to determine how fine. If someone asks for a bold coffee, I have to find out, exactly what it is about the coffee they like that makes it, erm, bold, to them.

Empty words blow over when you breathe on them. Words that mean something stand up to scrutiny.

If you suspect someone is feeding you an empty word, say, “ethical” or “best available”, I encourage you to challenge it. Just ask, “What do you mean by that?” If the person you ask can’t explain, the words they’re using are empty.

There’s no place for empty words in coffee. Let’s get rid of “best available” and “fine grind” and “medium roasted” and “bold”. They’re words that mean nothing and do nothing. Replace them with words that have substance: “top three percent of the world’s crop”, “grind for a manual pour-over”, “roasted like…” and “tastes like…”

It’s not that hard. Unless, of course, there was never anything behind the words anyway.

OMG

The halogen brewers have arrived. They are beautiful, but require a voltage converter before we can play with them.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

PBS, The ECX and Disco

A few days ago, Aaron Brown from PBS kindly called us to get our view on the ECX, what it means for small roasteries like Discovery Coffee and how buying Ethiopian coffee has changed now that the ECX is in place. They’re doing a show about it on Wide Angle. Here’s the blurb:

“Eleni Gabre-Madhin is a woman with a dream. The charismatic Ethiopian economist wants to end hunger in her famine-plagued country. But rather than relying on foreign aid or new agricultural technology, she has a truly radical plan. She has designed the nation’s first commodities exchange, which she hopes will revolutionize an ancient market system whose inefficiencies have been partly responsible for the country’s persistent food shortages.”

I don’t speak very well, but I hope my point came across in the interview, because it’s important. Right now, the ECX is preventing us from getting coffee directly from farms we’ve dealt with before. It’s preventing us from guaranteeing that farmers are getting the lion’s share of the money we pay*, we’re unable to be sure about quality and age of the beans, and we’ve heard about some serious shipping delays.

We want the same things Gabre-Madhin wants. Ethiopian farmers are some of the poorest in the world, and they produce such an amazing product, there’s no reason a small cadre of greedy exporters should be living high off the hog while their cousins starve. We want to get money to farmers too.

We want to work with her. We love Ethiopian coffee. We want to buy it**. We have customers who want to buy it. But they only want to buy it if it’s (i) the quality they’ve come to expect, (ii) guaranteed ethical, and (iii) fresh. Right now, the product Ethiopia is offering through the ECX is not a product I can sell.

If you want to watch the show (and I know I do), it airs on the 22 of July, and you can check out the website, enter into discussion and read all about the show here.

*As it stands, we have no idea what the farmers are getting when the government buys the coffee. Presumably they get market value, but we’ve got no evidence. I hope the ECX will help eliminate this problem after it gets through these first few growing pains.

** Those Ethiopian coffees that do provide all the things we want are few and therefore extremely expensive. We’re far better off picking up a certified organic, bird friendly, rainforest alliance,  COE participant from Guatemala for the same price.

The Rumor, It’s True

If you’ve been in the store in the last few days, you’ve probably heard the rumblings. If you haven’t, well, you’re about to hear them now.

It’s true, and it’s no longer a secret. We’ve got an amazing new barista flying all the way across the planet to come and work at Disco. Here she is, helping with set up at the WBC in Atlanta. Her name is Anya, she’s coming in September and we all ready love her.

Regional Barista Competition

Hey, hey! The Western Regionals are coming up August 29!

The whole event is going to be made of fun. If you think you’ve got the chops to judge, apply by filling out the judges application. If you think you’re one of Western Canada’s best, then, heck, why not enter as a competitor? And if you want to see the competition and you don’t really have the cashola but you’ve got time, volunteer here.

Western Regional Barista Championship
Hosted by: Machines n’ Beans, and Reg Barber Enterprises
Leonardo Da Vinci Center
Saturday, August 29, 2009

Incidentally,

If you haven’t heard of Barista Magazine, and you’re a barista, a roaster, a coffee dork or a serious enthusiast (erm, is there a difference?), you should maybe click here.

Guest Appearance

One of our fabulous, jet-setting, inspiring brokers is in town today. She’s coming to the store tonight to chat with the staff. She’s going to talk about what it’s like to be a broker, her recent trip to Peru, and to answer all those questions we’ve wanted to ask for so long, essential questions like: How much coffee do you drink when you travel, anyway?

It’s a secret

Don’t tell anybody, but Discovery is importing an awsome barista from Australia. Shhh. It’s a secret.

We have a winner!

Looks like Sumatra is winning the autumn sippin’ coffee competition. Thanks to everyone who voted, it’ll help us decided if we want to head to Indonesia, South America or Africa this autumn.