I’ve been madly IMing with Brent about the trip we’re going on next week — to the Mexican Barista Championship, can’t wait! (stay tuned for news about this in the next few days) — but each message is tinged with his added excitement (and my envy) about the upcoming Slow Food Nation event in the […]
My sister and I have made a semi-regular practice of taking our dad on special dad-and-daughter trips to commemorate his “big” birthdays. He’d kill me if I noted his age here, so let’s just say they’ve been hallmarks. The first time — a few years ago — we took him camping on the coast of […]
The specialty coffee industry was sad to see Jane Rockhold leave her long-held position at Espresso Supply last year when she ventured out into the world to explore her other passion, wine making. The people the most sad about it were the good folks at Espresso Supply, but owner Laura Sommers and the staff just […]
Bikes to Rwanda/Barista Magazine Road Trip Days #2 and #3: Excuse me for not blogging yesterday but there’s barely cell service in Mendocino/Fort Bragg, much less Internet, but the views make it more than worth it…
And since you can’t see us, this is the way we’re rollin’:
On the way to Mendocino, we couldn’t resist stopping […]
After an excruciating time spent at the Hertz rental car counter this morning, Clara and I finally got hold of our rental Prius and cruised on out of Portland, Northern California in our sights. To be fair, we were pleased that Hertz actually had the Prius for us (think of Seinfeld: “You know how to […]
Clara Seasholtz, Executive Director of Bikes to Rwanda (BTR), and I—Sarah Allen, BTR Board member and editor of Barista Magazine—are hitting the road bound for Northern California!
This crazy idea came about when we were at the SCAA show and US Barista Championship in Minneapolis this past May (where, at the Monin party, we had the […]
Sarah and I are back in our hotel room, munching on cheap pizza before we fall into a deep jet-lagged slumber. But to be back means that we first went out, and we did. In fact, we spent all of 20 minutes in the hotel, when we arrived on our delayed flight out of Amsterdam, […]
Doing any sort of traveling demands many hours perusing the SkyMall catalog, and it’s always amazing just what is for sale at 30,000 feet. In previous years, hot dog cookers have been popular with multiple, competing versions available. This is one that our cat, Spacey, was lobbying for:
Lately, however, the SkyMall has been taken over […]
What a freakin blast the last six days were. I spent them in Berkeley, Calif., my hometown and where my parents, Steve and Leanne, still live. I was there for two reasons: to attend and emcee the SCAA’s Western Regional Barista Competition, and to hang with my folks for two days after the competition. It […]
Thanks to one of the bestest bands ever, Magnetic Fields, I had the song “Washington, D.C.” (from the record, 69 Love Songs, Volume 2) spinning in my head for all of last weekend, as we traipsed around Coffee Fest D.C., the Millrock Latte Art Championship, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Competition. (Thanks, Stephin Merritt!)
The weekend […]
