Meant to write this one up the last time I was in the great town of Columbia. I took pictures. I drank multiple drinks. I simply never got around to it.
So a year later, while on a week-long family tour of the deep Midwest, our route from Missouri to Iowa took us again throughColumbia. We ate fine food. We drank fine brew (not the coffee kind). And before it was again time to hit the road with audiobooks to pass the time, it was determined I needed a fine cup of coffee.
Walking back into Kaldis a year later, most is the same. It is a large space. There is a focus on fine coffees with a food menu to please the college and business folk that populate the downtown area. A change I noticed: the menus are less cluttered, easier toread. Kaldis now offers french press (bonus) and chemex (double bonus). I had an idea of them brewing it directly into my mouth while I planked the coffee bar so I could become an internet sensation in certain circles.
Deeming this to be inappropriate and maybe impossible (reverse gravity pour?)…and deterred from either of these brew methods by not feeling confident in my ability to imbibe 32 oz. of coffee on my own while being behind the wheel…I went with a cappuccino. Triple bonus? Kaldis now offers their house espresso alongside a single-origin offering. Feeling special, I went with the S.O. – a promising Guatemala.
Whilst I waited for my capp, conversation ensued. The Kaldis baristas are talkative and pleasant. What’s more, they are genuine. There is a difference between talking with a customer to pass the time while waiting for their beverage to be handed to them and truly engaging with someone. I was engaged with. My barista’s father is from Fort Collins and she wants to move West but needs a job. Kaldis is also in the process of getting their drip bar/by the cup system rolling (Quad Bonus). See what you learn when you actually meet people instead of “meeting” people?
Next, my drink arrived. It was quite good. Nice balance and texture. Some of the sweetest milk I’ve ever tasted, and the espresso held up very nicely as the drink cooled while I drove north.Well done, fellow behind the machine who I didn’t get to speak with much. You were pleasant as well, though. I have the feeling we might have spoken for some time.
Thank you, Kaldis, for being the official coffee sponsor of my Missouri-Iowa transition. I will return. I recommend you – reader – try it for at least the first time. If not in Columbia,
To our patron, whom we respect more than you know -
First off – thank you for coming to this place. Thank you for supporting Everyday Joe’s and for allowing us to be a part of your universe and community. We appreciate it and we appreciate you. We think of you often, and that is no lie.
Part of this thinking of you often is thinking of you when we make business decisions. We do not take lightly decisions concerning the product we put forth and the prices we charge for that product. We don’t even feel right putting anything out there that isn’t of high quality. Part of the heart of Everyday Joe’s is to serve you – through love, through welcome handshakes, and through delicious beverages. Giving you specialty coffee at an affordable price is part of that service. Giving you low quality coffee is not.
Over the past year, the price of “green” (that is, unroasted beans our roaster buys) coffee has soared. That is putting it mildly, perhaps. Here are some handy line graphs:
We opened in June 2003. As you can see, there is a bit of a steady rise in coffee prices. That is expected. You can also see towards the right side of the above graph what looks like the really tiring part of your elliptical workout. Here’s a closer look at that:
Over the past year, green prices on the commodities market have gone up nearly 77%. Much of this is due to bad weather affecting crops (the earth…it doth groan), therefore lowering supply for an ever-increasing demand. It turns out most of the world loves fine coffee.
The roaster we buy from – Novo – buys coffee green. They roast it. They pass it on to us. We pass it on to you with care…as to not ruin the efforts of the countless people who handled the coffee before us.
Novo has tried their hardest not to pass on is the price increase they were experiencing on the green coffee side. However, we knew it was coming. Last month, the price we pay for our beans jumped 6% on average. In anticipation of this, we raised prices on most things back in December. Two things we left mostly alone were French Press and our drip bar offerings.
In order to make up for this recent jump (our house coffee was the biggest one – going up $0.80/lb), we are raising prices on French Press and drip bar. A raise in price here does two things:
Helps make up for the cost increase we have felt across the board (milk prices have gone up as well)
Brings our French Press & drip bar more in line – both in terms of reflection of quality and in sustainable pricing – with the rest of our coffee & tea beverages
Our new pricing will go into effect on Monday, June 6th. It will look like this:
FRENCH PRESS
10 oz. $2.00 (up from $1.50)
12 oz. $2.15 (up from $1.65)
16 oz. $2.40 (up from $1.90)
DRIP BAR
12 oz. $2.65 (up from $2.15)
You may notice a few sizes missing under the brew bar pricing. That is because we are eliminating 10 & 16 oz. as size options there. The reasons? Quality control, consistency, and the sanity of our volunteers.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you would like to chat about it more, we’d love to. We’ll even buy you a cup of coffee. And again, thank you for the support and for allowing us to be around. You’re awfully kind. Our appreciation for you is simply un-graphable.
So…apparently the rapture is supposed to go down this coming Saturday – 5.21.11. We’re going to ring it in by hosting a benefit coffee tasting for one of our favorite things: Ruminate Magazine.
Quite a few coffee shops hold coffee tastings & cuppings. They are important. They teach you about what you are drinking, and that is important to know.
Everyday Joe’s wants to continue this idea, but put our twist on it. Enter: Coffee & Goodness. Each Coffee & Goodness event serves two purposes:
1. Educate you about coffee & its intricacies
2. Benefit an organization doing Good.
We’ll be serving one coffee bean four ways so you can taste it in all its glory. Admission ($8) will include a sample of each preperation: Hario V60 Pourover, Clever Coffee Dripper, French Press, and Espresso. At each brew station, there will be folks to help your palate along and tell you what tastes to be looking for.
Back a few years ago, we hosted the Ruminate Magazine launch party…& we’re so glad that our relationship with them continues. They produce good and great art and the future for them is exciting. Come down and drink coffee and learn about these good folks.
The bean this time around in the PNG Kunjin from the fellas at Novo Coffee. It’s become one of our favs as of late, and we think you’ll agree it’s definitely worth taking the time to imbibe it.
Your $8 will get you a 4 oz. sample of each of the three brew methods, plus a single espresso. The good people of Novo were kind enough to donate all the coffee for the event, so Ruminate will walk away with $7 for every person that comes through the doors. The event starts at 1 pm, and is run open house style until we’re done at 4 pm.
While out in Hollywood for the Southwest Regional Barista Competition, our fine Diana Sitzman spent a day at the SCAA headquarters for judges training. What did Everyday Joe’s board member David Runkles do? Asked for a tour of the place. And filmed it.
Everyday Joe’s is a member of the SCAA, and it is one of the communities we sincerely love being a part of. It is also a bit of a nerve center for coffee things, as you may gather from the video tour. We’ll be attending the annual SCAA Event again this year…and we hope this trip is free of stomach sickness. We’ll blog it again…from the wonders/heat/humidity of Houston, TX. Until then, enjoy the tour.
6 months ago, Everyday Joe’s volunteer Josh Taves let us know that he’d like to compete in this year’s United States Barista Competition circuit. We agreed with vigor and enthusiasm to sponsor him. The Southwest Regional competition is this weekend (March 4-6) in Hollywood, CA. This post will continue to roll with updates over the next 4 days or so as our good people check in from where they are. Those people? Diana Sitzman (Everyday Joe’s Assistant Director), David Runkles (Board Member), Rachel Robichaux (Volunteer, Photographer) Alyssa Snow (Volunteer), and Josh Taves (Volunteer, Competitor).
Word has it Charlie Sheen is loaning Josh some tiger blood. Please enjoy the hilarity, awkwardness, and information below.
3.5.11: Competition Day 2
1.15 pm: IT’S ON
Sorry for the drop off in updates yesterday. Spent the afternoon getting the shop ready for this guy:
The Trace Bundy was sold out and great. He said you were a great crowd. Congratulations.
But, while I got things ready for that business, other business was happening out in Hollywood:
Rachel & The Biebs
Diana As Judge
Today is Josh’s competition day. We can feel our hearts rising into our throats. Luckily he’s getting good text messages from our friends in Guatemala:
And Josh is feeling good about the day, and wearing a fine fine shirt:
My heart is more in my throat now, so I am going to go watch. You can do the same below. Josh will be up at about 2 pm MST.
3.4.11: Competition Day 1
NOON pm: LET THE GAMES BEGIN
The time is here.With the SW regionals being held in SCAAs hometown, the venue is uber-hip. It’s gone from hotel conference rooms to Siren Studios in Hollywood. Watch the competition below (live stream) and then get a brief tour of the space in the videos & photos below that. Also being held is the regional for the Brewers Cup…which, you guessed it, is a brewing competition (thanks David Runkles for the constant updates). Be watching for Diana Sitzman starring as the Tech Judge slaying it.
Mr. Taves doesn’t compete until tomorrow (2:09 pm MST…we’re having a get together at the shop starting at 1:30 pm…come so we can see your face) but the competition starts today. When you watch, you’ll hear a lot of talk about origin…i.e. where the coffee was grown and on what farm and by whom. The winner of the regional even gets an all expenses paid trip to origin. Not a bad deal.
But, with green coffee prices creeping up up up over the past little while, things “at origin” are getting a little dicey. A couple of tweets from last week:
Coffee cherry theft is a frightening problem happening right now
My guess is you understand what those tweets are saying, but just in case: because green (unroasted) coffee prices are so high right now, bandits see it as an opportunity to make some cash. Trucks are being hijacked, people are being robbed, COFFEE CHERRIES ARE BEING STOLEN OFF TREES. It’s like walking into a corn field and taking the crop right off the plant.
I’m not putting this here to burst any bubbles. When consuming things – whether it is an apple or a cup off coffee – knowing where it comes from can be a very good thing. However, it can also get a little romantic. There is always more to be aware of, and it behooves us as people to be more aware of it.
Of course, a little bit of guidance (read: satire) can always help make the disturbing and disheartening a bit easier to process.
In other news, here’s where the Everyday Joe’s contingency chowed last night:
And now, how about some more pictures for you? Pictures of what the other 4 were doing while Diana was learning how to get her tech judge on. Observe:
SCAA HQ. Apparently there is video of a guided tour coming.
Intelligentsia pit stop. There was a St. Bernard in the atrium.
Competition milk shopping at the Whole Foods.
Shirtless Man Painting Name On Box. Big Gulp.
California, we have descended upon thee.
10.30 am: BACK TO SCHOOL
The fifth member of the 5 has arrived in Cali. Text messages have been exchanged:
Me: You taking your camera? You send me pretty pictures?
Rachel: Yep. Done and done. Just landed. From here on out I will only be listening to Sublime.
While they’re all listening to Sublime, Diana is at judges class. It’s been mentioned earlier, but now we have video proof. It rings of dropping your child off for their first day of kindergarten:
9.00 am: NICE CUTOFFS
Text messages exchanged this morning:
Me: Any updates
Diana: I just took an ice cold shower
Alyssa: Diana just took an ice cold shower because she turned the knob the wrong way. Not going to tell her mine was warm and toasty.
Josh: I’m a gangster for real.
David: I hear josh garggling in the bathroom. We’re leaving for SCAA.
What’s going on at SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association Of America) HQ today? Judges training. It is vigorous. Luckily, it appears the weather is nice. Too bad the Dianimal will spend all day absorbing copious amounts of information and caffeine. Or not too bad, because she will slay it.
3.2.11
8.30 pm: THE DIANIMAL GETS HER BURGER
2 hours to go. Only certain things will suffice.
1.20 pm: THE TALE OF A COMMUNITY SUPPORTED BARISTA
As the gang of 4 drives across the great West and continues to posting videos like the one below (Acorn rest stops are underrated, if you ask me), it may prove nice to give you some nice, concrete content about how this all came about.
Our good friends at Barista Pro Shop are also sponsoring Josh, and have posted a nice piece on their blog about the new USBC regional format and the efforts made on many fronts to get Josh to competition. I am reposting the piece in its entirety here, trusting that you will find it riveting enough to subscribe to said blog. Read the post below the video of Josh killing it at a game of either Area 51 or Virtua Cop
If you’re a follower of the United States Barista Competition, then you’re probably aware of the restructuring that took place for the 2011 season. Ten regions were combined down to 6 and entry fees for competitors were increased (from $50 to $150 BGA member, $195 SCAA member, or $300 non-member). Although there has been some grumbling about fee increases and certain states getting the cold shoulder (Colorado, for example, had become the unofficial hub of the now retired Mountain Region. CO is now part of the South West Region, which includes the ‘big gun’ of CA…will we see another CO competition?), I think that most folks would agree that changes needed to be made. The Specialty Coffee Association of America estimated that the cost of competitions was averaging around $500/competitor, and that cost is sure to increase as the events become more popular and more involved to put on. Where does that leave your neighborhood barista who lives far from the competition venue and depends upon tips to make a living? Enter Josh Taves and the community.
Josh Taves was a competitor in the 2010 Mountain Regional Barista Competition. Josh is a volunteer barista at Everyday Joe’s (a non-profit café in Fort Collins), works as head barista at Little Bird Bakery, has his own consulting business on the side (Northern Colorado Barista Training), and attends CSU full time. Take it from me; this guy is passionate about coffee. Too bad passion alone won’t pay for a trip to Hollywood, CA to compete in the SWRBC. Here’s where the community part steps in. The fine crew at Everyday Joe’s made it their mission to send Josh to CA, and enthusiastically stepped up as his sponsor.
Joe’s (as it’s lovingly called) proceeded to: lend their store and espresso machine for after hours practice, pay the entry fee, promote ‘the cause’ via social media sites, work with their roaster to develop/donate coffee, involve and educate the general public about Josh’s goal, recruit the help of other coffee industry peeps in the area (including Barista Pro Shop), lend moral support, and much more. This is just one example of a localized coffee community stepping up to support a barista on their path to competition; I’m sure there are others across the country. My thought is that these incidents will become more widespread as the new USBC structure sets in as reality, and I think it’s just what the specialty coffee industry doctor ordered. The competitions should serve as a way of designating the best of the best baristas and a worthy ambassador, but in doing so should also act as a vehicle for educating communities about coffee excellence, professionalism, and passion.
Everyday Joe’s did a great job of including the community, not just treating them as spectators. There really was an emphasis on involving everyone and getting people to take ownership of Josh’s trek to the SWRBC . For example, I and several others served as judges for Josh’s mock presentations. The last of these was done on Sunday morning, and I’m happy to report that Josh (rocking a brown shirt and red suspenders) has come a long way! It’s personally been an awesome experience to watch his routine take shape and become increasingly polished. I for one feel emotionally invested in Josh’s pursuit of the SWRBC championship and give much kudos to Mr. Taves and the folks at Everyday Joe’s for including me and others in the community in their efforts. Good luck and have fun, Josh!
10.30 am: THE AWKWARD INTRODUCTION VIDEO 3 HOURS INTO THE 17 HOUR DRIVE
We proudly serve the beans roasted by our friends at Novo Coffee. We call them friends, and we mean it.
Later this month, Novo will start offering cupping classes. The good people at Westword stopped by the roastery recently to learn about the cupping experience:
Novo Coffee sources and roasts some of our favorite coffee beans in town. Herb, Jake and Joe Brodsky (who went on to find Ninety Plus Coffee, a sourcing and distribution company), the father and sons behind the operation, spend a lot of time forging relationships, searching for beans and perfecting the processing — and they’re also passionate about getting the best cup of coffee possible into the hands of consumers.
Earlier today, Jake walked us through the cupping process, which is used to detect flaws in coffee and check for consistency.
Read the rest of the article here. It really is a nice, sussinct portrayal of the cupping process…which is something most folks have a hard time composing. It makes me want to go do some cupping right now.
If we started hosting more cuppings, wouldst thou join us?
A little bit ago, the Everyday Joe’s volunteers were given the treat of a cupping some serious coffees from the good people at Coffee Shrub/Sweet Maria’s. Specifically, the coffees were those of the Manzano Experiment. I do not expect you to know what that is, though you can read about it if you like.
Chris Schooley -- the man/myth/legend that led the cupping -- meant to bring his camcorder that day but forgot. Therefore, a reenactment of the cupping was required. What took 2 hours that day is brought to you in 9 minutes. Enjoy.
Meant to write this one up the last time I was in the great town of Columbia. I took pictures. I drank multiple drinks. I simply never got around to it.
There is a difference between talking with a customer to pass the time while waiting for their beverage to be handed to them and truly engaging with someone. I was engaged with. My barista’s father is from Fort Collins and she wants to move West but needs a job. Kaldis is also in the process of getting their drip bar/by the cup system rolling (Quad Bonus). See what you learn when you actually meet people instead of “meeting” people?
then one of their other locales. 
