Caffe is the name of the coffee concept boutique coffee shop located within the Marriott Renaissance Hotel in the West End of NW Washington, D.C.  This was the first of several shops opened in the last three years that exclusively sell Illy coffee and their designer products (namely their fancy hand painted espresso cups/plates and pods). Although not my first choice for espresso in most cases, every time I’ve had a cup of Illy at this M Street location, I have been thoroughly pleased. The dark, complex and caramel-like finish of the typical Illy espresso is a proven winner.  The true to form syrupy crema that commonly accompanies a well made Italian espresso consistently shines through here and, based on third-hand accounts, their cappuccinos are also well-made.

This is definitely not a place to sit down and work, eat a meal or chat for too long with friends.  Keeping in the typical Italian espresso bar tradition, there is only a standing counter along the windows of this petite shop where one is able to down their drink and continue on.  Not too linger friendly here.  Not to worry, just a quick walk through the into the adjoined restaurant (also part of the Marriott Renaissance Hotel) and you can begin an entirely separate dining experience.

In short, although this is not a place for much more than a quick coffee on the go – it is a quality coffee drinking experience and is worth a stop if you’re in the area and desire a quality made coffee drink.  The iced latte I had here in Summer 2010 was probably the best I’ve ever had.  Try getting a simlilar experience across the street at Starbucks — simply unheard of.

I like the cup (seen above) so much that I asked to purchase it.  I was pleased to find out that they happily sell the cup/plate/spoon sets used for a little under $10.

Here are some additional links that discuss the place:

WaPo
Yelp
Examiner
UrbanSpoon

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=washington+dc+nw+1336+9+st&fb=1&gl=us&hnear=Washington+D.C.,+DC&cid=12196182154941226661

Azi’s Café is a wonderful place to grab a coffee and a meal in one of DC’s most diverse and dynamic neighborhoods – albeit not very commercial.  The charming owner, Azeb Desta (nicknamed Azi), hails from coffee’s disputed birthplace in the Horn of Africa.  Before opening Azi’s in 2005 she worked for eleven years in food and beverage with Ritz-Carlton hotels.

Her location at the corner of 9^th and O streets is smack in the middle of a rapidly changing area of the Shaw area of DC, where an improving standard of living and an aversion to the normal “Starbucks” options appear to partially drive traffic to Azi’s Cafe. Perhaps more important, Azeb and her staff are some of the warmest and most dedicated employees in the business and their service clearly helps with customer loyalty. Furthermore, for the time being, there is very little direct competition in the immediate area.

The menu of light food fare boasts decent pastry, soup, salad and panini (the roasted turkey breast, tomato, cheddar, and garlic spread goes for $6.50) options.  Personally, I often find myself succumbing to the flavorful biscotti displayed in large glass containers in front of the cashier – it perfectly compliments a warm frothy cappuccino on a cold day.

Generally, the coffee is above average for Washington and I’ve grown fond of their cappuccinos.  They use Illy coffee and have a stand of retail Illy for sale proudly exhibited in their front window.

Having sampled an Illy espresso across town at the Illy shop at the Renaissance M Street Hotel, I was excited to see how Azi’s compared.  The coffee itself was definitely up to par, bold and complex from start to finish.  The cup they used in my case was a designer Illy cup – of my choosing – that was plenty warm from sitting atop the French-made UNIC machine. The quantity of crema was less than sufficient, though, and I would have to wager the guess that the machine could be the problem. I’ll undoubtedly try another espresso here before making a final judgment on the quality of their coffee and ability to make drinks.  It also appears that they keep a pretty steady line of customers asking for both specialty drinks and regular cups of coffee during this time of year.

I’ve never visited this locale without a pleasant and eclectic mix of music weaving through the small locale.  The southern wall is littered with a few electric sockets for those who tote laptops and have a use for their free wi-fi. Others may choose between a few tables in the middle of the shop and a couple two-seater tables squeezed in between columns with plenty of natural light on the northside of the shop (sorry, no electric plugs on this side of the shop).

Whether for a hot bowl of soup, a freshly made salad, a steamy latte or a shot of espresso – Azi’s is quickly becoming an institution in the Shaw neighborhood and – with over five years of business in this locale – Azeb Desta seems satisfied that things are going in the right direction.  Although, she thinks that the last five years have gone by quickly, and that both the neighborhood and the clientele have changed equally quickly.  Azi’s Café is one of very few businesses thriving in this section of NW and it will be interesting to see how much/little she changes in the next five years in order to maintain a successful enterprise.

Café Hound will undoubtedly continue to frequent her shop and wishes her the best in growing her business.

How is the coffee?  How well is it delivered?

My expectations for any coffee that is roasted in a hot and muggy coffee producing country and transported to the United States in luggage are generally pretty low.  Opportunities for the coffee to be damaged by heat, humidity, and poor packaging are far too great. Upon receiving this kilogram of roasted whole bean coffee I politely thanked the gift bearer and placed any hope of this coffee stimulating my palate far from the reach of reality.  A couple of days later, I used my 480-watt Baratza Virtuoso burr grinder to grind up a fine espresso sample of the beans for use in a Gaggia Classic modified machine with a Rancho Silvia wand.  About 23 seconds later, a full Illy cup of syrupy espresso was ready to be slurped.  My initial surprise was that the machine pulled the shot surprisingly well for a first try.

After sipping the shot I was surprised again with the freshness and fruitiness of the drink.  The aroma of the beans was not nearly as satisfying as the drink itself.  The quality of the beans themselves did leave a little to be desired.  The roast was not consistent enough to be considered specialty quality – with some beans barely brown and others burnt to a crisp. Also, some were very small and damaged while others were huge.  Furthermore, I found a piece of metal wire resting in between a few beans when I was pouring the bag into a storage container – reflecting less than ideal quality control standards by the processing company. The packaging for the beans is metalized with an additional layer of multicolored labeling and a valve application for allowing gases to escape after sealing – a high quality packing meant for beans that a company would expect to export and/or sell retail.

Again, the taste was exotic and I was encouraged enough to make an entire pot of drip coffee with the same beans.  The end result was a bit less to my specific liking – I like a brighter coffee with a lighter roast and more mild finish.  Although, on colder days I like a drip coffee with a bit more character in the body than my usual Central American and Colombian varieties.  I’ve begun mixing some beans from Cundinamarca, Colombia with my Angolan coffee that apparently originates on an estate (fazenda) called Lobito (not to be confused with the port city of the same name) and am pleased to drink this blend in both espresso and drip coffee form.

What’s in a name? Ginga’s backstory

The Ginga (Njinga) name is distinctly Angolan, as it refers to a queen dating back to the times of the Ngondo Kingdom in Africa.  The Ngondo Kingdom was originally a tributary kingdom of the Kingdom of Congo – existing before the Portuguese colonizers arrived in 1482.  The Ngondo Kingdom was governed by Ginga’s father, Ngola Kiluange(Kiluanji), when the Portuguese arrived. He fiercely resisted the Portuguese as well as all other foreigners until his eventual decapitation. The Portuguese attributed the name Angola to the lands now known as Angola, not knowing/caring that the Ngola was the name of the ruler, not the lands.

Queen Ginga is a legendary figure in African history and the object of pride in Angola, as she is viewed as one of Angola’s most shrewd diplomats, rulers, military minds and intelligent leaders.  So much is written on her that her entire history appears to be in dispute and includes elements of near-mythology – certainly originating from the 16^th century equivalent of smear campaigns and propaganda.  She is rumored to, at times, have adopted cannibalism, a very pious Catholic lifestyle, and – according to Maquis de Sade’s “Philosophy in the Bedroom” – she sacrificed elements of her all male harem of lovers immediately after lovemaking. In other words, there is much mystery and intrigue surrounding her life but she is most certainly a key historical figure in the Angolan national identity.

Throughout her political career, Queen Ginga both resisted and compromised with her Portuguese occupiers.  There seems to have been a relative interdependency between Ginga and Portugal.  She converted to Christianity, adopted tribal customs, and went to war with the crown and neighboring tribes – whatever ensured her survival.  Perhaps this is why the brand name Ginga is appropriate for a coffee company that claims to be 100% Angolan, yet is very much entangled in a past connected to Portugal. Ginga is one of two coffee brands connected to a holding company called AngoNabeiro, the other being Delta Café (a widely known Portuguese brand).  AngoNabeiro is part of a Portuguese conglomerate known as Nabeirogest, or more informally, Grupo Nabeiro.  One of the strongest performing companies in this group is Café Delta.  Café Delta dominates the coffee market in Portugal, is expanding rapidly in Angola and Brazil, and has long been active in segments of the East Asian market for roasted coffee (see Macau).

But, the Portuguese connection dates back to before Angolan Independence when AngoNabeiro was setting up coffee production operations in 1973 right before Portugal experienced a coup d’état in 1974 and, as part of a larger Portuguese agreement, Angola was liberated from colonization through the Alvor Agreement (Acordo do Alvor) in 1975.  Between 1975 and 2002, Angola endured a violent civil war that ravaged the countryside and made sustaining its agricultural economy very unpredictable. As in nearly all civil conflicts, land/property rights were constantly challenged creating terrible instability for coffee farm owners.

During the earlier part of the difficult times in Angola, Rui Patricio oversaw daily operations and ownership of AngoNabeiro inside of Angola.  Production continued, although at very small quantities, until 1983 when the company closed due to lacking technical assistance and know-how.  The physical infrastructure where AngoNabeiro’s main facility was located was loosely protected, unproductively, until 1998 when Delta Café proposed a revitalization of its coffee production in Angola.  By 2000, the Café Ginga brand emerged and by 2002 the civil war in Angola finally ended. Café Ginga and AngoNabeiro has grown steadily since, with an estimated US$1.2 million of annual revenues in 2005 according to Director General Rui Melo. Part of their growth has been thanks to a business structure where the mixed-capital Angolan company, AngoNabeiro benefits from Grupo Nabeiro’s know-how and financial largesse (capital and cash-on-hand). Café Delta is one of many companies housed within Grupo Nabeiro and it has been tremendously successful over the past decade.  As Ginga changes outside perceptions of high quality coffee within the Angolan market their ambitions are set on carving out market share in nearby South Africa and other countries in their immediate vicinity.

Rui Melo interview on history of AngoNabeiro (Portuguese): http://www.winne.com/dninterview.php?intervid=1686

Mr. Rui Melo
Manager / Director General of AngoNabeiro

It is official, I have found the best place for a completely comfortable, unpretentious, superb culinary experience and it is right down the street from my current residence in Arlington, Virginia.

To start, the shop is a spacious old building with high ceilings, plenty of natural light on all four sides, and three separate spaces with three totally different vibes under one roof (and that isn’t even mentioning the all too rare plentiful quantity of open air seating spaces located outside all with access to their free wifi). The inside also serves as an art gallery for local artists and has tons of bar stools and counter space by the windows in addition to about a half dozen couches located throughout. Also, the kitchen is WIDE open- another uber positive sign that food is done right here.

And to think, all this before discussing the menu, the fantastic staff, the Counter Culture coffee, the splendid teas, and their homemade ICE CREAMS! According to one of the owners, who co-owns Liberty Tavern and another locale in the immediate area with his brother, the place has been open for about four months and is doing REALLY well. Well, I think it can do even better AND serve as my new favorite hangout in the area for many months to come. Below are some pictures and additional comments about the place.

My only gripe is that it was a bit difficult to bite into my grilled chicken sandwich; which was spectacularly tasty. Susana didn’t think the bread slices accompanying her salad were crunchy enough. The pastries looked wonderful and were unique – their pastry chef is top notch. The soft ice cream was outstanding – passion fruit was one of the flavors of the day. The latte art on the cappuccino was decent and the drink was made well. The espresso was made well but the single-origin Michicha from Ethiopia was not ideal as it is a sun-dried coffee that is too gnarly for my preferences as a pure espresso drink – much better as a shot in a latte. In earnest, though, I probably would have preferred a shot of a wet washed Kenya AA or a full bodied blend like the Ano Novo 2010.

So, although I can say this place is probably the best complete dining experience that I have ever had at a wine and coffee bar, it is still improving and that should scare the competition (of which there really isn’t any at this time).

Lift a glass to Northside Social in Arlington, Virginia, for they may have just hit the sweet spot for this area’s upper middle class late 20s to early 40s demographic.

Collage ala Santa Marta

JUAN VALDEZ – Santa Marta

In my relatively limited experience, providing high quality coffee in terribly hot and humid conditions is usually an EPIC FAIL based on my experience with several of the coffee barons in Managua, Nicaragua.

That said, Juan Valdez has managed to keep its product consistently above average (though not excellent) everywhere that I have tried it.  This includes the city center in Santa Marta, Colombia.  They also provide paying customers with 30 minutes of free wifi (if requested) and have a variety of tasty baked treats to go along with their splendid coffees.  They probably do better business with their cold drinks here in Santa Marta, but also do a decent job of selling and preparing their hot ‘pod’ drinks and single and double shot espresso drinks. My girlfriend thoroughly enjoyed their Cheese/Bread Stick (Palito de Queso) and also the Almojabana (which reminded her of the delicious Brazilian treat Pao de Queijo).

The seating at a Juan Valdez is always comfortable and intelligently situated to provide for the right combination of privacy and social interaction – a key element of Colombian culture.

The Juan Valdez in Santa Marta attracts the local color – musicians and other interesting characters – who come to entertain the heavily foreign  (read: German) tourists who setup camp here to practice their Spanish and regroup after excursions in and around the Department of Magdalena. Overall Juan Valdez rarely fails to deliver on the customer expectation for a special and above average experience with above average coffee.  Oma cannot compete with Juan Valdez on a national level and this fact is only cemented by positive experiences like the ones I had at the Juan Valdez in Santa Marta. I hope they keep up the good work – and continue to send good merchandise to the DC shops so I can continue to buy their shirts and travel mugs when visiting the Organization of American States!

CAFE BONSAI – Taganga

One such tourist destination in Magdalena is the small fishing town east of Santa Marta by the name of Taganga.  Taganga is most known for offering affordable and decent quality scuba diving lessons/certification classes to tourists traveling through this tropical outpost in Colombia.

In Taganga, my friend and I happened upon the self-proclaimed “Nicest Little Coffee Shop in the Southern Hemisphere” – which I had to put to the test.  We meandered in, after being followed all the way to the door by a local stray dog looking for some air condition and table scraps. The atmosphere was definitely cool, bohemian, and welcoming to the backpacking tourist hailing from Europe (judging by our company inside).  The Left-leaning Aterciopelados blared on the radio and our bohemian waitress/barista took our order after we evaluated their very lengthy menu on the wall for several minutes.

My first inclination was to request the gold standard for a coffee shop – espresso please.

But, I hinted to my friend that the machine was not running (likely to save electricity) and that if they were to pull my shot immediately after turning on the machine, it would be of the worst quality with no crema whatsoever.  My prediction was 100% correct – despite the coffee being from a local cooperative of indigenous growers who sell their coffee through designated ‘Casa Indigena’ – indigenous cooperative trade associations (such as this one http://intermundos.org/sierra_nevada1.htm). I suspect that the coffee quality is better than my espresso reflected, so I encourage additional research.

On a side note, the iced tea that my friend ordered was also surprisingly unpleasant.  Sadly, it appears that the biggest sell here was that they have English speaking staff, English marketing materials, free wi-fi (that cuts out a lot), and a HUGE menu. Quantity, not quality. Also of note, the prices were expensive even relative to coffee shops in DC and California. Positively, the cozy bohemian feel becomes quite endearing and familiar as an ex-pat in Colombia.

Next time I visit Taganga, I will probably stick with the fresh fish and fresh juices consumed  under a straw hut overlooking the bay. Santa Marta and the surrounding areas are quaint, safe and beautiful. I highly suggest visiting!

Looking out over the bay in Taganga while waiting for my freshly caught Red Snapper to be served.

Another interesting side note – much of this little town’s wealth came from ‘seed money’ in the 70s as a result of the lucrative illicit marijuana trade to the US. Local traquetos laundered the money by investing in real estate, agro-industry, and boosting the local tourism industry. The U.S. market has long since moved to closer producers (British Columbia, Mexico, California) to meet domestic demand and Taganga appears to rely mostly on tourism as its lifeblood. Cheers.

Don Pedro's interior from the back room looking out towards the adjoined bakery run by Pedro's wife.

Cafe Don Pedro is one of those places that began Maher Hound’s entire journey into the coffee world.  An exercise in objectivity would be senseless in this post considering my first encounter with the wonderful Colombian grown stimulant known as Cafe Don Pedro began in the late nineties after my father received a pound as a gift from a friend stationed at the US Embassy in Bogota.  At the time my family did not find the coffee particularly amazing and I was too young to have taken up the habit of coffee drinking full-time yet.

Several years later, after being reintroduced to Colombian coffee through a chocolate covered experience with Oma coffee, I found my way down to Colombia and into the storied retail location of Cafe Don Pedro on Calle 90 where it intersects Carrera 11A.  Beyond having one of the most folkloric, traditional coffee themed interior designs I have ever seen in a coffee shop; Cafe Don Pedro had very well trained and highly knowledgeable staff that were able to describe everything about the entire supply chain process of a coffee plant/bean and how to prepare beverages with care and with style.

My first visit to Cafe Don Pedro in the flesh was in 2006.  This was before I had been properly introduced to cupping and understanding the careful and lengthy process of training one’s palate to distinguish subtle discrepancies in the flavor profile of different beans and brews.  Even at this early juncture of my coffee loving career, I knew I had come across a truly amazing quality of coffee.  Upon my departure from Colombia several months later I carried several pounds of the delicious substance with me (beans were packaged according to their Department (a national sub-unit similar to a State) of origin). The most well-rounded beans sold by Don Pedro were probably the Cudinamarca blend – taken from the region immediately surrounding Bogota.  The most unique and distinctly (although quite mild) beans were those from Huila, found south of Neiva heading towards the Colombia-Ecuador border on the 45 highway. The Huila beans – last time I tried them in 2008 – had a vanilla and nutty undertone in the finish that was preceded by bright orange acidity in the initial sip.

Upon my return to Colombia in 2008, I made another stop at Don Pedro and enjoyed the comfortable ambiance and coffee of the shop.  Did I mention that, because they roast coffee every day right in the front of the shop, there is an overwhelmingly pleasant aroma of fresh roasted coffee that greets each customer upon entering the shop?

In 2008 I sat down and discussed the business – both the beauty of owning one’s own specialty coffee retail location in a country dominated by the Juan Valdez and FEDERCAFE image AND the problems associated with trying to leverage the international recognition of the Juan Valdez label while trying to directly export one’s own brand to international markets.  It appears that Pedro de Narveaz is still wrapped up in a legal dispute with the National Coffee Growers Federation in Colombia and this will likely – due to the political clout and financial resources of the Federation – end badly for our beloved Don Pedro.

Despite these facts, his business does incredibly well just by selling to the  Bogota equivalent of Washington, D.C.’s ‘Embassy Row’ with high praise coming from the US Embassy in Bogota and his own product positioning in Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport for those hoping to grab a bag of Don Pedro before hopping on the plane. I returned yet again to Don Pedro in July 2010 to grab five pounds and sample a delicious espresso with my girlfriend.  As she enjoyed her cappuccino with ‘fluffy foam’ and delicious coffee cookie treats, I reminisced about the more than four years of coffee patronage at this wonderful location in downtown Bogota.  Now, with the store moving down the street into a smaller shop on Calle 89 with 11A, I am both saddened and excited about the future of the Cafe Don Pedro experience.  The new commerce brought to this neighborhood by the incoming Mall will definitely boost foot traffic in and around Cafe Don Pedro, but it will also dramatically alter the quiet and charming experience that this neighborhood offered the older Bogotano crowd looking for an elegant cafe to discuss Colombian culture, society, politics and – most importantly – coffee.

As many of those who relish in a fresh cup of specialty coffee stumble across this page in ‘google’ searches for the next best thing in their locale, I stumbled across Ozzie’s Coffee Bar in Old Forge, New York while on vacation with family.  Often when traveling, one must take what they can get when it comes to getting the daily brew of coffee.

During my recent visit to Old Forge, I expected that I would not find anything worthy of Cafe Hound mention given the remote location and *assumed* lack of access to high quality roasters.  My assumption proved wrong the moment I walked through the doors of Ozzie’s Coffee Bar.

I entered in search of free Wifi so that my friend and I could get some work done in between kayaking on the beautiful lakes of the Adirondack Mountains – only to find that there was no wifi available in this quaint shop. Although I nearly darted out the door upon learning of the lack of wifi, I took the plunge and ordered a standard double espresso to test their bean and barista quality.

My first impression was less than optimum given the fact that they served me a watery espresso in a large to-go coffee cup… but… I cleared my mind and took in the aroma.  To my surprise the aroma was fresh, earthy with hints of chocolate.  Next, I sipped in some of the semi-frothy crema that found its way on top of this drink.  It was pretty decent – made with well roasted and well preserved (i.e. relatively fresh) beans.  My only gripe is that the drink was too watered down because the barista intentionally over-pulled the shot (correctly assuming that the average consumer wants more liquid rather than more taste).

My friend ordered a chai latte (hot) and was also very pleasantly surprised.  I tasted her drink and found that it was made with high quality ingredients and was well prepared.  What a pleasant surprise.

The following day I returned to order another espresso (this time made with less than half the previous amount of water) and my friend ordered a skim cappuccino.  Both drinks were superb and thus I had to ask the baristas where the beans were from. I also asked for the owners information since I didn’t see her in the shop.

Albeit not that surprisingly, the beans used at Ozzie’s are not locally roasted.  Instead, the owner, Kristy Sutherland, prefers to create her own custom blend through a wholesale purchasing partnership with Aroma Coffee Roast in Larchmont, New York. Aroma is a known entity in the world of specialty roasters and continues to use a 12 KG roaster in order to achieve the careful control of each batch roasted on a daily basis.

In addition to splendid coffee, Ozzie’s also locally sources a variety of tasty treats, panini, sandwiches, salads and baked goods on a daily basis.  Cafe Hound promotes both an excursion to the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York and a stop by Ozzie’s Coffee Bar along the way. We guarantee that there you will find plenty of hidden gems and scenic views along the way.

Although such an observation was so clear to me at the time, I had no knowledge of the specialty coffee industry beyond what I had discovered in Colombia over the course of a couple of weeks visiting farms and talking with producers.  I was in no way suited to open a coffee shop nor interested in doing so.

So – when this post began as a draft in August 2009 –  reminiscing as I drove through DC I could see my observation was not lost on others in the coffee retail industry.  Caribou Coffee shops are located in new places throughout the city, Peregrine Espresso launched in 2008, Chinatown Coffee Co. opened in July 2009, Mid-City Caffe, Big Bear Cafe and more all claim DC as their home now.

The growth in coffee shop improvement has not been lacking.  Names such as Murky, Peregrine, Big Bear, Tryst and others have made sure of that.  Caribou’s growth has been impressive too. Even a fellow in Manassas Virginia started his own line of retail coffee called Hondo Coffee.  The coffee is sourced only from one community in Honduras and is sold pre-ground in flimsy packaging that is its only protection from the heat and humidity of DC/VA summers – as he pushes the majority of his sales at local farmer’s markets.

August 2010 – So what is lacking from the DC market?

As far as I can tell it appears to have a serious shortage of local high quality roasters. The best coffee in the DC/VA/MD area is roasted elsewhere.

I would understand if one couldn’t find a good roaster in DC proper given the high rents for real estate and the potential difficulties getting a permit for the exhaust that comes from an industrial roaster but, this does not explain why the artisan roasters I have come across thus far in Maryland and Virginia have failed to meet the mark of quality, consistency and marketability that is required to survive and prosper in the specialty coffee industry.

Counter Culture cleans up in the Mid-Atlantic region (in terms of selling to high-end specialty coffee shops) and Intelligentsia has successfully convinced the high-end restaurant industry (i.e. Farmers & Fishers) to offer patrons a quality cup of java at a place where everything else on the menu is exquisite.  For now, Counter Culture has a relative stronghold on the region because people seem to believe that North Carolina is local enough AND they have a strong network of local-ish cuppings and trainings to attract local coffee shops/geeks into their network and identify them with their brand.

This business strategy is quite interesting and it will be exciting to watch the DC/VA/MD roaster market adapt to this pent up demand over the course of the next months. Until then, I’m open to any suggestions of DC/MD/VA roasters willing to part with samples for review by Cafe Hound.

The first custom Cafe Hound blend of 2010 is already receiving raving reviews from its first consumers!  As we continue to sell out our limited stock we are closely approaching our goal of having enough money to send a charitable donation to the Barefoot Foundation (Pies Descalzos) down in Colombia.  Below are some success stories from the English version of their website.

All content from the Barefoot Foundation website is the property of the Barefoot Foundation.

Source: http://www.barefootfoundation.com/index_en.php

Success Stories

The stories from the communities we serve inspire us to continue working for those who need us most. These comments from our students and their families describe the changes in their communities. For each success story, there are thousands more children who we hope to serve soon.

Ferley’s Story

Ferley didn’t think he’d ever get to go to school. His thin frame is shrunken by congenital rickets, making him look closer to six than to his eleven years. His mother Clarisa said, “I was afraid that if I let him go to school, the other kids would call him names and make fun of him, and that he would be a burden on the teachers.” Clarisa Rentería and her five children are refugees who fled the violence of Colombia’s civil conflict, eventually settling in Quibdó, a western Colombian city. She explains, “I arrived here in 1999. It was heartbreaking to lose it all and be left with nothing.” The family struggled to survive and could not afford a wheelchair for Ferley. Without a wheelchair, Ferley could not get around the rocky streets.

However, Ferley didn’t want to stay confined to the house. He begged to go to school and longingly studied his siblings’ homework. Pies Descalzos visited Ferley’s house and talked to his mother, convincing her that her son would be well taken care of. When Clarisa saw the desire and determination in her son’s eyes, she agreed. Pies Descalzos bought Ferley a wheelchair and he enrolled in the Pies Descalzos School.

Four years later, Ferley is a happy, popular student who always has a smile on his face. He and his best friend Bryan are inseparable and they dream of continuing their studies. “I like to go to school because I learn a lot and because I like to share with my friends.” Ferley loves math, social science, reading and dreams of becoming a professional singer of Vallenato, a Colombian folk music style.

Ferley with Shakira

To teacher Absalón Asprilla Gómez, Ferley is a special student. “When I face something difficult, I don’t complain, instead, I think about his situation. He is one of the best students in the school, with a permanent smile, despite it all. For me, this is very meaningful. It has helped me grow a lot as a person.”

Pies Descalzos hasn’t just changed Ferley’s life; it has changed his whole family. Clarisa earns extra money for her family by preparing breakfast and lunch for the Pies Descalzos Foundation school as part of the “If I eat better, I will learn more” program. “We prepare lunch for the students and we help with the breakfast, so that they have food and they can study with full stomachs,” says Clarisa proudly. The meals they prepare are supervised by a nutritionist and made possible through Pies Descalzos and the Instituto Colombian Bienestar Familiar. This program helps make sure that the malnutrition that affected Ferley doesn’t affect other children.

The Barefoot Foundation helps hundreds of families like Clarisa and Ferley’s. The Pies Descalzos schools are open to everyone and serve as a center for community development. Parents, neighbors and grandparents learn sewing, artisan skills and literacy while teens engage in micro-businesses, sports leagues, and leadership development activities. This neighborhood is changing and growing thanks to the community, and the Barefoot Foundation and the Pies Descalzos Foundation.

The Story of El Minuto de Dios School, Altos de Cazucá

Elementary school teacher Consuelo Pachón barely recognizes her school, El Minuto de Dios, anymore. She teaches in Soacha an area south of Bogotá that was once a booming mining town. Today, its hills have been stripped of their natural resources, the mines left behind environmental damage and the jobs disappeared. The vacuum left by the mines has been filled with desperately poor people and internal refugees from Colombia’s civil conflict. Thousands flood in each year with nothing but their lives. Fifty-three percent are younger than 14 years old and many children have missed years of school while fleeing.

Before Pies Descalzos Foundation, El Minuto de Dios was in shambles. “At the start it was very hard. The school room walls were made of spare wood, the same kind they use to make fruit crates. The stairs were carved out of mud and, whenever it rained, the children slipped and fell. There weren’t bathrooms, just a latrine. “But now, the conditions have changed tremendously” she commented, raising her eyes to the ceiling in thanks.

The Pies Descalzos Foundation rebuilt the school; they installed sturdy buildings, libraries, computer rooms and safe bathrooms. Pies Descalzos, in alliance with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the government, and Secretary of Education of Soacha, the Minuto de Dios University and the Educational Alliance, support two schools in Altos de Cazucá. In each, they provide nutritious meals, extra programs for troubled kids, recreational and leadership programs, while supporting parent cooperative that help families leave poverty. The community and the children have a safe, supported place to develop. As Ana, one of the school’s parents said “they now have the possibility to imagine a tomorrow filled with human and professional possibilities in this society.”

Jhonathan’s story

Jhonathan wants to clean up Altos de Cazucá. The 17 year old environmental biology major at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University knows only too well the pollution that plagues this poor area south of Bogotá. He moved to Altos de Cazucá as a baby with his mother and siblings. The family struggled to eke out a living, but his mother wanted more for her children so she enrolled them in the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Institute, one of the Pies Descalzos schools.

“The Foundation radically changed my life,” says Jhonathan.  “It taught me to relate to other people and that material things aren’t the only things that count. It helped me realize what my life’s project should be.”  With Pies Descalzos’ support, Jhonathan scored among the highest students in the country on the high school exit exams. He and other top Pies Descalzos students received university scholarships from Pies Descalzos to pursue their dreams.

“The University is an enormous responsibility, not only for myself and my family, but to help the rest of my community,” says Jhonathan. He and another student, Maicol, are using their education to create a recycling business that will provide much needed jobs and help clean up the local environment. Jhonathan also returns to his old neighborhood to tutor kids in school and help them imagine their true potential. “We use games to make learning fun and to expand their interest in school” says Jhonathan.

He loves learning and is eager to continue studying. He would like to pursue a master’s degree in systems engineering and learn French and Portuguese. But, no matter how far he goes, he will never forget the Pies Descalzos Foundation, the Barefoot Foundation and the lessons they taught him about service and believing in his own potential.

Give the Gift that Keeps on Giving and contact Cafe Hound today at maher@cafehound.com or krislert@cafehound.com OR give directly to the Barefoot Foundation by following this link.  Thank you for your time and for relationship with Cafe Hound.  Happy 2010!

The case for coffee and physical activity as prostate cancer preventatives is far from proven, according to the research reported Tuesday at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Houston. But data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study show a clear association with both daily activities.

“I wouldn’t recommend that people change their coffee-drinking habits based on this study,” said Kathryn M. Wilson, a research fellow in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and lead author of one report. “But if you like coffee, there is no compelling reason to cut back at this point.”

Her data on the nearly 50,000 men in the study showed how common a diagnosis of prostate cancer has become since widespread screening began. In the 20 years from 1986 to 2006, 4,975 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed, affecting just about 10 percent of the men in the study.

But only 846 of those cancers were life-threatening, because they had spread beyond the prostate gland or were growing aggressively, Wilson said. And while the study found just a weak relationship between consumption of six or more cups of coffee a day and a reduced risk of all forms of prostate cancer (down about 19 percent), the reduction for the aggressive form was much more marked — 41 percent.

And there was a clear relationship between the amount of coffee consumed and prostate cancer risk, Wilson said: “The more coffee you drank, the more effect we saw.”

The caffeine in coffee doesn’t seem to be the link, since the same reduction was seen for consumption of decaffeinated coffee, she said. Instead, “it has something to do with insulin and glucose metabolism,” Wilson said. “A number of studies have found that coffee is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes.”

This study is just a starting point for establishing a relationship between coffee and prostate cancer, Wilson stressed. “At this point, we would just like to confirm whether it exists in different populations,” she said. “We hope that this study drives more research so that we really know what is going on.”

The other study, by Stacey A. Kenfield, a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, looked at the levels of physical activity among 2,686 men in the study who were diagnosed with prostate cancer. It found, as many other studies have, that exercise is good for overall health, with a 35 percent lower death rate for men who reported three or more hours a week of vigorous physical activity, such as jogging, biking, swimming or playing tennis.

And the death rate from prostate cancer for men who exercised vigorously was 12 percent lower than for those who didn’t — a figure that did not quite reach the level of statistical significance because the numbers were small, Kenfield explained.

Nevertheless, “this is the first study to show an effect of physical activity not only on overall survival, but on prostate cancer survival,” she said.

It’s already well known how physical activity reduces overall mortality, Kenfield said. “It affects immune function and reduces inflammation, among the major processes involved. But it’s not clear yet how it is related to prostate cancer and survival.”

Source: HealthDay News 12/9/2009

Caffe Calabria is one of a few hidden gem roasters in San Diego, CA.  Located in a unique section of town known to locals as North Park; it has the charm of an Italian espresso bar mixed with a ‘work-in-progress’ pizzeria and the edge of North Park mixed in for good measure.  The owner, Ernie, got his start manning a coffee cart at the local hospital.  Over time he developed a passion for roasting and has grown his business via carving out a niche serving the local restaurant and coffee shop market with his fresh roasted beans.

The Roast Master, Jesse, is a very cool operator with a keen sense of knowing when beans are ready to eject from the large industrial roasting machine they have in the back of the shop.  They have plenty of outlets, a rustic and open space, and a great – although limited selection – of sandwiches/paninis.

The “work-in-progress” has evolved into quite an attractive space over the past three years but has yet to reach the goal of an authentic pizzeria.  The most impressive piece within the restaurant is a pizza oven brought piece by piece from Italy and reassembled in the store.   Also, the art work is mostly done by local artists and the clientele is quite an eclectic mix of hipsters, students and locals (there is plenty of overlap between the three).  Before some of the sales staff left, there used to be free cuppings every morning at 8am – not sure if this is still firm policy.  According to store staff, the pizzeria should be opening very soon on Thursday and Friday evenings.  Unfortunately, many a café squatting afternoon was prematurely ended at Calabria – they close their doors to business at 3pm.

Their espresso is tops in San Diego, with only Bird Rock spending more time and effort in perfecting the pull.  Both the blend that Calabria uses and the training of their baristas is well above average for the specialty coffee world.  It’s well worth stopping by this location just to get a well made drink.  Calabria delivers some of the best quality roasted beans in San Diego AND has the well trained baristas to prepare top quality drinks too!

A portion of their beans are purchased from renowned importer, Elan Organic Coffee, now of the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe.  Calabria wholesales to many local coffee shops and other retailers such as Café Mono (Mission Beach), Whole Foods and Fresh & Easy in San Diego.  Check them out and tell them the Café Hounds sent you!

307 East 9th Street #GRDN
New York, NY 10003
http://www.themudtruck.com/
Phone: 212.529.876

It was 9:30pm on a Saturday night in the East Village and all of the spots we had heard so much hype about were already closed — (i.e. Abraço and Ninth Street Espresso).

Mud Coffee on a Saturday night.

After a quick Yelp search we found ourselves at the steps of Mud Coffeehouse.  Immediately upon arrival in this hipster neighborhood of the East Village we knew had found a special place with a very unique ambiance.  The first thing to catch our eye was the nicely packaged Rainforest Alliance coffee sitting at the front counter of the store.  One particular part of their motto that stuck out was “Take a Hit and Pass it On” — referring to their coffee, of course.

Heading Back...

The front has a nice window seat that is comfortable for two people to lounge around in with the plush pillows and street view.  There is bar seating as you walk back into the restaurant.  The lighting is dim and the decor is about as vintage hipster as you can get.  The music selection matches the decor with reggae, Beatles and blues all finding their way onto the track list.  The servers are very attentive and welcoming.  In spite of their branding as a coffee place that is “anti-establishment”, their cappuccino wasn’t what really put this place on the map for us.

The garden room in the deep back of the establishment had ceiling fans, industrial/vintage decor and simple lighting. Furthermore, the crowd was young — probably partially NYU students — and attractive.  Besides the fact that we encountered people tipping back beers at the bar, cramming out papers in the indoor lounge, and having wine & cheese in the ‘garden area’ reflects how effectively Mud has created a community within a community.  The food menu seemed simple but elegant and the more common drink on a Saturday night around 10 was Cab Sav… not coffee.

Gateway from Garden to Bar

All in all, this is the type of place that is 100% worth stopping through.  You may not find that they know everything there is to know about brewing and/or roasting coffee but, they know how to carve out a slice of genuine identity in a part of NY that often tries too hard to rage against the machine.

Looking Out from Entrance

]]> http://cafehound.com/2009/09/13/cafe-hounding-mud-coffee-new-york-ny/feed/ 1 Maher Maher2009 066 Maher2009 064 Maher2009 060 Maher2009 065 http://cafehound.com/2009/08/20/interview-chuck-patton-bird-rock-coffee-roasters/ http://cafehound.com/2009/08/20/interview-chuck-patton-bird-rock-coffee-roasters/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:27:08 +0000 Maher http://cafehound.wordpress.com/?p=405 Continue reading →]]> Name: Chuck Patton
Title: Owner, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, La Jolla, CA
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Hometown: Pacific Beach community. Went to elementary, junior high and high school within a few miles of present day Bird Rock Coffee Roasters retail location.

La Jolla Light festivities.

Background

Cafe Hound: Where does your passion for specialty coffee come from? When was that?
Chuck: I started drinking a lot of coffee in high school just for the buzz.  Several years ago, my wife got me a home roaster and I spent a lot of time experimenting with different beans from Sweet Maria’s until the hobby grew into a business.
CH: Tell me about your entry to coffee industry.
Chuck: I bought a one pound fluid air roaster for about US$3,500 and began a home delivery service. I also sold my coffee at the La Jolla farmers market.
CH: How many years of experience do you have in coffee industry?
Chuck: I started the business in 2002.
CH: Did you work for other coffee establishments before starting your coffee business?
Chuck: No. I was self taught.
CH: What was the first location of your business?
Chuck: I did not have a location at first.  I roasted out of the VFW on Turquoise because they had a health permit.  Then, I rented space in a restaurant that is now out of business on La Jolla Blvd.  I converted his wine bar into a coffee bar for morning business but it did not do well.  I chalked it up to a learning experience.  Then, I rented a coffee kiosk on Turquoise behind Albertson’s and operated out of there as the smallest licensed coffee wholesaler in California.  Then, I bought the business of a guy who was burnt out.  It included a list of wholesale accounts and a Probat L12 but, operated out of Miramar.  So, we did that for about a year until we moved here.
CH: Who were your initial clients?
Chuck: Most of our clients are from Bird Rock, La Jolla, and Pacific Beach.

Bean & Drink Talk

CH: Where do you buy your beans from?
Chuck: Different brokers. If we are buying directly from farmers, we still need to work with an importer and exporter.
CH: Do you roast your own beans?
Chuck: We roast our own.
CH: Do you sell wholesale or online?
Chuck: Yes, we do wholesale and also sell online.
CH: How often do you order beans? How often do you roast?
Chuck: We roast 5 days a week and order coffee at least twice a month.
CH: How do you name your blends?
Chuck: We only have two blends. We focus on single-origin coffee.
CH: What are your top 3 favorite roasts of the recent past?
Chuck: First, Ethiopia Amaro Gayo city roast. Second, Panama La Esmeralda city roast. And third, Costa Rica Micro-lot full city roast.
CH: What is your favorite drink?
Chuck: Coffee.
CH: What drink is the most sold at Bird Rock?
Chuck: Lattes.
CH: Are there any interesting stories behind your drink names?
Chuck: Trophy wife and sugar daddy are self-explanatory considering the area our café is located.

Looking Ahead

CH: Do you have any plans for expansion?
Chuck: Secret.  No comment.
CH: So…what’s next?  Beyond the business, what else you would like to do through your work?Chuck: We are currently working on a water filtration project for some of the farmers we are working with in Huila. I will return to Colombia next month to install the second generation of prototypes in a few of the farmers’ homes. I believe we have a responsibility to the farmers we buy coffee from that goes beyond simply purchasing “Fair Trade” coffee so we will focus on projects like this in the future.
CH: What else do you want to tell our reader?
Chuck: We are continuing to seek out and purchase high quality coffee directly from farmers so we are increasing our travel time as we begin to develop relationships with farming groups.
CH: Thank you for sharing your interesting story with us.

Business Information

Bird Rock Coffee Roaster 5627 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92037 Tel. 858 551 1707 www.birdrockcoffeeroasters.com

Special Thanks

We would like to thank Chuck and the good folks at Bird Rock Coffee for roasting the beans used in the first release of Kris/Maher Blend. Maher also wants to thank all of the employees for keeping him caffeinated and happy over his last year of residence in Pacific Beach, especially Hector, Jocylynn, and Tony. Maher knows he’s forgetting the two dudes that used to make sure he got his morning espresso as he rushed to school – unfortunately, the key word was “rush”.

Photo credits: cafehound.com and http://www.lajollalight.com/life/258652-taste-of-bird-rock

http://chinatowncoffee.com/blog/

After roughly two weeks of trying, I finally made it to Chinatown Coffee Company (CCC) at the outskirts of Chinatown in Northwest DC.  I went on a Sunday afternoon with a friend of mine who was a bit curious about my passion for specialty coffee.  It wasn’t very busy when I arrived but nearly every seat in the place was taken by people using laptops (free wifi) or staying out of the blistering DC heat/humidity.  It was nice and cool inside and had a nice gritty feel to the ambiance that gave the impression that the focus was over at the coffee bar.

The moment of ordering truth

I took the engineer designed ‘hint’ and wandered up to the bar to order two double shot espressos that were to be made with the Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso blend.  The menu appeared simple enough, but with plenty of variety for above average prices for people unacquainted with specialty coffee (i.e. Intelligentsia prices).  The espresso was produced on a beautiful Victoria Arduino Adonis WBC edition machine with a sleek white gloss design.

Victoria Arduino Adonis WBC edition (sexy!)

I’m not sure if the humidity was a major factor, but I suspect it was, but the espresso was rather flat and left much to be desired.  I wasn’t willing to give up because the baristas were very nice and the quality of all of the inputs was undoubtedly of the highest quality.  I encountered similar problems with humidity when training baristas at a warehouse in Nicaragua in 2008.  The incredibly muggy rainy season led to a plethora of quality control problems with the resource constraints we were facing.    Nevertheless, CCC  is surely not getting a bad review for espresso – it just wasn’t the best day.

I followed up the espresso order with a cortado since my friend claims half-Cuban heritage yet she was not familiar with the famous Versailles Restaurant(s) in Miami, Florida…meaning she had never sampled their delicious cortadito drinks.  Luckily for me, with a little sugar this little drink saved the visit for my friend who admittedly does not like espresso much regardless of the quality.  The establishment is pretty proud of the fact that is chooses to break the DC paradigm of mostly sourcing strictly Counter Culture coffee (roasted down in North Carolina and shipped up the eastern seaboard) in favor of Intelligentsia.

A CCC take on the Cortado

Another major plus was that the baristas were not only proud of the around town competition helping put DC on the specialty coffee map but enlightened me to shops that I have never even heard of.  I also was fast to learn that the very helpful and pleasant David Flynn of Peregrine Espresso was in the building diligently working on his laptop.  Talk about cross-town support.  Furthermore, my barista informed me that he was indeed David’s roommate – I somehow doubt cut-throat competition between Peregrine and CCC.  I guess coffee geeks like me like to surround themselves with other coffee geeks.

Shortly after sampling the aromas of all of the whole bean coffee that they were carrying for retail sale I decided to go with the Guatemala.  I’m sort of ashamed since the competition included El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.  I felt some allegiance to the Estelí region of Nicaragua after having spent considerable time meeting producers and exporters from throughout the country in 2008 but, at the end of the day, went with what my nose told me.  I have nothing but positive experiences with Guatemalan coffee in the past and after brewing this up today, it is no different.

Specifically the coffee I purchased was 12 oz and cost me US$12 plus tax.  It was the Itzamna, Guatemala: La Soledad.

Intelli’s description is as follows:

“Surrounded by peaches and inherently sweet with an animated acidity. Finca La Soledad finishes with vanilla, yet sails with its zesty nature.”

I would agree with the sweet acidity and moderately agree with the vanilla finish.  I would add that it has a modest fruity taste (apparently that’s the peach) but it’s barely there.  Overall it’s a mild coffee with less ‘animation’ and ‘zest’ than it claims. It’s very pleasant though, and a great coffee for pour over brew.  Blending it with something that has a bit more flowery flare, such as an Ethiopia Sidamo or a Rwanda Burundi, would really balance it off well. This is similar to what Kris and I decided to do with the first edition of  Kris/Maher Blend using 80% Guatemala and 20% Ethiopia. Again, that is just a matter of taste preference.

I’ll be returning in the near future to talk with the owners and get some more coffee.  Thanks for stopping by and leave any thoughts you may have.

- Maher Hound

And so was — the Alto de Naranjo coffee farm located just outside of Manizales, Colombia in the Caldas Department of the coffee growing region also known in Spanish as the “Eje Cafetero”.  I was wrapping up my 3-month stay in Nicaragua and arranged for a 10-day stop in Colombia before heading back to study in San Diego.

The trip to Colombia involved many mini-trips including taking a flight on Avianca from Bogota to Manizales where a friend picked me up and – the next day – took me to a farm southwest of Manizales in the municipal division of Alto del Naranjo bordering the Rio Rioclaro.

Specific Location of Alto del Naranjo

The trip to Horacio Montoya’s wonderful farm was an impulsive decision made the morning after a night out enjoying vallenato and Caldas’ very own Cristal licor.

The REAL Juan Valdez

The drive up to this series of farms that sit high upon the Colombian mountainside is always an adventure made more pleasant by stopping for some fresh cooked chicharrones, patacones (fried green plantains that are squashed and fried – best served with a bit of salt and perhaps salsa on them), beans, rice, and flank steak. Add a maracuya en agua (passion fruit diluted in water) and save your thirst for some freshly roasted/ground/brewed coffee on the actual farm.

Homemade Roasting Device for Stove

70kg Sack for Sale to Exporters in Colombia

Don Horacio Montoya Ponders the Future of his Industry

As some of you know, much of my passion for specialty coffee comes from my experiences at farms in Colombia.  The ecotourism business model has many shapes and sizes and its application to coffee first became a big deal in Costa Rica with the Cafe Britt tours. Similar models have evolved in Central America (such as Finca Esperanza Verde in Nicaragua) and elsewhere but in Colombia it has been difficult to really get one off the ground due to concerns (tourist more than local) about security.

It brings me great joy to share the development of a similar effort in Colombia.

Things are still getting off the ground at El Agrado but stay tuned for more information as I investigate.  Hopefully we’ll all be cupping coffee in the beautiful mountainside of Colombia before we know it.

-  Maher Hound

Source: Cambio

Desde hace poco menos de una década, los productores de vino chilenos y argentinos entendieron que una de las mejores maneras de consentir a sus clientes era abriendo sus viñedos a la visita de esas personas que por afición o trabajo quisieran vivir la experiencia vitivinícola de manera profunda. El resultado fue impresionante y hoy, muy orgullosos, los del Cono Sur pueden hablar de un turismo especializado en la vid.

De la misma manera, los amantes del café en el mundo entero estaban esperando que en Colombia -la tierra donde se produce el mejor grano del mundo-, algo similar sucediera. Y está sucediendo. Se trata del proyecto El Agrado, en el corregimiento Pueblo Tapao -en Montenegro, Quindío-, que nació como un gigante Centro de Análisis y Catación de Café de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia y que, poco a poco, se ha convertido en el lugar donde los expertos quieren ir a aprender todo sobre el café.

A 1.330 metros de altura, en la exuberante finca de 43 hectáreas, nació bajo la idea de “crear una cultura de taza en los caficultores del Quindío, para que ellos mismos hicieran ajustes en los procesos de recolección, beneficio, secado, almacenamiento y hasta preparado de café, para así asegurar la competitividad del producto de la región a largo plazo -según explica Jaime Duque, jefe del programa de Cafés Especiales y Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Federación-. Sin embargo, el concepto se ha ampliado, ya que esta finca es el lugar donde los expertos en el tema pueden venir a ‘zambullirse’ en una experiencia completa de café”.

Con toda la tecnología de punta -inversión en maquinaria italiana y alemana para todos los procesos-, El Agrado seleccionó el mejor personal del país para capacitar a sus visitantes, incluidos los ‘patieros’ (que son quienes operan los equipos de despulpado y en algunos casos los de secado) y los recolectores de la zona, con el único fin de llegar al último resultado que es una taza de café de altísima calidad.

En busca de ver todo el proceso del café, desde la recolección hasta el cómo preparar un buen capuchino -al final del recorrido hay baristas que enseñan todas la técnicas de preparación-, a la finca llegan tres perfiles de visitantes: los clientes internacionales del café de Colombia, los propios caficultores colombianos que buscan educarse y aficionados de todas partes que quieren vivir la experiencia.

“La idea es que muy pronto se formalice un tour en el que podamos recibir a muchos visitantes del mundo que quieran vivir esta experiencia -explica Lucas Restrepo, gerente comercial de la Federación-. Por ahora solo recibimos y capacitamos a pocos, pero tenemos claro que hay que ir hacia un turismo de café, ya que seguimos empeñados en mostrar y demostrar que tenemos el mejor ingrediente del mundo”.

660 Pennsylvania Ave SE (between S. 6th St & S. 7th St)
Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 629-4381

The illustrious Peregrine Espresso was my first real impressive specialty coffee experience in the Washington, D.C. area. It was quite a weekend for Cafe Hounding.  Upon my first visit to this Eastern Market located shop I was admittedly distracted by catching up with an old friend currently working at Commerce but I was quickly brought back into focus when I entered this fine establishment and saw the fresh roasted bags of coffee sitting at the entrance.

The ambiance is a pretty straight forward hipster look with chopped up doors hung on the wall for decor.  The lighting is good and it was packed with people taking up all of the available seating with their laptops (and there is a pretty decent amount of seating too!).  Granted, this was a Saturday at Eastern Market in the summer so this is probably about as crowded as it gets.

The menu selection was very limited — a positive for me meaning that they do COFFEE here.

Latte Art at Peregrine Espresso

Let me emphasize the quality of the coffee here.  I entered and was able to choose between my very own personally drip brewed coffee from either Papa New Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya or Honduras.  All of these were roasted within the previous few days by Counter Culture down in NC and shipped same day up to DC.  I can attest that the quality control in that process seemed superb to me. One, because the Kenya AA that I drank in the store went down pretty good although not as delicious as the Kenya AA that Caribou carries (sorry guys :-/).  I’ll make a separate post on my experience with Kenya AA’s since it is probably one of my favorite single origins so I’ve tasted a lot over the years.

I also sampled an espresso to get my palate around their custom blend of espresso.  I must say, both the preparation of the espresso and the blend were sort of underwhelming on this visit.  I have heard so much good about Peregrine Espresso AND I was very happy that the baristas were both very knowledgeable of the entire industry and of competitive barismo  AND unpretentious.

They have free wifi and a decent amount of indoor and outdoor seating.  This is a great area of DC and thus, I’m sure they’ll do well for quite some time.  It’s a must check out if you’re passing through The District.  Thanks to David Flynn for his time and conversation while I picked his brain about specialty coffee.  Flynn came in 3rd this past Feb 2009 in the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition along with other local area talent.  Peregine just opened in late 2008 and looks to have a lot of room to grow and prosper in the region.

Overall Rating: 3.4

Coffee Quality: 4.3, Cafe Ambiance: 3.6, Food: 1.8

–Maher Hound

I talked to David Flynn of Peregrine on Saturday to hear what he knows about specialty coffee out here on the East Coast and he’s as excited about CCC as the rest of us.

My only worry is the location.  It seems a bit out of the way for most people and if I am correct (which I may not be), there was a Juan Valdez on E Street not too far from the CCC location that couldn’t hack it.

Chinatown Coffee Co. (CCC)

The back story:  For those of you who didn’t know the coffee experience of Murky Coffee (formerly located in Clarendon and in DC), owner Nick Cho had a great thing going.  But, like so many amazing people who are head-over-heels passionate about people and coffee, they don’t fully appreciate the importance of cash flow management in this business (won’t mention any names but even the true pioneers of this entire industry are guilty of this).  That said, those who are knowledgeable, passionate and determined often survive.  This is the story behind Chinatown Coffee Co. set to open this week in the Penn Quarter of Washington, D.C.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickcho/sets/72157608469379875/

Above is a link to some photos that track the development of the place.  If all of the buzz of local residents, the Washington Post and Yelp have anything to say, the coffee looks to be as amazing as ever.  The ambiance appears to slightly mimic a combination of Blue Bottle (off of Mint in San Francisco) and the Espressamente Illy located at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.

I’m looking forward to checking it out by the end of this week and hopefully get to at least chat a bit with Nick Cho before I write up a review.

I’ve never explored the specialty coffee scene in DC and now have a great excuse to do so.

Stay tuned!

- Maher Hound

A recent arrival from Southern California, I’ve been spolied by the tremendous fruits of the labor of the wonderful ladies at Elan Organic as well as a generally robust artisian roaster specialty coffee scene.  Shout out to Arnie Holt at Cafe Calabria (introduced me to cupping), Karen Cebrero at Elan Organic (introduced me to … well her business, and the best samples of coffee I’ve had the pleasure of tasting on the house), Chuck Patton at Bird Rock (read: cool ass dude), the Ryan Brothers (who are cool, though not great coffee), and anyone else I’m leaving out that gave me a hand back in Day-go.

So far, here in DC/VA I’ve managed to locate the following places to check out:

Chinatown Coffee Co.
Juan Valdez
Peregrine Espresso
Counter Culture? (they have a training center here… I guess?)
Beanetics
Caribou Coffee (I know it’s a chain but they’ve got great whole bean coffee and over half the White House staff take their coffee breaks here!!!)

Taken from Peregrine Espresso’s blog:

• Baked and Wired
• Big Bear Cafe
• Dolcezza Gelato
• Grape and Bean
• Modern Times
• Pound
• SOVA
• Tryst

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! Give us hints and suggestions so that we can start spreading the word about where coffee hounds like us must go.