Happy Birthday, yet again.

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday.

Amazing. I'm young, but I'm starting to feel older. The more time continues, the faster it seems to travel. The mayans may be on to something.

Vince Piccolo of 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters sent a few bags of coffee to try as a "thank you" for referring a wholesale account.

(Double Bagging. )

(The line-up.)

In the time since my last post, a whole lot has happened, but I do not intend to do a full update.

I have been to Middle of Nowhere, Ontario and it was awesome. Neat™ Coffee Shop in Burnstown is doing some great things. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip there, and the students enjoyed the training, it seems. When I was dropped off at the airport it felt like I was leaving family, even though I had only been there for about five days.

I've also been to Granbury, TX to train The Mud Puddle in the small community known as Acton. They have been running Zoka Coffee out of Seattle, and that may or may not continue. It was their first choice for quality and taste, but things have been less than stellar on the customer relations side of things. Not a good way to start a roaster - retailer relationship, if you ask me. I'm sure it's an isolated incident, or Zoka wouldn't be so successful.

Lots of controversy continues in the Specialty Coffee world. I've learned that it is a part of every industry in every corner of the globe. The only difference is the topic and the faces. Without the Yin there would be no Yang. It's a beautiful world.

I heard from Austin Roasting Company that they have been tweaking their roasts a bit as per my suggestions from a phone discussion a few weeks back. Awesome. Jesse most definitely has the heart, and with his culinary background, they're an operation to keep an eye on for the future.

There is a Jam going on in Dallas tomorrow that I helped to organize. Check tx-coffee.com for details. I will not be attending.

I intend to kick back, play some tennis, eat some cake, and enjoy some Epic Espresso.

Until next time,
J.H.