Jenn Chen – Page 18

07.21.10

<2 weeks

In less than two weeks, I will be ending my stint as a barista and returning to “coffee enthusiast” status. Many events have occurred to bring about this difficult decision, but nothing more so as to my realization of how much my interest in coffee has changed. Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE coffee, but I loved it more when I was outside the retail world. The day-to-day operation of a shop may just not be for me at the moment. Perhaps in ten years, if I’m settled down, I’ll say differently. During my nine months, I gradually stopped visiting shops, reading up on coffee material, and altogether lost interest in coffee. In truth, the thing I’ll miss the most is having the Synesso at my fingertips.Read More

07.21.10

Cupping Comparsions

The following was drafted about a month ago and I just never got around to publishing it.

I’m not a pro at cuppings and I’ll be the first to say that my palate needs some serious work. But what I do know is the feeling I get when I walk away from the cupping. For the most part, I’ve walked away feeling educated, caffeinated, and with a good impression of the roaster.

I’ve attended cuppings presented by a CEO, sales rep, owner, roaster, and a barista. Locations have included a ballroom, classroom, retail shop, and roasting facility. And circumstances have been formal, QC, or even experimental.Read More

05.20.10

Throw it

I attended my first latte art throwdown the other day at Brothers K in Evanston. Since it was my first one, it’s obvious I’d have preconceived notions about how the baristas go about throwing the lattes around. Here are the major points that I converted on:

Prediction: Lots of baristas geeking out on espresso parameters and scrutinizing rosettas.
Reality: Some discussion on coffee, not a lot of close attention on the art. More time was spent with the snack table (obviously food trumps coffee).Read More

04.30.10

When you want to help a shop

I walked into a recently opened local shop today, hoping to get my caffeine fix with a cappuccino. It was my second time visiting and this time, there was one more customer than during my last visit (and there was no one last time). It made me wonder what was wrong with the shop. There I was, sitting outside on the patio (indoor seating= 10, outdoor seating= 12), the only other customer. On a Friday afternoon and 85 degrees outside. Nothing’s wrong with the location, per se, since the deli next door was packed with customers. But it IS located in a converted house (I almost walked by it the first time) with very little seating. It’s evident that the owners are specialty coffee fans: great espresso machine, grinders, beans, etc. They’ve even hosted workshops and expanded PR into some local news clips and newsletters. So why was the barista on her computer when I entered?Read More

04.15.10

Icy Beans and Bonding

I’m an absolute nerd and so I appreciate gadgets, especially if they’re humorous. Want some fun in your iced coffee? Get one of these from Fred. Gigantic coffee-bean-shaped ice cubes? Awesome.Read More

03.10.10

Ambiguity in Tasting Notes

We all know it’s advertising psychology when Coca-Cola features cute little penguins and polar bears in ads (I didn’t want to have a Coke, but the penguins look so happy! I want to be happy, too!). And when the latest must-have item of the year is touted by whatever celebrity is popular, you need it, because you need to be just like him/her (read: sarcasm. I don’t follow celebrities and I didn’t care enough about this particular example to look up popular celebrities modeling items).Read More

02.15.10

Snickersprodoodle

If you’re a coffee elitist like me, you balk at using beans more than two weeks past the roasting date. But what if you don’t finish it all? I usually pawn them off to friends who aren’t as picky as me. All that coffee gone to waste. Why not put the beans in food?

I’ve always loved baking. And what’s bettter than adding coffee to the mix? Coffee-flavored food items (ice cream, cheesecake, chocolates) seem to run high on my list of favorites. If given the choice between a mocha cheesecake and a fruity one, I pick the mocha. Anyway, I’ve been craving some snickerdoodles lately and finally had some time to make them. Never made them before, but hey, why not add some coffee, too? So here’s my recipe for some yummy snickersprodoodles.

02.02.10

Wintry Iced Coffee

Aka Japanese iced coffee. I’ve only experienced cold-brewed iced coffee before (Toddy system w/Lavazza medium-dark roast beans with no roast date= still amazing sweetness and low acidity) and was under the impression that cold-brewed iced coffee was the only way to go for iced coffee. Make it, entertain yourself for 12 hours, and then drink. I used a pound of beans last year in one sitting, froze them in ice cube concentrates, and had an iced soy latte on my morning walk to class for two months.

Now, HOT-brewed iced coffee is different. As you can imagine, it’s made with hot water instead of cold water. Take a pourover, fill cup with ice, put grounds in pourover, and pour hot water over grounds. Voila, you have hot coffee dripping right over the ice. That, by itself, sounds almost like it’d turn out to taste like lukewarm, watery coffee. But hey, don’t bash it until you’ve tried it. The ratio of coffee to water would need to be intense for me to enjoy. Plus, the acidity will remain if you try this method.

Why am I writing about iced coffee right now? Because even if it’s 15 degrees outside, we’re still wearing t-shirts in the cafe and hustling around. Iced coffee sounds amazing. And even if the ice melts, it will still be cold, unlike any hot drink I make. So if I get the time, I’m going to experiment with this a bit and see how it goes. We don’t make iced coffee in concentrate anymore for the winter, but that won’t stop me from making my own!

Sidenote: For those stalking me, this is NOT a blog about my place of work. It’s about my experiences in coffee that I’ve had and want to have. Yeah, I mention work a lot, but I work IN COFFEE. So obviously, I’ll have experiences in coffee at work to talk about.

01.14.10

It’s a Stumper

Word around The Windy City is that Stumptown is opening up a shop here (see edit below). But hey, maybe it’s just the gossip blowing around (I know, I know, bad pun, my apologies). The roaster has already taken its home, Portland, by storm, plus nearby Seattle. And last fall, it infiltrated New York City through the high-end Ace Hotel. What’s next? Hopefully, somewhere in the Midwest?

Earlier this week at work, I had just emerged from the back room, carrying a load of clean dishes, when I spotted the distinctive bag of beans (their exclusive espresso blend, “Hairbender”) and a fancy schmancy jar of their Anniversary Blend. Obviously (they’re based in Portland), I excitedly went, “Ooh! Where did these come from? I wasn’t able to taste Hairbender when I went there!” My co-worker discreetly nudged me, did a head-jab towards two men sitting at the bar, and whispered, “They’re here. That’s the owner.”

And that’s when I did a double take. “Duane?!” I had to ask, just to make sure I heard her right. Apparently, he visits us when he’s in Chicago and bears gifts. He and another Stumptown employee chatted with the cafe owners for a few minutes while sipping our espresso (which wasn’t tasting so hot that day) and then took off. But the exchange got me wondering. The infamous Duane Sorenson was in our shop… was he possibly wooing us? He’d probably say that he doesn’t woo, he just gets what he wants.

But Stumptown in Chicago will definitely heat up the competition here even more. Can’t wait to see what happens.

Whoops, I forgot to add on my notes of their Anniversary Blend.

01.12.10

Cat Poop

I’ve recently had the pleasure of imbibing in a fascinating coffee that has a very distinctive history. This particular coffee hails from Indonesia and is selectively chosen to become internally processed by a small mammal. The subsequent beans are then sold for hundreds of dollars per pound and carefully roasted to perfection.

Oh, what the heck. I’ll skip the bullshit. It’s cat poop. Kopi Luwak is the name of the coffee and the cherries are eaten by a cat-sized mammal, who then poops out the beans. And we drink the roasted beans.

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about

Jenn is a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, she munches on fun flavored chips & hangs out with her dog Zoey. You can reach her via the contact page or on social media @thejennchen.

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All photos were taken by Jenn Chen, unless otherwise noted, & under full copyright. Photos of me in red & orange were taken by Jessica Caisse. Do not use copy or photos without prior permission. Logos designed by Hannah Ellen.