05.29.25

Cultural infusions in signature drinks

I have many flavors and ingredients that, when spotted on a menu, are instant purchases for me. Papaya, starfruit, and passionfruit, to name a few. Mixed with nostalgia and rarity, I just adore tropical fruits and East Asian flavors. Black sesame, to me, used to be a rare flavor that I could occasionally experience in a crisp form or as a paste inside tang yuans. Lately, I’ve had it in ice cream, mochi donuts, and cheesecake. Normally, it’s found in food items but when I tasted it in a cappuccino? It became my longstanding favorite hot drink at Breadbelly, a perfect mix of the black sesame flavor and lightly sweetened (my cold favorite is the yuzu Americano).

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11.17.22

Remembering Twitter

A eulogy, of sorts.

At the end of 2008, I was finishing my first semester as a college senior. When I started undergrad, I’d already had a Xanga, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and a barely touched MySpace. Facebook had just opened signups to non-college emails. The online world fascinated me and here came along this network that you could micro-blog on!

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07.15.20

Questions to reflect on

I will be honest and say that my mind is blank as to what to write right now. It happens. Despite what people may think about creative types having an endless supply of ideas and inspirations, my ideas well has been dry for quite some time now. Instead, I’ll share some questions I’ve been reflecting on.

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08.21.19

Coffee marketing failures and their lessons: David Yake

Failure is a part of doing business. After a certain amount of time operating, you’re bound to fail and that’s okay. Failure can also be used as a learning experience. Earlier this year, I asked my followers if any would be interested in talking to me about their coffee marketing failures – big or small. I was curious to know if people jumped on marketing trends or invested too heavily in a new product. This Q&A series is titled “Coffee marketing failures and their lessons.” 

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06.14.19

Reflections from World of Coffee Berlin

I am writing this from a patio at a Berlin airport. It’s the day after World of Coffee and I need a few days to process the event but my initial thoughts probably aren’t going to change. It was my first time fully attending WoC & I was also working in a booth the whole weekend. It basically felt like another Expo. Much like Expo, there were thousands of attendees but more prevalent was the mashup of so many different cultures.

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