It's been awhile since I've written coffee related columns but I am back and better than ever! (okay I really just have a day off from my hectic life but I'll take what I can get)
SO a few weeks ago I was asked by my lovely boss Jean if I could help her and her husband Gary with a coffee tasting he was setting up. I said yes right away because I love a good coffee tasting and there was a unique twist to it: all of the coffee's being tasted were from shops around the country that also serve as motorcycle stores. It was a coffee/motorcycle crossover and I was all for it. I knew that there were cycling inspired roasters out there (look into Handlebar Coffee in Santa Barbara & Bicycle Coffee in Oakland) but this was the first time I was hearing about motorcyclists branching off and making their own roasting companies.
The roasters Gary worked with for this tasting ranged everywhere from Portland, OR to Kansas City, MO. If the idea wasn't already cool enough, the coffee's we were working with were exceptionally good and had some of the most creative designs I have ever seen! I could blab on and on about the coffee tasting, how it goes and what key tasting notes everyone got from the coffee's, but I'll just link Gary's detailed story down below!
https://www.cycleworld.com/why-third-wave-coffee-and-motorcycles-matter
Big shoutout to Gary and Jean Boulanger for letting me shoot this fun event! It's at small gatherings like these where I love seeing how coffee can bring people together. Sounds super cliche and kinda silly, but I do believe that coffee is one of those magical things that can bring a group of different people together and be able to discuss it with one another.
I'm hoping that the next few months bring me more days where I can lay down and type everything I love about coffee and roasting. It has been an interesting couple of months to say the least, but I guess all I can say is until next time my fellow coffee-loving friends!
Coffee's from top to bottom: Cafe Moto from San Diego, CA; Moto Brew Coffee Co. from Seattle, WA; Blip Coffee Roasters from Kansas City, MO; Flat Track Coffee Co. from Austin, TX; Two Stroke from Portland, OR
Photos from top to bottom: Take a deep breath in and what do you smell? Smelling the coffee while it's both dry and wet livens our senses and gives us a preview of how it may taste; Wet grinds before the surface is broken and ready for tasting; Slurping the coffee delves our senses into a world of colorful adjectives that we can use to describe how the coffee tastes; vegetative, fruity, floral and chocolately are only a few of the words that are used when doing a coffee tasting.