Arizona Coffee

In October of this year Press Coffee hosted the 2009 Arizona Barista Jam which drew baristas and coffee enthusiasts from all over the state.

I took photos at the event and Tom Maegdlin wrote an after-action-report which he submitted to Barista Magazine. Fast forward to today and Arizona has been featured!

You can view the current issue of Barista Magazine for free online. Make sure you are reading the December / January 2010 issue. Jump to page 20 where the article begins.

It was then that I realized how successful the event had become. It was not just about baristas showing off their chops or drinking absurd amounts of beer; it was about the often forgotten concept that coffee means so much to people that they devote a percentage of their day to you. They could go anywhere. Coffee isn’t exactly hard to come by, but because of the care you put into their drink, they come back to you everyday. It is kind of humbling.
– Tom Maegdlin

I recently sat down with Steve Kraus the owner/operator of Press Coffee to ask him what’s going on at Press Coffee.

In the video Kraus talks about their new coffee roasting division and shares a few tidbits about their second location at CityScape. They’re working diligently to get the coffee roasting under way.

Press Coffee Food and Wine
5410 E. High St.
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85054
Phone: (480) 419-6221

On October 10th there will be a casual Barista Jam held at Press Coffee in Scottsdale, AZ. This is a relaxed event geared towards baristas and coffee enthusiasts. If you’re interested in coffee and want to learn more please attend.

I filmed this short video of Tom from Press Coffee talking about the event.

The City vs. City event which was planned for October has been postponed. That event will have a different venue and their are going to be more organizers this time around.

Who: Everybody! Baristas, people in the coffee industry, or people who wish to simply attend and learn more about professional coffee preparation.

What: Talk about coffee, drink beer from a keg (provided by Press Coffee)

Where: Press Coffee Food Wine
5410 E. High St.
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85054
Phone: (480) 419-6221

When: Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 3 pm to whenever.

Why: Just a casual event to talk about coffee quality, education, and hold mini-competitions during the event. There will be free beer, espresso-drinks, and the whole event promises to be a great time.

Cost: $5 to jump on the espresso machine, free to attend.

Here’s an interview with Jason Silberschlag (Cartel Coffee Lab) I missed awhile back that’s posted on Food GPS.

Chow Bella just interviewed Xoe (one of the baristas) at Fair Trade Cafe.

CB: So why is your coffee the best in town?
XM: I’m a geek. I’ve spent a lot of time tweaking coffee, trying to figure out how to pull the best shot of espresso and asking expert after expert. I’ve looked up all of the international standards. I personally hate bad coffee. If I go to a coffee shop and get bad coffee it ruins my whole day. I know that’s ridiculous, but hey, everyone has their weird passions. This is mine.

Read the interview at Chow Bella.

The Phoenix New Times has interviewed Lisa Dowd, the owner and head barista at A Shot of Java. Here is a quote from the interview.

CB: Tell us the truth. If you’re craving coffee and you’re driving along the road and see a Starbucks, will you stop there?
LD: No, absolutely not. Never.

Read the interview at Chow Bella.

A Shot of Java
7003 N. 58th Ave
Glendale AZ, 85301

Wile perusing the Matador Coffee web site I noticed a video interview with Mario Martusciello, the owner. It is in the first few minutes of the video.

And following the interview with the New Times in May, Cartel Coffee Lab was in the newspaper on June 2nd. The article is titled Coffee with a conscience, and includes information about coffee bean sourcing, roasting coffee, and the owners decisions to keep prices low.

The Espresso Lounge recently made a trip to Cartel Coffee Lab as well and posted a few photos.

In 2006, he and his wife, Amy, decided to seriously pursue their dream of opening a coffee shop. On a trip to Guatemala in 2007, Silberschlag said he “fell in love with coffee on a whole new level.”

Mingling with Central American coffee farmers and people from a long line of coffee growers and roasters, he became immersed in the process of roasting beans and more in tune with the environment and the business as it pertained to people. As he learned more about coffee, Silberschlag said, he became intrigued with doing high-end coffee with a global conscience.

When he returned, the Silberschlags altered their plan and made their coffee shop a roastery, as well.

“I couldn’t shake this buzz of actually roasting coffee,” he said.

Patrons can see the roaster in action in the shop. He sells whole-bean coffee for $13 to $14 a pound.

Silberschlag gets his coffee directly from coffee-producing families and utilizes methods that he described as “beyond organic and beyond fair trade” that ensure hardworking farmers are adequately compensated.

His plastic cold cups and straws are made from corn and are 100 percent compostable. His paper cups are made of recycled paper with an inner lining made of corn.

His milk comes from an organic family creamery in Northern California that uses glass bottles.

Silberschlag is coordinating a revival of Final Fridays in downtown Tempe, where businesses display art, feature artists and open their doors on the last Friday night of every month. A couple of nearby businesses are onboard, and he plans to have it going full speed by the fall.

His coffee menu is small, but it hits the key favorites. Lattes, mochas and other espresso-based concoctions run $2 to $4. The food selection is limited, but early birds are treated to cookies and other sweets.

You can read the full article on AZ Central.

Cartel Coffee Lab
225 W. University Dr.
Suite #101
Tempe AZ 85281
Phone: (480) 225-3899

I missed this one! Right before my vacation in May there was an interview conducted with Jason Silberschlag at Cartel Coffee Lab. It was published in the Phoenix New Times and I only just discovered it last night.

The interview touches on why Jason started Cartel, his experience owning a Clover and how the Clover company was purchased by Starbucks. It’s good, but a little bit too short. I’ll have to go over there and ask a few more questions.

NT: What sets Cartel Coffee apart from the other coffee houses in town?

JS: We do a lot of thing that other shops aren’t willing to do, like our coffee grinder is $1,900 bucks. Most people think $500 is a lot for a grinder, but ours is better. It goes to eleven. We really pay attention to what we’re doing and hopefully provide a good cup.

You can read the entire interview on the Phoenix New Times web site.

Cartel Coffee Lab
225 W. University Dr.
Suite #101
Tempe AZ 85281
Phone: (480) 225-3899

I’m pleased to be able to bring you an interview with the winner of the SWRBC. Jason Calhoon lives in Tucson, AZ and will be representing Arizona at the USBC this May.

Chris Tingom: Thanks for being willing to answer some questions! First of all, can you tell us about yourself?

Jason Calhoon: My name is Jason Calhoon and I was born and raised in Tucson. I have been researching the coffee industry for about 5 years now. My research became more serious for the last 2. I attended the American Barista and Coffee school in Portland last June for a week. I knew that I wanted to get into the coffee industry, so I wanted to learn everything I could.

Do you work at a coffee shop in Tucson?

I do not currently work at a shop nor have I ever worked at a Independent shop.

Did you prepare a signature drink in Las Vegas? Can you tell us about it?

In Las Vegas I used PT’S new espresso blend XV. It is their competition blend that they came up with and I really fell in love with it. I also enjoy Stumptown and Intelligentsia coffee. I actually didn’t decide to go to Vegas till Sunday evening around 8pm when I finally booked my hotel and flight. I flew out Monday around 2pm.

I arrived in Vegas and headed to the convention center to try to get supplies for the competition. Everyone was still setting up their booths and no one was around to talk to so I headed to the hotel. The next day was first day of the competition, so I got up early and headed down there to find some supplies. I came across Jeff Taylor of PT’S coffee and he hooked me up with 5 pounds of their XV blend.

For my signature drink, I started walking around looking for something to make at the last minute. I came up with a drink that consisted of a little dark chocolate in bottom of cup. I then extracted espresso on top of the chocolate and the steamed milk on top of that. I then top the drink off with a couple drops of blood Orange syrup. It was like a Orange mocha macchiato. It came out good, not as good as I would have liked but hey I put it together in 20 minutes.

Are you planning to make the trip to Minneapolis for the Barista Championship?

I plan on practicing a lot before I head to Minnesota. I also might go to Kansas and train at PT’S but I’m not sure yet. Winning has been awesome but very nerve racking knowing I’ve gotta get cracking for the championships.

Thank you Jason for answering a few questions!

Note: Jason uploaded a bunch of photos to his Flickr profile. All photos above are from Jason Calhoon. PT’s Coffee Roasters can be found at www.ptscoffee.com.

I don’t think it gets any better than that. The Scottsdale Times has a short feature on coffeehouses. The article centers around Inza Coffee and their story, and also touches on some of the other coffee shops in Arizona.

To read the article, pick up a copy of the April 2007 issue of The Scottsdale Times and turn to page 50.

While in Tucson for the Arizona Barista Jam I took some time to talk with Bill from Espresso Wrench. My video interview ends rather abruptly because my camera ran out of space. It’s still a good interview, and Bill’s experience at espresso machine repair and maintenance shines through. Espresso Wrench would be a good asset to any shop. Bill has a good reputation among coffee shop owners and baristas.

Espresso Wrench
Phone: (520) 722-9100
E-Mail: info@espressowrench.com
www.espressowrench.com

I had the tremendous opportunity to talk with Mark Walker today. He is the President and CEO of Scottsdale Java Co., or Java Co. for short. If you could describe Mark with only a single word, you might pick ambition or energy. He’s literally going head to head with Starbucks (but not planning to become a mega-chain). From his location, you could could throw a baseball and hit a Starbucks. That takes guts.

JavaCo.’s first Arizona location is at 15223 Northsight Blvd., across from Wal-Mart by the 101. I conducted an interview with Mark Walker, which is here.

Something extra surprising about JavaCo. is the number of locations they have in the works. Within the next two months JavaCo. will have a total of 4 locations in Arizona. They already have 7 locations nationwide.

Initially, it took much longer for their Northsight location to open than planned, and that’s primarily due to the number of stores they are opening at this time. One of the exciting things about JavaCo. is their realization that running a coffee shop is both a labor of love, and a business. They’re scouting high profile locations and making some amazing moves in Arizona, and worldwide.

Thanks Mark for the time today.

Scottsdale Java Co.
www.scottsdalejavaco.com
15223 Northsight Blvd.
Suite 115
Scottsdale, AZ

I had the pleasure of visiting 6th Street Cafe in Tucson. It is a coffee shop and custard shop that has been open a little bit less than a year. They’re right next to the University of Arizona campus, and have free wireless internet.

Bill Gray, the manager, is trying to re-create the italian style espresso bar using latte art techniques, and combining the concept with frozen custard (Freddezza). Bill has 12 years specialty coffee experience, is a member of SCAA, and taught espresso extracting at the 2000 SCAA conference in Philadelphia.

Thanks Bill, for the opportunity to visit your shop.

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Download the MP3. (9:11) 8.4 MB

Show notes: Opening music… The Coffee Song by Bob Dorough, 6th Street Cafe web site, SCAA Conference.

The outside of the shop, which is inside of a larger building.

Bill Gray prepares a drink.

Cups on top of the espresso machine.

The 6th Street Cafe custard is truly amazing.

The Custard Espresso blend – quite good.

Interior view of the 6th Street Cafe shop.

The menu board.

Neat sign.

A creative use of empty wall space.

Just about three weeks ago I had the great pleasure of meeting Martha Raymond and Mike Trevino from The Coffee Vein in Tucson. We recorded a podcast and here it is along with some photos I took during the trip. I will be doing a full write up shortly on The Coffee Vein, with more pictures.

The Coffee Vein is doing a great job serving coffee. They’re raising the bar very high and have a real passion for coffee quality. While we were there we asked Mike Trevino to prepare some macchiato’s for us. Hands down it was the best macchiato I have ever had. Look below for a photo.

Enjoy the show and stay tuned for more…

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Download the MP3. (14:37) 13.3 MB

Show notes: Opening music… The Coffee Song by Bob Dorough, The Coffee Vein web site, MySpace Coffee Vein.

It’s a landmark… note the cool heart illustration on the front behind the sign.

Martha Raymond.

Martha Raymond talks about coffee while Mike Trevino prepares a macchiato.

THE MACCHIATO.

THE 2nd MACCHIATO.

An espresso shot prepared by Mike Trevino.

Mike Trevino.