Arizona Coffee

On Friday I asked Tom Maegdlin a few questions. He is a barista and coffee roaster at Press Coffee. You can watch the video below.

Tom is on Twitter, contributes to the Phoenix Coffee Blog, and also writes about coffee on his own blog.

Sonoran Living showed a nice video of Tom Maegdlin making latte art at Press Coffee.

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

I had a chance to sit down with Jason Silberschlag yesterday and ask him a few questions about the 2010 South West Regional Barista Competition. His company, Cartel Coffee Lab, is the host of the SWRBC and he is the regional representative for the BGA. The event will be held in Phoenix on March 19-21, 2010.

What you need to know:

• Jason is looking for volunteers! If you would like to help, even in a small way, get in touch with him by emailing jason at cartelcoffeelab.com or calling Cartel Coffee Lab.
• The event venue is still being selected, but will be somewhere in the Phoenix area.
• You can sign up to compete now (small fee).
• Free to watch! A schedule of events will be posted later.
• They’re looking for local sponsors. If your company is interested in sponsoring get in touch with Jason.
• The event will include participants from Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.

If you have questions for Jason, you can leave a comment on this post. Enjoy the video! I’m going to do more like this.

Tom from Press Coffee linked to this video about their new Dethstaar Espresso.

A nicely produced video from Intelligentsia showing their espresso technique.

A video that will show you how to brew a good cup of coffee.

How to Brew a Good Cup of Coffee from Ben Helfen on Vimeo.

DISCLAIMER: This video is meant to be a joke for my coffee industry friends. If you were to actually try this, it would taste nasty and probably make you sick.

Thanks to Brian Rose for sending the video in.

Seth Appell from Old Bisbee Roasters posted this video showing his coffee roasting process.

A short instructional video about how to make a french press:

I visited the new Lola Coffee which opened on Friday. The new location is on 3rd Ave and Roosevelt in Phoenix and is the 2nd location opened by Daniel Wayne. The grand opening party was very festive. I think there were 50 to 60 people there. They were serving cake, cookies, muffins, and wine and espresso drinks.

Watch a video tour of the coffee shop during the grand opening.

The shape of this shop is much like the first, essentially a big square room with high ceilings. The interior has hard floors and large windows with views overlooking Roosevelt. The new location doubles as a coffee roastery (separated in its own glassed in room toward the back).

Just like the first Lola, this one includes a lot of comfortable chairs for lounging. It includes some large tables for working and the wireless internet is up and running, too.

I have yet to learn about the history of the Gold Spot building. Signs on the building indicate it is a “historic” building, but I don’t know what that means. If anybody can share the story of this building I’d love to hear it.

Also moving in next door is a Pita Jungle, and an Ace Hardware.

Parking: There is free parking in the back as well as in the garage behind the building. If that is full, metered parking is available on the street.

Lola Coffee at Historic Gold Spot
1001 N 3rd Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Lola Coffee on Central
4700 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ
Phone: (602) 265-5652‎
Facebook: Lola Coffee

Downtown Phoenix now has another great coffee experience waiting to be devoured. The new Cartel Coffee Lab opens today in Phoenix. The new location is on 1st St. and Washington St., next to a Burger King.

Jason Silberschlag invited me to check out the grand opening festivities last night. They threw a great party — the coffee drinks were flowing, and there was a lot of great food to eat, and we even had some champagne — and at the end we had an impromptu latte art throwdown (pictures will be posted later).

Video tour of Cartel Coffee Lab (Video)

Seth Mills pours a latte (Video)

(more…)

A very funny comedy routine from Lewis Black.

Ran across this nicely done video about the history of coffee. It glosses over some parts, but covers the history.

Part 1:

Part 2:

There’s a part 3, but I haven’t been able to locate it.

Jason Casale just started a video blog called The Coffee Enthusiast. His first review is of a Brazil Fina Monte Alegre from Cartel Coffee Lab.

On Saturday evening I stopped in to check out Sola Coffee Bar in Scottsdale and ran into the Jared Reasy (the lead barista and owner) and also Michael Puhala.

I shot this video while I was there. Overall: Great cappuccino and excellent coffee shop vibe. I can’t wait to visit again.

Sola Coffee Bar
7124 E 5th Avenue
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Slayer has some sweet videos up on YouTube including this one about how a Seattle coffee shop handles high volumes.