Ristretto Roasters Blog

Coffee and the spread of civilization

Scott Wickstein writes this on Samizdata:

The ambience of a coffee house generates rational discussion. Many of the key figures of the 18th Century Enlightenment honed their ideas around Java beans. Naturally, with coffee providing a stimulus, it is the natural clearinghouse of ideas for clever people, as sociable as a pub, but without the side-effects of a pint of ale.The culture of coffee beans was gradually displaced by tea in the tastes of English people in the 19th century, and coffee only gradually emerged as the favourite beverage of Americans.

Of course, it may or may not be a coincidence that since Starbucks was founded in 1971, technological change and artistic innovation based on the sort of 'grass-root' initative that Glenn Reynolds talks about in his new book has skyrocketed. And it continues to grow at an ever expanding rate. This has done a great deal to enrich our current post-industrial civillization, and the humble coffee bean has proven itself to be a great support for all manners of high culture.

Indeed! And if you think the brew at Charbuck's will make you smart, you should try Ristretto's. Is it any wonder roaster Din's best friend is a rocket scientist? We think not....

Nigella + Ristretto = Full-bodied bliss

If you are looking for a fantastic accompaniment to one of Ristretto's fine roasts - like, say, the Ethiopia Harrar Horse (pictured here, with a bit too much milk spilt by my clumsy hand) - I can highly recommend Nigella Lawson's chocolate cherry cupcakes. The dense chocolate and Morello cherriness of these little devils are best chased with a full, rich, smooth cup of Ristretto's finest. Delicate, pretty cups are optional.

Coffee Art

Linked via swissmiss. Click here for the how-to video.

Coffee and Roses

Though it's tempting to dab a bit of Din's Ethiopia Harrar behind the ears in the morning, there is a fragrance out there that's perfect for coffee-lovers. L'Or de Torrente is a subtle blend of coffee and roses, a warm, alert, optimistic scent that's feminine without being too sweet. I bought some on eBay years ago, when this European scent was impossible to find stateside. Now you can buy it more conveniently, if less romantically, on Overstock.com.

Everyday, We Thank Our Baristas

Scott, apparently, did not.

Via Beyond Robson's Vancouver blog, and sent to me by Food Dude

BMW Audio Books: Beyond Product Placement

I like to listen to moody, noirish mysery novels while driving around in the Southern California sunshine. It's a sweet-and-sour thing. Never gets stale for me.

Which is why I was intrigued recently when I stumbled upon BMW Audio Books. The company has commissioned original fiction by some unexpected authors, and to judge by a first listen, they've done it right.

This weekend I downloaded and listened to James Flint's Outer Limits-ish Master of the Storm this weekend while winding up the Pacific Coast Highway. The production was impeccable, far better quality than most of the books I've purchased on Audible.com, the story performed (rather than merely read) by Forbes Masson, a Shakespeare-trained Scotsman with an intoxicating, single-malt voice. Flint's work has a distinctive style, and like the other authors BMW has engaged, he has enough edge-dwelling credibility that there's precious little chance anyone will mistake him for a shill... even though the story does take place in a car--a BMW.

The presence of the car in the Storm has a nudge-nudge, wink-wink quality to it, and little to do with the story itself. But any expectation that the story would be advertorial in nature is quickly dispelled  as the protagonist gets behind the wheel after one champagne too many and plows into an innocent bystander. Not a particularly safe plot point for a car company, but a turn that had the effect of instantly earning my trust and attention.

I wonder if I could get my brother Din to sponsor a literary fiction contest, in which the best short-story to feature Ristretto Roasters as an exotic locale could be published on the Ristretto blog, and the author could win, I dunno, let's see... some coffee? I'll have to ask him.... and I'll get to work on the first entry (even if family members are not eligible for prizes).

One Good Turn Deserves Sumatra

Anyone who reads Amy Alkon knows she fights for justice, whether tracking down her stolen car or demanding restitution from spammers. She is also assiduously well-mannered, generous to a fault, dresses impeccably, and knows what she wants and how to get it. What she did not expect recently was to get what she wanted with such grace. She tells the story, below. Thanks, Amy!

For years, I was the slut of sun-blocking eyewear, buying new sunglasses at every turn. Then, at the Abbot Kinney Festival, I bought a beautiful pair of vintage French sunglasses from this great little company called Allyn Scura. I paid for them, they intalled lenses, and they mailed them to me, and we've been together ever since. (Yes, a case of sunglass monogamy, happily ever...not...because, through no fault of my own, and a lot of fault on the part of my communist-styled health kare provider, Kaiser Permanente, they were ground into bits on the floor of the parking garage.)

I tried in vain to make do with other sunglasses, including a vintage pair from the Fairfax flea, but they made me dizzy while driving -- not a good combination -- and made me look like a mad 50s housewife -- also not a good combination.

So, I emailed Allyn Scura, going on and on about how I love their glasses, telling them my sad tale, and asking if they still might have a few in stock of the pair I had -- or even know what it is from their records -- because I was hoping to rebuy the pair I had.

The amazing thing about them is, I think they buy a bunch of each pair, probably many of them new, because mine were in perfect shape -- don't think they were ever worn.

Anyway, not only did they have them -- they actually sent me a replacement pair free! Now, these glasses are, as they say, good value, but they are not cheap. This was quite the act of generosity. I don't take such acts lightly.

Hmm, what to do, what to do? What could I send them that would give them the amount of, well, bliss (don't laugh...it's true), they gave me by replacing my glasses. Naturally, based on personal experience, my thoughts turned immediately to Ristretto. Three bags of my favorite, Sumatra Mandheling, ground for espresso went out to them that day. As I said on the phone when I called to say thank you for the glasses, and told them their coffee dream would be in the mail:

"It's like drinking velvet."

And as my giftee wrote in return:

i'm scrambling to head up to sf today for a show, but work has come to a
screeching halt. a huge delivery of coffee and although i've already had my
fix for the day, i can't put it away without brewing a pot. wow, what a cup
o' jo!
 
thank you so much. it was an incredibly thoughtful thing to do -- good old
east coast etiquette!

thank you thank you,

scott

allynscura.com is their Web site. They said they don't advertise, but I thought they at least deserved a shout-out for being so generous when I felt like such crap about my crunched shades!

 

Big Bowl Gold Mushroom Cowboy Meat

Woefully off-topic in any setting and entirely caffeine-free, but this menu from a steakhouse somewhere in Asia is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, particularly as it starts out humble ("Burn the Spring Chicken!") and builds to an unspeakable crescendo involving duck chins and "every form of rape."

Coffee that moves houses

Now this is the kind of thing that I love to read. From the comments to a previous post, Ristretto customer Sarah Leigh takes the time to write:

Nancy and Din,

I just had my first cup of Sumatra Mandehling this morning and it was delicious!

I picked up the package Monday (I think it came Saturday, but I wasn't around for the 8-11 AM hours of our small town post office) and the aroma filled the car, and then the kitchen, even after I dutifully put the bags in the cupboard as the Ristretto Roasters instruction sheet advised. This is good, because my house is on the market, and it can only enhance the appeal when prospective buyers come into a house smelling of Din's rich and deep roasted beans.

Can't wait to try the Guatemala Antigua.

Thanks again!

How's that for a new slogan? "You don't need no steekin' muffins. Sell your house with Ristretto Roasters!"

The Truth About Fair Trade Coffee

The Globalisation Institute (a British think tank with ideas as fresh as the daily brew at Ristretto Roasters) has some really interesting thinking on what the Fairtrade movement really means for growers in the developing world. Here's a snippet of what Alex Singleton has to say on the subject:

It is Fairtrade Fortnight, and we are all being encouraged to pay extra for everything from coffee to bananas. Coffee, a totemic product for the development community, is a product where many producers have suffered from lowering prices. Massive overproduction, caused largely by mechanisation in Brazil and the rise of Vietnam as a major producer, has had its effect on prices.

To read Singleton's manifesto on how to renovate the Fairtrade movement to make it truly meaningful to growers, check out Fairtrade 2.0 (n.b., best viewed while imbibing a nice cup of Ristretto's Kenya AA Katuro).

Tags: fairtrade, coffee, globalisation

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