November 27, 2007
Santa Hates Sanka
Rather than bringing a bottle of a nameless, never-tried bottle of Pinot Noir to your holiday parties, bring something the hosts will actually remember that it was you who brought it. Bring something that they'll be thankful for the morning after two too many egg nogs or a night of putting up with the relatives in town for Hanukkah. Bring them Joe.
Two pounds of coffee is the new bottle of wine.
Don't be an ass, though, and fly into Starbucks for bag-o-bitter, or chintz on something you just ground up at the Safeway. No, no. Get high-quality stuff, from high-quality roasters, who get beans from reliable and talented growers. Such coffee says "I like you and I want you to be happy when you get to work." Chock-full-o'-nuts, on the other hand, says "I hope you get threatened on the Metro."
It's a good thing, then, that there will be several opportunities coming up in the next few weeks that will allow you to drink full from the hot cup of coffee knowledge so you know what you're doing when you go searching for gifts. Take as an example an "Evening of Coffee Tasting and Exploration" at 7 p.m. on December 1st from the folks at Counter Culture's regional training center in Adams Morgan. Their Coffee Director, Peter Giuliano, will hold an interactive slide show about his recent buying trip to coffee farms around the world. Since Counter Culture partners directly with coffee growers who are dedicated to worker protection, sustainable land use, and organic farming, you're bound to learn about more than just coffee. The tasting and slideshow are free, go to their website for more information.
Local purveyor of Counter Culture's end product, Murky Coffee has a training coming up as well which will be especially handy if you plan on getting a new espresso machine as a gift. Murky's home barista training is scheduled for tomorrow, November 28, from 6 to 9 p.m. At $150 for the class, it may be a little steep, but Murky also offers coffee "cuppings" twice every Friday at their Clarendon location. They also have the best espresso I've ever had, but I'll accept that that's less-than-objective on my part. But, try them anyway.
Photo from kristeya
If you want to get back to coffee's roots, swing by Sidamo on 4th and H St. NE for their traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, held every Sunday at 2 p.m. The ceremony includes the roasting, grinding, and brewing of a small batch of coffee for those in attendance, and it's cool to see such an event from the home (or one of them, at least) of coffee. Sidamo roasts its own coffee beans everyday—the only place in D.C. to do so. The difference between fresh roasted coffee and old coffee is the same as using fresh parsley and dried flakes; in other words, huge. Sidamo sells organic, shade-grown, and fair trade coffee as well.
The other coffee great in the area is Misha's in Old Town, Alexandria. Misha's also roasts their own coffee, though it's not necessarily organic or fair-trade. Misha's supplies you with full information on their coffee so you can make your own decisions, however, so that's a plus. Also a plus, you can order your own roast from the coffeehouse for a truly personal gift. You can also find some good stuff at Mayorga or even Mocha Hut. Where are your favorite coffee spots around town? Let us know in the comments.
So, if you're getting bored of wine, branch out to coffee—which is just as capable of having the taste and aroma distinctions as any wine—and make your mark on the holiday gift giving landscape.
We'll leave you with something a little different. This is an art video featuring a recently-relocated Ryan Goodrow, Murky Coffee's ex-assistant manager at the Capitol Hill location. Ryan recently made the move to Manhattan, and is now at Ninth Street Espresso's new counter in Chelsea Market. DCist has it on good authority that he's rocking the show up there. Well, we're not surprised.
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the bitter alcoholic in me says that if you even try to bring over coffee in lieu of booze your ass is out on the street quicker than you can say lickety split mutha facker.
not that I'm bitter or anything.
Sticky Fingers carries 10oz bags of Intelligentsia espresso from Chicago. They have organic varieties, and it's all very rich and delicious. Plus you tie a green ribbon around that red bag and you have all the fully-caffeinated Christmas cheer you can handle!
Java House is where I get my daily beans. I think they're awesome. I'd also order Stumptown Coffee for someone I REALLY love. But only if I planned that far in advance.
I get my everyday coffee from PortoRico.com. They have a store on Bleecker St. in the Village in NYC, and have a huge variety of great beans, delicious chocolate crazy pills to tweak on (chocolate covered espresso beans), and all sorts of teas and other supplies. They have great prices too...I got a few pounds during one of their sales, and the average price was about $7.50 per lb. including shipping. But they also have Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain for those of you who don't drink coffee unless it costs more than double what Starbucks charges for their crap.
I think the intelligentsia espresso is incredible but a little pricy ($12 for 10 oz), but you absolutely can't go wrong with Porto Rico's French Sumatra, Danish Blend, Turkish Blend, Espressos, etc. which typically run $6-10 per pound and less when on sale.
Ugh. That video. I hate to be such a coffee snob, but with the music and the obvious attempts at drama in that video, I presume it was trying. But talk about an ending more horrifying than Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
All that effort to show the preparation of a worthy espresso. And in the end, the barista wastes heat by unnecessarily passing it through a shotglass. OK, maybe that was more for visual license by the auteur. I can buy that. But then ultimately pouring it into a *paper* cup?!
It's like watching Michel Richard of Michel Richard Citronelle serving his Squab au Poivre on Chinette.
Nails to a chalkboard...
btw, Tryst, The Diner and Open City also use Counter Culture Coffee and are fantastic places to buy some great bulk, whole bean coffee. (Disclosure: I do work at Open City and have about 1/2 lb ready to grind at a moment's notice.)
It's been a great gift to share and enjoy. (Seriously, I'd say that even if I didn't work there.)
Cheers!
No DC coffee plug is complete without a mention of M.E. Swing's. Been around since 1916, still have a shop around the corner from the White House, they roast locally in Alexandria, and still tastes leagues better than most of that boutique Triple-Chocolate-Fudge-Sodomy slop. Dunno about the P Street Whole Foods, but the one in Old Town carries Swing coffees, whole and ground.
I second Swing's as some damn good coffee. I get mine at the Best DC Supermarket (not necessarily the best, that's the name) on U St. I went back to Guatemalan Antigua at Whole Foods and realized how much better the Swing's stuff is.
Anyone know of a good place for some of that delicious, sludgy Turkish style coffee?
I forgot about Tryst, et. al., as well as Swing's (which I haven't been to for years). Dolcezza in Georgetown also serves Counter Culture coffee, by the way.
I am grateful for the suggestions of various commenters on here. Can the author of the post suggest the names of a few more stores in the area?
I've worked for coffee houses and roasters off and on (more on then off) for the better part of 10 years... I love Counter Culture's beans, but usually get my at home coffee sent in from where I used to work (http://www.portcitycoffee.com/).
That said, I worked for Mayorga for the better part of two years and I find their beans to be so-so..oh and I hope its better now, but they also had a tendency to bounce payroll checks. Not something I feel the need to keep quiet about.
I must chime in with a nod both to Sidamo and Mayorga -- particularly the fact that you can get green (unroasted) beans cheaply and easily at both places. IMHO, part of the special treat is actually roasting one's own beans and then grinding.
For Turkish coffee, there's a few shops (including Fresh Med in Cleveland Park) but most only sell the Najjar brand. If I'm not content on settling for Najjar, I grind my own, add a bit of cardamom to taste, and then whip out my Ibrik a (nd go from there). I have yet to find an honest-to-god shop that will serve proper Turkish coffee reliably, though I hear that Meze will on occasion.
I'm only chiming in to say that this was funny:
"Chock-full-o'-nuts, on the other hand, says "I hope you get threatened on the Metro.""
I like McD's coffee. No joke.
I know this is like months old but the beauty of a forum such as this is that anyone performing a random Google search can find anything from any time period.
Anyway, to the commenter up above, the self-proclaimed coffee snob, get over yourself. Having had the honor and privilege of working with the man in that video for a few months before his exodus to New York City I can say that instead of criticizing him from all the way across the country you should try actually talking to Mr. Goodrow. If you do that you'll learn that Ryan has a great depth of knowledge on the craft of the barista and his passion for it burns deeper than you could imagine.
As a Murky employee I can assure you that all things being equal we'd rather let the actual ceramic mug be the first thing that espresso hits when it makes its final descent from the portafilter. I'm sure what you see in the video was done for the aesthetic purposes of the director and not the actual drink.
The true nails to the chalkboard sensation comes not from watching that video but from reading your arrogant and insensitive comments.
I know this is old, but this is related so maybe someone can help me out... Does anyone know where in DC to buy shade grown coffee? I keep striking out. Preferably near the White House where I work. I might have to give up and starting making my own, but going outside for coffee is like the highlight of my day.
I started caring about this recently after realizing how important this is to migratroy songbirds that are going to be GONE soon. Don't people care?
http://www.harpercollins.ca/songbirds/
http://forests.org/archive/america/shadegro.htm