Or, if you have a cafe and are considering table service I thought these designs by Carlo Casagrande were nice and clean. It can hold most demitasse cups and if you really want to get fancy, champagne flutes!

(click the thumbnail image if you would like to see them larger)

Check out his portfolio here.

Why?

Does this mean no one else can have one now?

Counter Culture Coffee cordially invites the barista exchange community to join reigning United Kingdom and World Barista Champion James Hoffmann for his 2008 U.S. East Coast Tour, March 2-15!

The 8-stop tour will include coffee presentations, skill demonstrations, barista workshops, and more at Counter Culture regional training centers and other locations listed below. Hope to see many of you at the events!

www.counterculturecoffee.com/jameshoffmann

Regional event details:

March 2

Ninth Street Espresso - Chelsea Market
New York, NY

3:00 p.m.

Live Barista Performance and Reception

Ninth Street Espresso
Chelsea Market

March 4

Hyde Park, NY (Culinary Institute of America)

10 - 11:30 a.m.

Signature Drink Presentation

Danny Kaye Theater

2 - 3:30 p.m.

Signature Drink Presentation

Danny Kaye Theater

March 6

Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Barista Jam

10am - 12pm

Espresso Extraction Presentation

March 7

Washington, DC

10-11:30am

Coffee Cupping

7 - 9:30pm

Food Pairing Presentation

DC Regional Training Center
1836 Columbia Road NW
Suite 202
Washington, DC 20009

March 9

Durham, NC

2 - 5pm

Three-Part Presentation:

1) James’ personal history in coffee
2) Single origin espresso tasting
3) Preparing for barista competitions

Durham HQ and Regional Training Center
4911 South Alston Avenue
Durham, NC 27713

March 11

Asheville, NC

7 - 9pm

Barista Comp. & Classic Drinks Presentation

Asheville Regional Training Center
77 Broadway Street
Asheville, NC 28801

March 12

Charlotte, NC

7 - 9pm

Barista Competition & Signature Drink Presentation

Charlotte Regional Training Center
1435 West Morehead Street
Charlotte, NC 28208

March 14

Atlanta, GA

10 - 11:30 am

Coffee Cupping

Atlanta Regional Training Center
King Plow Arts Center
887 West Marietta Street NW
Suite m210
Atlanta, GA 30318

1 - 3:30 pm

Barista Competition Presentation

Atlanta Regional Training Center

8pm

Party at Octane!

March 15

Atlanta, GA

2 - 5pm

Three-Part Presentation:

1) James’ personal history in coffee
2) Single origin espresso tasting
3) Preparing for barista competitions

Atlanta Regional Training Center

James Hoffmann Biography:

James Hoffmann started working as a barista back in 2003. He started working for the espresso machine manufacturer Gaggia, and quickly progressed into a training role. From there in 2005 he moved to another espresso machine company - La Spaziale to work as their national training manager. He also began competing in barista competitions that year and in 2006 won the UK Barista Championship and placed 5th in the World Barista Championship in Berne. He competed again in 2007, winning the UK again and this time went on to win in Tokyo, Japan and became the World Barista Champion. In May 2007 James left La Spaziale with the aim of starting a roastery and cafe in London. He continues to train and consult, as well as write for a variety of different publications and has an interest in food science, having worked with the chefs at the world famous Fat Duck restaurant when working on signature coffee drinks for competition.

My friends the Martinez’s at Finca Vista Hermosa have suffered a terrible loss. I can only say that my heart goes out the Martin family, the Martinez family, and everyone effected by this tragedy. I thank Edwin, Aaron, and M’Lissa for expressing my feelings and sentiments better than I could.

I guess this means I should give up on all that cupping.

I just want to say that I’m extremely proud of M’Lissa. She is smart, talented, a great person, very beautiful and completely deserving. Ok, I may be slightly biased but it’s still true.

I was honored to be the photographer for her cover. I think it turned out quite nice considering I’m a complete novice.

The walls are no longer bare at Octane.

The typeface, called Black Slabbath, was designed by Stefán Kjartansson a good friend of the shop.

Here is a great video of the install.

Pretty sweet.

Daniel and Marisa Stearns, formerly of the infamous Murky Coffee, have recently opened their own shop. They are bringing great coffee to the lucky folks of Huntsville, AL. Check them out at www.stearnscoffee.com.

On our most recent visit, Daniel tells us he’s made a television commercial. Uh oh. We all know how bad those cable company produce, local business TV commercials can be. But, Stearns Commercial is great! They were smart and DID NOT let the cable company do it. The video is an homage to the awesome Goodrow Video. (Don’t worry, Daniel knows the filmmaker and asked permission first).

Thank you for all of those who chose to weigh in on my post “What’s that Flavor”. That is the kind of feedback I am hoping for as I move forward. You have to love learning.

I do, however, want to say a few things about the comments as well as other musings on the subject. The discussion seemed to go in two directions, people and importance.

1. People – I have to say that I never intended to, nor would I ever want to, actually place value on the people involved in the life of the coffee “bean”. We should all have pride in what we do. We are all “vital”. I feel it is counter productive to discuss who is most vital and certainly who is least. Not to be too sappy about it but, to me we are all a team. We must always strive to continue to learn and grow. To consider how our actions will impact everyone else’s, as well as the coffee, and in turn the customer. Who, we can’t forget make it all possible. One could argue THEY are the most vital.

2. Importance – It has been stated elsewhere that my question presupposes that one factor (of the pre-barista life of coffee) is “more important” than another. I disagree with that assertion and nowhere in the post did I ever ask which was more important. Just like the people involved, they are all interrelated. They are all important. No matter how large or small the influence on flavor may be.

To continue with the ever tired chain analogy, I just wanted to explore if maybe some links were bigger than others.

Maybe Geoff Watts will show up with those Venn diagrams.

I believe I’ve abused and misused the comma enough for today.