coffee

Sorry for my long hiatus from the bloggosphere. It happens to us all at some point I guess... my excuse is just as lame as any other... being a new professional I am trying to learn how I can engage in this medium without lacking integrity as a professional. Yet, I have been longing to keep a connection with LA friends and so because so many of you who follow this are from LA, I thought long and hard and decided what my topic for today would be.

I have been reading a book called God in a Cup. It's really good. Unexpectedly nothing about God and all about coffee. I love both God and coffee a lot so I thought I might see some clashing of the two worlds but really it turned out to be a fabulous book about the world of specialty coffee. Maybe I loved it because my beloved Stumptown was talked about in such depth that I hope to one day shake the CEO's hand (although the guy's business practices can be pretty shady at times, but he has done a lot for the specialty coffee world). It made me realize there is so much I can do to make a better cup of coffee at home myself. The book also inspired me to travel more and opened my eyes to the possibility of discovering things all the way across the world as well as just down the street from me that I never knew about.

For those in LA, you must try Groundworks Coffee and let me know what it is like. Here is a link to their cafe location page http://lacoffee.com/cafes.html
When we were in LA we heard about this place but didn't go thinking that it might not be as cool as our favorite place, Intelligentsia. Intelligentsia is also great and talked about in detail in the book. I encourage you to try both places. Increasingly places like this are popping up, places that buy directly from farmers and roast on site (or locally) within 7-10 days of coffee consumption.

As for me, I will have to wait to try Groundworks until next time I go to LA. But for now, I have a growing list of dreams for my near future:

visit the Stumptown's cafe in the Ace Hotel and drink black coffee
buy freshly roasted coffee at the Annex and try french press coffee at home
go to Seattle to visit Stumptown's new stores and compare this to Caffe Vita
...and of course, blog to document these experiences.

It might take me a while to compete these goals, as my coffee budget is small these days, but I really want to do it, as my knowledge of coffee is growing and my love of the cup of joe remains.