Our New Baby!

La Marzocco FB-80
Handcrafted in Italy

This machine is quite the upgrade for us.  We had a Simonelli Aurelia for a while, but decided to jump back into the La Marzocco game after the Aurelia started having issues.  We have never been happier with a machine, especially after we used that Wega for a month or two.  It is quiet, smooth, and give us some amazing espresso.  We hope that this translates to a better experience for you.

new beans in the house.

I know, I know. It had been a small eternity since a post has happened on this here blog. BUT don't be fooled. Things around Rev have been non stop. 

A lot of exciting happenings have taken place, including the arrival of three very (very) delicious coffees. If you've been in the shop the past few days you have probably heard us raving over them. Sooo, enough with the small talk..let's get down to business.

First Up, Guatemala Limonar.

Region: Huehuetenango (actually a city)

Varietal: Bourbon, Caturra

Elevation: 1300-1800 meters

Farm: Limonar (translation: lemon tree) 

Process: washed and sun dried on patios
Flavor notes: Granny Smith apples, buttery graham cracker, cinnamon...mmmm 

Moving on to, Ethiopia Sidamo Guji

Region: Guji, Sidamo

Varietal: Abidir

Elevation: 1800-2000 meters

Farm: Various

Process: full natural and sun dried on tables
Flavor notes: deep Redfruit, Jasmine, molasses

Finally, Mexico Altura

Region: Pluma and Mixteca

Varietal: Typica and Caturra

Elevation: 1200-1500 meters

Farm: small cooperatives

Process: fully washed and sun dried
Flavor notes: Candied peanuts, milk chocolate, nougat

Stop by. tell us what you think!

New tshirt! Limited edition!

Only 60 of these precious gems. Come get one before they're sold out!

In Portland, Still No Turning Back

I'm writing this from the Judges Chambers at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland during the 41st competitor, Greg Lefcourt of OZO Coffee Company, of the SCAA 2012 USBC.  He's out there making three rounds of drinks in 15 minutes.  That's a total of 12 drinks---3 espressos, 3 cappuccinos, + 3 signature beverages, all while their soundtrack is playing, and 2 technical judges, 4 sensory judges, and 1 head judge monitor their motions and words.

Heather Ringwood, WBC certified judge and employee of Batdorf & Bronson, asked me if the USBC was any different from the regionals, a question which sums up my experience here.  I responded with a simple answer: "The competitors are tighter, and I walk around seeing all sorts of famous people."  Not 'famous' in the movie/music/sports/tv sense, but in the coffee world.  Everybody is here and it is such an invigorating feeling to see such a large number of people dedicated to moving coffee culture and business forward.  I will be bringing a lot of new ideas---and a bunch of swag from the convention floor---home to Rev and hope that you will enjoy the changes, adaptations, and betterings (is that a word?) that will happen.

I will update more tonight... but coffee people drink coffee in the morning, and all sorts of yummy booze at night, so I don't promise sense in my words.

Heading to Portland, No Turning Back Now

Hello All!

Just a quick post about one adventure a small portion of Rev is having.  I am currently en route (and have been since 5:30am this morning) to Portland, OR to serve as a technical judge for the United States Barista Championship (USBC), which just so happens to be in conjunction with the SCAA 2012 Event (pretty much the largest coffee event of the year).  Needless to say, there is a whole lot of exciting events planned for this week.

I am currently in my 5th hour of an 8 hour layover in Denver.  Did you know they have birds flying around inside?  And if that's not weird enough, there is a worker here---one of the passenger cart drivers---who whistles like a bird to let people know he's behind them.  It has been an interesting 5 hours, with $2.50 bottles of water and $3.50 boxes of popcorn.  I get it now, the movie theaters want people to think they're in an airport... or maybe vice versa.  Ponder that.

I guess I should give you a little bit of info about what being a tech judge for the USBC means:
Tomorrow I will sit through a day long session of written & visual tests, calibrations, mock runs, and (of course) lunch.  We have to pass with flying colors in order to be certified to judge, high scores than were necessary to judge the regionals.  Thursday-Sunday, we tech judges spend hour after hour watching the every move of competitors, standing on our feet, alert, focused, and watchful for 15 minutes at a time, for probably 5 hours with 15 minutes between each to calibrate on what we saw during the performance.  If you'd like to read more on what happens, or how you can watch live streaming video of the competition Thursday-Sunday, visit www.usbaristachampionship.com or you can catch the live tweets from @sprudge.

Well, maybe I'll post a little bit about what I'm up to throughout the week.  Just know that coffee professionals know how to party and we can stay up late, so I'm not promising anything.

Aajay

The Ledge of Know - The Cappuccino

Disclaimer:
Please don’t read this expecting some elaborate history of what is called a “cappuccino”.  I have found it hard to track down any factual information about such beverage, because everything is either hearsay or not confirm-able.  Thus, I am in no position to give the end-all story of the cappuccino.  From here on out, it’s all my interpretation, baby, so take it or leave it.

The cappuccino is a beverage that occurs naturally in the horn of a unicorn.  Typically, it is a 5-6 ounce beverage of 30 milliliters of espresso and 120-150 milliliters of textured milk.  Crazy, I know.  You’ve always believed that the horn of a unicorn has a cavity larger than that, but believe me… I’m “well researched”.

To definitely clarify the definition, let me define some definitive things for you (at least our interpretation thereof):

1. Espresso = the result of placing a portafilter filled with 17-22 grams of finely ground and compacted (tamped) coffee into contact with the group head of an espresso machine (such as the Simonelli in our shop) and forcing filtered and heated (to 190-200 degrees Fahrenheit) water at around 9 bars of pressure for about 20-30 seconds.  The only way to achieve espresso is to use such a device…. Sorry, Aeropress marketers.
2. Textured Milk = the result of crafting a smooth, velvety steamed milk with a minimum of 1 centimeter of foam depth.  There is a fine balance between over-stretched (which leads to massive bubbles) and under-stretched (which amounts to plain ol’ hot milk… you may as well have microwaved it), and the important factor to keep in mind is that the end product should be smooth with microbubbles and quite sweet and not too hot (150-160 degrees F).  To put it into practice and in very trade-specific terms, fill a small steaming pitcher with milk up to half way between the beginning of the spout and the bottom of the pitcher.  Then, place steam wand into milk with one of the little holes poking out, steam milk until you can feel the warmth through the pitcher’s outside (which should be about 100 degrees F, given that our internal temp is 98.6 degrees F).  At the point of feeling warmth, sink the steam wand.  Create a whirlpool with the steam, incorporating the stretched milk microfoam into the whole of the milk (speaking of whole, this works best with whole milk).  Keep steaming until the pitcher is uncomfortable to the touch, which technically should be around 150-160 degrees F, unless you can’t feel heat because of nerve damage.

So… that, in essence, is a cappuccino.  But since you have probably skimmed over most of what I have said, you should stick to coming into the shop for your fix.  Not only is the process even further complicated by the “at-home” espresso machines, but without adequate training and countless hours of practice, the end product may not be as tasty as you’d like.  PLUS I’ve only given you specifications of our shop and how we do it.  Your machine is probably a lot different.

Now for a little bit of what Google has given me about the cappuccino.  Don’t worry: I’ll shy away from the boring stuff.

Google tells me that there are monks and monkeys named “capuchin”, which is the name that Wikipedia tells me the word "cappuccino" has derived from.  Monks and monkeys!  Who woulda thought?  Maybe its true, maybe its not.  At this point, it doesn’t really matter.  The name “cappuccino” has now been given to a 20+ounce, super foamy beverage that is typically flavored with vanilla or chocolate and whose coffee content is questionable at best.  Go to any gas station if you don’t believe me.  They’ll sell you a 48-ounce “French vanilla” cappuccino if they have the cup. Starbucks, too.  They’ll sell you any sized cappuccino because they pretty much invented the variable size for it.  In my opinion, the 6-ounce cappuccino is the best delivery of coffee + milk.  It is sweet, milky, velvety goodness.  Seriously, come in a try one, but only if you have the time to enjoy it “for here”, out of a ceramic mug.  The paper cups don’t deliver the same fanciness that you and the cappuccino deserve.

el salv trip recap: day 5

Day 5

This was a relaxing day.  

We went to visit Finca Santa Elena.  This volcanic farm had a veiw of Lake Coatepeque.  We hiked the farm and saw cherries in different stages of growth. 

After that, we drove back down the mountain to Coatepeque Lake and went to the island called Teopan Island.  A bunch of the group went swimming in the lake.  We choose to sit back and have a few cervesas.

Back to hotel for last dinner with the group.

starchefs.com interview

Aajay & Daniel got a chance to tell starchefs.com what's so great about Rev.

Watch the video below for proof.

Video - Inside Rev Coffee | StarChefs.com

el salv trip recap: day 4

Day 4

Left the hotel to visit Maria Isabel De Martino and her farm Finca Ayutepeque. This was a low elevation farm, probably for commercial level coffees. This farm was passed on from her father. It was beautiful with a ton of history. Her big deal was creating a new organic fertilizer, Fertipull. She also educated us on the challenges of the climate changes. How it was killing some of her crop and how she had to adapt to new growing conditions.

   Left Finca Ayytepeque and went to a huge COOP called Cuzcahapa. 

We walked around the coop and saw how many times coffees are sorted, by hand and by machine.  

After we left the coop, we went to downtown Santa Ana for dinner.  We were allowed to walk around the downtown area for a few minutes. It was a parklike area with a huge historic church.

The downtown area had street vendors and normal stuff like this. Guys playing checkers and children trying to sell you their arts and crafts.

Left for a 2 hour drive back to Santa Ana.

New York, New York!

The North East Regional Barista Competition is to be held this weekend in NYC and our very own, Aajay Murphy, will be in attendance as a technical judge!

Reppin' Rev Coffee all over the US! 

el salvador trip recap: day 3

Hope you're enjoying the awesome pictures and recap of Nick and Daniel's trip to El Salvador. If you've missed the first couple of days just scroll down to catch up!

on to...

Day 3

Started off day 3 by going to COE (Cup of Excellence) Winner's Finca La Roxanita.  The Cup of Excellence is a very prestigious award for coffee farmers. 

Toured the farm and went over everything we learned on day 2 only with bigger and better equipment.  

Tons more hiking. 

 

After this farm, we wend to COOP - Acproa El Tunel. 

 We cupped 40 different coffees with the farmers in the room.  It was a small room with a bunch of people trying to taste as much coffee as possible.  It was great!  After we cupped the coffees we went around the room and gave feedback to the farmers.  It was refreshing to see how much they cared and planned to improve their growing conditions and processing practices.

After the cupping, we boarded the bus and went to our favorite farm of the trip, Finca Los Planes.  

Owner is Sergio Ticas. 

 His coffee is sold out before it is even picked.  He has a high level of standards for his farm.  

The cherries looked the best, the machines were the cleanest.  Looked to have more people sorting the defected coffees than other places.  Plus he was a great guy.   

After the visit we get on the bus for a 3 hour ride back to San Salvador.  

Get to go out on the town.  Stay out late, not too late. 

 7am wake up call. 

el salvador trip recap: day 2

Day 2

Rode the bus to the first coffee farm of the trip.  

Everyone was excited.  

The farm is called Finca Pinares. The owner is Hector Velasquez.  Learned a ton from this stop.  

We saw everything on a micro level.  

Hector does everything on his farm: 

Drying tables, drying patios, coffee mill, coffee plants.  

We hiked up and down the mountain learning about different coffee varietals, mostly bourbon and pacamara.  

After we left the farm, we departed to La Palma.
Checked into Hotel Entrepinos and had dinner with the group.  
Great day at the first farm.

el salvador trip recap: day 1

Things around the shop have returned to normal since Nick & Daniel made their homecoming from El Salvador. It is so awesome to hear how excited and curious everyone is about their trip!

The next few blog posts will be highlighting their big adventure so make sure to check back the next few days!

Day 1 

Left the airport and arrived in San Salvador. It was hot. 

We walked around our hotel trying to find something to get into.

Got lost. 
Ended up walking about 6 miles.

We did find Viva Espresso. Home of the current world barista champion, Alejandro Mendez. Had some great coffee. 

Watched the Super Bowl in Spanish.

Ready to meet the rest of the group and see some coffee farms!

lately..

Barista Briefing: week 2

You've seen him around. 

Actually, you always see him around.

This guy put Rev on the map and we are oh-so glad.

Ladies & Gentlemen...

drumroll...

Mr. Nick Bimmerle

Thursday Night Throwdown

Last week Octane Coffee held their once a month Thursday Night Throwdown latte art competition. 

It was crazy crowded since many people were in town for the SERBC...that meant over 85 people slingin' some fancy latte art.

 Aajay and Roy did an awesome job representing Rev Coffee!

free entertainment...weekly.

Looking for something to do this week? 

Want to watch some local, live entertainment?

Or maybe even try out that new song of yours? 

..Once you've taken the stage, you're life will never be the same..  

If you haven't checked out our Open Mic Night on Wednesdays, you're missing out!

It's fun, free and if you don't like the guy playing, a new one will be up in 10 minutes.

2,565.7 miles away.

We have only seen a few pictures via Instagram but it sure looks like Nick and Daniel are enjoying their time in El Salvador....wouldn't you agree? 

Hope everyone had a great start to the week!

week of love.

Alright ladies and gents, it's February (already) and you know what that means... hallmark holiday Valentine's Day!

Don't you worry about those plans you forgot to make because Rev's got you covered.