The Journey So Far - March 2013

I started this blog in January as a way to document and share my coffee journey. What a couple of months it has been. Friends and family can joke that I am more a geek than previously thought, but the fact is part of loving coffee means you have a bit of geek in you. I have found the same thing in running. I started running, and absorbed everything I could, and now I work in the running specialty industry. Now I am using those same skills and tactics to tackle coffee.

If you look at coffee as a universe, I would say I am fairly familiar with my block. Oh it seems like I know more than that, but as I read and learn more, I understand there is more I don’t know, than what I do know. I’m fine with that.

So what have I learned? The specialty coffee world appears to be a business of younger men who are trying to make their mark in the world. They have found a way to shape a business, which is part art, part science, part diner experience, part lifestyle. 

There are ratings systems to judge coffee, which I am keen on learning. Barista compete pretty fiercely in various competitions. I always knew there was more than one way to brew a cup of coffee, but really there is MORE than one way. much more. 

I have read comparisons between coffee and wine, as far as cultivation, developing, and serving it. Just like wine, there are tastings, called cuppings. There are people who spent years formulating ways to make coffee better, whether it be at the organic level, or the brewing level. Are baristas the new sommoliers? 

Coffee also brings out the desire to help others and the planet. There are coffee roasters and companies that use coffees to assist those in need, both at home and abroad. Sustainability is more than a catchphrase to some. It’s a way to ensure our planet is healthy and thriving. 

I have learned there are others like me, geeks with a thirst not only for coffee, but to understand coffee. We gather, we talk, we blog, we share. We have formed a community.

The journey so far is a wonderful adventure. And so it continues.....

Charlie