Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

What's Open New Year's Eve/Day?

Feel free to comment with holiday openings/closings.

One is confirmed:  Alterra Humboldt: 7am-10pm New Year's Day.  Thank Crikey.  Otherwise I don't know what I'd do with myself.

Editorial: Where Were We?

Sorry about the lapse in posting.  I had a laptop failure that turned out to be a good thing, because it caused me to turn my eye to Craigslist, where I found a fantastic deal on a laptop that'll turn out to be perfect for me and my needs.  You'll note that in the link, the price is mentioned as $1788.  I got mine for $360, though it's a refurb.

I just wasn't happy with the Dell.  The nice thing about this one is that it doesn't have a built-in optical drive, so it's light and compact as it can be without provoking inquiries of "Is that a computer?" in coffeehouses.  (Also, if I happen to appear in the media again, I can pose with this computer without it looking like a Fisher-Price My First Computer(TM).)

Changes are afoot in my life.  It's been the busiest year of my life and probably also the best.  Still, I don't feel that I was happy enough during it.  It was a giving year--which, considering the source, probably doesn't mean much.  It's the only year I can think of where I feel like I'm finishing karmically in the black.  (Who knows, I might need an organ transplant tomorrow.)  Probably the naughtiest thing I did this year was to blow off my blood donation appointment on Saturday.  

As you can surely tell from recent blog news, I've discovered Facebook and am finding it difficult to look back.  As an Internet user of a certain age, though I have come to take it from granted, I remember what like was like without it.  Recently, I spent some time thinking about what the Internet does really well and what it does not-so-well.  (I was walking, mind you.  I don't normally think such boring thoughts while sitting!)  I'm convinced that the Internet has been an enormous boon for our working lives, but not so much for our free time.  Even today, I think you have to be pretty hopelessly geeky, addicted to something, or both to consider going online a great leisure time activity.  I think the reason normal, well-adjusted people don't use the Internet as much in their free time is that it isn't social.  Forums and the like are, of course, but I find that they tend to have narrow appeal, being mostly narrowly focused on the minutiae (man, what a pedantic word, though it's not quite as bad when written) of the subject.  Facebook is like chatting at the water cooler about Seinfeld.

Blog News: Facebook Group

In the midst of a year that was like a tornado taking me (and perhaps the rest of the world) from Kansas to We're-Not-In-Kansas-Anymore, one thing fell into place effortlessly: I found Facebook, after at least a couple months of thinking about what I want out of the Internet. I'm announcing that for the time being, I'm moving about one-third of my time, effort and attention to the new Facebook group I've created, called (wait for it) Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee. After a couple of months, I'll see how things are going and adjust accordingly.

To loyal readers who don't care to follow me to Facebook, I apologize, and assure you that there will be a side-by-side period in which updates to this Typepad blog will continue.

Happy New Year!

Blog News: Holiday Schedule

Happy Holidays!  My laptop is on the fritz.  Plans call for regular posting to resume tomorrow (December 27th) and continue through the end of February, at which point I'll re-evaluate.  The mailing list should begin at some point in between.

Quote of the Day

"Apparently Gaia sees fit to alter between death by burial in snow and death by frost."

—Crafty Kittymoose

Editorial: Local Coffeeshop Beef

I'm new here, so I won't ruffle too many feathers right off the bat.  First, let me state that I love our local coffee shop scene.  We have a lot of good, local (locally-supportive) coffee shops in Milwaukee.  We have a lot of good people who appreciate good coffee. But I have a beef. 

I've been into coffee as a pseudo-aficionado for nearly a decade now: a roommate in college and I lived in Cedarburg, and he started working at the Cedarburg Coffee Roastery.  He taught me a lot about coffee, and he taught me to appreciate it.  I learned about the different processes for drying, decaffeinating, tasting, roasting, you name it.  I also learned to enjoy that when I asked a barista at the Roastery about a coffee, they knew what I was talking about.

So here's my beef: with as wide-spread as Alterra and Stone Creek (our two big coffee shops) are, the lack of knowledge of the baristas in the city is disappointing.  I'd like them not to have to look at the board when I tell them that I want the Brazil Traditional Dry and go straight to the carafe holding the "mild".  Or when I ask about the bouquet, the guy selling me the coffee doesn't have to look in the book and have me read it for myself.  I've come to appreciate knowledge in baristas, because it means that coffee is as important to them as it is to me.

The thing about coffee is that it requires some amount of skill to know when it's good. It's not like soda or water. Coffee is a drink that functions much like wine or beer: there is a process that goes into making them that varies from place to place, and each bean – each blend of beans – has a distinct aroma, taste, and appeal. When I was at Stone Creek, there was a strong sense of the desire to share this knowledge, and we were required to do a tasting, which I whole-heartedly participated in. However, taking one course and taking pleasure in one's job are two different things. For me, being a barista was something I did because I enjoyed the beverage. It bothers me, then, when I hear baristas say to me, “Well, I don't really drink much coffee, so I'm not sure what it's like.”

Coffee in a specialty shop is not Folgers (TM) or Maxwell's House (TM). It's specialty coffee: consumers want to know that they're getting the best of what's being offered. So I ask this of the baristas in the area: take some time to learn about your job – even if it's just helping you pay your way through school or give you some extra cash to pay off the electric bill.

Bay View Breezes: Snapshot: Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.

I'm a foul-weather friend of Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.  The last time I was here, it was on a Sunday afternoon when it was too hot to walk.  Now it's too cold. . .though, strangely, sunny and bright.  I'm sitting at one of the high tables along the west wall.  The sun is shining directly on me, and the heater is working overtime, so I really have to say that this is a most cozy little perch.  I also have to award kudos for "Most Tasteful Christmas Music".  The barista is one of the most knowledgeable I've seen, explaining the ins and outs of various coffees to patrons.   

UPDATE: Wish I'd brought a power adapter; I might have made an afternoon of it.  Brilliant!  (Regular readers will know that I usually get squirmy and/or find something unbearably annoying after about 45 min.  Not here!)

UPDATE #2: Did I just here the barista say "Can I make that for here?"  I think I'm about to have a heart attack...

Editorial: Rick Warren

Now that Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee is a "we" again, I have to make it clear that I'm speaking strictly for myself.  With that in mind, people are protesting Rick Warren delivering the invocation at Obama's inauguration?  Give me a break. . .I think I have more respect for people who just say that they're atheists and think it's all nonsense than people who strive to make Christianity dilute itself beyond recognition.  If the selection of Warren (who, to me, embodies Xtianity Lite--the kind of folks who don't have crosses in their churches because they're not "seeker-sensitive") is offensive, very few Christian clergy would be considered acceptable.  My personal attitute of late has been "live and let live," and I note that "Will & Grace" is now probably my all-time favorite TV show.  But where does this end--if anywhere?  I fear we're embarking on a dangerous slippery slope that ends in China, where religion is co-opted and tolerated only insofar as it propogates the party line.

UPDATE: My comment about Warren merely reflects my personal reaction to hearing the news and may be qualified by futher research.  I note that the website for his Saddleback Church displays the cross prominently.

East Side/Riverwest: Snapshot: Harry W. Schwartz

Here's something you won't hear me say often: I'm having a hard time spending money today.  The cafe person here at Harry W. Schwartz must have called sick (or called in snow), so they just set out a couple airpots and a sign announcing free coffee.  I find myself gravitating to this place in winter, for whatever reason.  Moreover, I feel a strong need to come here and just kind of thank them for being around.  Their speaker program, a strong stand against censorship (though I don't advocate coming here and taking advantage of it!), and the list goes on.  I think independent bookstores are vastly more important than independent coffeehouses. Granted, I'm probably going to thank them quickly, as they're playing some godawful Christmas music that I believe to be Trans-Siberian Orchestra. . .it sounds like a Meat Loaf Christmas with extra cheese. 

Web/Tech: High School Musical

I think it's rather hilarious that my entire high school class seems to have joined Facebook at the same time.  More generally, my age cohort seems to have climbed on board over the last couple months.  When I joined Facebook in Summer 2007, there didn't seem to be much there for someone my age and MySpace seemed to be the place to go.  Now, I can hardly be bothered to admin the coffee blog's MySpace page and have considered posting a message there that I don't want any more friend requests, etc.

As a student of demographics, it's funny how the ripple effect seems to move across the generations, almost like sound waves.  It's kind of like how I grew a goatee in 1993 as a 20-year-old, and about a decade later, 55-year-old guys were sporting them.  Now, my Dad and Tom Jones have goatees.  (As you can see, the pace of these trends slows as they reach increasingly older people.)