Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Starbucks

The Whitefish Bay Starbucks is now my favorite, I think. I've been getting some really phenomenal drinks here.  I think three cappuccinos in a row, of which each has been better than the last.  The current--and best--one is decaf.  So much for a neat and tidy worldview.  I find that the world is rarely neat and tidy anyway.

Bay View Breezes: Snapshot: Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.

Am I the only computer user who freezes up when his/her laptop battery has 15 min. left and there's no other power source available?

Double Espresso: one of the best, double or triple ristretto, barista with English or Australian accent.

Brazilian drip coffee:  I don't much care for Brazils as a rule, so making a good one is tough.  Kudos for doing just that.

Cedarburg: Snapshot: Starbucks

Starbucks employees sure are open about talking about the company's performance--both of their individual stores and the company as a whole--to customers.  For example, I just learned that the last fiscal quarter is the first one in which this Cedarburg Starbucks turned a profit.  I've also learned that the Whitefish Bay location is doing about half what it used to.  I'm not sure whether this is privileged information, but since I learned it using just my five senses while seated here as a customer in the cafe, I consider it fair game.

Maybe the distinction is private vs. public company.  I guess I'm used to working for private companies.

Web/Tech: Blog News: Social Media Madness

Stone Creek Coffee now has a Twitter presence, which is a great idea.  Kudos to them, also, for being featured in a recent Journal-Sentinel article. There's only one thing missing: any mention of longtime blogger Mary Dally-Muenzmaier. If memory serves, blog posts and newsletters were regular during Mary's tenure there. They've been a tad sporadic since then. Perhaps not coincidentally, a recent Mary post to her own blog mentioned Kim Kisiolek and Stephen Bybee, but not Stone Creek (where all three work or worked at one time). Tee-hee! Anyway, Stone Creek's blog--like this here one--was better when Mary was working on it. Love 'em and leave 'em, Mary, love 'em and leave 'em... ;-)

 *um, just so we're clear, Mary is happily married to a great guy!

Glendale/Whitefish Bay: Snapshots: Starbucks

I'm at Starbucks in Whitefish Bay, enjoying what's probably the best (double tall) cappuccino I've had in three months.  I find that ordering a double tall provides the correct proportions for a traditional cappuccino experience.

Quote of the Day

“Curves are better,” she said. “I don’t get the whole rail thing. It’s not good for your heart, it’s not good for your mind; it’s emotionally destructive, it really is.”

--Jessica Simpson

Blog News: Store Closings: Harry W. Schwartz Update

There are now two Facebook groups dedicated to saving Harry W. Schwartz: here's one and here's the other.  I doubt any major chain business could inspire such passion.

East Side/Riverwest: Snapshots: Stone Creek

I'm at Stone Creek's Shorewood location, which I continue to not care for much compared to the company's other locations.  It is far too claustrophobic here for me.  I note, with some amazement, that this cafe has a walk-in cooler.  Now that I think about it, I wonder if that feature wasn't inherited from a previous tenant of this space.

A group of middle-aged guys is holding a meeting.  What I always dread about hanging out in this neighborhood is the man-ponytailed graybeard brigade.  I won't be coy about my standpoint.  I believe that since the 1960s, the arts and humanities have been hijacked by tenured radicals who have exerted an unwholesome influence on their fields and society as a whole.  Their ideology--frequently anti-capitalist--has been discredited in the open marketplace of ideas and (especially) policy, so they take advantage of their tenure to turn schools like UWM into their fiefdoms.  

In moments of cynicism, I wonder if the reason they like the upper East Side and Shorewood so much is because they have a captive audience--it's so damned hard to get around, the people they pontificate to can't just get in their cars and flee easily.  Still, I'm going to flee the guy who's pontificating here.

Blog News: Put It On My Tab?

Maybe the answer to the dilemma I discussed yesterday is for me to open a wholesale account with local roasters.  I'm not interested in retailing coffee in competition with them, but this would allow me to be invoiced rather than worrying about whether or not I have two bucks in my pocket at any given time. I am incorporated in the State of Wisconsin as Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee LLC.  I'm not sure how a business of my size establishes its creditworthiness (I know Dun & Bradstreet keeps tabs on such things; my personal credit rating is good).

I'm not asking for special treatment, but I think the reason companies are willing to grant wholesale accounts to incorporated businesses is because it's easy (or easier) to take 'em to court if they don't pay their bills.

UPDATE: I did see this link for establishing a credit file with Dun & Bradstreet, so I'll get on that.

UPDATE #2:  It costs $329.  Maybe I won't get on that.

Arizona: Preview: Cartel Coffee Lab

And here's another one: Cartel Coffee Lab.  Check out their Yelp!