a cup of Octane Coffee

Birmingham, AL is very special to me for many reasons. I went to college there and that’s where I first started working in specialty coffee. Urban Standard which I’ve featured before opened 5 years ago when I was a senior in college. That’s where I first became trained in latte art and espresso pulling and realized that I could make coffee well. I am excited that Birmingham can now sustain two specialty coffee cafes with the opening of Octane this year. 

a cup of Counter Culture Cupping lab

When I travelled to Atlanta for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I was so excited to be able to visit the Counter Culture Cupping lab. It was such a beautiful space and David was very kind to visit with me after their weekly cupping on Friday.

a cup of the hospitality sweet

I’ve been to many cafes recently that I want to share with you,  today I’m going to start with The Hospitality Sweet. We went at the beginning of May when it first opened. It’s in the Dallas Post Office which is a beautiful older building that is a great spot for a cafe.

a cup of Barista Nation Talks

Helen Russell is an amazing woman in specialty coffee. Her work at Equator coffee is undeniable and groundbreaking. They own their own coffee farm that they work and source coffee for their roastery. She believes in working with the farmer and makes that happen every day. I especially appreciated her thoughts on the importance of being a barista and using that experience to inform your specialty coffee career. Congratulations on receiving the roaster of the year award, thanks for speaking at Barista Nation Talks!

a cup of Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters

I really enjoyed talking and drinking coffee with Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters Kevin and Marta. Their location east of White Rock Lake was a little farther than i’ve been before but once we stepped in their space we knew we were in the right place. Kevin has been passionate about coffee for years and when they were looking for a new direction they decided to start roasting themselves 2 years ago. 

a cup of industry interviews

I had the pleasure of meeting Kim at the Counter Culture booth during SCAA. She has a job that I admire and am interested in doing and was friendly enough to tell me how she got there.

a cup of Barista Nation Talks

I am really excited about working with coffee farmers and the importance of their involvement in as many aspects of the coffee chain as possible. So when Mariana Faerron spoke at Barista Nation in Boston I was really excited to see how that worked in Tico Coffee Roasters.  Do you know where your coffee comes from? Thanks for sharing!

a cup of barista stories

How long have you been a barista? I’ve been a barista coming up on 6 years

Let me get your name…i’m Lauren Crabbe

a cup of Barista Nation Talks

Clayton from UNIC’s talk brought his years of experience working with machines to make them interesting and manageable. I really enjoyed talking to him about coffee’s tendency to enhance other flavors, and how the taste of yeast was present in a coffee because of a brewery down the street. Coffee is a fascinating product and its made better because of good machines and people to work on them. Thanks Clayton!

I will be streamlining a few things around here and making my website more manageable. I would love to hear what you think next week!

a cup of TNT