Are you from the Pacific Northwest or do you live here (I mean in the vicinity stretching from Seattle to Portland and surrounding areas. . .  this region is sometimes referred to as Cascadia by sociologists, marketers, and even liberal separatists)?  If your answer is yes,  then this is not for you. This is for everyone else, the people that live in the rest of the world.

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I have attached a picture of the BOSCO espresso machine now in place at the Caffe Vita in Fremont.  

This machine is a classic lever machine.  The use of a spring instead of a pump to provide brew pressure is the main difference between lever machines and conventional, traditional-style espresso machines.  The BOSCO lever has no pump and motor–so brewing is quiet.  

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Are you opening a cafe or planning to in the near future?  if you are, then I may have the perfect location for you:  right next door to Starbucks! 

Pictured here is a location that is actually available right now.  It offers the opportunity to go head-to-head with the industry’s Goliath–and your new store is smack in the heart of Seattle.  The Dragon’s lair, if you will!

At first this may seem utterly counter-intuitive.  Who in their right mind would open a competing cafe next to the biggest, most successful specialty coffee retailer in the world? A company identified as one of the most powerful brands on the planet by Brandz.  

The answer of course is You!  And especially if you plan to open a Third Wave Cafe–with a focus on quality products and training, and a hands-on approach to preparing coffee and serving customers.

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The announcement at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting that the company is taking over the Ballard-based Coffee Equipment Company, popularly known as Clover, is a big deal for our our industry.  From Starbucks perspective it is a brilliant, but logical move.  But does it undermine the efforts of the independent coffee roaster/retailer?   

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For me the question of affordable luxury leads down a winding, scrambling, path of discussion around the word “luxury” itself. Like any conversation about coffee this discussion is also hopelessly mired in considerations of culture and society.  The United Nations defines the “forced isolation” of human beings as a form of torture, in certain cases.  Extended periods of isolation can lead to neurosis, resulting in severe mental illness or even death.  In contrast, traditional coffee rituals are social acts.  They bring people from a community or family together in often elaborate, though usually informal, ceremonies in which the beverage is prepared and shared according to prescribed methods, sometimes handed down through generations. This does not make coffee rituals an antidote to anything.  But it does make them a key part of healthy human behavior. In this context, the word luxury doesn’t seem to fit. The type of social ritual surrounding the preparation and enjoyment of coffee — and I would argue even when coffee is prepared and served in a commercial setting – is not really optional human behavior.  It is a fundamental requirement for living well. 

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News has reached us that Dr Ernesto Illy, the founder of Illy Coffee (as-we-know-it), has died at age 83.   I met Dr Illy only once–back in the early 1990’s, when specialty coffee equalled Starbucks, at least in Seattle.  At that time, if there was one other company that stood out for its fanatical integrity around coffee, it was Illy.  Illy was an enigmatic brand because it’s name represented far more than just a lightly roasted espresso blend from Trieste.  It represented a man–Dr Illy. 

Dr Illy was a surprising mixture of product promoter and scientist.  The famous book he co-authored, Espresso: The Chemistry of Quality, is seldom read but often quoted.  This is because ( I assume) it is a highly empirical work, based on extensive laboratory studies, in a realm that far prefers the Art to the Science of espresso.  Terms like polyphasic colloidal foam (meaning crema) make his book a conjurer’s guide for anyone who wants to approach coffee from a scientific angle and impress friends and neighbors with a magical coffee lexicon.  Yet anyone who takes even a few minutes to learn something from Dr Illy’s work stands out in a field where most people like to talk about “tiger striping” and detect hints of blueberry syrup in their roasted beans. 

As much as Dr Illy brought science to the general field of coffee, and especially espresso, he also brought good will to the Illy brand of coffee.  I remember one time at Olive Garden in South Center, Dr Illy ordered an espresso after dinner, because Olive Garden was a large client of Illy USA.  When the slightly insecure waiter brought the sloppy concoction to the table, Dr Illy tasted it, smiled knowingly, and proclaimed it, “excellent”.   I just loved that because it was the right thing for him to say at that moment, for that less-than-perfect coffee, and he knew it.  The waiter left the table with new found confidence.    

Dr Illy was a wise, good man, with a big streak of fun that ran right to his very core.  He will be missed and remembered for as long as espresso is prepared and enjoyed.  (Eric)

I am firmly of the belief that we are in midst of dramatic change in the specialty coffee industry - whereby we will see an end of the ‘average’ coffee house.

The 3rd Wave cafe has created a gap between themselves and what used to be good…or  good-enough. They’ve set the bar so high that you either need to follow suit and or get out of the way - because as we know, once you’ve tasted the best…there is no going back.  So, I believe that we will see the middle fall out of the specialty coffee scene and we’ll be left with amazing 3rd wave cafes…and those who compete on price/size/convenience (read: McDonalds & such).

By now - you have likely heard that Starbucks is testing the idea of the $1.00 coffee with free refills in a few Seattle locations. In my opinion - this is a sign of the beginning of the end for Bucks. Not that the company is going away - but that their perception or cache in the industry is done. Starbucks blew it when they moved away from manual espresso machines and dipping your toe into the ‘free refill’ arena is a slippery slope.

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We recently had the privilege of hosting a group of guys from Fratello Coffee. One purpose of their trip was to visit Slayer and witness some break through in brewing technology and experience the ability to develop new characteristics in espresso brewing techniques. Day two’s purposed was to educate them on some of the great Seattle 3rd Wave café’s and bring this knowledge back to Calgary to help their clients elevate their skills in offering excellence to their customers.14 cafes were chosen (click here for a map of our tour), all different and all excellent in what they are doing. Let the madness & caffeine begin. You can also view the entire tour on our Flickr page.

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A tour of Seattle cafes reveals that some prominent wholesale roasters are both coffee suppliers and cafe operators. This is especially true in the emerging Third Wave segment. Notably, Stumptown, Caffe Vita, and Zoka roast coffee as well as operate their own cafes. 

The dual role of these companies raises a question: Should someone who plans to open a cafe view the cafe operations of a potential coffee supplier as a competitive threat?

The answer to this question might seem obvious. Afterall, a roaster has a huge advantage in terms of their coffee price. The highest quality green coffee can be had easily for $3-4 per pound even in small quantities. And with the economies of scale that go with roasting commercially, each additional pound of coffee that is roasted diminishes unit costs.  Fixed overhead costs remain constant and at higher volumes, green coffee generally gets cheaper the more you buy.  Meanwhile buying higher quality pre-roasted coffee can cost $10-14 per pound.  This seems like a wide spread. However, there is more to this than meets the eye.

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“Coffee, c’est la mode. Or at least that’s what it seems to be at the moment, the rage of the day here in Seattle. The label of Seattle as the “Coffee Mecca” has been bestowed upon us and drilled into our minds. It’s like we’ve been programmed to purchase these energy-boosters at excessive daily rates. Fashionable in this urban setting is to walk about flaunting your cup of Joe; this cup gives you the appearance of ambition, sophistication, and flair; it is an accessory to one’s wardrobe. This is especially true for young-career driven women and men too. This cup can enhance one’s image because the thought of caffeine makes one think of the individual consuming this beverage as a hard-working, sleep deprived soldier in today’s society. A lack of sleep is a sign of power and hard work, dedication, success, and ambition to one’s career and work; and by drinking coffee, it is a sign of the need to heal the sleep-deprivation of the hard worker from their arduous work schedule, to boost their more awake-state for the individual to keep working. So, why not add a caramel macchiatto to your everyday wardrobe?– Sena”

I recently came across this critique of speciality coffee’s role in the lives of real people. I wonder if Sena is right in suggesting that the primary purpose of specialty coffee is to provide a caffeine jolt and a fashion statement for urban careerists? Is there any truth to her observations? Or should these ideas be dismissed as a wild misinterpretation of what is going on in the industry? When I’ve discussed these views with others inside and outside the coffee trade the responses have usually focused on the role of work and career in modern living, specifically the lack of balance in this area. Not coffee. Most people seem to think that coffee plays only a small part in this equation and maybe none at all. Would getting rid of coffee bring balance and perspective to people’s lives if they are determined to lock themselves in a cycle of earning and spending that enslaves them to a job or lifestyle? Clearly, there is a larger cultural question presented in Sena’s critique that focuses on many features of our society’s landscape, including consumerism and the inflated material expectations of individuals. But what about the coffee? . . .

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