Reading this, I think Ethan makes one good point: no one is perfect and  unfortunately we do live in a time and place where even posting a comment to the Cloud is emitting tundra-melting CO2.  In this sense, we are all hypocrites and posers. However, I also think Ethan misses a larger point.

Assume for a second that artisan roasting is akin to Art. . .

Art isn’t MAINLY about the product.  It’s about the process.  Art is verbular (if that’s a word).  It’s the process and development of the artist which is reflected in what he or she makes of an object or even of life itself.  Art is an individual activity.  Individuality is its essence.

For me Duane is above all a coffee auteur.  From this small thing he created Stumptown.  When I buy his coffee I am acknowledging HIS accomplishment.  I am not a big enough fool to think drinking a certain coffee or buying any product REALLY says anything TRUE about me other than I have enough money to buy it.

Unfortunately for Duane, as you market your art, you are essentially attempting to transfer your genius to a product, and then to a customer who can afford to pay. This process is largely psychological. However,  transference like this is at the heart of most marketing today.  It is also at the root of consumerism.  Consumerism destroys souls and the physical environment too, which of course is bad (and actually boring from the perspective of personal growth). But we do this to ourselves. 

Ethan seems to forget that “consumption” of anything is the problem and not the fact that some guy from Portland who a particular magazine has styled a “Messiah” is doing his best to keep it as real as he can.

Anyway, that’s how I see it.  I think that Duane’s creation is amazing, and I am so pleased to know the genius behind it, even if just superficially, in this one facet of coffee.  Duane has CREATED his magnificent art and presented it to the world.  What the rest of us do with it is our problem not his.

I won’t address the comments about Portland here.

Eric Perkunder in Seattle

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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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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Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of accompanying my brother (Russ) on a Direct Trade sourcing trip to Nicaragua. Being the espresso machine geek I am – I’m generally in Italy, so this was a treat for me. Something that I wanted was a first had experience of Direct Trace sourcing vs Fair Trade purchases. Was there really a difference and what was it? Read the rest of this entry »