t o n x . o r g

At 11:39am this morning I had the following strange SMS conversation with my favorite coffee-gear guru, Terry Z of espressoparts:

me: “have you ever put green coffee in the laser etcher?”
TerryZ: “no….. never. should we try it?”
me: “of course you should try it!!!”
TerryZ: “just a hole or do you want […]

There is a lot to process and a lot to say about the experience at Slow Food Nation. For now I just want to say that it felt like it was a tremendous success and thank everyone deeply for their hard work and the love they poured into it.

The coffees were amazing, […]

The ambitious, massive and inaugural Slow Food Nation, being billed as the largest celebration of food in history, is taking place in San Francisco starting on August 29th. Coffee is getting a place at the table.
Over Labor Day weekend, SF’s Fort Mason will be the site of the 50,000sq ft Taste Pavilion, presenting a […]

Congratulations are in order for Stephen Morrissey who captured the crown in Copenhagen and became the new World Barista Champion, adding another trophy to the crowded mantle at the U.K.’s nascent Square Mile Coffee Roasters.
The time and resources dedicated to these competitions by the folks who finish on top is as much awe-inspiring […]

Pushing the limits of my camera’s battery and memory card, I shot over 900 photos during the three days of the Western Regional Barista Competition this weekend in Berkeley. Mercifully, I have edited them down to a reasonable 93 non-sucky images now up on flickr. Big congrats go to Ritual’s Chris Baca who […]

Flew in yesterday afternoon… couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. Many moments of sun and the peak of fall colors. Its good to be here.

The next few days will hopefully be filled with some successful mushroom hunting and long hikes in the mountains punctuated by pilgrimages to the many espresso […]

I don’t get Facebook.
I did the Friendster thing back in the day, played with Orkut when invites to the site were a hot commodity for bored screen-dwellers, and by the time myspace appeared (and single-handedly revived the once deprecated web aesthetic of the blink tag) I lost all interest. I really don’t grasp what […]

My favorite place to get espresso in Los Angeles might now have to be Jeff Johnsen’s Choke in East Hollywood.

Intelli barista Ryan dragged me there for the first time yesterday as I’m long overdue in making the pilgrimage. The place is absolutely beautiful and if you have any desire towards scooters, mopeds, or […]

My pal James Hoffmann, who recently won the title of World Barista Champion, has thrown down the gauntlet for some equally silly barista shenanigans. His absurd latte art challenge is attracting some interesting entries, the best of which will be up for voting very soon. The exact prize is unclear, but the glory […]

Good article on superstar coffee buyers in today’s New York Times by Peter Meehan (who also wrote a great piece last December on the NYC espresso scene). In To Burundi and Beyond for Coffee’s Holy Grail we get a glimpse at the coffee hunting ways of Stumptown’s Duane Sorenson, Counter Culture’s Peter Giuliano, […]