nickcho Senior Member Joined: 7 Nov 2002 Posts: 429 Location: Washington, DC Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Synesso Cyncra; 'Zocco Linea Drip: FETCO Extractor
Posted Tue Feb 22, 2005, 8:58pm Subject: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
Each one we've held has been a learning opportunity, both for us and for our attendees, and this one is gonna be something AWESOME!!!
During 'GeekFest II,' we had a little chat about coffee and espresso, and people pulled a couple of shots on our Synesso... all in all, a good time was had by all.
But for GeekFest III, we wanted to offer our guests an opportunity to share in something that would really be special, and I think we've come up with just the thing.
We're gonna ask roasters from around the country to share with us a mere 5 pounds of their finest espresso blends, and we're just gonna crank them out with our Synesso. We're hoping for at least 15 different blends to be featured, from Intelligentsia's Black Cat, to Stumptown's Hairbender, to Paradise Roaster's Classico, to Josuma Coffee's Malabar Gold to Counter Culture's Espresso Toscano, and many, many more!!! We're hoping that we can have a wide selection of espresso blends that most of us have heard of, but perhaps have had no chance to try... much less side-by-side! Each will be ground fresh, pulled with the Synesso's already-legendary temperature stability, with the P.I.D controller on the machine dialed in to that particular blend's favorite brew-water temperature. Crotched or crotchless. Double baskets or triple baskets. We're gonna pound down a s&*tload of shots!
With flavor wheels in hand, we'll taste each espresso, taking down tasting notes, sorta like coffee cupping. We'll post the tasting notes of the event on our website, for all the world to see and share in this unique event.
Sunday, March 20, 2005... 7:30pm at murky coffee arlington (location and directions on the website). We're closing down the shop an hour early, just to ease the pain a little. Monday the 21st is gonna hurt!
There is absolutely no fee to take part in this. Bring your own tazzini (demitasses) if you wish... otherwise, come with at least a moderately full stomach, and a heavy hankerin' for the best espresso blends that this country has to offer.
As always, please RSVP (requested, but not mandatory) to geekfest@murkycoffee.com. Hopefully, we won't need to put a cap on attendance numbers, but we'll have a limited number of shots of each espresso available so that we can get through the whole lot. RSVP early to confirm your spot!
We're also looking into how we can help support the SCAA Consumer Member program through this event. Stay tuned on this message thread.
Oh yeah, and the catch-phrase for this particular get-together is "NO MILK ALLOWED." Either that, or we could say, "NO SPITTING ALLOWED," but that would be just cruel.
Hope to see y'all there! This is gonna be one not to miss!
CaffeFresco Senior Member Joined: 22 Nov 2004 Posts: 95 Location: USA Expertise: Professional
Posted Thu Feb 24, 2005, 8:57pm Subject: Re: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
Damn, this sounds like a lot of fun! My book looks good for that Sunday/Monday. I'd love to come down and pull some shots of the Reserve, Ambrosia or Luna on the Synesso. Nick, please give me a ring.
nickcho Senior Member Joined: 7 Nov 2002 Posts: 429 Location: Washington, DC Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Synesso Cyncra; 'Zocco Linea Drip: FETCO Extractor
Posted Sat Mar 5, 2005, 11:49pm Subject: Re: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
The roster is filling up! We're limiting this to 20 spots, only because we want to get through all of the espresso blends and we can't go on all night long!
gvr41520 Senior Member Joined: 25 Feb 2003 Posts: 25 Location: Scranton, PA/ Vienna, Austria Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Mirage Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Fetco Extractor
Posted Sat Mar 12, 2005, 4:40pm Subject: Re: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
Nick I emailed you but to recap, at least 3 including myself, but more if there's room. 1 or 2 of us have machine experience so the others would be satisfied to taste only. Thanks!
SL28ave Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 736 Location: Rockville, MD Expertise: I live coffee
Grinder: Baratza Virtuoso Drip: Technivorm
Posted Sun Mar 20, 2005, 8:36pm Subject: Re: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
Nick, it's 10:30 PM and you all are still going at it? Don't let them leave without a doctor's note, signed by Dr Chospresso, explaining why mental motors are malfunctioning at work tomorrow.
Posted Mon Mar 21, 2005, 6:07am Subject: Re: D.C. GeekFest III - Espresso Tasting XXtravaganzza - 03/20/2005
I think a big round of applause and great deal of gratitude are due to Nick Cho and the Staff at Murky Coffee Arlington!!!!! It was an amazing sight watching the professional Baristas working there way through all 8 of the espresso blends available for tasting last night!!! Turnout was also very impressive. I estimate there were 35-40 people in attendance, drinking espresso til 11pm on a school night!!!!!
For me it was an invaluable learning experience, for both palate and technique.
Watching Ryan, Katy, Aaron and Nick pulling shots certainly made me realize that I have a lot to learn before I could even consider myself anything close to what we refer to as a "Pro Barista".
Tasting 8 different blends in about 3 hours felt like sensory overload, but it was amazing to me that I could actually perceive differences in brightness, flavor and body when comparing blends.
For those not in attendance, the Roasters providing samples included Intelligentia, Zoka, Counter Culture Coffee, Paradise Roasters, Ecco, Hines and Metropolis. Thanks go out to these roasters for their generosity in providing their coffee for tasting!!!!
Nick, once again thanks to you and your professional staff. You were all fantastic!!!
I am sure that not much sleep was had by those in attendance!!! Certainly not me!!!
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 