The One with all the Consistency

Consistency. Reliability. That's all you need right?

*Tungsten Steel Burrs from Malkonig = most consistent & reliable burrs out there. 

Let's apply this to coffee; without the majority of these components being consistent and reliable, our business will fail and/or our coffee quality will suffer. (in no particular order):

• Roasted Coffee
• Customer Service
• Preparation of coffee
• Water - and all its variables
• Baristas
• Equipment
• Vendors
• Customers

How many times as cafe managers or trainers have we impressed the importance of consistency on our baristas? We sound like broken records! Tamp straight, don't over dose, weigh every shot, steam milk to the exact same temp every time, place the stamp on the bag in the right place, BE ON TIME, make sure that roasting curve is the same every time, the list can truly go on forever. Think about working bar and getting a new coffee, dialing it in and then focusing only on making it the absolute best espresso every time. What a sense of completion and accomplishment to be a consistently great barista! It's invigorating to feel like the Queen of the espresso bar, smiling at customers, and killing it in every way. That's why we do this right? 

Let's now apply this to relationships/romantic/friendship/business or otherwise, we want the following to be reliable and consistent, otherwise our relationships will fail and/or the quality of our relationships will suffer. 

• Friends
• Love
• Family
• Spouses/Partners
• Respect
• Clergy
• Neighbors
• Classmates
• Honesty
• Colleagues
• Customers
• Vendors
• Employers
• Business Partners
• Staff

Why can't we be the broken record in our relationships the way we do when working with coffee? I mean this in the best way possible. Allow me to explain; imagine if we were constantly pushing each other to be better. What if we applied the same type of commitment, care, persistency, love and energy into our relationships? What if we stood up and said more things like, "be nice to people, great job on holding the door open, thanks for the food, your service was excellent thank you for doing your job so well, thank you for sharing your experience with me, I've learned a lot" or "hey, I like you as a person, we should be friends, I've really enjoyed your time, you're really great at ________ and thank you for sharing that experience with me," or simply, "You can do it! I believe in you". 

Imagine a world, not just in coffee, but in this short span of life we have on this planet, where we truly meant and used these words everyday: "I miss you, Thank you, How are you?, I love you. I hope you are well" or simply, "Thank you for being my friend." 

Please know, I feel blessed by every one of my relationships daily, no matter how strong or distant, however; as I've aged, the struggle to love, if not simply respect, every human being has been the most challenging goal of my life. That being said, I am (to a fault sometimes) an extremely open and sensitive person, the rewards far out weigh the pain. But when it's painful, for me it's heartbreaking, I just have too much pride to show it sometimes, it's those friends that ask, don't judge or allow pride to scare them away. 

                                   

*Devorah and I became friends by risking to trust someone I knew nothing about, but that she was a superb barista and consistently was sweet to everyone. She's been one of my most reliable friends to date. #consistentlybeingfriendly

Allow me to now tie this back into coffee, service and hospitality. Remember working bar again, and you walk over to the customer that has ordered a cappuccino for the first time in your cafe. You are nervous if they'll like it, if they'll complain, etc., but you go over and ask them how they liked it anyway... right? You're curious if you did a good job, if they love the coffee as much as you and mostly that they'll return... right?  There's no pride in not following up with that customer, the pride is in following up, learning and growing from that experience right? 

I challenge everyone out there to follow up with all of your relationships that you cherish this week. Follow up with them the way you would with that novice cappuccino drinker. Why? Simply because that's how I fell in love with cappuccinos and wanted to be a barista. That barista that followed up with me changed my whole life, for one small reason. . . she was truly reliable, consistent and had my best interest at heart. She took pride and ownership in those two qualities; consistency and reliability. 

I challenge us all to bury our pride, before it buries us, just like that barista that changed my life. 

Just imagine what we could do. How cool is it to change someones life? Simply by doing what we do best = consistently taking risks and giving reliably excellent customer service. 

*Barista Camp Wisconsin - First time doing Acro-Yoga = brand new friend : ) #takingrisks

The One with the Podcast

Bottom line, I am a podcast junkie.

True story, I do not believe that we live in a generation of people that read the newspaper, watch the news or read books anymore. I know its tragic, but it's true. If you were to ask 100 people what they spend more of their time doing, watching television, listening to the radio/podcast or reading, the majority will say television.

I am guilty as sin on this note. I love to read, but I find myself so busy that I have even switched to listening to books on tape and adding more and more podcasts to my iPod, just to deal with LA traffic. I get a LOT out of them though, since I spend close to 20 hours per week in a car, might as well listen to something educational, heartwarming or inspiring... right?

Most recently though, I have noticed that there are not a lot of sources for audio media out there in the world of coffee. No one has taken the time or effort to convert some of the amazing texts out there to audio book and the podcasts on coffee that are out there, well they are boring! (Portafilter.net is exempt from this statement, but it's no longer around... so.. ) Not only are they boring, but the information in these said "podcasts" are archaic to say the least, let alone novice. I want something that appeals to the coffee professional of today, something exciting, inspiring, heartwarming and humorous. I want to listen to the conversations we have at expo and regionals, over and over again, but how?

Well, I decided during expo that I would have to take matters in to my own hands! Create a podcast that I would want to listen to and hopefully inspire others to do something similar in their lives. I do not have a whole lot of down time, but hey, what if I cut out 1 hour of television per day? (Yes I am willing to admit I watch and hour of TV per day, you know you do too).. Better yet, what if I ONLY watched television for 3 hours per week! Only 3 show I absolutely adore... or even better only 2 shows I adore and one hour of "research" on the Game Show Network?

So, that was in April and now, it's May, even though I'm HELLA busy and could probably enjoy more television or pick up another book, I decided to try and make this "inner circle" of coffee professionals more accessible to the greater coffee community at large!!

Today I recorded my second podcast. I hope to have at least 4 recorded before I start posting, so they can be posted regularly, like once per week. That's ambitious so, let's say at lead 2 per month!

We have so far covered topics like - Using "standards" in a cafe setting, why we started working in coffee and stay in the industry, and competitions - are they good or bad for the industry! I hope to cover a lot more, including processing, roasting, service, and opinions galore!

But how was I going to make this fun? How was I going to make this entertaining and not just boring? TRIVIA!! I hope that this podcast will evolve into the "wait, wait don't tell me" of coffee, or at least a high bred of that and the jeopardy of coffee! I think my first trivia guests really enjoyed the trivia and everyone is stoked to start listening!

So, my loyal readers, I ask you, please if you have any interest in being on the show, have topics for discussion, or trivia questions.. send them my way to stuffandthingscoffee@gmail.com or follow the podcast on twitter @CoffeeCrosstalk

Although it's a little costly, I am hoping that all of my friends and co-coffee lovers will love the show and some lovely folks will want to help sponsor.. but that is down the line. As of now, I need to give a huge shout out to my roommate, Tobias Renfro, who is (for now) donating his time and studio to mastering and editing the podcast. He is a digital NINJA!!

Thank you for reading and I hope to have you all on the line as we discuss "Stuff and Things; Coffee Crosstalk" and enjoy your tasty bevs... Stay tuned!

Cheers,

ALJ

The One About Nail Salons

Nail Salons are my happy place.

Much like the cafe is a happy place for many of our customers, I hold my local and all nail salons as a sacred and cherished place in my day. A place I go to make myself feel better, get pretty and have "me" time. 

What the hell does the nail salon have to do with being a barista? Or the coffee house and specialty coffee culture you ask? Well, I'm gonna tell you. . . 

Many of us, if not all of us as coffee professionals, has had a horrific customer experience at a cafe, whether it be the coffee or the customer service, 99% of the time, it's the customer service. With all these posts about the "Bitter Barista" and "How not to be a dick" articles, I thought I would respond with a different type of post. I am not usually the one to post in response to something, but in this case, I can't just turn a blind eye. 

I bring up the Nail Salon, my happy place, my home away from home. If you've ever been to a nail salon, the first thing they do is say "Hi! Honey" or "Hello my friend, what you need today?" Off the bat, a friendly greeting and an inquiry into how they can help you. 

Here is the rest of the interaction: 

"I need a mani pedi"

"Ok honey, you pick color"

I take my time, picking out the color I want, sometimes it takes one minute, sometimes up to 10 minutes depending on my mood and how indecisive I am that day. I choose my color and they are waiting patiently. 

"You go to chair number 4"

I sit in the chair, and they immediately go to work, sometimes on my hands first then move me to work on my feet, but %90 of the time they do both at the same time. Always smiling, asking me a variety of questions, "You work today?", "You have children?", and my favorite "You have boyfriend?", all just to be nice and have a little conversation and if I don't want any small talk, they pick up on it and still are just as polite as could be and any complaints I may have, they are easy to oblige. 

"Oh, there's an air bubbly thing, there in that nail, can you fix it please?" 

"Oh, yes my friend, of course."

Then when they're all done, they put my shoes on for me, take my keys out of my purse so I don't ruin my beautiful nails, they THANK ME, tell me to come back soon and I leave feeling just so amazing. 

This is the type of service that I've now come to expect from the salons. And you know what? No matter what nail salon I walk into, the service is always the same, always impeccable and always leaves me wanting more. 

Now, if that were a cafe, would I get that type of experience? Would I call it my happy place? I am sure baristas make better money than manicurists and don't work half as hard, and believe me, doing MY nails is a craft that is bar none, magical. 

I feel like making coffee is magical and would love for every barista to become more like my nail salon folk, that way I can have more happy places. 

The Traveling One

Travel: self-propelled movement

The above definition of the word "Travel" is, by far, one of the most eloquent and beautiful expressions of a word I have ever researched.

Travel defines the way I live my life.

A few months ago, I stopped blogging due to getting too busy for this form of "self-propelled movement" in my life. I write to maintain serenity and balance in my day to day living, in the hopes that  something I might write might touch someone else's life for the better.. at least that's the hope. The reality is that I write for selfish reasons ONLY. I want to, it helps me, and propels my life into growth.

With that being said, I would like to share a small, but inspiring conversation I had a few hours ago with a close friend of mine named Allison, but first, let's step back to almost eight months ago. . .

This past January, as some of you may know, I left my job. Not just any job, at the time I thought it was my "dream job", and really, at the time, it was. Below are the highlights of the last eight months:

January - Lost Job, went on a 24 day coffee tour from California to Washington via Toyota Matrix

January - February - Coffee Tour = 40 shops in 14 days in 3 states and numerous cities; made lots of contacts and friends in the coffee industry, posted on Facebook I needed a job, emailed anyone that would listen to me about being desperate to stay in coffee, emailed 113 resumes, handed out in person 32 resumes = received 6 job offers right away, and 10 others within the following 60 days.

February - Returned to Southern California, met a woman opening a new coffee house concept in my area, took the job as the Director of Coffee for a new start up company called Green Bliss Cafe, in Fullerton, CA.

February - March - Helped in opening Green Bliss, set up the first multi-roaster coffee house in Orange County, CA; got offered a job for a 3rd wave in LA that was opening 3 new locations, 2 in OC and 1 in Malibu - took the job, with the agreement I would be able to consult for Green Bliss at the same time.

March - South West Regional Barista Competition in Santa Cruz, CA - hosted by Verve Coffee Roasters -Had the honor and privilege to judge at the comp, placed 2nd in the SWRBC brewers cup competition, got MAD press = a huge amount of MORE press which = MORE CONSULTING GIGS... life gets super busy. Now I am helping to open 3 shops, and consulting for 3 more on the side, and the gigs keep coming in.

April - SCAA Event; Compete in Brewers Cup - didn't place but had an amazing experience in Portland, life altering experience, Green Bliss has it's grand opening and the coffee is amazing, people love it, I feel accomplished and now focus more on the consulting and opening the new shops I'll be managing + retraining all staff for my new company, Cafecito Organico.

May - Consulting has picked up so much, it's moved from the "hustle" category to "need a DBA" category, so I open up Red Sunshine Coffee, my new consulting and training business; while I am still helping out Green Bliss, Cafecito, and the other 3 clients I had at the time.

June - Opening up new accounts left and right, now opening up 5 locations at the same time between Red Sunshine and Cafecito; at this point I have now opened up a few accounts for some well known roasters, one of which being Verve. - Also traveling back and forth from OC to LA and the surrounding areas hosting BGA Member Driven Events, attending IDP's at SCAA to receive my Lead Instructors certificate and hosting, as well as attending more cuppings than ever in my life, I have officially started my introduction into buying green beans from an importer for a roaster, amazing experience = MORE press and being featured in the "On the Line" section of OC Weekly, which is usually reserved for well known chefs in the county. June was a super fun month.

July - Now all of my Red Sunshine clients are open, functioning well, and serving amazing coffee; my most passionate clients being at Candle Light Bakery in Norwalk, CA. . check them out, they're rad guys that just love coffee - I start having a conversation with Verve about a position they're hiring for in SoCal, sales, totally not my thing.. I say I'll keep my ears open and let folks know. - Conversation continues - I travel to Santa Cruz to meet with Verve about an "opportunity" - which I think is something along the lines of some extra cash for referring some wholesale clients to them in the LA area. . . that was three weeks ago.

And over the last 2 weeks .... - Build out is almost done at the OC location for Cafecito, only another 4 weeks BAM! Opening Day! - Hopefully. - Green Bliss is still crushing it in Fullerton, Candle Light rolled out their new coffee program, I signed another training account for Red Sunshine, and I received an offer letter to be the wholesale account manager for every Verve Coffee Roasters account south of Santa Barbara AND Cafecito's Malibu location opened TODAY! Go visit them, there is no other coffee in Malibu, and they are ROCKIN' that bar!

Today - I am going to help Cafecito open their new OC location, set them up for success and am currently working for Verve managing their SoCal wholesale accounts. . . Life is good, very, very good.


Now, I bet you're wondering, "What does this have to do with Allison?". . .

Allison and I had dinner tonight, and she is leaving her current job, has saved some money and is a bit lost, we began to discuss what she's going to do now, a question all of us young adults ask ourselves in our mid - late 20's when we transition from jobs.. "what do I really want to do?" . . and I told her the break down of my life, not just the past eight months or so, but my whole life..

I told her how I have driven cross country 4 times, my tours on the west and east coast, the people I met, the car rides, the cultures of other states, the beauty of our country, the food I ate, the coffee I enjoyed and most importantly, the liberation, independence, freedom and sheer self awareness and truth that comes from traveling alone across the country. . . remember "self-propelled movement".

When I look back at my life, all of my tipping points and paradigm shifts occurred on or around road trips and traveling; simply, getting in the car anne going way. Whether it was a good, bad, rational, impulsive, fear based or even a stupid decision, it was MINE! Without any of those decisions my life would have been stagnant, without motion. I would never had been married, traveled the east coast, been introduced to excellent coffee, or met all of the phenomenal people in my life. Nothing would ever change or move forward in my life. My world is enriched by the experiences I've had traveling all over the country alone.

Allison will be taking off 3 months of her life to make this journey. I am elated for her and overwhelmed with pride for her courage.

You see, without making that trip in January, none of the events that conspired since would have happened. Getting in the car, making the decision to just go out and enjoy my life, experience the unknown, even if it involved fear, I did it, I walked through it.. which set everything else in motion.

But you see, it was me, my decision, my choice to take the leap of faith, to start propelling my life into movement, which created kinetic energy that has manifested into my life as I know it today and my life is really rad. It's experiences like this that confirm what our parents taught us, "work hard, do your best, hard work pays off, do right and right will follow", etc. .

I'll close with this question; "What are you doing to propel movement in your life?"

The One At The Event-ish...

"The" Event.

I'll tell you what, SCAA did a great job at marketing this years expo! I mean, simply calling it "The" Event? That's pretty epic and genius. Think about it. What hipster barista doesn't want to go the this!? It is the elite, the cream of the crop, the top of the food chain, well, at least when it comes to coffee.

Then there's me, I feel like a good coffee professional, even a very good one at best, but I want to be.. Excellent, even excellent plus! Never perfect, I always want that room for improvement.

I am truly, truly blessed to be here today, blessed I have do many amazing folks that help me get here, and blessed that I get the opportunity to be a part of this superb community of coffee professionals.

I've had a hell of a time with my coffee for brewers cup, and I'm exhausted, ready for some different coffee in my life.

Cheers - and stay tuned for updates from men, to you, regarding the vent of a lifetime..

The One With Happy Accidents....

Accidents or Fate?

Was this meant to happen? Or, was this an accident? A coincidence of sorts?

How many times have we as adolescents, then teenagers, now young adults, have we asked ourselves these age long questions of why and how things transpire in our lives?

I would like to make this post a "mash-up" of my travel through Santa Cruz on my coffee tour in January, and the recent trip up to the SWRBC (South West Regional Barista Competition).. since it was entirely an accident, or fate, the way this whole journey has been weaved together.

On my "tour", which I've so lovingly referred to my road trip through coffee along the west coast, I had the very brief opportunity to stop in at Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, CA. I pulled in to SC late one night and was delighted that Verve was open until 11pm, they were polite, friendly and the coffee... well, simple and delicious, just the way I like it.

Fast forward three months, and it was time for the South West Regional Barista Competition, which I had the honor and privelege of  volunteering as a judge for the first time. The event was held at the top of the Ritt building in the downtown area of SC and one and a half blocks down from the Verve location I got to visit on the tour. I also had the amazing experience of competing in the 2nd annual Brewers Cup competition, which is a new addition to the regional competition circuit.

Let me be honest, the one and only reason I decided to compete in the Brewers Cup was because I told someone I was going to, when I was at my previous job. So, when I registered for the event, I was employed, when I was on tour I was still weighing out options for employment!

This is where fate vs. accidents come in.

About 2 or 3 weeks before the competition, I was still unemployed, I had signed on to do some consulting work, but for the most part, I didn't have coffee lined up, transportation, funds, a brewing method, nothing!! I was simply too proud to turn away from the competition, because somewhere on tour, I opened my big ass mouth about what a bad ass I was at brewing, and I would rather go broke, beg, borrow and steal to get to compete rather than bow out. My auntie always tells me, "Girl, you better bury that pride before that pride buries you!".

I was brewing some coffee at a friends house one morning, the same friends that encouraged me and gave me gas money to go on tour, and was showing them how to use their V60, grinder, and scales properly, and in my mind, I was having the debate on which job offer I was going to take, non of which were in my area of Southern California, I was moving to either Portland, Sacramento, or San Fran.. Ani and Jason were helping me with my pro's and con's list of what to do! I was torn and knew in every essence of my being tht this was one of those tipping point moments in life; whatever decision I made, it was going to change my path in life and in a very dramatic way, especially if I was moving hundreds of miles away from my from friends, family, and everything I had built up since my divorce. Was a ready to make that huge of a change again? The only thing I knew for certain, was that I needed to stay in coffee, at whatever cost.

I sat down and allowed Ani to give me a facial (I had a pretty big interview that night with Stumptown; and was really excited I might be able to just move to LA and not to NorCal or out of state). As I sat in that chair, watching "How I met your Mother", waiting for the goo on my face to dry, I scanned craigslist for any opportunity worth pursuing near home, and I saw it... an ad for a new 3rd wave opening up in MY city, a little less than 2 miles from my apartment! I sent over my resume, and right after the goo had been removed I had received a reply back from the company, Cafecito Organico, that already had 2 locations in the LA area, they're 3rd location was coming to Costa Mesa, less than 2 miles from me!

Was it fate or an accident that I happened to look at craigslist that day? I already had job offers, and had checked everyday for a month with no success, what encouraged me to do so that day? Why at the very last possible moment did this place decide to open up, right before I had to make a decision to leave or stay?

Now, I had a coffee company willing to sponsor me to go to the competition, really great coffee, and a plan in place for brewing, with a little help from a lot of friends I met through the tour, all over the west coast.

I showed up at the comp, and was just in awe to be there, no intention of winning, I just needed to make sure that my pride was in tact, that I did what I said I was going to do.

Standing at the top of the Ritt, in Santa Cruz, Ca, on Saturday night of the competition, waiting patiently to hear the finalists called for both brewers and barista competitions, I heard my name,  and just lost it! I ran up to the front of the crowd and was just elated! This was the pat on the back that I needed that said to me "hey, you're really good at brewing coffee!", I had no intention of every placing and now, I was accepting a Skate deck designed with Verve Coffee Roasters logos. At one point, another finalist, Ant from Sightglass looked at me and said "I'm so glad you look like I feel", and when I saw the photo's later, I looked like an excited five year old on Christmas morning, I felt RAD.

Now, because I had no faith in my brewing capabilities, I did not attend the amazing Mad Men themed 50's party Verve hosted that night, and I went back to my hotel room and contemplated what my soundtrack should be, and what the hell I was going to say in the presentation I was expected to give the next morning. I was unprepared, and of course, I had to perform first in the morning. Thank god my road dog for the journey, Neil, had competed before and helped me to prepare for the next morning and helping create my sound track.

Sunday morning, I do a quick run through of my presentation and before I knew it, my time had come to present before the judges.

Half way through my performance, I probably did either the best or worst thing ever for my career and decided it would be a good idea to compare my coffee to my ex-boyfriends, and getting so caught up in the performance, and the laughter I started to drain my coffee ON TOP of my pre-heat water!!!! So all my hard work, preparation (or lack there of) was futile. I had officially fucked up my coffee, it was diluted and now I had one minute to finish, I called time.

Nick Cho, the King of manual brewing complimented me on my performance and I proceeded to clean up my station and run around frantic to try the coffee I had UN-officially ruined! It tasted ok, but diluted and sweet at best. Even though my colleagues were supportive, I really just wanted to jump off the top of the Ritt at that very moment.

I had lunch at my favorite sandwich shop in SC, Erik's Deli, and awaited the results, my plan was to see who won, collect my swag and catch my flight to Vegas to work for the day..

The closing ceremonies came, and I was as restless as  kid in church, I just wanted my embarrassment to be over with. They Verve boys called up all six finalists and started to call the top 3, if I was going to place it was going to be third... it wasn't my name.

This is where it gets surreal... I painted my face with my most graceful losers smile, you know the kind you see on all the nominees at the awards show, and then it happened, they called my name!

I really wished I had a photo of my face, because I literally jumped up from the excitement!!! I walked up accepted my award, and did my best to hold back my tears.

Was the "accidental bypass brewing" supposed to happen? Would I have won if that hadn't happened? Would I have place at all if I had actually drained that water?

The whole scenario was the happiest accident I've ever had in my life. It was like falling in love, winning the big game, and graduating all at the same time.

Now, can I recreate all those happy accidents? Or was this all just fate? Or, was I supposed to place second the whole time?

Well, whatever the reason, I get the honor and opportunity to learn from my mistakes and do it all over again in Nationals in Portland in 9 days...

Wish me luck! or wish me more happy accidents along the way..

The One With The Wild Card...

One of my most favorite lines to say to someone is "Man Mac, you sure are a wild card!", or "Damn, DJ, you're a wild card!"... I say this line to people that I miss judge on the first meeting.

For example, I met my friend DJ a while back, and I had him pinned for a pompous jerk that was living on his parents money, a womanizer and a lazy yuppie. I was dead wrong! This guy has had the same girl for going on five years, is hard working and damn near one of the most down to earth people I've ever met, and I jumped to a conclusion based on a first impression and a stereotype I had run into before in this area. I guess that's why they say to never judge a book by it's cover, right?

I use this example with DJ as an interlude to my visit to my state's capital, Sacramento, California! I knew of only one good shop in city, and that was Temple Coffee! I was ultra excited to visit here because I had met the owner, Sean, at Camp Pull a Shot this past year, and just adored him to no end. Later that week he was to be the first of many to offer me a job, but above all, he was the first person in the industry to truly treat me like a professional, and I'll forever hold a special place in my heart for him and Temple because of that interaction. There is no better feeling than being treated the way he treated me, with respect, dignity, grace, friendship, professionalism and love, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.

Anyway, my road dog, Chris, and I rolled into Sacramento around 6pm and we high tailed it to Temple! I received a wonderful Panama on the SO, and we left, I had happened to come to town the ONE DAY OF THE YEAR that they were closing early for a company appreciation party! What luck!? But, I had heard of this place called Insight, just about a 1/2 mile away, so Chris and I threw some change in the meeter and headed down to Insight!!!

When we arrived I was overly impressed by what I saw! Being in the coffee industry, I know what to look for in a good shop, and this place had it all, up to and including an in house roaster, piston style lever espresso machine, a wonderful pour over bar and most importantly delicious freakin' coffee!!! Insight was arguably the best brewed coffee I had on the trip! Their El Salvador, Finca de Anconcagua, was well rounded, juicy bodied and simply perfect in every way. Ben was kind enough to send me away with a bag, and all of the fellow baristi I shared it with later in the trip were in agreement about just how simply wonderful that El Sal was! Immaculate, is the word that I would use to describe that coffee, or even more simply, it was divine! Thank you again Ben for my little piece of heaven found in Sac Town!

The more research I did in Sacramento, the more wonderfully delicious coffee I found! There are 4 excellent shops in the small downtown city of Sacramento! Temple (which now has 3 locations!), Insight, Chocolate Fish (which is located inside the city building next to the cafeteria) and Broadacre which apparently is in an old Temple coffee location downtown as well!!!

The Broadacre boys were super rad and were serving up the likes of Stumptown, Intelli and Verve, an impeccably clean and funky shop with an amazing array of artwork from a Long Beach artist who's name escapes me at the moment, that I hold near and dear to my heart!

Chocolate fish, these guys I can not wait to see at the western barista competition! This shop by far had the most amazing staff! Not owners, not management, the staff, the low on the pole baristas, (YES! THEM!), these guys and gals took the home the trophy for the whole trip in the category of customer service!!! AND, not just to me, every person that walked in the door was treated like a king, I am really excited for their shop to grow and for their roaster to refine his craft. The coffee was super good, but I think will a little more time and practice by next year it will be excellent!!! I know, I know, with a name like Chocolate Fish, it's a little uneasy to get coffee their for all you folk with dirty minds, but regardless, stop in and grab a cup, the experience itself is worth the detour!!!

All in all, when Chris and I had first pulled in to Sacramento, I had to admit that I had assumed that this place was going to be the low spot of the trip, but HELL NO!!!! The crew at Chocolate Fish even set us to some of the best damn sandwiches of our lives!!!!! Hit up Dad's if you're ever in Sac, the food is unbelievable and cheap!!!!

I judged Sacramento, before I had ever even visited there, a prime example of contempt prior to investigation! If it hadn't been for my baby brother getting ready to have a baby in April, I am very sure that I would have relocated to Sac Town, drowned in fantastic coffee and gained 60 pounds eating at Dad's everyday!!!

I am always the one that is talking about how I get so irritated that people judge me, my family, my friends, or every Tom, Dick and Harry by the way they look, talk, act, race, color, creed, and religious beliefs, but aren't we all subject to judging others, so we don't have to look at ourselves? How dare I judge and ENTIRE CITY!!!! Sacramento was my wild card of this entire trip.

 Another lesson learned. another truth about myself brought to the surface for me to see, another city to check off the bucket list, and above all another city closer to the boarder of the state!

Although Sacramento may have been the wild card of my trip, my next stop was definitely the full house that won my heart.... Until next time Sacramento, please, from the entirety of my soul, keep making great coffee and I'll keep coming. Cheers!