Yup, Tarrytown.

So Tuesday, I took a little trip to Tarrytown, NY. For those of you playing along, Tarrytown is about 45 minutes north of New York City. Straight up the Hudson river. Why? Coffee Labs Roasters, Inc. of course. Mike Love, owner/roaster, was kind enough to let me come up and play. You see, lately I have been wanting to challenge myself. I never want to stop learning. I feel It is one thing to go into your own shop, step behind your bar and make great drinks. You are smack dab in the middle of your comfort zone. It is another thing entirely, to step into a completely foreign environment, with foreign equipment and espresso you have never worked with and still make solid drinks. So, I began looking for opportunities to do just that. Coffee Labs was perfect. Mike is super into fostering the barista community. He is trying organize a full-scale Northeast Barista Jam and even talking to the James Beard Foundation about creating categories to recognize the roaster and barista as the culinary artists they are. Coffee Labs' head barista is Sterling Muth. Man, I wish I had found my passion as early as he has. He is talented and eager to learn anything and everything. Awesome. Not to mention, at CoffeeFest D.C., he won the Stirling Signature Beverage Open. Taking home the award for Most Creative Beverage. Good Job. Mike and his crew are doing great work up there and it was a pleasure hang out for a few hours. So, if you find yourself causing trouble in Tarrytown, be sure and swing by. Oh, and they are the reason we were able to try out Grindz. Great people.