Grumpy Morning

Due to Mike's unprecedented flurry of posts, I have been spurred into action..

Our friends, Chris and Caroline of Cafe Grumpy, were kind enough to let me do a little guest barista shift this morning. And, Samuel Crane (Victrola's first roaster) was very accommodating as I interloped behind his bar. They have a nice set up going over there. A two group Synesso Cyncra and a couple of Mazzer grinders. (which I'll get to later) Grumpy is currently featuring Counter Culture Coffee. We started the morning using the Toscano blend. We were pulling the shots as a fairly tight triple ristretto. The Toscano was well balanced, smooth, and slightly nutty. Mid morning we switched to the Aficionado blend. Why, because it's fun to play with coffee of course. The Aficionado had more of a candied orange peel flavor and slightly better body than the Toscano. Both of which I preferred. I know Nick Cho of Murky Coffee is using Counter Culture, makes me wonder which blend?

The grinder situation. Grumpy has a not oft seen Mazzer Kony. This is the smaller conical burr cousin of the Robur. This grinder is incredibly slow. Surprisingly so. Their Mazzer Major puts it to shame as far as speed goes. The Kony also gets terribly hot. I wonder how much sweetness is being lost due to the heat alone. I believe they have some Roburs on order and that will help a lot. (Roburs have their own heat problems but it will be a vast improvement) So, if you have been to Grumpy and think they have great espresso (which they do), go back in a few weeks, it will be even better. And, if you haven't been yet, why not? They can be found here.

I have been focused on doing barista exchange/guest barista shifts lately. I want to keep learning and progressing. In order to do that, I think it is important to work with different coffees, equipment, and methodologies. So, a big thanks goes out to Cafe Grumpy for this opportunity.