Len,

Who would have known that while I was living there I could have found great coffee.

The roasters in the picture look very similar to the one at the Good Coffee Company where I bought my Termazona. They were a custom roaster in Seattle pre Starbucks and the Howard Schultz dynasty. They are now my source for green beans.

PaniniGuy wrote:Len,
Thanks for the kind words. I'm assuming you were in during the morning between Mon-Wed, which would be either Andi (short blond Hungarian accent) or Lois (dark hair older). Both are extremely competent.

PG,
It was during the afternoon and I don't recall the lady having any accent, let alone Hungarian. (Being 1/2 Magyar, I listen for such things.) Nonetheless, she WAS competent as well as consciensious.

PaniniGuy wrote:Sorry we didn't get to chat.

Indeed! Me too! Do you often frequent your own bar? I would like to meet you and will simply ask around next time I am in. What is your real (first) name?

PaniniGuy wrote:That "very large thing with 2 hoppers" is the Swift grinder, which does a pretty good job of consistent tamping (although Andi, Belle, Lois and Frank use the Mazzer and only use the Swift's decaf hopper) but is about the fussiest damn piece of equipment we have.

The beans come in once a week and whatever's left after a week becomes an employee benefit. And you're right, the baristas know when the beans come in.

Well, the barista was using it for my non-decaf espresso. Perhaps this alone will identify the barista. I suppose the barista knows when the beans come in but do they know when they were roasted?

PaniniGuy wrote:We'll have to take another look at Blue Horse to see if they changed blends recently. We like CCC a lot and have friends there, so we're fans too... but a year ago we felt our Black Cat had whatever blend Blue Horse was using beat for taste and mouthfeel. We tasted a couple of other solid CCC offerings at the SCAA show in Charlotte and we've had great shots of CCC 'spro at Murky down in Arlington, so the quality doesn't surprise us...

We might also have to make sure the folks at Intelly see this post ;-0

To put it kindly, the barista at Blue Horse wasn't very...um...accomplished. It was the coffee taste that spoke to me. Are you really going to show this to the folk at Intelly? I would be curious what their resaponse might be.

PaniniGuy wrote:In addition to trying Intermezzo on Smallman (although if you didn't like the Black Cat here, you probably won't like it there either) one other place that's trying real hard is The Vault up in Brighton Heights. Haven't been there in a couple of months. They've got a massive Nuova Simonelli (might be a 4 group) and buy from Orinoco Roasters in Maryland (three Venezuelan brothers). I believe it's owned by folks who split from Affogato. A little out of the way for a South Hills guy, but if you're ever on Ohio River Blvd...

Btw, we're living in Upper St. Clair (for now).

I get around the city quite a bit so maybe I'll give this place a try. What is the name/address?

It appears that we are neighbors. I live in Lakemont Farms (behind Portman's on Washington Pike).

Len

I was in Lebo yesterday and stopped by Aldo's and asked for "the panini guy" and was told that you had left. It was pretty interesting that the the guy knew who "the panini guy" was. He asked who he could say was calling and I told him to tell you that "Worldman" stopped by. He didn't seem to think that was too strange either.

I couldn't have any espresso since I was to have a stress test early today and had to lay off caffeine for 24 hours before the text. This was a major bummer though I was able to have 4 espresso before 07:00 that day.

Hope to catch you next time.

Len

Honestly, I have tasted coffees the world over being both a roaster, importer and agent for coffees and equipment.

I have no vested interest in La Prima, but must admit that one of their properly brewed espressos at their cafe may be one of the finest domestically roasted you can find in America.
I've had the opportunity to have coffees at La Prima's location in the strip several times and have never been disappointed.

Len,

Our baristi are supposed to know when the beans are roasted. We certainly keep telling them. It's the same day they ship, so it's Wednesday, every week. Only exceptions might be some Cup of Excellence coffees that come in separate from our weekly shipment.

There are only two of us that handle the panini. And one who does it Thurs & Fri is a woman, thus, "Panini Guy" could only be me.

But your comment harkens back to those days a dozen or years ago when us old Prodigy users would occasionally attend "chat" parties (meet with others from chat rooms) and go by our screennames... it was disconcerting to be out in public and have people calling me "wombat"...

I'm usually there only in mornings, 10-2 or so and on Friday nights if we have entertainment, although sometimes I do my "day job" out of the shop as well.

Hope the tests went well - and belated congrats on the grandkid!

PG,

Thanks for the well wishes. The tests went well and I am told I have a pretty healthy heart with no blockage. Whew...

As far as my grandson, again, thanks!


I have experienced the same thing in "chat encounters" with guys from Audio Asylum visiting guys homes in New York (3 cities) and Califormia (2 homes in the same city) plus I met a bunch of these guys at an audio show in Montreal. They kept calling me "World". Darn it, my name is Len!!! Of course, it seemed perfectly normal for me to call them "Qubit" or "Farmer" or Firefly"...but they should have called me by my actual name. LOL!!!

I shall try to stop by some moring to meet you.

Ciao,
Len

I ran out of beans yesterday (Saturday) and La Prima roasters will not be open until Monday. YIKES!!! What is one to do?

I decided to go to Mt. Lebo and see if any of the coffee bars sold decent beans and if they were freshly roasted. I ended up at Aldo's where they have Intelligentsia's Black Cat, et al for sale by the pound. I got a half pound which were clearly marked as having been roasted on 10 August (3 days before I bought them on 12 August).

Black Cat is no slouch and it is nice to know that there is at least one alternative to La Prima for emergencies. However, given the choice between Black Cat & La Prima's FTO, I (very slightly) prefer FTO.

Len

Len,
Heard you were in - Petra called to talk about "this guy who kept asking questions and was standing at the end of the service bar watching my every move..."

Anyway, sorry we missed you yet again.

We'll have to pick up a bag of this FTO next trip to the Strip so we can add it to our next bi-weekly barista tasting. Btw, The Market Place in Peters sells La Prima beans. They're open on Sundays.

Of course since LP doesn't date their retail bags you just don't know...

Rich

Rich,

Sorry to have missed you again. The barista is correct: I AM a geek!

As far as buying La Prima beans, I only buy them at the roaster since it is the only way to have freshly roasted beans; I don't even buy them at La Prima's own bars as they never know when they were roasted.

Len

Len,
Good to finally put a face to the posts. Glad you came back and caught me on duty. Sorry I had to run off and finish up the lunch panini & salads but was good to talk for those few minutes.

Hope you come back in next few days... we'll be starting voting on the employee latte art contest later tonight going through Sunday - all customers are invited to cast their ballots!

Rich