I just learned about Firehouse Coffee Company by way of Blabber Heads blog. It’s located in Bullhead City, AZ. Wow!
Dan & Karen
1371 Hancock Road
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
928-758-5358
firehousecoffee@gmail.com
We are a traditional style coffee house specializing in fresh roasted coffees from around the world. Also provided is a wide variety of exotic teas. Our commercial roasting capabilities enable us to provide bulk specialty coffees to the restaurant demands of our community.
* Arizona Coffee Does Not Endorse Rocket Coffee Roasters or Larry Jones *
I had a chance to optimize a few more pictures from the Rocket Coffee Roasters open house last week.
Unroasted coffee beans.
Sampling the mango drinks. The hazelnut was probably my favorite.
View of the Rocket Coffee Roasters roastery where all of the fun was at.
I’ve come to the conclusion that most coffee shop owners don’t care about quality coffee and their baristas either do care, or don’t know enough about coffee to know they’re doing it all wrong.
Two major things make up quality, at a high level anyways:
I’ve spoken with a lot of people around the AZ coffee scene about this, and I gather that there is a growing frustration among coffee lovers. It’s hard to get a good espresso.
I won’t name names, but a recent trip to a coffee shop in Scottsdale resulted in meeting a barista with a huge desire to learn, but nobody to teach him. All of the educators are either working as baristas or have started their own shops. The other professionals are coffee roasters.
Arizona truly lacks an independent coffee preparation education system.
I’m really surprised that more companies or individuals don’t stand up and offer coffee consulting services as a stand alone service. With more and more coffee shop owners opening cafe’s, there are more and more people calling themselves baristas without the proper training.
How you can help…
If you think you can provide one on one consulting services to either owners or baristas, please leave a comment with your location and what you can offer. Maybe this post can act as a catalyst for improving coffee preparation in Arizona and people who desire to learn can contact those who know more.
Yes, there may be many parts to great coffee preparation, but I think the coffee community can step back for a minute and realize that starting with good tamping, grind, and other techiques could be a significant step in the right direction.
One barista at a time.
From a recent Business Week article on customer focus, we learn that most of Starbucks’ customers are repeat. I’m curious to hear from independent shop owners. Do repeat customers make up the majority of your revenue, too?
80% of Starbucks’ (SBUX) revenues come from customers who visit their stores an average of 18 times a month.
I was in Scottsdale yesterday and so I decided to stop in and visit the new Cappucci Coffee Bar which is a part of the Ostrovsky Gallery. I don’t think very many people know about it yet, because I was the only person there… and it was about 9:30 in the morning.
Actually, I must say that the barista who was there (all by himself) was brave enough to tell me that he didn’t know a lot about coffee preparation. It was probably because I asked for my typical doppio macchiato. And he didn’t quite know how to make that. Kudos to him for admitting that he didn’t have the coffee expertise. He told me that he isn’t the lead barista and was by himself for a few hours.
I was in a good mood and struck up a conversation.
After some quizzing I discovered he could make me a mocha which he did with great gusto. Afterwards, he was curious about making a macchiato for me and so I walked him through making it. The results were average, as you could expect for a newbie making espresso. The shot was poured way too fast due to an inadequate tamping job. They did have a grind-per shot though (using Illy).
Ok, enough about the coffee. I can’t call this a definitive review because frankly the main barista was not there and he said they were hiring and having a very difficult time finding applicants. If you’re a barista looking for a gig, you should look them up. If you want great coffee now, you should probably look elseware until they work out the kinks.
The space is quite amazing. Considering it is a part of an art gallery, they’ll have a big crowd on summer nights and weekends. Their are two spacious leather couches and plenty of other seats that look comfortable. I asked and they do have free wireless internet (and I saw plenty of electrical outlets).
Cappucci Coffee Bar and Ostrovsky Fine Art
7048 E. Main Street
www.OstrovskyFineArt.com or call 480-941-1600.
Here’s a photo of an Irish Cream Latte I had at Inza Coffee a few weeks ago.
Someone just told me about Drip Coffee Lounge on 7th St & McDowell and says it is quite the happening place. I’m going to have to go over there a little later and give it a try.
Drip Coffee Lounge
2337 N 7th St
Phoenix, AZ 85006
(602) 363-2900
In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running. — Jeff Bezos
I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon. — Ronald Reagan
Tucson is really alive. Flagstaff and Phoenix had better start working harder otherwise I’m going to have to rename this site Tucson Coffee.
The Arizona Daily Star has an article today about Old Pueblo Roasters and Coffee Etc. Anybody ever try their coffee?
So it’s really summertime. I think it was 115 degrees outside today.
What are some summertime drinks you’re enjoying? Has there even been any innovation in iced beverages lately? Sure, our friends at *$ have their banana drinks, but I don’t like banana’s. Have all of the independent coffee shops outsourced summertime drinks? It feels like all they’re selling is iced mocha’s.
Has anyone ever been to Ike’s Coffee & Tea in Tucson? They’re listed in the phone book and on a few blogs but I can’t find anything else out about them.
A few weeks ago I made the trek out to Gilbert, AZ and visited a number of coffee shops. I found some good ones and some bad ones. I wrote this during my visit.
Well I am sitting at Zephyr Esspresso Caffe (Gilbert Rd. & Warner) and it’s a beautiful Saturday morning. I’ve just ordered and I’m waiting for my doppio macchiato. I’m looking at the store and the first thing I have to say is the color choices are horrid. Maybe these photos will help. Why is everything painted burgundy? It is so ugly and makes the whole place feel dark and small. The chairs have really nice wood and unfortunately are invisible next to the burgundy.
The barista just walked over to my table and asked me to clarify my order. Here’s how the conversation went down.
Barista: “What is a doppio macchiato?”
Me: “Um, a doppio macchiato. It’s two shots of espresso with a dollop of foam.”
At this point the barista attempts to pronounce doppio and fails.
Barista: “What language is that?”
Me: “Um, it’s Italian for double, or two.”
Barista: “Why didn’t you just order a macchiato then?”
I gave up at this point because it was hopeless. I am happy to report that the doppio macchiato did arrive (it wasn’t that great) and so I at least got my order right, if you call a macchiato with no crema “right.”
James and Connie Lee are the owners of Zephyr and they have over a decade in the coffee business (they had a coffee shop by the same name in SF). I’m pretty sure they were the ones who took my order and made my drink. It’s confusing to me that they didn’t have some familiarity with the term ‘doppio.’ Oh well.
Just for the record I didn’t spell espresso wrong in the name, they actually do have espresso spelled as ‘esspresso’ on their signage. I wonder why. Maybe I should ask them what language it’s written in.
Maybe I’m making too big a deal about the lack of understanding with the word “doppio,” but I like to think it’s a common term.
Oh well, it’s one of the few choices in Gilbert and they do have free wireless internet. Just don’t order the doppio macchiato.
Here are a couple of photos to commemorate the occasion.
Update: Here is another sign. This shows the ‘esspresso’ on their signage. It doesn’t show the double ‘s’ on the outdoor signs but on the stickers on the door it does. Odd.
Well, it’s Friday in coffee land and that means another weekend is upon us. I don’t know how it went by so fast but it was probably the busiest week I’ve had in several months. Sorry for the lack of coffee updates around here. I’m going to try to post my review of Zephyr tomorrow. I’ve been meaning to post it, I think the photos will say more than my words.
* Arizona Coffee Does Not Endorse Rocket Coffee Roasters or Larry Jones *
I’m visiting Tucson on Saturday, August 12th with the exclusive purpose of getting coffee. Larry Jones is making the trip with me and we’re going to do some interviews, taste some coffee, and have a blast meeting people in Tucson. This is just a heads up to let everyone know about the trip. Please contact me if you’re interested in meeting up! Thanks!
