The Tucson Weekly has published an interview with Tucson barista and owner of Cafe Van Go, Jason Calhoon. In the interview Calhoon answers questions about his arrangement with Bookmans (they are in the parking lot next to Bookmans). Cafe Van Go 1930 E Grant Rd Tucson, AZ 85719 (In the parking lot of Bookmans Used Book Store) Twitter: @cafevango
Psyd Technically, *$’s didn’t use a misnomer, they just confused the coffee-buying, (or, ‘not-coffee’ buying) public as to the difference between a latte macchiatto (or, ‘marked milk’) and a caffe macchiatto, (or ‘marked coffee’). One is steamed milk marked with a half shot or shot of espresso, the other is a shot, or doppio, marked with a bit of foam. Traditionally, just ‘macchiatto’ means that you’re asking for the espresso marked with foam. If it’s preceeded by ‘latte’, ‘vanilla’, ‘caramel’, ‘pumpkin spice’ or any other sort of qualifier, here in the US you can bet they want candy, not coffee. You hand an Italian a cup of milk after he’s asked for a macchiatto, your gonna get some dirty looks, at the very least. Again, another great reason that we, as a coffee making and coffee buying group, should come to some agreement on some sort of lexicon. 0 Reply September 3, 2009
jc First thing the article had a lot of things that were worded wrong and not exactlly what I said. For one they printed my name as “Josh” when we had several emails back and forth and clearly stats my name as Jason. And not to mention the actual interview was on tape I said and spelled my name for them. Second I was just stated the fact that *$ makes people think that a giant carmel thing is a machiatto and I carry a espresso machiatto. There’s a lot of stuff they didn’t put in there like anything about my coffee or Clover. It’s cool that I got the write up but just wish some of the info from the interview was printed rather than what was. It’s was unfortunate that I was mis quoted…. 0 Reply September 3, 2009
Scott Josh is the evil twin. She was lucky she didn’t get a frappaccino. Although, had she had any caffiene, her accuracy may have improved. 0 Reply September 4, 2009
Tom Maegdlin I asked a ****bucks worker once why they decided to call a caramel latte a macchiatto. This individual who worked at the Pikes Place ****bucks told me it was because they “mark” the top of the drink with caramel. I remember when I asked why they would call a latte with caramel something that it obviously was not, this individual arrogantly (and with a smug sense of self-satisfaction) responded that the company “was setting the standard in the industry.” On one hand I agree with that assertion. In their industry they are setting the standard. I am not in the same industry though. I specialize in selling coffee; they specialize in selling sugar and fat. There is my new philosophy. I don’t consider ****bucks a competitor because when It comes to coffee, they can’t compete with me. Here is our industrial dilemma. How do we switch convert the sugar and fat drinkers to becoming coffee drinkers? 0 Reply September 4, 2009
Randall Who’s coffee do you use Jason? I’m always interested to find out where really good baristas get their coffee… 0 Reply September 6, 2009
Psyd That’s what letters to the editor are all about, there Josh. You’re never gonna live that one down, you know… Anyhoo, it deserves a call to their editor, at least, if not a letter. If they get a reputation for lax reporting, and inaccurate information, it show in their ad sales, and that’s all the Weakly has to support it, so, they should be interested. Everyone makes mistakes, but it seems that this person was determined to make them regardless of how much help they might have received. And I’m pretty sure that Jason is still using PT’s coffee. At least he was last week when I stopped in. IIRC, it’s cause they supported him in his SWBC run? Jason, correct me if any of this is off base. 0 Reply September 7, 2009
Paul I am visiting from Chicago and have tried a few coffee houses while here. 1) Posse Grounds – Sedona – very good 2) Echo – Scottsdale – was excellent! Congratulations to the new owner, who I met while visiting. 3) Coffee Plantation – Scottsdale – was terrible, the barista mus not have known what he was doing, the shots were watery, the milk in the latte was flat and watery, not silky smooth and velvety like it should be. 4) Ravenheart – Sedona – worse coffee that I have ever drank. The young barista was definitely not trained at all on how to make a good espresso or latte. Starbucks blew this place away, thats how bad it was. 0 Reply May 1, 2010
