Rumblefish Espresso

A lot has been said, and written about coffees from around the world. I’ve been to many of the places where they grow exceptional coffee beans, along with some boutique roasters. The concept is that with exceptional beans, expert roasting, then brewed at the right temperature, the coffee will be flavorful without the bitterness. A smooth, robust burst of flavor is what we all want.

Wines are much easier to predict a result. Coffee is a perishable process. You can look at grapes or beans as comparable, even the handling until process, grapes bottled, coffee beans roasted, but after that grapes are aged, and coffee perishes. Holding a great roasted sack of beans only lasts so long.

 This is where the coffee broker comes in to get you the freshes roast in coffee beans.

When the coffee says 100% Columbian coffee you are buying from a wide variety of farmers. There are huge corporate agri businesses in Columbia for coffee, with some large plantations to fill in demand. The demand is great for canned coffee ground for drip. 100% Kona coffee is kind of a rare treat where there is less demand.

Most coffee is a blend.  Some African, South American, Island coffees get mixed together, each with it’s own character. It’s more like a play where wine is more like a movie. Both can be great art, or commercial trash. They are best shared with others, but you can have that quiet escape from your day.

I’m coming back to this post to flesh it out and put in more correct information.

La Marzocco is the industry standard of Espresso machines in the world. Two technologies that make this the machine to use are the double boiler system, and the saturation of the ground coffee. The hotter the steam, with the most pressure, into the the coffee grounds makes the flavor richer with less bitterness.

When an international espresso company changed from the La Marzocco machines the only way they got away with it was because of the milk and sugar they added to the shots of coffee. Now after losing a massive market share they are once again going back to a La Marzocco machine that can make great coffee.

There is a local company here in Seattle that produces an espresso machine with similar qualities. The price is very steep, because those machines are hand made. La Marzocco has almost a hundred years of experience that has stream lined the production process of the machines they build.

La Marzocco still comes out way ahead in the richness of a straight shot of espresso. With care, and cleaning a La Marzocco machine can last for decades. It’s worth the investment.

Philip Nicolosi had a dream of owning an Italian Restaurant. What he actually had was used clothing clothing in a store front. He bought a La Marzocco Espresso machine at a flea market while he was shopping for the used clothes. He got it repaired, cleaned it up, and began selling Espresso on a busy street in Ballard in 1984.

He made a good espresso.

One day I stopped by and he had taken over the store front next door on a dream lease. He had put in ten tables, twenty chairs, with an household electric range in the back. People would come to spend time with Philip. He could cook. His father was there to help him at the start, then Philip took over.

About six months later Philip died.

Philip’s estate fought for the business with a silent partner who had made Philip’s dream come true. I mediated the lease with the land lord to keep the place open. The land lord hated the guy who had lent Philip the money. He thought that Philip was a great person, fun to be around, and an inspiration. The guy who lent the money was looking to cash in on the estate. I gave the lender a dollar to go away, and paid Philip’s mother $2,000.

The restaurant, Pasta Bella is still in the same store front. What we are doing today is following another dream.