Coffee#1 /

Tales From Our (Very) Extended Tour of America

Anna and James from Coffee#1 have been – and still are – in America for one of the biggest Stateside coffee events. Here Anna recounts their volcano-affected experiences so far…

Unbeknownst to Coffee #1, there was the faintest whiff of disaster in the air. As we took our seats, the captain (a lady by jove!) informed us we would be flying for an extra hour as we had to divert slightly due to the erupting volcano in Iceland. Volcano? Erupting? In Iceland? Don’t know anything about it. Do you? No. Hmmmm… am sure it won’t affect us. Two Gin and Tonics please. Ice and a slice? Lovely. We settled down to the inflight movies and enjoyed the 11 hour flight blissfully unaware of all the unprecedented travel chaos that lay in our jet stream.

Coffee #1 was in LA for the Speciality Coffee Association of America’s Annual show, held over 4 days in sunny Anaheim. America has been doing ’gourmet’ coffee for a good 10 years longer than the UK and it’s always interesting to see what they’re getting up to on the other side of the pond.

As we drove up on the first morning of the event, the ears of a giant mouse and the turrets of a fantasy castle told us that we must be near Mickey’s pad. We were right next door in fact. Coffee. Focus. ‘But Disney Land’s next door‘…….forget you ever saw it! Putting all thoughts of the giant playground only seconds away out of our minds, we strolled through the doors of the Anaheim Convention Centre.

(insert pictures – Convention centre and lady holding programme and Coffee #1 cup)

Conventions are quite a surreal experience. A colourful and diverse group of people, from all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, brought together under one roof, united by a love of coffee. Farmers from South America, Africa and India mingled with corporate American types, who in turn looked on enviously at the style and innovations of the cool, young, dynamic upstarts of the coffee scene, whose stands buzzed with people seduced by laid back baristas and Bohemian vibes.

Coffee #1 loved the vibrant colours and contemporary Cuban inspired artwork at the Alterra stand (www.alterracoffeepro.com), whilst the uber cool guys from Intelligentsia (http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com) pulled out some fantastic latte art and eventually went on to win the American Barista Championships held at the event on the Sunday afternoon. With the TV cameras rolling, house music pumping and a packed audience of whistling, whooping ,cheering coffee fans, Mike Philips took the title of America’s Best Barista. Like totally awesome dude.

(Insert pictures – Alterra, Intel latte art, barista sign, competitor room, competitor sheet, judging, Diedrich roasters, brew pots)

Meanwhile, back in Iceland, the previously unheard of volcano continued to erupt. Word began to reach us of mass travel chaos. Of grounded planes. Of unprecedented disruption. Of a mysterious, invisible, deadly cloud of ash. Reminded of a chapter called The Airborne Toxic Event in Don DeLillo’s book, ‘White Noise’, we were glued to the media for an update on the volcano‘s varying output. .An Armenian taxi driver asked us how far Iceland was from Britain. We confessed we knew little about our Northern neighbour, apart from that it was where Bjork was from and that the alcohol was apparently very expensive. Iceland, he said, nodding, Iceland .…yeah.

(insert picture of taxi driver)

Our previously relaxed attitude began to stiffen. Well, we’ve got till Monday….surely it will be fine by then. We watched the updates with apprehension. Air space closed till Sunday. Airspace closed till Monday. And then the final nail in the coffin….airspace closed till Tuesday. On the phone to Virgin flights disappeared before our very eyes….I can get you on a plane on Friday…ooops no it’s gone…the next I can get you on is…..ah yes the 4th May. What?! The 4th May? Are you kidding? Nope. We’ll take it I suppose. And then a light…airspace opening on Tuesday. And then hopes dashed…a new cloud is forming….airspace closed.

With ashen (ha ha) faces we turned to the most comforting thing we knew…a nice cup of coffee. Hailing a taxi, we headed to Newport Beach (home of The O.C) and to a lovely coffee house called Kean. Kean’s owner, Martin Diedrich, is a bit of a legend in the coffee world Born and raised on a coffee farm in Guatemala, his passion for coffee was ingrained at an early age. And his passion clearly extended to the staff at his store. A beautiful antique table piled high with coffee beans from around the world sat by a robust looking coffee tree, showing customers exactly how their coffee was grown. The smell of freshly roasting beans mingled nicely with the warmest of welcomes from Kean’s baristas. We used our pigeon American coffee speak to order our drinks ‘one double tall non fat latte and a grande Brazilian brewed to go’.

(Insert pictures of taxi rank and Kean coffee sign)

We hung around the counter, marvelling at the energy of the baristas and the lively chatter of the customers. That we were in California, land of health, prosperity and the unrelenting quest for eternal youth, was undeniable. The morning coffee crowd were dressed for the gym -ladies and gents of all ages sported lycra with aplomb, cruising through the store in the latest Nike footwear with serene sunshine smiles. Non fat lattes and granola sold by the dozen, whilst personal bests and running stats were the topic of the day. Feeling a little pale and unhealthy, Coffee #1 vowed to join a gym on our return. Whenever that may be.

(Insert general Newport Beach piccies – Dogs and cats, mural, haircut, bike and palm trees)

To be continued…..

Unbeknownst to Coffee #1, there was the faintest whiff of disaster in the air. As we took our seats, the captain (a lady by jove!) informed us we would be flying for an extra hour as we had to divert slightly due to the erupting volcano in Iceland. Volcano? Erupting? In Iceland? Don’t know anything about it. Do you? No. Hmm… am sure it won’t affect us. Two gin and tonics please. Ice and a slice? Lovely. We settled down to the inflight movies and enjoyed the 11-hour flight blissfully unaware of all the unprecedented travel chaos that lay in our jet stream.

Coffee #1 was in LA for the Speciality Coffee Association of America’s annual show, held over four days in sunny Anaheim. America has been doing ‘gourmet’ coffee for a good 10 years longer than the UK and it’s always interesting to see what they’re getting up to on the other side of the pond.

As we drove up on the first morning of the event, the ears of a giant mouse and the turrets of a fantasy castle told us that we must be near Mickey’s pad. We were right next door in fact. Coffee. Focus. “But Disneyland’s next door…” forget you ever saw it! Putting all thoughts of the giant playground only seconds away out of our minds, we strolled through the doors of the Anaheim Convention Centre.

Anaheim Convention Centre

Farmers from South America, Africa and India mingled with corporate American types, who in turn looked on enviously at the style and innovations of the cool, young, dynamic upstarts of the coffee scene, whose stands buzzed with people seduced by laid-back baristas and Bohemian vibes.

Coffee #1 loved the vibrant colours and contemporary Cuban inspired artwork at the Alterra stand, whilst the uber cool guys from Intelligentsia pulled out some fantastic latte art and eventually went on to win the American Barista Championships held at the event on the Sunday afternoon. With the TV cameras rolling, house music pumping and a packed audience of whistling, whooping, cheering coffee fans, Mike Philips took the title of America’s Best Barista. Like totally awesome dude.

Reminded of a chapter called The Airborne Toxic Event in Don DeLillo’s book White Noise, we were glued to the media for an update on the volcano‘s varying output. An Armenian taxi driver asked us how far Iceland was from Britain. We confessed we knew little about our Northern neighbour, apart from that it was where Bjork was from and that the alcohol was apparently very expensive. Iceland, he said, nodding, Iceland… yeah.

Our previously relaxed attitude began to stiffen. Well, we’ve got till Monday… surely it will be fine by then. We watched the updates with apprehension. Air space closed till Sunday. Airspace closed till Monday. And then the final nail in the coffin…. airspace closed till Tuesday.

On the phone to Virgin, flights disappeared before our very eyes… I can get you on a plane on Friday… oops no it’s gone… the next I can get you on is… ah yes, the 4th of May. What?! The 4th of May? Are you kidding? Nope. We’ll take it I suppose. And then a light… airspace opening on Tuesday. And then hopes dashed… a new cloud is forming… airspace closed.

With ashen (ha ha) faces we turned to the most comforting thing we knew… a nice cup of coffee. Hailing a taxi, we headed to Newport Beach (home of The OC) and to a lovely coffee house called Kean.

Kean’s owner, Martin Diedrich, is a bit of a legend in the coffee world. Born and raised on a coffee farm in Guatemala, his passion for coffee was ingrained at an early age.

And his passion clearly extended to the staff at his store. A beautiful antique table piled high with coffee beans from around the world sat by a robust looking coffee tree, showing customers exactly how their coffee was grown.

The smell of freshly roasting beans mingled nicely with the warmest of welcomes from Kean’s baristas. We used our pigeon American coffee speak to order our drinks – “one double tall non-fat latte and a grande Brazilian brewed to go”.

The morning coffee crowd were dressed for the gym – ladies and gents of all ages sported lycra with aplomb, cruising through the store in the latest Nike footwear with serene sunshine smiles.

Non-fat lattes and granola sold by the dozen, whilst personal bests and running stats were the topic of the day. Feeling a little pale and unhealthy, Coffee #1 vowed to join a gym on our return. Whenever that may be.

mural bike palmtrees