Muertos Coffee

I have been wanting to stop into this coffee shop since The Newton was in concept. I loved the shared space idea. Multiple businesses working together to be mutually successful is how it should be. I loved the concept, but wasn't sure how it would work in reality. It was free comic book day, so we were out and about in the area. We had had our coffee that morning, but figured, what the heck, and stopped for another.

I apologize for not blogging for a while. The personal and work life has been pretty busy lately and I just haven’t been able to find time to write. So, here is my update: I finally got my affidavit, so I have my final piece to be official. Now I can open a bank account…which isn’t going to happen for a while. Now my next steps:

I was cruising through my back log of Coffee News emails and spotted this article that caught my eye: The Barista Capsule. I had to know what it was. I have been working on coffee cart plans for a while but could never really figure it out. It was always to big or too heavy, or we couldn’t figure out how to power everything. I realize I was most likely making it far too complicated, but these guys looked like they figured it out.

V60 brewing is not a secret. There is a lot of nuance though. I find that fancier you get the more people focus on nuance. I would really like to go to a brewing competition to see how nuts they go. So, I figured I would lay out my method, which is most likely not nuanced enough to win a competition, but I do feel I can brew a damn fine cup .

When I first started, I experimented with pan roasting, concluding that it is not a good way to roast. Next, I moved to the air popper. I actually love roasting with the air popper. I have achieved some really good cups with an air popper. The problem is the volume. I can’t roast more than ¼ of a cup at a time. So I usually spend like 3-4 hours, using 2 poppers, to roast enough for home and work. The next step in the evolution of my roasting experience is a drum roaster.

Since St. Patty’s Day is coming up, I figured I would do a little piece on it. I have not actually tried it. I have had Oaxaca coffee when I was in Cancun, and the server called it “Sexy Coffee.” I don’t actually know if it is an actual cocktail or not. I am looking forward to trying my first Irish coffee.                                      So, instead I have posted a quick history and a link for how to make.

My day job has been beating up on me. I haven't even had a lunch break all week. (The joys of being salaried!) I am going camping this weekend though, so hopefully I will get a good post on camping coffee.

A while ago, my friend and I were discussing food with the owner of Village Coffee. We thought good was a loss leader, one of these things you have to have but doesn’t make any money. She argued that her food actually helped her business and was profitable. I found that interesting, because anyone who has worked in a coffee shop and has had to clear out the expired pastries knows that a lot of it goes in the garbage. So I ask, how important is food in a coffee shop?

No, this is not some existential confession. It means I finally got approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission. I’m finally a company! Now, for the next steps.

So with all the sciency stuff going on like discovering gravitational waves in the space time continuum, I figured I circulate some science myself. No, I am not a scientist. I have stated in previous posts, that I am value based (if it adds value, great; if it doesn’t, dump it). So this is how I classify science in coffee:

We made a trip up to Sedona, Az for to hike the West Fork Trail (#LifefueldbyMuertos). Because we were all driving up in separate cars, the group decided to meet up for coffee then go to the trail in one vehicle. Theia’s (http://theiascafe.com/) was the best looking coffee shop on the way to the trail.

I want to thank Ovente for graciously offering one of their stylish French Presses to one lucky subscriber. My lucky Subscriber is Kristen. Please send me an email with your mailing information. I will verify the email address and let you know when your new brewer is on its way! Next week I plan to get back to my normal blogs.

I have been given the opportunity to team with Ovente to give away a French Press to one of my blog followers. Here are the details:

I have been torn lately on how to purchase my coffee for roasting. I don’t have a lot of expendable cash and I just can’t bring myself to put my family at risk. So the biggest issue with starting is the upfront cost. I know I have talked about Kickstarter before, but after researching, it really doesn’t work unless you have an established base of followers/supporters. So the biggest expense right now is my green coffee.

I know a lot of people aren’t fans of New Year resolutions, but I am. It’s a good time to reflect and set yourself up for success. Now at risk of sounding like a self-help guru, I want to lay out my resolution for 2016. It’s pretty simple: Sell coffee to someone. This is how I plan to do it.

6 years ago my wife and I bought our first house. Once we finally got it all settled it was just before Christmas, so we made our house warming a Christmas party and have continued it ever since. Working on establishing my coffee company, I saw this as a great opportunity to convert my friends and family. I originally planned on putting up a sign to sell the extra bags I roasted, but my wife pointed out that it was tacky to invite guests over and then try to sell them. I thought about it and had to agree. IT took a little work, but I got my wife to add my brand name to the label in front of the coffee pot. The results were pretty good.

Acidity in coffee has been a conversation that I have a hard time wrapping my head around. I always equated it to crappy coffee, but it appears to be more than that. I am usually engaged in this conversation as it pertains to "low acid coffees" or cold brewing.

I have said many times before that I work in an office for my day job. The coffee is terrible here. It is the Maxwell House machines that has cans of tar that mixes with water and makes “coffee.” So we obviously brew our own coffee. My company is nice enough to provide filtered water machines for us. The downside is that they are too cheap to change the filters regularly. We noticed that because our coffee would taste different on different days.

I apologize for my inconsistent posting over the last few weeks. My day job had a manager leave and we moved buildings. It has kept me so busy that I haven’t been able to post. BUT…it has not kept me so busy that I cannot keep pushing the coffee dream. For those of you who follow me on twitter ( @MuertosCoffee ), you saw that I put together my first bagged and labeled coffee.

For those of you not in the area, Phoenix and the surrounding cities are very spread out. Unlike most big cities, we grow out, instead of up. Verrado is the most recent addition on the fringe of civilization. They were having an event to bring people in and look at models. Looking at model homes is one of my wife's favorite pastimes. They were offering a free coffee from their coffee shop, so I went a long.