Readers be forewarned: This blog entry has nothing to do with Starbucks. It’ll probably be the only one like it. As dedicated as I am to Starbucks, I still love the chance to further my coffee education wherever possible, and experience other coffee roasters’ coffees too. I recently had a chance to cup coffee with Velton Ross, and take home some of his freshly-roasted coffee. He is a very small coffee roaster in Everett, Washington. The background story is this: A coffee blogger in Florida (Mike Crimmins) asked me to write a guest blog post for him, and so I reached out to Velton Ross, hoping to feature his coffee on Mike Crimmins’ blog. Velton was very welcoming, and the result was this guest blog post here:
Introducing Velton’s Coffee (Link goes to Mike Crimmins’ Daily Shot Of Coffee blog)
^ If you click on that link, you’ll get to read about my experiences connecting with a local small roaster, and the fun we had cupping coffee on July 5, 2010.
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Velton is awesome. I cupped with him once at 15th Ave.
My comment was pointless. To add, his coffees lasted really well as they sat on the table for a while. They lost a lot less with time than anything else i’ve ever tasted. Sebastian from Seattle Coffee Works used to roast at his roastery in Everett as well, until he opened his larger shop, right next door to the smaller old one.
@Jrmy – It’s never pointless to say that someone is awesome. Your comments were very nice to hear. Velton is awesome and I had a great time cupping with him. I had first met him at 15th Ave Coffee and Tea too.
Nightline just had a short but interesting segment on the “third wave” of coffee. I hope that Starbucks expands its learnings from their 15th and Roy street level experiments and can bring some of that to other parts of the country. I’ve been a little dissatisfied with the “pour over” method (temperature as well as poor process/theater in preparation) as baristas tend to just hastily go through the process. I imagine that LEAN has something to do with that, but it also has to do with bringing the method to the masses.
Hopefully people like Velton can keep Howard and the Siren on their game and they won’t rest on their laurels.
I had read about Velton’s Bonsai Blend (got the highest rating in Coffee Review). Just tried it this week, must say it’s -very- good! I am not that articulate in describing coffees as others here – I can say that it is a complex coffee, very flavorful, bright. Recommended!
@CD – thanks for mentioning the Nightline segment – went to their site to check it out (the La Marzocco tattoo shows, ahem, dedication!).
Ok NOW you’re getting me craving other coffees too??? LOL I do the same thing. I love the starbucks and the overall reality for me is that I just LOVE the coffee! I enjoy trying out different roast blends and brands. I do like the sound of that Twilight Blend. I enjoy deep even tones to my coffee. Fantastic – thank you again!