SCA Coffee Expo - Postscript

Shortly after my Sunday post summarizing a wonderful, coffee-fueled weekend at the Specialty Coffee Expo, I enjoyed a couple additional experiences thanks to long-time friend Stephen Vick of African Coffee Roasters.  At the close of the conference, I was fortunate to join Stephen and a number of coffee luminaries he’d gathered together at Dan & Louis’ Oyster Bar, a Portland institution.  I was a thrill to get to listen to the stories of people who had dedicated and sometimes risked their lives in the name of improving coffee, its producers, and consumer experiences.  A coffee hero, Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who took tremendous risks to bring some of the best coffees in the world from war-torn Yemen to America, was among the group.  Having sampled his coffees some years ago around the time Dave Eggers excellent book “The Monk of Mokha” was released, I can say without hyperbole that these Yemeni coffees are some of the most unique and wonderful offerings I have sampled.  (You can learn more about Mokhtar and his coffees at portofmokha.com.)

The next morning, Stephen facilitated a cupping at the Proud Mary roastery of some unusual coffees from a teak farm in South Sudan that is seeking to diversify their crops as teak takes 25 years to mature.  The coffee varietal Excelsa grows as a tree instead of a shrub so the farm provided samples from seven different trees to see if there were notable differences among them.    While differences were slight, the coffees were very good and very complex.  With continued coffee demand confronting the challenges of climate change, exploring new growing areas and varietals will be important.

This past week between this post and the Expo was the week of my final two retake examinations for my Q Grader License.  After a poor showing on my practice test, I spent time practicing in the kitchen and was able to get 100% on my African Coffee Triangulation.  While I didn’t get the same score on my Organic Acids exam, I was still able to pass.  The journey to this licensing started in 2014, practicing with Kyle Larson and David George in the (then) relatively new Stumptown lab.  I didn’t pass my first Q course that year but learned an immense amount from Scott Yost, Jim Hottenroth, Terry, and Rebecca during my tenure at DOMA.  Sonia Srichandar taught me in a Q Cupping Essentials class in March of 2020, just before the Great Shutdown and Black Rabbit was gracious enough to rent lab space for practice when my work shifted out of coffee roasteries. As to avoid an Academy-esque thank you speech, acknowledging all those who aided me on this path, I’ll close by expressing my gratitude to Jodi Weiser and the excellent team at Gather Coffee who provided stellar instruction and guidance during my course last August and retakes this April.

SCA Expo, Portland, Oregon, April 2023

I had the privilege of attending the Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland after a couple years away from the event.  It was reassuring to run into some familiar faces while taking in the vast exhibitor hall which features everything from packaging solutions, importers, innovative small wares, hi-tech equipment, and booths hosted by the world’s coffee producing countries.  That coffee brings people together has always made it special to me, and it does so on a global scale.  It is reassuring to be able to talk with people from every continent over a shared passion during fractious times.

After wandering the Expo for most of the day and catching up with people from various points in my coffee career, I made it a point to attend a couple evening events.  It is rare that I am forced to choose between a multitude of interesting simultaneous events but I did my best to visit a few.  My first stop was at See See coffee for an outdoor reception (merciful weather) to showcase the newest edition of the Coffee Breath podcast, hosted by the legendary Double J of Black Rabbit Service.  Then, on to a reception at Coava Coffee that hosted the design team from La Marzocco espresso machines, a company that has deepened its commitment to high quality, hand-built equipment.  It was a useful lesson in good design process and a welcome reminder that craft is still alive in increasingly automated times.  Having worked on La Marzocco’s for over a decade, I confess to an affinity for these well built, attractive workhorses.  The original founders of Portland’s “The Fresh Pot” cafes, Skip Colombo and Vin Vinci were in attendance.  These are two longtime friends, who changed the course of my life by opening my eyes and palette to how great espresso could be which in turn inspired the opening of my “Coffee Plant” cafes.  Lest I get too caught up in the Golden Age of Espresso, I’ll continue on with Friday evening.  Next, was a quick peek at Stumptown’s reception in the Evergreen space, beautifully decorated with branches of cherry blossoms.  My evening wrapped up at a non-coffee-related musical performance by high school friend Steve Ball with Will Johns and the Cream of Eric Clapton band - some world class musicians.  There’s a reason we use the phrase “Classic” Rock.

Saturday, I was tipped off about a cupping event focused on Guatemalan coffee in the afternoon hosted by Terra Negra.  I got to sample twenty two specialty Guatemalan coffees.  It should be noted, that just achieving Specialty grade in coffee is no small feat.  Agriculture is inherently challenging and terroir, altitude, and varietal only go so far.  A great deal of care, often with limited resources in places with limited infrastructure, goes into coffee production, and coffees that make the speciality grade represent the cream of these crops.  I enjoyed conversation with producers Giovanni De Paz of Family Coffee Trade and Ana Isabel Giron of El Zapote Farm.  It is truly humbling to meet people who overcome so many challenges to create such unique and delicious offerings.  I’m grateful that so many producers from around the world came to Portland and hope their trips created positive connections and financial success.

Monocle "The Chiefs" Conference, Dallas, Texas, November 2022

For many years, I’ve enjoyed reading Monocle magazine. Their global view of politics, design, community, hospitality, and the arts are shared through a unique, positive voice. Their emphasis on curating and celebrating creativity and high quality threads through their publications, retail experiences, podcasts, and events. I had the privilege to attend their first North American conference for CEO’s, CFO’s, journalists, representatives of governments, and authors in America’s fastest growing metropolis.

Prior to registry, I had a few hours to kill in downtown Dallas, so I made a quick trip to the Dallas Contemporary museum. where I experienced a moving installation by Gabrielle Goliath and a massive new exhibition by Shepard Fairey (pictured).

Next, I wandered the Dallas Museum of Art where highlights included an Octavio Medellin retrospective and of course, their sculpture garden.

Not surprisingly, Monocle found a stellar, design-oriented location in the Thompson Dallas hotel. That evening I had the opportunity to network a bit on the hotel’s beautiful ninth floor terrace where I met a number of people engaged in some truly exciting and distinctive ventures, from the revival of an old-fashioned butcher shop, to self-driving cars, to cutting-edge camouflage.
The next morning, after fetching a latte at Weekend Coffee in the nearby Joule Hotel, I grabbed a front row seat for a day of non-stop speakers, presentations, and conversation. Every speaker was engaging and everyone from the Monocle team truly embodies the warmth, humor, style, and gracious hospitality that I cherish about the magazine. After introductions, the day began with an inspired talk by Shawn Todd, the hotel developer who discussed the makings of a successful business climate and downtown. As someone who owned a business in downtown Portland, Oregon for nearly a decade, these themes were especially compelling.
Some of the day’s additional highlights included Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S. who spoke on the importance of apprenticeship and teaching trades. Rebecca Wesson Darwin (pictured below with Sophie Grove and Tyler Brule), the founder of Garden & Gun Magazine, touched on the nuance of people enjoying both the “high and low” in their lifestyle, for example, by frequenting dive bars and fancy hotels on a particular trip.

Ryan Anderson of Miller/Knoll discussed the future of the office and two outstanding figures from Mexican hospitality, Elena Reygadas and Rafael Michael (pictured below) touched on relevant topics of community, personnel retention, and mentorship in their fields.

Bruce Pask of Bergdorf Goodman and the legendary Sid Mashburn rounded out discussion of fashion and retail environments, with Sid offering some especially thoughtful words on best hiring practices. Tanner Krause, the CEO of Kum & Go stores talked about how they are re-envisioning gas station convenience in a constructive way and Elliot Ackerman spoke about global security and signed my copy of his new book “2034.” There is not room to rave about each of the speakers in this particular blog post, but they were all worthy of paragraphs of their own, to be sure. The Monocle team (pictured below) wrapped up a day that went by very quickly in a manner that espoused their typical humor, grace, and positivity.

That evening, over a lovely outdoor dinner on the ninth floor terrace under stars and gentle breezes, I got to visit with even more exceptional leaders from around the world. One who stood out is Justin Smith who is attempting to create a transparent and objective news platform (for these often polarized times) through Semafor News. I also got to converse with designers from Dallas, developers and consultants from Arizona, coaches from Colorado, London journalists, and California foodies and urbanists. It was truly inspiring to be among so many talented and creative leaders from around the world and I am fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity. I’ll close with an image of my view of the Dallas skyline - until next time

East Fork Cultivars Farm Visit, February 2022

I’d been aware of East Fork’s organic farm since I first met with Nathan Howard, one of the company’s founders, back in 2016 when Oregon first legalized cannabis.  At that time, I had never heard of CBD but got a rapid education on its benefits based on research known at the time.  Most people are familiar with East Fork’s story enough to know that Nathan and his brother Aaron founded the company to farm sun-grown, organic plant medicine for their (now deceased) brother Wesley for whom CBD provided notable relief from a terminal brain condition.  In the years since, East Fork expanded into organic, sun-grown hemp, genetics, CBD-rich consumer goods, and added Ecommerce and a retail space (Hemp Bar).  Meanwhile, after some years of consulting work, my career path brought me back to East Fork, where I am currently contracted as their CFO.  


Timing aligned to provide me with an opportunity to finally visit the Southern Oregon facility with Mason Walker, East Fork’s CEO.  Mason walked me around the properties, sharing stories of his personal journey from a successful journalism career to his current role leading the company’s hemp and cannabis businesses through socially and economically turbulent times.  We meandered past the stable where the llama’s were housed when the property was purchased, a huge old barn, and various processing facilities.  When the door to the storage area was opened, one was struck with the overwhelming fragrance of pineapple and fruit - a delicious sensory wall emanating from hundreds of pounds of one of the company’s popular cultivars, Sour Pineapple.

While the fields lay dormant before the next round of spring planting, the farm was still abuzz with activity.  Farm technicians made repairs, trimmed, packaged, and held meetings to prepare for this year’s crop.  Everyone I encountered was pleasant and well-spoken.  The facilities are modest, but intentional, and a new employee shared with me how impressed she was with all the systems in place at the farm relative to her previous places of employment.  

The contrast between the East Fork farm and many of the grows in the valley, where plastic litters bulldozed spaces and hastily-erected hoop houses, is indeed stark.  Like much of rural America, many people are struggling to make ends meet, so well-financed opportunists, legal or otherwise, can influence the landscape significantly:  A reminder to pay attention to the provenance of what you purchase.  In listening to stories, it sometimes sounded like there was more enforcement around organizations that were trying to participate in the legal market than for those who were operating outside of it.  Unlicensed operations are not subject to building codes, water agreements, or regulation but in small communities, it is difficult for people to come forward about abuses when sharing such information could put a neighbor at risk, and increasingly, that of violence.

The abundant bird life on the farm was also striking.  On the beautiful morning of our departure, as the team struggled with a glitch in the State’s transfer manifest system, I wandered around the fields and oak groves, which were bustling with robins, ducks, geese, hawks, bluejays, and flickers.  If you pay attention to the skies, the lack of major urban centers in Southern Oregon means that a staggering amount of stars are visible on a clear night.  I braved the chill to stand in solitude and admire the constellations every evening I was there.   Unable to switch off my mind, I contemplated my immersion in East Fork over the past months and acknowledged that while the company strives to care for its team in every way that it can, everyone makes some sacrifice rooted in the importance of the motivations that ultimately guide the company.  For me, it’s a passion for artisanal products, helping small businesses grow, and ensuring we have genuine choices in the marketplace.  For the cultivation team, it is serving as good stewards of the land by being Farmers, not Growers.  For others, it is working in a place where idealism manifests itself in real ways while creating things that truly benefit people directly.

I’ll look forward to returning to the farm, perhaps later in 2022, to witness the fullness of the team’s efforts.  In the meantime, this year is young, and like the empty fields, quietly holds the promise of better times.  

Let Us Blog

Thankfully, it’s been a busy year, which accounts for the delays in getting this site live. Gratitude goes out to Water Avenue Coffee, Bellissimo Coffee Advisors, DOMA Coffee Roasting Company, Gluten Free Gem and Batch PDX for being the inaugural clients for a budding consultancy. Thanks for Valerie Yermal for her work on the company logo and assistance in navigating the launch of the website. Thanks to Uwe Schneider for his patience in capturing a proper head shot.