When the weather outside is frightful....

there's nothing more delightful.... than having no place to go... so enjoy an Old Wwworld cup of joe.

As Luke mentioned in his previous post, roasting as of late with an unheated building isn't the most enjoyable experience. However, we always find a way to brighten our spirits, and during last nights roast, the perfect solution was a delicious cup of fresh roasted Panama. Though lattes are generally my specialty, sometimes curling up with a fresh cup of french pressed coffee is just what I need.

Winter is the perfect season for coffee. It's cold enough for the coffee to really warm your soul and make for an extra enjoyable experience. I've had more coffee these past few weeks than I have in a while, and I don't mean lattes. It's just suiting. If I want a milk based drink at this time of year, I have a hot cocoa. Oh, and a little tip with that, if your a hot cocoa lover and have an espresso machine, froth your milk like you're making a latte and then add it to your chocolate mix. PLEASE NOTE THAT WHENEVER YOU ADD liquid to a cocoa powder to add a littttlllee bit in at first, make a paste by stirring/whisking it in, then add the rest of your hot liquid. If you have no espresso machine, boil your milk on the stove (or even in the microwave) before adding it. It makes for a smoother, more delicious cup.

Though right now cocoa isn't getting the job done. My preference is coffee and not my usual coffee regions/blends. My preferences are changing with the seasons. Normally, I prefer lighter/medium roasted sweet coffees like our Costa Rica or Peru. Now, I am enjoying the darker roasts like Dominican Republic, which I am very much looking forward to a delicious cup of when I get home.


Oh and Turkish coffee time will soon be on us again....last years was quiet potent.

-- Ashley


http://theoldworldcafe.com/

Tis the season to be busy (and cold!)

This past week has been crazy! Keeping up with our demand this week has been very interesting. I think coffee is the emergency gift for people everywhere! As always I like to give you guys a bit of a behind the scenes of what goes on here, so here it goes.

We got swamped with orders this week, and at the same time we had to refill our propane tank. This sounds simple right, after all we have done this in times past and have a backup tank for when our large tank is being refilled just in case we need to fill out orders.

So while we await our large tanks arrival we have a wholesale order to fill along with some smaller local orders, pretty standard stuff. However, the building we roast out of is not heated at the moment, and this is where things get interesting. We all go out to hook up our backup tank when it is 23 degrees outside, and the tank itself is so cold it cannot put enough pressure through the line to start the roaster...

So the next morning our big tank arrives, full, heavy and awaiting me to move it about 100 yards down a slight hill. One almost repulled hernia later we are up and running and the orders go out on time. Not the worst thing we have endured, but I could not believe that even our large tank struggled to put out pressure once it hit 1/4 tank. Apparently it will need jacketed...

Oh and what temp was it when I did roast you may wonder? Twenty six degrees F. I had 5 layers on so as to stay warm. Thankfully the roaster adds a little bit of heat to the area surrounding it!

BTW I thought the worst roasting I have had to endure thus far was the 125+ degree heat we had this summer because I am to cheap to buy an AC unit for us.....and I had to have a towel around parts of me so I did not drip sweat into the cooling tray! Now I am not sure...


---Luke



Old Wwworld Cafe

La Pavoni Romantica

When Old Wwworld Cafe first started pulling espresso shots, we used a La Pavoni Romantica. We wanted to stick with the manual lever machine, and really enjoyed learning our way around espresso and frothing milk. However, when our Elektra Barlume arrived, the La Pavoni was pushed to the side to collect dust....

Well, we decided to go back to the La Pavoni this week to see just how much it differs from the Barlume. Now, the La Pavoni is fun to pull a shot on and to froth latte milk on, but it is still just a home machine. It's crema is nothing compared to the Barlume and the pressue to the steam wand is minuscule. It's extremely difficult to get great latte milk from, though it is possible.

Overall, I was more than surprised by the La Pavoni's performance. Remembering back to when we first started using it, the steam pressure seemed too high and hard to control to froth milk. Now, I sit there waiting and thinking of how the milk must be baking. Though a whirlpool is still possible and a good frothing may occur, it is not an easy feat to pull off.


After pulling the shot and getting the milk ready, which cannot be done at the same time like on the Barlume, I was able to mark the top and have a tasty latte. Though the La Pavoni may not compare to the Barlume, it's not meant to; these are two different classes of machine. Still, the La Pavoni is fun to pull shots on and makes a great latte =D.

-Ashley

www.theoldworldcafe.com

Post blending (and blend your own number 2?)

Having issues setting up a new part of the site where we offer our current roasted selection as a post blended blend....if that did not make sense let me try again. Lets say you order a 1/4 lb of panama, and I have to run a batch meaning I now have 2 and 3/4 lbs of panama unsold. This coffee is held here for a very short time or blended into a blend that calls for it. Other coffees do not currently have blends to go in afterward and end up as mystery blend if I feel they are past their prime.....now bear in mind for me past their prime is 16 days and coffee you get at the store has probably been roasted months ago (always look for a roasted on date!)

At any rate, I am trying to set it up so our site can offer blend made with the freshest coffee on hand while its available and taken down when its not, encouraging you all to go their more often and for us to offer some crazy blends. This week I had Guat. mixed with Dom. R. post blended and it was a gorgeous cup, but unless you bought both you would not get to experience it. Now if I offered this as a post blend always I would wind up with a 1/4 lb of it ordered and a bunch of leftover (Dom. R, actually moves fast but for the sake of argument lets say it was unpopular.). If I can figure out a fancy way of coding I will keep everyone informed and show off some really unique coffee blends for you all to enjoy!

Oh and as a note, the current blends on the site are either preblended or are blend of coffees that move very quickly.


The Old Wwworld Cafe Americas best online cafe!

-Luke