George W. Bush began the "War on Terror" in 2001 to battle Al-Qaeda as a result of 9/11. Now, 18 years later, it has come full circle and fears of otherness have created a a war of terror on our own soil, with ICE agents detaining and imprisoning taxpaying citizens. We have literally become the very enemy that we purported to fight when the WTC fell. Rather than making our community safer, these pickups have broken up families and created feelings of suspicion and hatred of whites in the Latino community. It is shameful to see our government using these tactics to support its political positions on the wall at the Southern border and on illegal immigration. Shame!
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article226258145.html
Monday, February 18, 2019
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
How to Choose and Brew Coffee
We began roasting our own coffee five months ago, so I thought I would post some tips here on how to choose and brew coffee, which has a lot more variables than you might think!
Other questions to think about:
1. Are you crushing or grinding your beans? Are the burrs in your burr grinder sharp and changed out on a regular basis?
2. If your roast time is greater than 14 minutes, you're probably baking rather roasting your beans, leading to a flat flavor.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND BREW COFFEE
The two biggest determinants for the quality of the coffee you drink are grind size and freshness. Coffee that is too oxidized will taste stale in the cup. Coffee that is not ground to specifications of your brewing system will absorb too much water or not enough, making for bitter or watery coffee, depending.
Beyond that, the roaster determines the quality of what you drink, primarily based upon the quality of cupping (tasting) done with sample batches, the freshness of the green beans roasted (beans that were harvested over a year prior to roasting are really not worth a goddamn), and the roast level (final exit temperature from the roaster) of the bean. There are thousands of other micro-considerations, but those are the biggies when deciding on selecting, grinding, and brewing roasted coffee.
Other questions to think about:
1. Are you crushing or grinding your beans? Are the burrs in your burr grinder sharp and changed out on a regular basis?
2. If your roast time is greater than 14 minutes, you're probably baking rather roasting your beans, leading to a flat flavor.
3. How much coffee (by weight) are you using per batch?
I couldn't be more pleased with how the coffee at the Bakery has come out. We are aspiring to a light to medium roast Colombian and Guatemalan. Growing up in Massachusetts in the 80s and 90s, I was a drinker of Dunkin' Donuts, which was very good coffee at the time - in fact the coffee was as good or better than the donuts (as Dunkin grew and franchised out of state, they cheapened the product and cut corners such that by 2003 the coffee and donuts were barely a glimmer of what they once were). Another coffee of reference would be Zabar's House Blend, which is again, a very straightforward light to medium blend varieties of which can be found in bodegas all across New York City. Roasting and grinding fresh, I hope you enjoy these flavors that really take me back to the memories of my youth.
I couldn't be more pleased with how the coffee at the Bakery has come out. We are aspiring to a light to medium roast Colombian and Guatemalan. Growing up in Massachusetts in the 80s and 90s, I was a drinker of Dunkin' Donuts, which was very good coffee at the time - in fact the coffee was as good or better than the donuts (as Dunkin grew and franchised out of state, they cheapened the product and cut corners such that by 2003 the coffee and donuts were barely a glimmer of what they once were). Another coffee of reference would be Zabar's House Blend, which is again, a very straightforward light to medium blend varieties of which can be found in bodegas all across New York City. Roasting and grinding fresh, I hope you enjoy these flavors that really take me back to the memories of my youth.
Friday, February 8, 2019
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
how to deal with rejection, which is as much a part of baking as it is everything in life
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Monday, January 7, 2019
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Tech Bros and Crumb Shots
https://www.eater.com/2018/11/19/18099127/bread-silicon-valley-sourdough-tech-bros-tartine-chad-robertson
Note that Ed Espe Brown and Tassajara Bread, inspirations for Ninth Street Bakery prior to 1981, are noted in this article as grandaddys of the artisan bread movement long before Tartine and Chad Robertson.
Via KEB
Note that Ed Espe Brown and Tassajara Bread, inspirations for Ninth Street Bakery prior to 1981, are noted in this article as grandaddys of the artisan bread movement long before Tartine and Chad Robertson.
Via KEB
Friday, December 14, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Best of 2018
Local Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoogfestPartyz
Sandwich Shop: Ko Kyu Na'mean
Public Sculpture: Gay Scissors on Foster
Historic NSB FB post: https://www.facebook.
Farmer Styles: Gordon and Vera, 10 Mothers Farm
Vegetable Art: Phil Blank, https://www.instagram.
Cookie Homage: https://www.nytimes.
Action Bronson Video: https://youtu.be/-pMk7-BevBc
Pizza-making Nerdery: https://youtu.be/TyvM2fb9kdM?
Insta Foodie Pic: https://www.instagram.
Bartender: Kelsey Dawson (Ponysaurus, Accordion Club)
Brunch: The Happy Meal at Accordion Club (Hatch Breakfast Burrito, Shot of Tequila, Pickleback, Shitty Plastic Toy, Pony High Life, Sundays only)
Pop-up Dinner: Little Rocket Man
Local Baking Instagram: http://instagram.com/mere_
Beer: Edward, Hill Farmstead
Donut: Cruller, Jack Tar Diner
Album: Jassbusters, Connan Mockasin
Song: Big Shot, Kendrick Lamar
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Squirrel Hill, PA
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and communities affected by the Tree of Life Synagogue tragedy. Props to all who attended the vigil Sunday in CCB plaza - while I never thought I would have to recite Mourners Kaddish with Major the Bull, I prayed for the day when we can ban assault weapons in the US and put a dent in these psychotic shootings that leave communities ripped apart.
Please contribute by being as politically active as you feel comfortable and opposing legislators that work against gun regulation.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Bread is an intensive surface
"The Earth is a body without organs. This body without organs is permeated by unformed, unstable matters, by flows in all directions, by free intensities or nomadic singularities, by mad or transitory particles"
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
J Gold, Belated Obit
J Gold, the food critic who democratized the nation's palate, RIP. If you haven't seen City of Gold, this is a must-watch for any self-proclaimed foodie. In many ways I think of him in my travels to try every mediocre restaurant in Durham, tingling with those very mixed up feelings of futility, anthropology, discovery, banality, and a requisite amount of anticipatory excitement. May we all be as obsessed with something as Gold was with the cultural landscape of gastronomy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/obituaries/jonathan-gold-dead-los-angeles-food-critic.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/obituaries/jonathan-gold-dead-los-angeles-food-critic.html
Sunday, September 30, 2018
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