insects and Coffee

sugar, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, cracked black pepper, crushed coffee…

boil until sugar is melted, cool, strain.

>>>Cola Syrup.

…at this point one can add the syrup to anything: soda to make a Quick Cola Beverage. brew it like a traditional yeast soda. add to coffee …ect.

black pepper… I’d like to figure a way to get this into a coffee drink; I think it would go well, in moderation of course.

tonight I concocted a rosemary simple syrup. it is very light in flavor, I might need to try it again and use more rosemary. I’ll take it to the Cafe tomorrow and see what the baristas think.

still need to get Fraiogh onto her hot pepper drink, have her get it into the shop that is.

Emeril’s Cola Syrup Recipe:

1 cup granulated sugar
10 whole black peppercorns, cracked
1 lemon peeled (wide strips no pith), juiced and strained
1 cup water
1/4 cup crushed coffee beans
1 cinnamon stick
Whole vanilla bean(split and scraped).

Simmer all ingredients for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature, cover, and steep refrigerated for several hours(up to overnight).

Strain through a fine sieve.

Yield: about 1 3/4 cups syrup

Shot this fly down in Cape Kiwanda, OR.

The only bug I got close enough to shoot all weekend.

Got out for a short walk today… my bees(as much as one can call any Apis their own) were flying, the sun was out and I took the opportunity to hunt down some Hazelnut trees… to see if they were in bloom yet, and to see if the bees were collecting pollen from them.

Alas, the catkins are in bloom, at least starting to bloom, did see two honey bees in the tree a few blocks from my house… not the frenzy that I was hoping to see, but as there was not much pollen going into the hives it was no surprise.

It’s always good to see the bees flying this time of year, there is always the worry that they will not make it thru the winter, and to see the pollen coming in is true excitement… pollen being the protein source for the raising up of new young bees(with out this boon of pollen in late winter there might not be enough bees to bring a hive in to spring with any hope of survival).

This year is the first that the catkins have bloomed this late… it seems that the past 6 years they have been in bloom right about the second week of January. The weather has been very cold this winter. Most of this week is is going to be flying weather for the bees… I expect to see the pollen flowing any day now.

Expected tempuratures for the next five days: Highs: 48/58f(9/14c) :: Lows: 29/39f (-2/4c)

that’s all I had to say. sweet, heavy, cherry, chocolate, bright and
wonder-full.

elvin iPod message

A long drive to Portland last night, down… back to Oly almost as I reached the bridge, just as I was smelling the Espresso that I would have the folks from Albina Press make for me (forgot something, one of the reasons for going to PDX in the first place… Ok, so we forgot the Cello we were dropping off with the Tour Van, Mira’s crew would not have been happy at all, for a band without their instruments in no band at all). …and then back to PDX again.

Alas, woke this morning a few blocks from Extracto and got an Espresso from them (they were top on my list for this morning). Currently serving Del Sol (Vita’s Blend), looking to start roasting there own soon: it was nice, no complaints, it was like Chocolate-Cherry Water. Sweet, delicate, lighter bodied than I prefer, but no complaints, served right about an ounce in volume.

I hope I did not come across as rude for my lack of excitement to the news of them having Vita’s Del Sol, until now it has never been so good. Could be most of Vita’s Espressos have been served to me at restaurants, and we all know how that can go.

…and back to Oly again.

Got the IC I ordered from Australia tonight. I was so excited about
this I almost drove back to the LAB at work to install it in my
TimerMod that Is conected to the MDL grinder.

Alas I did not.

Tomorrow tho… I’ll have the MDL dialed in to the one-tenth of a
second. So sweet!

Oh! And yes, I am sending this post from my iPod via wifi email (got
a new iPod Touch this last weekend, hacked it with JailBreak, added a
bunch of applications one of which is email… So Sweet… Such a Geek).

elvin iPod message

I know. It has been a month now since my return from Mexico, but… here are a coulpe a Insect photos that I just had to share here on the Blog. There are more on the FLICKR site, and soon… soon there will be more from that trip and some of the shots I got around Olympia and Atlanta last year (well last summer, yeah… that does not sound as bad).

Moth in Playa del Carmen >>>

I know. It has been a month now since my return from Mexico, but… here are a coulpe a Insect photos that I just had to share here on the Blog. There are more on the FLICKR site, and soon… soon there will be more from that trip and some of the shots I got around Olympia and Atlanta last year (well last summer, yeah… that does not sound as bad).

<<< Wasp, or maybe a Fly? Technicaly speaking.

Today was just warm enough that the bees were flying.

Seems there is always at least one warm week in January, here in the Olympia area, giving the honey bees a chance to get out and make cleansing flights (honey bees do not hibernate, and do not defecate in their hives, the warm weeks in the middle on winter give them opportunity to get out and empty their bowels. Makes for health bees, not having to pinch it in too long). These warm weeks in this part of the country are the same weeks that the Alders and the Hazelnuts bloom, (catkins, I’ll try and get out this week and shoots some photos of these flowers for you all, we’ll see if that happens) this too is a great boon for the honey bees, giving them a much needed supply of pollen, a protein source for brood rearing in the coming spring.

Checked the weight of the hives in my backyard, found two of them a little light, fed them some honey from last falls honey harvest, and decided that I should head out to the Farm and check on the hives there as well.

The bees at the Farm were not one bit happy to see me. Had to suit up before I even got close to them. (I move all the pissy hives out to the Farm where they are less likely to cause trouble for me; I don’t think the neighbors would be happy if they were getting stung often, or at all for that matter).

They were doing good out there. One hive dead, I think it may have been that way going in to winter… the mice had moved in and so I left it. Maybe that is why I left it there in the fall, a mouse gimmie, otherwise the mice would move in to the active hives… much more of a hassle cleaning mouse nests out of active hives in the spring.

…so I left it again. The mice will have a dry home until spring, then I’ll give’m the boot.

It has been not quite three weeks of my return from Mexico, and alas… we are in the cafe steaming up some LAC DEL; Mexican Box Milk.

Steams and froths real nice… passed out some macchiatos and cappuccinos to some customers.

I thought it tasted of Blackberry, but I think K.MED nailed it with “Fruit Loops Milk.” That is exactly what it tastes like steamed up. Fruitloops!!

Quite lovely in a cappuccino.

K.MED enjoying a Box Milk Cappuccino Treat.

Holidays are tough on getting good coffee…

Things are pretty square at the new job, rather easy that is. Nothing new; banking, paper work, scheduling, covering for the folks that don’t show up for work (what is that about?). I do miss hanging about that LAB though… it has been over a two weeks since my last cupping. I have been sick, and on holiday… but none-the-less two weeks!

I did pull a few shots of Ritual Cafe’s Red Flag Blend last week in the LAB; Oliver was down that way and picked some up to bring back>>>

Notes on Ritual’s Red Flag Blend:

Roast Date 12-06-07 : Extraction Date 12-18-07

18-19 grams : 200F : 1.25 to 1.5 oz. : 24-30 sec.

Fruit, Fruit, Fruit… Papaya with Lime… Lemony, Bright (not like a lime bomb tho), Light Body, Tropical fruit, pineapple, thin, Touch of earthiness >>> like oak or peat? Big African flavors. Overall pleasant.

It was literally a few shots, only had enough to pull three doubles and it was gone. First shot 12 seconds, second 29, third 25. Not the best scenario to judge an espresso blend. That and I got it nearly a week and a half out of the roaster.

Over all thought: Liked it, not my favorite… need to give it another go under better conditions. Oliver took similar notes the week before.