BEFORE I came down with a lovely case of food poisoning, I attended my first cupping at the Counter Culture training center. M'Lissa says it was probably the biggest one they've had yet. A few people looking into opening up their own shop, a couple of vets, and a certain photography someone from a magazine du cuisine. We cupped the El Salvador Santa Ana Finca Mauritania, Kenya Single Lot, and a surprisingly nice decaf--21st of September. The Kenya won me over, as well as most of the crew. Despite the common agreement of a tomato flavor, I kept getting these astonishing aromas and flavors of Ethiopian-style steamed cabbage. Delish.
Since CoffeeFest, ordering at the shop has been a little out of sorts. The fear stemming from running out of the Espresso Toscano has been sedated by pulling shots with the El Salvador. It definitely does not work as a ristretto, but has some great tangy/sweet flavors that arise when pulled longer and combined with milk. The one thing I must say I didn't particularly enjoy in this modified espresso was the thinness of the drink. Yes... looking forward to the return of the Toscano.
Before my next shift on Thursday I'll be re-vamping the Octane mailing list. In case you cant get enough ATL Gossip from this blog or M'Lissa's, feel free to shoot me an e-mail (dglasky@gmail.com) and I'll put you on the list. It'll give you reasons to come to Atlanta and hang out with us Octettes, as if you didn't have enough motivation already.
