With all this talk about 'Conversations' with customers and Social CRM (to build loyalty or achieve a sale). I thought some of you might find this article on the Consumerist interesting: http://consumerist.com/tag/murky-coffee/?i=5025306&t=coffee+shop-threatens-to-punch-customer-in-his-dick.

The old adage of the 'Customer is always right' is more true today than ever (even if the guy was a philistine for wanting an iced triple espresso).

Today we tried the Kopi Luwak which I received as Christmas Gift. We did track down the source of this strange generous gift: one our favourite ISVs sent it in (the coffee people seemed to have mislaid the card). Six brave souls (Michael, Ramesh, Clay, Manisha, Terry and I) crowed into Terry's office and fired up his Mazzer Mini grinder and Exobar Brewtus machine. We had 1/4 pound of 'bold' and a 1/4 pound of 'medium'. Terry carefully measured out the beans for each shot using an electric scale and then we begun the ritual.

Wow! The first shot was the 'bold' blend. It was amazingly fresh and sweet without a hint of bitterness. There was a complex mix of tastes including a smoky citrus fruitiness which is hard to describe. The second shot was the 'medium'. Initially I thought the medium would be 'too light' - but it was surprisingly more flavourful than the first. The medium blend was one of the best shots I've ever had. Wow.

Overall - it was a great experience and everyone there seemed to enjoy themselves. It's hard to say if it's worth the $$ (considering it is 25 times more expensive that fresh super high end beans like those from Vivace). Regular drinking of Kopi Luwak is something best left to the ultra rich. I'm glad to say that I've tried it.

New Years Eve is almost upon us. For many this means Champagne or other sparkling wine. If you are in the US your best 'value for money' bet is Nicolas Feuillatte Brut for $30. It's a much better wine that this contemporaries: Moet's White Star and Veuve Clicquot which run at $36-$38 a bottle. If you want to go cheaper my suggestion is the Roederer Estate Brut (it's a Californian/French operation) which is significantly cheaper at $14.

If you feel the need to spend more this is where things get tricky. You are now faced with the decision: Vintage or Non-Vintage. Vintage Champagne will have a year clearly printed on label while the others will not. I rarely spend decent $$ on Champagne for one primary reason: most people don't appreciate it. Unless you know who is going to drink your $200 bottle of Bollinger it isn't worth opening it.

When buying 'sparkling plonk' always go cheap. The cheapest you can find. If you aren't buying good Champagne - then save $$. Champagne isn't like wine: telling the difference between $5 plonk and $10 plonk is almost impossible (sure some people will argue but trust me).

I won't start up about Sparkling Red wine. Everyone should try it at least once. However please don't inflict it upon unsuspecting guests. It's just not polite.

Here is a tip to enhance your sparkling plonk. Try and avoid doing this with good Champagne (which should be served unadulterated). Take a sugar cube (or equivalent amount of sugar) and drop it in an empty Champagne flute. Add a drop of Angustura bitters and half a shot of Vodka. Now fill the flute with sparkling wine. This will give your plonk a great kick and some decent flavour.

Finally. Flutes. If you serve Champagne in anything buy flutes you are a barbarian. Why don't you go and drink straight from the beer keg. If your guests are drunken fools (often the case in my house) then go for plastic flutes - but never plastic cups. You stopped drinking wine out of coffee mugs in university. Isn't it time to start drinking Champagne from flutes? BTW Some people also like Champagne Coupes. I've never really liked them as them always seem a bit dated. But these are vastly superior to drinking from a plastic cup.

Remember the last words of John Maynard Keyes: "I should have drunk more Champagne."

I normally shun the practice of reproducing internal Microsoft emails. However in this case it's acceptable (or at the very least it's amusing).

I'll find some volunteers in January and we'll taste test it.

---------------

From: Philip Richardson
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 6:20 PM
To: [Our Whole Team]
Subject: Strange Package
Importance: Low

I wandered into the office last Wednesday and found a fedex package on my desk. Inside was some coffee. Bizarre I thought. Some coffee company has sent me coffee. No note or anything attached. This stuff does happen to bloggers occasionally (and I have blogged a little about coffee this year). The packaging seemed kind of ordinary so I just threw it in my drawer are left. Today I went back to the office to drop something off and decided to grab the coffee. I thought I’d throw it in the blade grinder at home and just use it for french press. I then noticed a strange cat/weasel creature on the box. I then read the packaging a little closer.

It turns out that it is freaking civet cat coffee. So I have a ¼ pound of ‘bold’ and a ¼ pound of ‘medium’ from http://www.luwakcoffee.com. Price: $65 each. Yes – that’s right it’s $260 per pound. In Sydney you pay $40 USD for one cappuccino made with this stuff.

For those unfamiliar with this ‘delicacy’: It’s coffee beans salvaged from the ‘dung’ of civet cats (also deer in Vietnam) who live in the coffee plantation. Supposedly the partial digestion of the bean ‘enhances’ the flavor.

I was tempted to throw it into the fully auto machine in the kitchen and not tell anyone but it seems like a waste (and possibly an insane HR violation). If any other coffee connoisseurs out there in the team are interested we can figure out what to do with it in January.

I'm sick today, some hideous common cold. I probably contracted it during the hospital tour on the weekend (we went to inspect the palatial Microsoft funding birthing lairs). Anyway I decided to get out of the house and go for coffee. After attempting to cross the bridge to get to Vivace (high wind caused the traffic to be fubar) I settled on Tully's in downtown Redmond. Fearing the straight espresso I tried the machiato. Now I'm a fan of a true machiato - basically a small 'smudge' of milk on an espresso. In America it is popular to convert the machiato into a 'mini cappuccino' (I also saw this in Northern Italy in the defense of the Americans). However Tully's took this one step further: it was a mini Latte. Straight milk pour first with espresso poured on top. I dread to think what an espresso con panna is at Tullys.

Disclaimer: I am a Starbucks shareholder. I'll give Howard Schultz one thing - he is trying to restore the soul of the company. Howard: go spend a day at Vivace and Stumptown and you will see the same prices as the mermaid but x1000 times the quality. How about you just try for x100 better.

On Saturday we tried out Haveli in downtown Redmond (in a strip mall nestled between Cleveland and Redmond Way). For Microserfs: it's on the Prime Card so value for money is pretty good. Now food wise it was probably the best Indian food we've had since living in the US (3 1/2 years) however the service was probably the worst we have seen in twice as many years. Normally I'm pretty tolerant of bad service (too tolerant my wife would argue) but this was above and beyond (or should it be below and beyond).

Here is the kicker: the food was good enough that I'll go back.

I've been cheating. Not on my wife - but on my favourite coffee shop. When I arrived here I dated a few of the usual ones: Uptown Espresso, Ladro, Zoka etc. Then I found Vivace. Apart from a brief torrid afair with Victrola I've been relatively loyal. Now there is someone new on the scene. A lover whom I knew from another city (it isn't cheating if it is outside your city right?). Now they have moved here. So now I find myself neglecting the Vivace and sitting here in Stumptown. The Portland roaster's two new Seattle locations are proving to be a strong challenge to Vivace. Head to head Vivace is still better: they focus on two varieties, their seating is better and the parking is free. Vivace could improve their music selection (sitting through the Brady Bunch Album on loop at Alley 24 one day doing CRM5 planning became a little painful). However I still find myself here at Stumptown. Indulging in disloyal conduct.... throwing back their fancy Rwandan beans.

Now I know how LTG lives....

Awesome. They actually call it 'Felony Cheese Making'. It begs the question: is there misdemeanor cheese making?

via The Consumerist

I'm back from a quick five day road trip through Oregon and Northern California (down the coast and back through the inland via Portland). In Portland we dined at The Gilt Club and found the food quite delectable. We pined over their home infused vodka and marveled at the skills of their mixologist. But alas there was no drinking for use (maybe next year after the little ape comes along). Since we were in Portland we dropped by Stumptown for a quality espresso. As usual I was pleased by their product (although I found the baristas a little 'distracted').

When I returned to the office Michael mentioned that Stumptown just opened two locations in Seattle! Something to try next week...

My first stop was Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea. A sign on the door informed me that they had run out of Espresso and that I should come in for a nice cup of tea. Not wishing to encourage my former Imperial masters and their tea drinking habits I passed and walked a few kilometers down the road to Alphabet City and Ninth Street Espresso. Along the way I say only one place which looked like it might server something palatable. It wasn't a good sign. Competition breeds excellence.

Ninth Street pulls a generous sized double ristretto espresso (no dissimilar to Vivace). They appear to roast on site (always a good sign) and it didn't disappoint. It had a deep complex flavour which took me by suprise. I liked it a lot. I stayed for another and a biscuit (or cookie if you prefer). While there I made nice progress on my CRM5 planning with Mind Manager 7. I'm changing my focus a little for our release after and I need to start some serious 'deep thinking' in my new space.

I then headed North for some wandering and 'work thinking'. Next stop was Macchiato in Midtown. Hyped as the Midtown alternative to Ninth Street Espresso I had high expectations. It had an attractive sleek interior and some fine looking sandwiches. Then things turned nasty. When they ask if you want your straight espresso to go that is a bad sign. Espresso needs to be drunk within 30 seconds (some say even less than that). Their idea of tamping was a 'gently caressing' the coffee grounds in the portafilter basket. I braced myself and carefully sipped my shot. It was way too hot and ridiculously bitter.

I once gain headed south to Chelsea Market, where Ninth Street Espresso has a stand. While checking out the cool shops I indulged in another shot. Technically it was only my second - since I threw the shot from Macchiato away. Ninth Street with their combination of a 'complex tasting roast' and barista skills definitely makes it into my top five.

Cafe Grumpy was on the way back to my hotel and they now had coffee back in stock. I stopped in to rest my weary feet and escape the unseasonable heat & humidity. Living in cold dry Seattle for a few years has worn down my ability to tolerate this kind of weather. Their espresso was flawlessly executed with a masterful and attentive tamping to a perfect pull. Their roast is a little less complex than Ninth Street's but still worth it. I'll think I'll need to come back tomorrow to deliver a more final judgement. Whilst downing an ice cold Aranciata I made some more progress on my now frighteningly complex (but cool) CRM5 mind map.

Michael Lu has just landed. I'll drag him to Grumpy and Ninth Street and see what he thinks.

Oh - if anyone out there is attending the New York CRM event tomorrow - come by the technical track (in the afternoon) and ask lots of hard questions!

I finally picked up an Espresso Vivace Ergo Packer on Wednesday. My plain old tamper just didn't measure up (both in performance and diameter). It really does make a difference: the tight fit on the porta-filter and the shape of the tamper. It's a beautiful piece of equipment. Make sure you bring in your filter basket when you buy one so you can get the right size. A millimeter difference really does matter.

No one believed me: Jones Soda Seahawks Pack

Last night I dropped into Tullys on the way home and ordered a double shot of espresso (or a doppio as they quaintly call it - I felt like screaming at the teenage countergirl: "if you are going to pretend to be Italian at least make your coffee like one). Their grinding machine automatically ground the coffee beans, their tamping machine tamped the coffee, their barista (I use the term loosely), took the portafilter from the grinder/tamper over to the brewing device and hit a button. The machine then poured for a present period of time - oblivious to the colour of the actual coffee. This was my 'control' espresso. Needless to say: it tasted like burning liquid dogshit. What makes me mad about this: it's the same price as a proper coffee shop. This isn't a $5 vs $500 bottle of wine. Unbelievable. Disclaimer: I do own SBUX (sometimes it doesn't hurt to profit from the poor choices of others).

Then today I went to Vivace. My intention was to decide the Ritual vs Vivace question. Which, for a straight shot, is better. I think Vivace's blend has a more complex flavour. If I was to drink it every day (which only proximity prevents me) Vivace's dolce roast is a clear winner. However Ritual's sweet to the last drop's roast was amazing. It's the kind of shot I'd like my child to try before any other coffee: to teach them that coffee doesn't have to bitter. However I think that Vivace's subtle complexity is more attractive than Ritual's overt sexy sweetness.

Verdict: Vivace by a nose.

BTW: This is my first post with Windows Live Writer. I don't mind it. I tried the earlier betas and they were 'of similar quality to Tully's doppio espresso'.

I took an interesting walk from the W to Ritual this morning. Ritual delivered on its reputation as one of America's finest coffee houses. Their espresso was a finely pulled ristretto which was sweet to the last drop. Utterly fantastic.

I wish I could have dragged the occupants from last night's wedding table to Ritual. They had been discussing their favourite brand of coffee: folgers (I won't even dignify it with capitalisation - let alone a link). If they knew that such elixir, such as Ritual's espresso, existed they would abandon their camel piss.

Here is my new cafe lineup:

1) Campos (Newtown, NSW, Australia)
2) Espresso Vivace (Seattle, WA, USA)
3) Ritual (San Francisco, CA, USA)
4) 2kf (Mona Vale, NSW, Australia)
5) Stumptown (Portland, OR, USA)
6) Anywhere in Melbourne (VIC, Australia)
7) Anywhere in Leichhardt (NSW, Australia)
8) Victrola (Seattle, WA, USA)
9) Anywhere in Italy that doesn't cater to tourists
10) Zoka (Seattle, WA, USA)
11) Segafredo (Shinjuku, Japan)

Note Italy is ranked low. The Italians make great coffee: but they don't take it seriously enough (not neccessarily a bad thing).

Update: I re-ordered some of the cafes and added Stumptown (which I totally forgot about - Sorry Rory). Went back to Ritual on Monday/Tuesday and it was good good good. It came close to displacing Vivace at #2.

Clover Moore is proposing a Small Bars bill in NSW parliament. If you've been to Sydney you'll know that most places are filled with the evil poker machine (aka slot machines). I believe NSW has the more machines/people than anywhere else in the world (including Nevada). Sure - the pokies are great for government revenue - but not great for a night out. Even Russell Crowe (now the co-emperor of South Sydney Rugby) is planning to take the club pokies free.

When I go out to drink: I want to drink. I don't want people smoking. I don't want people gambling (a casino is never like a James Bond movie - so get over it).