Coffee - Our Daily Passion

Juliet taught me to love coffee. Yes, I was an Italian caffe' guy from way back but I did not drink much coffee in America.

The main reason I discovered was that coffee in America was often simply not good. This, I am proud to say, is changing rapidly and has improved dramatically since I met Juliet 5 and a half years ago.

America is making some of the best coffee in the world and I would be proud to exclaim that across the pond. Our artisan coffee houses are sourcing the top 3% of the top 3% of the best beans in the world and turning them into the finest espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, cortado, americano, latte, and pour-over coffees on the planet.

Today is a tour of our little secret passion, the coffee photo. Popping a creative shot of a creative shot allows us to enjoy the little bit of roasty, warm joy for all that much longer. So, without further ado, enjoy the java!

Source: Uploaded by user via Juliet on Pinterest

Juliet is really the master of the coffee shot. Here is a link to her Pinterest Board for Coffee. Juliet's impeccable taste is evident throughout her board and I suggest you give her a look and a follow.

Snowy Tuesday Thoughts

The forecast in Denver Today: Light Snow with 0in of possible accumulation - WRONG!

My second day back in Denver is a snowy one and that has not stopped the Hipster invasion from my local happy place: CREMA COFFEE HOUSE

I have recently had the great fortune of a growing readership with special thanks to the amazing and prolific Lesley Carter and her World-Class Blog: Indulge – Travel, Adventure, & New Experiences. Lesley has built a following with her adventurous life and excellent blog that is nothing short of remarkable. I rarely envy anyone or anything, I envy this woman's passion and discipline.

As many of your reading are new to me, I thought I would share some randomly chosen thoughts and observations to give you insight into my writing and personality. I will couple this with photos from today's 0 inches of snow.

• I lived in a town of 500 people till I was 12 - It is called Bristol and it is where I began making stories I still tell

• I traveled to Italy 20 years ago this year and I have been hooked on the boot ever since.

• I heard a hipster tell another hipster this morning "I told him he was going to have to talk to my lawyer" What does the lawyer ask in payment to be on hipster retainer? A crocheted backless t-shirt? Some skinny jeans with uneven cuffs? A surly use of mislabeled irony?

• Many of my friends and family members have new babies. I am often asked to come over and meet the baby. Does an adult really meet a baby? I think we can see a baby, hold a baby, even attempt to talk at the infant; however, I would not go so far as saying we meet a baby. The baby cannot shake my hand or offer a salutary wish. I cannot ask the baby what he does or where he is from without appearing foolish. The baby will not remember me tomorrow. I think meet is not the appropriate term. I don't think anyone in 1957 asked people to come meet the baby. I don't think the 3 wise men met Jesus. They may have worshiped him, but when one of them encountered JC in the streets of Damascus some years later and asked: "don't you remember me Jesus?" Jesus said, "of course I do, because I am the son of God, a normal kid would not have the same recollection." Please don't take this badly new parents. I really like to see your children, I just won't meet them till they reach the age of memory.

• My first thought when I wake in the morning is: What can I eat?

• My last thought when I go to bed each night: I wonder what I will eat tomorrow?

• I judge myself much harder than I judge others and I judge the shit out of others.

• I would sell my first-born to Somali pirates for enough lifetime flight miles

• I try to avoid shitting in public bathrooms to an almost self-subversive level. I really need silence and classical literature to take a proper duke.

• I feel dead to myself and the world when I am not traveling or at least planning to travel

• I will not get on a plane without my wife and have no interest in travel without her. I did not get married to live a separate life and her presence brings me solace that no SRI ever could.

• I graduated college sometime between 1995 and 1997 as I am not sure when all my outstanding credits and bills were paid at my very good if very expensive university - I was scheduled to graduate in 1993

• I have a love/hate relationship with crowds. I hate to be part of one and I love to be in front of one.

• One of my favorite streets

• I love to be liked and yet I am not great at keeping my polarizing opinions to myself

More fun to come and thanks for tuning in to this cable access thrill ride.

CREMA - Denver's Finest Coffee Shop

Since arriving in the Denver area in early July, Juliet and I have made it our mission to seek out the finest coffee available for consumption in the region. After several months of research and dozens of cups of coffee in many forms our choice for the best coffee shop in Denver has to be Crema at 2862 E Larimer.

The reasons for our selection of Crema are as follows:

1. Top quality micro-lot roasted beans from exceptional sources and painstakingly managed farms

2. A gorgeous and perfectly calibrated Rancilio lever espresso machine

3. Baristas who know flavors, who take pride in their pulls (shots) and know the origins and reasons for the quality of their coffees (in essence correct flavors, acidity, and of course crema are standard)[caption id="attachment_1264" align="aligncenter" width="436"] Barista and his Rancilio[/caption]

4. The absolute best food I have eaten in any coffee shop in America (This is really the icing on the cake for me as their chef uses ingredients that express locale and flavor specificity like a much finer restaurant and at remarkably reasonable prices). The Sweet Potato Waffle at breakfast is not only the best GLUTEN-FREE pastry I have eaten, it is a top 5 waffle I have had in my life. These folks are doing it right in their cracker-box kitchen.

5. An atmosphere and a vibe that foster creativity and self-expression. This is the goal of many coffee shops and rarely is it accomplished with such aplomb as CREMA

6. It is the most photogenic coffee shop I have visited. The lighting, the planked walls, and the clientele are all fair game for the shutter geek in me.

The only cons for me are a lack of slow-bar choices. I love a good French press; however, I need my V60 fix as well and I think to hit on all cylinders this would be a fine addition to the lineup. V60 coffee is high-toned and refined like a great burgundy and thus pairs so well with food.

The Pork Belly Bahn-Mi (perhaps the best Vietnamese sandwich I have tried, and I have had many) would scream with a little V60 from a North African grower.

One other tiny hiccup is the lack of decaf slow-bar options, while there is a marked flavor hit with decaf, I often want to write for an hour + and more than one high-octane coffee drink shifts my natural ADHD to the red line. On these occasions I prefer to sip on a small French Press of high quality decaf for the whole hour and actually get something done besides cleaning up chewed fingernails from the table in front of me.

If you are a discerning lover of perfectly pulled espresso drinks I vote Crema the cream of the crop.