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.

Haiku Sunday - A Collaboration of Photos and Words

So much madness

in the streets of life and only

so little solace

(Photo by Juliet Housewright from her upcoming blog SCHMEE JOURNEYS)

Lace curtains could never

recover from what they have seen 

them do to each other

Photo by Mike Fiveson - photographer and author of the exceptional blog -

Mike's Look at Life  - Mike's work and talent inspire my work each day. Follow Mike's journey through life's doorways and be ennobled.

The day was opaque

before he burrowed through the pillow

to find her sleeping

In the most banal

of images there is a story

hiding inside us

they called him king Arthur

because he was the bravest wasp

and broke the glass prison

he left his pants on

the stairs as they loved in the

doorway and the floor

confessions of a priest

often fall on the ears of 

a faceless image

he always played close

to home but once he left the confines

discovering it was lies

For Cara today

he thought as he drew color

from the image here

Blue blue blue blue blue

he whistled as he pushed the levers left

leaving only the blue

NOVO Coffee – Photos by Juliet Housewright

I took Juliet for her very first coffee cupping yesterday at Denver's NOVO Coffee. This is a wonderful process by which roasters hone the flavors in their beans and a wonderful way to fully understand the flavor complexities in great coffee.

As it turns out Juliet always gifted with an eye for beauty and interest was able to capture some fine photos on the tour of the roaster while learning to cup like a pro.

This very cool machine gently and evenly roasts 60 pounds of raw beans in 11-15 minutes and returns them to room temp in only 3.

This is indeed the fruit of the coffee tree which is quite vibrant before being harvested.

This is where the research takes place. 4 types of beans all from different countries tasted side by side to assess their quality, aromas, and flavor profiles. This appeals greatly to us wine geeks.

Of course, Erich (the genius roaster at NOVO) made us all killer espresso drinks after the class.

Like this one :-)

I will be posting a much more detailed piece on NOVO Coffee this week. I just wanted to whet your appetites for a little Java this Saturday and show off my wife's camera skills.

Like this stunning shot of leaves and sky she saw and snapped as she was getting into the car to leave. Juliet is always inspired by caffeine.

Haiku Sunday - Easter Ingredients

Left or right hands can

bring the raw to the real while

perhaps not the same

color is often

how we decide and how we

judge food and humor

words are difficult

to describe the tastes and names

of life's blood and pain

imagery: a rotting

tomato at the bottom of a well, half eaten

on one side by worms (Dr John Alvis circa 1990)

flowers come in shapes

that often bear no resemblance

to anything aliveat the end there will

be only joy in the finish but

not in the leaving

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.