pause

words

are

momentarily

inadequate

so this shall suffice.

goodday doll.

Posted via email from Jeffreyscott's posterous

Industry Professional

If you know me, you know how much I love the consumption of liquids, and that I may be borderline obsessive about coffee, beer, and wine. 

I vividly remember the morning I fell in love with coffee, it was July 16th 2000. I was in Italy for my mother's birthday, staying in a remote Villa above a small town near Umbria. I recollect casually going outside to the back porch and finding all of my mother's friends sitting casually with steaming mugs in their hands reminiscing about the day beforehand it was a crystal clear morning, around 7AM without a cloud in sky, those kinds of mornings that Oregonians are so familiar with where the temperature is bitterly cold until noon in when it skyrockets to a pleasant 80 degrees. I needed something to warm me up, so I casually strolled back inside the Villa, found myself the thickest mug I could and poured the black liquid in to it for my consumption, or should I say to fit in and be "grown up" for the morning. 

It was not the first time I had ever had coffee before, but it was however the first time I truly enjoyed it. What fascinated me most was the sense of collection and thought that was put  in to the conversation between each sip,  the fact that everyone, though brought together for other reasons seemed to have one dominant thing keeping them connected and in common, coffee. I sat down with 9 40 somethings and contributed my side of the day before to them explaining that the winery that we had visited was not as much beautiful as it was cool because of all the broken down concrete hiding spots you could have if you were having a super soaker war. I listened to their excitement about the day before us, they listened to me, we laughed and we sipped.

For the next 5 years I consumed coffee for the social aspect and for the buzz I felt from the caffeine, thinking that this stuff is pretty cool, only for the conversation and effect.

Come late March 2005, I go to Portland for the first time by myself, I have a full day in the city all to myself but before I get started I must get my caffeine fix. I had heard about amazing coffee by a special roaster called Stumptown I had to investigate, I found the Ace Hotel. Immediately I was struck by the clean lines and modern atmosphere, beautiful wood bar and a spaceship looking espresso machine. I went to the counter and asked the Barista for his opinion of what he thought was superb, he told me that Kenya AA is something I had to try if I enjoyed "brewed coffee" so I ordered. It was a cup made by a  one cup brewing method known as the Clover, I wandered in to the Ace Hotel lobby, sat down on the couch and had my first sip of what would change my life forever. For some reason this liquid was not bitter in the slightest, it had an aroma of lemon citrus and buttered toast. The mouthfeel of the cup was full and velvety and it was then that I realized that coffee was so much more than a caffeine fix to get through your day, but a sensory experience that to me was on par with a 5 course meal at a five star restaurant and it was then that I became  obsessed.

I went home to Southern Oregon and could not stop thinking about the outlandishly remarkable my senses had encountered that morning inside the Ace Hotel. I wanted to experience it again, and again and again but even more than that, I had felt like I had discovered a secret, and wanted to share it with everyone I could. Suddenly Shari's diner coffee was on the verge of being intolerable, and nearly all the coffee served back home was not even in the same ballpark as that morning. I HAD to be a part of the industry, I wanted to share the beauty that coffee could be, but how? I was some teenage kid with black painted fingernails, an abrasive attitude in a town that knew nothing about coffee. 

I had to go back to Portland and share my experience there, it was the only way to share the product that I was so remarkably in love with. Then the question arose, "How could some kid from Southern Oregon compete with all of these far experienced Barista's who have a closely knit culture surrounding each other? How could I infiltrate this scene?" I knew that it wouldn't happen overnight, that I would need a job beforehand until I met the right people, who would recognize my passion and eagerness to learn and share. I also did not want to move to Portland without a job on lockdown, for being broke has never been my style.

Then it struck me. If i got a corporate job in Ashland, then I could transfer my way TO Portland, network with the right people and then share what I had wanted to for years.

The answer, was here.

Sure, maybe it wasn't the job I wanted to be doing, nor would I even be a barista as much as i would be a part of the machine, but they would give me health benefits, I would be able to transfer to Portland when I wanted to I would be paid above minimum wage and I would be able to peek inside the coffee industry......sort of.

I spent 7 months working for Starbucks in Ashland, I turned 18, had saved some money and it was time to move, to start my journey braking in to the Portland coffee culture. Whenever I wasn't working I would go downtown and frequent as many coffee shops as I could, trying to find the best of the best. I met Professional Barista's, coffee shop owners and the regulars at all the premier cafes. It was far easier than I had anticipated, the people were far nicer than I thought that they would be, it never crossed my mind that they had the same passion for coffee as I did, that they wanted to share THEIR experiences as much as I wanted to do, and would welcome a shop talk session at the drop of a pin. I would visit Albina Press and ogle at the beautiful latte art on every drink served. I would spend hours upon hours at CoffeeHouseNW drinking cappuccinos that were unlike any other milk based beverage that I had ever had before. I would admire the Barista's skill set, their passion and hope that maybe one day I would be able to be among the ranks of such artists. But could I EVER be good enough? These people were professional's, and I was just some kid who worked for Starbucks. These Barista's were artists, and I was a fan. Even though I was second guessing myself now, wondering if I could ever be good enough to be "one of them."

I made a friend along the way, his name was James, we shared two interests together, 1. We both loved photography (Though, he was a professional and I was an amateur) and 2. We both were passionate about coffee. He told me that he had been hired to photograph the party for the United States Barista Championship of 2008 and was going to need an extra hand. I of course was ecstatic, my two favorite things together in one night. I would be able to meet all the big players in the industry that i hadn't met yet AND take their photo's. The night came and every primary person in the entire specialty coffee industry within the United States was there. Chatting with everyone I met a woman named Mindy, who managed Albina Press and was getting ready to open up her own coffee shop in North Portland, the area of PDX I had just moved to. She needed a staff, and picked up on my passion for coffee. I explained to her my hopes and dreams for the coffee industry, how I had been a fan of specialty coffee for years and was ready to be a part of it, not just an observer. She told me to meet her at the unfinished shop to talk more later that month. I had not been promised a job yet by any means, but I felt good about it. While the economy was going downhill at an alarming rate and all my friends were losing their jobs, I felt that I needed a strong motivation to make this possible job happen. I went out on a limb and put in my notice at Starbucks which had become a comfortable "safe" job. 

"Oh shit, I just quit a great job at a terrible time without another job set up." I really REALLY needed to make this work out. With nearly no money saved at all I could not afford to be jobless more than a Month, If that.

I went in for an interview, Mindy and I hit it off quite well, but she wasn't sure if she had room for another employee, she had already hired a full staff.  I walked away from the "interview" without being sure what had happened. It was clear that if she could she would have liked to hire me, but there wasn't room. I couldn't take "no" for an answer, I NEEDED this job. I knew that if I was going to make this happen, I was going to have to be persistent, so I went back to the space 3 days later, and offered to help in anyway that I could, the shop hadn't opened yet and was still under construction we spent a few hours sanding chairs and talking about life, coffee and her hopes for what her shop could be. I returned 2 days after that and did the same thing again, the coffee shop was to open in about 2 weeks, and she told me to come to a meeting to talk about scheduling. 

I was in! I got a job at a specialty coffee shop (or what we hoped to be) but things could go downhill if we weren't careful. The staff were people who had yet to be fully established in the Industry (excluding Mindy.) 

We opened the shop, called "the red e cafe" and I was finally doing what I had been working for all these years. The shop was becoming a great success, and all the people I had been getting coffee from were coming to get coffee from me.  It was a surreal experience for me, I was finally one of them. I wasn't sure if i was good enough though, I still felt like a fan "posing" as a professional, even though the people that I admired most insisted that I was doing a truly great job. I wanted to be a competitor, I wanted to prove to myself that I was a GREAT barista. 

Last week, Mindy asked me to compete in a Latte Art Smack-down, Portland vs. Milwaukee. I wasn't sure what it meant, I knew that it had to do with pouring pretty drinks but my knowledge didn't go much further than that. I showed up to the event, and around me were all the people I had been looking up to the past 3 years, people that I knew as artists, and knew me as a customer. It was time to show my skill-set, representing Portland with 9 other Professionals. I misunderstood the rules at first, for I was in a coffee shop with equipment I had never used before I went to make a "warm up" latte to get used to the machine, grinder, pitchers, cups etc. and then was told that we were only allowed to make one beverage "shit...i blew it" however, even so I scored significantly higher than I anticipated, placing 5th out of 10 barista's, all of who I admire greatly, "did i really just pour a better latte than ( insert awesome barista name here).

Why yes, yes I did, and next time I compete, I'll be ready.

Posted via email from Jeffreyscott's posterous

Ready for Productivity

This past summe has been filled with wild adventures. I have found out such an extreme amount about myself and though, as fun and as reckless as it may have been, I think I am ready to grow up.

 

Not to say I'm ready to be an adult, as in find a well paying job, look to buy a house and find a relationship. I am ready to be productive, to begin to have a little more structure in my life and do things I really want to do, instead of just getting fucked up all the time.

 

Things I want to do:

• Read one book, every month.
• Go to montly wine tastings
• Monthly beer tastings
• Pay off debts to the bank and city
• Go out and take photos once a week
• Begin to write more often
• Roast coffee with Coava once a week
• Enroll in 2 (mabye 3) fun classes at  Portland Community College
• Cut back on smoking
• Start saving money

I am also going to start organizing and writing things down more often. Never leave home without my notebook/planner.

These are all things I have wanted to do for some time, but have allowed myself to be distracted by laziness and the party lifestyle. Well, I guess life, here I come.

 

Posted via web from Jeffreyscott's posterous

Path to enlightenment?

I have begun a journey towards happiness and enlightenment. Though, i'm not packing up my stuff and going backpacking in the Himalayas quite yet, I have an uncanny desire to simplify my life.


so we begin.

Thinking

I have been thinking a lot recently, and i suppose that could be in part due to the fact that i have driven around 1200miles within a week.


There is a dying desire for more change in my life at this moment. I need to figure out where i will be living next month.

and i want a new job.


a newer, better blog will be up soon.

until then.

good day.

fantasy sunday

6am- wake up throw some clothes on and ride my vespa downtown to meet a friend for coffee.

7am- we begin and end a short lived yet meaningful conversation, and pull out the novels we are currently immersed in.

10am- remember that there was an awesome gallery on the east side of town, so we head on over and gaze until noon

12pm- time for brunch, crepes it is.

1pm- wander aimlessly taking photographs.

5pm- upload and edit photos in a cafe

6pm- go to a microbrewery and enjoy an ipa and share our favorite shots of the day

8pm- folk concert with a crowd no larger than 50 people.

10pm- go home, relax and listen to music next to the fire for 2 hours.

12pm- deep sigh.....goodnight world.

scapegoat

i guess deceit and manipulation is more of a socially appropriate vice than full disclosure and honesty.



what a shame.



why can't we just love each other, and get along?
(we are all sharing the same rock, and we all have more similarities than differences)

why is it that Christianity can't be about what it is supposed to, acceptance and love?
(some how within the entire realm of the christian church, discrimination of different lifestyles is a collaborative value)

why is there so much hypocrisy in the world?
(the insecurities of humanity have seemingly overpowered moral values)


i feel as though for as long as i can remember, i have over and over again become the scapegoat for so many, for the sole fact that am honest, and have nothing to hide. If your reading this, then you know me, so tell me why it is that i always seem to be the worst of influences?


oh wait,
i'm not.

i smoke cigarettes.
i consume alcohol responsibly.
and preach love.

come on people.