The Angel Coffee House
Posted on | October 10, 2008 | No Comments
Well finally, after good god knows how long. I can be as candid as I like about my new place of work, The Angel Coffee House.
We are a specialiaty coffee shop, based in central Lincoln, a small city in the East Midlands of the UK. And our aim is not only to serve great coffee, but to do so with the highest level of customer service, and to try and create a fantastic relaxed atmosphere. Within the three or so weeks I have been working there, the coffee has already seen a shake up, with a great blend from Hasbean coffee. This blend, a mix of a clean sumatran and a guatamalan coffee is a great starting point for a shop whos focus lays mainly in milk based drink, as it has enough bright acidity and body to cut through the milk, giving a balanced and flavoursome coffee. The blend still needs a bit of tweaking in my opinion, but we’re rapidly getting there.
Another thing that I’m really looking forward to, is the potential of offering a deep and interesting filter menu. It is still in development, but we’re hoping to bring across green beans, not seen in the UK, and roast them ourselves, to deliver a unique and varied filter menu. We also aim to host cuppings to promote both the knowledge, and the sales of the said coffees.
This is a very exciting time for me, to be so deeply involved with such a young and exciting shop is fantastic, and I hope, that me, and the owner Max, can cement The Angel Coffee House as one of the premiere coffee bars in the UK.
Chris, Common Grind.
Common Grind is back
Posted on | October 8, 2008 | 3 Comments
Hey guys.
Finally, after however long it has been, Common Grind is back. My brand shiny new Macbook arrived today, and with the beauty of macs, is on straight out of the box. Meaning, after the installation of various programs (namely Flock, Adium and Thunderbird), I’m back.
Firstly, I want to apologise for the lack of an October podcast. I will be skipping through october, and releasing a november podcast, but I hope to make it a good one! Thanks for being patient, and I hope you understand that I’d have done everything in my power to release it on time, but things were beyond my control. For the guys who don’t know me so well, he’s a little update on why I’ve been gone. Firstly, near the start of October, my and my girlfriend/house mate of 4.5 years split up. Now it was my choice, but it didn’t make it easy, and my thoughts are with her right now, and I hope you guys thoughts can be two. It’s not easy to re-adjust after so long, and I hope, with all my heart she can get on with everything and get back to normal. On top of my leaving Coffee Aroma, my life got turned on its head, and its taken me this long to get back on track, if thats what I am even now. With this split, I also lost half of the rent of my flat, and the use of a computer, and this was the main reason Common Grind went down.
However, a very kind person came along, who wishes to be left unnamed, and reached into his pocket to purchase me this Macbook. Now its not mine per se, but for a good while, it will be. If the person reads this, thank you so much, it’s helped me a lot. So the site is back.
Thanks guys for all your help. Namely Glenn, Jon and Steve. Your support has been incomparable, and I hope I can repay it, in one way or another
Cheers guys, and I say this with a huge smile on my face, and a beer in my hand. Common Grind is back!
Chris Weaver, Common Grind
quick update
Posted on | September 28, 2008 | 2 Comments
Hey guys, Just wanted to post a quick update. Everything has calmed down lots now, and I’m slowly settling into my new job. I am still without a laptop/internet, and currently have had my phone cut off, so I can only receive incoming calls, so I’m still a little in the dark ages.
However, I have a new high-spec macbook on order, which will be arriving in the next few days, and will be having a high speed broadband connection put in with a new bt phone line.
Thanks for the kind words guys, and also for your kind offers to help, and I’ll be back before you know it.
Chris
A heads up
Posted on | September 18, 2008 | 3 Comments
Right guys, some bad news coming. This evening, I split up with my girlfriend of a few years… I know, you’re all thinking “what’s this got to do with coffee damnit”. Basically, I will be losing this laptop, plus I’m now tight enough on cash, that I can’t get anywhere to interview.
I’ll you guys updated, but the october podcast is in real doubt at the minute.
Sorry
Coffee grinder timer prototype
Posted on | September 16, 2008 | No Comments
Well I think that it must be about time for a true barista post. Hailing and celebrating technology and ideas to make making coffee easier and more consistent, the qualities baristi hail and love.
Awhile ago, I had the privilege of going to a good friends house round Chesterfield way, to pick up an espresso machine he kindly offered me. Whilst there, I got the treat of seeing a rare grinder timer prototype, and whilst I didn’t understand it at the time, a grinder timer with a very different concept than most… Read more
Coffee Forums; another nudge.
Posted on | September 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
Hey guys
Got a few new readers since the last time I posted about this, so…. A good friend of mine, and a guy who featured on the newest podcast, Glenn Wattson, has a great uk coffee forum. Which I have the privilege to moderate. It’s a great growing community, with some fantastic friendships, a lot of combined experience, not just in coffee, and also the potential for get-togethers, events, and much more. So please head on over to Coffee Forums register, and get involved!
Common Grind: Tales from the Drip Tray
What is Biodynamic?
Posted on | September 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
Well following some great news from Steve Leighton at Hasbean Roastery in Stafford. I wanted to write up a post on Biodynamic agriculture. Biodynamic agriculture, in a nut shell, is the act of the farming the land in a way that prevents soil damage, and in fact, unlike organic farming, is actually beneficially to the soil structure and content. As a concept, it is over 80 years old, with the first “Biodynamic Farming and Gardening association” coming about in 1938, however, within coffee at least, its a very new concept. Which Hasbean, I’m proud to say, have become the first roastery in the UK to be certified Biodynamic… Read more
The final news unabridged!
Posted on | September 10, 2008 | 4 Comments
Well guys, I’m finally in a position to be slightly less candid in my news posts. As of monday this week, I have resigned from my post as Head Barista at Coffee Aroma, Lincoln. I don’t want to sound upbeat about this, because I’m not, I’ve lost a good friend which is a shame. However, I was no longer made to feel welcome, and thus found a healthier working environment for me.
Once I have finished working my notice, I will be starting my new job in Lincoln, at a great little independent coffee bar called The Angel Bar. They are a small, but fantastically set-out, young coffee bar, with what I feel is a need for an experienced barista like me, to help guide them in their coffee, and other aspects of drinks, that they are lacking
I am really excited about this, as it is a fresh start, a healthy working environment, and a chance to really put my fingerprint on a new, exciting coffee shop with a lot of potential. Thanks for your support and kind words!
<a href=”http://www.commongrind.co.uk”>Common Grind: Tales from the Drip Tray</a>
Advancing Common Grind and creating a brand
Posted on | September 9, 2008 | 1 Comment
Firstly guys, quick update. chrisweaver.co.uk has been taken down. Common Grind can now be found at www.commongrind.co.uk. Links will still work from chrisweaver.co.uk as there is a 301 redirect up there. Please update bookmarks etc.
Well after Common Grind: Tales from the Drip Tray doing better than I could have hoped. It has become time to start developing the concept (or coming up with a concept to be more accurate.) and turning Common Grind into a force to be reckoned with. Ideas have started flying about, and features, improvements, and scary new concepts have started manifesting themselves.
At the beginning, Common Grind started life as “Musings of a Professional Barista”. A place for me to vent steam, vocalise my ideas and thoughts about coffee, and try to document life in a coffee shop. But rapidly this grew stale for me. And I decided to press on with a dream, to start the UK’s first mainstream coffee podcast. And as such Common Grind was born. With the monthly podcast, and a regularly updated blog. But now I don’t feel this is enough.
I’m seeing a big spike in traffic after each podcast release, and then a mediocre stream of traffic for the rest of month, so I decided to come up with ideas to make things more interesting and spread out across the entire month. Also, I want the Common Grind brand to resonate in the same way Coffee Geek does in the states, and even in the UK.
There are a number of avenues I aim to pursue. Developing the brand is high up on the list, with a possiblity of events (a dormant idea, re-ignited by Seamus of thirdwaveuk.blogspot.com), cheap branded merchandise, including freebies, maybe tee-shirts, but designed well, and of high quality. Maybe some tie-ins with other areas of the UK coffee scene, and just generally trying to supplement uk coffee as much as possible. Secondly I want to grow Common Grind online into something bigger. With the consideration of a couple more writers, maybe aimed towards food, and drink. And also I’m contemplating a short, fortnightly food and drink podcast.
Basically, what I’m saying is, watch this space. Things are happening, and happening soon!
Common Grind: Tales from the Drip Tray
Priorities.
Posted on | September 8, 2008 | 5 Comments
How can we know where are priorities lay. What is more important; loyalty, comfort, job security. I have so many things to consider at the minute, and not a lot of time to consider them. Do I let myself get pushed around, or risk standing up for myself and losing something great.
Another aspect to consider is; What do I want to do in the world of coffee. I have always thought that being a barista is one of the more stressful jobs. You are putting yourself as the last link in the chain, with all the weight of the consumerism on you. Without making too many sweeping generalizations, roasters, distributors, coffee bar owners etc, work primarily with people, or clients, who understand coffee, and are normally involved in the world of coffee in their own way. But baristas, on the most part, work primarily with consumers who know very little. Thus putting us as unintended spokes people for the industry.
At the minute I am loving being a journalist, with the coffee podcast, and the Common Grind blog, and I’m thining about other things that I can do to really help the blog grow, develop and keep fresh and young, but is it realistic for me to expect to make a living from this, and avenues I can pursue ?
I guess with time I shall find out, until then, keep reading guys!
Common Grind: Tales from the Driptray
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