Cupping

Last Saturday, Sweet Thing's management and family got together for an official coffee cupping. Talk about your snooty individuals. We were encouraged to be discriminant and determine which coffee was preferable over another. We are not normally encouraged to be discriminant, so it didn't come easy. None-the-less the caffeine slurping was pleasurable.

For a cupping, a few ounces of freshly ground beans are put into a small cup. Steaming water is then poured over the ground beans. The gritty concoction is left to brew for four minutes and then the cupping begins.

First, the individual is encouraged to get his or her nose down next to the lip of the mug and embrace the aroma that wafts from it when the surface is broken with his or her spoon. When the intoxicating aroma is fully comprehended, the individual then tastes the coffee. He or she sets a spoon on the surface of the coffee until the spoon has coffee in it, then the spoon is brought to the mouth and a fantastic slurping sound is made as the coffee is dispersed to every area of the tongue.

Quite amusing, actually. Yes, there was a little gagging as a few errant coffee grounds pummeled unsuspecting uvulas, but overall the event caused little harm. A little enjoyment was even had!

In the process, our forced discrimination determined three brands to be our favorites. When we get our espresso machine up and about we will then have the final judgment to determine the overall winner.

After the cupping the party moved on to a meal. An Italian meal, to be exact. After all the coffee tasting we needed something to overwhelm our palates.

What A Zoo!

In places of unknown, fears are elevated; emotions run high; tension attempts to tear apart all that has been put together. During such times it is essential that life, purpose, and sanity not be neglected. Overwhelming support is key in such a miracle.

Sweet Thing has been in the midst of pushing through first phases of "ideating" to apparent physical achievement — many contract meetings and emails have led to many design meetings, which, sadly, have led back to more contract meetings and emails. We love our place — it is perfect for traffic — but we would like some allotment for bumps in the road. Who wouldn't? How many people expect to get things perfect on the first attempt. So, that is the why of our intense correspondences: Sweet Thing WILL be successful and a good lease agreement is a vital step.

On another, happier, note Sweet Thing's management has begun its weekly meetings. The first meeting was simply to provide assurance of job descriptions and to provide assignments for each to accomplish before next meeting. There is little more exciting than actually using physical things (i.e. people, hard copy documents, etc) to produce progress—virtual and imagined progress looses its comfort factor after a time.

Tonight will be our second manager's meeting. Assignments solutions will be related, ensuing ideas pitched, and final decisions promulgated within the organization. It is very exciting. We have a very talented and productive team!

Tomorrow Sweet Thing's management will meet again for a blind cupping. We have five brands of coffee that we have looked into serving at the shop and tomorrow we will test them all together. The hope is that through this process we can narrow the field down to two or, at most, three brands and then (when we actually hook up our espresso machine) we can compare the coffees as they would be served in the shop. For some of us this is a completely new experience and we hardly know what is required of us, but we are slowly learning to become snooty connoisseurs.

At some point in the near future we plan to roast our own beans, but in the beginning, simplicity dictates, that would not be possible with minimal employees.

So, Sweet Thing still exists, yes, and is more real than ever. We will have updates from the meetings with new ideas and such. Opinions are more than welcome—as was stated earlier, "Overwhelming support is essential in such a miracle."

Below, for you enjoyment, is the platter that Martin (our pastry chef) prepared for us as an introduction to his wares. Quite fantastic.