Do you ever go somewhere, think you’ve taken all these great photos, and return to look them over, finding them not all that impressive? Well, they’re uploaded. Many didn’t turn out quite right so I deleted them, but as promised… 

Sorry, but I forgot my card reader at home, so even though I have my camera and am taking plenty of photos, I can’t upload any until I return home. But I promise, I’ll get them up. Thinking about getting a Flickr account too.

This is not what you want to see when your espresso cups and saucers arrive.

Thankfully, they were double-boxed within. The odd thing was that the inner boxes were marked “Fragile.” The outer one mentioned nothing of that. Ah well, the cups were unbroken.

Now, they’re off to the printer’s…

Coffee with your cream? Espresso with your milk, syrup, and sprinkles? Half-decaf, half-fat, half-this, half-that. This bothers me, even though it really shouldn’t. People like what they like, and if that makes them happy, that’s great. And yet, I begin to cringe thinking about a drink that gets cold by the time it’s finished even if it’s guzzled. Twenty ounces is just too much. The espresso is drowning. It cannot fend off that much milk. By the time that first sip is taken, the espresso’s dead. You’ve killed it. Well done.

Where’s the appreciation for quality over quantity? Good coffee, good espresso blends, are wonderful in small sizes. Poco ma buono. Small but good.

I hate to say it, but I doubt the well-pulled ristretto will ever find a mainstream audience. It’ll be forever relegated to back alleys and closed shops where small groups of coffee purists (coffee snobs) hunch over portafilters measuring their doses to the gram as they wipe powdery streaks of espresso from their cheeks. 

But that isn’t going to stop me from trying to educate and serve the smaller drinks to the general public. If it’s free, why turn it down? I will even add flavorings to drinks, just not a lot. Think signature drinks at barista competitions rather than white chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla (3 ounces of each). The espresso will only shine brighter in the drink. It’s the star, not the steamed milk, not the oversized cup, and I’ll know I’ve done my best to uphold the elegance, sophistication, and romance that can be espresso.

Then why, oh why will I still be haunted by 20 oz. cappuccinos? I don’t know. I just will. I should let it go, but I can hear the espresso screaming. It’s dieing, and it breaks my heart.  

A quest to create perfect espresso and signature drinks. The only problem, though, is that the more you know, the less you realize you know.

It’s a vast and treacherous landscape.

But nonetheless, here we go…