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Give me your sales pitch

April 19th, 2010 No comments

Over the last few years I’ve grown to really like and appreciate high quality coffee and have even discussed it before here. Thanks to posts by 49thparallel and ElysianCoffee I found myself at a coffee convention in Anaheim this weekend; and had a blast. There were lots of opportunities to try great lots of coffee and to see the big faces in the coffee community. The best part was that I got to see all the different things that go into the business of coffee; from roasting, to water purification, to espresso machines, packaging, and much more.

This event was mainly meant for people in the coffee business and as we walked from booth to booth, I was startled by how little I was hounded by the people representing the different businesses. I would go up and engage with their products or paperwork and with few exceptions nobody said a word to me. This is supposed to be an opportunity to make new business. I am very likely a potential customer for your business. These companies have paid lots of money for these booths, flew over these people, put them up in hotels, and not a word.

As I walked around thinking about this, it hit me that clearly business conventions are not the only place where this is an issue. Every single day, each one of us is selling ourself to the world. Whether it be a desk job, an entrepreneur venture, or working to impress members of the other sex. There are lots and lots of sales opportunities. You might be at the gym, a meeting, or a coffee shop. Your goods are with you, don’t forget your pitch.

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The wet capp

March 17th, 2009 No comments

Upon moving to LA from NYC there were many things that I had to make adjustments to. The assumed: no decent subway system, sucky bagels, lack of a satisfactory pastrami sandwich. Now one thing I really came to like towards the end of my stay in NYC were cappuccinos.

Cappuccinos were my entrance into the world of coffee. Previous to my life altering experience I couldn’t muster the strength to force a cup of joe down, but after a very fateful experience at Ninth Street Espresso my life forever was lead by the bean.

Now the reason for this post is that what I came to love and cherish at Ninth Street Espresso just is so hard to find out west. Usual things to blame in LA can probably be brought up: crappy water and passionless people. But it really doesn’t just stop there. There’s an actual discrepancy in what I’m expecting when ordering a capp and what they actually give me.

After being stung more than a handful of times with mounds and mounds of aerated milk, sitting on top of my capp — like a bouncer asking you for your ID — I now tell them to: “hold the foam!”

The response I’ve repeatedly got to this request is, “ah, I think you want a latte.” This of course leads me to mentally convulse, since now there’s no way I’m going to get what I really want.

For good form I think it’s important to note Ninth Street Espresso’s definitions for their Latte and Cappuccino:

CAPPUCCINO
Espresso with densely textured steamed milk. 8 oz.

LATTE
Espresso with mildly textured steamed milk. 12 oz.

Now, there is some talk of an infamous creature by the name of “the wet capp.” Now although this may seem to be the answer to my unrelenting desire to get the drink I’m looking for, I assure you this just ends with me looking like a tea drinker trying to fit into a coffee world.

As a funny aside there is one coffee shop out here that sometimes gives me the ‘right capp.’ There’s an inconsistency in how the different baristas make their capps and one of them actually does it right. I’d love to know why there’s the discrepancy between the different cappuccinos.

I don’t want to make this post much longer, although I think it’s worth noting that the foamy version may have some basis for being since apparently the name “Cappuccino” has something to do with a group of Italians who were known to wear a hood. Go figure.

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