Tuesday, February 15, 2005


what to do in northern california this weekend?

go watch the west coast barista championship competition, of course, with long-time bccy pals taylormaid farms!

what's so awesome about this is that mark inman of taylormaid worked with the winery to create a special wine commemorating this event. the wine itself, i was told by trish herself this morning, is a 2001 vintage shiraz.

i'm hoping to beg a bottle of this for myself, which of course in the pure interest of the public trust, i will most dutifully review for you all here. if it weren't for this job thing -- isn't it amazing how daily life sometimes restricts one's opportunities to appreciate coffee? -- i would actually hop a flight there myself.

but never fear; i'm sure next week we'll hear the news of the outcome from mark or trish.

meanwhile there's been a lot of talk about how sara lee wants to spin off its coffee businesses to create more revenue. the asking price: a mere US$300 million.

i can think of several groups who should call a venture capitalist pronto and buy that business. for example, could you imagine what could happen if the roasters guild en masse bought those brands and filled those cans with specialty coffee?

posted by fortune | 7:12 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments