Saturday, September 10, 2005
everytime we say goodbye & iced yrg
it's that wacky time of year when the weather's still summer-warm but the light is definitely autumn light -- you can't wear pink anymore, you know? so i spent some time this afternoon at the bklyn public library (heavens i wish they'd finally build that arts collection and not just so i could hang in the coffee bar there!) in search of cecil taylor's rare 1968 "invisible."
which i used to have on tape, you know, taken from a broadcast on the old taos free-form radio station, which alas no longer exists. (no no no, not the ornette coleman one! don't write me about this please! unless you can tell me where to find a copy of the piano piece, of course. . .)
it seems in their collection they only have his album nefertiti. still i went down there just to double-check, but their internet catalog appears to be accurate, up-to-date, and complete! anyway, i returned with a disc of coltrane, the famed my favorite things.
the title track is the iconic song, but i actually prefer the standard second track, "everytime we say goodbye." it seems more introspective to me somehow, altho' of course i love the energy of my favorite things.
anyway, this disc is great for drinking jessica's yrg to; since the weather's warm, i made it up as iced coffee. today it's 72 hours old, and already changing: it's lemon-y winey-ness is coming out, making it seem more like a classic yrg.
on the music front, mr. right alas seems to have left his ipod in a taxi. if anyone finds it, please email me; you'll recognize it by it's unique mix of xtc and tom jones' "what's new pussycat?" (that's his sense of humor there!)
in one sense this is really crushing, as anyone who has ever invested their soul in their little white world can attest. i mean, he had like 192 hours of music straight on the thing, practically 2 solid weeks worth.
in another sense it is fortunate, as the new nano is shipping on the soon. will he go for the form factor or the ability to live for days in a sonic world that matches his mindset perfectly?
i'm sure steve jobs wants to know. . . .
posted by fortune | 12:37 PM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Friday, September 09, 2005
jessica's yrg & nola warehouses
"the 700,000 bags of coffee stored in new orleans warehouses operated by port cargo service inc. weren't damaged by hurricane katrina. . ."
and so that answers that! i think it puts the subject to bed.
with joy we move on to jessica's new batdorf yrg from yesterday! this coffee was roasted just 2 days ago, and so i expected some intense bloom when i made it in the vac pot.
despite my best precautions however, i still endured massive foam-over. beware!
however, this coffee is so delicious it's worth the clean-up. the fresh grounds do in fact smell of lavender; and when i lifted the lid off the stove top bodum santos pot to try to stir down the bloom before said massive foam-over, a wonderful soft fruit smell wafted thru the air.
batdorf called it "peach" but i thought it was more like the "apricot" from the nez du café. peach or apricot, we agree it's offering sweet fruit aromas.
alas, i didn't see any of that fruit make it into the cup when made at 60g of coffee per liter of water and brewed for 4 mins. 30 sec. total (including return-down time). the body was good for the vac pot, so i can see why they called it "lush," as i suspect most of their customers will be making it in a cafetiére, which would emphasize the body even more.
when the cup cooled a bit, the slightly lemon note became more apparent, as did the brightness. but it's not as lemony as don schoenholt's gillies yrg, nor does it have the same kind of caramel thing going on.
i would agree it's a medium-bright coffee, even tho' again, as long-time readers know, the vac pot brewing method tends to increase brightness.
in a cafetiére i would expect the brightness, of course, to be muted a tad. perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this lovely coffee for me was that pure lavender note, which i had never experienced in a coffee before.
it smelled exactly like the
lavender you can buy at l'occitane!
posted by fortune | 11:04 AM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2005
new yrg from jessica
woo hoo! today jessica at batdorf sent a pound of their new yrgacheffe.
and let me say the documentation she provides for this coffee is beautiful, a dream come true: it lists the origin, the regions, the certifications, the altitude, processing info, and even a nice bit about the farmer's co-op.
thus i can tell you this ethiopian yrg comes from the southern district, known as the "gedeo zone," after the gedeo tribespeople. it was grown at 1,800 meters (about 6,000 ft.!) by small-holder families, planted right among the subsistence vegetables they cultivate for the table in their family garden.
the co-op's part of the yirgacheffe union. the beans were processed at a centrally located mill, where it was de-pulped, fermented, washed, and fully sun-dried.
the cupping notes jessica included with this coffee describe it as having a "mellow" brightness, "lush" body, and flavors including lavender, lemon custard, and fresh peach.
finally, it's certified organic and fair-trade. definitely this is a coffee destined for the vac pot tomorrow!
posted by fortune | 1:19 PM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
notable tosh
"the author also says intense involvement with eastern spiritual practices is known to cause psychological and emotional problems in some people. and since yoga has religious roots, he adds, one could argue that promoting it in schools violates the establishment clause of the u.s. constitution, or the so-called separation of church and state."
oh these people are amazing, aren't they? i nearly fell outta my chair laughing uproariously.
teaching yoga in school as a form of exercise and stress reduction to the nation's obese and near-diabetic children is hardly "intense involvement with eastern spiritual practices"!
and that doing a sun salutation or two might violate the establishment clause is pretty funny from a group associated with the general belief that (born-again christian) prayer in schools and the 10 commandments oughta be de rigeur. guys, if wanna have prayer in schools, cool by me, but then ya gotta let everybody pray in their own way, meaning you're gonna have to endure moslem prayers, jewish prayers, hindu prayers, buddhist prayers, yoruba chant, you name it.
as long-time readers know, yoga programs have been operating successfully in several prominent school districts for a while now, including some charter-type schools in atlanta and san francisco.
posted by fortune | 10:51 AM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
another homeroaster makes good
every time i turn around i hear of another home roaster turning pro. coffee is just a seductive way of life. . . .
speaking of coffee, that kenya ab/java jampits mix i've been playing with lately has, as expected, changed a bit. . .it's developed more of a milk-chocolate-y type aftertaste, especially in the vac pot, which is how i made it yesterday.
to compare i brewed a batch up in the cafetiére this morning, but found -- no surprise -- that i preferred it in the vac pot, despite the reduced body and slightly increased brightness.
posted by fortune | 11:27 AM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Monday, September 05, 2005
mmm more chocolat moderne
a fine day is a batdorf dancing goat americano with a few square of joan's chocolat moderne apricote bask, a small dark chocolate bar whose squares reward you with a soft apricot caramel center. not fake apricot either, but real apricot preserves!
today's a fantastic weather day and due to the holiday, all new york's empty. days like today are the finest times to be nyc.
one of my favorite fruits, the white nectarine, seems also to have arrived by the boatload, and that's all good. i love the beautiful royal purple color they have at the stone.
finally, in an unusual political note, the democratic primary for nyc mayor is coming up. the ny times of course endorsed the most boring, uninspired, business-as-usual and p.c. choice (use bugmenot).
as long-time readers know, i am no fan of mean mayor mike bloomberg, who demonstrates his overall boston-born disdain for nyc in many ways. but one of them is his total indifference to the plight of small business, including the matter of long-time bccy pal, don schoenholt of gillies.
mr. "gotta run, i'm flying to my vacation house in my private jet" mike basically wants to transform nyc into a giant luxury resort for gazillionaires, changing every building of any size or view into apartments for the ultra-rich only. if this means driving out small businesses, small manufacturing, the middle-classes and mere millionaires, so be it.
that's why i'm considering my alternatives. the tax-lovin' nyt really seems to dislike anthony weiner -- possibly because he doesn't want to raise rates, as well as the fact he appeared to get feisty with them in the pre-endorsement interviews (he "yelped" at them, how dare he???) -- which is an excellent character reference in my book. . .
posted by fortune | 10:56 AM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments
Sunday, September 04, 2005
sri jois honored; chant for ganesh
this article mentioning an event for ashtanga teacher sri p. jois caught my eye, since i don't usually see him mentioned in the papers as much as i might expect, considering.
also, over this holiday weekend, if any of you yoga students have time, do consider checking out the chant program for ganesh over the next couple of days. good vibes & you can practice your sanskrit pronunciation too.
myself, however, today i'm making pizza as usual. the light has changed color and direction; it's beginning-autumn light now without a doubt. the wind off the harbor has also changed its times too.
altho' it's still warm here -- great pizza-making weather -- fall is hastening. there's no stopping it. i've spent most of the day investigating that wordpress migration, which is looking more and more hairy.
dougie did it, but it must have taken days. and days. before he even got around to customizing the templates. . .
it's enough to drive me back to yesterday's kenya/java blend for solace. i absolutely can't believe how ugly -- sorry, but it's true! -- most of these available templates are; few are even 3 column.
it's terrifying, really.
posted by fortune | 12:21 PM | top | link to this | links to this post | email this: | 0 comments