Coffee as Community
Posted: November 21, 2014 Filed under: Coffee | Tags: Blue Bottle, Coava, Ethiopia Yirgachefffe, Heart, Heritage General Store, Johnson Public House, Kickapoo Coffee Roasters, Kyle Johnson, pour-over, Sightglass, Spella Caffe 2 CommentsThe heart desires neither coffee or a coffeehouse. The heart desires a companion, coffee is but the excuse. —Turkish proverb
There are those who drink coffee and those who are coffee geeks. I am in the latter camp. As a true aficionado, I’ve enjoyed connecting with others in the coffee community both locally and in my travels. The simple pleasure of a good cup of coffee is enhanced by being part of something bigger. Consider:
- Coffee has a global culture that encompasses place, people, knowledge and even its own language.
- The craft of coffee is truly farm-to-table. Every step from growing beans to harvesting to roasting to brewing requires mastery that contributes to that final, perfect cup.
- One coffee tree produces about a pound of coffee per year. It’s important to me to recognize and appreciate this offering from nature.
I’m frequently asked questions about my passion for coffee. Here are my answers to the most common.
What is my favorite method of brewing?
Hands down, pour over. This got me going on my most recent cycle of coffee loving. A visit to Kickapoo Coffee Roasters (Viroqua, Wisconsin) was the starting point. But even more importantly, it was connecting with Kyle Johnson, the co-founder of Johnson Public House (Madison, Wisconsin). He reinforced the education and convinced me of the importance of water quality and precision (to my wife’s incredulity, I actually brought home water from JPH several times). It’s a chemistry thing after all—using water to extract flavor from the coffee beans. The formula is simple: quality ingredients (coffee and water) + a precise method (by weight, with careful timing) = a high quality output. Of course, to get started, you need the right equipment.
What is my favorite coffee?
I used to favor darker roasts. My current preference has shifted to lighter roasts. Done right, the nuances of the coffee is almost like wine. The fruity-type flavors come out. Ethiopia Yirgachefffe is one region typically of this style. However, just ask the barista for “bright, acidic or fruity.” To be honest, I don’t ask anymore, the great folks at Johnson Public House just tell me what I should get! There are so many new options becoming available with the burgeoning “third wave” of coffee.
Drawing and photo by Mark Baker
What are some of my favorite coffee houses?
There are different coffee houses for different reasons. Just for quality coffee or espresso, or for great ambiance—a combination of environment, people watching/listening or a third place to meet people or focus on work. Ideally, it’s a combination of both.
- Madison: Johnson Public House
- Chicago: Heritage General Store (also has a really cool bike shop in the same space)
- Portland, Oregon: Heart, Coava, Spella Caffè (just like Italy)
- San Francisco: Blue Bottle, Sightglass
- Paris: Well, sorry to say, they don’t know drip coffee in France
The Apple Store Experience
Posted: November 19, 2014 Filed under: Service | Tags: Apple Store, AT&T Store, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Microsoft Store 1 Comment
Photo by Mark Baker
When was the last time you had a positive retail experience and wanted your picture taken with the person who helped you? I’m guessing NEVER would be the answer. Much to the embarrassment of my 18-year-old daughter, I took this picture of my wife and Mike Lane (shout out to @mikelane) at the Apple Store in Portland, Oregon.
Compared to the Microsoft Store ½ block away where there were eight employees and one customer and the AT&T Store with five employees and four customers (but only one customer being helped), the Apple Store experience was MUCH different.
Photo by Mark Baker
First things first. There was a LONG line 20 minutes before the store even opened. No worries, though. The group was orderly and there were at least three Apple Store employees working the line, performing a sort of triage and answering questions. With their mobile devices in hand, they lets us know what they had in stock, put in a reservation for service, told us what time to return and who would help us.
Photo by Mark Baker
It turns out that most of the people in line were purchasing unlocked iPhones, which I suspect were quickly resold and sent overseas. The Asian woman with a large suitcase hovering over the large, 100-person group was a tipoff. But here’s the important service lesson: Apple had designed a process that segregated and prioritized those purchasing under a cellular/data plan from those who were not. Instead of having to wait, we were given a reservation and could return after the store was open within a designated time period to complete our transaction.
We went off exploring and then returned. Mike Lane assisted us. He was patient, took as much time as required, was pleasant and most helpful. Hence the photo.
This was no accident, but, rather a service experience that was carefully designed. The result? What started out to be a purchase of an iPhone 6 for my daughter ended up including an iPhone 6 for my wife and my own iPhone 6 Plus (thanks AT&T Next Program). Happy customers, happy Apple employee and now a blog post to tell the tale. Word-of-mouth marketing = priceless.
Seems like the Microsoft Stores, AT&T Stores and many of the other retailers should take note. Much like my previous posts on IT as a Service (here and here), we need to thoughtfully design the experience we desire. If not, we’re just standing around waiting to frustrate people.
P.S. It was the Apple employee who sent me to the AT&T store to cancel my AT&T order that had been in the queue for six weeks. It was not a pleasant experience.
For Your Edification
Posted: November 14, 2014 Filed under: Business, Innovation, Leadership | Tags: Jacob Morgan, Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek, Start with Why, The Future of Work, The Innovators, Walter Isaacson 1 CommentAs an avid reader, I usually have multiple books going at any one time. Here is a current sampling:
The Future of Work by Jacob Morgan
The Innovators by Walter Issacson. Did you know that one of the innovators behind the first computer studied at UW Madison? That “punch cards” were initially used for loom-based weaving? A low cost, infinite resource was a breakthrough for programming. Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, wrote a series of notes in the 1840s that outlined the key concepts in the first electronic computer nearly 100 years before it was made in the 1940s? While parts of the book at too tedious for me, there are some very interesting facts that I never really appreciated.
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. I just started this one, but really enjoyed his previous Start with Why.
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