i got cupped. it bruised pretty good.

fun with spot metering

72 hours after my first cupping treatment. I was skeptical, but my back is feeling incredible. I highly recommend John Ellis for his acupuncture and other healing methods. (Oh yeah -- look how big my back is getting!)

A coffee cupping (tasting) workshop at Whole Foods last week.

Blog post at Tamarind and Thyme.

100% BRAND NEW CONDITION

EASY TO USE, TAKE ANYWHERE

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IMAGINE GETTING THE BEST MASSAGE EVER

BUY "CUPPING THERAPY" BECAUSE IT WILL HELP YOU RELAX

My back doesn't seem to hold too many toxins, but my shoulder area needs more work.

I went straight from the airport to the cupping lab to taste the best of this year's coffees from Finca Nueva Armenia. The names on the tags represent the areas of the farm that Jorge and Javier separate for microlots, and as you can see, I cupped perennial favorites Gemelos and Groto, as well as Coyales and Abuelos, which we haven't featured on their own in past years (we have yet to decide whether they're up to it this year) but rather blended in with the rest of the farm's coffee, labeled here as simply "Armenia".

The Vario is turning out to be a stellar cupping grinder. Grind directly into the cup, and it grinds all the coffee.

Here Brian teaches me how to cup tarantulas. These are smaller versions of the bird-eaters.

I'm at Refinery Retail Store! 4sq.com/2sRskfe

KQED filming roaster at Blue Bottle facility in Oakland, CA

Photo by Wendy Goodfriend

Cafe y Caffe Seminar cupping. Producers from Huehuetenango and a smattering of participants from Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and El Salvador had coffees showing at this chaotic, evening, single-flight cupping. Each coffee was roasted to two degrees - dark and darker, ground too fine, and presented in single cups. It greatly limited the quality of feedback we could give to the assembled producers.

the last two days have seen very interesting cuppings: the day before yesterday I had 6 coffees that I brought back from Stumptown Portland, plus the Ethiopia Adem from 49th in Vancouver. And some 4B to compare. 9 on the table in total.

Yesterday ended up being 10 coffees, with four roasters on the table! a mystery 4B coffee that Jeremy set on the table, our Wondo, plus three Monmouth coffees that were sent to Loma, and a bag of Kaldi's USBC blend that seemed to appear out of thin air. and some of the Stown's again. 10 in total. and more and more customers dropping in on the cuppings everyday.

James and I started a new thing called cupping.

Cupping of coffees from different dryers, led by Luciano.

Dallis Bros. Coffee staff trip to the Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida in Alta Mogiana, a coffee farm in the countryside of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, between May/June of 2010.

Check out more at: www.dallisbroscoffee.com

They're cupping beans from a new roaster.