Gwyneth B. McGlinn

A week ago I picked up a new french press and I’ve decided to take the old one to work. The coffee provided at work is some Tully’s blend. It can be an okay coffee if made just right. This is nearly impossible with the current coffee maker at work. So what happens is I have to put a lot of sugar and flavored creamer in.

This lead me to my decision to make my own coffee at work. I’m currently in the process of picking a good coffee. This week I have enjoyed Equal Exchange Organic Columbian. I picked up the beans at Central Market. It’s been pretty good. I’ve managed to use a lot less sugar and no creamer.

It’s not perfect though. It needs to be drunk quickly due to the no creamer. I’m still on the lookout for something I can savor without having to trek up to the fridge and back. (Powdered creamer tastes very acidic to me so that is not an option.)

The other news is that Zoka is no longer making Columbia Villarica. I’ll have to wait till the next Cup of Excellence columbian arrives. Until then I’m drinking their Brazilian offering.

I’ve concluded that it is a great coffee for summer. It works well for making before running out to play in the sun. Or it will be great for that when the sun arrives. So far it’s still early spring like around here. It has a nice smooth taste and is perfect with a little sugar and half & half.

Once summer is over and the cold comes back I’ll be ready to sit and savor more complex flavors.

I can happily say it’s been over two months since we last tried to go to Zoka. On that night we planned to go to OZ but they were closed with no sign on the door. We then went to UZ and of course they weren’t serving coffee and hadn’t been for quite a while. I decided they don’t want my business so I don’t need to go back.

A few weeks later I happily gave Victrola money for mochas and columbian beans. There were a few customers floating in and out. We asked the guy if he would serve someone if they walked in right a closing. He looked at us like we were crazy and said yes. He would serve people till they stopped coming in.

Oh, I should mention he was working alone. University Zoka has 2-4 people working and can’t manage to serve espresso for most of the last hour they’re open.

On the fifth Tom threw a wonderful birthday part as his place. I must say the Rye Serene recommended was very good. I’m going to have to purchase some before new years. J.P. had a (possible) record three drinks. We finally stumbled home in the wee hours and slept most of the next day.

Last Saturday we supplied the power, speakers, one projector and a screen for Smitefest. We had to drive two cars because we took almost every extension cord we own. It was a huge success. Next time we should bring the other two obstruction lights. The dual set looked lonely.

I sat back and played Galaga on my laptop. It impressed an old pro who easily scored higher than me when he took a turn. I then let a teen who was hopped up on Bawls and coke play an online RPG. He was so hyper he was having trouble finding the keys.

You can check out the pictures at Redeemer’s Flickr site.

I’m getting excited for J.P.’s birthday and that we have super friends plus one who will be in town. They can see the neat gift I got J.P. We’ve done some prep work and found a good place to get coffee. It’s not the new Zoka because it’s not open as late but it’s still worthy.

The most exciting thing that’s happened recently is finishing off the pack of black and white Fuji fp3000b that I had in my polaroid camera. I’m now on to the Polaroid 669. I’ll hopefully post some new pictures soon on flickr. Next time I’ll skip to the Fuji fp100c since 669 color is so blah.

I’ve been nerding out and spending a lot of time reading Kathy Reichs books. She’s the woman who inspired the tv show Bones. I got the new Knit1 magazine but I haven’t done any knitting in a while. I’m lazy.

So I had grand plans when I got up today. Since there were no BBQs to go to I was going to visit Village Yarn and Tea. They were having a Labor Day sale.

J.P. called yesterday and the woman said they’d be open until 5pm today. I arrived there shortly before 4pm and they were closed. It looked like they had been closed for a while. So I came home without any yarn.

J.P. was at work catching up on something he needed to finish. I had hoped to be working on my next knitting project. Instead I made coffee and watched Angel.

Then I had the great idea to grill bratwurst, but J.P. missed the message to bring home buns so we ate leftovers. Maybe we’ll do the BBQ thing tomorrow night.

Last night was fun. We used our new popcorn maker and invited Ben, Sam, and Tom over. We watched The Bourne Supremacy. They wanted a refresher before seeing the third one. J.P. and I might try to see the third one again.

In other news I have one maybe two more weeks before my job ends.

Important things:
Village Yarn and Tea
Salton Popcorn Maker

El Diablo
Sunday April 15, 2007
22:50-23:00

Coffee:4+
Atmosphere: 4
Wifi:4+
Treats: —
Location: 4

Comments: Coffee was great! Too bad I forgot they’re only open till 11pm on Sundays. We’ll have to go back on a Friday or Saturday when they;re open till midnight.
We took Martin and Jeremy with us. Since they closed and politely kicked us out we ended up at UZ for desert.

Special considerations: We came right as they were closing so it was empty. Another couple came in after us but left with their drinks. This may have also affected the parking situation and wifi speed.

UZ
Sunday April 15, 2007
23:20-23:57

Coffee: —
Atmosphere: -5
Wifi: 3
Treats: 3
Location: 4

Comments: I was mad and I’m still mad so I don’t plan to go back for a while. As I posted that night they did a last call for espresso drinks at 11:25pm. That is a full 35 minutes before they close. I remember thinking it was bad when they did last call 15 minutes before closing. This made me give the atmosphere a -5 and significantly impacted my experience. Additionally, their clocks are fast so they turned the internet off at 5 minutes till which is really about 8 minutes till midnight.
I remember the days when we could come in at 5 minutes till and get coffee. If you know of any local coffee forums let me know. I want to post my experiences and see if other people have similar complaints. That way I won’t give the UZ workers a piece of my mind.

Special Considerations: The deteriorating service and downward slip in espresso quality has been happening for a while. I should expect to have a less than 5 by 5 experience when going to UZ.

Important things:
El Diablo Coffee Company
University Zoka
“Five by Five”
Five by Five