Gearing up.

Count Down to Departure Day: 2 weeks exactly:

Back to the gear:

This weekend my Dad and I trekked over to CampMor in New Jersey to get some camping gear. I picked up a TENT, a sleeping bag, a sweet sleeping pad, plus a collapse-able 2.5 gallon water container (to counter the copious coffee consumption).

The tent was a holiday gift from my Dad (Thank you!) Part of the present was getting to score some quality time with Pops which is why it was a delayed present.

Last night I was like a small child on Christmas day – I pitched the tent in my living room, put the sleeping bag and pad inside, got in the sleeping bag and made my parents come appreciate all my new gear with me inside it. It was really fun – I promise. I sat in the tent for a solid half-hour being happy before I started to feel smothered by my super warm sleeping bag.

Sara promised she and I would have a sleepover in the tent before we hit the road. However, in retrospect, with the “new-gear-high” wearing off, I think I want to spend as much time as possible in my own super-cosy bed. (If you have read our bios’, you’ll know I’m serious about my bed.)

In other news: I was able to attend another cupping this afternoon. Sara couln’t come, she was working at Coffee Labs.

I went down to Gimme! on Mott St, where Taylor Mork was offering up some Ugandan Coffee from Crop to Cup. We tasted two coffees, each one in a light roast version and a dark roast version. Plus two coffees someone brought in from Intelligentsia; a Rwandan and a Colombian.

The space was small and there were a lot of people, but I was happy to recognize a number of faces from the last NY event I attended (Hi, Mary!).  Including Casey, another barista from Coffee Labs.

I had a clear favorite, (the second set, for those at the event) my only complaint is that I wish the taste stayed longer in my mouth. Once I slurped, it was quite delicious, light, I tasted a deep amber honey (?) but for a very brief, unsatisfying amount of time.

It was good for me to attend a public cupping. All the cuppings I have been to were very small, private and geared towards my learning. I am still really intimidated to talk about my impressions of coffee in public – I remained practically silent at the cupping. In fact, I am even embarrassed about writing my description here. But it’s all part of the learning curve, so I want ya’ll to be able to read it. There is a good bit of terminology in describing coffee: brightness, acidity, mouth feel, etc.. and I’m still teasing out what all the different descriptors mean. I could tell you what they mean, but tasting it is a different story.

Let the count down begin…

-Melanie

PS: Everyone say “Hi Sara!”