Boxes of Goodies

It's always a wonderful thing when you get that fresh bag of coffee in the mail. Sometimes, though, your shipments of treats and goodies all converge and wind up on your doorstep at once. And what an extra special occasion that is! Today, friends, today was that day!

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So, what have we got here? Well, on the left, we've got the newest Handsome Wager 2012 offering, a full pound of Fisticuffs Espresso. Two things are notable here: for one, retail packaging! We usually get brown craft paper valve bags with the Handsome logotype and coffee name stamped on it in black. Not quite as thrilling as this lovely testament of typography and humor! I mean, "Enjoy Before: Somebody Else Does"? "Beans and Brawn - Dusk Til Dawn"? Amazing. Also, this is one of the few full pound shipments we'll get with the Wager, so it's a bit of a rare treat. I've already packed it all up in my freezer, though, as I'm waiting to get into it next week (more on that in just a little bit).

Moving right, at the bottom, is a full stack of brand new business cards. Remember my post about a Social Exchange? Well, that project is now under way, by the name of the Counter Talk Project! I started advertising it to other students at my school, as well as some of the staff in my school. My very first meeting will be with the Community Manager (sortof the head representative for online social media) of my college, next week. Having these cards will be incredibly useful for getting my name and project out there, and they were free! Moo.com runs several promotions for free cards - you just pay about $5 for shipping. A run of 50 cards would usually be more like $10-20 plus shipping, so this is a great bargain. The meeting, though, will likely be the only time I bring along my espresso machine for the project. You see, my Baratza Maestro will not arrive in time for this particular meeting, and, being that it's the first one, I wanted to make sure it was properly memorable. Our CM told me she much prefers lattes to brewed coffee, so I figure I'll make her the best damn latte she's had! That's where the Fisticuffs comes in, hopefully. It smells like it'll be a pretty typical chocolate + fruit, rich, full-bodied shot, which should make for some good quality milk drinks.

Finally, we've got David Schomer's Espresso Coffee book, one of the better texts on the subject. It focuses on more professional aspects, such as  dealing with day-to-day changes and serving a consistent product, but much like Scott Rao's books, it's perfectly useful for the home barista as well. Plus, I love literature, especially sufficicently geeky tomes like this, so I'll be diving right in, even if I can't find something to improve my espresso at home in the first few chapters.

So, those are my goodies from today. Don't you just love when the mail man makes your day?