My Java Journal

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” – Lewis Carroll

my java journal early success rosette craftSo how do I find myself walking away from the stability of a steady paycheck and walking towards the risky prospects of a start-up?

This Experience story-line is where I will share my tales and overall experiences with coffee; those stories spanning the past 25+ years that have nurtured my love of the coffeehouse experience. It will detail the trends I so love. It will begin with my time living in Vancouver in the early 90’s. Then it will get interesting with more unique experiences from my time traveling in India in my early 20’s. It will chronicle accounts from my military deployments that provided me access to new perspectives on coffee and its relevance. Coffee is prepared and presented differently, both globally and culturally; its social relevance and bonding qualities can be quite unique. Many times coffee was the only thing I had in common with those people I was engaged with; when there was no common language and no common cultural reference, there was always the simplicity of sitting and sharing coffee.

It will be a run of nostalgia for certain, but it will expound also the broadening of tastes, influences and desire I developed for stronger coffees, and the numerous ways they can be created. Here I will tell of those first awkward orders at Starbucks, where the lexicon and specific sequencing of an order was a learned skill. I will tell of the necessity of developing a taste for dark and bitter Turkish stylings offered in the Balkans – subsequently ruining Tim Horton’s for me forever. I will recount the influence of the Grimes character from the movie Black Hawk Down, which so greatly impacted my approaches to interacting with the many personalities and groups I had to deal with in Afghanistan during my tours there.

It will be an evergreen tale as I become more involved, experimental and engaged in new coffee scenes. I am eager to share each new experience, with each trip, near or far, that I embark either solo, with family or with friends as I travel this new and winding road.

It should at the very least provide a sense for the importance of coffee to my memories of certain events and the impact of coffee on the social context of the person I am today.