this is not...

...an anti-starbucks blog. it's an anti-corporate, pro-independent coffee blog. to the extent that that resembles starbucks, so be it.

here's what's really important. i've learned more about really cupping coffee the way the pros do in the last week than i did in all my time at big green. why is that? is that because big green doesn't care about coffee? of course not. it's because what big green wanted me to do was to execute efficiently so that the bottom line worked well.

howard behar once said, "we're not a coffee company serving people, [ed: have i said this before?] we're a people company serving coffee." how that sounds in my ears today....

today i created my own cupping log based on cupping techniques i am perfecting on my own. what works; what's important to really know about a coffee; how should a cupping flow; what will make it easier to evaluate and record as you cup. these are questions i tried to answer. and they are questions that are taking me closer and closer into the coffee instead of closer and closer into another manager's roundtable about how to better manage the corporation.

i've not made a thin dime yet on my new business adventure. and i'm happier than i've ever been.

so am i anti-starbucks? no. but am i happy? never happier.