one of the best things...

...about writing a blog no one ever reads is you get to say things no one will ever read.

there. i said it.

this blog is about coffee and there are a bunch of things i know about coffee. and sometimes in my little world i get to thinking that there's no one in the world who can touch my passion and knowledge for coffee. and then i start to reach out into the wider world and realize that this is quite simply the dumbest thought i could have around coffee.

there are so many passionate, knowledgeable and interesting personalities in the world of specialty coffee. i know none of them personally. and, truth be told, most of them scarcely know i even exist, save for a few of them who happen to participate in one of the uber-underground coffee forums i frequent. but i've been to exactly one industry trade show and hung low, not meeting anyone really and not seeking any attention. i sometimes vacilate between wanting to make a big name for myself and for brown, and wanting to toil in obscurity, quietly just doing the stuff of passion and perfection that may someday catch someone's eye. the natural thing to do would be to clamor for attention, to try to be one of the gang. but my personality rebels against that. i've always tended toward the latter option: just do your thing and do it better than anyone around you. hone your craft and your skills and your thinking, little by little, day by day.

so that's the precipice on which i stand lately, as brown enters the next phase of its existence. i started this business trying to become a roaster/retail cafe. i retooled into a micro-roaster/wholesaler. and now the opportunity has presented itself--seemingly with spades--to refocus my energies back on the roaster/retailer segment.

i do have some surprises up my sleeve this year that are going to grab some attention. but those will get kept under wraps until the most excellent time to put them into the cup arrives. until then, more glorious toiling in anonymity, doing what i love and trying to thrive at it every step of the way.