have you seen this place?

i recently was pointed to a new coffee company that is turning a lot of heads by way of the star power they have in their lineup. by that i mean, star power as in people
(see pic, right) and star power as in coffees. so you might imagine i found it a little like seeing one's "stranger twin" in the grocery store looking through their coffee lineup looking eerily similar to mine. for one, it is a smallish lineup. nothing wrong with honing your sights on a few coffees that you know you can do well rather than trying to represent the whole world in a mediocre way. but a closer look reveals that not only are they carrying a focused roster of coffees, one of their five coffees is from the exact cooperative as i carry and another is from the exact farm. coincidence? i don't think so. i think someone over there in denmark has been secretly studying my strategy of finding great coffees to represent to the world and has tried to go public with a page from my very own playbook! no doubt a serious conspiracy is afoot. they have a coffee blog; i have a coffee blog. they like talking coffee with the great minds in coffee and so do i. word is, one klaus thompsen even considered going on that fabled trip to guatemala back in january...the very one i went on....hmmmmm. and now they have a new roaster just like me, too. i must dig deeper to reveal the dastardly layers of nefarious actions these crazed danes are willing to stoop to scoop the story on some fine coffees out from under my feet.

all kidding aside, i'd like to think that what this says is that great minds think alike (if that's what you can call mine!). and i'd also like to give a hat tip to klaus and friends with their new endeavor. i'm sure good things are in store for this crew. i'd say i'd like to get my hands on some of their coffees, but, um, right. at least maybe we'll meet one day in person. Lord knows we seem to have lots in common already. all except for the me not winning the world barista championship thing. oh, and the master's degrees and all that. and also probably the money thing. still, what does that matter between friends?

do check out the website and blog of the coffee collective and show them the love if you find yourself over on that side of the pond.

(photo hat tip: matt riddle via flickr)