We Came, We Crawled, We Caffeinated - San Diego 2015 Part 1

Sunshine,  caffeine,  creative people behind espresso machines - does it get better than Caffeine Crawl San Diego 2015? 
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The party started for The LAB team on Thursday at InterAmerican Coffee, where we were graciously allowed to take over the cupping area with a mess of coupons, coffee samples, swag, and the fabulous reusable tote bags sporting "Drink Local, Drink Often" from San Diego Coffee Network. (Don't be fooled by the tidy table - this was 150 bags later, post clean-up and completely staged). Jessica (from SDCN) helped us put the bags together AND brought really stellar snacks. We knew we liked Jess. 

We were staying in Little Italy, so we walked to Juniper and Ivy for a fancy girls-night-out...

...and let me just tell you 'bout those biscuits. When they say "left coast cookery," they mean it, and whoever came up with this smoked, buttered crockery of gratification, well...we would like to meet them and express our thanks. Since this is BeverageLife, not BiscuitLife, we'll leave it at that, and point out that the (butternut squash ravioli and) cocktails were also excellent, and we greatly appreciated the tropical flower garnish. 

We arose at the crack-o-dawn Friday for a TV spot with Good Morning San Diego, and a good morning it was thanks to Ethiopian Boke Konga and buttery cappuccinos from the Bird Rock Coffee team. 

We hopped on a train to Encinitas, and spent the 40 minute ride along the coast making last minute phone calls and wondering why everyone doesn't live in Southern California. 

Matt and Raul opened their doors ahead of schedule for Caffeine Crawl Encinitas, and welcomed us to Ironsmith Coffee Roasters with flashbrewed Ethiopian pourovers on ice, local cookies and big smiles. An informative slideshow on coffee brewing techniques was narrated by Matt, and Raul handed out samples as we admired the Slayer espresso machine and the local art on the walls. 

The sun drenched roasting space that Lofty Coffee calls home drew us in with an air of extravagance, and we were served flights of Guatemala Genesis Reserva via Kyoto and Chemex with a house made apple cookie to accent tasting notes. The final highlight was relationship driven and unique - Matt passed out postcards so we could write thank you notes to the farmers at Finca de Dios, and we left with a fresh perspective on the coffee journey and a deeper appreciation for all the hands it passes through. 

An old railway station turned cafe, Pannikin was nostalgic and cozy, and the smell of roasting beans wafted through the floor boards as we made our way downstairs. Helena shared roasting insight while Sean and Dempsey answered questions, and we tasted two different Ethiopian coffees roasted similarly to highlight natural flavor differences. We polished off our samples and soaked up the caffeine with hearty house made muffins. 

Collaboration took center stage at Coffee Coffee (formerly Cafe Ipe), as roasters Dan and Scott demonstrated Revolution Roasters' farm-to-cup process with a batch tumbling aromatically in the Probat behind them. Victor, their producer from Brazil, gave insight into coffee processing, and we sampled the finished product  with plenty of caffeinated questions rolling off our tongues. 

A train ride back to Little Italy and beers at Bottlecraft rounded out a truly magical day, and we called it a night in anticipation of another high energy day of great coffee and awesome people.  

To be continued...

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