Long time without a post, eh? Sorry about that. I started up this blog at a time when I had some spare hours in my week, but after my first couple posts all those spare hours disappeared into the ether. But perhaps I’ll have some more time in the near future to put something of interest here somewhat more regularly or, alternatively, have more luck roping coworkers into putting content here alongside my posts.

Anyhow, the news of the moment is that we finally put up our own web store WWW.SHOPATOMICAFE.COM It’s a pretty bare bones kinda site but it functions well enough to sell our product. We hope to make the mail order business grow substantially so if you have any feedback on the store and your experience navigating it, especially how to improve on it so you’d feel more comfortable buying coffee there (which helps me pay off my student loans please leave such feedback here.

Posted on March 4th, 2008 by Adam D
Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

I very much enjoy all the jobs I have in the coffee biz (coffee preparation, sourcing coffee, training new hires, graphic design for the cafes) but probably my primary role these days is roasting. Perhaps I don’t prefer it entirely to all the other jobs, but I think I am uniquely suited to it. I remember when we had first started roasting one of my coworkers asked me, “so how’s the roasting going? It looks boring! Everytime I look over at you … you’re just standing there — doing nothing.”

Au contraire! In fact the job of a coffee roaster, while it appears rather uneventful, is rather just a very cerebral job. I’ve got to establish precise roasting temperatures, adjust flame rates to coax a particular temperature increase of the coffee (not too fast, not too slow) and introduce more or less airflow around the beans. I make assessments and changes of all three such parameters every thirty seconds throughout a fifteen minute roast, while also keeping a detailed notation of all such changes and temperature readings.

During that fifteen minutes I watch beans go through this color progression, which I scrutinize as closely as I do the temperatures, flame rate and airflow parameters. And I do this a dozen to fifteen times a day. All of this keeps me in rather intense concentration for four to five hour long sessions of roasting. So while it may not look like much, the work is actually pretty intense.

Even after a couple thousand roasts, I still find the end of the process, where fresh roasted beans dump into the cooling tray, a gorgeous, romantic and rewarding moment.

Posted on November 1st, 2007 by Adam D
Filed under: roasting | 5 Comments »

Working in the Beverly store as I do (where our small Diedrich roaster is situated) I hear with some frequency, “I still haven’t made made it over to the second store in Marblehead yet.” even though it’s been open well over a year now. Of course, I urge everybody to make their way over … the place is gorgeous. And also, while the drinks menu is the same, they’ve also got a bigger kitchen and so expanded the food menu somewhat as well. So it’s worth the trip for the atmosphere and to try the Quirky Turkey sandwich (you can check out a .pdf file of both shops’ food menus here).

Anyhow, for those of you about whom I started this post, here are some photos of the Marblehead location, to give you a feel for the place. All of these photos were taken by the talented and amicable John F Hurley (infrequently updated website here).

Here’s the outside of the cafe at 14 School Street.

A shot from behind the bar, looking toward the front of the cafe.

A view of the pastry case and espresso bar.

Looking toward the front of the cafe from the very back wall.

Just to the side of the entrance door is some merchandise. Coffee, tea, brewing equipment and such.

Andrew! Our long lost boss disappeared from coffee for a number of years while he ran their Irish Pub, McSwiggins (since sold and renamed The Old Spot). It’s good to have you back, Andrew!

Of course, since I don’t work any shifts in Marblehead, I have no idea how often Andrew and Heather hear people comment on how they’ve never seen the Beverly shop. Perhaps, just to cover my bases, I’ll put up some photos of that one too.

Posted on October 17th, 2007 by Adam D
Filed under: Marblehead Cafe | 7 Comments »

At last, what so many have been clamoring for, another blog to read! Hopefully, we will be able to contribute something of interest to at least a couple individuals.

So this is a blog about coffee and our business running two cafes and a coffee roasting wholesale operation. Of course, everybody is free to chime in here, friends and strangers alike! Pour a cup of joe and let’s get this little ball rolling.

Posted on October 12th, 2007 by Adam D
Filed under: Blog Operations | 8 Comments »