The Hudson Building is prepping for construction right now. I think yesterday they took the last of the old floors out of the building. This is in preparation for pouring the new slab as the basis for all that is to come.
Yesterday I passed a major hurdle for myself. I paid the deposit for the space. I am free of that burden and can move forward with less stress now. Today I turn in my financials for review. This will be a formality and I expect no issues there.
I’ll be looking to get my key soon!
I get the feeling that things are about to speed up quite a bit. I’m trying to eat better and get as much sleep as is aloud with three kids and work that could go 24/7.
Going through the negotiating phase of the project has given me a better appreciation for patience. I plan on using more patience to get me through the next five months. I think I’m going to need it.

There is no time to catch my breath after the successful negotiations. I did my first interview with the local press,the Times Colonist. I had a photo shoot outside the new space and met my first choice for an Interior Designer. I was very happy with the interview with the Designer. It began with personal exploration to see if we liked each other and where we were coming from. Then we got right down to business! The meeting was over 2 hours and I feel confident after that time I won’t need to look further for the right person for the job. She got it , I mean she heard my ideas and concepts and not only liked them, but was able to make great suggestions based on my ideas! I’ve never worked with an Interior Designer before but I feel confident that this relationship will be solid.

I then got in touch with my lawyer. I’m waiting to hear back from him right now! I don’t expect any issues there.

On the side, I was able to help a future customer buy all that they needed for a pour over cafe that she wants to open July 1-3. Time and experience may not be on her side, but I am. She was so happy that she bought me a wicked bottle of Gin! That will taste good camping this weekend!

All of that and an hour or so of banking and I was out of a day! However I still had to roast coffee. So at 5 pm I rolled into the Roastery and started a nine batch evening. I loved it! A 16 hour day, and all for the right reasons!

Day 3 has already begun at 5am and I can expect an very active day again.

Stay tuned as I chronicle the adventures of opening a roastery/cafe in a downtown historical heritage building.

I was delivering coffee to Smoken Bones and the owner Ken told me about the deal he was working out to get a new location. As soon as he told me a few of the details I needed to know more. Ken texted the real-estate agent to tell him that I would be calling. I called in one minute and began this journey at Smoken Bones.

Ken shared loads of information with me about how he had been dealing with The owners and agents thus far. Armed with this information I started to negotiate an offer to lease. I was cautious in my dealings and was not at all sure that I could do this. As the negotiations continued I became very excited about the potential of this space. I still felt like I was playing a game and that nothing would ever become of all this talk. That all changed with one conversation with my wife. She is my grounding force and was nervous about any changes that could potentially hurt our family. One evening that I will never forget, she came to me and told me that we had better do this and  jump in with all four feet. That was all I needed to hear! Time to work this deal out and forge a new path for 2%Jazz Coffee.

Townline is the company that owns the building. Fraser Campbell is the agent for the building. What a great team to work with. Without going into the details of the deal, I can tell you that The team has made every effort to make this deal happen. So after two and a half months, I have a deal!

It took research, patience, persistence and  a supportive wife to get this far. It will take the same and more to continue The Opening. Today I get my returned offer to lease, signed and sealed. Today is the first day my new reality. before today all we had was a dream and now we have opportunity!

This blog is going to be an attempt to capture the development process. I like the idea of sharing this with others because in part I am just so excited. Sometimes I feel that my passion for projects can boil over and I can’t stop talking about what I’m doing. I hope this blog will be a good focus for this enthusiasm and I do not bore my friends and family too much.

Stay tuned….

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http://www.denzelshotsauce.com/

Yemen coffees are inherently finicky. They are dry processed and do not hold up well to storage. The natural sweetness quickly turns off leaving a dry, leathery taste. This is in contrast to the wet processing of the original Java estates. Big lush taste and body are clear and present. The combination of these two coffees was and continues to be arguably the quintessential coffee blend.

Finding the right coffees for a traditional Mocha-Java proves challenging and many have found similar coffees to use as substitutions. This works well when trying to copy a profile and not just replicating a blend. Dry processed Harrars from Ethiopia are a good substitute for the Yemen. Modern day Sumatrans are processed more closely today to the traditional Javas then Javas are being currently processed today. These day one can still find Mocha-Java coffee offered all over the world. There are traditional blends, cheep commercial knock-offs and then there are the artisan interpretation of tradition.

We at 2%Jazz have come up with a unique offering this holiday season. We deconstructed the Mocha-Java and then reconstituted it in various forms for your pleasure.  We roasted our Ethiopia Harrar, Yemen Ismaili and a Sumatra Permata Gayo separately to their individual peak potential. We then cupped several variations and deviations of the traditional Mocha-Java blend. We chose three that stood out from the pack and have further cupped and discussed them. These three blends are available to you when you come to the cafe. Our Barista are going to resurrect the art of Bar-Blending in honour of this traditional coffee blending exercise. We have chosen the guide lines of the blends, but are leaving it up to you the customer to tweak the blend as you see fit. You will find this a satisfying exercise and with professional help from our Baristas the results are phenomenal. With our educated baseline and with your creative input we are offering you a chance to have an authentic Mocha-Java blend with a flare that you can call your own. This is a seasonal offering and supplies will run out mid January.

Leah’s Pick:     Equal parts Harrar and Sumatra

-Beautiful berry acidity with a sweet chocolatey lingering aftertaste. A delicious deviation from the original.

Rob’s Pick:     Equal parts Sumatra and Yemen

-Clean, clear cup with lovely spicy aromas. Sweet raspberry and light chocolate define this classic traditional blend

Sam’s Pick:     2 parts Sumatra to equal parts Yemen and Harrar

-Sweet mellow cocoa with light blueberry/raspberry flavours. Surprisingly complex for such a well balanced blend. Rich and smooth on the pallet. This a deivlish departure from tradition, but one that will be in my home for Christmas!

Sampling the goods

Yummy!

Ok. Thats it. No more descriptors in this entry. No cupping scores, nadda. Plain ‘ole yummy. I will tell you that I’ve nominated both the Costa RicaLas Lajas Honey Orgasmic and the Congo Kivu on taste. Now I’m going to do the farm research. This is an important part of purchasing. When a coffee tastes good enough to buy, but it the farming practices don’t follow my ethical guide line, then I cant buy them. Working closely with my Broker makes that job so much easier. Because on my perpetual baby making lifestyle, traveling to origin just isn’t something that happens very often, my relationship with a coffee broker is crucial. I should be doing the forward contracts by the end of the week on these ones.

I look forward to researching these coffees and sharing them soon.