please excuse me while i join the legion of bloggers (i know this title is a stretch) who begin their posts with "its been awhile since my last post." it has indeed been such a long time, and a busy time at that. in the time between i've turned 25 (commemorated with a latte art competition and some fantastic cakes from bakeshop), attended the SCAA annual conference where I competed at the USBC (an astounding 2 minutes over time), and began training my first employee at murky. its kept me busy.

while the last note i left was bittersweet and sad this one is more upbeat. i'd like to propose a toast to those giving in to this city's pull and making it a staying place. so first, a warm welcome back to miss sara gilmer.



a murky barista who spent the days of the last 9 months in picturesque Salvador, Brazil, sara (as you can see) is charming and cheery and thoughtful and i'm quite happy to have her back. Sara was my date to a recent chocolate tasting and i happily learned today that sara is hooked as well, having returned 3 times since.

and a giant public (as public as a completely obscure and unread blog can be) congratulatory hug to ryan and jill jensen, who have defied d.c. transiency and assumed control of the old murky space on capital hill. when the ultimos moved on up to philly and the jensens moved into their tiny new space i started counting my days, fully expecting their 'movin' on' announcement in 6 months or so. the news came just after conference and has been met with a murky chorus of yahoos -- easily the best imaginable ending to the cap hill saga.
i know i'm not the only one anxiously awaiting the opening of peregrine espresso. if anyone can live up to the expectations of the horde of not easily impressed d.c. baristas keeping their eyes on these papered windows at 660 Pennsylvania Avenue



i believe with all my heart it is the jensens. now i know that specialty coffee is all a buzz with the goings ons of nyc, but i'm quite proud to be part of this local coffee community that keeps getting better all the time.

So Long Mr. Innocent...

so the sun is setting on the day that everyone thought would never come -- the day Aaron Ultimo moved on from murky coffee.  we've been sort of tumbling towards this day for a solid six months or so, but after 7 years and change, aaron's pretty much a fixture.  in fact, he's even outlasted some of our fixtures -- ceiling tiles, handrails, doors, locks, countless chairs and thrift store seating.  it must be said he did not, however, outlast the ultimate murky fixture -- bill author sr., who will tell you he's been at murky since before nick was in diapers, just ask him.  this was back in the days when murky was in silver spring before the clintons' started sticking it to him. (for the record, murky was never in silver spring)

anyway, for the last month and a half or so, aaron and i have been working on an overhaul on murky's training program, and as one might expect the process of figuring that out entails a lot of discussion, debate, and syphon brewing.  call it work, or perhaps more accurately -- hanging out.  this whole time i've been thinking about what to add and what to adjust, and really thinking nothing of that fact that aaron would be moving away.  you can call it an oversight, or more accurately -- denial.

the district definitely leans towards the transient -- few people i've come to know are from d.c., and even fewer intend to stay.  especially working in coffee, which despite our best efforts, tends to be a fairly transient industry.  this is particularly true with murky, as our staff is made up almost entirely of part-timers, and in-schoolers everyone has their sights on bright new things.  which is not necessarily a complaint,  being a sort of layover means that all sorts of people stop in for a time, and the diversity of the industry is definitely one of my favorite things about coffee.

i've been at murky (and in d.c.) for almost two years, and i'm starting to notice a tightening of my heart strings, particularly around these see ya later moments.  i spent my spring break (with only one class, i don't know that it really counts as a break) driving ms. murky shantastic out to boulder, partly to delay a good-bye. (other part a sight seeing adventure, of course).  i tried to delay the ultimo good-bye,  leaving a little early, coming in a little late, but it turned out to be tom-foolery.  this morning aaron and liz stopped in for one last classic before setting out on their philadelphia adventures.  without a doubt i wish them the very best, but there is no denying i'm feeling so sad.  in fact, i'm surprised at how sad i feel, like i said, aaron's a fixture.  i don't think i'm the only murkster who is having trouble imagining the place without him.  Aaron's not only done a great job at training baristas and inspiring people to care about coffee, he's been a bit of glue, and really one of my best friends friends in town.  i'm at total saddies, though i think same paging is still possible while in different cities, we'll see.

onto brighter things, i made my first coffee order last night, and this evening i clarified butter for the first time.  you may ask why its taken my so long to do such a thing, and the answer is simply i don't know.  

the murky cup

in typical murky fashion, this notice is getting out more than a little late... but the mid atlantic barista competition is fast approaching and murky's got some home field advantage to take advantage of. we've given the baristas a limited list of ingredients for their signature beverages, and we've asked our most outrageous to emcee... it'll be swell.

OLÁ travis!

Because I'm tired of every new internet window opening reminding me of how little I've done with this blog, and because I have two few friends who may from time to time check in on my sad little site and shake their heads from side to side and think, 'that's katie for you...'

i dedicate this inaugural post to all my lovely friends who join me in the pursuit of an excellent cup of coffee. what better illustration than travis and sara's crack-packaged coffee from Salvador, Brazil. murky misses you two!

There is much on the murky coffee horizon. our in-house competition is just a few days away, coffee-fest just a few weeks away, USBC just a few months away, and we continue to enjoy a steady stream of beautiful coffees that deserve utmost praise. I promise to be more diligent.

wurky

http://www.murkycoffee.com