The Winter Dance
by Keith Tomlinson Peace Coffee Head Roaster

Sitting at Anodyne @ 43rd, I have been poured the best single shot of espresso that I have had since I started going to coffee shops. I say this not simply because the espresso comes from Peace Coffee, but because of the skillful manner in which it was poured. There is a limit to what I can do to influence the final outcome of our coffee. As a roaster I have the opportunity to determine how each type of bean is roasted to maximize its unique flavor, but my control ends there. It is up to the baristas and those who are brewing our coffee to determine its final character.

There is something extraordinary about a beautifully poured shot of espresso. All of the elements that go in to it are technical. The proper grind setting, the amount of coffee determined by the size of the shot, 30 lbs of tamp pressure, a warm group head, 195 degree water, 9 bars of pressure, all combine in thirty seconds to form what Ernesto Illy refers to as a magical dance. They all combine to create something more than can be simply described as emulsification. The smell and the taste of espresso have the power to move you fluidly across time, memory, and associations, to establish new moments, or to warm you.

Peace Coffee creates a special Anodyne Espresso blend that cannot be found anywhere other than here. It is brighter at the beginning and has a thicker chocolate finish at the end than our other espresso blend. I highly recommend finding your way to Nicollet Ave and 43rd Street to try it out for yourself.

Last Thursday, as I left my apartment building to head into Peace Coffee it was snowing. Not a lot, but it was the first time that I had seen it snow this winter. Small flakes drifting to the ground, hanging long enough for you to catch them in your eye as they invite you to dance with them and the memories you hold of first snows and winters, or in my case, being from Texas, all of the associations you imagined that you would have with snow; the people it reminds you of. Technically, it's just frozen water falling to the ground.

It is a magical dance, the snow, the espresso, and the onset of winter.

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