clementine enjoyed her first record store day this morning! we went to decatur cd, which had a sizable crowd, but wasn’t too overwhelming. luckily my brother went along and could help when things got tight. clementine was a trooper and put up with the masses, she even fell asleep towards the end. i figure having gone to a record store day before her first birthday will give clementine some good indie cred down the road!

there was free beer, a ton of cool vinyl and free screen-printed bags from 88.5 wras. i grabbed the sigur rós – hvarf-heim double lp on clear vinyl and a ryan adams – heartbreak a stranger / black sheets of rain 7″ on blue vinyl, which has two bob mould covers. the 7″ artwork could be a hüsker dü album, which is fitting!

i kept things light this year as a whole, but i’m really happy with my purchases. you can check out what i grabbed last year here.

– ryan

decatur cd

356 west ponce de leon avenue
decatur, ga 30030
404-371-9090

don’t forget today is record store day! there will be lots of rare vinyl treats up for grabs, including items listed here. in atlanta, you can hit up criminal records and wax ‘n’ facts or wuxtry and decatur cd in decatur.

see you there!

– ryan

i just read that woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks is now serving sweetwater 420 on tap! eating a cheesesteak or super sub with a 420 draft on woody’s huge wrap-around porch sounds like the perfect spring afternoon!

be sure to check out our previous post on woody’s.

– ryan

woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks

981 monroe drive northeast
atlanta, ga 30308
404-876-1939

starbucks recently introduced their new line of light roasted coffees called blonde. this is something many smaller roasters have been offering for awhile, so i was intrigued to see how starbucks would compete.

basically, there are certain coffee beans that reach their ideal flavor at a shorter and/or cooler roasting time, hence the term light roasted. the result is a lighter bodied coffee that tastes crisp and clean with a bit milder flavor. it’s easier to over-roast coffee beans though, to ensure potential bad flavors are burnt out, so most companies roast everything really dark. it’s also not as cost-effective to separate the ripe beans for a lighter roast, so you don’t see many options outside of specialty coffee shops.

light roasted coffee often gets a bad wrap for not being very strong or being too mellow, however this is definitely not the case. most people don’t realize that a light roasted coffee actually has more caffeine than a dark roast. beans lose their caffeine the more they are roasted, so a light roast packs more punch then a dark one. it makes sense, but you always hear people requesting a dark cup of coffee when they need to stay awake.

light roasted coffees are also very flavorful, especially when brewed through a chemex or a french press. they are just more subtle when compared to a dark coffee like a french roast. you will still pick up fruity, nutty or even chocolaty notes in your coffee though.

so far starbucks has a willow blend and a veranda blend in the blonde line-up. i’ve tried both and really enjoyed them! i don’t think i’ll switch from my locally-roasted batdorf & bronson when buying nice coffee, but i’ll grab some more if it goes on sale again.

did you know you get a free cup of coffee at starbucks when you bring in your empty starbucks coffee bag? sounds like a pretty good recycling program to me! i noticed the offer on the bottom of the blonde coffee i purchased.

– ryan

today is the one day without shoes campaign from TOMS shoes. the goal is to “spread awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life by taking off our own.” to show your support, take off your shoes for the day, or if work won’t allow (like me), just wear your TOMS!

read more about the TOMS movement here.

– ryan

after my recent tour of the batdorf & bronson roastery, i went on a quest to brew a better cup of coffee. i learned on the tour that there are many factors that go into a good cup of joe. these range from the quality and freshness of the coffee, to using the proper ratio of grounds/water, to hitting the ideal brewing temperature of 205°. the problem is most consumer coffeemakers never reach such high temperatures. for that, you need a hand-brewed method where you are in full control and as much as i love my french press, it sounded like a pour over coffeepot was the way to go.

after a little research, i decided on the stylish chemex coffeepot. it’s both a great coffeemaker and a beautiful piece of design, even 70+ years after its creation. plus it only set me back $31.95 at dancing goats in decatur. i did have to buy special chemex filters for it, but they were just $5.95 for a 100 pack, which wasn’t that bad.

for my inaugural pot, i picked up some nice costa rica la minita del sol coffee. the description on the bag was “full bodied & sparkling sweet, maple, almond & orange juice,” which sounded interesting. the beans were 100% sun dried instead of fully washed, like most central american beans, so it’s supposed to be fairly unique.

the brewing process was pretty easy to follow. i put a chemex filter into the top of the coffeepot and added a tbsp of freshly ground coffee for each 5 oz cup, 8 tbsp for a full pot. i boiled 40 oz of water and removed it from heat for roughly 20 seconds until it reached ~205°. i then wet the grounds with 4 oz of water and let “bloom” for 30-40 seconds. from there i added the rest of the water, making sure not to overflow, and composted the spent grounds. voilà, the perfect cup of coffee!

the results were definitely worth the effort! the coffee had that fresh, strong taste you get from a french press, but seemed cleaner and less-bitter since the oils and sediment were filtered out. it was a nice, crisp cup of coffee where I could actually distinguish some of the descriptive characteristics. i wouldn’t say i sensed the orange juice, but i picked up some sweet and nutty elements, especially when sampled next to a cup of french roast. it was some of the better coffee i’ve made at home!

on top of that, the actual coffeepot is gorgeous and looks great on the countertop! it’s on permanent display at moma and was featured in the modern by design exhibit at the high museum of art, further proving its elegance.

for more thorough brewing instructions, or to check out some great mid-century illustrations, head to the chemex website. there are also some slightly different brewing instructions offered from dancing goat, although i tried this method and didn’t care for it. it used almost twice the coffee and was a little strong for my taste.

enjoy!

– ryan

dancing goats coffee bar

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

i’ve always loved the steel building near the dekalb farms market on east ponce. you don’t feel like you’re in atlanta when you drive by it.

this building made me realize the pittsburgh steelers logo is just the american steel logo, also called the steel mark. who would have thought it was so simple? the colors represent the three materials used to produce steel, with yellow for coal, orange for iron ore and blue for scrap steel.

– ryan

have you ever been to henri’s bakery? it’s a deli & bakery in buckhead that’s been open since 1929. my sandwich didn’t knock my socks off, but the deserts looked very tasty and i loved the neon sign. i would definitely go again if i was in the area, especially to try some sweets!

– ryan

henri’s bakery

61 irby avenue northwest
atlanta, ga 30305
404-237-0202

clementine and i recently had a free afternoon so we went on a trip to the fernbank museum of natural history. she is finally getting big enough to enjoy the nature quest area, so there’s a lot more for her to do. she caught story time and totally loved playing with these tabby blocks!

we also walked through the wildlife rescue exhibit, although it wasn’t her first time. clementine likes watching the bird simulation and all of the bright lights.

– ryan

fernbank museum of natural history

767 clifton rd ne
atlanta, ga 30307
404-929-6300

my brother and i went on a great scoutmob tour of the batdorf & bronson roastery. i learned quite a bit about brewing & roasting coffee, its history, and by the end of the tour i could actually taste the difference between a sumatra and a costa rican cup of coffee. talk about a fun tour!

i’m a big fan of dancing goats, which is batdorf & bronson’s coffee shop in decatur, so i enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at atlanta’s best roaster. it was definitely a smaller production than i pictured. they only have three people who do the roasting and they still bag and label all of their coffee by hand.

the tour also included a mug, freshly roasted coffee, and a slice of mocha pie from the pie shop. the pie was made with cacao atlanta chocolate & batdorf coffee and was pretty much the best thing ever!

a cool side note, batdorf takes donations for their used burlap coffee bags. the money goes directly to the coffee farmers and the bags, which have great designs, can be re-used for all sorts of fun projects. it’s a win-win for everyone involved! i picked up an el indio bag, see the photo below.

– ryan

dancing goats coffee bar

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100