AA Cafe Podcast

The founder of Intelligentsia Coffee, Doug Zell came to town to race his bicycle in the Tulsa Tough crits. He was nice enough to sit down and tell Brian about his life and career. This is part one of two with Doug. Hear the story behind the founding and rise of Intelligentsia Coffee.

Mark and Brian sit down in the echo-chamber roastery that has been constructed on the Rookery site. Discussions about Philbrook Museum, the Specialty Coffee Association, and then an interview with Leslie Penrose, the founder of the Nicaraguan community development nonprofit, Just Hope.

DoubleShot Coffee Company is constructing a new building, and it's called The Rookery. Architect and Rookery designer, Joel Collins joins us in this episode to talk about the trials of putting up an old barn in the middle of the city, what this design means to the DoubleShot, and what the structure brings with it.

I just returned from Costa Rica, where I visited Ricardo Gurdian at Hacienda Miramonte, Minor at La Pastora, and my friends at La Minita. Jim tells us the state of the coffee at La Minita. Then I have a visit from my old friend, Tommy Wazelle. Tommy is an accomplished opera singer, and has returned to Tulsa for Tulsa Opera's performance of Strictly Gershwin. Tommy talks about his work and his experiences with DoubleShot Coffee.

Happy holidays from Mark and Brian at AA Cafe, and everyone at the DoubleShot. This somewhat rambling episode never steers far from the course. Hear the top 8 holiday gifts from DoubleShot Coffee Company. Listen to very informative phone interviews with the producers of the Santa Clara Natural as well as the two Natural Geshas from Finca Hartmann in Panama. And the episode concludes with some introspection and a hopeful list of ten things.

What happens when you travel? When you step out of your comfort zone, where you have to turn off auto-pilot and figure out how to do everything? Brian talks about his latest trip to Colombia, scrambling to pick up the pieces when things don't go as planned. It's a discussion about people and bureaucracies and the quest to source great coffee.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled podcast to bring you a conversation with Paul Bowman, vice chairman of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy. Paul tells of his encounters with bigfoot while drinking DoubleShot Coffee. Mark and Brian explore literary and movie references to the mysterious beast. It's off the beaten path, but well worth exploring.

Brian and Mark launch into a rambling conversation about things that are not as they seem. These are the questions that plague the honest coffee professional who has to try and debunk what people think they know about certain coffees. For more information about Kopi Luwak, read these: https://www.facebook.com/168827138418/photos/a.171652533418.120192.168827138418/171652538418/?type=3 http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/end-result-600-a-pound-coffee/ For more information about Bulletproof coffee, go here: http://gizmodo.com/bulletproof-coffee-debunking-the-hot-buttered-hype-1681321467

This episode is a departure from the usual coffee-centric banter. Brian interviews documentary filmmaker, Kyle Bell, a Creek Indian who grew up drinking coffee on the rez. Mark grew up in Tulsa, but didn't have any Indian friends until adulthood. Now, surrounded by the Native American people, Tulsa is developing a rich culture. Watch Kyle's films at vimeo.com/rayvisuals. Also in this episode, Brian announces that DoubleShot Coffee Company is moving. They are reconstructing an 1850's barn and creating a new coffee mecca in Tulsa. Stay up to date with construction progress and everything else going on at the DoubleShot at doubleshotcoffee.com.

Continuing the path to understand coffee brewing variables, Mark and Brian dig around the issue of pressure. Doctor Michael Royce explains the technical aspects of pressure and describes the importance of pressure in his occupation as an anesthesiologist. Relating that information back to coffee (and various other worldly matter), discussions ensue. Hints are dropped as to some big announcements.