Welcome to Mug Shots, a space dedicated to exhibiting your favorite mugs and drinking vessels. You know what we're talking about - the one you always grab for your morning brew, the one that has left the permanent ring on your desk at work, the one that makes your Zoka coffee and tea taste that much sweeter.

We're kicking off this series with our favorite mugs (Zoka's, of course) as well as some of the zaniest, wackiest, most creative coffee mugs out there.

Perhaps your favorite flagon wasn't designed by physicists to hold the perfect tea temperature for upwards of 20 minutes. It probably doesn't come ergonomically enhanced to create the most comfortable hold available on the coffee cup market. But it is your favorite for a reason, and it deserves recognition.

Email zokablog@portent.com with a picture of you and your mug (bonus points if your mug contains a piping hot pour of your favorite Zoka brew) and get it featured on the Zoka blog Mug Shots. It'll be a hoot.

Mix and match Zoka coffee mugs for a rainbow of coffee-licious moments.

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the foam of the fight. Rising up to the challenge of our rivals...

He's known as Tripp Gandy and he's eyes are on the prize. He has one shot to make it big. He's a crusader, a competitor, a trained tiger ready to give it his all. No, he's not an Olympian. He's a barista.

Barista competitions are heating up across the country with regionals going on right now and nationals coming up in April. We talked to Tripp Gandy's coach, Sarah Parrish from Metto Coffee & Tea to get a behind-the-bar look at the South East Regional Barista Championship in Atlanta. She gives us a quick dose on what barista competitions are all about.

What happens at a barista competition?

Parrish: This year, the Southeast Regional had a record 35 competitors.  Competitors each have 15 minutes to prepare four espresso, four cappuccino, and four specialty beverages.  These drinks are presented to four sensory judges for evaluation.  There are also two technical judges and a head judge.  The competitors have to explain what coffee they are using and why they chose this particular coffee. 

So they are judged not only on technique, but also on knowledge and the presentation itself.  All of which are required of a good barista.

What is Gandy's signature drink?

Parrish: Tripp's drink was an avocado con panna -- an espresso shot with a drop of honey and topped with fresh whipped cream, with an avocado and brie puree folded in. The barista gets to pick what specialty coffee he or she brews and they sometimes change it up by putting a different origin of bean in it.

How do competitive baristas prepare for the events?

Parrish: It's a lot of work. After hours when the shop closes, a barista practices his or her technical abilities. You have to be very dedicated and be willing to put in extra hours. It takes a lot of patience and skill. 

How do the baristas like to have fun when they're not competing?

Parrish: A lot of fun things happen while we're down here. The first night, all the baristas get together for a party. It's healthy camaraderie -- there are some familiar faces from last year  and some fresh faces. We all go out and have fun and of course, there's a lot of coffee talk going on.

You've been a barista for 12 years. How has the industry changed?

Parrish: It's always changing. Everyone's trying to make a better coffee, better espresso. Last year, there were 18 competitors in the Southeast Regionals; this year, there are 35. It's come a long way in the past five years and many more baristas are entering the competitions.

Look out for Lem Butler from Counter Culture Coffee. He won the 2010 Southeast Regional Barista Competition with 617.5 points! For more information on barista competitions, visit Barista Competition 2010. Stay tuned to the Zoka blog for all your barista news. 

 

 

By Amanda Halm

My coffee obsession started on a humid morning in July, an hour before the heat really set in. My dad and I sat on creaky old chairs on the porch of a cottage in a little vacation town in Michigan.

I remember the moment vividly because before that, like most 13-year-olds, I crinkled my nose at the smell of coffee.  I considered it an "adult" drink because it doesn't taste like candy and it's not a fun color like fuchsia or tangerine (before coffee, there was Slurpee). I wasn't even allowed to drink it, which might be why my first taste seems so significant.

I blame my dad for my caffeine headaches, my 3:00 p.m. latte fixes, and late-night java jitters (I refuse to succumb to a coffee curfew). He opened one of those silver commuter coffee cups and filled a mug with a beautiful chestnut brew, spooned in a little cream and sugar and I was in heaven.
 
Maybe it was just me acting all grown up or the way he prepared it. Maybe it was the simple act of sipping coffee, sharing a rare moment with my dad and watching steam rise off the lake. Whatever it was, coffee turned into something special that day.

Since that vacation, I've been a java junkie. But I must admit, although I admire coffee, I'm by no means a connoisseur. I grew up far from Seattle coffee country, around Chicago, the "city of broad shoulders," a city where "drip" is not part of the dialect (go there and ask for it sometime - expect raised eyebrows).
 
To my family and a large portion of the Midwest, coffee isn't a beverage to savor and enjoy; it's fuel.  Until I was an adult, I didn't even know coffee outside the blue or red canisters that graced our cabinet (depending on the sale). Even now, all grown up and slurping it down three times a day, I don't know nearly as much about what goes into "liquid heaven" as I should.
 
I recently had another coffee moment that could change my drinking habits forever. I attended my first cupping at Zoka.  Sniffing, sipping and slurping with notable coffee experts made me realize I'm not getting enough out of coffee.
 
The Kenya Thangathi Coffee was my personal favorite- and yes, it really does smell like freshly popped kettle corn.  I also got to sample the Brazil Condado Estate Coffee and the Organic Ethiopia Sidamo Coffee and found myself falling for coffee in a way I'd never have before.  For me, cupping was like being reacquainted with an old friend but finding out they've developed into something new and incredible and that you want to spend every waking second with them.
 
I don't stop and smell the beans. Or the roses. Or really anything before 9:00 a.m. And I should. Life is short. It's time to enjoy more moments like my first sip. Only with better coffee.

Do you remember your first cup or cupping? When everything changed, and coffee was suddenly the nectar of the Gods? Comment below!

by: Prestin Yoder

Coffee needs care. Not just in the specialty coffee shop or the roastery, but in the home as well. What makes Zoka so great is that you can get an espresso and cup of coffee in the shop, or take a bag of our fresh roasted coffee home. Adding even more variety to this set up, you can brew with several different methods and taste the same coffee in a whole new way each time. If you haven't done this, pick up a Chemex, French Press or Melitta from one of our stores for a new experience. Finding the differences between these brewing processes offers a wide range of body, acidity and palate variation.

by: Prestin Yoder

I love espresso. I should rephrase that; I love good espresso. For you espresso-lovers out there, Zoka has started a new thing for your endearment of good coffee. Our Kirkland store has a full bar dedicated to single-origin espresso drinks. It has been getting a lot of local espresso drinkers stoked, and is truly espresso to fall in love with. As you may know, most espresso that you get either in your latte, doppio, macchiato, or cappuccino, is a blend of different beans. You will find this at any shop you go to. Our Paladino, for example,  has beans from regions around the world.  If you get a straight shot of this espresso, you can pick up on the nuances of each bean. Conventional espresso machines work well with this type of espresso.

by: Prestin Yoder

The Zoka roasters hosted a cupping of the new Kenya Kirimara this week for our baristas and the consensus was clear: the Kirimara is a beautiful coffee. With tasting spoons in hand, we blindcupped this coffee, not knowing what to expect. As we started to slurp up the Kenya Kirimara, you could see our eyes light up. People tried not to comment on the coffee until everyone had a chance to sample it. After the tasting and note taking, our staff had nothing but good things to say for the complex profile and great acidity of this coffee.

Zoka and nine other coffee joints that really know their coffee, were featured in November's GQ issue.  I also forgot to report back in August that we were also in Details magazine with four other caffeine slingers.  We sure are hitting the publications lately.  Is it a trend or are they just now starting to realize there's more to coffee than Starbucks--there's also premium  coffee.

by: Erik Evenson

Well, it's official. The twenty-somethings of today are now known as "The Lost Generation" according to the magazines. Don't believe me? Read about it here. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds is 18%, and only 82% of college graduates ages 22-27 are finding jobs. We've got many reasons to feel down, and it's not just the numbers that are grim. How many of us know someone who has been laid off in the last year? How many of us are trying to find jobs? My fiancee has been trying to find a job for months now--it's not the rejections that bother her so much as the no-replies at all.

by: Prestin Yoder

Sometimes people seem skeptical that great coffee will ever be anything other than a micro-niche, especially people outside the industry. It's not surprising that super-specialty coffee got its start in uber-hip places like the corner of Denny and Broadway on Capitol Hill, or downtown Portland. And the urban hipster vibe is still crushingly strong in the overall industry. But Zoka Kirkland is proof that great coffee is about quality of ingredients, professionalism, care, execution, and love. Not your zip code. I'd put their quality up against just about any other shop in the country.

Enjoy.