photos from the sprodown at local 123
Coava’s “Kone“, an reusable stainless steel pourover filter
coffee beers
pepple’s donuts
another shot of the beers
this is tim, homeroasting sweet maria’s beans on the west bend poppery 2
clearing chaff
latte art competition emcee
bikes in the back patio
latte art tournament entries
rosetta
Every trip I take somehow ends up becoming a bike and coffee (and sometimes beer) tour. We did some preliminary research on chowhound and coffeegeek for the coffee and beer and found a place for bike rentals. Also handy was this interview of Stumptown owner Duane Sorensen by Oliver Strand of the New York Times It’s been a couple of months since our trip so my memory is a bit hazy but I’ll try to piece things back together with the help of these photos and the internets.
Die Koffie Salon Storefront
Coffee was my first priority. We walked from our hotel to de koffie salon (Utrechtsestraat 130) based on recommendations from one of the above threads. Patisserie Kuyt is across the street and these two were probably taking pictures of the storefront. I did the same later, of course.
Impressive looking lever machine at Die Koffie Salon.
not as impressive-looking espresso from Die Koffie Salon
The espresso from Die Koffie Salon was pretty disappointing. Light-bodied and not so good. Drinkable though. I don’t remember much else about it. We moved on to across the street.
Patisserie Kuyt storefront
Patisserie Kuyt was a treat. We ended up getting a variety of sweets, including the famed Appeltaart.
Bike rentals were from Dam Bike (New 26). Cheap bike rentals, pretty crappy bikes. But most bikes in Amsterdam were crappy. We had some brake and wheel-truing problems, but hey, we didn’t expect much. Another factor in choosing this bike rental place: we didn’t have to ride the super touristy orange bikes. We were still touristy of course.
Nespresso storefront
I stopped in here to see if there were any Nestle-fueled single serve espresso innovations. I didn’t see any, but I did see some (apparently top secret) designer Nespresso machines. There were patterns screen printed on some of the plastic panels. They kicked me out of the store for taking photos. First time for a coffee shop – in the past it’s usually been for taking pictures in churches.
Lots of orange going on – we were nearing the quarterfinals of the the world cup.
women walking along albert cuypmarkt
After hanging out for a bit in Vondelpark, our next stop was Stumptown Amsterdam. The market was super crowded and the actual store front was obscured by tents. Lots of semi-crappy stuff but it was all interesting nonetheless.
an overexposed view of stumptown amsterdam
stumptown amsterdam: cupping station
Stumptown Amsterdam had a similar feel to other Stumptown locations but also had a more boutique-y feel to it. The barista was a bay area guy (if I remember correctly) and it sounded like a pretty sweet gig to be working at that pop-up coffee spot with an apartment paid for by the Stumptown folks.
stumptown espresso
The espresso was predictably good, of course.
Bazar
Dinner was at Bazar (Albert Cuypstraat 182). We got some sort of kebab platter and though I was stuffed afterwards, I was intrigued by their mint syrup + ice cream + fruit dessert combination.
dessert at Bazar.
Canteloupe, honeydew, apple, grape, ice cream, whipped cream, mint syrup, pineapple, and strawberry. The mint syrup was too sweet for my tastes but it was an interesting combination made a bit refreshing by the mint.
Albert Cuypstraat, post market
The market had shut down and the cleaning crews were tidying the street as we walked out of Bazar.
Albert Cuypstraat, post market
biercafe gollem
A recommended beer place, Cafe Gollem (Raamsteeg 4), was nearby, so we sat down and had a beer. Good selection with a very low-key vibe. The only thing that sucked was a woman sat down next to us and started smoking. The breeze was blowing all of her smoke right at my face. She must have had about 3 cigarettes while we had about 2 beers.
biercafe gollem – at the bar
We left Cafe Gollem to return our bikes to Dam Bike and then walked home.
dam square at night
kind of a sweet bike design.
It doesn’t look very practical but it’s kind of cool how the rack is integrated and how there’s tons of standover clearance. The decal says “Nationale Postcode Loterij” Not sure why they’ve branded a bike with their decals or who the manufacturer is though.
the intercontinental amstel amsterdam hotel
The last shot of the night was of the fancy-looking InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam Hotel (Amstel Hotel). FIVE STARS PLUS!
Gueuze and Kreik sitting on a barrel at Cantillon (or Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij if you want to be specific) in Brussels:
I didn’t have time to take a tour this time, but it was a nice little stopover.
this past weekend, about 32 of us were treated to an eight-course beer-paired culinary adventure: eating about beer 2010. More extensive descriptions of the event will be written by the makers in the near future, so for now just I’ll share a few pictures:
sopressata, cured at home
“a selection of seasonal pickled vegetables” arranged symmetrically
homebrews in fancy packaging
buckwheat soba noodle making
homebrews on ice
soba going through the pasta maker
topping for the sicilian chickpea fritters
pickled vegetables cut up for serving
marzen model
soba with cale, shredded daikon and dipping broth
peruvian ceviche
ratatoullie with cheese scraping
pork chop
prost!
adding wheatberries to the salad
mustard, in nugget dipping containers
nuggets, with dipping containers, in serving boxes
fancy napkins for the nuggets
tapioca with a hazelnut and coffee shortbread cookie
the eab crew at the end of the night
The 19th annual I Care Classic ride (presented by the Almaden Super Lions Club) was on May 15th, 2010.
registration:
Paramit corporation hosted the staging area and registration. They love microwaves. or hot food.
wall of microwaves
The ride was really well supported with plentiful sugary home-baked rest stops. I ate a lot of m&ms and cookies that day. yum.
great homebaked food
The ride was a little foggy in the morning, especially once you got up in the hills a bit:
foggy gilroy hot springs
and sometimes sunny
sunny gilroy hot springs
the fog was wonderful though:
beautiful fog
more beautiful fog
there was an accident somewhere on the route where a car apparently hit a telephone pole, requiring that the road be closed while PG&E conduct repairs. we lost about 30 miles of our ride but we were able to make up 20 miles of it elsewhere on uvas rd.
detour!
Brook hooked me up with some flashy handlebar tape:
rockin the gold handlebar tape
el toro brewing company was nearby, so beers were in order:
beer to cap it off
