I have become a huge believer in the idea of serendipity, the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for (link). Many of the opportunities I have been lucky enough to come across have come into my life seemingly out of nowhere. Though, when I start looking back, I can almost always find the root of the happy surprises.
Here’s a quick list off the top of my head: Continue reading
I’m not sure what it is with The Flying Goat Coffee. Either I get an amazing cappuccino made exactly as ordered or I get something else entirely and in some cases I don’t get anything at all.
Of the last three times I have visited The Goat in Healdsburg only once has my order been properly fulfilled.
I understand that The Goat is a coffee shop superior in product to Starbucks but at least with Starbucks, if I order a drink, nine times out of ten that drink is what I get.
Of course, as long as The Goat has plain bagels with cream cheese and tapenade, I’ll be loyal with ever trip to Santa Rosa/Healdsburg. Fact.
My best girl, Kayla, planned a sensational day in the wine valley for the two of us when I was in California back in September. We hit up six (?) wineries for tastings and were driven from one vineyard to the next in a limousine. How fancy huh? Thanks to Kayla for setting that up, it was an amazing trip through the valley. Every time she sets one of these things up she totally eclipses her previous efforts.
These are the wineries we went to and that I still remember. We had quite a wine between the two of us so my memory of the trip is a bit fuzzy… 
I went on this day trip intending to purchase a bottle or two, at most. I ended up buying nearly a case and a half. Add this to the wine I bought at the wine tasting in San Francisco… It wasn’t long before I was swimming in wine!
Our first winery was Seghesio, where Kayla works. I love visiting this place. If you have never been, you must put it at the top of your To Do list. The vineyard has been family owned since 1895 and it shows. Their wines are carefully crafted into some of the best Zins in the state. Their food and wine pairing are legendary and the parties they host are the envy of just about every winery. At least, that’s what I was told from just about every other winery we visited that found out Kayla worked at Seghesio.
Our next stop was Moshin Vineyards where a charming Scotswoman gave us a taste of some of their wines. There we enjoyed some Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and some fun Zins.
Amista and Preston Vineyards were both awesome. Amista’s wines tasted perfect. It felt like they had an equation for each of their wines, mechanically perfect. It was there that I had the first Chardonnay that I really loved. Of all the wines I’ve had, I’ve never had a Chardonnay good enough that I felt compelled to buy it. Of course I also haven’t had that many Chardonnays…
Preston’s wines are organic, clean, crisp and pleasing. The winery is also an organic farm with fresh produce, organically raised hens and sheep. Their extra virgin olive oil is awesome and I’ve hear they have equally as tasty cheeses? Next time!
Kayla’s boyfriend Matt gave us a tour through some of their wines prior to our wandering of the grounds. I don’t think I got out of there with less than five bottles of their wine haha. Almost all were whites, seems I was in a mood for white wine that day.
Next up was a surprise. Jordan Vineyards, easily the most beautiful winery we visited this trip. There Kayla and I joined a few others in a wine and food pairing. Once again, great wine and a wonderful guide through the tasting and history of the winery.
The tasting ended with a taste of a dessert wine that was pretty damn awesome. It was a bit out of my price range but seemed like a bargain at around $50.
Every winery Kayla chose was awesome. Not a single hiccup or disappointing wine. The entire trip through the valley was just about perfect.
Well, that is until we took on the task of kicking out the squatter living in my house out in Forestville. That is an entirely different blog post though.
We capped off the night with a fabulous dinner at Barndiva with Kayla and Matt and a killer (in more ways than one) cocktail at Willies Seafood and Raw Bar.
The drive back to San Francisco gave me time to contemplate the day’s events. I thought about my friendship with Kayla. I thought of the early morning drives into Santa Rosa to open Starbucks or go to class. I thought about the house Seth and I lived in with the creaky wood floors and obnoxiously fertile fig tree in the back yard. I remembered the parties, the coffee shops, the podcast with Callie and how much I missed all of that.
It became clear to me on that long drive south into San Francisco that a change soon needed to be made.
Despite it’s iffy wireless, and the fact I have to buy something from them every two hours to get access to their wireless, I just love Kaldi’s Coffee here in Columbia.
I worked for Starbucks for… well for a long time. I don’t even remember how long but I do remember working for Starbucks in Washington DC, California, Missouri, Texas, Illinois and New York. Phew.
And while I still go to Starbucks, somewhat regularly for a Iced Venti Sugar Free Vanilla, Non-fat Starbucks Doubleshot with the extra shot. It’s delicious, I swear.
But more and more, I’m craving the succulent brew of the Espresso 700 or a hot cup of Highlander brew.
And that’s all this post is about. A random blog post about a coffee shop I really love that serves awesome coffee, great food and wins my heart, even though they don’t have free, open WiFi.
(One of the major reasons I’m getting the 3G iPad haha)
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I’ve wanted to record my daily iced coffee creation for a while now.
I have a few of these every morning, probably too many really! I typically used Kaldi’s coffee brewed and then chilled overnight. Just a little ice, some fat-free creamer and I’m ready to go. I used to never put creamer in my coffee, wonder why I do that now… Never-the-less, I’ve settled on this recipe and it has never failed. Oh but what a difference quality coffee, water purity, grinding and proportion matter.
I grind my coffee just seconds before I brew. I use only fresh beans and as I said earlier, I prefer Kaldi’s coffee though I’ve recently heard good things about Dunn Brother’s Coffee (c/o @samuelaveryhunt). I use filtered water, once through a triple-stage Pür filter followed by a two-stage Pür filter. We have really metal-rich water in downtown Columbia so this is a necessary step to take all the copper etc out.
Perhaps tomorrow I’ll do a few more, trying out different angles and lighting techniques. The video today was really just a test or proof-of-concept. I think this angle might be fun…
Though the real fun will come once I modify my Kodak Zi8 with different lenses. Maybe someday I’ll own a proper HD video camera. @ZackLuye‘s Canon 7D is such a sexy piece of equipment. Too bad I’m a Nikon guy. Next time Zack and I shoot an AdagioTeaV together, we’ll have to do some experimentation with his camera.
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