A few words of praise for those who do not often get it: those that work behind the scenes, setting the stage for others to be successful, out of the limelight, sometimes from early morning darkness to late night darkness, tirelessly. You see these folks, but they make little noise about anything, they don’t complain, they just do whatever takes to get the job done. Our store opened in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles with much fanfare, a great party, marvelous coffee and thus far, strong sales. We couldn’t have done it without you Marcus. Many thanks.

It’s 2:00AM in Chicago and I am experiencing the wrath of jet lag post-World Barista Championship. You may or may not know that I am the exiting Chairman of the Board of the WBC and when compared to past WBC events, I am pleased to say that Tokyo’s was unparalleled in many ways. Not only was there record attendance but the spirit of all of those in attendance was one of complete camaraderie: between the Baristas (of the record number 45 countries), the volunteers, the committees, and the WBC Board. It was a shining example of why Specialty Coffee can be so great when stripped of unnecessary politics, posturing, and chest thumping. The competitors were skilled and humble and the judging was serious and careful, and I am honored to have been a part of it. Last, and certainly not least, the folks at the SCAJ put on a rockin’ event with a beautiful stage set up and spot-on camera crew. Many thanks to them.

I enjoyed a number of glasses of beer or sake (or other) catching up with my coffee friends from around the world, theorizing about the power of great coffee and how it can truly be world-changing. All I can say is that it was just plain great and reminded me of why I do this in the first place, for a love of the coffee and a love of the coffee people. There was no swagger, no “I’m more independent”, or “I’m bigger/smaller”. There was professionalism and humility and integrity. At the end of the day it should be about how great the people that bring us the coffee are and how great the coffee is. We should be about the coffee and that’s it, right?