Bloc 11 & Diesel Cafe

The Name of the Trade

 

These days, most everyone seems to adopt Fair Trade and Organic as important standards to consider when purchasing many commodities that we have grown to depend upon like cocoa and bananas.  And while these standards and regulations are necessary, there is the fact that they are still rules, and most of us who own small businesses tend to hate following rules.  Sure, we like to make them, but.....

For me and Tucker, one of the most challenging aspects of owning our own business is continually balancing the business and the personal.  Often, it seems as though these two things can feel at odds but in some rare occasions, the two are really obviously aligned.  Working with companies like Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea and Taza Chocolate make our jobs as the retailer much easier and gives me one less thing to keep me up at night.  All we have to do is choose to purchase products from them. 

I can remember when Fair Trade became popular a decade ago and thinking that this all seemed good, but.....And then when we started to have lots of customers coming in to ask if our coffee was certified "Free Trade", I started to realize that not many people really understood Fair Trade.  It had become more of a slogan rather than a certification process that we took really seriously.  We even switched to a locally-based Fair Trade certified coffee distributor and found that our coffee tasted different every order and that the quality was not what we tasted before we switched.  After a few months of struggling for high quality and consistency, we asked out local coffee guru, Mark Mooradian to help us find a new roaster.  He suggested three top roasters from all over the country and we picked Intelligentsia.

Direct has always been a goal of mine, whether it is in communication or in trade and the fewer middle people are involved, usually both fare better.  Ever played telephone????  Intelligentsia has adopted a full-scale model of trade that throws Fair Trade and Organic out the window and re-writes all the rules.  Here is their Direct Trade Criteria.  While there is no such thing as "basically" when it comes to Intelligentsia, a few criteria that we appreciate are:

1.  Quality of the coffee must be exceptional.  (To me, this is where Fair Trade really fell short because there is no quality or consistency criteria)

2.  The growers/farmers are guaranteed 25% above the price of Fair Trade (Again, Fair Trade promises a set price to the co-ops, not necessarily the farmers.  Who knows what they got?)

3.  Intelligentsia visits the farms at least 1-3 times per year.

4.  Farms must be committed to environmentally and socially sustainable practices.

5.  Transparency of financial transactions all the way back to the farmers.

In addition to their commitment to quality from the grower, they have also gone above and beyond for us numerous times in the past 7 years of our working together.  Our mutual respect for the perfect cup has worked out well, even though someone recently told me that "perfection" is not ever an attainable status, but a constant pursuit.  I suppose it is this chase that keeps it interesting over and over. 

Seven Cycles at Bloc11.

I debated whether or not to put these images up.  One, because I have no eye for photography.  And two, because they do not do these bicycles justice. 

I first learned about Seven Cycles about eight years ago when the significant other of an employee of ours was "dying to get a job there".  I had just started to get back into commuting on my green Gary Fisher hybrid and was happy if I rode my bike once a week.  Nearly a decade later, I am a proud owner of 4 (kind of, it is a long story) Sevens.  The photos that I took are of my commuter bike highlighting a few of their brand new products like the Tiberius Bar and the custom titanium rear rack. 

While the products that Seven manufactures are pretty amazing, what I have had the fortune to learn about their company and their values is even more amazing.  Yes, it is true that Rob Vandermark is a good friend of mine, but beyond any personal relationship, what they do to build a frame from start to finish is pretty incredible.  And what is even cooler, is to think about how some of the challenges and systems that go into building a frame can translate to running a cafe.  Needless to say, I have learned a great deal from Rob and Seven Cycles that have both helped and shaped our business over the past decade.

We are excited to host their staff holiday party tomorrow night at Bloc11.  In addition to seeing some good friends, I am looking forward to hearing more of what they have been up to and what they are going to be doing.  It's always something new and cutting edge.    Sorry, it is a private event.  (If you are interested in having a private event, you can contact us at info@bloc11.com).

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.

How do we make the choices that we make?  This is a question I ask myself constantly, but the answer is far too complicated to attempt at this hour.  Especially because the question that I am really asking is why do people choose to come to our stores?  What do we provide that they could not buy across the street at Starbucks?  What do we offer that they could not get at home?  What do we sell that is better, different, unique, interesting, appealing.....Perhaps it is something more than coffee and food. 

Today, I had a meeting with our new customer service trainer and we discussed the increasing importance of customer service in a culture of dwindling human interaction.  We have automated toll booths, ATMS, self-checkout lines, on-line purchasing, on-line dating, and even "virtual" friendships.  If you are reading this, you have probably fallen victim to, witnessed, or been at the receiving end of not so great service, if you are lucky.  And it occurs to me that seeking out human interaction is riskier than our digital interactions that guarantee us a certain security.  Machines are predictable, but the woman behind the counter with tattoos and the facial piercing is probably rebelling against something and needs to take her anger out on you.  So, it is just a little safer to stay at home, brew some good coffee and avoid the chance that the person on the other side of the counter could ruin your day.  As our interactions with other people decrease, the stakes seem higher.

Our hope at Diesel and Bloc11 is to foster the importance of positive interactions in a service environment, whether it is with a co-worker or a customer.  Every once in a while, I hear staff complain that we get treated like robots and it is true, but often it is because we are acting like robots.  Saying the same phrase in the same tone without making eye contact or smiling or listening to what the customer is actually saying, paying more attention to our ipods than the customer waiting to order at the register.  And this reminds me that how we act is often an indicator of how people will treat us.  How the simple, yet challenging act of paying attention to our body language, tone, inflection, word choice, our focus, our sense of urgency can make a big difference in how people experience us.  What we give off to others, people will give right back. 
                                   
     

Chemex Coffee.....

 

The Chemex has been used to brew coffee for decades.  Locally manufactured in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, they are beautiful beaker-shaped glass carafes often seen with a wood collar and leather tie or with a glass handle like the one in the photos above. (The images are from our one year anniversary event at Bloc 11.) 

To me, the beauty of the Chemex comes in its simplicity, versatility, and end cup.  You only need hot water, filters, coffee, and a spoon.  Ideally, you would have a cup that you would pour the brewed coffee into, but that is more a luxury than a necessity.  The Chemex allows you to make a single cup of clean, filtered coffee consistently and without the bells and whistles of rivaling systems like the Clover.  Don't worry, though, Starbucks went ahead and bought the company so that no one else could buy a Clover.  I wonder if they would still be closing 600 stores if they focused on competing without monopolozing. 

So that you may actually learn something, here are some simple instructions for brewing a great cup of coffee. 
1.  First, you have to start with great coffee.  Come buy some from Diesel or Bloc 11!!!
2.  The grind is CRUCIAL for great coffee.  You can experiment with different particle sizes for your machine/brewing method.  Come talk to us and we can help you find the right grind setting.
3.  Consistency in your grind is important as well, so make sure that your grinder is in good shape or have your coffee ground at your local coffeeshop.  If you come to our cafes, we replace the burrs on our grinders very frequently!!!

So, here are some steps to follow for brewing a Chemex pot:

1.  Preheat Chemex pitcher if not already warm
2.  Wet square filter with water and place in Chemex with the three-fold side over spout.
3.  Measure six heaping tablespoons of beans or 1.8 oz. of ground coffee.  Again, make sure that the grind is right.
4.  Measure 8 oz of boiling water in a measuring cup and pour over grounds.  Watch the coffee "bloom" or puff up and agitate the grounds until the water has gone through the coffee.
5.  Pour the remaining 10 oz of hot water over the grounds, making sure to "scrape" the grounds down the side to match the lowered water level.
6.  Remove filter and serve in a preheated mug.  (Look at your filter and check to see if the grounds are nice and level in the filter.  You don't want to have coffee stuck on the sides of the filter)
7.  Drink and enjoy!!!!

Playing with Paper Cut Outs

Seeing a space and imagining what it could be is one of my favorite parts of owning a business.  I also love technology.  I love that it can help us be more efficient, get more done, and offer more alternatives and possibilities.

However, I am also learning to embrace the idea that sometimes simple and low-tech can be better solutions.  And that oftentimes, the combination of the two can be the best option.  These digital images are just a few of dozens that were taken while we considered the layout for our second cafe, Bloc 11.  These basic and very accurately scaled (just kidding) squares were used to "move" equipment around, consider line control, and generally visualize spaces.

While nothing is perfect and no amount of planning can actually prepare us for the real thing, at least we can have a little fun with flourescent cardboard cut outs. 

Black and White and All the Doubt in Between.

Fourteen years later, I realized that I could still recite a passage from one of my favorite authors, George Eliot, that I had memorized as a senior in high school. 

On a cold commute home from seeing newly released, Doubt,  I considered how that very feeling makes running a business both challenging and rewarding at the same time.

Eliot wrote:

"All people of broad, strong sense have an instinctive repugnance to the men of maxims; because such people early discern that the mysterious complexity of our life is not to be embraced by maxims, and that to lace ourselves up in formulas of that sort is to repress all the divine promptings and inspirations that spring from growing insight and sympathy.

And the man of maxims is the popular representative of the minds that are guided in their moral judgment solely by general rules, thinking that these will lead them to justice by a ready-made patent method, without the trouble of exerting patience, discrimination, impartiality, — without any care to assure themselves whether they have the insight that comes from a hardly earned estimate of temptation, or from a life vivid and intense enough to have created a wide fellow-feeling with all that is human."
-George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860).

Ten years ago, I had few doubts, lots of anger, and lots of opinions.  Perhaps, that is what it means to be 20, but the past ten years have shown me that certainty without consideration is no different than assumption or dogma.  Owning a business has defined me over the past decade and I continually try to question and doubt what is in front of me.  Consider how something can be different, think about how to communicate better, be more open-minded, imagine something different, expect more, hope for something else.  It is a feeling that often leaves me feeling unsatisfied, but also hopeful that things can be not what is. Balancing the disappointment and hope, the doubt and the clarity is my challenge.  As a good friend reminds me, "It doesn't always have to be so black and white."

Like all of us, every day, I make many decisions; many that affect our employees, our customers, our friends, our family.  Every single one of these decisions require a chattering, a conversation inside me, considering, weighing all the options, the pros and cons.  Sometimes, I wonder how I ever get anything done.  In the midst of this noisy consultation, the reality is that my tendency is to be certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt.  It is simple, easy to believe what I believe is true.  Easy to think that my belief, my truth dissolves any other truth.  But as John Patrick Shanley writes, " The beginning of change is the moment of Doubt.  It is that crucial moment when I renew my humanity or become a lie." 

Most decisions and choices are hard for me to make.  I would like to think that a formula or rule can often solve the indecision and eliminate the uncertainty I feel, but this gray area, the questioning,and all the mistakes, at least keeps me somewhat honest.

Nixon at Bloc!

Download Nixon reef sale poster

This week, Bloc11 was approached by the regional Nixon/Reef representative, Alexis Wruble, to host a sample sale for them.  Not knowing too much about Nixon products, I decided to check out their website and found myself fawning over some of their products. Some of the design of the space at Bloc 11 was certainly dictated by the existing structure of an old bank but some of it was laid out in hopes of achieving a unique layout that could accomdate multiple activities all at once.  While Alexis and her crew will certainly take over some of the space, we will still be able to operate fully with minimal disruption to our customers.  Well, we hope to see you there this weekend!

What Is Your Waste Worth?

Our waste, as ugly and smelly as it may be, tells us a lot.  In the cafe business, waste seems to be as fundamental as the coffee and the food itself.  To make anything, there is some by product that we cannot use.  Although waste seems to be an intrinsic part of our lives, what we choose to do or not do with our trash says something about us as well.

About a year ago, Diesel was inviteded to join Go Green Somerville, an organization committed to greening Somerville through local businesses.  At the same time, Diesel was looking into starting a composting program to supplement our trash and recycling pickups and we were eager to join a group that could motivate and help us move in the right direction.  We were hesitant, though because we thought that the addition of composting would cost more and we were already paying so much to get our trash taken away.  In 2007, we were paying over $10,000 just for trash removal!!!

Until a year ago, Diesel had gotten trash picked up 7 days/week.  The volume of our waste was a little embarassing and in a single day, we would have more trash than we could store.  The city picked up our recycling once a week and nine years ago, there was only one other business in the entire city that had a recycling program. 

Today, we have learned through our waste program at Diesel that:

• Composting has actually managed to SAVE us close to $2000/year (This does not include rate increases to adjust for fuel or cost of living)
• We have managed to keep close to 80,000 pounds of trash out of a landfill.

In 2 weeks, Diesel will be removing trash cans from all customer seating areas in hopes of reducing our solid waste even more.  Bloc 11 has been trash can free for close to 2 months and the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive. 

If you see us sifting and sorting through trash cans, don't worry, we are just trying to avoid compost contamination.  If you happen to see me spacing out into a plastic bucket, I am probably just trying to think of how to reduce all of our waste. 

Coffee Demos to Begin This Week

 

Pretty much everyday, there is something that I have forgotten.  Every week, there is something that I have forgotten, and after a while, a year has passed without even knowing it.  Before we opened Bloc in 2007, we had discussed the possibility of hosting coffee demonstrations that would allow us the time to converse with our customers and to engage with them in a more in depth manner. 

We have a lot to say about our coffee which we purchase from Intelligentsia Coffee, but working behind the counter never seems to cultivate conversation and open questioning from our customers.  While many of our customers want a quick cup of coffee without knowing the journey and process behind every single coffee bean, we are certain that there are people out there who are interested in learning more. 

So, we have finally decided to start our weekly coffee demos.  Each week, we will host a one-hour session at each of our stores so that you can stop by to taste some amazing coffee, to chat, to say hello, or to ask us questions (hopefully, that are only coffee-related).  Please don't hesitate to come by and drop in to listen, to watch, or to maybe even learn an interesting tidbit about our coffees.

Here is a schedule of times for the month of December!!!!  We hope to see you there.

Diesel:

• Thursday 12/11 5-6pm
• Tuesday 12/16 12-1pm
• Thursday 12/18 11am-12pm
• Monday 12/22 5-6pm
• Tuesday 12/23 12:30-1:30pm
  

Bloc:

• Monday 12/8 4-5pm
• Sunday 12/21 3-4pm
• Monday 12/29 4-5pm
  

Pilot

Bloc 11 turned one the year that Diesel turned nine.  These two stores, to me, are living, breathing creatures that have shaped my life for the past decade.  In ten years, we have employed hundreds,  served thousands, and hopefully enriched the life of at least one. 

Everything significant in my life has come from these stores and the people I have had the good fortune to meet along the way.

This blog is my way of communicating with everyone who helps to make Diesel and Bloc unique places and homes for us all.