Tim Cook's Coffee Auction

The idea of an auction has been around for some time, and many things can be auctioned off. The question one can ask is : "Does that include people?"

In the days of slaves, auctions were common, but luckily we have moved on from this time, and I am more than glad that I have no memories of such times (phew) I am saying this just in case there is such a thing as reincarnation...
So the auction that Tim Cook is involved in to raise money for charity.  I love the idea, so much so that we are  a group of people  organising to  re-create such an event to raise money for the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

There is a funny cartoon out, where you can see that a little satire goes a long way.

http://allthingsd.com/20130503/coffee-with-tim-cook-comic


But just think for one moment.. How amazing it would be to sit accross from a man or woman  that you  admire, you would have to if you were to bid on them,  and have this opportunity to have a one to one with them.
Underneath, believe it or not, I am quite a shy person, and I can see people laugh already as they read this. However I cover it up really really well. So a typical sign about my nervousness,  is that I talk at 100 miles an hour and its incredible verbal diarrhea, that I seem to be unable to stop, until someone jolts me of the cliff, and so whilst I am sitting accross my amazing person of choice, omg!

Who would I want to talk too??  Well Richard Branson would just be amazing... Can you imaging the knowledge he has, and how he would understand the small business principles.  And what I admire most about him, is the fact he never comes over arrogant, but always appears to be a very down to earth person. He has seen a lot and experienced a lot in the coming and going and coming of his success.  I think I would actually be speechless with such a man across my table, and yes my husband would say "That would be a first)"

So not likely at all to have Richard as my star attraction,

I will have to come up with some other ideas.  Time to brainstorm..Because now that the idea is born here, we are waiting with bath-thing breath   to see  it come to fruition.

So the main challenge.... I am not well known, and I do not know any well known people except a blues guitarist who my daughter dates, But he is in Melbourne.
So how does one get the people?? well honesty?? would not have the foggiest idea.  I have send out several emails, but my name is likely to end up in their rubbish  box.

Lucky though I have an amazing amount of tenacity, and I think I am going to  need it, and just because I have probably landed in many rubbish boxes, I am  a driven woman, and dont mind rejection:))  that would just be a challenge.. right?

This auction will be great, and fun....It will take a little time to gain some momentum, but I have no doubt in my mind that ones we get going there will be no stopping it,'

I am lucky in so far that a well known Perth figure will meet me next week , so I will blog about that next time.
In the meantime, if anyone knows or you happen to be the "famous: one.... Could you please contact me???

Thank you thank you thank you,


Alida

Meetups

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1467366/restaurant/Perth/Milk-and-Honey-Northbridge"

Meet Ups 



 There is such a thing called meetups. Someone told me about it and I decided to check it out. The concept is great. You either join a group, (there are literally hundreds to choose from) of something that interest you, or you can start your own. I choose the latter, because I like  philosophy over coffee.  The groups are what you make it and you can either be really active or be an observer in the background.  SO this morning ( Sunday the
 21st of April) we arranged the have breakfast and coffee in a place

Bacon Eggs wilted spinach

 called "Milk and Honey" in Northbridge Perth. What first struck and surprised me was how vibrant Northbridge was at 9 am. It had a real atmosphere about it, which was great after hearing lots of negativity about Norhtbridge.
This morning there were 6 of us, and we all arrived on time:))
We quickly settled in and ordered our coffee.   Milk and Honey soon became a vibrant place and by 10 o'clock it was pretty much full of people having breakfast.  SO what sort of place is Milk & Honey.  As you enter it has an open look about it and the first thing notice how clean the place is. I am glad that I looked up on Urbanspoon as it would have not been a place that I would initially walk into and that would have been my loss.
It is bright with comfortable chairs and a bench against the wall. Its unassuming aspect  is one of its attractions and the fact that you could actually have a conversation without having to shout.

Vegetarian Breakfast

French Berry Toast

Open day Celebration in Norhtbridge

SO now to the  nitty  bits of coffee.   The group all decided that the coffee was very enjoyable, smooth and creamy. No bitterness and the barista obviously enjoyed his job. We did  not have to wait very long either so that was great too, We all ordered our breakfast and with the comfort of great coffee and yummy food an hour and half just flew by.  The serves are a very good size and is well presented.  

The eggs were done well, and the wilted spinach was actually wilted without being overcooked.. The poached eggs , nice and soft in the middle without being raw.

  All in All  very pleasant experience.

There are notes in Coffee??

Coffee Notes...


When I first heard the term "Coffee Notes"  I initially thought it was about a song....  and in all honesty I am not quite sure if I know now or really care.

Coffee to me has many meanings, but the one that I enjoy the most, is when I can escape for a few moments captivated by my own thought sipping that great coffee... or catching up over with some friends you have not seen forever!!! Happy memories really. It was not until I came to Australia from Holland that I started to enjoy my coffee. My father I found out ( I was adopted) sold coffee machines in Holland. So one could argue that genetics has a great deal of influence here and coffee is in my veins. I remember arriving here in 1981, feeling utterly disappointed with the lack of cafe's available.  How great it is now to see that we have so many in Perth and that the bar of coffee quality has been raised. Someone told me that Perth has more cafe's per head per capita then anywhere else in the world... Ahhh I am in the right place... SO I guess this thing about the notes of coffee. Does it mean that coffee dances on your tongue as you are indulging yourself in that perfect brew???
And what notes are there when the coffee is bitter and a disappointment to the pallet? 
For me, like I am pretty sure for many others, that first coffee of the day can set the mood. If I am subjected to something less than mediocre .. watch out .... Lucky for me I own a cafe...
SO if coffee have notes what song would they sing???  Speaking of songs it is amazing how many songs are about the love for coffee.. The trusted Google returns 165,000,000 results when you type in "Coffee songs"  Coffee is and has been an integral part of our lives.

In my nursing days, on my way to work I would have to have that coffee,,, unfortunately not many places were open @ 6 am in the morning.... and so the wait till morning tea was often long and treacherous.... To only be confronted with very mediocre coffee that would be the only available coffee in the hospital.... However on my home after a day shift i would wind up in my local cafe, and as soon as I walked in I would be greeted and my coffee was almost made by the time I would sit down.  There is something very comforting about having that familiarity and it indicated to me that I was valued as a person and as a costumer.  So I became a very loyal costumer until I set up my own cafe..... 

Back to these notes... something intriguing about them... what is it really??

There is Acidity... Body... Flavour   and Aroma.....  and if the four all combine in perfect harmony... mmm that coffee will be something else..... These things are influenced as to where the coffee is grown , handled and stored as well as the roasting process.

But there is so much more about coffee and luckily I stumbled on this ... It will pretty much answer all your questions about coffee..... Enjoy... And whilst reading put some notes on.....

http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/index.php

Perth Best Coffee

Perth Best Coffee

With the buzz over as to who is the real winner in  the Eat Drink Perth "Best Coffee " Competition, I felt there are many more cafe's in Perth that deserve a mention. I have always wondered about these competitions and think of them more as some form of popularity vote rather than really a reflection of the best coffee. To me, the best coffee is an subjective experience which hinges on the person's own experience and taste-buds favorites. If we all thought the same about one particular coffee than  in my logic  there would be only one type of cafe that serves one type of coffee, and the cues would be endless. But that not being the case I would have the draw the conclusion that maybe a lot of other factors come to play when one thinks of what great coffee is.
I quite happily consider myself a little bit of a snob when it comes to coffee. I feel I have played long enough in the field (around 30 years, and not giving away my age) to have gained some knowledge on the subject, but have also developed my taste-buds in such a way that it can recognise a great  coffee to one that is undrinkable and everything in between.
I have owned and operated 2 cafe's and currently I am also an owner operator of another cafe where we roast our own coffee beans.
 If anyone ever has the inclination of wanted to own a cafe, begin by sourcing your beans. And if all possible; roast your own!  However that is not always possible, so I guess the best next thing is to source it from a place where you know they roast their own coffee fresh everyday.   So back to this competition thing.  I looked at the winners and did an comparison with them on  to check out what the ratings were on them.  I assumed that there would be some correlations in regards to this, and I was a little surprised to find the winner of "The Eat Drink Perth coffee competition" was not actually rating as high as I would have expected. 
So that got me thinking. How are these competitions judged and who decides on what is best?
I felt with the snob that I am and the passion that I have for coffee, it is time for my personal crusade to discover who and what decides what great coffee is and who and what decides  what cafe receives all the media coverage. Do I dare to think there would be some favoritism going on, are people paying other people to be reviewed and how come that everyone always talks about "Location Location"  the most obscure tucked away in side streets little cafe's are the hub of busyness?
 They serve great coffee, have friendly staff and just get on with the business of serving great coffee. The philosophy of "Concentrate on what you well and do it with a passion"  strikes a cord with the people.  Because without all the advertisements or exposures to these great little cafe's,  the greatest marketing tool of all continues to prevail and that is Us the people .... Word of Mouth.
My plan is to find these little obscure cafe'
s  tucked away in the corners of our streets in Perth and to give them a go, and than really find out who in my opinion serves the best coffee in Perth":))  And I know lucky for all us coffee drinkers there will be more than one...