An Update...from Portland

As I figured, I am a bit stressed after our final business day at the American Barista and Coffee School. My wife Jenni and I have spent the past 2 days (8:00 am to 5:00 pm) talking about everything from buying equipment to dealing with the government offices. Although I was very excited to hear that many of the preparations we have made are right inline with what our instructor explained to us, there were a few things that made me a bit nervous. I was not at all surprised at feeling this way as I sit here thinking about what we have learned. It is the feeling that you have forgotten to do something very important that will totally change your plans. This feeling is similar to that you get when you are about to go out of town for a week or so and you check your house 5 times and then get on the plane only to worry about what you forgot for the entire ride. I have learned many things that will help Cafe Evoke be more profitable, we have also learned that our budgets probably a bit to low. Lucky, we have not signed anything yet on the lease and still have time to make some calls and crunch some more numbers before getting into anything that we will regret. I think we will be fine, however. Tomorrow we begin an in depth looking at 4-5 different machines and grinders. We will learn the proper tools to pulling the perfect cup of espresso, making unique blender drinks, steaming and pouring milk, cleaning and maintenance, and other tools to help us run our business properly. I am very excited for this part as it will not only get my mind off of things I have missed in the past few months while planning Cafe Evoke but will also make this feel real as we will get to make drinks and work on the machines. I wish I had enrolled in this school before. Better late than never I guess. At this point, I am tired and feel that I have learned about a year's worth of material in only 16 hours. Portland is a great city and I hope to have some pictures to post tomorrow. ~~be bold