The Mason Chronicles

1 Year

So, I did it. I made it one whole year without dying in Atlanta!

Today marks the day I first moved up here to the great city of Atlanta!

A lot has changed since I moved here.

There have been tears, laughter, awkward situations, and adventure all around.

I have accomplished becoming a full-fledge barista, a coffee steward, and not that bad a guy thanks to my friends and mentors that have helped me every step of the way.

This next year will be even more exciting.

And, guys, I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Whether you like it or not.

Don’t Call It A Comeback

So hey guys, long time no post.

Sorry about that. Honestly, I’ve been afraid to come on here.

Why?

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Changes

So, over a month ago I guessed barista’ed at a nice coffee shop/bakery called Mae’s Bakery. It’s a fantastic shop, and I decided to try to apply as a second job for barista experience and just a little extra money. But more so the experience, because money isn’t really a big deal to me.

I got the job and have been splitting time between Condesa and Mae’s. Mae’s bakery is growing and there is a bright future for the shop.

The owner has amazing beliefs and a passionate drive for what she wants to do with her shop and how she wants to impact Atlanta.

For you guys that know me, you know I want in on that.

For this reason I gave my two weeks notice, last Friday, into Condesa to fully invest myself into Mae’s Bakery. It is sad, but I believe God has brought me to this moment for me to work here and give this shop my 100%. And luckily, the crew at Mae’s is very happy that I am making this decision.

After next next Friday I will no longer be at Condesa. But, I’m glad I’m able to leave on good terms and for great reasons!

So here’s to God and an exciting new chapter to my life and future!

So….

After a very very long day at work, because of having to deal with the aftermath of some moron breaking into Condesa the night before… With an axe… through the drywall in the empty store front next door… 

I started on my journey home and ran out of gas. I called the cops who gave me a ride in the back of their police cruiser. Which was really interesting, I asked a lot of questions. The seats are made of plastic. And there are bars on the window. I’m a good kid, I’ve never been arrested before so it was really interesting to see the back of a police car. THEY WERE LISTENING TO MUSE! I usually dislike cops a lot, but these guys, Decatur Police, are pretty flippin’ awesome. And super friendly.

But gas cans that cost $8 and being gipped out of a full gallon of gas (A gallon of gas cost 3.29, but the pump only gave me .997 gallons of gas) is a bunch bull.

Herds of bull.

Think Texas amount of bull.

Anyway, I’m finally home safe and sound in my warm house.

Oh, by the way, I also got to be the spokesperson for Condesa for Atlanta Action News 2 about the break in. That was SO much fun, the news lady was nice and was great to talk to.

They were going to show it tonight, but since snow is SUCH a big deal here in Atlanta, they decided to spend all the time allotted for news on that and save my segment until tomorrow night.

So tune in then! I’ll post a link to it here for all you cool cats that don’t live in Atlanta!

P.S. I really love the coffee/small business community in Atlanta.

Everybody’s Working For The Weekend

So! Big news!

Last Saturday I worked my first ever barista shift alone at Mae’s Bakery as a guest barista. It was a lot of fun and according to Beth, the incredibly nice owner, she got a ton of texts and tweets about how awesome my drinks were.

I even got twitter praised by an account that only tweets about places to get great drinks from.

That’s exciting

I felt incredible to hear that I make drinks…

Now here’s the big news, because of how well I performed Saturday. I’ve been HIRED to work at Mae’s Bakery as a second job along side with working at Condesa! This makes me incredibly happy because I get to expand and sharpen my barista skills while helping another store with their coffee program AND hopefully educating the community of Buckhead, Atlanta of the wonders of specialty coffee.

Oh, and extra money, but whatever, I don’t really care about money too much.

So if any of you people wanna stalk me at Mae’s Bakery as well as Condesa. I wouldn’t mind it so much.

Just don’t stab me, ok?

Ok.

I’m starting next Monday morning, so be there are be a two dimensional equally sized on all four sides object.

The Hipster Catalogues: Coffee

So let’s start with the basics.

I can’t tell you where the hipster movement started, just my opinions and assumptions. And as you’ve seen from my blog, I don’t mind risking making myself look like a fool.

If you want a clear cut definition go here.

These are seriously just my own views and what I have seen as working from a coffee shop for a while.

Which is where we’re going to start, because the coffee shop is where, at least to me, the hipster movement started.

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Redemption

It’s been a really rough past couple of months,

I lost sight of who I am, what my purpose is.

Who my true master and lover is.

God.

Now, I’m not saying I went on some high-geared booze/sex/drug fest. Oh no.

I just got distracted, caught up in wanting to make everyone happy, loving everyone,  and establishing myself in the coffee industry. Which is all well and good, I mean, I had the greatest of intentions.

Just laying brick to the road, as they say.

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Happy Accidents

I had the day off today besides doing a supply run for the shop.

When I got to the store I was behind the bar chatting when a customer asked me for a pour over and which one was my favorite because they couldn’t decide. I chose the new Buziraguhindwa, Burundi coffee from Counter Culture, I call it the Buzz for short.

Anyway, I prepped my bonmac for the pour over and went to grind the beans.

As I was grinding the beans I saw the grinder was set to half a step finer then what I usually grind pour-over beans to. Instead of restarting I decided to brew the coffee to see what would happen.

It made a complete difference in the taste. (I tasted a little bit in a separate cup)  

It was perfect and the best cup of coffee I’ve brewed so far!

It was so goodz…

I proceeded to geek out and remake the coffee for myself and my friends to try.

I then went to my coffee book and re-wrote the notes on how to brew that coffee for the store. I was then forced to stop working because it was suppose to be my day off. 

BUT I DON’T WORK AGAIN UNTIL SUNDAY!!!! I WANT TO PLAY WITH COFFEE!!

I’m going to play with grind settings more often!!!

Hmm… Lucky for me I get to compete in a latte art throwdown competition tomorrow night. People from all over the Southeast U.S. are coming to my shop to compete.

No pressure, right?