The grinds, they are a-changin'

There are some goings-on here in the Joe-iverse! Oh boy!

So, first of all, as of Monday the 21st, the shop at 13th Street has a brand new manager. That's right, I'm turning in my list of vendors' phone numbers and handing my schedule-making pencil to our man here, Josh!



A Portland native, Big J comes to us after having managed a Peet's on the West Coast and Brew Bar here in New York. He's a real stand-up fellow, a funny and lovely and friendly guy who is passionate and dedicated to coffee and people. All good things!



Last night, he and I tried out my new job, which is to handle some of the espresso training and quality control at two of the three shops (we're opening a new Joe in SoHo in a few weeks: it's inside an Italian design store -- more on that later).

It had been a while since I trained anyone on bar, and it felt awesome to be able to take one-on-one time with a barista and get super excited about coffee. And, you know, to drink beer.



I love it when a plan comes together.