Between the Espressos

It's what happens in-between that's interesting

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  • The “in-between” time

    I like espresso drinks—classic Espresso, Long Tall, Flat White, Cappuccino, Cafe Latte, etc.—primarily those without sugar added.

    I find that I genuinely enjoy the experience of hot spring water pressed firmly through freshly roasted, freshly ground beans, tremendously. But I also enjoy many other culinary pursuits.

    Not only do I enjoy culinary pursuits, but I also enjoy art, music, equipment restorations, yard work, and a variety of other things.

    I love to share. I share my experiences, share my food, and share my passions. I pretty much enjoy myself between each and every espresso, which for me is daily.

    In this blog, I will share my passions, my ideas, my quirks, and my aha’s. I endeavor to demonstrate, educate, provocate and stimulate, just like expresso.

    Have a nice day! 🙂

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  • Masterpiece Theatre, van Gogh Immersive

    We drove up towards a dingy warehouse on the east side of downtown San Antonio. Our progress was stopped by a long slow train, just yards from the venue. As we waited for the freight cars to slip past, a long line of cars queued up behind us. We were first in line.

    From the tracks to the intersection behind us was about 75 yards (7-8 car lengths). It filled up within 45 seconds. Cars were now blocking the intersection as if they had to ensure no one went before the.

    Staring through the passing train cars, you could see a brick building, a field with cars parked, and some sort of entry. On the side of the building was a large canvas mural strapped to the building depicting some of van Gogh’s art.

    As you entered the building there was a large van Gogh self-portrait to your left and two lines to get in, one directly in front and one off to the right. Ours was the cheaper one, straight ahead. The other had some extra experience perks, which were not obvious.

    There is a large commercial enterprise selling over-priced van Gogh-themed items, including nightgowns and neck-ties. There are books, but nearly all are available on Amazon, for much less money. But if it is a part of your experience to buy at the venue, then it’s there for you.

    The experience is not something you walk through. It is an enter and experience exhibition. In this case two rooms, one in the back larger and with a large mirrored rock formation-looking thing in the middle with a few benches.

    We stayed in the first room, most people migrated to the second thinking there was more there but there wasn’t–just more people. Technomusic plays while visions of van Gogh’s art are projected on the floor and walls in a moving manner, creating a slight cutout depth of field appearance, like a pop-up book.

    You can sit on the floor and if you gaze in one direction long enough you will see all the artwork presented. Looking at other walls just gives nuance to the experience.

    The room is dark, the ceiling is back, and the walls are accepting of the colors, making the immersive experience enjoyable. It lasts about 30-45 minutes.

    A highlight for me was it was my father’s day present, and my college student son was in town to enjoy with me, my (his mom), his girlfriend, and my wife’s parents.

    Another highlight was we went to Shilo’s, a family favorite German-Texan restaurant serving food since 1917. I had the homemade root beer and a Reuben sandwich–you will not be disappointed. Shilo’s is it’s own immersive experience.

    Shilo’s is at 424 E Commerce Street, in downtown San Antonio. https://schilos.com/

    The van Gogh Immersive exhibits run a number of major cities. Search Google for “van Gogh Immersive.” Depending on when you read this, the train may have already departed.

    Have a nice day! 🙂

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    Masterpiece Theatre, van Gogh Immersive

  • Learn a new skill, enjoy a tasty espresso

    From 2016 – 2018 I embarked on a journey that I had been considering for a long time. Frustrated with both ethical challenges and a toxic leadership culture, I decided to resign from my executive position and head out into solo waters—entrepreneurship exploration.

    For decades I had wondered, “What would it be like to master my own ship?” I wanted to test the waters, but I didn’t have enough financial slack to take the risk. Exiting with some long-promised bonus money, I left with excitement. I was proud of our accomplishments there; we doubled our revenue in just two years and made some transformations that would position the business well to be acquired.

    I had a list of things I wanted to try, but first on my agenda was to ‘office’ from a coffee shop. Cell phone and laptop in hand, I made my way to Starbucks at least four days a week. I met people there. I took calls. I provided pro-bono go-to-market counsel. I coached businesses, mentored people, and had a lot of random conversations and a lot of espresso drinks.

    I formed my first LLC while at the coffee shop. I watched my son go through his senior year of high school from that coffee shop (closer to the school than our house). My wife teaches at the school, so I visited her more often and brought her coffee drinks.

    I have a home office. It is well outfitted, but for this season I wanted the energy of the coffee shop. Heck, I even wanted to see if I wanted to open a coffee shop.

    I honed my decades-long love of and journey with product development and refinement. I formalized it, informed it more, and finally, matured it.

    However, the most interesting thing that I learned while sailing solo as an entrepreneur was that I was paying too much for espresso drinks and that Starbucks was becoming a McDonald’s of coffee. The baristas were slowly becoming assembly-line coffee dispensers. I now knew much more about coffee, beans, and espresso drinks than most of the Starbucks beverage makers I met.

    As the quality decreased and my coffee shop budget swelled, I started exploring alternative ways to get my espresso drinks. I stumbled upon two machines: the Flair manual espresso maker and the Breville Barista Express—a home espresso machine.

    The Flair was completely manual, and I wasn’t quite ready for that much work, so I opted for the Breville Barista Express, which I have now been making multiple espresso drinks with daily since the summer of 2018.

    I like to learn new skills, but due to my disappointment with the disappearance of the Starbucks baristas, I dove headlong into espresso culture to learn how to make drinks well and learn what goes into making good drinks.

    Coming out the other side of this journey, I am no longer a solo entrepreneur. I now use bottomless portafilters to diagnose ‘pull’ problems, I am much pickier about my roast dates, and I know a lot more about coffee, running a consulting business, and the formal product development process.

    Have a nice day! 🙂

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