And it’s only $5. Sheeeeeit, that’s cheaper than two cups of coffee at Intelligentsia in Pasadena. I’m there! Oh, wait, no I’m not. I’m stuck here in California. But if you’re in New York and you love the coffee, you should go … and let me live vicariously through you.

— Tony “Tonx” Konecny of Tonx in LAWeekly

Full disclosure: I’ve met both Tony and Nik, think they’re both stand-up gents and wish them all the success in the world with their new coffee venture.

In agreement with Mr. Konecny’s take on the role of the roaster in the process of getting a good coffee from the farm to the cup. I have a great amount of respect for those I’ve heard say the very same thing. It’s a humble and respectful attitude—both toward the people involved as well as the product itself.

Congratulations to Nik and Tony of Tonx on their new piece in LAWeekly.

And now, those of you out of reach of the myriad nationally dispersed retail outlets in which Handsome beans are available can experience a little SoCal bean magic for yourselves.

Because Handsome Coffee Roasters is now open for business on the inter-webs.

Fair Trade USA has decided to resign its membership from Fairtrade International (FLO) effective December 31, 2011.

Fair Trade USA is setting out on its own.

I’m curious what this may mean for Fair Trade going forward. The entire concept of Fair Trade, at least in the coffee industry, has received a lot of criticism over the last couple years as being good but no longer good enough, especially in light of many roasters’ embarking on their own sourcing initiatives i.e. Direct Trade, etc.

One thought is that this development may be good in terms creating a competitive environment and thereby spurring the two associations towards improving the image of fair trade as a whole. Just a thought.

Another: there seems to me, as I stroll the aisles of my local organic grocer, an increasing number of certification organizations at play these days. I’m curious what sort of competitive environment already exists between all of them, what the nature of that competition is and what, if anything, this development has to do with it.

Feel free to enlighten me in the comments.

Recently, the cleanhotdry folks visited a new coffee bar in Bellingham, Washington, that goes by the name Onyx, that was created, in part, through a novel approach to the practice of consumer polling. The result is a courageously focused shop, one that is highly reminiscent of a certain short-lived London coffee bar you may have heard of. It’s still a rarely realized retail coffee concept, one that possess a magnetic pull for me.

Thanks a lot, cleanhotdry, now I need to add another stop on my fantasy coffee tour of the Pacific Northwest.

For posts and articles we have one aiming at debunking the “seasonality myth”, another illuminating some recent but too easily forgotten coffee-growing history and another, from a general interest news source, addressing thoughts on fair-trade coffee that have been talked up and down in trade journals for some time now.

Thanks go to Nick Cho.

Having said that, this piece by 2010 World Barista Champion, Michael Phillips seems to me to be one of the most concise, insightful and well written pep talks, directed towards the competing coffee professional, that I’ve ever read.