— 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.

Your job is to interact, not just to broadcast

I don’t normally post about marketing here – more appropriate for other venues – but I ran across this quote in article on the subject of proper business use of social media (specifically about Facebook but relevant for others as well) and I couldn’t help thinking of a particular San Francisco based roaster (who will remain nameless), one whom I know at least one person has stopped following on Twitter for violation of this rule-of-thumb.

It inspired a post at one of those said other venues. I’m hoping the right person reads it.

[...] I cannot do my job any longer, without being a vocal champion, an advocate of all of the hard work I have encountered

Poul Mark, of Transcend Coffee, knows why he goes.

– blue bottle coffee (@bluebottlenyc)

They’re heeeere…well, really they’re there but you know what I mean. It’s like the Linden St. kiosk will have a direct line to New York.

– Michel Gondry, on coffee and hipsters in Brooklyn in New York Magazine

From the mysterious “manseekingcoffee”, on his excellent blog of name same, from his review of the (fairly) recently de-funkified (no more alley location!) Four Barrel Coffee in The Mission in San Francisco.

Of note: Four Barrel is owned and operated by a Ritual alum and, like Ritual’s early days, serves Stumptown coffee. That, my friends, is going to save me an untold amount of shipping costs (and/or airfare, for that matter) in my continuing quest to fill out this blog’s “What I’m Drinking Now” section. Amen to that.

From an article in San Francisco Magazine entitled A new buzz.

Mr. Freeman is the owner of Blue Bottle Coffee out of Oakland, CA. He recently opened a new café — to add to the kiosk in Hayes Valley — off of Market street in San Francisco.