I have some exciting news (albeit a little delayed) and I hope you all can share in the excitement! Becoming a member of the Yelp! Elite Squad has been a goal of mine for a couple years now—ever since I learned about what a Yelp Elite is and does. I think my first introduction to Yelp Elitehood was seeing the little Elite tag on “famous” Yelp reviewers’ profiles and wondering what it meant. I could always tell that the reviews from these reviewers were actually quality and helpful, so I knew it must have been an indication that they know what’s up. Without even realizing it, I soon was paying close attention to new restaurants and shops that these reviewers had been to, knowing that they were legit and quality places.

New Year, new me life lessons! Yesterday, I embarked on a food adventure I hadn't even embarked or thought about embarking on in quite some time. So long, in fact, that I was pretty sure I had forgotten much of what I used to know about this particular method of cooking. That method is yeast-risen bread making. I even had legitimate proof (believe it or not, pun not originally intended) that it had been quite some time since I last embarked on a yeast-risen bread adventure, given by the fact that the only trace of yeast in my apartment was a jar of Red Star® Quick Rise™ that expired sometime in 2016. Thinking I knew better than food scientists before me, I still went ahead and tried using this yeast to make the Swedish cardamom buns I had been craving since my last trip to FIKA. BIG MISTAKE! Yeast really does expire and even doubling the amount a recipe calls for doesn't do the trick. Who knew?!

This past week, I finally convinced my good friend, Patrick, of Benedict Beer Blog, to break from tradition and come visit me in Brooklyn for some fancy beers and delicious foods. Patrick and his wife, Holly Kay, once explained to me their interesting view of Brooklyn, stating how it is, in fact, a caricature of itself. I was confused at first, but soon understood their perspective, what with all the third wave coffee shops inside barbershops, curled moustaches, plaid shirts and beanies, onstage poetry readings, fixies, and now a Whole Foods (they have an amazing beer selection, btw). Up until more recently, they hadn't really explored Brooklyn all that much. They'd visited Brooklyn every now and again, but they had never really been that deep into Brooklyn and probably not for very long.

A few weeks ago, some friends and I ventured out into depths of East Williamsburg (something we rarely do, even though it's not that far) for an experience that none of us have ever had before. If you know me or have read any of my posts on this blog, you know that I'm all about delicious food and good, specialty coffee, but I'm also all about trying things in their most authentic or traditional forms. I like to have a better picture and understanding of how things are meant to be experienced compared to how we usually experience them today. What better way to experience coffee brewed in the most traditional way than at an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, but just closer to home?

Yesterday was the first available Friday I've had off of work in many, many months and I made sure that a visit to Counter Culture Coffee's New York Training Center in Little Italy was in order, so I could attend one of their weekly coffee cuppings. Referred to as Tastings @ Ten, due to their every Friday at 10:00am occurrence, these clean cuppings take place at all of Counter Culture's regional training centers and have specific themes each week. Yesterday's theme was a tasting journey across three continents: South America, Africa, and the continent or ecozone I'd never heard of before, Oceania (you and I know this continent as Australia). The coffees we sampled were all single-origin offerings from those continents that Counter Culture currently offers: Jarama (Rwanda), Tairora (Papua New Guinea), and Cueva de los Llanos (Colombia).