sitting in a field part...

Can't do much field sitting, since the ever spiraling event fees have
reached a new peak :( I thought that the old fairground owner, Jack
Tricket, couldn't possibly better last years laugh, when he wanted
£100/day for me to be down by the seaside (actually, I thought that
price was to scare me off, since it worked). Anyway, I attempted the
usual Easter, start of season phone round for any events this year and
had to call Jack again. "Yes, Danny. You can come - it'll be
£150/day this year". Guess I won't think about it for too long then.
Back to the canopy in the precinct, with a couple of events booked
elsewhere...

It's been a long slow winter. Nothing terrible, just never ending
cold. Not much rain, no snow, no sun, just cold - for 3 months. I
always know when spring is round the corner because the local Toby
Carvery restaurant raise their giant parasols, and they've just gone
up. It's not fair - these places can afford two 10' square bolted
down umbrellas with kilowatts of infra red heaters bolted on!

At least the sun has been out a bit more, and new faces are turning
up. Thank goodness for the regulars, though. Rose (we call her aunt
Rose now) religiously comes along two or three times a week. She saw
stripping firemen at one of her carehome functions, so I treated her
to a pole dance round the central canopy support :) She seemd to like it.

Then there's the large family of Sarah and her kids who now have kids
of their own, including little Tia, who now says bye Danny when they
go (she's only two). I'm getting new generations appearing here.
Sarah is the one who comes back from holiday and all she wants is a
cappuccino before she'll do anything. She has about 6 a day when they
are in town. I actually got the canopy more for her than anyone - she
will make her entire family sit there, whatever the weather, poor
people. I have photographs of her sitting with a coffee in one hand,
umbrella in the other...

Prices going up as soon as I can find the programming book for the
till. More and more people tell me I'm too cheap, and we even had a
couple of mature ladies last week who had coffee then called me over
to say (in posh voices) how "we always go to Marks & Spencer, but your
coffee is far better, and so reasonable too!". I haven't raised
prices in nearly 4 years, whilst a lot of my supplies have gone up.
I've been pontificating over it, since one might have a desired price,
but you can't price yourself out of the market, so I've checked the
other local coffee vendors and I'm a bit cheaper than most.

I'm still looking for a killer hot food (savoury) item that I can do
easily in the trailer. The local indoor shopping arcade had a food
court with 6 or 7 retailers trading, but it's closed down for two
years while they remodel the centre, so I have a good chance of
increased sales if I can think of something that no-one else does
around here. Ther are plenty of other take-aways and a couple or
sit-down places - Oggy pastie company, Subway, McD's, Kentucky,
potatoes, filled rools and baguettes etc, so I want something
different that still appeals to the mass market. If I can be bothered. Actually, my friend Gazza (who retired from the Navy and used to get me the all night summer fair event) has bought 4 Oggy pastie franchises now, including the one nearest me. He wants to supply me with their pasties at trade price....

*Update* We put the prices up. Guess what. Nobody cared or noticed. Told us we were too cheap anyway.

Got depressed today. Yesterday I served a table of Italian ladies, who said the espresso was just like at home. Today, a group of Italian youngtsers. One espresso, one cappa and lots of cold drinks. I enquired as to the espresso, expecting the usual praise, but life has a habit of giving a reality check - the girl said it was OK, but not as good as at home - different. I asked in what way and she pointed to the empty cup, using her stirrer to point out some deficiency I couldn't see - crema stuck to the sides, the remnant of her excess sugar in the bottom - usual signs of an empty espresso cup. I give up. Perhaps it was the water. Perhaps the sugar (she refused my offer of white and took demerara sachets).

It's recently been over 30 degress most days and yet coffee sales are still good. Some cold drinks, but mostly coffeee. The canopy is a great help - good cover from the sun, greater visibility from a distance etc. Can't stand making toasties in a trailer that is already over 34 degrees. Espresso machine coping fine with the aid of a fan pointed at it.

Early mornings are as I remember last summer. 07:30 and some shop staff that enjoy coming early for a relaxing start to the day, together with the usuals mix of HMV Cleaners and some bloke that works in a used car lot and comes for a couple of Americanos to sober up. Then there's the lady with the two dogs (Rottweiler and Collie, sp,), who feeds them on fresh cabbage and carrots from Mikes veg stall opposite whilst she sips her Mocha. Unforunately, there's also OY! man in a wheelchair. We call him OY! man, because that all he says. OY! as he pointes to the coffee machine. OY! as he pintes to a pastie. I know he had a stroke, but he can still talk. I've banned him once, but he apologised. He banned himslef once and went by most days calling me a w*nker. Now he's back, but he smells. BO. I have to get him away from the trailer and remind him about his bathing habits or he'll be banned again.

I have pondered recent threads here:

I do slice off into the doser when not that busy. I do autofill when busy. Tamp and other things do not make that much difference on a lever machine. I saw Lucy tamp at a terrible angle, with a combined tamp and twist and assured her that the resulting shot would be down the drain, only to see the usual honey-like pour and a perfectly serveable espresso. I give up. Maybe she's subconsciously correcting for me not getting the trailer level in the morning...

By the way, Lucy is my girlfriend. She's 19 (nearly). So what. She has my name tattooed on her arm. I have hers on mine. One of us is an idiot. Or not. I've had tea with her mum. She says that she will never change her mind and wants to push me to the park in a wheelchair when I'm older to feed the ducks. People don't talk about us much anymore. She smiles a lot and is learning to make good espresso, for which I pay her.

I love my Cimbali grinder. I have many others at home - Rossi RR45, Compak, Bregant, Cunill, but the Cimbali does what it says on the tin (apart from when I fish baling wire etc from the burrs). I want another one (backup).

I now have a couple more lever machines in various tates of undress, but I can't actually be bothered to make any of them work, what with it being so hot these days. The Isuzu also does what it says on the tin. The absolute luxury of towing the trailer to work without filling my pants as I used to do when the Jeep Cherokee and trailer snaked over 45mph. 55 all the way with the Isuzu...

This week I will start serving clotted cream teas (it's quieter PM) - who says you can't have scones and jam in an espresso bar? Nobody wanted the Croissants or Panini anyway.

I was begged to sit in another field last weekend, but I have had enough of the legislature. The council phoned me re: the event:

Her: You are not to carry more than one day's supply of fresh milk.
Me: I can carry 380 litres in my fridge.
Her: Sorry, rules are one day.

Her: What about your generator lead?
Me: It's orange and thick.
Her: We don't really like them on the ground.
Me: Well, it can't levitate. I'll put obstacles over it and keep it short.
Her: We don't really like them.
Me: Why don't you ask me a serious question about electrical safety wrt a generator, like do you have an earth spike.
Her: What's that?
Me: Something that provides a true earth, rather than the floating earth the generator and trailer will have without one. Or you could ask me when the last time the espresso machine was pressure tested and certified?

Her: You won't be digging any cesspits?
Me: No.

Her: Have you sent in all your risk assesment forms?
Me: What for? Coffee? A can of drink? I don't do hot food, for which I have risk assesment forms.
Her: But we need them.
Me: Risk - drop can on foot. Assesment - don't do it. Remind customers that hot drinks are hot.

Her: About your fire extinguishers - we like one in the trailer and one near the generator.
Me: I tried that. It got nicked. I could chain it to the generator, but it wouldn't be much use in a fire situation.

Her: What about your food hygene certificate?
me: You have it, not that it matters, since I'm not serving hot food.
Her: Could you send it again?
Me: No.

Her: What about your Public and Employee liability Insurance?
Me: You have that too.
Her Could you send it again?
Me: No.

Her: Can we have your electrical and gas safety certificates.
Me: You know the answer to that one.

Me: How many questions/ requirements do you have?
Her: 38
Me: What number are we on?
Her: 8 (she couldn't count)
Me: Forget it.

I'll stay in the precinct under my gaily coloured canopy, thanks. Or at least until Portsmouth becomes a bomb site again, under the redevelopment plans.

I've pondered Bernies situation wrt Starbucks, and decided they may as well open alongside all the other coffee outlets here. I don't care, and neither should he. I sell on quality and keeping my customers. I've only lost a few over the years, and Bernie should do the same, imho. There's a new large coffee shop/cafe opening soon. At least 85 covers. I know they will install a superauto that serves average coffee (or rather, hot milk drinks), and will flash *cleaning required* or *call engineer*, as another local cafe's machine has for at least two months. My customers can see me clean my machine.

And I still haven't worked out why I'd want to PID my machines.






















--
Regards,
Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
http://www.dannyscoffee.com (UK advert for my mobile espresso service)
http://www.malabargold.co.uk (UK/European online ordering for Malabar
Gold blend)
swap Z for above characters in email address to reply

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Aero Press coffee maker
    ... Coffee and Espresso Maker - The Story Behind The Flavor ... The AEROPRESS? ... brew because of the shorter brewing time. ...
    (alt.coffee)
  • Sitting in a field - the cups of the matter...
    ... What we use most of, however, are "teacups", or mugs. ... In real life they were smaller than they looked in the image, but this could be good, since it would save water in the trailer and we could brew a stronger americano for those that wanted it without pulling another double. ... Will have to drink coffee elsewhere etc etc. ... But other customers loved the new mugs. ...
    (alt.coffee)
  • Re: Sitting in a field - the cups of the matter...
    ... 10oz mugs from Rayware. ... Will have to drink coffee elsewhere etc etc. ... Anyway, a few customers complained that the cups were smaller, and since ... when it's cold in the trailer and they get a stress crack when hot ...
    (alt.coffee)
  • Re: Restaurants in Rome
    ... Espresso coffee requires as much technology and taste as fine wine. ... Nespresso has combined simple-to-use espresso machines with clever ... roasted coffee beans are first ground and then placed in water. ...
    (rec.travel.europe)
  • Re: Paris cafe
    ... Re-Engineering Espresso ... The Complex World of Coffee Research and the Quest for a Better Shot ... coffee-filled plastic capsule. ... With the aid of some quarter-million-dollar machines ...
    (rec.travel.europe)