San Diego, Stone Brewing, and folks from The Green Coffee Buying Club

Leone messin' with Matt's hat. That is some Ethiopian Likempti I'm holding. A pretty rare coffee, from the Oromia coop... Joe, getting ready to load up some Panama Carmen Estate (I think) into his Sonofresco. A neat little commercial machine that does one pound batches pretty automatically. He was about to sell it, but changed his mind. Seems like a nice critter to hang onto.
Loaded and ready to roast.
Yellowing beans
Getting darker

Pretty close to done, still a little ways to go. I have more pix, but this gives you an idea of how you can watch the beans as they roast. Pretty nice.
Matt checking out some of Joe's bags. Joe was nice enough to give me several of them to use as decorations at the coffee shop. The one Matt is holding is a cool "rustic" looking Ethiopian bag.
Leone and Joe's kids (Anthony and Hailey)... Matt geeking out in the background.
Coffee and laptops....That's Joe, Jennifer, and Chris from left to right.
Another perfect shot. This one was Matt's blend...Brazil Daterra Santa Columbo, and India Dwarka Khaindor (gotta check on that name).
Matt, tamping for the perfect shot....we got some pretty good ones, and his blend is quite tasty.
Joe, rocking out on the guitar. Matt also did a little playing....
Matt, with a full Chemex of his COE columbian (#4 ???). Whatever we got through the GCBC recently. I haven't roasted mine up yet...
Matt came equipped with his tiny scale...
The Chemex rocks. It made me want to get one - but I've been pretty happy with the Technovorm I picked up from Chris a couple months ago....
Joe's home espresso setup. Oops, forgot what brand this machine is, but I know the grinder is a Super Jolly...
Leone, playing with some scrap stones outside Stone brewery. The inside was a bit too loud for him.
Matt, Chris (stone employee extraordinaire), me, leone (head turned), and Joe, out front of Stone Brewing...
Joe, Matt, and Chris getting a private tour from Ken. Thanks Ken!
Same crew....this is one impressive brewery folks. Sixty thousand square feet, including 10,ooo for the restaurant, plus a HUGE stone beer garden still under construction.
Matt, Chris and Joe in the sampling room...
My hotel coffee setup. Freshly roasted Sumatra Lintong Triple Pick (roasted day before my departure), cheapo hotel 4 cup Mr. Coffee, and whirley-bird grinder that I checked in my luggage. Does the trick. The hotel had Wolfgang Puck pre-ground coffee bags. I didn't even try them, but I might bring a couple home and test them out on my Technovorm just out of curiosity.
Leone finally getting a badly needed nap...
Leone checking out the Kayaks (or whatever you call 'em) at "baby beach" near the Dana Point Harbor.
A little fun in the sand...
And of course some fun in the water....
Leone was pointing out the "pirate ship" to me I think....It was hard to get him to leave....
Leone with Grams at her apartment. It is nice that he gets to hang out with his great-grandmother....
We had window seats all the way (two planes to get from Louisville to Orange County).
More sightseeing....we were way above the clouds....
At the airport - always plenty to look at...

Checking out what all the buttons do. But Leone is good and always checks with me first to make sure it's ok...so he was just playing with the light...

Cheers!
-nimbus couzin