Tony X. Williams, owner of HypnoCoffee

Amplifier: When and why did you start HypnoCoffee?

Tony:  Why? because there was no decent coffee where I lived, and that was Davis, West Virginia.  We were used to good coffee, we’d get coffee in different shops, we were kind of coffee geeks at home and when I was there we started buying all kinds of gear, brewing it at home… I had time off, flex time, a couple of years, so I got bored and started a coffee shop, and that was 2007. We wrote the business plan and bought all the gear, and we opened January of 2008.

Amp:  I know nothing about coffee. You know a lot about coffee, so what question should I ask you?

Tony:  I think the question, THE question is why do some coffee shops fail at what they do? Why are they bad?  Why does all the money go to national chains like Starbucks that have sort of morphed coffee into clichéd Italian terms?  It’s the independent chains that try and combat that, but don’t have the knowledge, the skill set, the execution.  I don’t think enough people take coffee seriously as a skill set.  It needs to be taught and a ritual needs to be followed.  The more you know about it, the better you are at it, and that goes from knowing where the coffee’s grown and what it should taste like, to having the correct posture and tamping when you tamp your espresso.  A thorough knowledge and understanding of the skill set is necessary to create a good product, and then finally, executing it the exact same way, every time.  It’s not oversimplification– there’s just one good way, one correct way.  It’s very Zen that way.  So, a deeper question would be what makes mine different from other people’s?  Not that there aren’t other people doing it that way.  The East Coast is starting to happen.

Amp:  Favorite coffee drink? Favorite bean?

Tony: My favorite coffee drink is a macchiato.  The Nicaraguan’s my favorite right now.  I don’t blend or mix it with anything else.  It stands alone.  They are extremely special. It’s an old varietal of Dutch origin. It grows well at high altitudes, it’s grown in cloud forests in Nicaragua.  There’s a farmer committed to growing fields of nothing but that bean.  Most farmers grow macro lots– this is a micro lot.  Having beans from a single farm is a prized kind of green bean to have.  It’s beans from a single farm, from a single variety of tree, and it’s an heirloom variety of tree.  Meaning most farms have to plant several different varieties of coffee.  There could be all different kinds that have all different weaknesses and strengths.  Then at harvest, they pick them off all the trees, they go to the mill and they stay together from that one farm– they don’t get mixed with other farms. You get several different varieties of beans, and the reason is that some are more susceptible to disease, some fight disease better, some do better with little rain, some need more, so they plant a bunch of different ones so it’s guaranteed to have an outcome.  If they grow these heirloom varieties like this Nicaraguan farmer did– he’s a German doctor– anyways he committed to a micro lot field, just one variety of plant that grows well at high elevations.  So he grew it, it bore fruit, he milled it, and a guy called a Q grader goes there to guarantee that there were no other varieties of plants in that field and he watches it get milled, then he picks out the bad beans.  Another Q grader follows up his work, and ensures that it’s good. Then he meets the farmer.  It’s an heirloom bean– it’s like I’m drinking coffee the way it tasted in the 1600s.  So he’s probably making about three times as much as the neighboring farms, but he’s also taking a much bigger risk.  This particular one is susceptible to over-precipitation.  It’ll get rot. So he’s gambling when he does it.

Amp:  HypnoCoffee is pseudonymously known as the HypnoShip. Is the HypnoShip pirate, legit, or something in between, like a privateer?

Tony:  MUCH more like a pirate ship.

Amp:  What’s the story about the new HypnoBeer?

Tony:  It’s true. We’ve been doing that. Since last winter. It’s HypnoStout.  We take our espresso blend, and it’s 16 oz. of espresso to 5 gallons of beer with two oz. of Ghirardelli powdered mocha.

A friend of ours, who owns a brewery where they make stout, brought a keg over one day and we started to squirt espresso into the keg … We’d put a few more shots into the keg, mix it, we got pretty drunk.  The owner Willie, myself and my father-in-law, and the UPS driver.

Amp:  How do you evaluate a coffee?

Tony:  I still cheat and use a flavor tasting wheel from the Specialty Coffee Association of America.  When I get a new coffee, or it’s a new lot of a coffee, I cup it. The first thing I do, first roast, I shoot for a roast that I’ve been using for that coffee in the past, but I may take it below that roast.  I always roast it at a medium roast. I coarsely grind about an oz. of coffee, throw it in a cappuccino cup and then add hot water to the top of it. Gives you a real, naked picture of the coffee. To evaluate the taste I just start with basic flavors– is it sour, is it sweet?  If it was sweet, sweet how? Was it chocolaty, sweet like caramel?  And just get more and more and more narrow.  The other thing I do is to go online to the Roasters Guild, and compare notes with other roasters– “I cupped it this way, how did you cup it?”  We trade information…  usually I have a flavor or a taste in mind and I try to achieve it.  So I don’t cup for evaluation to buy or not to buy, usually.  I’m trying to find the sweet spot of each bean, find where it tastes the best.

…Herbaceous tastes are more from the aroma.  Bourbons especially have herbaceousness.  It smells like asparagus when you grind it, it’s really weird.  And you taste it, and there’s a slight vegetable-like sweetness.  It’s really cool. The Nicaraguan has a carrot taste.  It has a sourness, not like citrus fruit, but like unripened cherry fruit, which is darker.  It also reminds me of a sweetness from a beet.  These are not negative things to say about coffee, it’s just the dynamic of coffee.  It also has a real nutty finish, so it tastes like you’ve eaten cashews.  If you’ve ever eaten unsalted cashews or unsalted nuts, it leaves a taste in your mouth that’s kind of grainy and sweet.  Along the lines of all this, I’m taking a course in the fall to get my Q graders license.  Then I go back in the winter to take a two day exam, where I’ll need to successfully identify 22 varieties of coffee.

Amp:  I’m a hardcore tea drinker.  Can you get me to drink coffee?

Tony:  Well, if you’re drinking Earl Grey, you get a caffeine delivery.  Even green teas have that a little bit.  So maybe you could say your body craves caffeine to a certain point like coffee drinkers do.  So that’s something in common, you want that organic caffeine compound in your body.  And I think, the lightness of tea– coffee, when it’s done really well,  and all the stars are aligned, and it’s grown really well, picked at the right time, milled well, didn’t get damaged in shipping, got to the grocer’s hand and he didn’t screw anything up, if he did a good job roasting it, and then the barista prepares it correctly, water in proportion to grounds, then you get this expression of something delicious.  And, if you appreciate good beer, or good tea or good food or good wine, then it helps you appreciate good coffee.  I think the same could be said of anyone who’s into any kind of food or drink.  I mean if you’re really into tea, why couldn’t you be really into coffee?

Try the Java that’s here right now.  It almost– the finish is molasses. I’ve never had an Indonesian coffee taste like that.  It finishes sweet.  In that way it would be herbalesque.  That’s really a cool trick in a coffee.  It has a quality like slightly unripened fruit.

Sumatra are light, like red wine from grapes that are maybe slightly unripe, so, tart, with heavier bodies.  They feel substantial in your mouth.

…The other reason why a tea drinker might turn into a coffee drinker– because it’s cheaper than tea.

That’s all from Tony today, reader.  Be on the lookout for another heaping helping of savory savoir faire in The Amplifier’s next installment of Cafe Today, right here on Soundry.net.

- The New Storage Space

- Character Sketch No. 1

- Open Mic Tuesday Q&A

The New Storage Space: Under Construction

As the Soundry grows, so too must it’s storage space.  New storage space and drying racks are under construction, expected to be finished by Wednesday.   The Amplifier has the story.  But it’s a short story. In fact, til Wednesday, It’s done.  Let’s move on to…

Character Sketch # 1

Will

Who, you might ask, is this man in a kilt, spats, and a police uniform?

Well, I’ll tell you.  That’s Will, and he comes around pretty often for a coffee after work or a guitar lesson from Sean Meyers.  He is a Special Agent for the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), though he prefers the term investigator.  Now, a man in a kilt and spats should be inherently funny.  Unfortunately, this is his uniform as one of the honor guard at a fallen officer’s funereal. Ponder that, next time you find yourself wearing your  favorite kilt and spat ensemble.

Will, Roxanne and Junior

But don’t let it bring you down.  As you can see, Will is in good spirits, meeting up with his friend Roxanne and her giant, giant dog, Junior the ‘Dry.

Perhaps Will is also smiling because he knows Soundry staffer Sean Meyers, from whom he takes his guitar lessons, is hosting the Tuesday Open Mic Night nearby.  Of Sean he says, “He’s really good at knowing when I’m on overload.  It’s kinda like, a sponge can only absorb so much and then we have to stop. He knows when the sponge is full.  He can explain something complicated in simple terms, especially when it comes to music theory, which helps me a lot.”  Will plays with his BCI partner in the honor guard and is trying to convince him to perform at open mic night.

Will is a many faceted man; he also coaches the Syn-fit bike team.  The very Syn-Fit biking team, in fact, that modeled at the Biketastic in-show Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School life drawing class.

Rocking the kilt, spats, bike, badge and guitar, today’s Character is Will.

Open Mic Tuesday Q&A

The Amplifier has officially performed it’s first Open Mic Tuesday Q&A. To kick it off, we  talked to four of our regular performers, Jay, Ben, Phoebe, and Flanders.  This time, we asked the interviewees what they though we should ask other performers– and then had them answer their own question. here are the results;

Ben and Jay:

Jay (Myspace www.myspace.com/Jay13880) and Ben (http://www.reverbnation.com/benhirsch)

Q: What can The Soundry do to improve the artists experience?

A:  Get monitors for the musicians so we can hear ourselves better,

like at The Old Brogue.

Phoebe:

Phoebe Novak

Q:  What is your most embarrassing childhood moment?

A: I was making Barbie’s copulate and my mother walked in. And there was another one with a duck that bit my nipple.

Flanders (myspace.com/jflandersband) :

Jon Flanders (myspace.com/jflandersband)

Q: What’s your favorite thing to order at the Soundry?

A: A jalapeño and cream cheese bagel and an iced coffee.

Next time the question will come from the audience, so bring your strangest questions to the next open mic–  may the answers all be as interesting as Phoebe’s.

That’s all for today guys; tune in next time for more spine-tingling storage space updates, and later this week an interview with coffee guru Tony X. Williams of Hypnocoffee, artisan quality roaster and Soundry supplier.

Biketastic, an art show and benefit not to be missed, made over $1,200 for Bikes for the World on opening night.  Exploding onto the green scene, Biketastic was praised whole heartedly by all who attended.  Whether they were casual or enthusiastic cyclists, attendees left with a deeper appreciation of cycling culture and the good it can, and does do  for individuals world wide. More than likely, they also left by the W&OD trail, just yards away from the evening’s host, the Soundry.  Attending organizations, whether they operated on a local or international level, agreed it offered exciting and unique networking opportunities, as well as a smashing good time.

If you did miss it, fear not, The Amplifier is here to walk you through the evening.

Let’s Begin at the beginning.  As we walk in, this fascinating creature appears:

The Saddle Sores and their Tall Tandem

Brainchild of the  Richmond bicycle club the Saddle Sores, the Tall Tandem (above) is fully rideable even for those of normal height.  Made from other cannibalized bikes, the Tall Tandem is seen here with  Saddle Sore members Richard, Julia, and Mike.  Check out the Saddle Sores blog at saddlesores.wordpress.com for more adventures, like the peddle powered aqua battle or the Mathlete’s Revenge race.

As it gets darker, we progress to the cafe area, where we find Sarah Colby’s “Transparent Trikes” and “Mixed Messages”, modern charcoal and ink pieces, one of which has a feeling almost like stained glass in black and white.  While we’re here, try a basil lemon fizz, a bubbly lemonade drink with fresh crushed basil.  Too crowded?  Let’s move on.

Here’s the studio space.  Usually inhabited by artists at work, it has been converted this evening into a convention hall for the participating organizations and donors.  The first table to our left is the Cycle Savant table, staffed by founder Matt Rupert.  Matt got his first bike soon after he learned to walk.  He’s grown up to start his own business, which helps patrons choose a bike from a selection personalized according to the specific needs of the customer.

His favorite piece at the show is “Chimptastic” By Bobby Moore;

"Chimptastic" by Bobby Moore

I asked Matt, and every representative I could get my hands on what they would have submitted to the show– no budget restrictions, no time limits.  Matt says he’d like to make a glass topped, 40’s style dining room table with the large wheel of a penny farthing bicycle.  To learn more about Cycle Savant, see the web page at CycleSavant.com.

Next door is the Sierra Club table, where I talked to Linda Friemark about the dangers of coal ash, a hazardous byproduct of burning coal.  For information on coal ash problems in Virginia, please click here.  Linda helped start Bikes for the World while she was on the board of the Washington Area Bicycle Association.  “Tonight was coming full circle for me,” she says. Currently,  Linda works with the local Great Falls Sierra Club group which has approximately 3500 members.  This month’s meeting will take place right in Vienna, at the Patrick Henry Library on August 24th, from 7pm to 9pm, and is open to the public.

Next, the co-organizer and non-profit beneficiary of the evening, BIKES FOR THE WORLD! Collecting bicycles and shipping them to community development programs in developing countries, Bikes for the World (BfW) is the largest bicycle reuse program in the U.S.  Got two minutes? Watch this video about them on Youtube.  Three minutes? Take one more to make a donation.

Yvette with her bicycle tube purse

Yvette's Bicycle wheel chandalier

Manning the BfW booth are Yvette and Craig.

I asked Yvette what she would have liked to submit to the Biketastic show– as it turned out, she was already spoiled for choice, owning two home made bicycle wheel tables, a bicycle part chandelier, even sporting her bike tube and chain purse and a pendant made from blue glass and a twisted spoke.  Craig and I talked briefly about his favorite Bikes for the World partner program, the Women Prisoners Support Program in Uganda, which fixes up, uses, and sells bikes as well as teaching job training and IT skills.   Craig hasn’t even been to the gallery yet; the constant networking in the studio space has proven too absorbing.

Across the way is the man who wins the most interesting hypothetical artwork prize, James Moon; a blogger, a tweeter,  and tonight a representative of Phoenix Bikes.  “Building Young Leaders and Sweet Bikes”, Phoenix Bikes is a youth and community bike shop with earn-a-bike youth programs, team Phoenix youth rides, used bike sales, and tune-up and repair services.  James’ theoretical submission? A slide show of animated scenes– of bikes, of course– from old cartoons, projected on a sculpture.

Sharing the table is Christie Kruse of the GMU Bike Village program, who also describes a fascinating project; a wooden bicycle with two wheels made of cedar and a frame of birch sticks, held together with raffia. The GMU Bike Village collects bikes, fixes bikes in need,  and rents bikes to the GMU community.  Their Facebook group can be found here.  Christie was excited to see Soundry member Kate Smith-Morse’s bamboo bike frame in progress– take a look;

Kate Smith-Morse and her bamboo bike

See that guy on the right?  That’s Jesse, a Soundry regular who does Bicycle tune-ups for L.L. Bean.  LL. Bean was kind enough to donate a bicycle overhaul (a tune up, cleaning, bearing service, & new cables) to the silent auction.  Tune in to future blogs for more on Kate’s bike as it progresses.

Last, in case you got hungry between the cafe and the gallery, is the Great Harvest Bread Company’s free sample table.  Great Harvest Bread Co. is also a silent auction donor, putting up a free loaf of bread every month for a year.  Currently, Peter of Bikes for the World is manning the table.  Peter has done some photography, and thinks if he had submitted a piece to the show, it would have been a photograph.

Last stop, the in-show Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art school.

Laurel Larsen (center) poses at the in-show Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art school session

Offering highly unusual life drawing classes in 80 cities and 4 continents around the world, Dr. Sketchy’s classes at The Soundry have featured a belly dancer, a drag king, and a burlesque dancer.  Now, taking a sportier turn, The lovely Laurel Larsen of the Syn-fit biking team is seen here posing on a bike.  At the next Dr. Sketchy’s, on August 13th from  8 to 11pm. The D.C. roller girls of the Cherry Blossom Bombshell team will be modeling.  Right now though, let’s talk to Laurel.  We’ll only get one chance– it’s her last break before the show ends at 11.  She is fascinated by cyclocross,   a racing sport that takes place on short mixed terrain tracks which include obstacles that force the cyclists to dismount from their bikes and carry them.  Laurel is particularly intrigued by the the graceful and sometimes comedic way in which cyclocross pros mount and dismount.  So much so that if she were to submit a piece to the show, she thinks she would choose to make a video focusing specifically on this aspect of the sport.  For a closer look at cyclocross culture, click here.

By now it’s pushing 11 o’clock, and the show is wrapping up.  The silent auction winners are announced, the representatives start packing up, and Laurel and the rest of the Dr. Sketchy’s models unfreeze from their last pose and go home. Grab one more coffee, guys– you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here, if only to have mercy on Antoine McGrath, the exhausted organizer of Biketastic.  You may have seen him racing around all of the places we’ve visited tonight, facilitating networking between the different groups, chatting with customers, checking the progress of the silent auction, and even pouring glasses of wine.  Asked, “Where were you tonight?  I just saw you dashing by a lot” he pauses to flash a dazed look and respond “…I don’t know.”.  He runs off again, to who knows where.  We start taking bets on when he will collapse.

So why are you still here? The art’s not going anywhere, and the bike film festival won’t be for another two weeks.

Thanks for a lovely evening, Reader.  We’ll see you again soon, in person at The Soundry, or right here on the Amplifier.

Goodnight!

SEE gymnastical feats of athletes elastic, the fantastical works of artistes iconoclastic, at a bicycle blow out incomparably bombastic;

that’s right ladies and gents, boys and girls,

It’s BIKETASTIC!

We invite you, free of charge to the non-profit bicycle benefit of the season, supporting international non-profit organization Bikes for the World.  Since 1995 Bikes for the World has shipped over 47,000 bikes to non-profit partners in Africa and the Caribbean for “low-income farmers, small-business people, and students, as well as salaried and volunteer community health, literacy, and agricultural extension workers.”*  Helping people get to work, school, and providing cheap transportation in health services, Bikes for the World is an exemplary organization we are honored support.  Can’t get to the opening? Click here to make a donation.

But don’t forget the artists; in the Soundry’s Gallery you will find nearly 70 works of bicycle inspired art.  Some notable examples are Lisa Wagner’s brilliant freeform weaving utilizing the (inner tubes) of Bicycle tires. Lisa is a 3rd generation fiber artist, (inspired) by the show to venture into mixed media.

Also on display will be a truly unique collage, the result of a blind collaboration by seven different artists; what exactly is a blind collaboration?  A mystery picture was split into seven blocks and given to seven different artists, each of whom completed their part with no knowledge either of who the other artists were or what the larger picture was.  The finished piece is an eclectic, one of a kind work representative of the conceptual and aesthetic aspects of cycling as seen though the lens of art.

And just in case, allow us to tempt you with a HID Model Niterider bike light for raffle and a ten dollar off certificate from spokes for each five dollar ticket.  And don’t forget the Auction Items– we’ve got something for everyone, from a one hour bicycle riding evaluation with recommended adjustments courtesy of Synergy Fitness Training, to a design consultation with Commonwealth Home Remodelers, Inc., to the ever desirable 1 month Soundry membership.  Not only this, but the lovely ladies of the Syn-fit Bicycling Team will be modeling at the in-show Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-art School session, so bring your pencil and sketchbook and remember, it’s all for the benefit of Bikes for the World, folks.

In the words of our current partner in art and director of Bikes for the World, Keith Olberg, “Biketastic celebrates cycling culture and that the DC cycling community has an extraordinary future which efforts like Biketastic, Bikes for the World, Phoenix Bikes, WABA, Potomac Peddlers and so many other groups are forging.” We’ll take care of the culture today, Keith, but the extraordinary future is in the capable hands of Bikes for the World and the other organizations coming together in support of it, at Biketastic and all over the world.

Here are a few of the remarkable groups supporting a cleaner greener world through their love of Bikes:

Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA)

Fairfax Advocates of Better Bicycling (FABB)

Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT)

Phoenix Bikes

GMU Bicycle Village

Potomac Peddlers Touring Club

And of course, reader and prospective attendee, your support is what makes this benefit possible, so have a Biketastic day!

* "Who We Benefit." Bikes for the World. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2010. <http://bikesfortheworld.org/

     index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29>.

portrait by Soundry member Elizabeth Reid

Welcome, gentle reader, to The Amplifier, a new incarnation of the Soundry blog wherein you will find chronicled the oddity, spectacle and charm that make The Soundry so remarkable. Please, settle in, put your feet up, and let me tell you about a little place in old town Vienna.

Have you ever wondered where artists go to see art? Where poets go to hear poetry? Where musicians go to hear music, or where baristas go for coffee?  Wonder no more; you’ll find them all here at The Soundry. An oasis for the parched artist and lover of art, The Soundry boasts a studio space, a gallery, a stage, screen printing facilities, a gourmet cafe, and a constant flow of shows, weekly and special events, classes, and three flavors of open mic.

What people notice first, and remember later, is the remarkable atmosphere of the place.  Walking in is like entering another hidden world, as can only be expected of an arts incubator in a building that formerly functioned as an auto body shop.  The strong sense of all-accepting community is renewed daily by the amazing and often bizarre people and  strange spontaneous events.  Still, visitors say, at the core the place is a spirit of easygoing fun.

After dropping by a few times, people will often say;  some one should write a book about this place–  a play, a movie!.   Where is the record of this extraordinary and ever-changing place?

It starts here.

It is the mission of the Amplifier to capture the eccentric essence of day to day life at The Soundry– and we choose to accept it.  If you have any ideas, want to submit an article, send them our way, or just come up to me and chat.   I’m Allison, the newest member of the blogging team, and I’ll be leading the effort.  Most evenings you can find me in the cafe typing away, snapping photos, working on mixed media art, or knitting.  I look like this:

Come, take my hand and together we will embark on a magical journey through marvelous Art-i-corn stables, the grand temples of the mad monks of melody and counterpoint, and even unto the highest Soundry Staffers in the land, Thor, philosopher king of the Peaceful Mountain, and his beautiful Warrior Queen, Jen the Berserker.

I mean, Watch this space for features such as Character Sketches depicting the wide variety of Soundry folk, The Cafe Today for the latest on what we’re dishing up, Found Art for studio doodles and other oddments, Soundry challenges whereby you, yes YOU, can win a free coffee, and more interviews, quotes and pictures than you can shake a stick at.

Tune in next time for all these wonders and more, Right here at The Amplifier.  Thanks for reading– see you at The Soundry.

Stay tuned for more details….

EXCITING NEW BENEFIT: The Soundry building is solidly built of brick and block construction. In the event of an apocolyptic event, Soundry members can seek refuge in The Soundry. Non-members will not be offered shelter.

Dr. Sketchy’s DC

June 11th Drawing Session

presents….

Bella Donna & Ken Vegas!

Bella Donna, the beautiful queen of bohemian belly dancing, and Ken Vegas the incredibly sexy drag king will perform a titillating act prior to posing for our Art Monkeys.

Belladonna is the creator of ROMKA‘, a Washington D.C.-based belly dance troupe that teaches classes and performs across the United States. ROMKA‘ hosts the monthly DC Tribal Café and annual Belly Horror Show in Washington D.C.
Belladonna’s internationally acclaimed instructional sword DVD “Sword Stylization” was released in 2008 by Insidious Media Group www.insidiousgroup.com.

Belladonna has attended workshops with renowned dance professional Suhaila Salimpour and is currently level 1 certified in the Salimpour format. In addition, she has learned from and been influenced by belly dance professionals Rachel Brice, John Compton, Jill Parker, Leila Haddad, and Amy Sigil, among others.

ABOUT KEN VEGAS:

Ken’s performance is gender-fluid which means that he does not stay in one gender binary (male/female). Why choose one gender when their is so much beauty in both? Everytime Ken performs it feels like the first time since he tries to explore new ways of expression and sometimes does not know how the crowd will react. His main intention is to entertain the audience and show them a slice of what has inspired him throughout his travels all over the world.

SIGN UP HERE ART MONKEYS!