Reminder -we’re hosting a very special Ramen Pop up this Saturday from 11-3. It’s a first come, first served sort of thing. No reservations. Bring some patience, share a table, and enjoy an afternoon at Sump. 

For our part, we’re flipping our menu significantly for this Saturday only. We’re brewing our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Adado cold three ways: Toddy, Kyoto (limited supply), and as an Iced Chemex. It is very likely that we’ll do a twist on an Arnold Palmer with the Iced Chemex and a Kalamansi concentrate. For hot drinks we’ll be making exclusively matcha (green tea) lattes. 

Did I mention there will be a DJ. Another Sump first.

Starting next Tuesday, May 14th, we will be offering caneles from La Patisserie Chouquette. 

From wikipedia “A canele is a small French pastry with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. The dessert, which is in the shape of small, striated cylinder approximately two inches in height, is a specialty of the Bordeaux region of France but can often be found in Parisian pâtisseries as well. Made from egg, sugar, milk and flour flavored with rum and vanilla, the custard batter is baked in a mold, giving the canelé a caramelized crust and custard-like inside.”

For those that like their information cribbed from sources closer to home -this month’s Sauce Magazine features caneles from La Patisserie Chouquette on its cover. 

A few days back I read an account of a brief interview (I remember now, it was in The New Yorker) with Peter Giuliano from coffee’s (a la team U.S.A.) annual super prom, held this year in Boston. I forgot the main thread of the interview, but one question and answer section got my brain machinating.

For anyone reading this and saying to yourself “who is Peter Giuliano?”, he was, until fairly recently, the director of coffee at Counter Culture. Who is Counter Culture you ask? Legitimate question if you’re beyond a 300 mile radius of one of their half dozen or so training centers -and gentle St. Louis reader -you are. In brief, Counter Culture, along with Intelligentsia, and Stumptown is one of the big three of third wave coffee roasters -post second wave Starbucks and Peet’s. A somewhat dramatized story of the major players of these third wave shops can be found in the book God in a Cup. All this is a long way of saying Mr. Giuliano was and is, somewhat of a big deal in coffee.

So what did he say? He was asked to reflect on a regular coffee happening, the annual release/auction, and coffee’s equivalent of the running of the bulls, of Panama’s Hacienda la Esmeralda’s Esmeralda Special, which in 2010 sold for $170 a pound green. Peter asked himself whether specialty coffee was rewarding this coffee because it’s excellent or because its wierd? In the end he concluded that it’s justly celebrated. (How Zen.)

The question of whether it’s ‘weird’ implies or assumes coffee has or has had, pre-Esmeralda Special, a fixed set of flavor and aromatic characteristics, and as such those fixed ‘notes’ can only be valued at a certain amount, say under $170 a pound green. This line of thinking caused me to recall something an economics professor said about growth. He said that in order, in part, to have economic growth you have to have the creation of new property rights -tangible or intangible. For example, the westward expansion, and thus the growth of the America that exists today, was made possible in part due to real property government land patent grants; as was the dot com/internet boom facilitated in part due to government granted intangible intellectual property patent rights. So by analogy, specialty coffee grows and in a sense becomes fourth wave or whatever the subsequent waves become (i.e., Folger’s supplanted by Starbucks supplanted by -well maybe no one, but say Intelligentsia supplanted by etc and etc -or do they all co-exist with the pie only getting bigger?) is also facilitated by the creation, discovery and perspective shifting of what coffee is, of what it can cost, of how it can be roasted, of how it can be brewed -of essentially the ‘weird’.

Demond Meek posted some new photos of the shop. It’s a bit awkward posting links to stuff that is so obviously beard-centric; but Demond does nice work and we needed to share it. We’re particularly proud to have the  #slumbeautiful instagram treatment (the second to last pic). http://www.demondmeek.com/#/main-thumbnail-page/sump/8

From the sky is falling to reopening within two weeks? You must be saying to yourself ‘the sky mustn’t have fallen that far’ or ‘the sky wasn’t that heavy.’ What exactly happened? Why was it so dark and apocalyptic two weeks ago? Well here goes, in full gruesome detail.

As many of you will remember the bathroom was out of order for about two weeks. That was because the lateral sewer went out and we were lining up the professionals to resolve the problem. As I said before, the lateral is the exit line for -let’s just call it grey water. So every building has a line in from a water main and a line out to the sewer -two separate lines, two separate bills (at least in St. Louis, MSD and something on a yellow invoice). The lateral line starts in the basement -typically the big ‘do not disturb’ vertical pipe that goes right into your slab and runs under or through a foundation wall and several feet (70 to 150 feet) under other structures, yards, parking slabs, garages, carriage houses, etc. to the  main sewer line. Essentially, it’s buried and in your lifetime you’re never suppose to think about it or know it exists -it’s like magic, the toilet flushes and the sink drains and that’s all you have to know.

So the Friday before last the work of tearing up the basement floor and finding the lateral started. But low and behold minutes into this work part of the foundation fell away. All work stopped, the plumber shrugged his shoulders and said you have to fix the foundation before I can fix the lateral in the basement. All this is happening against the further context of having to have another team of professionals on the outside digging up the line from the foundation to the main line. Just for context -depending on the depth of the outside line the outside guys charge about $6000 for 60 feet of trench and new pipe and the inside guys charge about $200 per foot of basement floor they have to break up (which adds up wick fast). And foundation guys -well they’re all over the place -it’s a scary time and they know they have you. It’s kind of like that show from way back when called ‘Scared Straight’.

Now, screw it down one more level, the foundation fell because there was no pipe left for the grey water to travel in and instead it just created a ‘marshy’, ‘swampy’ field under the corner of the building and/or basement slab. So the floor tied the wall ‘up’, once it was broke the tie was broke and thus disaster. So you couldn’t see anything but a hole, a ‘swamp’ ‘grey water’ hole and a dropped foundation. And the foundation guy wouldn’t do work until the ‘swamp’ was dried up. Thus, a catch 22 situation resulted -with everyone wanting $1000’s of dollars -(well the outside guys were ready to go, it was just getting on their calendar and them understanding how much of the 100 feet run to dig up, which actually require the inside bit to be done).

It was at this point the sky fell. It got dark. It felt desperate, hopeless, -the end of the pier. I think it would have been too, but for Mike. Now not many people probably know who Mike is -but he’s the dude with the cycle shop in the back. Mike saved the day, because he said, ‘WTF, we’re already screwed, what’s the worst that could happen -we’ll do it.’ And so we did. We cut the floor, dug the ‘swamp’ out -which took 2 days and was most likely the most humbling and gross thing I’ve had to do. We cored 25 feet of clay pipe, dry fit the interior lateral, had the plumber bless it, the outside guys used our coring to connect the lateral they dug, and we poured the concrete. There was a whole lot of collateral damage -like the patio slab, the fence and of course days of lost business. So with lots and lots of physical muscle, some dollars and Mike’s fearlessness, we lifted the sky. A couple of other people were also on the lever arm as we lifted the sky and include Marz, Jeff, and Mark. I might still be in some well of deep, dark depression without them.

Along the way, many people offered to help, gave us encouraging words, offered us spaces -I mean, not hypothetical stuff, but ‘I have this space, I’ll let you use it rent free for as long as you need it’. In addition to these generous offers, two individuals (and by the way, extremely early adaptors of the shop), set up ‘Save Sump’ campaigns -like Save Ferris. You can find these campaigns at http://stlcurator.com/love-sump-help-sump/ and @tim535353 (on twitter). Please help them help us. Also, see you Thursday.

Is life the part that happens between the crises and the unforeseeable or is it the responses and decisions one makes to crises and the unforeseeable? Or stated alternatively, and in adherence to our unstated rule about blogging on only all things coffee, is life the parts of the day between coffee or is it those moments with cup in hand? 

When we set out to build the shop it was primarily about two ideas or principles. First, great coffee -in a particular new American style. To focus on the cup. To provide an unadulterated, coffee-centric experience. Second, the walls around the cup. To provide a space that anchors the meter and pace of your day, week or month. To create a space that’s ever changing and usable by us to create the coffee, but also usable by the people that come in the door to make something great or build to something great, whether it be a SLOUP event, pop-ups, meeting others, meeting oneself (a moment for introspection) or sharing an experience with a visitor that only St. Louis has to offer. This second aspect, the walls around the cup, is as important to us as the first, because it was those moments, in shops like Sump -while in New York, that gave me a sense of control, order and connection to something larger -the breath of the city say. 

It is the experience around coffee that touches me the most these last few days. The people that have been part of our ‘coffee days’ in St. Louis have been so generous and supportive with their thoughts and actions. People, all but coffee strangers to us, offering to help -not just help, but show up and shovel -to get dirty; or just providing emotional support -dropping by and looking deeply into our souls with much sympathy ‘asking how things are’ or sending long texts of support, or offering spaces and/or solutions. It is truly humbling. It makes me worried for when we reopen. Before, we just worried about the coffee, now we have to continue to be a place that merits your support, your visits, your kindness. It’s difficult to know how to respond (because I have a beard -grunts and coffee are all I speak normally) other than to say Thank You!, which never seems enough when you truly and deeply mean it. So back to what is life -I think it’s cup in hand, and the people you meet or fill it with. 

Where to start? You know the saying, I think it’s attributed to Bette Davis, ‘getting old isn’t for sissies’. Well that saying applies to buildings as well as people -or at least Sump’s building.

St. Louis was the west coast (meaning the Mississippi River) of the US at the turn of the 1900’s and as a result there is amazing brick building architecture, of which (and I’m biased) Sump is one. But lurking beneath these 100 plus year old brick beauties is cast iron and clay ‘tubes’ buried deep, deep below the ground under layers and layers of gravel and concrete. These ‘tubes’, especially the cast iron, have rated lifetimes of say 70 years. These ‘tubes’ are also known as sewer laterals.

In brief (kidding) our lateral is out. Totally gone. So bad that the cast iron was neither iron or cast. This mean water can come into the building but can’t leave the building. It’s amazing, but what, at the time (100 plus years ago) someone thinks is a good idea, a ‘forever solution’, and well … who knows what a 100 years from now will bring. But why bury it so deep? Why make it so hard to get?

Resolving the problem requires several parties, time and capital; and nothing moves quickly. As it stands now, it looks like the outside piece will be completed by the end of this week -no guarantee with rain this week. As for the inside bit, never ever underestimate what a horrible bit of business this is or what having good friends (ones with shovels and rubber boots) are worth. But the floor is trenched and ready for PVC as of today. What makes this whole thing uncertain, and anyone who has worked on an old building knows, that when you do one thing something else breaks (and if it were only one thing we’d be lucky). One broke very expensive thing resulted in another broke very expensive thing(s). 

So that is where we are after two days. We can roast still. For those interested in supporting or helping Sump until we can open again you can do one of two things, or both, (1) be there for us when we reopen; and (2) order coffee from us using our website starting April 15th and/or (and I guess this is (3)), pick up our coffee at Comet Coffee or Half & Half (or anyone else that retails our coffee). 

Thanks to everyone who has emailed or texted us ideas about temporary spots or volunteered to help. It means tons to us. I can’t say this emphatically enough. So I’ll say it in all caps: WE’RE HONORED AND HUMBLE AND GRATEFUL. Everyone who has emailed us, tweeted or texted has been amazing. When all this happened it felt like the end. It still feels pretty low, but it’s good to have people in our corner even if it’s just a good word. (One caveat -this person and organization was not helpful, insurance and the associated agent -useless, and I quote “you’re only covered for covered loses” -so Kafkaesque (as in the ‘forever solution’ how can someone ever foresee everything that can possibly go wrong -this isn’t a problem isolated to us, but seems to be the general structure of any insurance ‘scheme’).

If we haven’t gotten back to you yet, we will. We’ve been breaking concrete and shoveling for the last two days. There is still a great deal to do, but we love the shop, the coffee, the people and the culture it has begun to nurture and create. We don’t want to stop yet and also hope you don’t want us to stop.  

Okay. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. Sometimes you’re knee deep in it and oops, the sky falls on your head. That’s where we’re at today. Some building stuff happened today from which we may or may not be able to ‘bounce’ back from. Whichever the case may be, and even if it can be resolved, it will not be something that can be done quickly. 

As of now, our only option is to close -at least through April. 

With the above said, we will still be roasting coffee for all those Coffee Club members and anyone else who wants Sump beans. Email or our new Shopify website will be the best way to get a hold of us/beans. Also, if anyone has a small spot in the interim we’d be jazzed to come and brew until this mess is resolved.

In every commercial enterprise there seems to be an ever increasing frontier of magic words, like Jack’s magic beans, that promise to take the ‘thing’, whatever it may be, to ever increasing heights. As in everything else, it exists for coffee too. Magic words like ‘organic’, ‘fair trade’, ‘direct trade’ and ‘relationship coffee’. Add to those ‘seasonal’.

(Now at this point you’re probably saying to yourself which word is he going to single out for a verbal spanking and how is Sump doing it better than the implied person or persons this blog piece will be ever so indirectly and cleverly sniping at. I’m glad you asked. Seasonality. And no one.)

I often ask myself, what is the purpose of this ‘thing’ I do, and by ‘thing’ I mean living. Most days it’s about creating these small moments that resonate beyond the present -that accrete over time -thus becoming a full ‘thing’. And while creating those moments, knowing in the moment, that they can’t be held -that they don’t last. In a more artful articulation of this conception we have:

(the poetic)

Willa Cather

Oh, this is the joy of the rose:

That it blows, 

And goes.

(from antiquity) 

Heraclitus

“Everything flows and nothing abides [except the Dude],

everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.”

(brackets my own)

(from the spiritual)

Pema Chodron

“Everything is in process. Everything —every tree, every blade of grass, all the animals, insects, human beings, buildings, the animate and inanimate —is always changing, moment to moment.” 

This brings me back to seasonality and coffee. Just like a local, in-season tomato tastes head and shoulders better than the tomatoes you get the rest of the year -so too does a coffee in season. And just as your palate yearns for that fleeting annual window for that tomato -so too does mine for certain coffees and certain times of year. But it’s not as simple as that, it’s a metaphor for the painful impermanence of every moment. Or think of it this way, when you were a kid (starting from some assumed shared regional and cultural in common factors), christmas happened once a year and you felt it, it took forever to come, but oh did it come. And even though it may have felt it some times, it didn’t sour the other 364 days. 

So back to coffee and seasonality. It’s about to be christmas time for me. Come April/May -boom, bows and wrapping everywhere, because the new/fresh crop of Ethiopian and Kenyan coffees will start to make land fall in North America. 

Now this fact, doesn’t make the other days or coffees less. It contextualizes the whole of the coffee drinking experience for me year round. If you follow the sun and hustle the harvest as the crops come in from around the world’s coffee growing regions, it makes each moment, though fleeting, feel rich, sometimes a bit sad, but always on the verge of that next amazing cup. 

We have a new Colombian coffee on the bar this week. It’s out of Huila Pitalito from Finca La Esperanza by farmer Htelman Rojas. It’s 100% caturra.

The cupping notes are:

Chocolate (smooth, with very few tannins); coffee cherry sweetness mid-cup; syrupy mouthfeel; subtle, clean and comforting -like a warm blanket on a cold day.