My Story Behind Coffee Curious Workshops - My Why

I thought I’d tell you why Coffee Curious Workshops is here for you.

My story started with the great fortune of living in Florence, Italy for a year and a half. It was formative in a de Tocqueville-esque way where I came from an American view point, but observed, absorbed and was imprinted with the Italian culture’s way of being, doing and having. It was so very earth centered.

The biggest influence seemed to be their view of time; their long term vision as compared to our short term vision. At first I was annoyed by the random closings of shops, the three hour lunches and the relaxed manner in nearly all things as very not customer centric like we’ve built our exchanges in commerce and service. But, as I learned more and took tours, excursions and participated in experiences I began to see a nation as old as theirs has seen it all and is very, very, very old compared to our 250 year old nation.

After hearing it took 500 years to build the duomo and many generations of craftspeople, laborers, artisans and visionaries to see it through, I had an epiphany. The insight made me wholeheartedly believe they deserve a three hour lunch with chianti! I started to understand they understood the glory was in the being and the doing and not necessarily “the having,” a large scale finished result. I think this long term context shifts the “having,” to two things: simply enjoying your time and having sensory fulfillment be an important supportive role serving enjoying the hours outside of toil; and honing your craft and having one’s contribution to the whole come from a place of love and passion and attention to artistry.

Imagine working your entire life on something and never seeing it finished, but knowing your contribution would help get it there. That’s a very unsettling narrative for an American. I think this long view lends itself well to the earthy part of Italian life where I saw how passion and artistry for craft became the dominant virtue. If you were going to be part of some 500 year project then yours was going to the best part of it built. You could point to it and say I poured my heart and soul into that inlaid floor, that inspired frescoed wall, that perfectly honed marble, that artistic well crafted gold ornament, that correctly astrologically aligned window placement, that so well constructed door it would last a millennia and on and on. Every person and part they played was an important contribution to the finished product whether they saw it whole and complete, or not. They could just relax into their contribution and know they moved it forward.

I began to seek out as many crafts people as possible. Deruta ceramics, Carrera marble, Roman fountains, Prato biscotti, Parma ham, Modena balsamico, Naples pasta, Campania buffalo mozzarella, wine, gelato, pizza, cappuccino, espresso machines, Ferraris, Vespas, leather artisans, fashion, architecture, piazzas, churches, art, artists, farmer’s markets, focaccia, olive oil, chefs, restaurants, jewelry, bridge building,  textiles, dyes, paints, art, paper arts, chalk art, attention to detail and craft in everything and everywhere. Focus on doing one thing really, really well in a way where they were proud to share so you could be surprised and delighted by their creation in whatever form it came in.

I was on a sensory journey in Italy. I was being shown what humans can do with what the earth provides when they apply their love and passion into crafting a product to be enjoyed, worn, viewed or used. It was all such a glorious marvelous participatory experience. It still warms my heart to have had the experience of seeing the Italian culture pour itself into craft and artistry because that was their long term value rooted in partnering with the earth. This is what I came home enchanted by.

I wanted to bring this virtue into Coffee Curious Workshops to connect the craft of brewing great coffee with our local experts and you. I wanted to bring to life the values I have for life long learning, creating/co-creating and sharing through the beloved magical coffee plant. We brew and teach with only locally roasted craft artisan coffee. We give you hands on access to local experts. We use the best devices. We provide a welcoming safe place for you to learn, taste and play with coffee in an environment that wants you to thrive and enjoy the end product and explore your senses. We give a place for the artist and expert to share their service and knowledge while providing a supportive learning environment for those curious to know more about coffee and how to enhance their enjoyment experience around it.

Con gusto from Asheville, NC,

Toni