Category: People

Matt Bolinder, owner and roaster at Speckled Ax, was featured in article about wood-roasted coffee in the latest issue of Imbibe magazine.

For Bolinder, wood choice is about controlling this highly specialized process. “The type of wood is important for the rate of burn and how quickly I can manipulate temperature,” he says. “I can’t go from zero to full gas in a second like most roasters, so I compensate by using different types of wood. Ash takes off quickly and with it, I can increase temperature fairly quickly. On the other hand, red oak takes longer to catch and start throwing heat, but its large pieces hold the temperature.”

The article isn’t yet available online but there is a copy behind the counter at Speckled Ax which you can take a look at. Imbibe has posted a short list of coffee shops in the US that feature wood-roasted coffee.

The Press Herald has published an interview with Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, owners of Otto Pizza.

Q: What’s next for Otto Pizza?
A: Allen: We like what we do now, but the idea of growing bigger probably means we’d be working for someone else, and we look at each other and say, “Why do we want to do that?” We added four locations last year, and this year we’re down to two and next year is going to be for retrenching and making sure every line on our notepad gets more attention and every product gets more scrutiny. It’s time to just fine-tune things.

Also in today’s paper are articles about the dismal 2013 Maine honey crop,

Bees and beekeepers have been struggling through one of the worst summers for honey production in Maine in recent memory.

Portland Daily Sun food columnist has documented her thoughts on the mid-summer event known as Campers’ Weekend.

I know. I know. Many readers will say, “There goes Natalie Ladd again. She’s being disrespectful and unappreciative to the hand that feeds, pays and tips her.” On the surface, the scolders may be right, but, in my defense, here’s a little background on the whole thing. If it offends anyone by stereotyping and making presumptions — too bad. I’ve worked through enough of these weekends to know what I’m about to vent is true.

The Maine Culinary Podcast has posted an interview with Sarah and Karl Sutton, owners of Bite into Maine.

Our conversation with Sarah and Karl begins with how they ended up here in Maine, then dives deep in to their menu and how they decided on which Rolls to keep.  We also discussed the wide world of food trucks and how the Maine food truck economy can continue to improve.