Many, many people know I’m a novice but well-informed and oddly-tongued individual about coffee.  I know what roasts I like, I know what blends I like, I own quite a few different machines to enhance crappy coffee, showcase quality coffee and simply get one through the caffeine fix.

I’m also one of the few people who managed to at one point give himself caffeine poisoning.  Yes, I said caffeine poisoning.  It’s possible, it’s absolutely awful, and I don’t recommend it.  It also wasn’t on coffee, either.  It was on a special blend of Vietnamese black tea served at the Golden Flower, a pho soup joint I love going to.  Symptoms include 48 hours if 105′F fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, vertigo, insomnia, waking nightmares, stomach and other cramps, and high blood pressure to the point your eyes hurt.  A severe sensitivity to caffeine also develops, almost an allergic reaction.  I swear, some days even smelling coffee I would get buzzed, dizzy, and contract a headache.  It was short-steeped green tea from then on.  The occasional decaf espresso shot just for some flavor.

Once in a while, you figure, for your fix, would it be worth it to visit this again?  Well, “hell no,” is the proper response.  Then I was tipped off about a local coffee company, Blind Dog Coffee, and I found myself weaning away from decaf espresso.  I was goddamn sick of tea.  I like tea, but tea just isn’t cutting it at times.  Coffee also has this odd habit of getting rid of chronic heartburn for me– kind of odd, but it’s true.  Really, give me a reason to dust off my antique and weird percolators and espresso gadgets, spit-shine my elite grinder from Bibo.  I’m ready to take it on again.

Kevin “Plusdot,” Campbell, a local teenage industrial heartthrob, suggested I try this coffee originally.  It is available brewed at Walden’s, The Cheeseboard on California, Blue Moon Pizza and Klunker’s in Spanish Springs, but sooner than I could go to any of those places for some joe, I found myself at Raley’s.  There it was, Blind Dog logo and all, a modest rack of bagged coffee, whole bean and pre-ground (…off the subject, always, always buy your coffee whole-bean… seriously– or just get Yuban…) and lo, Blind Dog Coffee was available for a scant $8.99 per pound, an average cost for (what I hoped to be) really good coffee.  My selections included Grand Canyon Espresso, Sumatra, and Death Valley Roast, plus more, but I’ve come to my coffee snobbery to simply smell the beans, which is how I’d suggest anyone buy coffee.  If it smells good, you’ll probably like it.  There’s a one-way valve on most pre-filled, quality coffee bags.  This is to keep the beans in a stable environment, not too moist, not too “airy,” so they stay fresh.  It’s a perfect design, since ziplocks, freezers and all the other tricks, quite honestly, don’t work.  To finalize my digression, I keep my beens in the refrigerator.  This is due to the dry air rather than the temperature, as you’ll be sacrificing your butter to taste like coffee but your coffee will keep quite nicely.  A good trade!

I use a Bellman CX-series “espresso,” machine, which is a 1950’s design of basically a pressure chamber mixed with a percolator basket, accompanied by a steam wand for those interested in hot milk or froth.  Bellman products can be expensive, but they oddly turn up in thrift stores.  They aren’t a true espresso machine, but for the money and what it produces, it comes filthy close to coffee shop coffee, if not surpasses, once you get the hang of it.  It also can make crappy coffee taste good, and excellent coffee taste extraordinary.   I don’t automatically choose “espresso roast,” as packaging suggests, because there’s  a lot of debate as to what makes an “espresso roast.”  Some say it’s simply a French Roast.  Others say it must be of medium acidity and medium-dark roast.  Personally, I say, go with what you like, not what corksniffing snobs suggest.  If you want a light roast through your machine, go for it.  Coffee purism is total shit, as far as I’m concerned.  I get thrift-store French Presses and equipment, so who is to say where I come from on the subject?  At least I will not steer you wrong!

Where was I?  Ah yes, smelling beans.   I actually decided the Blind Dog Nevada Black was what said “espresso,” to me.  Their Grand Canyon smelled good, but there was a slightly acidic, sour note ever-so-barely-present that I feared.  Some may like it, I do not.  This is present in a lot of espresso roasts, so don’t just take my word for it.  A lot of espresso gives the sides of the tongue a lingering sourness, which simply isn’t my preference.   You may love the Grand Canyon, so try it!    One cannot account for taste, no?  Nevada Black suited me just fine.

I bought whole bean, because you get to control your grind.  Different coffee makers and coffee styles get different grinds.  My Bellman machines like an espresso-sized grain, a little finer than your pre-ground Folgers for the drip machine.  By the way, did you know drip coffeemakers extract the MOST caffeine and are usually higher in caffeine content than a cup of espresso, or the same espresso made into an americano?  Take that, caffeine.  Anyhow, Nevada Black ground smooth, the beans were of excellent consistency (none were too hard or too soft…) the roast was even (very few beans of alternate colors) and I wanted to just eat the unbrewed grounds.  I did not, though.   I fired up the Bellman, and put in enough water for four demitasse cups, or, one half cup of regular coffee if topped off with hot water (americano.)

Usually I buy coffee at Bibo.  Their espresso roast is straight-up excellent.  They serve good coffee, they buy good coffee.  It isn’t a 10 out of 10, because, I have never had a 10 out of 10 coffee.  They’re an 8.75 out of 10.  A tough comparison for Blind Dog Coffee to live up to.

They did.  I’m not going to talk about how it tasted, because it’s my tongue, and yes, I prepare my coffee “east coast,” style, lots of heavy cream and a kiss of sugar.  Sacrelige?  Well, you can go to hell.  Delivery and love making take their own routes and flaire.  Coffee is these two things combined.   Do them as you see fit.

Nevada Black wins.  Watch out Bibo, because I like Bibo’s espresso (from Tahoe Roasting Company, I believe…) and I like buying coffee, and this new local kid in town has some good, good stuff.

So what about the company?  Just as important as the product, family-run Blind Dog Coffee has some interesting facts and background as well.  Located on 3055 Wilcox Ranch Road, the four workers Mark and Robin Berry, Katy Barnes, Samantha Moya roast their beans out in the Nevada desert near Pyramid Lake.  Mark, as it were, is actually blind himself, adding to the meaning behind the company’s interesting logo and name.  Mark also roasts and processes the beans.  I thought to myself, and even when talking with Samantha, wondered if most roasting is done evenly by sight, he must use smell to know when it is the ideal roast.  She mentioned that yes, smell takes a part, but also sound.  What an interesting concept.  I have never listened to coffee, but I certainly smell coffee.  This makes total sense to me, and perhaps lacking sight may well be the key to a near-perfect cup of coffee, using the sense that is more associated with its enjoyment!

(Watch the interview here…)

Blind Dog Coffee Company started about two years ago, and has no plans of slowing down.  Getting a local establishment is an obvious first step, but regional and even national distribution I’m sure would make the company and family pretty happy.  They are also associated with Angel Kiss charity, supporting them in various ways with donations and time towards a very worthwhile organization.

Blind Dog Coffee is available for under $10 per pound at local Raley’s, Scolaris, Whole Foods, Smith’s,  Savemart, Napa Sonoma on Moana, and Reno Homebrewer.  Again, you can try a cup at Walden’s, Klunker’s, The Cheeseboard on California, and Blue Moon Pizza if you want to sip some before you commit.

Blind Dog has an excellent retail webiste (click here!) where you can learn more about them, order coffee, cups and other things. Or you can simply go to one of the stores listed above!

It’s the first real coffee review I’ve done about Reno, and I’m totally behind Blind Dog Coffee. The people who run it are great, and hard at work establishing themselves, and their product is certainly ready to stand up against other local, regional and national brands out there. It’s extremely quality coffee by any standard, if you ask me.

Find yourself with a cup or a bag of it sometime soon, you won’t regret it.  I’m going to buy more, and probably even a coffee cup, because well, they look pretty neat!

- Gay Rodeo