Posted in Whathaveyou on April 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you caught the recent interview posted here with Keith Gibbs and Craig Riggs of Sasquatch — Cas was at work — you might recall this tour was mentioned in oops-not-yet-announced fashion, so maybe it’s not a surprise that the band will head to the UK and Ireland for a round of tour dates this Fall, keeping company with Blind River for the run, but always good to get the actual wheres and whens of a thing. The veteran Los Angeles power trio will go in support of their 2022 album, Fever Fantasy (review here), after making a headlining appearance last month at The Electric Highway in Canada, and they’re set to do an also-yet-unannounced European stint as well beforehand, running at least from July’s Rock im Wald in Germany to SonicBlast Fest in Portugal this August.
By then, their next album could already be in the can. One imagines too that their slot at Ripplefest Texas this September will have club dates before and/or after, and that 2024 will bring not just the LP but another slew of gigs and tours, since that’s how they do. Next year will also mark two full decades since the release of their self-titled debut, and though they’re a band whose focus is consistently on moving forward, the next thing, etc., that would seem to be an occasion worth celebrating one way or another.
Bottom line: dudes stay busy. Note these dates are put on by Route One Booking, the UK agency founded by Ben Ward of Orange Goblin. They were put on socials as follows:
Come this November, we’re off to the UK and Ireland for a three week run with our dudes in Blind River! This will be unbelievably beertastic.
3.11.23 Great Yarmouth, UK | HRH Festival 4.11.23 Bournemouth, UK | The Anvil 5.11.23 Crumlin, UK | The Patriot 7.11.23 Belfast, UK | Voodoo 8.11.23 Dublin, IRE | Grand Social 9.11.23 Edinburgh, UK | Bannermans 10.11.23 Sheffield, UK | Network 3 11.11.23 Newcastle, UK | Cluny 2 12.11.23 Nottingham, UK | Rescue Rooms 13.11.23 Glasgow, UK | Ivory Blacks 15.11.23 Manchester, UK | Rebellion 16.11.23 Bristol, UK | Strange Brew 17.11.23 Milton Keynes, UK | Craufurd Arms 18.11.23 London, UK | Black Heart
Sasquatch are: Keith Gibbs – guitar/vocals Jason “Cas” Casanova – bass Craig Riggs – drums
Sasquatch are writing a new album. Maybe right this second. Guitarist/vocalist Keith Gibbs and drummer Craig Riggs (also Kind, Roadsaw, etc.) were getting ready to get to it for the day when I interrupted their morning coffee for the interview you can watch below — bassist Jason “Cas” Casanova (aka Casquatch, but maybe only in my head) was at work — and discussed openly their (admirably) ambitious plan to have it out by Fall 2023, recording while holed up somewhere for a week maybe in May.
If that seems like a quick turnaround from 2022’s Fever Fantasy (review here), there’s a bit of context necessary for understanding why it isn’t. In fact, the album was finished late in 2019, and as Sasquatch were getting their proverbial ducks in a row to tour for however long to support it through 2020 and probably 2021, lockdown hit. The decision was made to hold the record back until they could get on the road for it — which they did maybe a little sooner than some, but later than others as well — and that turned what would’ve been a highlight of 2020 into a highlight of 2022, the three-piece delivering a straight ahead studio reaffirmation of the chemistry and force of their stage presentation.
And since they’re self-releasing through Mad Oak Records, it’s not unrealistic to think they could have something pressed and out before the end of 2023, even if it would be the shortest span between full-lengths of their career. At some point, too, a band who tours so much should probably think about doing a live record. No news on that particular front, but you never know what’s going to happen until the band starts revealing things like yet-unannounced tour plans. Not saying that happens or anything. I guess you’ll have to watch to find out.
The occasion for this chat is the fact that this weekend Sasquatch headline the Obelisk-co-presented festival The Electric Highway (info here) in Calgary. Safe travels to them and best wishes to all attending, but whatever the excuse, it’s always good to check in with these guys and talk about travel, music, and anything else that might come up. Again, you’ll just have to watch, and thanks if you do.
Please enjoy:
Sasquatch Interview w/ Keith Gibbs & Craig Riggs, 03.14.23
Fever Fantasy by Sasquatch is out on Mad Oak Records and streaming below. More info at the links.
Released today, Sasquatch‘s Fever Fantasy has been done, fully mastered, since March 2020. And yes, even before the world stopped it was called Fever Fantasy. The two-thirds-Los-Angeles-one-third-Boston trio finished work on it and it has sat ever since, waiting for the right time. Now, as the glut of everybody’s-back-type releases subsides and the band has already been on tour, Sasquatch are ready to strike. Fever Fantasy collects nine songs in a 42-minute run, and in some ways, it very much builds on their last album, 2017’s Maneuvers (review here), in terms of its structure, right down to the eight-minute “Ivy” taking sort of a near-centerpiece position as the longest track similar to how Maneuvers standout cut “Just Couldn’t Stand the Weather” was placed, where on many records it would certainly be the closer.
Maneuvers was the introduction of drummer Craig Riggs — also vocalist for Roadsaw, Kind, White Dynomite, etc., and owner of Mad Oak Studios, where Fever Fantasy, Maneuvers and at least some part of every Sasquatch LP since 2006’s II (discussed here) have been recorded — to the lineup alongside founding guitarist/vocalist Keith Gibbs and bassist Jason “Cas” Casanova, whose tenure goes back to 2010’s III (review here) and 2014’s IV (review here). The band hit the road hard for that album and Fever Fantasy shows how locked in they absolutely were by the time they hit the studio, tracking these songs with Andrew Schneider, who mixed the last album and here captures some of the heaviest tones Sasquatch have ever released.
Opening track “It Lies Beyond the Bay” (premiered here) sets out with sampled waves, then solo guitar, and with a near-Mastodonic snare fill, the full-weight crash-in of the song is unleashed at exactly 45 seconds into the song, which I’ve been hearing for over two years and is still able to elicit a ‘holy shit’ moment. Between the wash from Riggs‘ cymbals — Schneider has a very distinctive way of getting drum sounds; I’d put him in alongside Karl Daniel Lidén in that capacity — and the fullness and depth of tone from Gibbs and Casanova, Fever Fantasy is a bigger and at times more aggressive sounding take on who Sasquatch are.
There’s some flourish of organ in “It Lies Beyond the Bay” — not sure if that’s David Unger in a return guest spot or not — and that will return again in “Witch,” the aforementioned “Ivy” as well as side B’s “Voyager” and “Cyclops,” but the band’s focus is on beginning the salvo that side A becomes. Thus “It Lies Beyond the Bay” is set for full audience immersion, and with “Lilac” right behind it boasting a layered hook, urgent riff and likewise dense fuzz, the crashes and pulls just before its solo section doing well to set up the conveyed desperation and the vocal harmonies that follow a payoff unto themselves. “Witch” is no less a banger, but taps a classic desert-ish fuzz riff and settles into an easy-riding groove in a way that neither of the first tracks seemed to do. Side B’s “Save the Day, Ruin the Night” will more directly reference Kyuss with its “100 Degrees”-esque central progression, but “Witch” is no less Sasquatch‘s own for that. It goes to show just how much what one thinks of as modern American heavy rock is shaped in the band’s image.
Obviously a focal point and I suspect not the actual tracklisting centerpiece so that it could squeeze onto side a, “Ivy” arrives a bit like slamming into the wall, but one suspects that’s what was in mind. A slower roll has never been beyond Sasquatch‘s reach, and “Ivy” touches on psychedelia without losing its straight-ahead purpose, moving between drift and forward volume surge. A highlight solo leads into a quieter ending bookending the subdued start, and side B leadoff/actual-centerpiece “Live Snakes” kicks in with a decidedly grounded feel. Gibbs‘ jet-engine tonality isn’t to be understated here.
“Live Snakes” is stage-ready, as one might expect, and after the surprisingly hypnotic “Ivy,” it genuinely feels like the beginning of another record. I suspect with the pause required by the vinyl side split, Fever Fantasy allows a digestive stretch, a little bit of processing time, but one can appreciate how side B takes off as though daring the listener to keep up with the band, the band proving they can do whatever they want in terms of album structure and have it work. If “Live Snakes” is Fever Fantasy starting over, maybe it should be a little dizzying, and as they back “Live Snakes” with the speedier boogie of “Voyager” before turning to the denser-packed “Part of Not Knowing,” which is the only other song to reach over five minutes long and unfolds like a controlled demolition by the time it reaches its second half with the dreamy solo and some of Gibbs‘ lyrical repetitions over top.
Placed penultimate, “Save the Day, Ruin the Night” has vitality enough behind it to become a live favorite and a dead-ahead shove that bookends “Part of Not Knowing” with “Voyager” on the other side, giving that track all the more space of its own for redirecting the flow of Fever Fantasy toward the straightforward, classically-informed groove ahead of the meatier finale in “Cyclops,” which rolls out smoothly and has a build in its second half that warrants its position as the closer to some degree, the returning organ bolstering the capper with enough accent to reinforce the point of how much Sasquatch have achieved on this record, the one before it, and across the nearly 20 years since their 2004 self-titled debut helped usher in a new generation of heavy rock for the age of higher-speed internet and, eventually, social media.
That they are now veterans of stage and studio is writ large across Fever Fantasy — they simply own the sound — but especially as they’ve progressed in gelling the Gibbs/Cas/Riggs lineup via touring, the growth in the band continues to be palpable in the craft and performances of these songs. Established fans or newcomers, Sasquatch are their own most effective argument in favor of Sasquatch, and as statesmen of the US underground, they represent some of its finest in quality and work ethic. One wonders what they’ve been doing while biding their time for two plague years, but as Fever Fantasy is manifest at last, the crucial moment to focus on truly is right now. A band 18 years on from their debut pushing themselves to new levels is something rare and special. A record like Fever Fantasy makes that easier to understand.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
It’s fitting that Sasquatch‘s new album, Fever Fantasy, should be such a god damned beast, lurking in the shadows as it has been since being completed in late 2019. I wrote the announcement below and got an interesting lesson that I’d like to share with you. I think quotes are a good thing to include in PR — hearing direct from an artist is important, in addition to all the regular factoids and announcements from the omniscient public relations narrator voice, kind of promo-y but still not actually the band most of the time — and I wrote the one below from Sasquatch bassist Jason “Cas” Casanova, who, every time I remember he played in Tummler it reminds me of how much I dug that band.
In any case, I had the language all wrong, and I didn’t realize until he sent the draft press release back with changes yesterday that the voice I was writing in was my own. It was me talking through him, and that’s exactly why it didn’t work. He wrote his own quote, and sure enough, calling songs “tunes” and talking about getting the chance to “hang with old friends and new” is so much more in line with the no-bullshit aesthetic of Sasquatch than what I had there before. That kind of attention to detail on Cas‘ part reminds me that Sasquatch are veterans with more than 20 years under their collective belt — though only guitarist/vocalist Keith Gibbs has been in the band that long, Cas joining in 2007 and Craig Riggs doing likewise nearly a decade later — and that however casual they may seem on the surface, there’s no more laziness about their presentation than there is when they get on stage and hand everybody their ass, giftwrapped in riffs.
There’s a longer bio I wrote for Fever Fantasy as well that I’ll post up at some point, but today’s the first track premiere, with opener “It Lies Beyond the Bay” setting the quite-heavy tone for what follows, and the opening of preorders ahead of the June 3 release. I’ve been waiting for this album to come out and I think I’m not the only one, so please dive in, and enjoy the tune. And amid all the album news, don’t neglect the tour dates announced with Hippie Death Cult that will take the three-piece from Ripplefest Texas to and through Psycho Las Vegas in July and August, respectively. If you can fucking hang with that, I suggest you do so.
From me via the PR wire:
Sasquatch Launch Preorders for Fever Fantasy & Premiere Track; Tour Announced with Hippie Death Cult
Today, Los Angeles power trio Sasquatch announce the June 3 arrival of their awaited sixth album, Fever Fantasy. Preorders begin May 6 for the Mad Oak Records release, and the band have booked a four-week tour of the US and Canada alongside Portland, Oregon’s Hippie Death Cult.
It’s been five long years since Sasquatch powerhoused their way through Maneuvers, their last LP. With Keith Gibbs on guitar and vocals, Jason “Cas” Casanova on bass and drummer Craig Riggs (also Kind, Roadsaw, etc.) making his debut with the band, the album established a raw rock-for-rockers ethic that Fever Fantasy pushes forward and builds on. Returning to New York to work again with producer Andrew Schneider, the album was completed late in 2019 and has been waiting for release ever since.
“There was no way to know when the time would be right, of course,” says Casanova, “but we didn’t want to throw the tunes out there without being able to support them in the right way. We can’t wait to hang with old friends and new on the road for this album.”
With more tours to be announced and more music to come, Sasquatch aren’t just “returning” or “picking up where they left off.” In Fever Fantasy, they’re answering a call with volume heavy-hitting rock and roll as only they can.
Check out the first single from Fever Fantasy: “It Lies Beyond The Bay”.
TRACK LISTING It Lies Beyond The Bay (4:58) Lilac (4:14) Witch (4:44) Ivy (8:12) Live Snakes (4:03) Voyager (2:53) Part Of Not Knowing (5:06) Save The Day, Ruin The Night (3:20) Cyclops (4:36)
The album will be available in LP (black or limited edition Galaxy purple), compact disc, and digital formats.
To save on shipping…. Fans across Europe can pre-order physical copies through our online store at Lo-Fi Merchandise (https://www.lo-fi-merchandise.com/collections/sasquatch).
Fans in North America can pre-order physical copies or digital downloads through our direct store (https://sasquatchrocks.bandcamp.com) or physical copies at the Cosmic Peddler (https://www.thecosmicpeddler.com).
Those of you in Australia, Japan, and across Polynesia can order from either location (whichever is most cost effective on shipping and handling).
Summer 2022 US/Canada Tour Dates (w/Hippie Death Cult) 7.23.22 – Austin, TX | Far Out Club (RippleFest Texas) 7.25.22 – Houston, TX | Black Magic Social Club 7.26.22 – Lafayette, LA | Freetown Boom Boom Room 7.27.22 – New Orleans, LA | Santos Bar 7.29.22 – Orlando, FL | Will’s Pub 7.30.22 – Savannah, GA | The Wormhole 7.31.22 – Atlanta, GA | Boggs Social & Supply 8.02.22 – Summerville, SC | Trolley Pub 8.03.22 – Frederick, MD | Cafe 611 8.04.22 – Griswold, CT | Prost Bier and Music Hall 8.05.22 – Brooklyn, NY | Saint Vitus Bar 8.06.22 – Boston, MA | Middle East Upstairs 8.07.22 – Montréal, ON | Piranha Bar 8.09.22 – Ottawa, ON | Brass Monkey 8.11.22 – Youngstown, OH | Westside Bowl 8.12.22 – Columbus, OH | Ace of Cups 8.13.22 – Chicago, IL | Reggie’s 8.14.22 – Green Bay, WI | Lyric Room 8.15.22 – Minneapolis, MN | 7th Street Entry 8.18.22 – Salt Lake City, UT | Aces High Saloon 8.19.22 – Las Vegas, NV | Resorts World LV (Psycho Las Vegas) 8.20.22 – Palmdale, CA | Transplants Brewing Co. 8.21.22 – San Diego, CA | Brick by Brick
For over 20 years, Los Angeles power trio Sasquatch have been an institution among fuzz heads and those willing to groove. Their early work on 2004’s self-titled debut, 2006’s II and 2010’s III took them through lineup changes but found them unflinching in their purpose toward modernizing the classic heavy rock of their youth, and with 2013’s IV and 2017’s Maneuvers, their maturity — such as it is — has seen no letup in urgency. Founding vocalist/guitarist Keith Gibbs, bassist Jason “Cas” Casanova (ex-Tummler and Behold! the Monolith) and drummer Craig Riggs (Roadsaw, Kind) recorded Fever Fantasy late in 2019 with NY-based producer Andrew Schneider, and have held back releasing it until conditions permitted touring, and having already been to multiple continents and reaped the reward of a dedicated, still-growing fanbase, they look to 2022 and beyond as a chance to build on the accomplishments that have made them one of their generation’s most heralded American heavy rock bands.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The picture here of Sasquatch with producer Andrew Schneider was originally posted in December 2019 to mark the occasion of the band entering the studio to record the follow-up to 2017’s Maneuvers (review here). Their next album has been in the can since shortly thereafter, and it looks like this Spring it will finally see release. Seems worthy of another beverage. Yet untitled, the record last I heard boasted nine new tracks (shh…) and will be no doubt greeted with appropriately feverish anticipation as the trio also look to hit the road to support its awaited arrival. Preorders, according to this new update from the band, are coming soon.
In the meantime, a stretch through the Southwest with High Desert Queen — previously announced, but I’m okay with putting up the dates twice if you are — will mark their return to touring life, and that’s set to begin one week from today. Seems reasonable to think they’ll be in Europe for the Fall festival season, circumstances permitting.
Here’s what they had to say about all of it:
Hey gang, It has been one massive hellride here the past two years, wouldn’t ya say? We’ve missed you all quite a bit and now that things are opening up, we are getting back on the figurative rock horse. Where to begin….
A NEW ALBUM?
Yes. It’s finally here (almost). This album was originally recorded a few months before the pandemic pooped on the parade and we reluctantly decided to put it on ice for this extended two-year period. We do have confirmation though that shipments of vinyl will soon be leaving the plant! Keep an eye out for pre-sales and a release date targeting late-April/early-May with some heavy touring behind it starting later in the summer. We’ll have some nuggets here soon so you can gauge if it’s a keeper or a clunker. (We hope you do enjoy it, but we know it’s not everyone’s cup of coffee).
SOUTHWEST USA TOUR 2022
Our first order of business is a two-week rodeo to Tejas and back with our Austin dudes, High Desert Queen (Ripple Music). This kicks off one week from now and tickets are onsale. We’d love to see your face, so whadaya say? Save us a seat at the bar? Team High Desert Queen will be giving brisket lessons in the parking lot before each show.
3.09 – Arlington, TX – Division Brewing 3.10 – San Antonio, TX – Amp Room 3.11 – Austin, TX – Far Out Lounge 3.12 – San Angelo, CA – The Deadhorse 3.13 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad 3.14 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room 3.15 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar 3.16 – Costa Mesa, CA – The Wayfarer 3.17 – Santa Monica, CA – Harvelle’s 3.18 – Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing 3.19 – Palm Desert, CA – The Hood
SUMMER FESTIVALS AND TOURS LATER IN THE YEAR
We do have a couple of summer festivals that have been announced both here and abroad. We start things off with Desertfest NYC on Friday, May 13 with Monster Magnet, Corrosion of Conformity, Orange Goblin and a slew of other rad bands (including our dudes in Geezer). Then we move over to Europe the weekend of July 8-10 for Mammothfest in Greece. We have one additional summer European festival and US Festival that is still to be announced… so stay tuned. After we get back from Europe, the current plan is to be on an extended US Tour here through August and then back to Europe for a month in October in support of [the new album].
Sooooo….lots happening in Sasquatchland. You can find some of our more recent merchandise through our website if you happen to need a flask, stocking cap, placemats (LPs), etc. We will be back with more to share just around the corner….but for now…adieu friends!
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Good shows. One’s own stay-at-home circumstances aside, it’s nice to see things happening like this. Lick of My Spoon Productions, headed by Ryan Garney of Austin’s High Desert Queen and the party responsible for the party that reportedly was Ripplefest Texas last year — and this year coming; they added an extra day — has booked its first tour, and it brings together the aforementioned High Desert Queen with none other than Los Angeles/Boston three-piece Sasquatch, whose new record has been sitting on the shelf since about 2019 at this point. Brutal delay. I wonder if they’ve got another one in the works yet.
There are still a couple dates TBA on the run, but it’s in the Southwest and, perhaps unsurprisingly, that includes a good bit of Texas, and a booking company’s first tour isn’t anything to sneeze at. They made it a good one.
From the social media:
LICK OF MY SPOON PRODUCTIONS is happy to announce its first ever booked tour! Sasquatch and High Desert Queen coming to a city near you! (More dates to be added soon)
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT: We are thrilled to announce that we are going on tour with the legendary SASQUATCH! And they say dreams don’t come true…
We will be hitting the road to bring the riffs to a city near you the only way we know how: AT FULL VOLUME!
Hope to see you at a show!
3/9 Arlington, TX- Division Brewing 3/10 San Antonio, TX- Amp Room 3/11 Austin, TX- Far Out Lounge 3/13 Albuquerque, NM- Launchpad 3/14 Tempe, AZ- Yucca Tap Room 3/15 San Diego, CA- Soda Bar 3/16 Costa Mesa, CA- Wayfarer 3/18 Palmdale, CA- Transplants Brewing
*More shows to be added soon*
SASQUATCH is: Jason Casanova – bass Keith Gibbs – guitar/vocals Craig Riggs – drums
High Desert Queen is: Ryan Garney- Vocals Rusty Miller- Guitar Matt Metzger- Bass Phil Hook- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Los Angeles trio Sasquatch and Columbus, Ohio four-piece Lo-Pan will team up for a handful of tour dates making a long weekender of their respective appearances at Maryland Doom Fest in Frederick, MD, on Oct. 29. Sasquatch will be supporting 2017’s Maneuvers (review here) as well as heralding their next release, yet unannounced, while Lo-Pan, who were last seen on the road with Crowbar and C.O.C. in 2019, will support Subtle (review here), issued that same year through Aqualamb.
Though obviously this four-date Northeastern stint marks a return to the road in the most significant manner both acts will have performed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, considering travel and all, Lo-Pan and Sasquatch both have shows booked for before they set out for Philadelphia to begin the run. Lo-Pan join Valley of the Sun for a weekend of shows in Ohio on Sept. 3-5, and are slated to play the annual Blackout Cookout in Youngstown on Oct. 23 alongside Rebreather, Midnight and a host of others.
Sasquatch, meanwhile, will make their way to San Diego on Aug. 25 to join headliners The Sword, as well as ASG and Deathchant for a show presented by Psycho Las Vegas.
As to what either act might have planned for after this Fall, either in terms of writing/recording or releasing new material, returning to longer touring schedules, and so on, your guess is as good as mine. Probably better. But both are veteran acts at this point and any sense that they’re getting back to some semblance of being able to play live again — that’s not to say “normalcy” — is obviously welcome.
Posted in Reviews on October 13th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
My daily coffee ritual is as complex as it is splendid. It begins the night before. The hopper of my Chemex Ottomatic is filled with filtered water from the fridge. It’s an eight-cup hopper and I generally go just a little above the line. Beans are usually already in the burr grinder, so I tap the button on that — and yes, I know you’re supposed to grind immediately before making the coffee, but you go ahead and run a burr grinder that sounds like a jet engine at 3:45 in the morning when your wife is sleeping right down the hall and see how you fare; it’s a question of courtesy — and a corresponding eight cups of rough-grind awaits. Set up the carafe with the filter, pour in the grounds, and go to sleep knowing that when I get up all I have to do is press a button and the best coffee I’ve ever had — because the best one is always the next one; it’s like Neurosis albums — will be waiting for me by the time I’m done brushing my teeth. There are mornings where that knowledge gets me out of bed.
Now then. I am loyal generally to Dean’s Beans out of Massachusetts, and I have two custom roast recipes through them that I order in eight-to-ten-pound batches: a low-acid dark roast I call ‘The Obelisk Dark Roast’ and a medium roast called ‘The Obelisk Heavy Psych Blend.’ But when I read on the social medias that Craig Riggs — he of Kind, Roadsaw, Sasquatch, etc., as well as Mad Oak Studios — was rolling out a fresh batch of Rwandan-bean dark roast through Mad Oak Coffee Roasters, it was time to deviate from the norm. I emptied out the grinder to start entirely fresh when the bright orange bag showed up and felt ready to give it an honest go.
First, the bag. Resealable is always preferable though probably more expensive. You live with it either way. First thing I look for though when I’m opening a bag of any dark roast is how wet are the beans. Gimme those greasy beans. I want to be able to pop a bean in my mouth straight off and taste it before I even take a bite. I’m not looking for something so dark it just tastes burnt and bitter, and from the first sniff to the chewed bean, Riggs‘ dark roast held the promise of balanced presence of flavor. I looked forward to the morning.
And when the AM came — cruelly early, but no different than ever — I brewed the eight-cup pot I’d consume in my big Baltimore mug The Patient Mrs.’ mother gave me a couple years ago that I use every day and travel with if I can (not so much a concern lately, oddly enough), basically splitting it in half. The grounds had a good-looking bloom in the pour-over machine and I let it settle before pouring the first cup, then let that cool a bit as is my custom before finally diving in while working on my laptop on the couch — the ritual complete when the cup gets washed and stuck in the dish drainer, where it basically lives when not in use because it never goes back in the cabinet, though it does make it into the dishwasher sometimes.
Both cups held that smoothness, which is what I was looking for. A velvety flavor to dark roast, and though I know Ethiopian beans, for example, especially in lighter roasts, are much heralded for their fruity sensibilities, that’s not where I’m at. Wood, cocoa, if it’s nutty that’s fine, but I drink it black exclusively and so I want my coffee basically to taste like coffee. Mad Oak‘s did to a satisfying degree. I am no expert when it comes to palette — can’t tell you hints of cherry or identify elements of the terroir — but I’m a snob and my taste in coffee is easily offended. In talking to my wife about it I told her it was a coffee I could live with, and I didn’t mean it like it’s meh and it’s not gonna kill me. I mean like me and the coffee should get an apartment together.
Mad Oak Coffee Roasters has been around in seemingly intermittent fashion for at least the last six years and probably longer. The bags now are snazzier looking. I asked Riggs where he got his beans from and he said a company in California, which means by they time they got to me in New Jersey they went from Rwanda to California to Massachusetts and then south to me, which isn’t an insignificant trip. I would assume based on knowing Riggs that he’s working with fair trade sourcing — crazy, I know, but Rwanda’s known way more for genocide than coffee — and, well, I guess if I was so concerned about the environmental impact of shipping coffee I’d probably move to Africa or South America. In the meantime, complicity for everyone!
When I finished the pot — which I did in good time, mind you — I decided quickly to make myself another cup’s worth, to get the fresh-ground experience. I wish I was erudite enough to honestly say there was an appreciable difference, but really, it was delicious in any case. Riggs only does small batch roasts — limited edition, for those of you who want to think of it like a vinyl release — but if you can get your hands on some when the getting’s good, the balance and depth of flavors happening in my mug this morning were enough to make me look forward to the next time it’s available.
