Long-time Kingston residents will remember DeCicco’s Taylor Shop, run by Carmine’s father, which kept Kingston looking sharp from 1968 to 1990.   The building stood empty for twenty years, before Carmelo DeCicco noticed the spirit of optimism and innovation in Uptown and decided to open Blue 57, an upscale wine and spirits store.

Getting the store ready would have been a daunting task, if Carmelo’s brother Sal had not been a master carpenter specializing in fine cabinetry.  Together the two brothers took their dream from the blueprint to the Blue 57, which had its soft opening the first week in October.  A grand opening celebration is scheduled for November 18 with the Chamber of Commerce cutting the ribbon.

One featured wine company will be Dreaming Tree Wines, by the Dave Matthews Band and made  by Steve Reeder.  Dreaming Tree offers wines from sustainably  farmed grapes, with the cheerful philosophy, “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with collecting wine, but wouldn’t you rather drink it instead.?”  Blue 57 will also be featuring 14 Hands Wines among their many selections of wines and spirits.

On October 27, shoppers will have an opportunity to sample the above as Blue57 hosts a wine tasting from 5 to 7 pm.   It may be rather unconventional.  Dave Matthews, discussing his first taste of Crush Red Wine said, “I swallowed it before I put the glass down.  There wasn’t any opportunity to spit.”  (At traditional wine tastings, the participants do not swallow the wine, but  merely experience its flavors and bouquet.)  Since Crush Red Wine is described as having “notes of smokey berry and a pop of raspberry jam”, tradition is probably not going to be followed.

Those who want to follow Carmelo DeCicco’s investment in Kingston’s retail future can do so on Facebook, and there is an intoxicating web page in development.   In the meantime, Carmine probably agrees with Dreaming Tree that “…the best vintage is pretty much right now.”  Wine also makes the perfect holiday gift, and if one over shops, one can always sip the extras!

The post High Spirited Investment on North Front Street appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Timely Signs, located on 154 Clinton Avenue, has 20 employees and has been in business for 40 years. As President and former Vice President of Design and Production, Paul Beichert knows a thing or two about what makes a good sign. (Brother Joe is VP of sales and marketing and Dad Ozzie, who started the business, currently serves as chairman and is enjoying retirement.) “It should be accessible and coordinate with the building,” Beichert said. “It should be a quality representation of the business.” Furthermore, “good design doesn’t have to be expensive.”

Many of Timely Signs’ clients are in banking, health care, or education (the company works with a host of colleges, both public and private, and it services 10 hospitals, half a dozen physicians’ groups as well as 9 local and national banks). They span several states and range from as far south as Westchester County to as far north as Utica. Despite the recession, the last two years have been the best ever for Timely Signs, a phenomenon Beichert attributes to the company’s long-term relationships with clients, superior service, and diverse products, which include lighted exterior signs (many of them LED), interior signs and wayfinding systems, ADA-compliant Braille signs, banners, DOT-style signs, and custom carved signs.

“We have a fairly big menu of options and are always looking to do something new that a client is interested in,” said Beichert. The company has also done work for municipalities, including its home city: for example, it contributed the colorful banners that line the Broadway corridor, a project of the Main Street Manager.

Beichert said one challenge that’s affected the company in the last decade is the strict zoning codes adopted by many Hudson Valley municipalities, which he considers overly restrictive in some cases. In part, the trend is a reaction to “the proliferation of bad or ill-conceived designs and concepts,” he said.  Sometimes a planning board member will step over the line, focusing more on their own personal preferences rather than upholding and adhering to the code.

He acknowledged that Kingston is the anomaly—a Wild West of signs when it comes to aesthetics, or the lack thereof. The primary problem is economic, he said: installing an attractive awning or sign on a building that’s half falling down obviously misses the point. But beyond the basic economic development challenge, Beichert said a big problem is that while Kingston does have design standards, the City has limited resources to enforce these standards. Some business owners do take the time to go through the planning process and pay the costs do to so while others often do not.

It’s a shame, because many of the storefronts are historic and therefore provide an inspiring context for good-looking signs. “People need to see the big picture and realize it isn’t one building, but a community,” he said. “There needs to be a movement to bring this place back to its glory days.” He cited two local models of excellence, located next door to each other on Hurley Avenue: Tonner Doll Company Store and Westwood Metes & Bounds realty. “The signage takes its cues from the architecture and color,” Beichert said. “This is what Broadway could look like, provided there were standards and guidelines that were adhered to.”

Other good examples of city signage cited by Main Street Manager Nancy Donskoj are Monkey Joe Roasting Company, which recently had its origianl sign spruced up, and Dolce Café, on lower Broadway, whose hand-painted wooden sign reflects the café’s artisan approach to food. Donskoj said she was also pleased with two recent makeovers: Number One House, a Chinese restaurant on Broadway that recently got rid of its ratty awning and nonconforming aluminum box sign, replacing it with a flat sign with tasteful gooseneck lighting, and Kennedy Fried Chicken, which has installed a sign whose serif lettering and sienna color complement the building’s traditional architecture.

Such changes give businesses a boost, Donskoj said. “Signage is the business’s first introduction to customers. The design, lettering and look tells potential customers what kind of place it is, so it’s important to get it right.”

Donskoj said that the Midtown design standards, which went into effect in 2008, require all new signs, lighting and façade lettering to be approved by a review board, otherwise known as the Heritage Area Commission. Pre-existing nonconforming signs must be modified for removal within 90 days of written notice. The standards include sizing charts, which vary depending on the use and location. Cabinet-box signs are prohibited, unless they’re recessed in the façade. Also prohibited are banners, pendants, streamers, balloons and blimps. (If you’re wondering why a certain banner has been hanging from a building on lower Broadway for days now, well it’s not supposed to be there. Effective enforcement of the guidelines is clearly an issue.)

Few businesses like to be told what to do. However, Donskoj pointed out that the standards exist to improve the overall appearance of the city, which in turn makes it more desirable to visitors—not to mention improve the quality of life for those of us who live and work here. The Heritage Area  Commission, whose members include an architect and Kingston Historian Edwin Ford, “is there to help businesses succeed. They’re there to help, not hinder businesses. If the whole district looks good, it increases its appeal as a shopping destination”—and who could argue with that?               —Lynn Woods

The post RX for Kingston’s Signage Problem appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Solar Trash compactors on Broadway

The City’s Climate Smart Community/ Green Jobs Pledge offers one answer to that question.   Through this forward-thinking pledge – created by the Department of Environmental Conservation and signed by over 93 local governments –  Kingston is committed to energy conservation and innovation, water efficiency, improved recycling, transportation alternatives,  and planning to adapt to unpreventable climate change risks such as increased storms and floods.  All this environmental virtue comes straight home in the potential for jobs – for energy-efficiency technicians and trainers; installers of solar, geothermal, and maybe wind power; architects, engineers and landscape architects; historic preservation specialists; bike rental shops and more.  That is, the Pledge will create jobs if we are successful in translating vision into economic development strategy, to support and expand our local businesses in these arenas. 

Geothermal at the Kirkland Hotel

Several years ago, a group of us started exploring how to grow those green jobs, beginning with the heart of the City, the Broadway Corridor.  We were not only motivated by virtue, but by money!  We had an opportunity to propose green building demonstration projects for consideration by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York’s green building program.  We began by identifying some existing models of energy-efficiency and green innovations:

• The Kirkland Hotel,  a restored, 17th century boardinghouse with geothermal energy and pervious pavement to manage rainwater;
• Seven21 Media Center,  which has experimented with rooftop gardening;
• Benedictine Hospital’s Oncology Support Center,  designed green by health care architect Robin Guenther, a part-time resident of Kingston;
• The Ulster County Building and Kingston City Hall, both early adopters of energy audits and upgrades. 

We also talked with the owners of local businesses like Monkey Joe Coffee Roasters, who have taken serious steps to offer green products and supplies; Darmstadt Overhead Doors, a pioneer in going solar;  Lowe Plumbing and Heating where you can buy a geothermal heat pump or thermostat timer; and Kingston Kitchen and Restaurant Supply, where you can replace your disposable coffee filters with a nice mesh brewing basket, and get information on appliance energy efficiency.

Carnegie Library under contruction

Since our conversations began, the hospital has installed a major solar hot water system with help from The Solar Energy Consortium; the King’s Inn site has been the focus of a design charrette for the creation of a mixed-use live/work space; the Land Trust’s community gardening program has blossomed; and construction has begun on the Carnegie Library, set to become a teaching center for arts and technology.   With Guy Kempe of Rural Ulster Preservation Company as the ambassador, Kingston’s collaborative efforts have been highlighted at the National Main Streets Conference. 

The Green Innovations Committee has just met once (and welcomes new participants). Our initial brainstorms include:

• Create a model district – a “green corridor” – with visible demonstration projects of technology, building restoration, and landscaping;
• Include space(s) for exhibits and business incubation;
• Assess the feasibility of a Zero Net Energy District that produces its own clean energy, as they’re working on in Fort Collins, CO (www.fortzed.com) and other places;
• Strengthen university/community connections, starting by locally promoting the clean energy training available at SUNY Ulster’s Business Resource Center (www.sustainhv.org/cettc)
• Consider industries that bring multiple benefits, such as solar-powered urban greenhouses that can produce food, green roof plants & more
• Integrate these ideas with the City’s key focus on arts and digital media;
• Advocate for local policies to strengthen the green economy and build the tax base.

Does all this green stuff threaten the city’s priority focus on arts?  Not for a second!   Just think of all the ways that arts and innovation can complement each other.  For example,  arts can make a community more welcoming to cleantech knowledge workers, as this video on Iowa City shows.  What’s more,  the creative aspects of green building – from architecture to furniture design to landscape – can be one of its strongest selling points.   Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) provide a special connection for creativity, as illustrated by Atlantis SunSlates (with manufacturing and sales office in Poughkeepsie):  Build it and they’ll come?  Not exactly.  The Green Corridor is coming to life as we realize how much innovation is already here.

 -By Melissa Everett, Ph.D., Coordinator, Green Innovations Committee, Kingston Climate Action Task Force

The post Creativity with a Purpose: A Green Corridor Vision for Kingston appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Pawprints & Whiskers not only strives to raise the pet owner’s conscience, but also inspire delight: there are bowls in the shape of a bone, adorable beds with cloth pet legs and ears sewn on, innovative litter boxes and carry-alls, and cute dog and cat cards; even the plastic bags are attractive, covered as they are in black pawprints.

On a recent lunch hour owner Neil Schneider was behind the counter, describing the store’s special pet-food niche: “it’s not your standard fare but specialty food, which is natural and uses good, USDA premium quality ingredients.” While the food costs a bit more than the stuff you’ll buy at a big box store or supermarket, Schneider said in the end you’ll save on vet bills and have a longer-lived pet.

He stopped to serve customer Andy Belock, who works two doors down at the Board of Elections and had two cans of pet food on the counter. “On top of the great food selection, I like to shop locally because I get the best service and the best products,” Belock volunteered.

Schneider said he and his wife used to run a small advertising agency and graphic design firm on Broadway but started to burn out after 15 years. They finally sold the business and started selling gift baskets of pet products by mail. After they had a booth at a pet industry fair and got a great response to their products, they opened Pawprints & Whiskers in 2001, renting the space from landlord Schneider’s Jewelers next door. Schneider minds the store, since his wife has a full-time job as an administrator at the Fischer Center at Bard College.

The food product brands suggest the pet equivalent to a health food store, with names like Holistic Select, Cowboy Cookout, Wellness, Deli Fresh, Nature’s Animals, Feline Greenies, and Evo (“the ancestral diet meets modern nutrition,” the label notes, adding that Evo is “grain free” and has the “lowest carbs”). Pawprints & Whiskers also stocks “Dogtoids” to freshen a dog’s breath, along with a canine toothbrush and toothpaste.

The “emporium for cats and dogs,” as he describes it, also sells toys, leashes, collars, coats, litter boxes (with better quality litter), beds, blankets, grooming tools, and rawhide bones.

Schneider said the Kingston Farmers’ Market has helped his business tremendously on Saturdays. He participates by handing out free samples
of high-quality pet food, which helps get customers into the store. He said
since 2008, the business has “had its ups and downs. As a single independent
proprietor trying to get a niche in the pet industry, it’s a tough call,”
especially when people are having to spend their extra cash on gas.

He said that parking is a problem in Uptown—mainly perceptual, given that people resist parking around the corner even though it’s closer to the store than the parking space in the lot at the mall from the mall entrance. He’d also like to see landlords lower their rents a bit to reduce the number of empty storefronts. What would really turn Uptown around is putting in an anchor store, such as a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, at the former Woolworth’s, he said.

On the plus side, “we have a lot of customers who won’t shop at the big box stores. They want to support the little independents. I have a great nucleus of customers who come on a regular basis. The one thing I offer that the big box stores don’t is personalized attention to detail. I can say this product would be better and why. I meet and greet.” Schneider also offers a 10 percent discount for every purchase of 12 cans of food.

Pawprints & Whiskers is open from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday (to 5:30 on Friday). Oh, and by the way, Schneider and his wife are pet owners themselves, in case you’re wondering. They have a dog and are looking for a cat, following the recent death of their beloved feline.              –Lynn Woods

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@ Broadway is more than just a place to eat, however: it’s also a poster child for the business transformation that’s awaiting every other down-at-the-heels building on Broadway, provided one brings a little sweat equity, design savvy, and vision to the project. Owners Lyn and JoAnn, who bought the building in 2008 and moved here from the West Coast, have beautifully restored the original Victorian house with its bumped-out storefront at 346 Broadway, transforming the shabby building into a freshly painted, three-toned beauty, its spiffy black, brown, and gray colors as stylish as a fedora.

Lyn at the take out window

Totally getting what’s great about Kingston’s architectural fabric–that is, its retro charm—they’ve installed a take-out window overlooking the sidewalk. While waiting for your $2 hot dog or $3.50 breakfast wrap, you can stand under the metal awning, a Kingston original that’s been spruced up at Don’s Auto Shop with a glossy coat of toffee-colored paint. The window is not only a convenience for customers but also makes the street a friendlier place. To further improve their patch of streetscape, the partners have spread cedar mulch around the bases of the trees the length of the block. They’ve even posted a notice in the storefront window, which reads like a manifesto: JAVA@Broadway takes pride in being a neighbor in our block of Broadway. We show our appreciation in keeping the street clean, by picking up trash and by placing the red mulch around the trees on our side of the street. Think Green and Clean on Broadway!

Java’s narrow, high-ceiled interior is chic yet homey, with its speckled black linoleum floor, off-white walls, two red-lacquer frame mirrors, a back counter painted black with an octagonal black-and-white tiled top. A giant spoon, fork, knife and spatula hanging on the wall are a pop touch, while a row of Buddhist flags confers a silent blessing. A low bench along the wall is actually a repurposing of the original 1740s stone foundation. A few tables and a minimal couch complete the clean, streamlined look.

JoAnn at the counter

“I wanted to re-invent the old Java places from the 1930s,” said Lyn, who noted that her love of black probably goes back to her days in Seattle when it was still cool. “@ Broadway is like coming back to the Seattle of the 1970s and 1980s.” She said there are plans to clean up the weedy back yard and install a patio for customers.

The menu specializes in lunch basics: grilled cheese, ham and cheese, a “Big Mama” (bacon, ham, and cheese), melted cheese dog wrap, sausage and a bun, all-beef hot dogs, and a meatball sandwich. “We like our sandwiches to be hearty,””said JoAnn. There’s a choice of bread–Italian, hemp, wheat, English muffin–and cheese (American or Swiss). The cornbread that accompanies the homemade chili is fresh baked, and the soup is made daily. The pesto is shipped from Los Angeles and made from basil grown hydroponically. Coffee is just $1, and there are 60 varieties of teas arranged on the rack behind the counter.

Lyn and JoAnn also plan to open a club upstairs, with an open mike, comedy acts, live music, and a piano bar. The entrance will be like a speakeasy, with patrons knocking on a side door and passing through the distinguished former front hall, its handsome banister and paneling still covered in the original oxblood paint.

Kingston is a long way from Hollywood, so how did the two West Coasters end up here? They’d been looking for a place to retire to, heard about the Hudson Valley from a friend, and discovered Kingston after doing some research on the Internet. The two had been driving up Broadway on their first visit when a car collided in front of them, an event that JoAnn credits with their discovery of 346 Broadway. “We had stopped in front because of the car accident and saw the for-sale sign. It was a good price,” she recalled.

Upon purchasing the building, they installed a new roof immediately, quickly stemming the damage from leaks that in six months’ time would have doomed the building, said Lyn. It took them three years to do the complete renovation, including replacement of the exterior fishtail shingles and clapboard, with work suspended during the winter months. (JoAnn, who is in the military, was serving in Kosovo during much of that time, which further slowed down the process.)

“The local populace is very friendly and nice,” said Lyn. “We also love the city for its three centuries of architecture and grace.”   –Lynn Woods

The post New Java House Brightens Broadway appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

The center opened in October, and since then the business has taken off, processing more than a quarter million cans and bottles so far.  One advantage is that “people don’t have to go from store to store” to receive their nickel, noted LaVolpe. His clientele is a total mixed bag, ranging from “people who just walk along the street and pick up cans” to lawyers, store and restaurant owners, and scouting groups doing fund drives to raise money. Just this past week, the Boy Scouts brought in $500 worth of redeemables, said LaVolpe.

One nice feature of the center is the drop-off service, in which a client in a hurry can drop off a bag of cans, write down his or name on a sheet of paper, and pick up the money on the return trip after work.

The bottles and cans are picked up 12 times a week and delivered to a central facility in Albany. (LaVolpe said that return centers north of Albany have the advantage of getting their items picked up by the company that has the facility, whereas he has to deal with a middleman for the deliveries.) So how does County Can make money? LaVolpe said the manufacturers pay handling fees, which constitute the business’s revenue. He also doesn’t have to waste time worrying about prettying up the cans for delivery: dented items are just fine.

Zach Cole & David Roberts

County Can & Bottle Return Center has seven employees. LaVolpe said he plans to hire a couple of ARC people, who will help sort the items. The new employees, who will first be trained by special coaches, will be starting in a couple of weeks and will get a regular paycheck. “I like to give back to the community,” LaVolpe said, explaining what motivated him to connect with ARC.

When people on occasion drop off nonredeemable cans or bottles—which the center does not accept—he’ll put them out on the curb for recycling, rather than throw them out. A pretty decent place, that County Can. The center is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5:30 and on Saturday from 9 to 3:30. Call 340-1005 for more information.

–Lynn Woods

The post County Can Has a Nickel for You appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Built in 1899 and operated as a Chevrolet showroom in the 1920s, the Millard Building is a Midtown gem with its Beaux-Art limestone façade and large windows. Set at an angle to Broadway, it is fronted by a small park, interrupting the straight ranks of buildings with a burst of green that offers rest to pedestrians.

The current owners, five partners based in Newburgh, have done a complete gut rehab, including new plumbing, electric, insulation, and re-fabricated storefronts, since acquiring the building five years ago. Their efforts landed them an award from Friends of Historic Kingston in 2008, and despite a very difficult economy, the building operates in the black, with all but one of the row of shops running along Grand Street occupied by commercial tenants; Planned Parenthood is about to move into a 4,500-square-foot space on the second floor.

Thanks to his involvement in the Millard Building, part-owner Joe Flynn, owner, with several of his partners, of Commercial Industrial Construction Corp., has gotten into the retail business. When the restaurant supply business located on the ground floor went out of business, he and his wife, Jayme, bought up the inventory at auction and reopened the store as the Culinary Warehouse three years ago. Because the front of the building is now occupied by the pizzeria and the Kingston Pharmacy, the store is now located at the back of the building; some former customers don’t realize all they have to do is walk down Grand to browse once again the great kitchenware.

Compared to the old store, a greater portion of the business is retail, with the remaining  60 to 70 percent derived from restaurants. The store stocks everything a restaurateur or serious home cook needs, from gadgets to cookware to silverware to stoves and convection ovens. Flynn said in late spring the store plans to restart its program of  cooking classes (suspended over the winter), which take place in a small kitchen on the premises and are held on Wednesday evenings. A children’s cooking class will be offered, and chefs from local restaurants will be invited to prepare their specialties. Check Culinary Warehouse’s Facebook page for updates.

The Millard Building’s other tenants represent a nice mix of businesses and include Sensational Nails Hair Salon and Hometown Beverages, a distributor of beer and soda, both along Grand Street. One 1,400-square-foot storefront is available, along with 12,000 square feet on the second floor. Flynn said CICC plans to break up the space into 15 smaller offices, unless a large tenant suddenly appears. The second floor also has four well-lit lofts, three of which are occupied. A major advantage is that there’s a large, adjacent parking lot, also owned by CICC, along with several parking spaces in front.

“We’re very lucky. We have very good tenants and are holding our own,” said Flynn. He is appreciative of the city’s support, from the mayor to the building and fire departments. “Everyone’s been wonderful. Kingston is a great place and we enjoy being here.”

The post Businesses and Architecture Find a Happy Balance at the Millard Building appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

As someone who’s been located on Broadway for a very long time, LaLima, who owns his building and rents out an apartment upstairs, has a valuable perspective. He said the city’s first priority should be attracting businesses, to fill the vacant storefronts. He also had some good news: the building next door has been bought and the empty ground floor is about to reopen as an art studio.

LaLima said that despite the out-of-control school taxes, rising Central Hudson bills and costs of opening a business, Kingston is still relatively affordable. Having traveled across country on his Harley—a framed picture on the wall shows him riding his bike in the wide-open spaces out West, his hair blowing in the wind—LaLima said he’s always glad to come to back to his home town. He was born in Kingston, raised in a house on Greenkill Avenue, and attended St. Joseph’s; his father, who was born in Italy, arrived in Kingston as a baby and worked on the railroad.

LaLima had an uncle who was a barber and decided to one become himself. He enjoys being his own boss, and no matter how bad the economy gets, people always need a haircut. His prescription for improving the city? A Giulani-style clean up of Midtown. Midtown, he said, “is forgotten…it’s on the back burner.”

Meanwhile, Joseph Jr. and his girlfriend, Liz Baker, are opening a combination art gallery-café-clothing boutique in the expansive, handsome corner storefront at 63 Broadway next month. After graduating from Pratt Institute in 1995, Joseph returned to Kingston and did a variety of jobs, including creating special effects for the World Wrestling Federation, which required him to travel. The store will be called Aesthetics, and it will sell vintage and new clothing, jewelry (including hand-crafted pieces by Joseph’s friend Nicole Pagano), and baked goods provided by the family (specifically, Joseph’s mother, who is a partner) and local eateries.

Paintings by Michael Hart

The May show will feature paintings by Joseph and Mike Hart. Joseph said he plans to  show overlooked local artists and hopes to eventually offer classes for kids, as well as sponsor mural projects in Midtown.

It’ll be a real family business, involving the couple’s children, nieces and nephews, as well as Joseph’s mother Susan. “We’ll have lots of help,” said Liz. They plan to be open by the first Saturday in May, so that they can participate in the city’s weekly gallery walk.  –Lynn Woods

The post Two Generations of LaLimas Span the Old and the New appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Keegan’s produces Old Capital, Mother’s Milk, and Hurricane Kitty, along with seasonal and specialty brews, such as Jo Mama’s Milk, which is flavored with coffee from Monkey Joe Roasting Company. From the get-go, the beers have been lauded for their superior quality: Old Capital won the Best of show and People’s Choice awards at the Hudson Valley Micro-Brew Festival in fall 2003, and in 2009, Jo Mama’s Milk won Best Beer of New York State at the TAP NY competition (Keegan’s also snared the award for Best Brewery).

Locals have the special privilege of being able to stop by the bar and sample a new crafted beer every Tuesday. Keegan’s also is one of the favorite places around town for hearing top musicians, be they jazz, rock or folk, who perform five days a week—and there’s no cover, just lots of free peanuts to snack on.

But it’s in the cavernous space behind a set of doors just past the entrance, which houses four enormous, shiny metal fermenters and other mysterious tanks, where the real action takes place. Two batches of beer will be run through the initial mixing process twice in a nine-hour day. The brewing process starts at the far end of the room, with the delivery of big sacks of malted barley, blended with other grains, according to Keegan’s special instructions.

The grain is thrown into a chute to be milled, then conveyed through a long pipe into the mash tun, where it is crushed and mixed with hot water, a process that leaches out the color and flavor and converts the starches into simple sugars. The mixture is then pumped into the brewing kettle, where the “wort” is boiled. Hops are added to the liquid, to give the beer its distinctive bitterness and other flavors. It then is transferred to the fermenters, where the brew is mixed with yeast and the sugars transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide (the beer’s fizziness). After fermenting for a total of three weeks, it’s filtered into two tanks and packed into bottles or kegs.

Keegan said the trickiest aspect of making beer is ensuring its consistency. “It’s a matter of making sure every single step is the same each time,” said Keegan. The small amounts of a special home brew that is produced each week for the premises are made in a miniature “pilot” brewery, he said. Come by and have a taste of this unique Kingston product!  —Lynn Woods

The post Keegan Ales’ Crafted Brew Extraordinaire appeared first on Kingston Happenings.

Whether the coffee will be drip brewed, used in espresso, or brewed in a French press all affect the degree of roasting, he said. Either he or Tom Delooza, an employee who has been trained in the roasting process, drop 20 to 30 pounds of beans into the drum of the steel red-enameled, gas-fired roaster, which reaches a temperature of 500 degrees.  The process takes from 15 to 19 minutes. “You need an ability to pay attention” so that the beans don’t get over-roasted, Cicale said. “For a period of time there’s not much to do, and then everything happens quickly.”

A small utensil housed in a pocket along the side of the roaster, called a trier, is used to sample the beans, to test the degree to which they are roasted, which also depends on the type of bean. The roasted beans are then dropped into the cooling bin, where a steel agitator—a bar attached to the screened bottom of the bin—stirs the beans to cool them. The beans are then poured into a collector bin through a gate that opens along the side of the roaster and packed into six-pound bags.

Cicale said afterwards his wife and business partner, Kathy Nealis, will “cup” the coffee—taste-test the brew made from a batch of beans. (He noted that there’s actually a certification process for the tasters—called cuppers—and a special etiquette: the process includes sniffing the coffee then pouring hot water over it in a special glass. The cupper then breaks the surface crust once the coffee “blooms” and sniffs it again before slurping it with a special spoon and spitting it out.)

“The general public is oblivious that this exists,” said Cicale, who has been in the business for twelve years. “I see so many career opportunities that exist in the coffee industry, yet people only find out about them by accident.” Coffee is akin to wine in the culture it has spawned, including a language of terms to describe nuances of taste: it has various degrees of “body,” “brightness,” and “citrus.” What’s his personal favorite? While Cicale said he said he used to be a big fan of Kenyan coffee, his current preference is for brews made from beans from Central America. “They produce a more balanced coffee,” he said.  —Lynn Woods

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