Walking into a small Icelandic Hanger at the Reykjavik airport, I was surprised to see how big Thor was. He was well over 250lb of muscle, with a deep voice to match. He and I had discussed a short training flight while I was visiting Iceland for a vacation in 2022. His real name, Þórður … Continued
The first year I researched non-psychedelic mushrooms, I purchased spawn bags to ease my way into growing mushrooms. The next year I decided to do this correctly, and made my own grain spawn.
For years I lamented over the effort to find great pipe tobacco. So when Chris Nickols, (the web developer of who specializes in heavy traffic e-commerce websites) asked if I’d be interested in starting an online pipe tobacco retailer – I giddily said ‘hells yeah.’ After almost a year of researching pipe tobaccos from all … Continued
My mother recently asked me to speak to her Database Management class about the role of database design in building websites. Being the good son I am, I said yes. I then rushed into her office to try to skim read the database design basics! I know something about databases. But the fact that I’m … Continued
Earlier this year, i accidentally picked up Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’. I didn’t intend to read it. Not really. At least not thoroughly. My book list already chalked full with a cannon of life-changing-you-can-do-it-here-are-fancy-statistics-to-prove-it books. But Outliers sucked me in. It had one concept, really, that grabbed my attention: the 10,000 hours rule. The idea … Continued
Simon Sinek wrote “Start with Why,” a book that shows that successful companies always find a way to connect with their clients (and employees) based on why they do what they do. The why of a company, is – in reality – more important to the world than what the company does or how they … Continued
Recently as I was reading Jim Collins book, Good to Great I was propelled into thought. Collins’ book helped me consider the areas of my life where I can be great personally, and within that vision, the specific areas in which 180byDesign can ultimately be great. This is a bit of a non-traditional (and longer) than … Continued
Websites are representative of the organization that runs them. They are many times the first impression a visitor will have with that institution, therefore they need to be impressive. Website visitors expect to see organized information that is relevant to their needs. The work required to give them that information is well worth the effort. … Continued
A common thread among both humans and search engines is to check the POST date on website blogs, news, and comments. Humans often relate the freshness of content to the organizations’ own understanding of current trends. This connection between a website and its owners does not have to be true, it is just perceived. Also, … Continued
The surest way to impress on a visitor that an organization is unprofessional is to have overly cheesy catch-phrases, misspelled words, unorganized lists, or sections of the website that seem challenging to understand. In many cases (although not all) websites will start with well-structured professional content. But just as the company grows, the website will … Continued
The primary role of the website design team is to design the experience visitors will have from the home or landing pages through the rest of the site (all the way to checkout, contact, or final action). However, without continual testing, there is no way to know what visitors are actually experiencing. These tests will … Continued
Research demonstrates that slow web pages decrease a companies perceived credibility (Fogg et al, 2001). Essentially, visitors see a connection between the website and the parent organization’s ability to do business at a reasonable pace. Amazon tested and found that increased load times of just 100ms decreased sales by 1% (Kohavi and Longbotham 2007). Even … Continued
For many organizations, website visitors will enter the site multiple times before or during a relationship with the company. Their first visit is extremely important. But their return visit is equally important. If any of these initial visits plant seeds of doubt as to the professionalism of the institution, the visitor will either stop considering … Continued
Friedrich Nietzsche believed that art is the proper task of life. This sentiment is something that resonates strongly with my own desire to make, create, and express in all areas of life. And yet, can coffee fall into the category of art? Coffee addicts who drink to feed a need for caffeine, sugar, or even … Continued
Recently a friend asked why Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea coffee bag labels said “Direct Trade” instead of “Fair Trade,” and what the difference was. Of course, in my infinite wisdom of all things coffee, I proceeded to “BS” an answer that I think I heard someone tell someone they had heard (or read) sometime on … Continued
I’ve decided that a person’s ‘favorite’ coffee shops has little to do with coffee itself! What they appreciate are cafes that have the same values as they have, which undoubtedly vary between customers. It is impossible to accurately guess which coffee shop someone will like. That is because everyone is looking for something different. I’ve … Continued
Cold brew, also known as “toddy” coffee could quite possibly be the best American invention that no one uses. This method produces coffee that tastes great more than a week after brewed, has 60% less acidity than traditional brewed coffee. And once finished, this takes less than 30 seconds to make into a savory iced … Continued
One year ago while dining with friends here at Fuller – my sister Jennifer spoke out about her distaste for people who used Styrofoam.It was brought to our attention that using the white evil little cups may not be the worst thing a coffee drinker can do. The argument that followed is laughable at best … Continued
Frequently our clients ask for imagery that (to them) makes perfect sense to have on their new 180 by Design website. But often, their reasoning has little connection with the end goals of the website. “I really like the color green because my grandmother had a green scarf.” “I like the idea of the sea … Continued
Many websites are like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” children’s books. At each stage of the story you make your own decision about where to go next. But even those children’s books make the choice clear: Choose to follow the Ninja and see what he’s up to: Turn to page 48. OR Follow the Gingerbread … Continued
A company’s purpose must be vividly clear. When a visitor arrives on your home page, they must be immediately drawn in to your company’s unique specialty. If the design and imagery communicates your company’s purpose, it doesn’t have to be repeated through words. But it rarely hurts to “say it” twice! Make your message obvious. … Continued
When I first laid hands on a Bialetti Moka – also known as “Stovetop coffee maker,” “Italian espresso maker,” and just “Italian Moka” – i was so giddy. I was on my way to West Africa and that little 3 cup machine would allow me to enjoy delicious coffee without electricity. Hmm. 8 years later, … Continued
When Howard Schultz purchased Starbucks in 1987, 5 years after falling in love with the coffeehouses and espresso bars of Milan, Italy, the world had no idea what he was about to do with our lame American coffee culture. 20 years later, while Starbucks is frequently compared to Walmart – coffee’s mass distribution chain, we … Continued
May God forgive you, devoted COFFEEwithChuck reader, if you have now spent years using your 4 cup automatic brewer while a FP (French Press) was hidden somewhere between an old slow-cooker and your backup toaster. Those years of delicious cups of coffee – squandered as it were – were likely due to lack of knowing … Continued
Study better, focus longer, improve memory retention, avoid dementia, fight cancer, get high (sort of): these are just some of what studies prove as part of the profits of a few daily cups of joe. Most studies that include both pros & cons of caffeine (the most important ingredient of coffee) have 1 thing in … Continued
Many casual coffee drinkers don’t know what a ‘traditional’ cappuccino is. The elite coffee shops that offer this heavenly drink have to explain to rookies all the time what they’re about to experience. I want you to be able to enjoy the frothy coffee bliss of a cappuccino without an explanation from a barista next … Continued
As cool weather approaches, many of us won’t want to leave the house just to make amazing coffee. Let me give you the low down on how to make the best coffee on earth with a grinder, glass pitcher, and your tea kettle. This takes a little investment upfront, because you need a grinder, coned … Continued
Some people come to us thinking buying a website is similar to buying a hat or a new rug from the market. They just bring us money and we have a website packed into a box ready to pull out after their credit card processes. But luckily for our clients, we don’t make building a website quite that uninvolved.
What is now being called ‘Clover Coffee’ is coffee brewed using the expensive machine made by Clover Equipment Company based in Seattle, WA. When the machine first started popping up around 2007, very few coffee shops had it (since it used to start at the reasonable $11k) and it become a real attracting boon for … Continued
Finding good coffee shops in LA is sort of like trying to find good actors in LA. There are thousands of options, and many of won’t make the grind. So how do you sort out the good ones? Well, reading COFFEEwithChuck is a start. But I’m a believer in giving a man a fishing rod … Continued
There are very few people more passionate about coffee culture than Chuck. Ok that’s weird – no more referring to myself in the third person. Hi, I’m Chuck. I love coffee. As I was saying, you might find people who make better coffee, drink more coffee, have been to more coffee shops, have met more … Continued