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Nicely

Male

Far Rockaway, Queens, New York

United States

Profile Information:

What is your position in the coffee industry?: barista, barista trainer, coffee enthusiast, industry professional
Where are you located? ( City and Country ): Los Angeles, California
How many years have you been in the industry?: almost 5yrs.
If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?: maybe
Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.: I got my "third wave" barista start at Espresso Vivace where I created the foundation for my love of the game for about 3 years. I have been in the coffee industry atmosphere for a total of 6-7 years. I don't really rely on what I learned at the big corps though. My real education started when I began working with people who are serving the finest on a daily basis.

I now work for Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Los Angeles. We'll be starting a Venice Intelligentsia where people can come and really geek out about coffee to the fullest!
What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?: Any spanish speaking country. Italy, England, France, Germany, Ethiopia, South Africa, Brazil, to name a few.
About Me:: When I was 15 my mother saved my life by moving me to Seattle from New York City. Escaping mediocrity. Always wanting to move me somewhere better than we were before. I moved around alot when I was younger. Up and down the northeast along with some time with my father in Florida, until we came to the Emerald City where she provided a fresh start for us. Where I live happily and thankful for the courage of my mom. I am me because of her. I aspire to be an urban renaissance man so I have my hands in a little of everything. Baseball, football, acting/singing, drawing, sculpting, name it and I'll try it atleast once.
About My Company:: Working for Espresso Vivace in Seattle, WA. I got to learn an approach to being a Professional Barista along with one of the most nurturing, diverse, dedicated, talented, and hardworking group of people ever assembled in one place. Some of the photos you see are drinks I served to customers daily at Espresso Vivace Roasteria and Alley 24. I usually just had my cell phone on me but, once in a while I had my digi to snap a quality pic.

I now attend the University of Intelligentsia. My latest photos will chronicle my new endeavor to really pursue coffee on an academic level. I love my job!
What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?: I love what I do. You would have never convinced me a few years ago that a puerto rican kid from Far Rockaway Queens, NY. Which is about as far away from any sort of coffee culture you could get, would be doing what I'm doing right now. I have been blessed to find a job with amazing balance between skill and art. This job saved my life.
Website:: http://flickr.com/photos/naturallyabel

Comment Wall:

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Mike

Damn! how did you get all those points???? Hope all's well!

Sep 20, 2008
ZekEaZoiD

well met Mr. Nicely

Sep 20, 2008
Benza Lance

Vegas is a helluva lot closer than the Emerald City... but then again, I'm not legally allowed in Las Vegas...

Sep 21, 2008
Mike

Nicely how you be?

Sep 28, 2008
Greenway Barista

thanks for the compliment! i really need to order some espresso from you guys. what do you dose at? I am overdosing a 18 gram basket to about 20 grams right now, but i am feeling the urge to go higher on my dosages... what do you think about a 21 gram filter overdosed to like 23?

Oct 10, 2008
Laura Perry

Nicely! great to meet you on here. What's new and wonderful in your life?
cheers,
Laura

Oct 31, 2008
Alex Negranza

Hey Nicely? How goes it? I've been following your Flickr account, sweet ass pours man! Could you possibly e-mail me some of the photos from the CoffeeFest party, I'd like to publish them online. My e-mail is Alex@TrabantCoffee.com. When do you usually work at Vivace, I keep stopping by and I never run into you, bummer.

Nov 1, 2008
Alex Negranza

for sure! I'll see you at the stand tomorrow

Nov 1, 2008
Steve

It would be a thrill to have you show up at my place......!!! get your ass out of that cold dreary weather in January and come warm up in AZ!

Nov 3, 2008
Mike

Just Struggling it out in a coffee waste land! How but you?

Nov 4, 2008
Steve MacDowall

great photos. greetings from Canada - Steve

Nov 17, 2008
Mike

What's up ? You in town for a visit to LA? Silverlake's a hour away...Venice trip to recruit you? Intelli.LA is the Yankees of the coffee world.

Nov 18, 2008
Tyler Stevens

What's up man? Finally got on the Exchange.

Nov 24, 2008
Lem Butler

just chillin' on the eastcoast.

Dec 4, 2008
David Sierra

Christopher: Wishing you and your family a very Feliz Navidad! from your friends in Louisville, KY!! Que te vaya bien!

--david and Terri

Dec 16, 2008
Rich Abker

Nice photos! Tats and lattes-keeping art alive 8-)

Jan 13, 2009
Joey Trujillo

I just took the photos... Wish I could take the credit for the real artwork. I'll be in Seattle this weekend, maybe come to Vivace?

Jan 14, 2009
Joey Trujillo

Congrats on the big move. Good luck in LA! I'm up in Bellingham so looking for work at Vivace would be pointless... Oh well... Take care Abel

Jan 15, 2009
Joshua Longsdorf

Big leaf...is that what they're calling them. I've always just called them controlled but big leaf sounds better. Thanks for the props. Yours are lookin mighty fine too.

Jan 17, 2009
Marista

Yeah it was great meeting you...thanks for being so hospitable! Hope to see you in Portland or somewheress soon. Que estes bien y un abrazo.

Jan 26, 2009
william kevin emmons

whats up? are you in la now?

Jan 27, 2009
Joshua Longsdorf

NIcely, good times the other night. Sorry I let you down in the finals but Jared's solid. Anyways it was fun none the less. See you at the Cali invasion on Chi-town.

Jan 27, 2009
Alex Negranza

Nicely!!!!

How are you doing?! Long time no talk. I quit Trabant finally and I'm working on some schtuff out here. How goes Intelly?

I hear you're going to Chi-town. See you there? Are you doing Millrock again?

Jan 27, 2009
Greenway Barista

from one great shop to the next! congrats! i'm planning on making theblack cat switch soon, thanks to a certain Nicaraguan in NYC. good luck with your new career. my homeboy lives in LA so i'm gonna be hittin you up sooner or later

Jan 27, 2009
Chris Y. Gaoiran

Nicely, thank you for the Intellihospitality. You gotta post some pics of that custom portafilter.... and tamp?

Jan 29, 2009
william kevin emmons

cool man i uesd have a lot of fun in venice beach i lived down there for like 3 years

Jan 30, 2009
william kevin emmons

i pour on Saturday. i'll be chillen in chi-town for like five day. i think ill do like 20 harts in one cup that will win for sure. let me know if any thing is going on in the chi that weekend. is your shop going to have a booth at the show?

Jan 30, 2009
Benza Lance

Man, i'm not going to be able to make it to Coffeefest OR wrbc man! Work issues. But dude, when we have our huge 2nd location grand openin, you definitely have to come up and kick it.

Feb 16, 2009
Greenway Barista

dude i am hype about venice. i wish Houston had some class sometimes. lol.

Feb 18, 2009
Tougo Coffee

wow dude when did you leave town for the fun in the sun? miss seeing you round town. bigups bru

Feb 18, 2009
Benza Lance

end of april/early may.
ya heard?

Feb 18, 2009
Benza Lance

beer.
live dj.
a possible POOL TABLE.

come on.

Feb 18, 2009
Steve

Looks like you made it out west.....if you get over to AZ for some spring training stop by the shop.....

Feb 19, 2009
Dex

Nice to meet ya this weekend loving some of the photo pours great job this weekend keep up the killer work.

Feb 22, 2009
Tyler Stevens

Whats up man? Just dropping in to say hi. I hope all is well down at Intelligentsia! I bet you are missed up in Seattle. I went up there last week. I was bummed I didn't get a "nicely" dopio.

Feb 23, 2009
Matthew Gasaway

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0224-coffee-baristasfeb24,0,478593.story

You got some words at the end of the article. Check it out

Feb 26, 2009
Jesse_Aram

Hey Nicely. Rockin time hangin with ya for a minute. Hope all goes well for ya in LA. I'll try to make it to another final with ya...and hopefully represent the Ville properly (after sufficient banana intake). You're gonna take one of these latte art championships!!! I can feel it! For now, Hope you ROCK VENICE

Feb 26, 2009
Matthew Gasaway

You know I've never been the Las Vegas but it would be loads of fun to go

Maybe. It all depends on funds or who is willing to fund lol

Feb 27, 2009
Mike

whatz up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apr 3, 2009
Alex Negranza

Oh man, Nicely,...

I have big things to tell you.

Come to Seattle. Meh.

Apr 5, 2009
Alex Negranza

What's your e-mail?

I'll send you some of my plans....

In the meantime, I posted a blog on the Seattle Coffee Community. It's over on my WordPress.

When you coming to Seattle again?

Apr 6, 2009
Daniel Gunter

Hey former Seattle dude, I'm going up there soon and want to hit a few (or a lot) of shops. Suggestions?

Apr 20, 2009
Greenway Barista

are you competing in vegas? i rented a car and am planning to drive out to L.A. sunday to check out the new store.

Jun 12, 2009
Joey Trujillo

How's the new shop?! Hope it's all going well. I'll be meeting up with a friend in L.A. at the end of August. He's a café owner from Santiago, Chile, so we'll be on a coffee crawl of sorts and Venice is a must on our list of places to see. But we're hoping to take a tour of the roasting works if at all possible. Who can I talk to, if anyone, to get something set up?

Jul 7, 2009
Steve

Hey Nicely.....its been some time since I dropped you a line, I even looked for you in Silver Lake and Venice when i wasout there a few weeks....no luck, but the Venice store is sick! Short and sweet here...I'm looking for 2 judges for an Arizona City vs City barista throw down....it will be Oct. 10th and we'll follow USBC guidlines.....I hope this finds you well, talk soon Steve!

Aug 1, 2009
David Sierra

Oye' Boriqua! I love the name: IntelliRican.... very cool! Hope you are doing well! If you're ever in Louisville, KY... you have a place to stay!

--david/ La Vida Java

Sep 19, 2009
Steve

Nice meeting you at Victrola....your truly an inspiration and you have the attitude all baristas should have!!! May life continue to bring you great happiness.....and get to Phoenix!!!

Sep 28, 2009
Joe Marrocco

Great Podcast. SICK latte art. Very creative.

Oct 1, 2009
Chris Y. Gaoiran

Nicely, Nicely! Whattup from NorCal! Just saying what's up and seeing how that sweet portafilter of yours turned out. Maybe you got that matching tamper, too?

Oct 16, 2009
Leo Li

i bet i saw u once when i visit Intelli at Venice.
great art work bro.
I am work in a shop near Intelli venice now, name is Venice grind.
Hope to see you around.

Dec 11, 2009