Uses This

1276 interviews since 2009

A picture of Tony Konecny
Image by Sean Bonner.

Tony Konecny

Coffee guy (Tonx)

in coffee, mac

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Tony Konecny, a coffee roaster, coffee writer, and coffee entrepreneur. I fell into coffee a decade ago and still haven't been able to drink my way out it.

Two years ago I launched Tonx as the next chapter in my crusade to put excellent coffee in every kitchen.

What hardware do you use?

An iPhone and an unkempt 11" MacBook Air (with a large external monitor) both running one generation behind on their operating systems (for reasons I'd probably have to sit on a therapist's couch to fully unravel). Like so many others, I'm afflicted with the sense that my iPhone is an extension of my body and mind - and that I am incomplete without it. I feel the same way about my car. My phone and my car are my most deeply embedded cybernetic relationships... pry them from my cold, dead, eventually robotic hand, etc...

My iPad mini is great for most everything. The battery life is amazing. It lets me stay connected to my team and not feel as tied to my desk. I still meet people who are skeptical about the iPad as a useful tool and I find myself evangelizing for it often.

I carry a small Gerber Paraframe Mini folding knife which is handy for working around the roastery, opening bags of green coffee, opening mail.

I usually travel with a Japanese Porlex Mini hand grinder. Small, light, but very effective. I'll suffer some bad coffee on the road if I need to, but it is nice to be able to brew the good stuff, especially if there are others around to share with. Our green buyer Ryan Brown travels the world with one of these.

After years of being a skeptic, I've come around to the Aeropress and have been using it as my default coffee brewing gizmo. There isn't much to it, and once you've got your coffee to water ratio, grind size, and timing figured out it produces excellent brew.

I have two bags that I'm pretty keen on. I spent forever searching for a great laptop bag. Most of them suck or look like the backpack equivalent of a 'Member's Only' jacket. My Tom Bihn Ristretto laptop bag is just right in terms of size and ergonomics. For serious travel I have a 511 Tactical backpack that my pal Sean Bonner recommended to me (he uses one as a bug out bag). At first I thought it was overkill, but over time I've come to respect its unusually high quality, numerous pockets, and the thoughtfulness of the design. I've been asked by TSA "agents" on several occasions which branch of the armed services I'm in.

And what software?

Tweetbot is my Twitter client. Sometimes I think I love Tweetbot more than I love Twitter (and certainly much more than Twitter's own app or website).

On my Mac I use Apple's TextEdit utility for most of my drafting and personal writing and Google Docs for most collaborative stuff.

On my iPad I use Instapaper and Flipboard for most of my reading and Notability and Adobe Ideas for sketching out stuff for work. And I can't imagine life without Dropbox.

What would be your dream setup?

A hammock, a wood burning stove, a garden, a well stocked library and liquor cabinet. Maybe some goats. From a coffee perspective, I'm almost living my dream setup with everything from our roasting and lab equipment to a massive toy chest of brewing devices.