Good morning, Friends . . .
This weekend, I’ll be roasting Sunday the 17th, then delivering and shipping the following day. Please send your orders by Sunday morning.
The yummy Burundi is moving fast. Try this out if you’d like to experience a very smooth, rich East African coffee – should only be available for another few weeks.
Congratulations is in order for our friends at The Royal Bean – the one year anniversary of the shop. Jim, Bridgett, Matt, Emily, Kate and the others have brought a great café experience to the people of Yarmouth, and our hats are off to them for their commitment to great coffee, customer service and the community. In the next few week’s I’ll send you information on the month of special events they have planned to celebrate the occasion.
It’s been an interesting week from my place in the coffee world, and I thought I’d just share some happenings and news items with you all . . .
> I get inquires in this business that are just fun – this week to include a small, very coffee conscious art gallery off in the hinterland that wants to try our wares and a nice fellow who is opening a small shop and wants advice on how to do coffee right from the start.
> The Aeropress! Jim and I have both been experimenting a lot with this funny little brewing device, which looks like something that may have been stashed away in a corner in a high school chemistry class. The brewer, by California flying disk maker Aerobie (they make those cool rings that fly a REALLY long way) retails for about $25 and it makes great coffee. The brew is like espresso in its level of concentration, very balanced and very clean. The thing is a snap to clean up and it would be a great toy to take camping or out on the water. With the addition of an inexpensive milk frother, its possible to get a very decent latte like setup for less than $50.
> I took delivery of a few bags of Fair Trade Organic Honduras Marcala the other day, to be used for a benefit by the Freeport Rotary Club in support of their amazing clean water initiative in Honduras. The project will provide nearly 2,000 household water filters throughout northern Honduras, preventing a lot of illness along the way. Have a look at the project here:
> Earlier this week, a very heavy coffee industry consultant came through town and spent some time helping out at The Royal Bean; I’ll be working with him in coming weeks to do some tweaking to our roaster and roast profiles, and you’ll be tasting the results of this effort.
> One of my favorite mindless reads is the Starbucks Gossip website, which gives past and present Starbucks employees a forum in which to dish about the company. Of late, a writer with the nom de plume “Juan Valdez” (a former and perhaps disgruntled store manager) does secret shopper visits to Starbucks stores and then shares the experience. Check it out sometime:
> In what can only be described as a form of war, McDonalds this week began a $100 million (yes, that would be eight zeros) ad campaign for its new “McCafe” offerings. Here, the mentality that brought you $.99 high fat, high sodium, bad for the rainforest, raised on corn nutritionally bankrupt cheeseburgers would like to convince you that their bad coffee in a new cup design is now tastier than ever. And in their crosshairs are yes, Starbucks, and also Dunkin Donuts. Starbucks has recently lowered the quality of their mainstream coffee, Dunkin hasn’t changed theirs and McDonalds may have come up a notch . . . leading to a trifecta of mainstream coffee that more or less tastes the same. Don’t be swayed – stick with cafes that make espresso by hand and coffees from different origins by the cup.
> I learned the other day that the company that makes my coffee roaster was the victim of a brazen theft the other day; the list of missing items includes seven commercial coffee roasters. Not good.
That’s all for today – have a great weekend!
Kent
