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
Showing posts with label The Royal Bean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Royal Bean. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Battle for Hot Milk Supremacy
Good morning, Friends!
I'll be roasting this weekend on Sunday (May 31), then shipping and making local deliveries on Monday, June 1. Please have your orders in by Sunday morning to be included for this week.
The selections for this week are on the website for your browsing pleasure (www.freeportcoffee.com). And alternately, Bow Street Market has a good full selection now (10 different coffees), and you can always find our coffees at The Royal Bean.
Speaking of The Royal Bean, their one-year anniversary is June 20 - a very exciting milestone for Jim and his team of crack baristas. You'll be hearing more about their monthly calendar of special events to mark the ocassion, one of which will be a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony held in their parking lot. Definitely not something that's been done in Yarmouth before.
One of the more amusing phenomena in our culture right now is the knuckles bared battle between Starbucks and McDonalds over the turf of coffee-based beverages. The upstart McDonalds is seizing territory and market share from the Mermaid, which has fought back with's own splashy ad campain touting the perfection and realness of its coffees. Fundmentally, though, it is all about milk, as this comprises the majority of the "lattes" and "cappucinos" that are the subject of this skirmish.
In strict coffee terms, neither company's "lattes" or "cappucinos" adhere to the traditional receipes for making these drinks (a latte being a three to one ratio of steamed milk to espresso, and a cappucino, one-third espresso, one-third milk, and a third foam), but instead are really large cups of too-hot milk and small amounts of automatically-generated espresso. Buyer beware.
I have spoken here before about Ken Davids, one of the true coffee sages. His books on espresso and home roasting are must-haves for any home coffee library, and his Coffee Review site is the best available service and resouce for comprehensive reviews of great coffees. Ken's homepage article this week discusses his semi-scientific reviews of McCafe's new offerings versus those of Starbucks. The article is linked here:
Ken describes the experience of trying to order a shot of straight espresso in a McDonalds. I went through this when I visited a pilot McCafe location about a year ago. The saddest part of my interaction was that the counter person seemed to have no idea what was meant by the word "espresso." Sigh.
A great espresso made by the hands of a trained barista is a joy to behold. You get to watch art in action, as beans are ground to order, the shot tamped and the shot timed to perfection by a person, not a microprocessor. If you are having a cap or a latte, watch the barista draw art with the milk on top of your beverage (rather than the milk glopping out of a machine like a tired soft-serve ice cream machine at the end of a hot summer day). Craddle the well-rounded ceramic cup in your hands and behold the smell and visuals of the rich, red-brown crema. Then sip. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Smile, then repeat. When you have finished your beverage (and just before you order the next), see how the espresso has coated the walls of your cup, a sign that your coffee was made by hand using fresh beans.
And support your local independent cafe. They deserve it, and so do you.
Thanks for your support, folks - enjoy the weekend!
Kent
I'll be roasting this weekend on Sunday (May 31), then shipping and making local deliveries on Monday, June 1. Please have your orders in by Sunday morning to be included for this week.
The selections for this week are on the website for your browsing pleasure (www.freeportcoffee.com). And alternately, Bow Street Market has a good full selection now (10 different coffees), and you can always find our coffees at The Royal Bean.
Speaking of The Royal Bean, their one-year anniversary is June 20 - a very exciting milestone for Jim and his team of crack baristas. You'll be hearing more about their monthly calendar of special events to mark the ocassion, one of which will be a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony held in their parking lot. Definitely not something that's been done in Yarmouth before.
One of the more amusing phenomena in our culture right now is the knuckles bared battle between Starbucks and McDonalds over the turf of coffee-based beverages. The upstart McDonalds is seizing territory and market share from the Mermaid, which has fought back with's own splashy ad campain touting the perfection and realness of its coffees. Fundmentally, though, it is all about milk, as this comprises the majority of the "lattes" and "cappucinos" that are the subject of this skirmish.
In strict coffee terms, neither company's "lattes" or "cappucinos" adhere to the traditional receipes for making these drinks (a latte being a three to one ratio of steamed milk to espresso, and a cappucino, one-third espresso, one-third milk, and a third foam), but instead are really large cups of too-hot milk and small amounts of automatically-generated espresso. Buyer beware.
I have spoken here before about Ken Davids, one of the true coffee sages. His books on espresso and home roasting are must-haves for any home coffee library, and his Coffee Review site is the best available service and resouce for comprehensive reviews of great coffees. Ken's homepage article this week discusses his semi-scientific reviews of McCafe's new offerings versus those of Starbucks. The article is linked here:
Ken describes the experience of trying to order a shot of straight espresso in a McDonalds. I went through this when I visited a pilot McCafe location about a year ago. The saddest part of my interaction was that the counter person seemed to have no idea what was meant by the word "espresso." Sigh.
A great espresso made by the hands of a trained barista is a joy to behold. You get to watch art in action, as beans are ground to order, the shot tamped and the shot timed to perfection by a person, not a microprocessor. If you are having a cap or a latte, watch the barista draw art with the milk on top of your beverage (rather than the milk glopping out of a machine like a tired soft-serve ice cream machine at the end of a hot summer day). Craddle the well-rounded ceramic cup in your hands and behold the smell and visuals of the rich, red-brown crema. Then sip. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Smile, then repeat. When you have finished your beverage (and just before you order the next), see how the espresso has coated the walls of your cup, a sign that your coffee was made by hand using fresh beans.
And support your local independent cafe. They deserve it, and so do you.
Thanks for your support, folks - enjoy the weekend!
Kent
Royal Bean Anniversary Celebration and the San Francisco Coffee Scene
Hi Friends,
OK, I am back in town again, and happy to serve your coffee needs this weekend. I’ll be roasting on Sunday the 21st, then shipping and delivering on Monday.
Royal Bean Anniversary Celebration this Saturday
This Saturday, The Royal Bean celebrates a year of bringing great coffee and a great café experience to Yarmouth. Its been fun watching them grow, and we congratulate Jim and his great team of crack baristas on their success.
You are all cordially invited to join the anniversary party this Saturday (June 20) at the café. The festivities kick off at 10:00 with a kid’s art program (crafts and face painting), a customer appreciation cookout at 11:00 and music by Strause and Co. at 1:00. There will be raffles and giveaways all day.
And, Tanji and I will be doing a show and tell featuring our strange collection of brewing devices, a roasting demonstration, a tasting of some really nasty robusta (every coffee drinking has to try this just once) and answers to any and all questions you’d like to throw our way. We’ll be there all morning starting at 9:00.
A Coffee Geek on the Streets of San Francisco
En route to the airport the other day, I decided to check out the explosive San Francisco coffee scene. Some great new cafes had sprung up since I moved from there 12 years ago, and I wanted to experience three of these that are getting a lot of attention for their devotion to quality coffee:
Four Barrel Coffee
Four Barrel, located at one end of Valencia Street in the trying so hard not to be trendy Mission District, exudes warm elegance and a dedication to great coffee and little else. It is nearly a precondition that cool restaurant spaces in San Francisco be old warehouse space, and this is no exception. This deep, wide room, with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows at the front and back, showcases a roasting operation in the back (a funky old Probat with an afterburner) and the front seating area is comfortable and airy. Over an original shiny concrete floor with worn shades of red paint from the previous tenant, chairs seeming from a Gulag era Soviet gradeschool sit against angular tables of old wood. A low wraparound counter of wide planks houses their two three-group La Marzocco Mistral espresso machines, a cash register and a small pastry counter that offers a choice of two different croissants.
That’s it. No mints. No cookies or preprepared salads. Certainly no blender. I didn’t see decaf. No smoothies, bottled beverages, t-shirts, travel mugs, brewing equipment or cookies. Shelves on a wall offer eight very high-end coffees for sale in austere paper bags, and there is the impression that when those are sold that will be it for the day. Like a bakery in a way.
I said I was from Maine and leaving today so unfortunately I couldn’t come to the cupping event they hold each Wednesday. The awesome counter guy said he used to live in Portland and work for Coffee by Design. I told him I was a roaster and he gave me a shot of espresso gratis. The espresso was very nice. I had some of their Costa Rica, which I felt was a bit on the bright side, but then that’s how Costas are.
Ritual Roasters
I started smiling the moment I entered Ritual. Their shop is deeper still into the Mission, down where the character of the neighborhood is still preserved. Many people on the street speak Spanish, the block is shared with an Indian restaurant, an auto repair place, some mystery storefronts and a used bookstore or two.
Just inside the front door is a long, Last Supper style communal table, some seen better days palm trees and some comfy couches. Suspended from the high painted ceiling are some old fans, diner type lighting fixtures and some cool bare lightbulbs at the end of long black tentacles. Jimi playing Voodoo Chile.
Three espressos are available from the four group Syneso. They have a Clover, the exciting $10K single cup brewing technology whose lifebreath was severed when Starbucks bought it. The Clover just brewed my now cooling cup of Sumatra Sidikalang (Jim, this one is for you).
I am not overwhelmed by this coffee, but it is a nice cup and unique for a Sumatra.
I am enjoying a nice gingerbread from the generous pastry case (note to Four Barrel – man doth not live on coffee alone).
A dog barks outside, wanting its master to stop drinking coffee and come play. Laptops adorn tables. Yet another old Probat lives in the back, ministered to by a tattooed roaster. Hey Joe comes on. Shops like this are so tied to their neighborhoods, they could be set up in the middle of the street and no one would notice.
It makes me happy every time I come back here that it is still possible to find experiences that feel like San Francisco.
Before leaving, I ordered a shot of their Hopscotch espresso. Much more interesting than the Four Barrel shot – better as a single shot and very unique. Long line at the counter now as the city wakes up.
Now heading back to Blue Barrel. I went there earlier, but the person who knows how to run the $20K Japanese four-station siphon brewer wasn’t in yet.
Blue Bottle
I had some trouble finding Blue Bottle the first time through. Its tucked into a short alley behind the old SF mint building on the fringe the South of Market district, and the only marker for the business was an iconic blue bottle on the corner of the building.
The interior is austere – all gray and fifties hospital green and old government building white. And they too are mostly about the coffee. They offer espresso two ways, their house blend in shots and milk drinks via a three group La Marzocco machine, and a single origin espresso of the day pulled on an old Bosco lever machine.
The centerpiece of the operation is a long counter anchored at one end by a tall “Kyoto Style” cold coffee drip brewer, a nearly four foot tall array of beakers that would seem at home in a college chem. lab, and at the other, a five station halogen siphon station.
For food, they offer just a few brioche, and other drinks include some teas, a gourmet hot chocolate, somebody’s signature apple juice and a variety of other coffee preparations. A coffee of the day (in this case a Mesa de los Santos Colombia) is made at a pourover station.
I ordered a small wet process Ethiopia Koratie ($6) from the siphon, and sat sushi bar style on the other side of the glass as the barista prepared my pot. Preheated water is added to a perfectly round flask sitting on a stand above a halogen heating element. The coffee (35g for about ten ounces of coffee) is ground to order, then added to another flask placed above the first, this one with a rubber sealing gasket. As the water boiled, the top flask is snugged onto the lower to seal the connection, then the steam pressure pushes the water up a spout into the top chamber, where it is stirred and left to steep for 30 seconds. The heating element is then turned off and a siphon action pulls the brewed coffee back into the lower chamber. Coffee Theatre at its finest.
The cup was good, but I was paying more for the experience than the coffee. I thought they had used a bit more coffee than necessary and the strength overwhelmed the sweetness of the Ethiopia.
Then to complete my round of intense caffeination, a shot of their espresso. I didn’t care for this one, as the flavor was too far away from what I expect in espresso and there was an almost soapy character at play.
In conclusion, after visiting all these hallowed reputations, the best cup I had was the Sumatra at Ritual, and I liked their espresso best of the bunch too. And really, I like our coffee, and I like the way the prepare coffee at The Royal Bean. This comparison makes me feel like we are doing many things right.
Coffee Cinema
If you have been wondering which is better coffee among Greek, Israeli (with cucumbers!) or made on a cheap plastic espresso machine, you won’t want to miss this short:
http://www.howcast.com/videos/81494-How-To-Brew-the-Best-Coffee
Or not.
See you soon – enjoy your weekend!
Kent
OK, I am back in town again, and happy to serve your coffee needs this weekend. I’ll be roasting on Sunday the 21st, then shipping and delivering on Monday.
Royal Bean Anniversary Celebration this Saturday
This Saturday, The Royal Bean celebrates a year of bringing great coffee and a great café experience to Yarmouth. Its been fun watching them grow, and we congratulate Jim and his great team of crack baristas on their success.
You are all cordially invited to join the anniversary party this Saturday (June 20) at the café. The festivities kick off at 10:00 with a kid’s art program (crafts and face painting), a customer appreciation cookout at 11:00 and music by Strause and Co. at 1:00. There will be raffles and giveaways all day.
And, Tanji and I will be doing a show and tell featuring our strange collection of brewing devices, a roasting demonstration, a tasting of some really nasty robusta (every coffee drinking has to try this just once) and answers to any and all questions you’d like to throw our way. We’ll be there all morning starting at 9:00.
A Coffee Geek on the Streets of San Francisco
En route to the airport the other day, I decided to check out the explosive San Francisco coffee scene. Some great new cafes had sprung up since I moved from there 12 years ago, and I wanted to experience three of these that are getting a lot of attention for their devotion to quality coffee:
Four Barrel Coffee
Four Barrel, located at one end of Valencia Street in the trying so hard not to be trendy Mission District, exudes warm elegance and a dedication to great coffee and little else. It is nearly a precondition that cool restaurant spaces in San Francisco be old warehouse space, and this is no exception. This deep, wide room, with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows at the front and back, showcases a roasting operation in the back (a funky old Probat with an afterburner) and the front seating area is comfortable and airy. Over an original shiny concrete floor with worn shades of red paint from the previous tenant, chairs seeming from a Gulag era Soviet gradeschool sit against angular tables of old wood. A low wraparound counter of wide planks houses their two three-group La Marzocco Mistral espresso machines, a cash register and a small pastry counter that offers a choice of two different croissants.
That’s it. No mints. No cookies or preprepared salads. Certainly no blender. I didn’t see decaf. No smoothies, bottled beverages, t-shirts, travel mugs, brewing equipment or cookies. Shelves on a wall offer eight very high-end coffees for sale in austere paper bags, and there is the impression that when those are sold that will be it for the day. Like a bakery in a way.
I said I was from Maine and leaving today so unfortunately I couldn’t come to the cupping event they hold each Wednesday. The awesome counter guy said he used to live in Portland and work for Coffee by Design. I told him I was a roaster and he gave me a shot of espresso gratis. The espresso was very nice. I had some of their Costa Rica, which I felt was a bit on the bright side, but then that’s how Costas are.
Ritual Roasters
I started smiling the moment I entered Ritual. Their shop is deeper still into the Mission, down where the character of the neighborhood is still preserved. Many people on the street speak Spanish, the block is shared with an Indian restaurant, an auto repair place, some mystery storefronts and a used bookstore or two.
Just inside the front door is a long, Last Supper style communal table, some seen better days palm trees and some comfy couches. Suspended from the high painted ceiling are some old fans, diner type lighting fixtures and some cool bare lightbulbs at the end of long black tentacles. Jimi playing Voodoo Chile.
Three espressos are available from the four group Syneso. They have a Clover, the exciting $10K single cup brewing technology whose lifebreath was severed when Starbucks bought it. The Clover just brewed my now cooling cup of Sumatra Sidikalang (Jim, this one is for you).
I am not overwhelmed by this coffee, but it is a nice cup and unique for a Sumatra.
I am enjoying a nice gingerbread from the generous pastry case (note to Four Barrel – man doth not live on coffee alone).
A dog barks outside, wanting its master to stop drinking coffee and come play. Laptops adorn tables. Yet another old Probat lives in the back, ministered to by a tattooed roaster. Hey Joe comes on. Shops like this are so tied to their neighborhoods, they could be set up in the middle of the street and no one would notice.
It makes me happy every time I come back here that it is still possible to find experiences that feel like San Francisco.
Before leaving, I ordered a shot of their Hopscotch espresso. Much more interesting than the Four Barrel shot – better as a single shot and very unique. Long line at the counter now as the city wakes up.
Now heading back to Blue Barrel. I went there earlier, but the person who knows how to run the $20K Japanese four-station siphon brewer wasn’t in yet.
Blue Bottle
I had some trouble finding Blue Bottle the first time through. Its tucked into a short alley behind the old SF mint building on the fringe the South of Market district, and the only marker for the business was an iconic blue bottle on the corner of the building.
The interior is austere – all gray and fifties hospital green and old government building white. And they too are mostly about the coffee. They offer espresso two ways, their house blend in shots and milk drinks via a three group La Marzocco machine, and a single origin espresso of the day pulled on an old Bosco lever machine.
The centerpiece of the operation is a long counter anchored at one end by a tall “Kyoto Style” cold coffee drip brewer, a nearly four foot tall array of beakers that would seem at home in a college chem. lab, and at the other, a five station halogen siphon station.
For food, they offer just a few brioche, and other drinks include some teas, a gourmet hot chocolate, somebody’s signature apple juice and a variety of other coffee preparations. A coffee of the day (in this case a Mesa de los Santos Colombia) is made at a pourover station.
I ordered a small wet process Ethiopia Koratie ($6) from the siphon, and sat sushi bar style on the other side of the glass as the barista prepared my pot. Preheated water is added to a perfectly round flask sitting on a stand above a halogen heating element. The coffee (35g for about ten ounces of coffee) is ground to order, then added to another flask placed above the first, this one with a rubber sealing gasket. As the water boiled, the top flask is snugged onto the lower to seal the connection, then the steam pressure pushes the water up a spout into the top chamber, where it is stirred and left to steep for 30 seconds. The heating element is then turned off and a siphon action pulls the brewed coffee back into the lower chamber. Coffee Theatre at its finest.
The cup was good, but I was paying more for the experience than the coffee. I thought they had used a bit more coffee than necessary and the strength overwhelmed the sweetness of the Ethiopia.
Then to complete my round of intense caffeination, a shot of their espresso. I didn’t care for this one, as the flavor was too far away from what I expect in espresso and there was an almost soapy character at play.
In conclusion, after visiting all these hallowed reputations, the best cup I had was the Sumatra at Ritual, and I liked their espresso best of the bunch too. And really, I like our coffee, and I like the way the prepare coffee at The Royal Bean. This comparison makes me feel like we are doing many things right.
Coffee Cinema
If you have been wondering which is better coffee among Greek, Israeli (with cucumbers!) or made on a cheap plastic espresso machine, you won’t want to miss this short:
http://www.howcast.com/videos/81494-How-To-Brew-the-Best-Coffee
Or not.
See you soon – enjoy your weekend!
Kent
Friday, March 6, 2009
Musings on the Economy and Coffee
Good morning, Friends,
We’ll be roasting coffee next on Sunday, March 8, and then delivering and shipping on Monday the 9th. Please send your orders by 8:00 Sunday morning.
Wow. Its quite a ride this country is going through right now, isn’t it? I use the New York Times as my homepage, and its an amazing progression of news I see each day. I know that we as a country are all waiting for something good to happen.
So, since our leaders aren’t coming up with anything in the good category (though I think many of these programs will bear fruit), I wanted to share a trend I am seeing – really in the hope that you will see it too and then spread the word.
My daily travels put me in touch with a lot of people, including the scientists all over the world I ask to help me with my conferences, and the universe of people I connect with at the café and around town in the world of coffee.
And I have noticed something cool of late. People are getting kinder and kinder by the day. When I ask people to help with my research or to speak at a conference, they respond with open arms and a graciousness I have never seen before. And when I meet strangers for the first time at The Royal Bean or around town, I see generosity and compassion and an honest desire to want to know others and to help them.
And yeah, these connections don’t put food on our tables and pay the rent, but there is a way that they are worth much more than money. Are you seeing this too?
You were waiting for me to tie this to coffee somehow, weren’t you?
Last week, I was watching “Lost” on the Internet with Galen, and the show had as its single sponsor the Discover Card. They showed just one ad (over and over), featuring a friendly sort of guy asking the question “Do you know how much you spent on coffee last month?”
Boo hiss, I say to that company. There’s been a lot in the press lately about how fru-fru coffee drinks are the first thing many people cut out in a down economy, but please! Sure, cutting out the ice and the sugar and the flavorings (which can run the price of a drink up to $6 in a downtown chain store) makes sense, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
Good coffee made at home will cost you about a dime a cup. A great hand brewed cup at your local café is less than $2, and a handmade cappuccino made with high quality fresh roasted beans is under $3. Maybe you won’t indulge every day, but I submit that great coffee is still a good deal.
Another thing I have been reading about lately is that a certain large national coffee chain is now quietly removing the big comfortable chairs and couches from their stores. The message (and the intent) is that they don’t WANT you to stay there. They don’t want you to get to know other people or read a book or work on your computer. At our local version of this chain, I endeavored during one of our recent power outages to go there and use my computer. No WIFI. I bought my son a fru-fru drink for five bucks and asked if I could use the “free” WIFI. Answer, no. I was told that I needed to go online, sign up for an account, get a special card, then bring it back, buy something and THEN I could have “free” WIFI.
Um . . . go online, where, exactly?
So the message here is not one of compassion and community. The message is come in, spend a lot of money, sit until you are uncomfortable, then leave in a short time so we can do the same thing to someone else.
Your local café will serve you better than this. Way better.
We’ve had a long, hard winter here in Maine, and our house has been without power for eight days of it (three separate power outages). When this happens, most people in our town and the town next door bear the same fate, and many people (like me) who work from home end up in the more generous of local cafes as a place to work for the day.
And I am very grateful we have a place like that to go.
In closing, I’d like to throw out a reminder of the things we are trying to do at Freeport Coffee Roasting to make it possible for all of you to enjoy freshly roasted amazing coffee from around the world during these hard times:
- Want to try a coffee? Samples are free – let me know what you’d like to try. (Shipping for these is not free, however, so this works better for locals)
- Shipping IS free on all orders over $40
- Check out the CuppaJoe Recession Buster Coffee, just $9.99 for a pound
And in general, our coffee is less expensive than the whole bean coffee you buy at the store. In the manner of yogurt, ice cream and tunafish, the once sacred one pound bag of coffee is shrinking. You’ll see that what is offered at the store is typically $9.99 or $10.49 for a 12 ounce bag (the metric pound?). This equates to $13.32/$13.98 a pound, and most of ours are just $12/pound (and ours are absolutely fresher).
Thanks for listening to all this. I guess in general, the message I would like to convey is that I hope you’ll support local businesses through these times. This includes coffee roasters, cafes, local farmers, fishermen, those who make cheeses and keep chickens and the stores that sell these things. Let’s not come out of the recession into a world of chain stores and mass-market foods!
Enjoy the weekend, everyone, and thanks for your continued support.
Kent
We’ll be roasting coffee next on Sunday, March 8, and then delivering and shipping on Monday the 9th. Please send your orders by 8:00 Sunday morning.
Wow. Its quite a ride this country is going through right now, isn’t it? I use the New York Times as my homepage, and its an amazing progression of news I see each day. I know that we as a country are all waiting for something good to happen.
So, since our leaders aren’t coming up with anything in the good category (though I think many of these programs will bear fruit), I wanted to share a trend I am seeing – really in the hope that you will see it too and then spread the word.
My daily travels put me in touch with a lot of people, including the scientists all over the world I ask to help me with my conferences, and the universe of people I connect with at the café and around town in the world of coffee.
And I have noticed something cool of late. People are getting kinder and kinder by the day. When I ask people to help with my research or to speak at a conference, they respond with open arms and a graciousness I have never seen before. And when I meet strangers for the first time at The Royal Bean or around town, I see generosity and compassion and an honest desire to want to know others and to help them.
And yeah, these connections don’t put food on our tables and pay the rent, but there is a way that they are worth much more than money. Are you seeing this too?
You were waiting for me to tie this to coffee somehow, weren’t you?
Last week, I was watching “Lost” on the Internet with Galen, and the show had as its single sponsor the Discover Card. They showed just one ad (over and over), featuring a friendly sort of guy asking the question “Do you know how much you spent on coffee last month?”
Boo hiss, I say to that company. There’s been a lot in the press lately about how fru-fru coffee drinks are the first thing many people cut out in a down economy, but please! Sure, cutting out the ice and the sugar and the flavorings (which can run the price of a drink up to $6 in a downtown chain store) makes sense, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
Good coffee made at home will cost you about a dime a cup. A great hand brewed cup at your local café is less than $2, and a handmade cappuccino made with high quality fresh roasted beans is under $3. Maybe you won’t indulge every day, but I submit that great coffee is still a good deal.
Another thing I have been reading about lately is that a certain large national coffee chain is now quietly removing the big comfortable chairs and couches from their stores. The message (and the intent) is that they don’t WANT you to stay there. They don’t want you to get to know other people or read a book or work on your computer. At our local version of this chain, I endeavored during one of our recent power outages to go there and use my computer. No WIFI. I bought my son a fru-fru drink for five bucks and asked if I could use the “free” WIFI. Answer, no. I was told that I needed to go online, sign up for an account, get a special card, then bring it back, buy something and THEN I could have “free” WIFI.
Um . . . go online, where, exactly?
So the message here is not one of compassion and community. The message is come in, spend a lot of money, sit until you are uncomfortable, then leave in a short time so we can do the same thing to someone else.
Your local café will serve you better than this. Way better.
We’ve had a long, hard winter here in Maine, and our house has been without power for eight days of it (three separate power outages). When this happens, most people in our town and the town next door bear the same fate, and many people (like me) who work from home end up in the more generous of local cafes as a place to work for the day.
And I am very grateful we have a place like that to go.
In closing, I’d like to throw out a reminder of the things we are trying to do at Freeport Coffee Roasting to make it possible for all of you to enjoy freshly roasted amazing coffee from around the world during these hard times:
- Want to try a coffee? Samples are free – let me know what you’d like to try. (Shipping for these is not free, however, so this works better for locals)
- Shipping IS free on all orders over $40
- Check out the CuppaJoe Recession Buster Coffee, just $9.99 for a pound
And in general, our coffee is less expensive than the whole bean coffee you buy at the store. In the manner of yogurt, ice cream and tunafish, the once sacred one pound bag of coffee is shrinking. You’ll see that what is offered at the store is typically $9.99 or $10.49 for a 12 ounce bag (the metric pound?). This equates to $13.32/$13.98 a pound, and most of ours are just $12/pound (and ours are absolutely fresher).
Thanks for listening to all this. I guess in general, the message I would like to convey is that I hope you’ll support local businesses through these times. This includes coffee roasters, cafes, local farmers, fishermen, those who make cheeses and keep chickens and the stores that sell these things. Let’s not come out of the recession into a world of chain stores and mass-market foods!
Enjoy the weekend, everyone, and thanks for your continued support.
Kent
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