It Is The End Of The Blog As We Know It

And I feel fine.

My how time flies. It has been over a year since I started this blog.

And now as we are approaching then end of 2007 it seems like a perfect time to write "The End" on the Everyday Joe's Coffee House Blog. So...

THE END

But fear not. Just because Volume One is coming to a close that does not mean there will not be a Volume Two. So think of this as an ending that leaves a tiny bit of hope for a sequel.

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn - world serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs.Feed it off an aux speak, grunt, no, strength, Ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height.Wire in a fire, representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site. Left of west and coming in a hurry with the furies breathing down your neck.
Team by team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered cropped.Look at that low playing! Fine, then. Uh oh, overflow, population, common food, but it'll do.Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and the revered and the right, right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched.
It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign towers. Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn. Locking in, uniforming, book burning, blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate.Light a candle, light a votive. Step down, step down.Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means no fear cavalier. Renegade steer clear! A tournament, tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline.
It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
The other night I dreamt of knives, continental drift divide. Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs. Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!You symbiotic, patriotic, slam book neck, right? Right.
It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it. can't I have some time alone?It's the end of the world as we know it can't I have some time alone? and I feel fine...fine...
It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it. can't I have some time alone?It's the end of the world as we know it can't I have some time alone? and I feel fine...fine...

Human Effort Makes The Difference

This is some news from our wonderful coffee roaster Intelligentsia. Through it we learn a bit more about the human beings that grow the coffee we enjoy here at Everyday Joe's Coffee House.

"A little inspiration goes a long way.

I'm inspired by Jair Garcia. I want to hug the guy. He is one of the greatest coffee farmers I've ever known. For those who have not heard of him, Sr. Jair is a coffee farmer from El Tambo, Cauca in Colombia. He has a relatively small farm, just a few hectares, and produces coffee in a traditional way. "Rustic" might be the right word; he ferments his coffee in plastic sacks. And yet he has managed to produce the best tasting coffee (in my humble opinion) from his entire area of Colombia for three years in a row!

How can this be? How does it happen? Jair lacks many of the resource advantages that some of the other growers who contribute coffee to this project have at their disposal. And he's competing with hundreds of small growers every year. We cup the Tres Santos submissions blindly and probability alone would suggest that it is very unlikely he could manage to come up with the highest rated coffee three consecutive years. After all, this is agriculture, and there are so many small variables (some of them uncontrollable) that have an impact on final quality.
Take the Cup of Excellence competitions. There have been 25 held over the last seven years, and there have been exactly ZERO repeat winners, with only a handful of farmers managing consecutive top ten finishes! The fact that he has indeed accomplished what few farmers can is beyond impressive.

I find it thrilling and incredibly encouraging. It is the most powerful evidence I've seen in support of the notion that human effort is what makes the difference between a very good coffee and a truly spectacular one. It is tough for a coffee to crack that "90 point" threshold on the cupping table. Since there are a lot of things that get in your way, I like to think that it is about as tough as a football player returning a kick-off for a touchdown. I guess that this makes Sr. Garcia the Devin Hester of Specialty Coffee. (For those of you who don’t follow the Chicago Bears, this guy has returned lots of kick-offs for touchdowns.)"

~ Geoff WattsVP of Coffee
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea

No Bombilla Required

I don't remember exactly when it started but at some point people start asking, "Do you have Mate Tea?" Until a few weeks ago the answer was, "No." But now the answer is , "Yes."

So what is Mate? Good question. Mate is an infusion made from the yerba mate plant. (Us yanks refer to it as "tea.") The plant is from South America and the drink is traditionaly served in a gourd and sipped through a special silver straw, or Bombilla.

Yes mate is caffienated.

And as legend would have it mate was given to the native people of South America by a goddess that came to earth who was attacked by a jaguar. An old man saved her and it return she gave him the gift of a yerba mate plant, telling him that with the plant he could prepare "the drink of friendship."

Here at Joe's we have the very American easy to brew, easy to serve, and easy to drink version. Our's is Pixie Mate, a company in Boulder, and the tea comes in a traditional tea bag. We have a few different flavors so give one a try next time your in the mood for a brewed infusion of a South American plant.

Pain in the Chai

Here at Everyday Joe's we believe in the lost art of craftsmanship. We live in a culture that is all about automation and manufactured products. Take chai for example. Most times when you order chai at a coffee shop it either comes from a powder mix or a carton containing liquid chai concentrate. We do it a little different.

Our chai is made right here at 144 s. Mason Street using a black tea base. We add sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to that base. We then steep it, strain it, and refrigerate it. That creates our own liquid concentrate which is added to milk and steamed when an order is placed.

Writing it makes it sound so simple but it is really quite a long process with a lot of steps. And this time of year it is a constant battle to keep up with the demand for chai that cooler weather brings.

So next time you come to Everyday Joe's and order a chai that takes less than a minute to serve, know that a lot of work went into that cup of goodness before you even walked in the door.

Cider Season

Apple cider is back on the menu for the next couple of weeks. And as always the question comes up, what is the difference between apple cider and apple juice? Well here in the United States if you want to get legal about it, there is no difference, none, nadda. As far as the FDA is concerned apple juice and apple cider are the same thing.

That leaves it up to companies who offer the juice from apples to decide what they want to call it. It is a known practice for a company to change the apple juice label to apple cider in the fall because they know that cider sells more in the autumn, the only change is the label.

But there are some common beliefs as to the difference. Cider is considered to be less refined and not as filtered as juice. Cider is most often cloudy and juice clear. That is about it. Like so many things in our culture it comes down to marketing and appearance.

Here at Joe's we use 100% apple cider, not a sauce or concentrate which has become common place at coffee shops these days.

Find a coupon for Joe's apple cider here.

How Direct Trade Starts

Geoff Watts is the VP of Coffee at our roaster Intelligentsia. In his latest post from his travels he tells of his journey to a village in Papua New Guinea and just what he is looking for when starting the Direct Trade process with a coffee grower. It is long but a very interesting read to see what goes into your morning cup of coffee.

Hola:

It's always a big time thrill to visit a country for the first time. The local languages; cultural views on human, ethical, and political topics; and details about traditional lifestyle are fascinating. You step off the plane not really knowing what to expect, and after a few days, you begin to feel like a sponge as you attempt to absorb as much as you can. I landed in Papua New Guinea earlier this week ostensibly to participate in a small coffee competition organized by the Federation of Coffee Growers, but really I'm here to scout and lay some groundwork for developing a Direct Trade program. This effort can take on many forms, and in every country it is different, yet the basics still apply.

The first thing I do is just observe. It is important to gain understanding about the way the local industry has been working (or not working) and who the players are. Learning about the history of the coffee sector is the first step towards preparing oneself to dig in and figure out how to create positive change. Part of this usually involves deciding who not to work with for reasons that can range from extreme apathy or overwhelming cynicism to the more serious obstacles like apparent corruption or historical misdeeds.

Once I've gotten a general lay of the land, I try to understand what the key quality hurdles are and where the problems reside. This means assessing processing traditions, looking at infrastructure deficiencies, and examining the chain of custody. Typically the greatest sources of quality loss come down to harvesting (cherry ripeness), wet milling logistics, and post-fermentation drying. Every scenario is different. In some places farmers deliver cherry to centralized wet mills while in others they sell dry or semi-dry parchment. Fermentation can take place in plastic sacks, in wooden boxes, in cement tanks or on patios; sometimes it is skipped altogether in favor of mechanical processes where the beans are scrubbed free of pulp using friction.

It also makes a big difference whether or not farmers have close access to mills. Those who are the farthest away tend to face bigger hurdles as transport of just-harvested cherry can present a lot of quality risks. In the ideal scenario, freshly picked coffee cherries are depulped and enter the fermentation process within 4 to 5 hours after harvest. The ability of a mill to separate lots and retain traceability to the farmgate is critical and often lacking. And steady, uniform drying is a huge challenge in many growing areas that receive sporadic rainfall throughout the picking season.

Once I've got a sense of how things typically work in a given place, I then focus on two things: finding the right environmental conditions that are especially favorable to quality potential and finding the right people to work with. The latter involves meeting with various farmer groups and millers and spending time together to see if our interests can align. I've found that it is critical to partner with farmer groups who have some degree of organizational stability. Most often it is the smallest groups that qualify since they all live together in a community and trust one another and know how to work together. The bigger a cooperative group gets the more likely it is that politics will interfere with progress.

Part of it comes down to the intangible… or just the vibe of the place. My vision is long-term. We hope to work with the same farmers for years or decades and to stay in close communication. So it is important that we like each other and are able to relate to a similar vision for the future. I've learned to trust instincts when it comes to these things, and over time I have gotten better at identifying red flags that might mean headaches or frustration down the road. No one wants to invest time, energy, and dollars in trying to build something only to realize that it isn't going to work. I've had one or to Sisyphus-like experiences where it seems that you could be battling the same issues over and over again perpetually. One of the most important measurables in Direct Trade is progress over time; if quality and farmer livelihoods do not improve in step and in some tangible ways, we have failed in our mission. One ingredient in success is ensuring that the preconditions exist to make it possible.

It's been a long time since I have had a day as exhilarating as yesterday. We set off in the morning to visit the Asuke cooperative, just north of Goroka. It was a quick 45 minute ride in the back of a pickup before we reached the end of the road. From there we disembarked and hiked for about an hour and half to get over the ridge into the adjacent valley where we encountered a fairly sizeable river. Fortunately there was a small raft that the farmers had constructed, so we stripped down and loaded our gear onto the raft and then swam across the river. It was invigorating…the hike had gotten us pretty heated up and the cool river was a wonderful antidote.

Once across the river, we entered the forest and were instantly immersed in a huge coffee garden. After about a 10 minute hike up the hill, we heard some high-pitched wailing, which our guide explained was a “cry of joy” at the arrival of visitors. Minutes later, as we continued through the lush forest, we were ambushed by a group of young boys wielding spears and bows and completely covered in oils that gave them a jet-black appearance. They had been hiding in the trees all around us, and in seconds we were completely surrounded. If they had wanted to take us out, it would have been no trouble at all. But of course they were just messing around.

Up at the village we met the growers and had a look around before heading out into the forest again to check out the coffees. I saw a mix of Typica, Bourbon, and Arusha varieties. It was completely gorgeous… forest coffee at its most lush and raw. After about two hours of walking up and down mountain slopes, we arrived back at the village where they had prepared some MuMu for lunch, amazing stuff. In the morning they dig a hole in the ground, fill it with some stones, and create a fire on top of it. Once the fire has died down to charcoal and the stones are hot, they put a layer of wet banana leaf on top and then proceed to stack sweet potato, yams, chicken, pig, greens, and bananas to form this big mound of food organized in such a way that the stuff that demands the most heat to cook is closest to the bottom. The whole thing is covered with more leaf and lots of dirt so that it appears as a 4 foot mound of earth. The heat from below evaporates moisture from the banana leaf and steams the food.

Hours later, the mound is uncovered and layer by layer the cooked food is removed. It was a feast, enough for 40 people or so. The whole village ate together and I had to marvel at the impressive communal feeling that is so lacking in many parts of the world. Being here is like traveling back in time, as the remote villages remain pretty untouched by the modern world. Most of the farmers don't get into town more than once a year or so, and rule of law is nonexistent. They live the way they've always lived, and it feels wonderful to witness a lifestyle where the stresses we encounter living in the material world don't really exist. For sure there are other types of stress, especially related to health maladies and climate conditions. But as far as mental well-being goes, it seems like a good enough trade off.

I was surprised to learn that the tribe still goes to war every now and then with neighboring tribes. Their bows and arrows and stealth attack tactics are not for show; they still face off with other tribes looking to take over their land, and even today fight battles from time to time to protect the land that they occupy. But no one seems worried about it. It's just a part of life. There are more than 700 tribes and languages in PNG, and they've been competing for land and resources for centuries.

Tomorrow we will finalize the coffee competition by holding a short awards ceremony, and then we head west towards Mt Hagen where we'll meet up with a cooperative group somewhere in between and spend the night. I'm looking forward to a good couple of days in the bush.


Cheers,

Geoff Watts
VP of Coffee
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea

Buy Coffee, Feel Good

Hi again gang. Every week I get a nice email from our roaster, Intelligentsia, telling of their tales around the world. I thought maybe I would share this one with you. Mostly because it is exciting to see Direct Trade in action in Africa. This is indeed good news since a lot of coffee growers in Africa are not able to send their kids to school because the prices they are paid are so low. Intelligentsia is changing that. And by buying Intelligentsia roasted coffee beans Everyday Joe's is changing that. And by buying your coffee and lattes from Everyday Joe's you are changing that.

Now come down to Everyday Joe's, buy yourself a coffee, and feel good. Now on to the email:

Hola:

A warm 4 AM greeting to all who enjoy Intelligentsia Direct Trade Coffee. While international travel can be a wonderful experience, you may have experienced the costs in terms of a disrupted internal clock. I just returned to Los Angeles yesterday after traveling 27 straight hours from Addis Ababa Ethiopia, and now my body tells me that it’s time for an Injara lunch!

My week in Ethiopia was an enjoyable and challenging time spent working on contracts for two new Direct Trade coffees from Yirgacheffe (late spring and early summer 2008 releases). Both exporting providers were very enthusiastic in providing the first ever small-farmer, traceable coffees from Ethiopia. Normally the individual small-farmer lot is blended into anonymity and we just receive coffee that says "Yirgacheffe Grade 1".

In our Direct Trade model, we employ tracking systems with our providers that allow us to ensure that the individual farmer is economically rewarded for his stellar efforts at pre-agreed upon prices. While normally only the 37,500 pound container is tracked, in some instances our work could involve as little as 100 lbs of coffee. While this system seems simple at first, in actuality it becomes very complex. Most of our week was spent grappling with issues of system deployment. Once again the vital importance of having trustworthy trading partners at origin who are willing and able to partner in this sustainable trade was impressed upon me.

Don’t think that it was all work, however. I joyfully spent one day hiking up to the coffee village of Banko Okoto in Yirgacheffe. As is common in many coffee producing origins, there was a network of muddy paths leading up the mountain and splitting off to plots of land. The chilly damp trail was spotted with a few traditional grass roofed homes, coffee farms and lush natural forests. When we started hiking we were at 6400 feet, and the top of the ridge was 6927 feet! Staring from the top and checking my GPS, I realized that this is probably one of the highest-growing coffee regions in the world. Very few places in the world grow coffee at over 6,000 feet in elevation. Have you ever wondered why Yirgacheffe has this identifiable bright lemon grass flavor? I’m confident in saying that much of this flavor is the result of extremely high altitude coffee farming.

On our way down the hillside we came upon villagers who were hiking up the hillside on their way to the cemetery. They were carrying the casket of a five year old boy who died. When we asked what happened, they simply said he was sick. Without access to doctors, this is sadly about as specific as many coffee farmers can get to a diagnosis.

On the other hand, I was impressed at that moment because in their walking wake they were singing a lament the whole way up the trail, and it was obvious the casket was freshly hand-made. The thought hit me that these people "make" just about everything. They make their food from mini gardens to meals. They make their music from silence and create incredible harmony, drums and dancing. They make their adobe and grass roofed homes from materials at hand. They make their foot trails. They even make their own caskets. They truly live in a world of "makers".

I look forward to inviting you to make a cup of Direct Trade Ethiopian coffee this spring. For now, might I suggest our El Cuervo from Guatemala. This coffee is one of our most recent arrivals to our Roasting Works and the red fruit flavors are bursting from the cup.


Onward,

K.C. O'Keefe
Director of West Coast Operations
Green Coffee Buyer
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea

Direct Trade Video

Everyday Joe's believes that the coffee it buys from Intelligentsia and their Direct Trade model are helping people all over the world. Check out this 9 minute video to see exactly what we mean. Yes I know by internet standards the video is a bit long but it is so nice to be able to put a face on the coffee we buy.

More Q&A

A week or so ago Steve asked: "What's it like making so many people happy with their warm coffee drinks every single day? And what would you do if I hypothetically one day were to order an Irish Coffee?"

It is hard to describe what it is like. I do look forward to a solo shift on the bar because it is a chance to perfect my drink making skills. Summer is tough because so many people order iced drinks and there is not much art in that. I really like when someone orders a 12oz for here latte. Mostly because it gives me a chance to practice my latte art. And it is nice to see how something as simple as latte art can really add something to someone's day.

And I am thankful that I do get to make people happy via coffee drinks. I am continual amazed by the conversations and connections I make with people over that coffee bar. One day we will have bar stools to make that an even better experience.

On to the next question...

If you were to order an Irish Coffee I think I would make you a coffee and simply direct you next door to Dempsey's and let them hook you up with the Irish part.

Turkish Coffee

So we had a reader inquire "Can Everyday Joe's serve Turkish Coffee?"


The logistics of preparing Turkish Coffee are what prevent Joe's and most shops from offering it. Traditionally it is heated using the desert sands of the Mediterranean, not on option. Most people not living in or near the Mediterranean region of the world use a gas stove instead. Everyday Joe's does not have a gas stove or anything similar. So Turkish Coffee is not an option here at 144 S. Mason.

Click here if you want to see how Turkish Coffee is brewed and why Joe's can not pull it off.

Iced Cappuccino

The Iced Cappuccino is a drink rich in history. No one is exactly sure when the formal meetings began but once a year, every year, there is a very important meeting in Atlantis. The guest list includes but is not limited to Big Foot, Santa Clause, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, and honest politicians, just to name a few. They all gather and discuss the next years activities and the pros and cons of being fictional characters. The official drink of this important meeting is the Iced Cappuccino.

For you see there is no such drink as an Iced Cappuccino. Though there are many ideas and thoughts on what a true cappuccino is most agree it involves hot, foamed milk. When someone orders an iced cappuccino what they are really ordering is an iced latte.

Questions?

Are there any questions?

Joe's Gets a Ferrari

Ok not really.

But Joe's did get a machine that was hand built by Italians, a La Marzocco 3 Group Linea Espresso Machine.

It was probably about a year ago that we realized we needed a new espresso machine. The machine we have used for our first 4 years has served us well but was beginning to show its age. And keeping it running was starting to cost us more than we felt it was worth. So the quest for a new machine began. I even posted about it way back in April. And I find it funny that the picture of a machine I threw in that post is the brand and model we ended up with.

The Linea is known for its power and its simplicity. It has two boiler tanks so the group heads and the steam wands have their own separate source of power. This means better shots and better milk.

The construction of the machine is very simple which means we will be able to do more troubleshooting ourselves.

Trivia Time Equals Free Stuff

Ok folks thought I would take a break from the usual posts to throw some trivia at you. And dare I say Google proof trivia.

The first person to email me or post the answers to the following 3 questions will receive a coupon for 1 menu item of your choice. Ready? Here goes...

1. Everyday Joe's uses two brands of syrups to flavor our drinks, what are they?

2. Everyday Joe's offers 28 different kinds of tea. Who is our tea supplier?

3. On the famous portrait wall at Everyday Joe's are there more guys or more girls?

You must answer all 3 correctly to win.

Random Before Pictures

Everyday Joe's R&D

(That is Research and Development for you non lab coat wearing folk.)

This week it has been trying out a new way to brew coffee. Cold brewing. The method involves slowly brewing coffee (12 hour brew time) using cold water to create a concentrate. This concentrate can then be used in many ways to create coffee drinks.

Why do this? This method is said to create a coffee that is free of oil and 67% less acid than most other coffee. People who like coffee but have heartburn issues seem to prefer this method since it removes the acid from the coffee. It also has less caffeine than more traditional methods of brewing coffee.

On the downside is the cost. It takes a lot of beans to make a carafe of concentrate. One pound of beans creates 48 ounces of concentrate. It is recommended to use a 1 ounce of concentrate to 3 ounces of water. Though in my testing that makes a weak cup of coffee. Seems a 1 to 1 is a better ratio.

So far I have tried just regular hot coffee. (3 ounces concentrate to 9 ounces hot water) And this morning tried a latte with it. (4 ounces concentrate to 8 ounces steamed milk.) The coffee was very smooth but leaning toward the bland side. Same goes for the latte. That is why I think the amounts need to be tweaked. Though I was still able to get good latte art out it even with no creme. (they say it can't be done.)

So if you stop by Joe's in the next couple of days and want to try a drink made from our cold brew experiment just let us know. We need some feedback to see if we want to make it part of the menu.

(you can read an article about the method here.)

French Press

Here at Everyday Joe's we brew all of our house coffee using a press pot. Or a french press as many know it. We do this because it is considered the best way to brew coffee.

Most people are used to a drip brewer. Ground coffee is placed in a paper filter and hot water is dripped over those grounds, extracting the coffee from the grounds then passing through the paper filter. That is the problem. The paper filter not only stops the grounds from ending up in your coffee cup it also stops the full flavor of the coffee from ending up in your coffee cup. The paper soaks up the natural oils from the coffee and in those oils is where a lot of taste is found.

The french press method involves immersing the coffee grounds in near boiling water for 4 minutes. This allows all of the flavor and oils contained in those grounds to be extracted fully. Then when the coffee is poured out of the press it passes through a metal screen to filter out the grounds but not the flavor or oils. For some this is a problem.

Often times when someone begins to pump themselves a cup of our house coffee they think there is something wrong with the coffee because of how it looks. Our coffee is richer and darker than the average coffee drinker is used to. And some of the finer grounds make it through the metal filter of the french press. Grounds in your cup equal flavor in your cup.

I know many of you do appreciate the french press brewing method. And you understand why Everyday Joe's goes to all the trouble of brewing all of our house coffee with a french press. To everyone else I suggest giving french press a chance.

Summer Time

It sure is summer time. And if no one has told you it is pretty hot these days. I guess these are what they call the dog days of summer or caniculares dies if your Roman. I guess that is where we get the term dog days of summer. (Sorry after I wrote "dog days" I had to look up where it came from.) And I am right these are indeed the dog days of summer. It starts in early July and goes to mid August.

And as I man the helm of the ship that is known as Everyday Joe's I experience something in the summer I have never experienced before. I've lived a fair number of places around the country and I have never experienced the summer time attitude I experience here in Fort Collins. It seems people check out and use summer as the excuse. Over and over I hear "it's summer" with a shrug of the shoulder. Maybe because we have a university in town everyone want to live the college lifestyle.

Either you know exactly what I am talking about and I don't need to explain further, or you have no idea and I have lost you as a reader already.

Joe's is defiantly different in the summer. It is a challenge to keep our large space cool. We do have a large swamp cooler on the roof but it can only do so much. It usually loses the battle around 1PM or so. Shades for our four large sky lights would help a lot in reducing the amount of heat the building collects. But I have no idea the logistics of installing those. An air conditioner would also do the trick. I imagine we would need a big one with a big price tag.

So in the mean time we well wait it out. Serving lots of iced lattes and Thai coffees. After all, "It's summer."

Google Ruined Trivia

Some of you readers know there has been mention of random trivia in the Joe's blog. I do want to do trivia but it is a challenge to find Google Proof trivia questions for a blog. If I put in a question all one needs to do is cut and paste it into your Google search bar and you will have the answer. Never fear though, I take this as a challenge. Google doesn't know everything. Not yet at least.

In other news... 144 S. Mason is sparkling! Last Saturday thanks to the help of many people who gave up their Saturday morning our building is nice and clean. Even the hanging lights and rafters got dusted. The bar area was completely emptied and cleaned. All the lights out front were replaced. (We've been having issues with them for some time.) Paint was touched up, cracks filled, couches scrubbed, carpet cleaned, and so much more was done. Thanks to everyone who helped!

Waves of Coffee

In my last post I made mention of something called the 3rd Wave. Now I will attempt to address the theory. It can be applied to many things, not just coffee, though the industry is trying to make it it's own.

1st Wave is consumption. My dad spent his whole life in the 1st wave. Coffee is just coffee. Something warm and caffeinated that one drinks on a daily basis because that is what you do.

2nd Wave is about enjoyment. This is when we as consumers start to put a little more thought into our coffee. Mostly this begins with exploring espresso drinks and the like. Basically moving beyond cream and sugar.

3rd Wave is about taking it one step further. The consumer starts to learn about coffee origins, brewing processes, and maybe even crop harvest times. Coffee geek would probably sum it up pretty good.

Those are the basics, though there are varying opinions and interpretations out there.

Most of the United States is in the 2nd Wave. Though there has been slow advancement into the 3rd wave, mostly in the Northwest. Here at Everyday Joe's we do our best to learn as much about coffee as possible. Our goal is to serve you the best cup of coffee in Fort Collins so the more we know the closer we will get to that goal. Though our first love is people. And we are careful never to put coffee before humans. I admit that can be tough at times, I've yet to have a cup of coffee talk back.

Good bye Portland, Hello Chicago

Since Everyday Joe's first opened we have been buying our coffee from Stumptown Coffee in Portland Oregon. Over the past month or so we have made the transition to a new roaster. Drum roll please...

Intelligentsia out of the great City of Chicago is Joe's new roaster!

Why the change is probably your first question. Well for many reasons. The biggest being support and vision alignment. I will now tell you how the two go together.

Stumptown's vision is for their coffee never to have to travel more than 45 minutes from its roaster. Those roasters are in Portland Oregon. There is no human way possible to get coffee from Portland to Fort Collins in less than 45 minutes. Joe's was the exception to their rule. Every week after they roasted it they would ship it to us via UPS ground. It would take 3 or 4 days to get here. And since we are all the way in Colorado we did not get much attention from them even though we bought coffee from them every single week for over 3 years. Stumptown is great, some of the best coffee on the planet but they simply do not desire to sell their coffee to anyone outside of Portland so they have not built a system to support anyone outside of Portland. I have done buying for a lot of companies in my life and not having support from such a big vendor of Joe's was very frustrating.

Currently Intelligentsia is the Roaster of the Year according to Roaster magazine. (Stumptown was 2006 Roaster of the Year.) That is what caused me to start talking with them. What I found in Intelligentsia is the same quality of coffee which a far superior support system. Intelligentsia is ready and willing to help a coffee retailer such as Joe's sell coffee and grow its business. And on top of that they ship their coffee via UPS 2nd Day Air. This means our coffee gets here faster and fresher. Not to mention a guarantee that UPS Ground does not offer.

All the past posts relating to Direct Trade are in relation to Intelligentsia. We will continue to educate you the coffee drinker on our new roaster, helping you move into the 3rd Wave.

3rd Wave? What the * is that? We'll get to that soon.

P.S. You have been drinking Intelligentsia Coffee for the past six weeks. And no one has said a word in relation to change in taste or quality.

Swiss Water

More changes coming from Everyday Joe's. This one is for our Decaf drinkers.

The most common way to remove caffeine from coffee is through the use of chemicals. Basically the beans are soaked in a chemical that absorbs the caffeine. Then the beans are removed from the chemical and the process starts again until about 99% of the caffeine is removed from the coffee bean. Methylene chloride or ethyl acetate are two of the common chemicals used.

Methylene chloride, also called dichloromethane, is a volatile, colorless liquid with a chloroform-like odor. Methylene chloride is used in various industrial processes, in many different industries including paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing, paint remover manufacturing, and metal cleaning and degreasing. (Thanks OSHA) And some of you may know ethyl acetate is common in nail polish remover and it is also used in insect kill jars.

OK, before you freak out and throw that cup of decaf your drinking across the room in fear and disgust, know that it is safe. After the beans go through the decaffeinating process they are then roasted which is said to remove any remnants of the chemicals. And if that did not get every last molecule of chemicals out the coffee still needs to be brewed, which further "cleans" the coffee. So after the roasting and the brewing the coffee is considered safe for consumption. But there is a better way.

The most common name is "Swiss Water Processed" but others are "water processed" or "natural processed." Here is how it works... Green coffee beans are emerged in pure water that has been super saturated with coffee solids. The water naturally pulls the caffeine from the coffee beans. Then the water is passed through a carbon filter to remove the caffeine and the process is repeated. This is done for about 8 hours until the coffee is 99.9% caffeine free.

Like I mentioned before both methods are safe for consumption. But it is nice knowing that the decaf your drinking has only been through water and not chemicals. And it is also safer for the environment and the people who work to decaffeinate your coffee. That is why Everyday Joe's has decided to support the Swiss Water way of decaffeinating coffee.

Sustainable Social Practices

The Direct Trade talk continues. Sustainable Social Practices are another requirement of Direct Trade. But what does that mean? Well here goes...

This can be distilled to a single essence—is everyone involved in the production of coffee on a Direct Trade farm benefiting? Again, every farm is different. The roaster works with small growers who may farm 2 hectares of coffee and do all the work themselves. The roaster also will work with farms that might employ 300 people during the year. What matters most is that there are good living conditions and the opportunity for measurable economic growth. The roaster avoids trying to determine for the farmer what this really means and prefers to let them tell how things are working. But there are some tangibles to look at. On an medium-sized or single farm the roaster must know what the pickers are being paid, how that wage compares to both the legislated minimums and the average in the region, and whether the workers feel it is a good deal. Are there health services provided? Are there other community services such as education that are financed by earnings from the sale of coffee? On a small farm, the key question is whether or not the farmer is making a living from coffee and earning enough to invest in the health and education of the family. Is there economic progress? There is a big difference between subsistence and development.

That is the jist of it. It is just another step in leveling the playing field in the global economy. Hopefully this will happen more and more in all industries where the 1st world buys from the 3rd world.

This is an exciting direction for Everyday Joe's. One that will help us be better stewards of the gifts we have, both as a coffee shop and as a culture.

Healthy Environmental Practices

In our last post we talked about Direct Trade. One of the benefits mentioned about Direct Trade is the fact that farmers must use "Healthy Environmental Practices." So what exactly does that mean?

It means that the farmer is taking proactive measures to ensure the health of the ecosystem both on and around the farm. If the farm uses irrigation, are they recycling the water? What happens to the water used for de-pulping and fermentation? Is part of the farm being maintained as forest? If pesticide or herbicide is used at all, is it minimized and applied responsibly? These are the questions asked before a Direct Trade relationship is established with a grower. It is not dogmatic, because it is recognized that there are different realities on different farms, but it is essential that every Direct Trade farm is consciously following protocols that preserve the environment.

As mentioned before this is another example of how Direct Trade takes the idea of Fair Trade a bit further.

Direct Trade!

The few readers of this blog will be the first to hear about the new direction Everyday Joe's will be heading. Since we have been open we have been proud to carry Fair Trade coffee. Well we have found something that is better than Fair Trade, it is called Direct Trade.

First let us talk a bit about Fair Trade. Here is what the Fair Trade web site says, " TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. It works with importers and manufacturers in this country to document business practices, providing a reliable consumer guarantee that indicates what coffees, teas and chocolates have been purchased from producers according to international Fair Trade criteria. These criteria are established by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), a consortium of Fair Trade groups in Japan, Canada, the US and 17 European countries. FLO makes annual inspection visits to producer groups on its Fair Trade Register to ensure that the benefits of Fair Trade relationships are reaching the farmers."

The basic idea is that the farmers get paid a fair price for their products and the buyer receives a high quality product. All this is done through a 3rd party between the seller and the buyer. You can read about until your heart's content at http://www.transfairusa.org/

Now we get to Direct Trade. With Direct Trade we take out the 3rd party and the transaction is between the grower and the roaster. This creates something that is better than Fair Trade. For example the price is set and paid to the farmer, not an exporter. And that price is at least 25% higher than fair trade prices.

The close relationship between the roaster and the grower holds the farmer even more accountable to healthy environmental practices and sustainable social practices.

The roaster visits with the farmer at least 3 times a year. Fair Trade on the other hand is only once a year. And with Direct Trade the roaster always visits at least once during harvest to insure quality. And all people involved in the trade must be open to transparent financial disclosure. So everyone knows what everyone is paying and being paid.

Everyday Joe's feels that Direct Trade is much better for everyone involved. And we will continue this discussion with our customers as we move in that direction. The bottom line is the coffee quality and taste will get better as well as the warm and fuzzy feeling we will have from knowing no one was exploited in the process.

Stay tuned. And as always feel free to ask questions.

Do we call it a grey area?

Hello again good people. I sometimes think how nice it would be if life was always black and white. But then again I now what happens when people try to deal with life in absolutes. Right now there is a discussion going on about 144 S. Mason. And the talk has to do with the bulletin board. In the tiny hallway that leads to our restrooms we have a bulletin board for the community to use. As of late the content of what goes up on that board as been in question.

The questions have to do with a coffee shop started by a Christian church having announcements about yoga, meditation, and the like up. As the steward of this space I take the questions very seriously and have not come to any conclusions yet. I also try my best to think objectively and not with my own personal beliefs.

But being that I am human and not a machine my personal ideas and beliefs are going to effect the thought process. I believe ignorance can be a huge factory in this area. And of course fear. The two almost always go together. I wonder if a person who is against yoga has ever taken a yoga class from one of the places that puts up a poster? What information are they basing their opinion of yoga on? The same questions could be applied to any of the posters that are up that often receive a knee jerk negative reaction.

Something else I have noticed here is that when people criticize the art or a poster it is always vague, rarely is it dealt with in specifics. So let me bring up a specific example. (If I dare.)

A few months ago we had an art show that had a painting of the Ying Yang. The main opponent of this piece claimed it should not hang because it is a Buddhist symbol. This is that ignorance thing I mentioned. The Ying Yang is not Buddhist, it is Taoism. Taoism is a form of Chinese philosophy. The Symbol represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other. And based on that the painting stayed up.

What about the rainbow? Readers of the Old Testament think it means something different than our culture thinks now. Can a church hang the colors of the rainbow?

I like the discussion and I like that people care enough to question what happens here. I just wish they would do their homework first. This is one topic I would love to have people chime in on.

And Just Like That

It is summer. I think that today is the official first day of summer in the world of Everyday Joe's Coffee House. Today the shop was dead. D-E-A-D. The early AM had a few students, those who had one final left today. But that was it. Even less of the county and business crowd. The first nice days of the season will always have that effect. Now begins the long slow season of summer.

I have to admit it is a sad day for me as well. So many friends leaving, some for good, some will return in August. And of course there will be new friends to be made in August. "There is a time for everything."

Let's Start With Some Art

I thought we should start this week's blog by looking at some art. Though this is just a glimpse, you will have to come down to 144 S. Mason to take a look for yourself. And the work of Deanne is much better live and in person. For you see her stuff is has a lot of depth to it. Little bits and pieces of beauty attached via nails and golf tees. As you can see I do not do a good job of explaining it, so just get down here and see for yourself. Better hurry though it will be gone at the end of the month.

The piece is called "Conversation" and is by Deanne Moulton. She can be contacted at deebo987@aol.com

And in other news... it is windy today. People do not want coffee on a windy day. Thursday is normally our busiest day of the week but today has been slow. That is always the case on a windy day. This might have something to do with the fact that most if not all people hate the wind. Why do you think so few people want to live in Wyoming?

After my last post about needing a new espresso machine I have been asked about donations. If your interested in donating to Everyday Joe's you can mail your donation to Timberline Church. We use Timberline for donations for accountability and book keeping purposes. Make the check out to them and put Everyday Joe's in the memo line. It is that simple. Here is the address:

Timberline Church
2908 S. Timberline Rd.
Fort Collins, CO 80525

So what am I missing? What do you dear reader want to know about Everyday Joe's? Fire away and I will do my best to answer.

Excuse Me Buddy, Can You Spare Ten Grand?

Everyday Joe's has a physical heart, we call it an espresso machine. That very special piece of machinary is key to what we do here. It is why people first start coming. It is the device by which we are able to create amazing espresso drinks.

When Joe's opened way back in 2003 the machine was donated to us by shop that had closed, Coffee Connection. The machine had seen many a morning of espresso pulling, we estimate it is around 15 or so years old. We sent it down to the shop and had it overhauled and tuned up. And it got us off the ground. Joe's was very thankful to have such a gift. But now we get to the phrase "nickel and dime to death."

The machine is begining to show its age. And we all fear the day that it just goes down. Hard to have a coffee shop without an espresso machine these days. So we have begun to talk about getting a new machine. Buying a new espresso machine is a lot like car shopping. Used vs. New, Top of the Line vs. Economy, etc etc. And if we decided to buy used it is very much "caveat empto" or buyer beware. Espresso machines are complex with many parts and buying used could come with any sort of hidden problem that the seller probably is not even aware of.

Buying new is always the best bet, except for price. A new quality espresso machine and the needed supplies to install it correctly will cost around $10,000. That is a lot of money. But when I think about how important the espresso machine is to Everyday Joe's, how key it is to keeping us open and keeping us in the community, I think that $10,000 is really not that much. And Everyday Joe's already has roughly $3,000 in the bank so we really only need $7,000 give or take a few hundred.

So thus begins my official quest to get Everyday Joe's a new espresso machine.

The Forgotten Trivia Questions

Amy pointed out that I have not been doing the trivia questions that I mentioned in past posts. Well in my last post, "A Sample For You," I made reference to a fine film. Be the first to name the film and win a free coffee drink (12oz) of your choosing.

Good luck contestants.

A Sample For You

Ok so here is a sample of the type of email I often get:

Hello,

I am in Pennsylvania and am wanting to start a non profit coffee house across the street from Faber College to impact the campus. I was wanting to get some more info on what you guys are doing or any tips in getting started.

John Blutarsky

To be honest I do not even know how to best reply to an email like that. That is a very big question they are asking. I have toyed with the idea of a form letter for these types of emails but then that seems a bit arogant. I do want to help other people and like the idea of more places like Joe's being created around the world. I suspect people do not realize what they are asking. And there is not a book to be found on starting a non profit coffee shop. (yet)

On to other news... The walls of Everyday Joe's are bare. They have been for 4 days now. And we who work here everyday all day hear about it constantly. "Where is the art?" people ask. People have grown to depend on it, to need it. I love it. The art here has become such a part of this place. It is noticed the instant it is gone.

Not to worry though. Art is on the way.

Best Non Profit in Fort Collins

Ok so we are tied with 10,000 Villages.

Just picked up the "Best Of" issue of the Rocky Mountain Chronicle and Everyday Joe's was tied with 10,000 Villages for best Non Profit. I have to admit I was a bit bummed to not get best coffee shop, that honor went to The Bean Cycle. But now that I think about it I think it is more important for us to be seen as the best non profit than it is for us to be seen as the best coffee shop. After all that is our real goal here. Sure we strive to make the best coffee around but more importantly we strive to be a community of loving people doing our part to take care of this place we call Fort Collins. So for Fort Collins to vote us "Best Non Profit" means we are recognized for doing that.

The Return of the Blog

Ok I know the four of you probably thought this blog was done. Well not quite yet. Over the weekend I received a letter that reminded me why I started this blog. It was from a gentlemen in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada who wanted to know all about Joe's because he is thinking of doing something very similar. I get these type of letters fairly frequently so I started a blog to help address all those wonderful questions out there about Joe's. But I am finding I am not a very good blogger. Maybe I should recruit a volunteer to do my blogging for me.

The letter has a lot of good questions so I am just going to pull from it for content. On to the first question...

Do you think it works because of the university culture there? I would have to say yes to that one. The fact that the Old Town area of Fort Collins can support so many coffee shops is proof to that. For a town of around 130,000 people we have an amazing concentration of coffee shops around the intersection of Mountain and College Avenue. I did not see this many when I was in Downtown Seattle. So it works on the basic demand for coffee level.
It also works on a volunteer pool level. Most of our volunteers are university students. A college schedule allows one to give four hours a week to volunteer at a coffee shop.
And it also works on a church in a coffee shop level. (Or coffee shop in a church if you will.) Just today we had some visitors in from the U.K. and they commented on how this is very unusual for an American church. And I have often heard that 144 S. Mason has a very European feel to it. I believe it is the university that allows the people of Fort Collins to be open and accepting of that.
Now does all this mean that Joe's would not work in a college town? I don't know. Maybe one day I will get the chance to find the answer to that question.

Supernatural 2x4's

Look like any place you know? I can just stare into that picture and think about how much it has evolved. How many lives have those 2x4's impacted? I am sure you have figured out by now that those 2x4's support what is now the coffee bar at Everyday Joe's. A counter that seems to have supernatural powers to effect people on both sides. Stand near it long enough and you will know what I mean.

Now we are heading into February and old man winter is starting to show a weak pulse. January is always a slow month at Joe's and this year was no exception. But now that we are getting into the year business is returning. Of course we still need more friends to come back and visit us. I bet you want coffee don't you? Well if it is between 7AM and 10PM on a weekday you should come down and say "Hi" and get that cup of coffee. We miss you. (Even if we saw you today.) (Yes Seth, an organization can miss people.)

A new feature is being added to the Everyday Joe's Coffee House blog. Each entry will have a random trivia question. Be the first to answer correctly and you will win yourself a free 16oz drink of your desire. On to the question...

When George Lucas was in preproduction of Return of the Jedi he used a fake name for the movie so people would not know it was the next Star Wars being made, what was the name he used?

Hey I told you it would be random.

Dickens Out

Honey did we leave the blog on?

Ever be at the movie theater enjoying a movie and think to yourself did I leave the iron on? The though pops out of nowhere for no reason and then all you can do is dwell on it? You know that feeling? That is what I had this morning at breakfast with this blog. I suddenly realized that it had been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. And now your getting a post about me not posting.

Well not entirely. Last night we had our first board meeting of the year. And in my opinion it was one of our better meetings. For the first time in a while it seemed we did not talk about roles and what we are supposed to be doing, we just did what we are supposed to do. There never seems to be enough time in our meetings. It amazes me how complicated something as simple as a coffee shop ministry can be. We decided to give to Southside Baptist Church and Arts Alive for the month of January.

Ok I have to be honest with you dear reader. I am forcing this blog post. I did not sit down inspired with a topic. I wanted to post because it had been too long since I had. And now I am just writing for the sake of writing. So I will stop.

Robbed. Robbed again. Robbed yet again!!!

With this new year bring an anniversary for me. I started as Executive Director of Everyday Joe's at the very beginning of 2006. My first day was January 2nd. In some ways it was a long year but in many ways it was a short year. Mostly it was a learning year.

The transition was a smooth one. I had plenty of volunteer hours as a foundation and also being on the board for all those years it was not entirely new to me. And at the time I had a lot of help from Hannah who was our one paid barista. Most of my first month was spent cleaning and getting the place organized. And at the beginning of February Chris started as the assistant director.

The first big challenged we faced was theft. In late February a deposit turned up missing. And honestly I was a bit naive with that one. I thought that maybe the envelope had been misplaced or accidentally thrown away, something along those lines. But then a few weeks later we got robbed again. This time it was obvious. Someone from the inside who knew how we did things open the safe and took the money and closed the safe again.

This was pretty disturbing but it was important to focus on taking steps so that it did not happen again, and not seeking out the thief. So we bought a small drop safe and bolted it to the floor under the counter. As well as some other security measures. I thought that would be the end of it. But one morning I got a call from Chris who was opening that day telling me the safe was gone. A thief had completely ripped the safe out of the ground. It was a little heartbreaking.

So we stepped up security yet again. And even planned on getting a security system installed. And now people wanted the thief caught. I would like that too but I knew we really needed to focus on protecting ourselves and not going on a hunt. I feel that sort of thing would produce more negatives than positives.

I am thankful that we have not been robbed since. Joe's did lose some of its innocence through all that though. But overall I think we are better having gotten through it. I believe it helped the people of Timberline Oldtown grow closer to Everyday Joe's through the support they offered. They gave much more than was lost.

Boy when I sat down to write here today I did not intend on talking about the thefts. Especially for that long. I'll have to continue with my year in review in the next post. They say it is wise to keep blog posts short.