I’ll be in Canada from the 25th to the 30th, but I have some good stuff cued up for your reading pleasure while I’m gone.

So to everyone out there in Texas Coffee Land.. Have a great week, and a wonderful weekend!

I received an email from Shannon to let us know about their roasting company.  He writes,

I just wanted to let y’all know about us.  We’re a specialty roaster in Oak Cliff (Dallas).  We deliver in Oak Cliff and ship anywhere.  And deal mostly with Fair Trade, Direct Trade and Organic/Natural coffee.

We’re only online right now but we’re looking to open a shop soon.

Thanks,
Shannon Neffendorf
Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters

I poked around a bit on their website, and found this in the “About us” section:

Coffee initially became a passion of ours because of the conversations and connections with family, friends and new acquaintances that it facilitates. The passion grew into roasting high quality coffee beans and sharing the passion with others. Coffee, much like life, should not simply be about what you consume but also what you can create.

We desire to create a great coffee experience from aroma to taste to conversation through our beans. Also to do our part, however small it may be, to create a better quality of life for the most crucial aspect of a good cup of coffee, the farm it’s grown on.

Thanks for telling us about your roasting outfit, Shannon.

Oak Cliff Coffee has been added to the list of Roasters.

The beloved Panther City Coffee is gone, but a piece of it can live on.

Everything is for sale.

Please see the thread here

(flickr also loves being blurry)

We love coffee pictures.  Doesn’t everyone?

We’d like to see yours.

Roasting, green coffee, cupping, nake espresso pulls, spouted espresso pulls, spent puck shots, latte art, milk frothing, customer interaction, cafe layouts, and anything and everything else that you can possibly photograph that is somehow related to coffee.

We want to see your coffee experiences through the eyes of your camera’s lense.

Join the Texas Coffee People Flickr group, and note the sidebar display of the contents.

Texas Coffee People

It’s pretty baren right now, but hopefully you can help fix that.

I saw this bit in the forum from contributor Aaron Blanco, and thought it should have been posted here instead.

The following is in his words:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, it’s no surprise I’m into coffee.  Duh.  More broadly, though, my wife and I are simply beverage lovers of all kinds.  She gets into tea and mate’ and concocting all sorts of combos like that.

One of our weaknesses is bubble tea (or “pearl” or “boba” tea, if you please).  Austin has a couple decent places including the famed Momoko on 24th…tea brewed fresh to order; real fruit chunks, etc.  But Austin is 90 miles away and it’s hard to justify swimming up there just for that.

So my wife and were thrilled to hear that there’s a new place in San Antonio’s Lavaca neighborhood that serves a range of (generally Asian) beverages, including bubble teas.  (They also have hookahs, fyi, if you’re into that sort of thing.)  It’s called Bubblehead and it’s a very cool place.  Yes, they serve coffee, too; but I haven’t even tried that yet on two trips there.

The boba are nearly ideal in texture and size.  My first visit they seem to have been soaking in sauce a little too long as they were bloated beyond the diameter of the straw.  But they were still tasty; and to me soaked-too-long boba is way, way better than undercooked/undersoaked boba.

Anyways, I went there one day to check it out at Jason from Cafe Gallo’s insistence and the very next day I had to bring my wife.  Yes!  Good bubbles in San Antonio!  And in Lavaca, a part of town that is redeveloping and growing  and turning into a quietly desirable neighborhood.  Jason’s Gallo isn’t very far from there and I think it’s safe to say the area is filling in nicely with some decent gnosh spots too.

Anyways, just wanted to toss that out there in case any of you other coffee fiends also have a secret soft spot for bubbles.
Bubble Head’s Myspace page

Taken from Barista Exchange.

I was poking around bX (that’s Barista Exchange, for you folks) today and came across this lovely little gem.

Now, normally, I’m not so hop in “permanent” cups that are made to resemble “temporary” cups, but the fact that this is a functional permanent to-go cup made of CERAMIC really got my attention. (more-so than the catchy name)

From Decor Craft Inc.

Double walled; thermal porcelain cup with silicone top. Eco-friendly and reusable. Dishwasher safe. This product retails at approximately $20/piece. If you would like more information or to purchase this product- please email : info@dcigift.com.

Pretty cool!

I think this may be a good option for retailers, as I don’t think it would be too difficult to get a logo on there somewhere. Of course, I don’t know for sure, so don’t just take my word for it.

If I saw one with a logo from my favorite retailer, I believe I’d have to purchase one. ;o)

I received an email today from Mr. Jonathan Averitt regarding open positions for his retailer.

He writes,

Hello,

My name is Jonathan Averitt and I work for Peet’s Coffee and Tea in Hobby Airport in Houston. Finding really good baristas is very hard here because we do not have a store front and I can’t put up a sign at the door saying, “Now Hiring”, because all of my customers are airport employees or passengers. I’ve used craigslist and a few other site’s and it’s not working so well. I just happened to find your site (thank God) and I figured, if any body in the coffee industry needs a job they should end up here. I was wondering if you could post this add for me on your Jobs section.

My personal e-mail is surfer_jonny@yahoo.com and my stores e-mail is peetscoffee@comcast.net. You can e-mail me at both.

Thank You

Jonathan Averitt-General Manager

He’s included an ad for the position as well. The ad states:

Peets Coffee Now Hiring Baristas: $7.50hr + Tips (Hobby Airport)

We are looking for smart, friendly people who love coffee and are dedicated to helping customers brew the perfect cup of Peet’s Coffee and Tea at Hobby Airport. Peet’s Coffee and Tea are looking for full and part time, morning, mid and night crews.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea offers competitive pay and a great work environment. Peet’s is a people-oriented culture which places emphasis on both individual and team contribution. Every person counts and we are proud to offer a work environment focused on the following key values:

• Growth
• Community
• Rewards
• Culture
• Reputation

If you’re ready to give your career a distinctive new flavor, come talk with us about career opportunities at Peet’s.

Location: Hobby Airport
Compensation: $7.50hr + Tips
Contact: Jonathan Averitt (General Manager) surfer_jonny@yahoo.com peetscoffee@comcast.net
Other: Very strict background check with the T.S.A. (Transportation Safety Administration)

At Mr. Averitt’s request, this listing has been added to the Jobs page.

That’s right, folks.

I’m sorry to say, that we’ve sold the domain and intellectual property of Texas Coffee People to Starbucks Coffee Co.

The sale is effective as of today. You can expect the list of roasters and retailers to be replaced by Starbucks locations in the state of Texas, and the articles to pertain to the ideals of automated espresso brewing, and why lattes are not free-poured.

Don’t be sad, we made out like bandits in the deal!

I hope you can be happy for us, and we feel like this is a big step in coffee’s progress. Starbucks is just in a position that is highly influential on a much larger scale than we could ever have hoped for on our own.

Just consider it as the torch of our vision handed off to a goddess of the sea, sprinkled with a little copper sulphate, and the fire spread across the state via wind and dry grass.

We’ve had a lot of fun. Thanks for sticking with us for so long.

And also, happy April Fool’s Day.

   On February 15, Carlos, the manager of Finca Vista Hermosa, and his son Edwin, were on their way back up to the Finca with supplies and money for payroll. On the way up the mountain, some bandits not from the area took their money and their lives as well. This was shock not only to the FVH Family, but also to the local community.

Carlos 1960 - 2008. Husband and father of 12 kids.

Edwin 1991 - 2008. While not the oldest he was the first in his family to go to high school. Ever since he could kick a ball he fearlessly played with people twice his age and is a legendary goalie.

This year Carlos would have been 47 and Edwin 17.

Edwin has set up a PayPal memorial fund on his blog, or which you can link to directly below:

I would encourage you to consider making a donation to help Carlos’ wife, Juana, carry on the business of raising their remaining non-adult children.  They had 12 children and of the 11 still alive, I believe nine are still minors…several of them barely able to toddle yet.

Yes, Carlos (and his son, “little” Edwin) were both very generous and kind and gentle.  I remarked to Edwin Martinez the other day that as I was looking at his (Edwin’s) pics of Carlos and the farm recently and came across Carlos and his son’s pics I thought to myself, “I can’t wait to get down there again and see those two.”

Now…no more.  Sad times.  Of course, nothing can replace a good farm manager.  But more importantly, nothing can replace a friend, father, husband (or in little Edwin’s case, a son or brother).

Anyway, please, please consider donating.  While Edwin says the farm is still in good shape and all, after this harvest season they will obviously have some serious decisions to make.

sources: http://espressotrainer.com/Forum/index.php?topic=149.0 ; http://fincavistahermosa.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/carlos-garcia-martin-and-edwin-garcia-martin/

Just wishing everyone a happy

St. Valentine’s Day.

(for those who are not celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, happy Singles Awareness Day.  What… you thought we’d leave you out?)