There has been a lot of big changes this month. Jeff went back to Clifbar in Berkeley. He is now Clifbar Jeff once again. We hired Sharky as the main warehouse person and in charge of all things coffee. He knows more about coffee than I expected. I guess that Intelli training paid off. He has already read the roaster manual cover to cover and is ready to learn. We also had to hire someone just to run deliveries all day. Greg is the new bike delivery guy. You will see him pedaling all over town.

On the cafe side.. Haus is open and doing well. They are on 24th & Folsom St. They do an excellent job at rotating our coffees on their french press. We now have an account in Texas. Sharky is heading out in a few weeks for a training and grand opening.

We are now cupping every MWF at 9:30am. Send an email if you are interested in joining.

Espresso has being ever changing and improving. We are playing around with different single origins. We have two new additions this month.
Brazil Fazenda Pedra Grande de Monte Santo de Minas 100% bourbon– Remarkably full-bodied, unbelievably sweet, rich and chocolaty. Full natural, dried on raised African beds.
El Salvador San Emilio 100% Bourbon Pulped Natural– Super sweet and full bodied. This coffee has an incredibly smooth finish.

We currently have two new job openings. Take a look and email us your resume if interested.
Warehouse Person
35-40 hrs per week
General Summary:
We are looking for a motivated person to join us. We want someone who is interested in learning about the specialty coffee industry from a roaster’s perspective.
Essential Job Functions:
Responsible for packaging coffee. Deliver coffee throughout the Bay Area in a timely manner. Desire to learn the roasting trade and become an assistant roaster.
Physical Requirements:
Stand for extended periods of time. Lift 75lbs or more. Deliver 100 lbs or more on cargo bike (provided). Participate in coffee cuppings daily.
Compensation:
Depending on experience

Farmer’s Markets Sales Person
20-30 hrs per week
Car and driver’s license needed
General Summary:
We are looking for someone who is punctual, trustworthy and enthusiastic. Someone who enjoys interacting with people and who is passionate about coffee.
Essential Job Functions:
Responsible for set up, working and clean up of farmer’s markets. Ability to handle money transactions and sales.

Physical Requirements:
Stand for extended periods of time. Lift 50 lbs or more. Multitasking.
Compensation:
Depending on experience

Everyone is always amazed that we manage to deliver all our coffee in San Francisco by bicycle. Depending on the weather, it can really be a lot of fun for the person running all the coffee. Jeff is back from his art adventure, and with that comes new buckets mounted on his Feeney rack to deliver more coffee.

This past Sunday was our first farmers market in San Francisco. We are teaming up with Mojo Bike Cafe (one of our accounts) to serve fresh drip coffee at the Divisadero Farmers Market. It was really inspiring to see the local community so excited about our drip coffee and fresh beans. Hope to have some photos of our setup soon.

I have been lagging about adding all the new cafes in the area that now serve our esspresso and coffee. I’m not sure if it’s lagging or actually too busy to mess with the website. To give a quick rundown, you can now find our coffee at:
The Stabe Cafe
Trouble Coffee
Mojo Bike Cafe
Pirate Cat Cafe
Mercury Cafe (new and doing great..they are located in Hayes Valley on Octavia and Page)
AHA Cafe

There are also a few on the horizon that will be great. Fairfax will be getting a regular dose of De La Paz Coffee very soon.

Lots of new coffees coming in right now. Brazil is having a great year. We have been roasting our Moreninha Formosa and Poco Fundo to perfection for the past few months. For the first time we brought in a really nice FTO Bolivia CIAPEC. This was quick to become a favorite for many of our accounts. Super spicy.

Colombia Micro Lots— Our first micro lot is from San Jose de Isnos. San Jose de Isnos is a municipality located on the eastern slope of the Central Cordillera in south Huila. The terrain and landscape in this region are optimal for coffee: high altitude, volcanic soils, abundant water resources and good climate.
Coffee is grown between 1700 and 2000 meters, very high considering the proximity to the Equator.

I have also been working on a story about coffee bean density. Remember, it’s all about the Altitude. For now I will leave everyone with my morning “Cortado” from Mark at The Stable. Beautiful.

These two coffees received the highest scores of the month at the De La Paz cupping table. We had been waiting and waiting for the new crop of Brazil to arrive and as they say… “The best things come to those who wait.” Out of over 70 different coffees at the Brazil FT Cupping Competition held in October ‘08, this years Brazil Poco Fundo received the highest rating.

Another new coffee we really like is our Colombia Huila Valencia. This wet processed, 100% sun dried coffee comes from the South Huila region of Colombia. The Valencia family grows some of the best coffee in the region and this years crop is top notch. Classic Colombia acidity with hints of fruit, vanilla, and cinnamon.

This winter has been good. Lots of exciting stuff going on at the moment. We just got back from CX Nationals in Kansas City and that was a lot of fun. Super cold means lots of hot coffee to sell. It was great to hear so many people say that they remembered us from Providence with just our little wooden drip stand. I still can not believe we did that.
In San Francisco we seem to be focusing on our cafe business at the moment. Last month we picked up two new cafes in SF and it has been a lot of work dialing in their espresso and training staff. You can now find our espresso in Mojo Bicycle Cafe on Divisadero St. and in Trouble Coffee on Judah. The Stable is also doing very well.

On the coffee side of things, we are now out of our Brazil Rodomunho. It was a great coffee. Hopefully their new crop is just as good or better. We also just received a new crop of Brazil Poco Fundo. This years crop is very nice. Right now it is one of our best coffees.

Today we received two new and very exciting coffees. The first is the Brazil Rodomunho. This coffee is a pulped natural and comes from Alta Paranaiba, the highest region in the Cerrado coffee growing area, and in the state of Minas Gerais. The Ottoni family has been growing coffee for over one hundred years and has won more national coffee competitions than most farms. They have received prizes in the “Cup of Excellence” three different years.

We also received an incredible coffee from El Salvador. Our El Salvador Fatima comes from 100% Bourbon varietals and is fully washed and sun dried. This is a MICRO LOT in all aspects. Carmen Duch Martinez is the farm owner and they produce a total of 15 bags per year. This year they ranked #39 in the “Cup of Excellence”. In previous years they have received a 6th place and a 16th place. Truly one of the best coffees in El Salvador. We do not have many of these vacuum sealed bags, so get it before the coffee sells out.

This is our first time dealing with “Cup of Excellence” coffees. We hope to focus on more roasting of coffee from small family farms throughout the world. Knowing exactly where our coffee comes from is very important to us and our customers. Go check out our store for more detailed info on both of these farms.

September started off with some crazy heat in the city. September also started off with a few new cafe accounts for us. The first was AHA Cafe in Hastings Law School. They have a sweet GB5 and they are really doing well. Last week we helped open The Stable Cafe on 17th and Folsom. They are currently open from 8am-3pm M-F. The coffee is being served press pot style and on their new 2 group La Marzocco. We have been doing some intense training with them over the past week. The espresso is really tasting good. I am not sure if it is all the geeky espresso books I have been reading or the constant training (maybe a mixture of both), but our espresso has really been coming to form.

September also means our favorite cycling season “Cyclocross”. We will be at a number of events up and down the coast. We are a sponsor with Team Freewheel this year. They will be over caffeinated before every race. We are also happy to have our espresso being served at this years big cross opener “Star Crossed” in Wa. on Sept. 20th. It’s all about racing under the lights and good espresso. Finally, we just confirmed this years Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City. Four days of cold and good bike racing with lots of coffee.
http://www.kccrossnationals.com/

This weekend you can catch us down at Crissy Field with the Vanderkitten family. Dave and crew are putting on a women’s cycling clinic from 9am-11am on Saturday, and later in the night will be the SF Twilight Crits.

This Saturday (8/16) we will be giving a demo at Birite Market in San Francisco (Mission District). The demo will be from 12pm-4pm. Stop by and try some of our new and exciting coffee offerings. For more info on Birite check out HERE.

Christian from Man Seeking Coffee just wrote a piece on our coffee and roastery. Check it out HERE…

Today we trekked down to Santa Cruz for a training with Asana Teas. They are a new tea and coffee house in downtown SC. They open on thursday (7/31) and they should do a great job right from the start. The tea selection is incredible. Today we trained them on their drip stand and espresso machine. There were at least ten people for the training and everyone had a good time. We were dripping the new Ethiopia Korate. It keeps on getting better every time we roast this incredible coffee.

This week we saw the arrival of another incredible Ethiopian coffee. Is it ever going to stop? Our Ethiopian Korate is from the Sidamo region yet again and is dried on raised beds while the coffee bean is still inside the red cherry. The flavors are incredible. Deep fruit, cherry, and cacao. This coffee is so versatile. The Korate can be used for Single Origin Espresso, French Press, Moka Pot, and drip.

We also are now working with a great cafe called Java Jitters. They are currently pulling our 14th St. Espresso on their wonderful La Marzocco. They are located by City College in the Ingleside hood. 1125 Ocean Ave. to be exact.

Last week we were part of a great article written in the San Francisco Chronicle. The focus was on the Bay Areas favorite small batch coffee roasters. In case you dont live in the Bay and didnt get a chance to read the article, here it is: “Coffee Lovers Spill the Beans…” .

***I am very excited about being part of the article, however I would like to mention that my wife MariPaz, who is a very integral part of the company, was not included. I like to think that she keeps the company running smoothly.

Interest and sales of our Yirgacheffe Misty Valley has been incredible. I really can not believe I didn’t order more of this coffee. I think we will only have the Misty Valley for another 4 weeks at most. This years crop is so yummy. It has spilled over to our espresso too. Our 14th St Espresso has really been going well with a little touch of the Misty Valley.

This weekend took us a few blocks from our shop to the Mission Cultural Center, where MariPaz was performing with the Samba Jam. What a great experience!!

On Friday, the Stable Cafe threw an opening party for their new kitchen, art space, and cafe. The actual opening of the cafe isn’t until two more weeks, but we were there serving up some really good Misty Valley. The Stable will be serving press pot coffee and an array of espresso drinks. They also have a few special drinks lined up, like a signature turkish coffee that is incredible.

One of the highlights of the evening was having Derrick from Blue Bottle helping with the coffee serving. This was my first time meeting him and it was great to geek out about coffee all night. He knows an insane amount about coffee. He even brought along some MV from their roaster and we got to taste and compare. We are very excited to have this cafe open up so close to our roastery and serve our coffee.

This weekend we will be participating in Carnaval SF. It is a two day event that is one of the largest events of the year in San Francisco. We will be located in the Zona Verde-Green Zone area. Healing ceremonies; dance; renewable energy; earth friendly products; bodywork; organic food specialty items; and a celebration of the power of wind, sun, water, and air will be brought together at Carnaval San Francisco’s ZONA VERDE. We are committed to bringing attention to pressing environmental issues in a friendly celebratory manner that reflects the spirit of Carnaval San Francisco.

These past few weeks have been very busy. We are in the process of moving to a new location and also setting up a new roaster. Setting up the new roaster and after burner is taking some time, but we want to make sure it is done right the first time. Hopefully by midweek we will be rocking the new roaster.

We are also receiving lots of new coffee’s that are on a whole other level. The first round of Ethiopian coffee’s are in and they are tasting great. Two different processes from Ethiopia Sidamo. One is a washed process and the other is a special prep (dry process). It is amazing to taste the differences between the two.
Another new coffee is this years new coffee from the Huehuetenango Highland of Guatemala. This years crop seems to be even better than last years.
Stay tuned for more from Ethiopia in the next few weeks. We are going to be really focusing on the different coffee micro lots (small farms) and processes throughout Ethiopia.