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.

This time of year means new coffee from many countries. We just received and cupped an excellent new coffee from Mexico. This coffee comes from Chiapas and the Proish Coop. This wonderful coffee is very smooth and bright. The coffee is well balanced and sharp, and is excellent for French Press or Drip. We hope to have this coffee for a few months, so get it while it’s around.

In the next few months expect new offerings from Ethiopia. Many new and exciting coffees this year. Get ready!!

Things are looking good in San Pancho. A few more new accounts to note. We have a couple really great cafes that are now serving the De La Paz.

China Camp Bikes and Beans is located in San Rafael and is a great place for an espresso. They have a sweet La Marzocco inside.

If you are roaming the streets of Santa Cruz, stop by Cafe Campesino. Their kiosk is located on Pacific Ave (in front of Del Mar Theatre). They have some of the most authentic Mexican food in the city and now they are serving our drip coffee and our new Iced Coffee.

We also received a really nice write up on Ideal Bite. Check out what they have to say…

Finally, we made it over to Berkeley on Saturday to check out a little of the Western Regional Barista Championships (WRBC). It was cool to see the local roasters pulling shots up stairs on the 4th Machine.

We have a few new places for our current and future customers to find our fresh roasted coffee. The first is in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco. Cheese Plus is on the corner of Polk St and Pacific St. Great store with an excellent selection of high quality products. I think our coffee fits really well with this store.

The second place is located in Santa Cruz, Ca. Great Infusions Co. is a high end importer & distributor of espresso cups, espresso machines, and Barista gear for home users and cafe’s & restaurants. They are currently selling our 14th Street Espresso. People can either purchase at the store or order online. It is great seeing our espresso gaining popularity and doing really well. We spend a lot of time cupping and fine tuning our fresh roasted coffee.

Sorry for the lack of blogs. January flew by and was by far our best month to date. There is a lot going on and hopefully a few new ventures in the near future. We are getting ready for all those Central American coffees to start rolling in. We have been out of stock of a few origins for a few months and I am ready to start introducing new crops to all our customers. This year we really want to focus on building strong relationships with all our wholesale customers. Our goal is to pick up a few new restaurants and cafes and work with them to serve incredible coffee.
Winter bike rides have also been happening often.

Here is a view from Mt Tamalpais in the North Bay. Off in the distance you can see San Francisco. You can never get tired of the views from this mountain.

Mexico was great. Tons of family and great weather at the beach. We brought tons of coffee with us and we gave a semi formal tasting to everyone. We left some coffee to one cousin who has a cafe in Guadalajara and they couldn’t wait to use it this week. De La Paz Coffee being used in Mexico!!

We also made it to the state of Colima. We found some excellent handmade mugs/jarros and I also learned that Colima has lots of organic coffee grown there. We want to visit a few farms and taste some of that areas coffee.

Warehouse news… Reuse your bags and save big!! For 2008 we wanted to think of another way to minimize our ecological and carbon footprint. We thought that reusing our thousands of coffee bags we sell a year would be a great place to start. Anyone who is in the bay area and has a few De La Paz coffee bags laying around, stop by our warehouse/roastery and buy some fresh roasted coffee direct.
$1 off w/ 3/4lb bags
$.50 off w/ 1/2lb bags
Where else can you save a $1 on a bag of fresh roasted coffee? Send us an email, give a call, or leave a comment and we will make sure we are at our warehouse for your visit. If you are lucky you might show up for a cupping/tasting and get to try some great coffee while you are there. We would like to see our roasting warehouse become more of a gathering spot for coffee lovers and for you to get a chance to see what is involved in producing great coffee.

Wholesale news… De La Paz Coffee is now being served at Monks Kettle on 16th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero). Stop by and try out the special blend we made for them. They are only serving french press style and they are doing a great job.

This year we are off to Mexico for Xmas to visit La Familia. But before we leave, we need to make sure all our wholesale accounts are taken care of and supplied with plenty of coffee for the 6 days we are gone.

December has been great. Wholesale accounts are coming in and I can truly say there will be a lot of new things happening in the new year. It is great to start working with restaurants and training staff. I dont want to let too much out right now, but we have some good changes happening soon.

Since we will be off to Mexico in a few short days, we will not be shipping anything from the 20th-27th. If you place an order during that time, your order will be shipped soon after our arrival back to SF.

Coffee Fest Seattle has come and gone. This was our first big coffee festival and it was an incredible time. We brought along some fresh Brazil Poco Fundo and the great folks at Clover showed us just how good it can taste. Wow, was it amazing!!

We met lots of great people, drank more espresso than ever imaginable, and even attended a roast profile class. Check out our photos to see what Seattle was all about on our Flickr.

Juicy
Bright
Citrus
Floral
Medium Body

All these words decribe our new Costa Rica Tarrazu SHP EP coffee. This incredible organic coffee comes from Hacienda La Amistad. We only brought in a couple bags, so this coffee will not stay long. It should be up on the shopping page soon. In the meantime just shoot us an email to get a bag delivered to your house.

Just arrived. These new drip stands are incredible. I can honestly say these are the nicest drip stands I have seen around. Cant wait to use them this weekend in LA.

These drip stands are a sign of our wholesale quality and commitment.

Another cross season is upon us and we are excited to be a part of all the races (racing and serving fresh coffee). We will be traveling to a few big races this month. First we will be in Los Angeles for a UCI race on 10/21. Then we will be in Soquel on 10/28 for the famous Surf City Halloween Race. We will be serving lots of the Bella Blend.
SoCal Cross Prestige Series– http://www.socalcross.org/
Surf City– http://surfcitycx.blogspot.com/
We will be serving our drip coffee on all new equipment. We cant wait!!

October also means Fair Trade Month. We get to let everyone know our deep commitment to Fair Trade coffee. We are still 100% Fair Trade and Organic.

New to many of our stores is our De La Decaf. If you arent in the mood to get the shakes and gitters after a nice cup of coffee, this is the one for you.

It looks like our friends at The Breakroom Cafe in Oakland are doing better and better every week. A few of their customers have posted reviews on Yelp and they all give praise to their espresso and coffee drinks. We are really working hard on our espresso blend these days. Hearing feedback always helps. Check it out…
BREAKROOM REVIEW

Our focus for the fall and winter is to build our wholesale/cafe clientele and really be able to offer them the best service possible.

As mentioned in the last post, TODO Monthly wrote a great little article on us and our free bike delivery in the city. This magazine is all over the city. Grab a copy and let us know what you think.

Last but not least, CX Racing is upon us. The DFL Series have been super fun. Expect more photos in a few days from Weds race.

Everything is coming together for a great fall and winter. Making sure we have enough green coffee through the winter is tough. Hopefully we have estimated correctly. The last thing we want is to run out of green coffee before the next harvest of many of our current offerings.
Speaking of new offerings, we have come across a great tasting Sumatra Mandheling. Deep bodied, nutty, and spicy.
Mexico was great. Queretaro is an incredible city. Toured the whole city looking for a good espresso and came up empty. If anyone knows of a good cafe in the area please let us know. We will be back down there soon. Here is a photo from an old grinder that dates back 4-5 generations. It comes from the Cortes side of the family.

Up next will be more info on our coffee being served at Canyon Market with photos. They are using one of our custom drip stands. Also an article in TODO Monthly. Havent seen it yet.

Off to Mexico for a week. Please note that we will not be roasting and delivering coffee until the 30th of August. All online orders will be shipped on the 30th. Thanks for your patience.
Hasta Luego.

This week we will be giving out free coffee at the showing of Black Gold in the Dolores Park. Check out the flyer below for more info. This movie is probably the best coffee documentary ever made. Dont miss it. We will be giving out free coffee samples of our Fair Trade and Organic Harrar and Yirgacheffe coffee. Both come from the Oromia community in Ethiopia, which is the main focus of the movie.

We are also selling coffee at a new store in San Francisco. Anyone living in or around Noe Valley will find this store a great place to pick up some of our coffee. 26th and Guerrero Market is located exactly where the name states. Thank the friendly staff for selling De La Paz Coffee when you stop by.
Finally, here is a photo of the De La Paz Coffee prizes that were giving to the winners of the 2nd Annual BTR Criterium held in Kalamazoo Michigan this weekend.