In September I posted a post about The Coffee Lifeline Project, well, a Tucson auto dealership is now offering a free bag of Rwandan coffee with every test drive to help the effort.
From The Arizona Daily Star article today:
Hoping to promote economic development in the war-ravaged African nation he recently visited, Click has teamed with others to offer a sample of Rwandan coffee and a calendar focusing on the natural beauty of the country and its silverback gorillas.
Coffee is an economic backbone for the central African nation, where up to 40 percent of the population is dependent on the growing and sale of the beans, Click said.
Coffee Rush has a new web site, and it’s at www.coffeerush.biz — just thought I’d mention it since I’m enjoying a coffee at their Gilbert location, and dig their place.
The Arizona Republic has a feature on Weather and Coffee, providing some insight into the coffee shops founders (Ed and Anne Phillips) and what makes the shop tick. Read it here.
The Tucson Weekly reports on a new coffee house:
The recently opened El Ojito Springs Center for Creativity and Coffeehouse serves up free-trade coffee and organic food daily. Most nights, there’s live music, poetry or an open mic. And coming soon will be plays and art exhibits at 452 S. Stone Ave.; 624-4800. The coffee house is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m.; closes at 1 a.m. on weekends; open Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Clever play on words there. I had a tremendous visit to Red Rock Foods on Monday, and let me just say that these guys have it down. Bill McCouley (General Manager), Fred Bartholomew, and Steve Kessler gave me the grand tour, and I’m quite impressed. We must have talked for two hours, and tried all kinds of delicious products.
You can expect a full writeup shortly on Arizona Coffee, but I wanted to just get the word out about their great operation. They don’t just stock product and ship it out to you. They do that, but they also do so much more. They demonstrate ways that you can make your products better (often very simple changes, too). I learned a lot and took some fun photos. Will share soon.
Red Rock Foods is located at:
2011 E. Fifth St.
Suite #1
Tempe, AZ 85282
Phone: 480.557.ROCK
www.redrockfoods.com
Here’s a rather different idea… JL Hufford Build-Your-Own Espresso blend. Their e-commerce order form actually allows you to blend up to 4 beans, for a total of 16 oz of roasted coffee.
Adds a whole new blend to things, literally.
Bags And Beans has re opened as A Shot of Java. Jonathan writes:
Bags And Beans is now A Shot Of Java. They opened up the new place mid Oct. They have revamped the interior and the coffee is very good. The owner started a myspace page for the place.
www.myspace.com/ashotofjava
It’s comfy, with the usual: couches, soft chairs, free wi-fi.
Looks like she is trying to get music ever Fri and Sat. My band, Paper Box, played there a few times. We’ve gotten to like hanging out there very quickly and started a game night ever 1st and 3rd Wed with pizza brought in from Old Roma Next door.
Photo from the MySpace page:
Just North of Glendale, between 57th Drive and 58th Ave.
I received an email yesterday from Kirk Douglas, to let me know about their new coffee shop in the west valley called Over Coffee.
Over Coffee
Building C Suite 101
16572 West Greenway Rd
Surprise, AZ 85388
Monarch Coffee is to open in early December according to The Arizona Republic.
Despite all the Starbucks and other coffee shops that have opened up, Scott McKeag, a Las Vegas engineer and geologist, decided to open a coffee shop because he wants to share with others what he claims was the best cup of coffee he ever had. It was in 1996, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
He learned that the man selling the coffee had grown and roasted it himself and was selling it to cruise ships. Eventually, McKeag began selling the coffee on his Web site, www.cafesuperior.com.
“It’s a rich coffee with no bitter taste,” said McKeag, who mainly works in the field of water treatment but decided to open a coffee shop.
Monarch Coffee will have large overstuffed chairs and sell coffee in oversize mugs. “Coffee is supposed to be enjoyed, not rushed through life and spilled on dashboards,” he said.
He hopes to open during the first week in December. He took over the space vacated by Eye-Magination.
Information: (480) 706-0027.
Location: 4200 block of Chandler Boulevard
At the beginning of November I reported that the Mokarabia Coffee Bar would be opening soon in Verrado. Well, they have plans to open in December.
From The Arizona Republic:
Mokarabia, a company whose other planned locations include Tokyo, London, Paris and New York, is now wedged in the Verrado Main Street District, sitting alongside luxury lofts, a smoothie bar and gourmet pizza shop.
When the international Italian coffee bar opens in December, these Arizona residents will be the first in the United States to sit inside and sample the bar’s espresso drinks, gelato, omelets and pastries.
The article also mentions an Old Scottsdale location is in the plans:
The Verrado location’s manager, Alex Pierson, was sent overseas for his espresso training in Bologna, Italy, and gelato training in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
“I got to see our espresso machine made from nothing, made from the ground up,” Pierson said. “It gave me the training I needed to bring back to the United States. We picked Verrado because it’s a fun, energetic community where we see great potential with the other vendors on Main Street. We think this will bring outside citizens to Verrado.”
More Arizona locations are planned for next year, the next being in Old Town Scottsdale that is scheduled to open this spring.
The Chocofin Chocolatier in Fountain Hills should get an espresso machine. They could serve up mocha’s and chocolate espresso drinks, and expand their business. They probably don’t need my advice though, I hear they have plenty of business.
Researchers sampled coffee from 10 coffee companies and only Folger’s Instant contained no caffeine.
CoolCorC is an environmentally friendly coffee cup sleeve made from recycled wine bottle corks.
Ethiopia trademark issue: A timeline. And on the product naming blog, some analysis: Branding Naming: Starbucks May Get Scalded.
Inza Coffee receives some press along with several artists… Artists, coffee shops brew a profitable alliance.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Trying to put together a list of the chains that sell coffee in Arizona.
Updated based on comments.
Starbucks Coffee — 265 locations
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf — 12 locations
Seattle’s Best Coffee — 12 locations
Coffee Plantation — 7 locations, another opening in Dec.
Coffee Exchange — 7 locations in Tucson
Gloria Jeans — 6 locations
It’s A Grind — 3 locations, and 3 on the way
Mountain View Coffee Company — 3 locations
CupZ Coffee — 3 locations
JavaCo — One, and multiple new ones opening in 2007
I’m considering a coffee shop a chain if they have more than 2 locations, which cuts out In The Raw and Coffee Rush. Am I missing anybody? Taking this count and adding my independent coffee houses list, gives us about 350 – 400 coffee shops statewide.
