Arizona Coffee

Fonbucks is a clever little product from a company called Fon that is giving away free routers to anybody that lives near a Starbucks, and wants to charge people for using their bandwidth. Since they handle all of the transaction fees, and charge less than Starbucks does for bandwidth, you end up getting a bit of the money. (via)

There’s a new coffee shop in Chandler and it is called Coffee Shark Cafe. It opened today, February 27, 2007. Based on everything I’ve read about the shop on their web site, it looks like a top notch place.

Coffee Shark Cafe
1020 E. Ray Road, Ste 1
Chandler, Arizona 85255
Phone: (480) 857-1554
www.myspace.com/coffeeshark
www.coffeeshark.net

Something I ponder nearly every time I enter a restaurant, coffee shop, or even a mom-and-pop store, is whether they’re actually earning a profit.

Because we have so many brand new coffee shops in this state, and most of them are run by new owners, I often doubt whether they are a financial success. It takes a rather large number of daily customers to make ends meet, and often years to build that kind of traffic.

A few questions: If you run a successful coffee house, what would you say is the #1 thing you did to earn a profit?

Is location more important than anything?

Please don’t name names, unless you are the owner. I’m wanting this to be more of an open conversation about what works and what doesn’t work, and whether you think most coffee shops make a profit.

Have a great weekend!

Is anybody familiar with the Coffee Doctors?

Coffee Doctors
15035 N. Cave Creek Road
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Phone (602) 788-0244
Fax (602) 788-2275

Mark Walker of Scottsdale Java Company emailed me this morning to update me on their progress since opening their Scottsdale coffee house. If JavaCo. is new to you, you might be interested in watching my interview.

JavaCo plans to open these coffee shops in the next 9 weeks:

1. Fountain Hills, AZ — (Java Co. # 005)
2. Phoenix, AZ — (Java Co. # 006) Cave Creek and 101.
3. Chanhassen, MN #2 — (Java Co. #007)
4. Chaska, MN #2 — (Java Co. # 008)
5. Mall of America — (Java Co. # 009)
6. Scottsdale, AZ — Via Ventura / 101. (Java Co. # 010) Drive thru location.
7. Woodbury, MN — Woodbury Plaza (Java Co. #011)
8. Awahtukee, AZ — (Southeast PHX) (Java Co. # 12) Second drive thru location.

Six more locations on the back side of ’07:

13. Avondale, AZ — drive thru location. Est open July ’07
14. Shanghai, China — Pudong District. Est open, June ’07
15. Desert Ridge, PHX, AZ — est open August / September ’07
16. Blaine, MN — Est open October ’07
17. Singapore. — Est Open. October ’07
18. Gilbert, AZ — Est open, October ’07

That’s what you call ambition!

Scottsdale Java Co.
www.scottsdalejavaco.com
15223 Northsight Blvd.
Suite 115
Scottsdale, AZ

The Human Bean is a coffee drive-thru franchise with one location in Arizona (they have 28).

The Human Bean
Lake Havasu
633 N. Lake Havasu Ave.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Are you all familiar with the Flat White? My friend just returned from Australia and informs me it is pretty good. Basically less froth than an American latte. My friend also says that if you order an iced coffee there it comes with ice cream and whip cream!

Here’s how the Wikipedia describes a Flat White:

A Flat White is a coffee beverage served in Australia and New Zealand, prepared with espresso and milk.

The drink is generally made with 1/3 espresso and 2/3 steamed milk, very similar to the ingredients in a latte. The milk is prepared differently, with the volumised milk at the top folded into the lower layers [1]. The resulting drink has only a very thin layer of froth at the top.

Australian lattes and flat whites are usually served in 215-240ml cups, making them stronger than some lattes served in some other countries.

The Flat White was discussed on CoffeeGeek.

Most of you already know about the Red Rock Foods Open House this week, but I wanted to make sure you all know. I’m planning to be there on Wednesday.

Red Rock Foods cordially invites you to attend an Open House and Customer Appreciation Day on Wednesday, February 21 and Friday, February 23, 2007. We look forward to seeing you and updating you on present activities and exciting future plans. Of course we will have delicious drinks, some great coffees and snacks.

One of the Phoenix area’s most skilled baristas will be on hand making drinks and doing some training. Please make an appointment if you’d like one of the training slots. Better hurry, the available slots are filling fast. The training will be tailored to your interests and can cover any aspect of espresso drink preparation, including latte art. This free hour of training is one of our ways of contributing to advancing specialty coffee in Arizona.

Hope to see you next week on Wednesday or Friday. Give us a call at the office if you have questions or need more information.

When: Wednesday, February 21 and Friday, February 23, 2007. 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM both days.

Red Rock Foods is located at:
2011 E. Fifth St.
Suite #1
Tempe, AZ 85282
(Click here for a map)
Phone: 480.557.7625
www.redrockfoods.com

On Thursday I received some samples from 7-Eleven of their new Fusion Coffee. It was announced last week and contains 3 herbs infused into it. Pretty clever actually. We’re going to give it a try today!

So La Grande Orange renamed the Spanish Latte and it is now the Havana Latte. The drink recipe remains unchanged (I asked).

I asked them about the menu board since it had recently changed (see photo) and asked who had done it. They said that one of their staff is naturally good at it, and doesn’t use any rulers or anything! Simply amazing. Menu boards like these are the sort of thing that I like. Lots of cool coffee shops use chalkboards.

It’s Saturday, and that means a link roundup on Arizona Coffee.

Here’s a sweet desktop wallpaper for your computer which is a closeup photo of a coffee bean.

People giving fake names at Starbucks — I do this sometimes.

Direct Trade Flor Azul Project, 2006.

Coffee rhymes, tunes, and scripts on The Prairie Home Companion radio show.

How to order coffee. An instructional guide at Dunkin’ Donuts.

Globe coffeehouse draws crowd. Our friends at vida e cafe get some press.

Top Independent Espresso/Coffee Houses in Phoenix, AZ.

On the Arizona Coffee Forum: Fast Eddie asks what celebrities you have seen at coffee shops, and another person posts a PDF with an article from Barista Magazine.

Brian Sawert wrote:

You’re missing a wonderful coffee shop in Flagstaff. The Campus Coffee Bean, located just at the south entrance into town, has great coffee and pastries, wi-fi (paid), and a great atmosphere for reading, studying, or socializing.

They also provide a night time venue for local musicians and performers. Check it out if you get a chance!

Ran across this photo recently, and couldn’t pass it up for a caption contest.

Has anybody been out to Buckeye lately? You haven’t? Me either. But I understand that there is a coffee shop there called Millstone Café, and guess what. The owner is also Eloy’s City Manager (full story).

Millstone Café
801 E. Monroe Avenue
Buckeye, Arizona 85326
Phone: (623) 327-3990
Fax: (623) 327-3992

The Millstone Café is a start-up coffee house and restaurant located in the historic downtown of Buckeye, Arizona. The Millstone Café is designed with a sense of warmth and an ambiance where you can meet a friend, conduct an informal business meeting, read the newspaper, study, or simply just hang out. The Millstone Café will offer a wide array of hot and iced espresso-based drinks (cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, etc.), specialty coffees and teas, and fresh fruit smoothies. Our food menu will consist of gourmet sandwiches, hearty soups, garden-fresh salads, decadent desserts, and everything else that creates a great coffee house experience.

The Millstone Café offers the town of Buckeye a nice, relaxed place to enjoy a great espresso drink and decadent dessert or a light, healthy meal. Customers will feel comfortable coming to the Millstone Café because it provides a cozy atmosphere that many franchise coffee shops and fast food restaurants lack.

From the Mailbag:

I am going to be coming down to the area at the end of March and i was wondering if you could tell me if there are any drive through espresso stands that I should hit when I am in the area? I am from Seattle and I always love to go to the independent coffee stands whenever possible. I haven’t seen any mention of them on this web site. — Brian

Sorry Brian, but I can’t think of a single espresso joint that is only drive through. There are a few shops that include drive through, but I’ve got two legs so I always go inside.