Arizona Coffee

In the newspaper today is a short article about how Fair Trade Cafe is under new ownership (since the summertime).

The Fair Trade Cafe in downtown Phoenix was in danger of closing last June, but its doors remain open thanks to new ownership. Michele White and Stephanie Vasquez bought the business in the summer and converted the non-profit cafe, which was run by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral next door, into a for-profit model.

White had been selling fair-trade merchandise in the shop and has always been passionate about human rights, and she said owning the entire business would help her reach more people.

“I feel I can do so much more with the cafe than I could ever do by myself,” White, 28, said.

White’s mother teaches with Vasquez at a local middle school, and Vasquez said it’s always been her dream to start up her own cafe, and she was eager to partner with White.

“I took a trip to Costa Rica and just fell in love with how right in the middle of absolutely nowhere, they’d have a little cafe and the best coffee I ever tasted,” Vasquez, 29, said.

Fair Trade, at 1020 N. First Ave., has been growing with a new marketing strategy, which includes reaching out to neighboring residents and businesses. The biggest challenge, the owners said, has been gaining attention despite being entrenched in light-rail construction.

Fair Trade features only fair-trade coffee and products. Fair trade is a type of market with a social-justice model that supports the artisans and producers.

“We look at everyone getting paid a fair living wage, being treated well and working in good conditions, and that’s translated over to the growers of the coffee,” White said.

Fair Trade also uses coffee grown by Adventure Coffee Roasters in Tucson. All the coffee in the cafe is organic, which White said is popular with customers.

Besides coffee, the shop features food such as sandwiches, soups, salads, pastries and baked goods. The shop also carries a variety of fair-trade products, including handbags, clothing and soaps off the Karuna Village Fair Trade line, which White started about three years ago.

Just had a phone call with a client who reported seeing mention of Arizona Coffee on KPHO TV 5. He said it was on television the other morning twice, at 5 and 6 am. Quite cool to see them picking up on the article and mentioning it on television!

What are some of your favorite places to sit outside and enjoy this great weather?

This morning I stopped in at Olive & Ivy for a latte. Every time I visit I notice their huge patio (it’s out back by the canal). They could probably serve a hundred lattes an hour and have room for everyone.

Kathy Ellis writes:

Shea Cafe is a great little family-owned drive-thru coffee shop on the northwest corner of 32nd St & Shea in NE Phoenix. They have seating inside and outside also. Great, friendly service.

Shea Cafe
www.sheacafe.com
Northwest Corner of 32nd Street and Shea
Phone: (602) 482-9645

Sean from Ground Control Coffee writes:

Chris, I noticed that Ground Control was not mentioned as a coffee roaster. We are. We’ve been up and roasting for 3 months now using a US Roasters 5K machine. Currently we are offering 7 single origin coffees and 4 blends. We are the first SW Valley in-store coffee roaster that I am aware of and one of very few on the west side. Thanks for your time, keep up the great work on the website.

Ground Control
14140 W. Indian School
Suite B1
Goodyear, AZ 85395
Phone: (623) 935-2604

My friend Mike sends me this video showing a Clover in operation.

Welcome readers of the Arizona Republic!

Arizona Coffee is your resource for coffee in Arizona (and specifically independent coffee houses and not Starbucks). Here are a few links to get you started:

1. List of Coffee Shops
2. List of Coffee Roasters
3. Coffee Shop Map
4. About Chris
5. Archives

Enjoy your visit and be sure to subscribe (RSS) or bookmark!

That’s the theory anyways. I don’t put much weight into the study, considering they only observed 8 coffee shops.

http://www.slate.com/id/2177697/nav/tap3/

That’s the conclusion of American economist Caitlin Knowles Myers. She, with her students as research assistants, staked out eight coffee shops (PDF) in the Boston area and watched how long it took men and women to be served. Her conclusion: Men get their coffee 20 seconds earlier than do women. (There is also evidence that blacks wait longer than whites, the young wait longer than the old, and the ugly wait longer than the beautiful. But these effects are statistically not as persuasive.)

Link to the study: http://www.middlebury.edu/services/econ/repec/mdl/ancoec/0711.pdf

The coffee calendar I mentioned last week is now available for purchase.

2008 Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar.

Lisa Dowd, owner of A Shot of Java in downtown Glendale has been featured in the newspaper. Here are her tips for brewing good coffee.

Here’s her advice on how to brew a great cup at home, using any manual drip pot:

• Freshness counts. Beans lose flavor quickly, so optimally they should be used within two weeks of roasting. Beans are naturally oily, so if buying from a grocery bin, stay clear of beans that are dull and dry, a sign they are past their flavor prime.
• For health and ethical reasons, Dowd recommends organic, free-trade beans in either medium or bold.
• Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark cupboard.
• Buy whole beans and grind your coffee just prior to brewing. For drip brewing, the grind should be similar in consistency to granulated sugar. Dowd recommends using at least 1 tablespoon for every 6 ounces, or three-quarters cup, of water. Grind only as much whole-bean coffee as you need for immediate brewing. Coffee begins to loose flavor and aroma within one hour of being ground.
• Make sure your coffee pot is brewing at the right temperate: 180 to 185 degrees. Too low a temperature produces weak coffee, and too high a temperature produces a bitter flavor.
• Water is an ingredient, and Dowd recommends using filtered or bottled water, never softened or tap water. Check that the spray head inside your coffee brewer is not clogged or obstructed by coffee or water residues. Also make sure the appropriate brew basket for your brewing equipment is being used.
• Once the coffee is brewed, drink within 15 to 30 minutes. Coffee retains its flavor for about 15 to 30 minutes.
• Cleanliness also matters. Wash filters and pots well. Any residue will turn the next pot quickly into a bitter brew.
• Those who brew coffee regularly should clean their coffeemakers monthly. To clean, add white vinegar to the water reservoir until one-fourth full. Fill with water until full. Run the water-vinegar solution through coffeemaker.

Talking with a barista at a Coffee Plantation Saturday night I learned that The Coffee Plantation is under new ownership.

The barista I spoke with said the new owner is open to suggestions.

What are your suggestions for improving Coffee Plantation?

I’m not much of a fan of wall calendars, but this one sounds like a winner. It sounds like they’re still in production and will be released this winter.

http://www.rohdesign.com/weblog/archives/002402.html

The newspaper has an article about Dutch Bros. Coffee today. I’ve included an excerpt below.

In the juggernaut of coffee shops, brewing up business can be tough.

For Dutch Bros. Coffee, the secret boils down to freebies for first-timers.

“We knew this business was good at ‘free,’ ” joked Jim Thompson, who with wife, Janice McCarthy, recently opened the first Dutch Bros. Coffee franchise in Tempe near Arizona State University.

The drive-through and walk-up coffee shop seems to be a hit with ASU students and staff, in part because first-timers get a free cup of coffee. And that deal applies to anyone, not just those with university connections. The shop tries to breed loyalty and attract repeat business from customers who want staffers to know their names as much as they know their regular coffee orders.

“They’re nice, they’re friendly, they remember my name and she (the clerk) knows what I want even before I get there,” said Tim Clark, 27, who pulled into the drive-through recently in a red Toyota Land Cruiser.

Rather than talk through an intercom box, customers order their drinks at a drive-up window.

Thompson and his regional manager Dave Vines said the system is faster than other drive-through setups and gives customers the added personal touch of more direct human contact.

“It’s all designed for speed,” Vines said. “And we believe you should never turn your back on a customer.”

Taxes are included in the price of drinks so customers don’t have to fumble with pennies and odd change. Cash is deposited into an old-fashioned cash box.

“People don’t come back here for the coffee,” Vines said. “Well, they do, but they come back here because people know their name, are friendly and it’s convenient.”

Dutch Bros. is a family-run company started in 1992 by two brothers who were dairy farmers in Grants Pass, Ore. They began serving coffee from a cart and later built drive-through coffee shops without a walk-in restaurant, thereby saving money on overhead. They now have more than 100 locations, most of which are franchise-owned.

Thompson and McCarthy have brought the first Dutch Bros. shops to Arizona. They opened their Tempe location at Rural Road and Lemon Street in late August and have plans to open another store at Bell Road and 29th Street in April or May.

They also have plans to develop five more stores soon, including in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and Gilbert.

The couple want to open 20 stores throughout the Valley over the next three years.

Thompson said the franchise isn’t worried about competing with Starbucks and other established coffee chains.

Today while on the road I saw a delivery truck for Highland Coffee Roaster. The truck indicated that they roast fine coffees for coffee houses and restaurants. I wondered why I had never heard of them. Does anybody have the scoop?

We’ve seen this concept before but not on a porcelain mug like this. Great concept, executed well. At $23 a pop they’re a bit on the expensive side (for a mug) but could make a great Christmas gift.

View it at Charles & Marie. Via Decomodo.