On October 10th there will be a casual Barista Jam held at Press Coffee in Scottsdale, AZ. This is a relaxed event geared towards baristas and coffee enthusiasts. If you’re interested in coffee and want to learn more please attend.
I filmed this short video of Tom from Press Coffee talking about the event.
The City vs. City event which was planned for October has been postponed. That event will have a different venue and their are going to be more organizers this time around.
Who: Everybody! Baristas, people in the coffee industry, or people who wish to simply attend and learn more about professional coffee preparation.
What: Talk about coffee, drink beer from a keg (provided by Press Coffee)
Where:Press Coffee Food Wine
5410 E. High St.
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85054
Phone: (480) 419-6221
When: Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 3 pm to whenever.
Why: Just a casual event to talk about coffee quality, education, and hold mini-competitions during the event. There will be free beer, espresso-drinks, and the whole event promises to be a great time.
Cost: $5 to jump on the espresso machine, free to attend.
We have been in business since 9/11/03 and have ran a a couple of coffee shops and have now been in the coffee catering business since ’07.
Your guests will be pampered with the finest cappuccino, espresso & other gourmet coffee treats. Whether you require coffee catering for a formal affair or an informal gathering, we are happy to gear our operations and services to suit your needs.
Looks like a great company for that special occasion.
Chris Tingom knows coffee like a veteran barista knows “the shakes.” Lucky for us, he’s got a steady photo hand, despite all of his caffeine consumption. Tingom brews Arizona’s ultimate coffee blog day in and day out: Arizona Coffee. Tingom delicately balances news posts about coffee openings and closings with full-flavored analysis, written with a level of detail and research usually reserved for medical journals. We’re especially fond of his “Latte Art Throwdown” coverage. Checking out Tingom’s photos is almost like drinking the real thing.
In this video Ronald Cortez (Cafe Cortez) and Tom Maegdlin (Press Coffee) discuss coffee roasting in AZ. I have more video I’ll be posting soon. My bright shining face is in the video but my only contribution is to say “Yeah.”
In this video we were discussing the benefits to a coffee shop for roasting in-house. Ronald Cortez has been working with his customers to help them roast their own coffee.
Javalina’s Coffee House in Tucson has been renamed to Java Edge, I learned today. The new name is the result of the company changing hands late last year. They also have 5 locations now, which makes them one of the larger local chains.
This morning I spoke with the two person team behind Thrive about their plans for a coffee shop in the downtown area. They have some really great passion and understand what quality coffee means.
I first mentioned Thrive in April when they were initially talking about the idea. Now, they’re finalizing their plans and seeking investors. If you were interested in getting involved in a coffee shop this might be a good team to align with.
Check it out at thrivecoworking.com. By the way, I’m not involved, but I know the team through the valley tech scene. You can follow Thrive on Twitter as well.
Counter Culture Cafe is to return to Tempe after winning a business plan contest (I know, seriously?). They’ll get a free year of rent (on a 3 year lease). The Arizona Republic provided these details:
Counter Culture Café’s primary owner Andres Yuhnke had a successful Counter Culture Café located in central Phoenix that closed several years ago.
Yuhnke is also finalizing a lease, but the café could open adjacent MADCAP in a space formerly occupied by an Islands restaurant, according to Casaundra Brown of Downtown Tempe Community, Inc. or DTC.
Today I was visiting the Village Coffee web site and noticed their claim of being one of the oldest independent coffee house in Arizona, having opened in 1996.
It got me thinking about how coffee shops are really in a new era. There are so many shops that are in their infancy today. I’d wager that 75% of the coffee shops in AZ haven’t even been open for 5 years. But is this a new era? Are the coffee shops that are super cool in Arizona going to last? I think so, because they are really starting to focus on quality and people are finally supporting the shops that do.
If you ask anybody in Phoenix about Coffee Plantation they usually point out things that could have been. Most people I talk to today don’t think Coffee Plantation will recover. It’s key locations have closed (Biltmore and Tempe) and the quality hasn’t improved. Most locations only have one person on staff. It used to be a great place to get coffee, but not any more.
The Tempe location of Coffee Plantation opened in 1989 which probably makes it a contender for oldest in Phoenix.
But Macy’s in Flagstaff might be the statewide winner having been founded in 1980.
Legba wrote in to let me know that Coffee Plantation at Town & Country (20th St. and Camelback Rd.) has closed.
Went to Coffee Plantation at Town and Country (20th st/Camelback). Store was closed, and a notice taped up next to the door that the landlord has gotten a lien against the contents of the store. Guess there’s some back rent due.
I called the Scottsdale location to ask about this and they confirmed it has closed and it sounds like it will not reopen. The barista I spoke with indicated the other locations were not closing.
That leaves 4 other open locations. The Town & Country location was the most recent store to open on May, 2008. It was open for only 16 months.
This is a good time to mention that in November, 2007 the new owner of Coffee Plantation expressed interest in improving Coffee Plantation. How do you think they are doing?
I just heard from Karla Jensen, the manager at Bisbee Coffee Company. She wrote to let us know a bit about what they’re roasting.
We roast a full selection of coffees including organic and free-trade that we sell wholesale and in the shop. We take GREAT pride in our customer service and our Guatemalan Huehuetenango and our certified organic Mandheling Sumatra.
Bisbee Coffee Company is celebrating 14 years in business on September 15, 2009.
I first mentioned Thrive in 
