I would say that Buzzberry’s strongest area isn’t traditional coffee drinks. My experience, at least, was that the cappuccino was way too bubbly and the espresso so-so (see my photos below), and gosh I really love a good cappuccino that has excellent microfoam. I will be back to try it again, and to try some of their other beverages.
Speaking of other beverages, they make crushed fruit smoothies with fresh fruit, and I believe that’s their specialty. Buzzberry is locally owned and operated. The owner, Kate, opened the shop in November, 2009. I really like the name. It’s the sort of name you could see competing with Jamba Juice (and the like), but with a coffee twist.
The interior of the shop is comfy, with lots of tables and a few couches. It reminded me of a home because of all of the books and interesting furniture.
My cappuccino.
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I always like to take a few minutes to reflect on coffee and this web site at the end of the year. In 2010 I focused more on quality posts than in previous years, and published 128 unique posts. A bit less than the year before (I attribute entirely to getting married, which took up a lot of time!).
I also had a lot of fun on Twitter this year! As of this week, we’re at 5,800+ followers. Facebook is dragging with only 337 “fans” – you should become one, now!
So without further ado, here’s the best posts from this year:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Goals for 2011:
- I’d like to conduct more video interviews… who’s interested? I’ll bring the camera to you.
- Getting the “Readers Choice Awards” off the ground. It’s been a work in progress.
- Coffee Wiki (in progress)
- Get more followers on Twitter and Facebook.
- I’d like to secure a few more sponsors, contact me if you are interested!
In case you are curious, you can browse my “Best of” posts from previous years: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
I’d like to give a warm shout out to all of my sponsors this year, especially:
Have a Happy New Year! — Chris Tingom
Echo Coffee is a fairly new coffee shop that opened in Scottsdale in late April, and has already become a local favorite. Owner and operator Steve Belt has built up a great little coffee shop in the south part of Scottsdale. Every time I visit, I’m impressed by the number of patrons.
The shop is located at the NW corner of 68th St. and Thomas Rd.
There are only a few things you really need to know:
- They have excellent coffee, and I’ve been impressed with their desire to improve
- They have a chef on hand and have really good; fresh baked goods
- They roast their own coffee on-site
Steve Belt is a real estate professional, that decided to do something different.
The difference between good and great is often measured by the care and attention we pay to the little things. — Steve Belt
Steve has written a number of interesting blog posts over the year and anybody even considering opening their own shop should seriously read them. They’re interesting because he talks about the hurdles in opening his own shop, and discusses various philosophical ideas surrounding the coffee business.
One of the things I love most about Echo, is the huge windows facing the street. They’ve got windows facing 3 sides, and it’s really cool.
Beautiful machine.
Beautiful bar.
Espresso bar at night.
Echo Coffee is definitely worth a visit the next time you are in Scottsdale!
Echo Coffee
2902 North 68th St, Suite 135
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: (480) 422-4081
Twitter: @EchoCoffeeAZ
Some friends from church recently told me about SoZo Coffeehouse, a new shop that recently opened in Chandler. It is located at the southwest corner of Alma School & Warner.
It’s mission is described as “coffee with a cause,” and is just one more valley coffee house that is giving profits back to the community. It is run by a church in the Chandler area, and they hold worship services there on Sunday.
SoZo Coffeehouse
1982 N. Alma School Rd.
Chandler, AZ 85224
Phone: (480) 726-SOZO
Twitter: @SoZoCoffeehouse
Facebook: facebook.com/sozocoffee
This article was contributed by Gianni Assam, a barista at Cartel Coffee Lab. Thanks to him for the contribution!
By Gianni Assam
There is a fairly new term involved with the coffee industry worldwide. The term specialty coffee refers to a specific part of the retail side of the coffee industry and with growing support is affecting the coffee market and specifically the individual farms that grow the coffee. The term specialty coffee is specific to companies that focus on the continuing quest for better quality coffee. A good question then is what is quality in terms of coffee and how does it affect the coffee market. Quality in coffee starts with the coffee plant at the source. There are around 70 different countries in the world that produce coffee and many of them rely on it as one of their main sources of export. This means that there is a wide range of different coffees on the market. When specialty coffee companies look for different coffees they are looking for a small percentage of the coffee market. Large companies like grocery stores and chain coffee shops do around 90 percent of the coffee produced and sold on the retail market, even though specialty coffee is working with a low percentage of the market they are making a big impact on the people who the coffee is produced by. Similarly enough around 90 percent of the coffee is produced in developing countries and most of the consumption is in industrialized countries. So how does specialty coffee affect this market? First it drives up prices by using quality as an incentive for farms to produce the highest-grade coffee possible. It also sets an example for the retail market especially in the United States and creates an image of higher standards. Large companies are forced to follow these standard because of the growing popularity, just a few months ago Target just bought a coffee from Bolivia that won the National award for Cup of Excellence. This is not a cheap coffee and surely is not what Target is used to buying. It is clear that if the market continues to follow this trend then the coffee market could very well be compared to that of fine wines, where the farmers could also make money along with retailers.
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The desert duo: Brian Clemens and Jason Calhoon team up to do something related to coffee. Anybody want to take a guess about what they’re up to?
Brian has worked at three valley coffee establishments and Jason has operated his own shop, and worked for others. My guess is they open a coffee shop within the next year. Best wishes to both of them!
JR Rozier writes to let us know about his new coffee shop, called Sip of Seattle:
I would like to introduce the opening of a new “Seattle Style” drive-thru coffee kiosk “Sip of Seattle” located at the corner of 17th Ave and Camelback.
We feature a Seattle roasted, Italian Style coffee from Cafe D’arte in Seattle. The owner and lead Barista are both from Seattle and welcome the chance to show Arizona what Seattle has to offer.
This is a walk up/Drive Thru stand only as seen all over the Northwest.
Brian Clemens (website) just informed me that the 2011 Southwest Regional Barista Competition is already scheduled.
Brian writes:
As you may have heard, our region for the Barista Guild of America has grown to include not only the southwest, but also the west. Therefore we are a bigger region, and our regional barista competition will be in L.A. this year. Details below!
It will be held in Los Angeles, CA at Siren Studios (apparently the same place as in 2010) on March 4-6. For more information, you can check their web site or follow the Barista Guild of America on Facebook.
There is more information on Barista Exchange.
Time: March 4, 2011 to March 6, 2011
Location: Siren Studios
Street: 6063 West Sunset Blvd.
City/Town: Hollywood, CA
