Arizona Coffee

Just wanted to remind everyone that Press Coffee Roasters is hosting a latte art showdown this Friday.

Who: Baristas & General Public
What: Latte Art Contest
When: Friday, March 2, at 7:30 pm (baristas should arrive at 6:30 pm)
Where: Press Coffee Roasters at Scottsdale Quarter
Why: Fun!

For full details, read this post for the full scoop.

The SWRBC kicks off in just a few short weeks — who from Arizona is going? I think there were four competitors from Arizona last year.

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If you are a coffee shop or restaurant considering a new coffee roaster, here are a few questions you might want to ask during the selection process:

1. Where does the roaster get their coffee from, and how frequently does the roaster receive new coffees?
2. Does the roaster have an extensive knowledge of coffee?
3. How often does the roaster roast coffees you desire?
4. What coffee shops and restaurants does this roaster serve?
5. Does the roaster indicate on the packaging the date the coffee was roasted?
6. Ask, “If I order my coffee today, when will I receive it, and when was it roasted?”
7. Does the roaster flavor any of their coffee and if so, do they use separate equipment to do that?
8. Does the roaster offer a barista training program?
9. Is the coffee roaster properly incorporated and does the roaster have the proper food permits?
10. Does the roaster allow you to private label coffees for sale in your store?
11. May I have a sample?
12. What are your wholesale rates?
13. I um, “lost” my first sample. May I have another?
14. Do you offer organic, fair-trade, or rainforest alliance coffee?
15. Do you own and operate your own roasting plant?
16. Do you roast all of your coffee?
17. How do you monitor the quality of specialty roasted coffee?
18. Can I tour your plant when you are roasting?
19. What packaging options do you offer?
20. How many samples did they ask to that particular broker before committing to an origin?
21. Do you regularly conduct coffee cuppings?
22. What type of technology is used on the roasting and does it involve further analysis after roasting (like Agtron readings, for example)?
23. Do you have a way to guarantee coffee prices will be stable by hedging on the commodity markets?
24. Do you belong to any coffee trade organizations?
25. Can you teach me how to calibrate a brewer and a grinder so my coffee taste its best?

Unfortunately, many people fall into the trap of only exploring one roaster, instead of shopping as many as possible. Be sure to try several coffee roasters!

“Fair trade certified” and “organic certified” are less important than good buying practices and a good relationship with the farmer. Do your research!

Note: The above post is a revised version of a post I did in 2007. Many of the above questions came directly from the comments in that post – so thank you to all of the contributors.

I received an email from Curtis Zimmerman today announcing their new coffee shop called Stella Java. It is located inside the Medical Plaza building next to St. Mary’s Hospital. So the next time you are in the area, definitely check it out!

They are serving coffee roasted by EXO Roast Company, of Tucson. They have a lot more photos you can view on Facebook.

Photos provided by Curtis Zimmerman.

I can’t wait to visit!

Stella Java
395 N Silverbell Rd
St. Mary’s Medical Plaza II
Tucson, AZ 85745
Phone: (520) 777-1496
Twitter: @StellaJava

I am extremely pleased to introduce the newest sponsor of Arizona Coffee!

Riviera Coffee Company is a gourmet coffee roaster that specializes in high quality, roasted to order coffee. The company owner and roast master have a combined 30+ years in the coffee industry and are passionate about sourcing only the finest coffee and products available. They are also a wholesale distributor of several gourmet café products. Riviera also has full service equipment department, offering sales and repair of most major brands of coffee brewing and espresso machines.

Thank you for your support!

Riviera Coffee Company
6700 W Chicago St. #10
Chandler, AZ 85226
Phone: (480) 802-8077
Fax: (480) 802-8088

I believe this machine is designed by an industrial design student, and since I don’t know German I can’t translate the description, but it looks really clever. Design by a man named ARVID HÄUSSER – check out the site for additional photos.

Caroline writes to let us know about a new coffee shop that opened yesterday in Tucson:

[w]e opened a new coffee shop in NW Tucson – San Giorgi’s Coffee. We are an independent family owned coffee shop which features organic coffee and tea as well as a selection of organic pastries. Our beans are roasted fresh in Tucson and we also offer free wifi. Our hours are M-Sat 6am-8pm, Sun 7am-7pm. We will be featuring live music on a regular basis as well.

You can check them out on their web site, or visit their store.

San Giorgi’s Coffee
6435 N Thornydale Rd #169
Tucson, AZ 85741
Phone: (520) 544-3069

I am pleased to announce that the Lost Dutchman Coffee Company has sponsored Arizona Coffee.

The Lost Dutchman Coffee Company has been a long time contributor to Arizona Coffee, and they are both a local coffee roaster to Tempe, AZ as well as a seller and distributor of green coffee beans. They also sell a variety of equipment for the home roaster.

I’m considering adding Facebook Comments here on Arizona Coffee. By doing that, readers would be able to leave a comment here on the site without needing to enter a name, email, and optional web site address.

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Baristas and the general public are invited to a free event on Friday, March 2, 2012 at Press Coffee Roasters at Scottsdale Quarter.

Press Coffee is hosting the first latte art competition of 2012 among Arizona coffee houses, and this looks like a great event. Press Coffee has a wonderful environment for a competition like this with lots of counter space, and good visibility.

The competition begins at 7:30 pm – baristas should arrive an hour early. For questions or to RSVP, you should contact Alex Mason.

This location has a beautiful 3-group Synesso espresso machine, which is absolutely awesome.

Latte art throwdowns have become a pretty big thing in Arizona over the last 3-4 years. It seems that every major coffee shop has been hosting them. The most recent one that I attended at Urban Beans, in November, must have had 75 attendees.

Press Coffee Roasters (at Scottsdale Quarter)
15279 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Twitter: @PressCoffee

A cappuccino I had the other day at Cartel on Ash.

“My boss won’t let me make espressos,” says the barista. “I need a year more, maybe two, before he’s ready to let customers drink my shots undiluted by milk. And I’ll need another whole year of practice after that if I want to be able to froth milk for cappuccinos.”

From an interesting WSJ article about how the recession has impacted Japan.

It isn’t often you hear of a local coffee shop being sold to one of its baristas.

But that happened this week.

Lola Coffee has sold its uptown location on Central Ave. to its barista, Tiffany. They made the announcement on Facebook. Not much is known except the new name — Citizen Espresso Bar. It already has a Facebook and Yelp profile. One exciting change: expanded hours (Mon – Sun: 7am to 8pm).

Citizen Espresso Bar will continue to serve coffee from Lola Coffee but will be adding an in-house baker.

Citizen Espresso Bar
4700 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Phone: (602) 265-5652

This was my cappuccino on Friday afternoon. There was enough foam to go around, too! I could have shared with several other patrons.