Best of 2008

Wow, what a year this has been. Filled with delight and tragedy, and hopefully with some good coffee for all of the readers. I’ve decided to do my usual “Best of” post this year, like I did in 2005, 2006, and 2007. This year I posted 251 times on Arizona Coffee. Cool!

January

How does caffeine affect you? — A discussion about headaches.

February

Twitter — This was the year Arizona Coffee started a Twitter account, and so far so good! Almost 700 followers.

March

Interview with Jason Calhoon — Winner of the SWRBC.

April

Closed: The Coffee Vein — A Tucson great closes.
SOLO Cafe Video — I got a lot of really great comments about this video.
A visit to Next Coffee Company — By far the largest coffeehouse in Arizona.

May

Espresso Machine Manufacturers: A List — Thanks to everybody who helped with suggesting brand names for this list.
RIP AzBill — Bill McCauley, a regular in the AZ coffee business dies. Over 50 comments.

June

Weather & Coffee Closes — Sparked a discussion (19 comments) about a string of coffee shop closings.
Inza Coffee is closing… — One of Scottsdale’s finest closes.
Phoenix Friday Coffee — A weekly Friday coffee outing.
No Paper Cups in Italy — A few observations about coffee in Italy compared to Arizona

July

Photos from a recent visit to SOLO Cafe — I need to plan a new trip down to SOLO. It’s a good place.
What is Your Caffeinated-Beverage Consumption? — Readers share their typical caffeine consumption.
Cartel Coffee Lab — I made my first trip to Cartel in July.
Selecting Your Tea Vendor — An article contributed by Lilach Manheim about tea.

August

Running A Successful Coffee Establishment — Austin Baker’s 5 minute talk about running a coffee shop.
Discussion: What Are Your Coffee Shop Expectations? — A good discussion about what people want most in a coffee shop.

September

Cartel and the Clover — Being the only shop in Arizona with a Clover Coffee Machine, Cartel Coffee Lab gets some press.
Is now a good time to start a coffee shop? — 25 Comments answering this question.

October

Scooters Coffeehouse in Cave Creek — Video tour of Scooters Coffee House.
Coffee Shops in Phoenix That Stay Open Late — It’s amazing how many college students are seeking a place that stays open late, here is the list for you!
Italy Photos — A post with photos of my coffee experiences in Italy.

November

Photos: Scooters Coffeehouse — An intriguing coffee house in Cave Creek.

December

Press Coffee — A new shop that opened in CityNorth (next to Desert Ridge in Scottsdale).
Dazbog Coffee in Scottsdale — This post sparked an interesting debate about super auto machines.

We lost a lot of really great coffee houses this year due to various closings (at least a dozen). But we also had some great shops open in their place.

Thanks again for another great year! Thank you for continuing to read Arizona Coffee and for supporting my 2008 sponsors… ValleyWide Coffee Service, Intatto Coffee, Café Cortez, The Nine Bar Coffee Roasting Company, American Paper Distribution, and BuzzMug.

Goals for next year: 1. Start a marketing campaign called “Buy Local Coffee” and provide material to coffee houses who participate for free. 2. Start an annual “Arizona Coffee Readers Choice Award” where we have online voting for best coffee house (and a variety of categories). 3. Get more stickers. 4. Have more in-person events (hopefully 4-5 this year).

Happy New Year!