coffee

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Changes.

Posted by on 08 Jun 2015 | Tagged as: coffee, my life.

Boy, it’s been 14 years that I’ve been working at New Hope. None of that changes–I’m still working at New Hope, but my role is a’changin.

This week, I’m transitioning to a part-time role at New Hope. I’ll still be doing the communications and IT end of things.

But the life change coming is that at the same time, I’ll also be starting part-time work at Utopian Coffee Company as a Web Developer. Utopian Coffee is a great company located in downtown Fort Wayne, right between Perfection Bakery and Randall Lofts, just west of Columbia Street West and a block north of the new Ash Brokerage development.

Utopian Coffee Co.At Utopian, I’m surrounded by like-minded people who care just as much about the quality of the coffee we drink as ensuring we deliver a sustainable coffee bean, meaning we carefully source our beans to ensure the lives of the farmers and workers is fair. We have several direct trade relationships with farmers–we import the beans directly from the farmer without a middle-man wholesaler. This allows us to pay an additional premium to the beans because there is no middleman marking up their price.

Coffee Drying BedsAs much as we love roasting coffee, we love drinking the goodness of a properly roasted and properly prepared cup of coffee, too. Fresh coffee is key to enjoyment, and that’s why we actually don’t roast beans until after they’ve been ordered. Yeah, that means the beans we ship you haven’t been sitting in a warehouse for weeks losing freshness.

Whether you have a keen appreciation for extremely high quality, fresh roasted craft coffee, or you’re just figuring out the world of coffee, I want to invite you to join Utopian. I created a coupon code to allow you to save 20% off your first shipment of coffee when you join our membership. It’s really sweet–we do all the work, and you just get a shipment of fresh roasted gourmet coffee every month! The coupon code to save 20% is: save20now. Head over to UtopianCoffee.com to check out my new adventure!

Utopian Coffee Co. has Leaked Coupon Code

Posted by on 13 Jan 2009 | Tagged as: coffee, my life.

Hey, this is a VERY limited time thing.
Seems this Alex Albrecht from DiggNation leaked a very massive 40% discount code off anything at UtopianCoffee.com.

Code: ALEX40

This code could be deleted very soon. Use it soon to get 40% off the best coffee in the flipping world!

Small Batch Coffee

Posted by on 27 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: coffee, my life.

Last night I drank my first cup of coffee roasted from a local small batch coffee roaster, whose site I’m helping give a major overhaul.
Oh man…talk about good coffee! Very nice.
The coffee arrived on June 26, and was roasted on June 25. Seriously fresh coffee!
You should check out one of the best small batch roasters around, Utopian Coffee Company at utopiancoffee.com (obviously, the current site is the old one that’s getting replaced).

If you’re a serious coffee drinker, you’ll appreciate Utopian. (And if you think Maxwell House is great, don’t bother.)

Curse of a Cofee Lover, Part 2

Posted by on 29 May 2008 | Tagged as: coffee

So we’ve already established the fact that I like to drink coffee. Let me rephrase that–I like to drink good coffee.

But as my coffee palette continues to refine, some of the little things I didn’t notice before are now a curse. Such as a travel mug.

We have several travel mugs–one of those plastic mugs with a lid so the coffee won’t spill. But here’s the curse–coffee tastes different to me now when I drink it out of a plastic mug.
Yes, I can taste a difference between coffee in a plastic mug and coffee in a ceramic, steel or glass mug.
And of course, all our travel mugs are plastic, so I taste sub-par coffee every morning, even though we only brew good beans.

Ahh…the curse of coffee.

The Curse of a Coffee Lover

Posted by on 16 May 2008 | Tagged as: coffee, my life.

I have become what others would probably refer to as a coffee snob. It’s not because I want to be, it just sort of happened.
As my coffee palette was just beginning to develop, I couldn’t tell the difference between between different types of beans, roasts and freshness.
But as time went on, I grew to taste the difference between a good cup of premium coffee and a not-so-premium. Today, I can sip a cup of coffee and identify it as Folgers, Maxwell House, Eight O’clock or Starbucks. (I don’t have experience with other brands, and I would have a hard time being accurate with other brands.)

In years past, I used to be able to enjoy just any cup of coffee. Now, it’s actually rather difficult to thoroughly enjoy any cup of coffee. Because I have experienced what a great cup of coffee is supposed to taste like, anything less is a great disappointment. It is hard work and expensive to get a good cup of coffee consistently.

In our walk with Christ, I think the same in very true. We can’t consistently attain a close walk with Christ while we are not hard at work to be close.
What do you think?

Howard Schultz Back in as Starbuck’s CEO, McDonalds Lauches Espresso Bars

Posted by on 08 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: coffee, random.

Howard Schultz, who was the brains behind the growth of Starbucks, was CEO at Starbucks from 1987 to 2000, returns to the helm of the company he helped create, after a turbulent year. Starbucks is now considering closing stores, and slowing down their rate of growth.
Schultz is an incredible businessman, and I’ve admired Starbuck’s business pattern mostly because of Schultz’s decisions. He did some really smart, risky things in the 80’s and early 90’s to bring the company to what it is today, and I like the guy…

In other news, McDonalds has announced plans to open up espresso bars in its existing restaurants, including a front-of-house espresso machine…

Read more at Yahoo Biz.

This Week’s Poll: How Much Coffee Do You Drink?

Posted by on 15 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: coffee, polls

This week’s poll question is…
How much coffee do you drink per day, on average?

How much water should you drink every day?

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This week’s poll: How do you take your coffee?

Posted by on 08 Oct 2007 | Tagged as: coffee, polls

This week’s poll question: How do you take your coffee?

is coffee my drug addiction?

Posted by on 30 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: coffee, my life., thoughts on life.

About a week ago, my great friend Todd said something to me that has made me think, and rethink, my coffee habits.

Am i using coffee as a drug? Is coffee my drug addition? Am i a drug addict?

I have been asking this question over and over in my mind. would i be okay if i didn’t have coffee in the morning? why do i drink coffee? these and other questions i have mulled over and over in my mind.

My wife and i went to the new Starbucks in Auburn Friday night, (because BrewDaily’s closes at 6 p.m.), and i had my usual: ‘grande extra hot two-pump caramel latte’, and sat for a while, talking–one of Emily’s childhood friends, Justin, works there and we talked with him for about 15 minutes after he got off work. (cool guy with a really cool computer and editing software (Final Cut HD)!)

Anyway, after i finished that drink, i got a short (8 oz.) coffee, of variety Yukon. I figured that would keep me up for a while. So after our date, Emily and i went home, and i crashed. i mean, literally, i crashed. i couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Last night, we swung by Starbucks about 8 p.m., and i had a tall americano (1 shot espresso plus hot water, making a very good tasting coffee!) I again crashed. i couldn’t keep my eyes open.

So, I still am not positive about the answer to the question, ‘am i drinking coffee as a drug?’, but i can tell you, it puts me to sleep at night!

The Five Rules of Coffee: Rule 5

Posted by on 28 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: coffee

never leave a pot on a burner more than 20 minutes.
after 20 minutes on a burner, coffee begins to ‘burn,’ and changes considerably. the extra heat below it is nice to keep it hot, but reeks havoc on the quality. If you need to keep coffee hot for extended periods of time, it is best to look into an air-lined carafe (pronounced ka-raf), which is pretty much a glorified thermos.

The Five Rules of Coffee: Rule 4

Posted by on 27 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: coffee

never boil coffee.
coffee is best served just below the boiling point (about 195°). you can go slightly cooler if you prefer, but don’t go any hotter. boiled coffee just doesn’t taste right–and is chemically altered when it’s boiled!
And a bonus rule, say, 4.a: never microwave coffee.

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