The Coffees Are In!

The coffees for this Monday's cupping workshop have just arrived! We'll have the following:

Sumatra Blue Batak
Organic Sumatra Gayoland
Papua New Guinea Red Mountain
Brazil Oberon
Organic Ethiopia Korate

The last on the list is of special interest because it comes from the farm that has the number one coffee in the upcoming 2008 Ethiopia Limited Coffee Auction. It was rated an amazing 91.90! It cupped even higher than the Biloya, which has attracted so much attention recently. The auction will take place at the end of July but we have a little bit now. As with other super premium coffees of this sort, this is obviously not what was submitted to the auction but comes from the same farm, using the same production standards. Our roaster believes this is the best Ethiopian he's come across all year, bar none.

This is a great opportunity to try out a truly exceptional coffee, so don't miss it. The workshop is Monday at 6 PM. There is no cost, just let us know you are coming 864 678-9173.

It's Summer Drink Time!

This is just a quick post to let you know about one of our refreshing summer specials.

For the next couple of weeks we'll be offering Blueberry & Thyme Limeade! It's tart and sweet and the thyme lends the whole drink a really interesting dimension I never expected. Summer is a great time to throw ingredients together and make interesting concoctions. It might be time to raid the kitchen cupboard ...

Later in the summer we'll be offering a Basil Orangeade, Genuine Ginger Ale and a few other drinks.

And don't forget that we'll be preparing fresh Iced Coffee all summer long. Right now we are serving up a really delicious Sumatran - the Blue Batak - that works so wonderfully chilled! It really is a treat you shouldn't miss out on.

June Workshop

Alex will lead a cupping this month! We haven't had a traditional cupping at the shop for several months now and it is nice to be offering one again. It's a little early yet to say which coffees will be on the table but our roaster Crema Coffee Roasters has some fresh crop in that will certainly prove interesting. More details as I get them.

This workshop will move back to the usual final Monday of the month, in this case the 30th. It's still free so call or come by and make reservations.

Coffee on Ice

Since the vivisectioning of our menu during the Ten Mandates we have not had any iced coffee here at the shop. One of the first things we cut out was toddy/cold-brewed coffee because it never tasted quite like what I wanted and never moved quickly enough to stay fresh.

But the summer is here and even inside the Mall cold drinks are de rigueur. So coffee over ice had to come back in some form or another. We played around with various methods and counted out the iced americano and french press over ice pretty quickly. However, the "Japanese Style" method of brewing iced coffee has been in vogue lately so we had someone build us a pour over station to give it a try.

And we liked.

So, for the rest of the summer we will have fresh-brewed iced coffee available at our new pour over station for the same price as a french press. It will be available by the cup for any of the coffees we serve so come by and check it out!