Life Life on the Rim

How much do you know about coffee?

2011-03-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

The Bean Hunter, Paul Massard, explains the coffee decaffeination process during a Saturday morning tour

Test your coffee knowledge by taking our quiz:

1. Where does The Roasterie get its beans?

2. Why air roasting?

3. What the heck is a coffee cherry?

4. How is coffee decaffeinated?

5. What happens to the caffeine once it's removed from the coffee?

6. How do I look in a hair net?

If you answered "I don't know" to any of the above questions, you need to take a tour of The Roasterie, and earn your air-roasted coffee wings.

The Roasterie offers free tours of our plant at 10 a.m. every Monday - Saturday. The tours are an hour long. All we ask is that you make a reservation by calling 816.931.4000 and that you arrive at our plant (1204 W. 27th Street at SW Boulevard in KCMO) five to ten minutes before your tour is scheduled to begin.

Costa Rica 2011: Part 4

2011-02-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

A cloud forest

by PAUL MASSARD, BEAN HUNTER

Day five of our trip started with a three-hour drive to the Aproceto Pierda Blanca cooperative mill, which is a great little two-year-old community cooperative with 40 members. In total, they farm just over 50 hectares. It was a beautiful drive though the country side, and it got even better once we neared our destination. These farms and mills are so remote that they are usually only accessed by helicopter, and our car couldn’t make it up to the mill. So, we all hopped in the back of one of the mill operator’s trucks and rode a good 20 minutes until we finally reached the mill. After the long, bumpy drive, we were treated to some of the best coffee that I have ever had at a coffee plantation. The reason for this is that the “good” coffee is always exported so they keep and drink the inferior coffee.

Livin' on the edge

After we sat and talked (and sipped) we were given a tour of the wet mill, the drying patios and then the coffee warehouse where they let the coffee rest before it’s polished and exported. Then, we were greeted by the Mayor and Vice Mayor of the town who joined us for lunch. And what an amazing lunch it was! We were invited to the home of the mill’s president of the board. His wife made us an amazing traditional Costa Rican meal, finished off with some of his home made “juice” which was strong enough to light our breath on fire after a taste.

A delicious lunch

We had some coffee to clear our palates, then headed up to the top of the mountain to visit Finca Provencial, which was another 30-minute ride in the back of a pick-up truck -- but man was it beautiful! Once at the top, we were in the middle of a cloud forest in which we could barely see 20 feet in front of us. After a quick tour of the farm (the reason for it being quick is that we really couldn’t see much because it was so foggy) we went over to the community center. Someone had left a soccer ball, so we decided that we could kick it around for a little while. We all agreed that there must have been something wrong with that ball since none of us could get it in the goal.

A foggy game of futbol

On our way back down the mountain, we were really hoping it would clear up so we could catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, for us it didn’t, but it did start to rain, which made the fact that we were riding in the back of a truck on a really bumpy road all that more fun. Once back at the mill, they showed us how they juice sugar cane, and we got to sample some of the juice as well as some of their local honey, which was very tasty.

The next (sixth) day we headed over to the Poas volcano for a little sight seeing. On this day, it was clear and we could see the crater. Although the view was amazing, the smell was not so attractive. After enduring what smelled like rotten eggs, we decided to hike over to the old lagoons, created by the now-inactive volcano next to the Poas. The hike was pretty intense as it was uphill for about 30 minutes at very high altitudes (we again used the altitude as the reason why we were all so winded, it couldn’t be the fact that we were out of shape!). After the hour-long hike to and from the lagoons, we headed back to Coffee County.

Our last stop was Las Llajas, where we again toured the mill and were treated to a cupping. (Man, were those some amazing coffees; you will definitely need to be on the lookout for one of those coming later this year to our cafes -- especially the Honey Processed coffee, which is one of the best coffees that I have tasted to date). After some great coffee talk, and French pressing some more of their coffees, we sadly headed back toward our hotel to pack our bags for our impending departure from Costa Rica the next morning.

Costa Rica 2011: Part 3

2011-02-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

by PAUL MASSARD, BEAN HUNTER

Climbing down the ladder

The next morning we all (except for Danny) woke at 6 and decided we would go on a quick hike to a near-by waterfall. After we got lost three times, we finally found the correct trail and were on our way. The hike was a lot scarier than any of us predicted; one misstep and we could fall a few hundred feet down to the river. After some cautious, harrowing footing we reached a metal ladder ― quite possibly the scariest part of the hike. It was a good 60 feet straight down on this rickety ladder. But once we made it down, it was just a few more minutes of hiking and we were at the waterfall. The trip was definitely worth it. Looking up at this 200-foot waterfall from the bottom of the ravine was 100-percent worth almost dying a few times on the path. After we spent a good 30 minutes just taking it all in, and really just trying to catch our breath we took off back toward the hotel. Almost. The altitude really got to us, and we all had to stop halfway back for a little breather.

Paul and Zach survived the hike... barely

Soon after our return (and recovery) we were off to visit our first farm, the beautiful Finca Santa Elena, probably the largest farm and mill we visited on our trip. The farm has 92 Hectors but grows sugar cane. After taking a tour of the very clean processing plant, (I have to say, I was very impressed by the care that all of these farmers and millers take with the cleanliness of their facilities) we were taken out to the fields and shown the different varietals, as well as how we can easily identify them. During the walk, we also talked about how the farm became Rain Forest Certified and the challenges that they face to keep those certifications. Once back at the farm house, we had some coffee and pastries while we talked more about the coffee and how it's growing.

After a great visit, we were on our way to the second stop of the day, the farm of the Aguilera brothers. I had spent some time on this farm the previous year, helping them out... and really just trying to stay out of their way as I immersed myself in coffee processing. The farm is run by 12 brothers who all work together, and each own the same percentage of the farm; it's a great family operation. Like other farmers we'd talked to, the rains really affected the Aguilera brothers' coffee in terms of quantity, but really helped the coffee in terms of quality ― which makes us really excited!

Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of our 2011 trip to Costa Rica...

Costa Rica 2011: Part 2

2011-02-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

by PAUL MASSARD, BEAN HUNTER

Our second day of coffee hunting began with a long drive back through San Jose and up to the West Valley; this is the region of the country where we get our Don Quijote coffee. Once we arrived at the processing mill, we started off by having a cup of coffee with Norman and Erik, the men who run the mill. This is the same mill where I spent a week working last year, so it was good to see my former co-workers and chat with them about this year's harvest, as well as what's new in their lives. After we took a tour of the facilities, I showed everyone my former living quarters. We then had a little shoveling contest and tried to disperse the coffee evenly on the patio from a specialized wheelbarrow with an opening on the bottom. After a few laughs (some of us weren't as good as others) we headed over to what would be one of the highlights of the trip.

Me attempting to maneuver the wheelbarrow

Just a short walk from the mill are the two childcare centers that The Roasterie helps fund. This year, as a small gift for the children and their teachers, we each brought along a few boxes full of school supplies and toys. We were greeted by the children singing us songs, and it was great to see how happy they seemed. After some brief introductions, we talked about what the school really needed, and came to the conclusion that they were in need of a larger kitchen and more kitchen supplies. We talked more about how they are progressing and how we can continue to help them.

Visiting the first childcare center

After saying our goodbyes, we walked up the hill and over to the other childcare center. Once there, we were again greeted by the children singing songs for us. We then took some pictures with the children, and they loved to see themselves in the photos. For about 20 minutes, they were all lining up to have their pictures taken just so they could see themselves in the camera. When we broke out the video camera, they were even more excited, seeing everything in real time on its small display screen. After some more play time, we talked to the teachers about what they were in need of this year — which was updating the playground to make it safer.

The kids seeing themselves on camera

Once back at the mill, we took a tour of the coffee silos and got to see first-hand how they put the identifying marks on the burlap bags ― and man, was it messy! After saying goodbye to everyone at the mill, we were on our way up the mountain to see some coffee fields. The harvest in this area was just about done; they had about a pass or two left on the trees to collect the final cherries that were just maturing.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our 2011 trip to Costa Rica...

Costa Rica 2011: Part 1

2011-02-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

by PAUL MASSARD, BEAN HUNTER

We arrived in Costa Rica ready for another adventure and that is exactly what we found. Our first day on the ground was a little confusing as it was Super Bowl Sunday and it was like Costa Rica had turned into just another American state. Every where we looked they were offering an American sports bar experience — chicken wings and nachos were all we could find to eat. Although we felt like we were still in the States for our first few hours on the ground, that sure changed the next morning. We took off for our first stop on this trip ― a two-hour drive to the Terrazzo region of Costa Rica. During the beautifully scenic and picturesque drive, Danny, Zach and I felt each other out in terms of how much heckling everyone could handle on this particular trip. About an hour later, we arrived in coffee country and it was great to see all of the plants at the end of harvest (harvest was early this year due to weather conditions), and catch a break from Danny's friendly heckling.

The first farm we visited was La Pira, where we get our amazing Geisha varietal as well as the Naturally processed Costa Rica beans. It was great to see Carlos, the farm owner, again and talk coffee. One thing that stood out here, as it did on all of our trip, was the damage to the land and the crop due to an excessive rain that Costa Rica endured during the maturation period of the beans. Carlos actually had a brand-new stream that ran right through the middle of his processing area. After getting some great insight on this year's crop and seeing his newly-improved warehouse and processing facility, we got to smell and chew on some amazing parchment coffee. This might be one of my favorite activities when visiting a coffee county ― just walking up to a drying patio or African bed and taking a big handful of drying coffee and smelling it, then tasting a few beans at this early stage. The difference from farm to farm and process to process is extraordinary.

After our great visit to La Pira, we visited two more small micro mills that were in their first year of production, Fallas y Rodrigues and Ezequiel Vallalta. Seeing these micro mills shows that these farmers are really taking pride in the quality of their product, as they are consolidating their supply chain and making sure that all of the processes are done with accuracy and care.

Danny smells the beans at Fallas y Rodrigues

Next, we headed out to a few more familiar places, including Los Angeles, another small farm and mill run by Diego and his two sons. After a little coffee raking contest we made a few coffee angels (think snow angles in drying coffee). Then, they treated us to a sampling of their homemade coffee liquor ― which I must say puts anything that we have here in the States to shame.

Beans at Los Angeles

Our last stop of the day was La Candelilla, where last year, we found our award-winning Peaberry. There we were greeted by Stephan and taken on a tour of the facilities. We were lucky to arrive when they were receiving coffee, and so we jumped in line and helped them unload it, measure it, process it and then spread it on the drying patios. We also took a nice walk through the fields and tasted the difference between a Geisha berry and a Catuai berry. The difference was astonishing! The Geisha berry was so much sweeter, it had the greatest wild honey notes.

Tomorrow, we'll report on Day 2 of our 2011 trip to Costa Rica.

Danny Dishes: Why Airplanes?

2011-02-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

Does our coffee get transported in airplanes? And why do we use the DC-3 for our logo? Is Danny a pilot? Find out in our first-ever Roasterie podcast.

LISTEN NOW: Why Airplanes?

Colombia Trip Part 1

2010-12-16T07:25:00.001-08:00

Our trip to Colombia was absolutely spectacular and definitely one of my favorites thus far in my short time in this industry. This trip meant a few things for me: it would be my first time back to my home country since leaving at the young age of 4, as well as my first time seeing a completely different form of coffee cultivating. In Colombia the small farmers all process and dry their own coffee, then sell it to the dry mill to be sorted and bagged, whereas in the other producing countries I have visited, the smaller farmers sell the whole coffee cherries to the larger wet mills, who then process, dry, sort and bag the coffee.
We flew from Kansas City to Houston to Bogota, and during the final leg of the flight I started getting a little nervous. I wasn’t sure if the uneasiness was the result of traveling to a new producing country, or if I was just really that excited to see the country that I had left as a young child so many years back. We ended up getting in late that night, which left us no time to check out what the city had to offer; other than a quick dinner, because we had to get to up nice and early and catch our flight down to Neiva that next morning. The flight to Neiva was absolutely breathtaking, as we flew in a small prop plane just under the clouds, and were able to enjoy the amazing topography that southern Colombia has to offer. This is when I realized that my feeling of uneasiness was not at all a factor of being in a new and particularly unsafe environment, but was from the excitement of exploring the country that I once called home. Once we landed in Neiva we quickly met with our contacts, got in the car and headed to our first coffee stop: the dry mill of Mr. Guillermo Pineda. It was beautiful and extremely state-of-the-art. I was expecting to see large drying patios full of wet coffee, but instead the patios were filled with coffee that was already dry because, as I stated earlier, all the coffee produced is dried by the producer. Once we sat and had some fruit and coffee we went out for a tour of the dry mill. It was definitely one of the largest dry mills I have ever been in, and the rate that they were processing the coffee was amazing. Once we toured the facilities we were treated to a great cupping session with their quality control team. The coffee that we tasted was the same coffee that we purchased, so it was like tasting our coffee back in Kansas City. As always we all had a few different opinions on what we thought was going on in the cups, but in the end Danny and I agreed on the top lot. It is crazy how all of us tasters can have so many opinions, and then how similar my palate is to Danny’s. Come back tomorrow to read about the next few days of our adventure.

Paul Massard
Green Coffee Buyer

2010-11-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

I got to spend a few days this week in Chicago at Pack Expo, and I can say that it was an extremely large eye-opening experience. There are machines out there that will do pretty much anything: robotic arms that can be adjusted to move just a fraction of an inch, packaging machines that will form, fill and seal 160 bags per minute…CRAZY! It was definitely a mind-blowing experience. I also got to lose a few pounds by walking the good part of an 8-hour day. But, I was still a little disappointed because I had to leave for the airport and there was still a small part of Pack Expo that I had not yet made my way to. The past day and a half since my return has been crazy, but was highlighted by this morning’s cupping. It was the first time on record that Normie and I completely disagreed on a cup: he hated it and scored it an 85, and I absolutely loved it and scored it a 91. It was the largest disparity we have had in my year-and-a-half at The Roasterie. However, this is one of the great parts of tasting coffees. As Norm says, “We have 3 tasters and usually 5 different opinions.” If you’re looking for something to do this weekend you should stop by and see us at the Overland Park Convention Center through Sunday, or tonight at Missouri bank for First Fridays. Or, come by for our Saturday morning tour and learn everything you have ever wanted to know about coffee and more with Amanda and myself.

Paul Massard AKA The Bean Hunter

The Roasterie Newsletter November 2010

2010-11-05T06:42:00.001-07:00

Dear Roasterie Friends and Family, November 2, 2010

My, my, is this the most beautiful fall you’ve ever had in your entire life? It is absolutely stunning! Today I had to snap pictures of the streets in Brookside as I was driving away from the church where we vote; it looked like a Norman Rockwell painting and I was flooded with wonderful childhood memories. I sure hope you’re enjoying it and getting some quality time in for your favorite outside activities.

Lebanon and breaking in WallyJ.

We had a great trip to Lebanon at the end of the summer and really enjoyed our time with family and friends there. I read about 6 months worth of New Yorker magazines and a few books that I’ll mention later. Over the years I’ve found that when I feel like I really cannot leave…that there is too much going on…that is when I need it the most. And, as I mentioned in my last letter, we hired Wally Piepho as our CEO just a couple of weeks before we left and the three weeks we were gone gave him the perfect opportunity to jump right in. He did a stellar job and we came back to a better company than the one we had left.

Over the last few months I’ve thought a hundred times or more “I should have done this sooner!” But, as with most things, they happen when they happen for a reason. I’m just thrilled that Wally is on board and one of my favorite things about him is that he is a great teacher and developer of people. This is one of his many gifts and a talent that I truly admire. It’s also allowed me to focus on the things that I enjoy the most and where I can bring the most to the party. A friend of mine asked me, “Would you rather be in control…or in charge?” I most positively do not want to be in ‘control’…of anything. But there is a great deal that I can and should be in charge of; and want to be. Everyone is different but this is certainly where I am.

One of Wally’s first moves was to bring in Steve Dolezal as “Sales Bean”, aka Sales Manager. Steve is from a small town in Iowa like Normy and I can most assuredly say that ‘he gets it’. He loves people, food, work, serving others, sales and coffee. He has been busy getting us organized and if you have not met him yet, you will likely meet him soon. Steve doesn’t believe in luck or miracles…he believes in old-fashioned service and I am confident that you’ll find him delightful to work with.

Family

Of course, another added ‘Benny’ of having Wally on board is the extra time it gives me for the kids. Terry just turned 5 years old and Sophia turned 2 years old back in July. They both speak Spanish, Arabic and English and are comfortable in any culture that we set them down in…from running through coffee trees to playing with their cousins in the mountains of Lebanon, they simply don’t know a stranger. We feel blessed and not a day goes by that Carla and I don’t remind each other of this. I just treasure my time with them and we are on one mission after another, finding adventure around every corner. One of Terry’s favorite “jobs” is his work at The Roasterie Café in Brookside. He puts on a name tag, sports a serious look, gets his spray bottle of water and a towel and cleans chairs and tables every Friday. He chats up the customers and everyone, especially him, loves it. Sophie is content to watch and eat pumpkin bread. And as much as Terry loves any and all coffee…Sophie hates itL! This could put dad on a couch in some office if it doesn’t change soonJ.

Hello Leawood!

The Roasterie Café Team opened up for business next to the Apple store in Leawood on Monday, November 1^st. It is a delight and by our second day we already had several hundred customers. The folks in Leawood simply could not be nicer…La Bodega has been very helpful; Andre’s across the street, our friends at North sent pizzas down for our staff while they were training…it’s just been heart-warming. We LOVE the way the Café turned out and want to welcome you all to come and visit. In fact, if you come out and send us your photo in front of the DC3 mural, you will get a free cup of coffee and register to win free coffee for a year (and a yummy dinner for two at JULIAN for a Sunday night meal)J! Chef Celina Tio will draw the winning name this Sunday at 7:55 P.M. right before her “Next Iron Chef” show comes on. Oh, and check out the insanely, outrageously delicious, Roasterie Coffee Ice Cream floats, made with our homemade Roasterie Ice Cream (available only at Leawood or at Roasterie factory tours Monday – Saturday 10:00 A.M.).

We will be having an open house at the new Café in Leawood on Thursday, November 11^th from 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. 50% of all sales will go to the Blue Valley Educational Foundation and we hope that you can come by and see the new store as well as contribute to a worthy cause.

Roasterie Brookside Café just celebrated 5 years and they are doing great. They won KC Magazine’s “Best Coffee House in Kansas City” for the 4^th year and we are extremely proud of their dedication and commitment to Specialty Coffee and customer service. If you have not experienced the new brew bar or our $7 per cup Geisha coffee…you might want to soon; it’s a delectable treatJ.

As you may have noticed, Leopold Gallery (www.leopoldgallery.com) has installed a variety of wind sculptures in front of The Roasterie Cafe over the past two years and now Leawood. These mesmerizing works are by the renowned sculptor Lyman Whitaker, who also shows in Santa Fe. To learn more about his work, just drop by the gallery at 324 W. 63rd St. in Brookside. They have 40 sculptures on display, and will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Paul also handles all of the art in our Cafes and we are grateful for his assistance over the years.

Stormin’ Norman

Normy was awarded a once in a lifetime award by the Roaster’s Guild in August. We kept it a surprise and I got him out to Oregon by telling him that we were going to visit the ‘Spruce Goose’, which we did. We also visited Michael Sivetz, the inventor of the fluid-bed roasting method (‘air roasters’) which we feel are the best roasters in the world as they never burn the beans (haven’t we all had enough burnt beans and heart burnL?), roast every bean perfectly, and deliver a beautiful, clean, bright flavor and aroma in every single cup. It was beautiful and surreal at the same time…sitting in this old church in Corvallis, Oregon nearly 17 years to the week when I was first there to train on my first roaster…’Baby’, as we affectionately call her. It was like coming home and to be there with Normy was a treat that I will cherish forever.

Normy’s peers named this award in his honor and it will only be given out to those who exhibit the character, honesty, hard work and dedication to the craft that Normy has these last 43 years. And I suspect they won’t be handing too many of them out as there are simply not many Normy’s out there.

We are keeping him as busy as ever and one of his favorite tasks remains the tours, Monday – Saturday at 10:00 A.M. They are always free and he just asks that you call or email us (816-931-4000 or info@theroasterie.com ) so that he can brew enough coffee. He made a video of our history and will soon be moving his cupping room to an expanded cupping and training room overlooking the green coffee and production space. The tours are a great way to learn about coffee and have a ton of fun. The Roasterie Café in the factory is open during all tours as well and we have lots of fun merchandise like the best brewers in the world, old-fashioned Roasterie lunch pails, coffee grinders, etc. And, our spectacularly delectable Roasterie Coffee Ice Cream Floats. Yum!

Happenings

In September Paul and I visited our friends at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, MI. I’ve been a huge fan of Ari and his team since the late 90’s and have always admired his philosophy, dedication to quality and customer service. Their total commitment to all things local is something we’ve tried to emulate since day one. If you have not had any of their world-class food products from any of their 13 or 14 companies, go online and check them out. You’ll be glad that you did.

We then went to Chef’s Garden outside Cleveland to experience their tour and back stage operations of perhaps the best supplier of vegetables in the world. It was beyond impressive and made the Iowa farm boy in me just want to get in the fields and go to work. They have a very impressive program for school children where they basically ship a garden in a box with a full year’s curriculum for the teacher. The kids grow their own vegetables and learn a wealth of knowledge that they could never get from a book. We learned a great deal that we’ve already implemented on our tours and added to community engagement programs that we are involved in.

You may have noticed new water.org labels on our coffee bags in the grocery stores? We are contributing a % of sales to them, as well as when someone purchases their coffee from our website. I’ve mentioned over the years my love for the work that this organization does…bringing uncontaminated water to poor communities, and the fact that contaminated water is still the number one cause of death of infants worldwide. We encourage you to contribute to this worthy organization and we always remind ourselves that $25 can bring clean water to someone for life. www.water.org. Thank you.

In September we hosted a KCPT Harvest Dinner here at the factory with renowned chefs Michael Smith of Michael Smith and Colby Garrelts of Blue Stem. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who came, to these great chefs, the KCPT team and board, Diane Boone who organized it and the awesome Roasterie team that pulled it all off. We had great local sponsors and everyone agreed that we should make it an annual affair, with all proceeds going to KCPT. We’ll let you know when we schedule the dinner for next fall.

Our new website is up and running! Please check it out (www.theroasterie.com). We have a slew of gifts for just about any holiday occasion and any price point. Lots of fun stuff…and you can even have us write your cards (hand written) and send to your friends and family all over the country. If you don’t see exactly what you want, please call us (816-931-4000) and we’ll be happy to design a custom gift package just for you. Several folks already have and we’ve designed several corporate gift packages for clients around the country.

It’s about being local

We have been fans of doing business locally since our founding on November 4, 1993 (17 year anniversary this week) and are happy to see that it seems to really be catching on with the general public as well. We are thrilled that the folks at Farm to Market bread are working on a special bread incorporating our coffee that Blanc + Burger has already agreed to buy, before even tasting it! Blanc already serves our coffee and a coffee encrusted hamburger (you will die…simply delicious) so this just adds to the fun.

We’ve worked with Marcel and Connie at Andre’s since 1994 and they were one of our very first customers. Finding the right coffee to go with their world-renowned 100% Swiss Chocolate was no easy task, but they created the perfect combination with their new “Reserve Caramel Collection”. Their Espresso incorporates our Gotham Espresso Blend and each time we buy a box, they evaporate before our eyesJ. Look for these and other Andre’s Chocolates at their stores, our Brookside Roasterie Café or at www.andreschocolates.com.

Joe Polo of Original Juan’s teamed up with Chef Ali to create one of the best BBQ sauces that we’ve ever tasted, using our Super Tuscan Espresso Blend. Chef Michael Smith tasted it and immediately planned a dinner where he will feature it. We love it enough to have consumed 5 cases of it with just our staffJ! It is available at Original Juan’s store just down the street from our factory or in our factory store here in the plant. Check it out.

In August Jeff Stehney and Doug Worgul of Oklahoma Joe’s came to our plant and created their own custom blend. It was the beginning of a great relationship and look for many new products coming from them, incorporating our coffees and espressosJ.

We continue to work on our Shatto-Roasterie Coffee flavored milk recipe. LeRoy Shatto is the master and is every bit as picky as we are. We continue to refine it and it just makes me hungry thinking about it. Most of our team would have been happy many versions ago…but we are continuing to tweak it…stay tunedJ!

Finally, a ‘coming home’ type of a story; we were long time Sprint customers for all the right reasons: local, great people, great products, etc. However, somewhere along the way we had some technical issues that we couldn’t resolve and several years ago we had to part ways. But we never felt comfortable not being a Sprint customer and always hoped that it would only be temporary. Last year we met Dan Hesse, their CEO, and we fell in love with him immediately. We appreciated his honesty and the transparency with which he shared his story. Then we found out how much of a coffee hound he is and invite him and his wife down for their own private cupping…and the “Dan Hesse Blend” was formed; as well as a friendship where Dan has a company of admiring fans. I had the privilege to meet several of Dan’s classmates from Notre Dame this year while visiting the campus and my admiration for him and the job he’s doing grew stronger yet. We became a Sprint customer again and I could not be happier with their new Evo. But more importantly, I am so happy and proud to support the ‘home team’…Dan and his team has earned it. We have a saying in our company that says “local supplier wins all ties”. We don’t feel that anyone should get a free ride just because they are local and we are just as demanding of our local partners, in terms of quality and service, as we are of anyone else. But my hat goes off to Dan and his team for their leadership, perseverance, and awe-inspiring turnaround efforts. And lastly, what they do for our local community…much of it behind the scenes. Godspeed to you Dan!

New Beans?

I’m happy to report that Paul “Bean Hunter” Massard has not been sitting around on his duff. Normy has been cracking the whip and Paul and his team have really been getting after itJ. It was just about a year ago today that Paul and I were finishing up our drive from Kansas City to Panama. We loved the Toyota Tundra so much that we put it in a box and shipped it back and Terry and I drive it on weekendsJ.

We also fell in love with several micro-lots (we currently have coffee from 28 different countries), one of which I mentioned earlier, our Costa Rica Geisha, that we’ve introduced only in our Cafes. We hope you’ll check it out and find out why it’s worth $7 a cup.

The rest are being introduced next Monday so please check them out at either the Cafes or at www.theroasterie.com. Paul also submitted several of our coffees for review at Coffee Review and received some very laudable scores, including a 91.33 on the Costa Rica Geisha. Our new Bali was a huge seller at the Cafe and scored a 92. We sold out of Tanzanian Peaberry, which scored a 93.

Suffice it to say, we continue to buy the best beans that we can find on the planet, roast them the best way known to man (air roast), and get them to you, the customer, as fast as is physically possible. Paul and I will be visiting small farms in Colombia in a few weeks, some of which we’ve been buying from since 1998. We’ll visit the community center that we’ve supported over the years and share stories in our next newsletter.

We are sponsoring a Roasterie Coffee Martini Competition during the first quarter of next year. Our own Ryan Maybee has helped us organize it and you’ll be hearing much more about it. For now, stay tuned and let your favorite bartender know that it’s coming up so they can get some early practice. We’ll be partnering with several local companies and all proceeds will of course be donated.

Great Books

There are so many great books out right now that I feel guilty that I cannot read them all! A few of the ones that I really like, in no particular order:

Super Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I was fortunate to be able to meet Stephen Dubner a few weeks ago and talk to him about this book and his philosophy. I told him that I could never sense his own bias…that he never seemed to have a ‘dog in the hunt’ with respect to the topics they study. He took that as a big compliment…which is how I meant it and why I love him and his books so much: he is innately curious and loves to study data and people and find the basis for many interesting problems and trends. A fun, fascinating and intensely interesting book.

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. I really like this book and am not quite finished with it. It is not an anti-internet book, but Nicholas Carr offers substantial and unbiased evidence for how the internet and technology is changing us, our children and the way that our brains work. Lots of applications, both for one’s business and perhaps the way they raise their children or teach, etc. Very worthwhile read.

The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. When I hear two or three of my smart friends tell me to read the same book, I do it. And this is one of them. I’m in the middle of it and absolutely love it. It’s basically about how trade and commerce has helped us to evolve and prosper and how much better off we are today than ever before…and more importantly, how much brighter our future will be than our past. I am loving this book and the author goes fairly deep in his research and arguments. If you are lacking confidence about mankind’s future, then read itJ!

Well, I am about half way through the topics on my list but had better close this or I’ll have to call this a bookL. The Roasterie Team and I thank you graciously for giving us the opportunity to serve you these last 16 years, 11 months and 363 daysJ. It has been an absolute dream and we stand in awe of what many of you accomplish on a daily basis. We sincerely thank you for your support and confidence and never, ever take it for granted. Please do not ever hesitate to let us know how we can better serve you. My email is still danny@theroasterie.com and please let us know how we can improve.

For fun, I thought I’d close with this little story that I think about nearly every day. For me, it’s about family, friends and fun…and if not, then it’s highly unlikely that it’s worth doing.

A tale…with an important lesson.

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a tiny boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."
The American then asked why he didn’t stay out and catch more fish. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

He answered, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I eat a relaxing dinner and play the guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life senor’."

The American scoffed, "I have a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several more boats, eventually owning your own fleet. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will all this take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then senor?"
The American laughed and said, "That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, senor? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll into the village in the evenings where you could eat a relaxing dinner and play your guitar with your amigos."

We remain at your service and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Sincerely,

Danny O’Neill

Bean Baron

The Roasterie, inc.

Grand Opening - The Roasterie Cafe Leawood

2010-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Win free coffee for a year! Visit our new Cafe in Leawood this week and email us your photo in front of the DC3 mural inside (before 5pm this Sunday). Then on Sunday evening at 7:55 PM, five minutes before The Next Iron chef airs on Food Network, Chef Celina will draw the winner for free Roasterie coffee for a year and dinner for two at JULIAN for Sunday Night Family Meal - where you get what Chef Celina is cooking for the night (all dietary restrictions honored)

Everybody who emails us a photo in front of the mural will receive a coupon for a free medium coffee of the day at our Leawood location. And one lucky customer will win coffee for a year ($675.00 value) and a Sunday dinner for two at Julian's!

Email pics to photos@theroasterie.com

Bean Hunters Happenings

2010-10-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well this mornings cupping was not as amazing as yesterdays…Decafs on the table, but surprisingly there were some really complex flavors of ripe fruit, vanilla and currant working together to really make some of them really memorable. It was an exciting morning overall as we were hosting some of our friends from The Arbor Day Foundation for a tour of our facilities and some tasting of their coffees. They sure were a fun and inquisitive group and that always makes for some great interaction, they even brought us some Blue Spruce’s , although I’m not sure but hoping that mine will grow inside my loft. After a fun and rewarding morning we said our goodbyes and I then made my transition from coffee taster to ice cream maker. I made a few batches of our secretly famous Super Tuscan Espresso Ice Cream for the soft opening of our café on Monday, so if you have not been lucky enough to get your hands on some yet. Make sure you make your way to our newest location at 119th and Roe, just 2 store fronts to the east the Apple store.

Paul Massard- Bean Hunter

Daily Report from the Bean Hunter

2010-10-27T13:44:00.001-07:00

We started the day off with a mind-blowing cupping session this morning with Normy. The first set we had were some pre-shipment samples of new crop Papua New Guineas and man, there were some beautiful coffees mixed in there: extremely fragrant, sweet and fruity, with an amazing and unique date and fig earthiness. It makes my mouth water just thinking about them again. I’m really looking look forward to those arriving in early December.

Next on the table were our Costa Rica and Panama micro lots, and it was great cup after great cup. Our washed Costa Rican Geisha shined like it has since she came in, but the Peaberry-- which you will find at our café within the next few weeks-- was also amazing. I also have to say that the Costa Rican Don Quijote that was in the mix was as good as I have ever tasted. Morning cuppings like that are one of the many reasons I love working here.

We then had a great educational tour and cupping today with the KC Hopps gang and after much deliberation we came up with 2 different blends that they will now take to their monthly meeting to conduct a blind tasting. There they will decide which one will grace your tables during your next visit to one of their many amazing restaurants. I will tell you that they have a difficult choice ahead of them as they were both amazing coffees.

-Paul Massard AKA The Bean Hunter

Health Benefits of Coffee

2010-10-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

A coffee a day can also keep the doctor away! New studies are showing that the negative assumptions about coffee, regarding health, are false. Coffee, in fact, can have some very positive effects on one's health. Here are a couple of highlights:

Provides a large amount of a unique antioxidant that helps to reduce sugar absorbtion and therefore links to a reduced risk of diabetes.
Can help prevent oxidative damage to DNA by 12 percent.
Contains other antioxidants and acids which have a variety of positive health properties.

Aren't you glad you love coffee? For more information, view the complete article: click here.

How to Properly Store Coffee

2010-10-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Quality, freshness, education. That's what The Roasterie is all about. Here are some usefull tips on how to store your coffee so that it is fresh and ready to brew when you are.

•Make sure that you have the right grind for your coffee, as well as the right filter for your brewer.

•We suggest not pre-grinding any coffee. Coffee contains CO2 which keeps it fresh. As soon as the coffee is ground it immediately loses its CO2, causing it to become stale. This is especially true for espresso grind.

•Oxygen breaks down the flavor profile of ground coffee within 48 hours

•Once a bag of coffee has been opened, it should be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.

•Avoid extreme temperature changes, such as storing coffee in the refrigerator or freezer as moisture will attach itself to the coffee and deteriorate the beans.

•Coffee absorbs odors that are around it. Be careful not to store your coffee near anything that may be absorbed by the coffee.

The Tall Corn State:)!

2010-08-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Heading to the IA State Fair tomorrow for the first since (lots of people smoking pot in that Seals and Crofts' concert...they did not set a good example for me. Taking lots of water for our Bean Baron Portable Brew Bar. Look for photos...

Fabulous Recipes using Roasterie Coffee

2010-05-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

We are going to occasionally start posting recipes that feature Roasterie Coffee. If you have any yummy recipes you'd like to share please send them to us at info@theroasterie.com. Thanks!

This first recipe was featured at KC Free Press http://bit.ly/9LzZaY

Roasterie Tiramisu
For the blackberries:

1 cup fresh blackberries

1 tablespoon Chambord

1 tablespoon orange juice

Either a few hours or a few days before you begin cooking, macerate the blackberries in a tablespoon each of Chambord and orange juice. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar, place in the fridge, cover and mix frequently.

For the tiramisu:

2 cups Roasterie European-Style Espresso Coffee, brewed and then chilled

10 tablespoons Chambord Liqueur (in total, about 3 of the mini bottles)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Who is Pat? Roasterie Ghost Stories

2010-01-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

We've been placed on alert today at The Roasterie. Norm "Stormin Norman" Killmon our Master Roaster has notified us that he's been having some strange experiences similar to the many that happened at our old plant at 2601 Madison. We were doing some reminiscing about every thing that happened at the Madison location and as we wonder if the ghost we lovingly called "Pat" (named after the Saturday Night Live character because we aren't for sure if they are male or female) may have finally found us nearly four years later a few blocks away on 27th street so we thought we'd start sharing a few of the stories occasionally on our website. We'll post these in a "Captain's Log" format straight out of the journal we kept for years at the Madison Plant. Hopefully Pat has found us and we can add more wonderful occurrences to the journal!

Wednesday January 14th, 2000 6:30 a.m.

I closed the door by the receptionist desk and while standing in the hallway heard the door in the back office close ever so gently. Norm

Monday July 3rd, 2000 10:00 a.m.

Sitting in my office I was thinking and I absent mindedly hit my metal ruler against the desktop. I lay it down and started writing when the sound of the metal ruler echoed again. The ruler did not move but it was the same sound. I know there is nothing else that could make that sound. Norm

Tuesday July 11th, 20006:30 p.m.

Everyone but Sally had left for the day. Construction on the flavoring room started this week. I was out at my desk (in the sales area) finishing up and I kept hearing what sounded like corrugated metal or plastic panels being shaken. It wasn't thunder...I think Pat is maybe upset over the remodel/changes to the plant. Tooti

This is just a short sampling of the history of "Pat". Most everyone that worked on Madison had some kind of experience. Pat's presence was felt by most everyone in the building whether they had an actual sighting or had Pat slam doors or other objects around them. Check back soon for more "Pat" posts.

Pat if you are reading this, Norm misses you, visit soon!

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Brazil - Part 3

2009-11-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

Day 3, November 9

This morning we all woke up early and excited as we were going to cup our first Brazilian Coffees. The bus left the hotel at 8am and we were off the Center of Coffee Excellence, where we first had a small course on coffee acidity and viscosity where we sampled different solutions that were mixed together to give our palates different sensations, which I will say was very interesting, especially when we mixed them up. After this we had another small course on how to properly use the Cup of Excellence Cupping form then we were off for our first calibration session. The first table had 11 coffees and we all scored them, then came back and discussed them, I can say that we were all pretty for off on the scores that were given but after another 2 sessions of 11 coffees we were all pretty close on the scoring as well as some generic terminology. After a long day of calibrating our palates we were treated to a great Brazilian dinner before heading back to our hotel for some much needed rest.

Day 4, November 10

Today I woke up excited as well as a little nervous as today we would actually be judging the coffees that had made it past the in country judges. There were a total of 210 different coffees submitted and from there it was narrowed down to 93 then from those 56 made it past the national jury. So this 1st day of scoring we had 3 sessions of 11 coffees each. It was great as well as sad as some of the samples that we were given had to be thrown out of the competition for having Rio. Rio is a taste similar to iodine and leather that is considered by most of the coffee world to be a major defect. It is caused by an increase in moisture during the processing and most of the coffees with this defect come from the areas surrounding rivers. After we were done with our 3 cupping sessions we had a quick lunch and then were treated to a special cupping session of only Natural Processed Brazils, meaning that the coffee was dried in the coffee cherry and not de pulped. After an interesting session we were taken for a small tour of a nearby farm called Santa Amelia, it was amazing to see the difference in the farms in Brazil to what we had seen on our previous trips to Central America and Peru. All the coffee in Brazil is grown in direct sun light, meaning that they don't use shade trees. This particular farm was 100% Yellow Borbon variety and produced an amazing 12 thousand bags. After a quick tour of their processing facility they took us to the farm house, which was very beautiful. I wish that we could have stayed and toured a little longer but we had to be on our way as we had to be in Pouso Alegre, a town about 90 min away for dinner. But the drive was most definitely worth it, we were treated to another amazing Brazilian dinner by Mr. Tulio Junqueira the Owner of Carmo Estate Coffee.

Day 5, November 11

Today I woke up tired and was thankful that I had brought my French press as well as my coffee maker and some delicious Roasterie Kenya as I really needed some coffee this morning. Again we left the hotel at 8 for the center for coffee excellence and got right to cupping. Again we had 3 sessions and cupped the last 23 coffees. After another quick lunch we were taken for a visit to Fazenda Monte Alegre, the largest farm that I have ever seen. The drying patio looked like the runway for a jumbo jet. The farm was beautiful and everything was very clean. I also got the chance to see an automatic picking machine for the first time and it was very impressive. I wish that I had the chance to see one of these work, but they were not using them on this day. After a tour of one of the processing areas we were taken for a tour of the farm. They produce 120,000 bags of coffee a year, an amazing and unimaginable amount of coffee. After the farm tour where we got the chance to see coffee trees that were over 100 years old as well as some of the different varietals such as that they have planted, we were taken to the farm house and treated to some more great Brazilian hospitality and food.

Day 6, November 12

This morning I woke up again with a great French press of Kenya and was ready to cup again. Today we were cupping the coffees that we had passed through from the previous rounds. Meaning any coffees that received an average score of over 84 were now considered cup of excellence finalist. This day was much harder as all the coffees that we tasted were of very high caliber and very equal in characteristics. But it definitely helped the ones that were really great, stand out. We tasted a total of 32 coffees during 4 different rounds. During this day we also had a lot of press, doing interviews and taking photos for the local media as well as a camera crew from Italy that was putting together a coffee documentary called, Coffee Please, which is going to be aired all over Europe and hopefully in the US. After a long day of hard cupping we were treated to a great traditional Brazilian BBQ dinner by Adecoagro.

Day 7, November 13

Today was the day that all of the work we had done all week came down to. This morning we cupped the top 10 rated samples from the previous day which decided the winner. The cupping was a lot more relaxed and fun than any of the previous ones as the coffees that we had on the table were the top 10 coffees in all of Brazil. It didn't take long to find my favorite as I had been following it ever since I had cupped it on that second day of cupping. It had a real distinct sweetness and lemon like acidity that I really enjoyed. Once we all came together the group was torn between 2 different cups. It was great to see that we were all calibrated as I had those 2 cups as my top 2. In the end it turned out that my number one, became the national Cup of Excellence winner. After the cupping we were treated to another great lunch and then we were given a few hours of free time before we had to come back to the Center for a meeting with the farmers. So I decided that I would try and get on the internet at the hotel which had gone down after the 2nd day there. After about 30 min of trying to send an email, I decided that it was not going to happen for me, so I decided to take a little stroll around the town. After a quick but exhausting walk, mostly up hill, I came back to see that everyone was ready to go. Once we were back at the center, we all separated into small groups so that we got to talk to all of the farmers. It was great to see their excitement in being recognized for their coffees, as well as to answer some pretty interesting questions we were asked. After a very good meet and greet it was time for the ceremony to announce the top 10 winning farms. I will say that this was the best part of the trip for me as the look and excitement on these farmers faces when they were announced in the top 10 was great and when you think of it, this is a life changing experience for them as it increased their yearly income by at the least 3X as well as makes their farm known to the rest of the world as a Cup of Excellence winning farm, which will give them the power to demand a higher price for future coffee crops. The winning farmer was from Fazendo Ouro Verde from the Bahia growing region of Brazil. After the ceremony we all got to have an amazing little party with all of the farmers that had come to attend and it was fun to see them celebrating as it reminded me of my family functions. After being forced to have a few drinks of Casacha with the farmers, our bus took us back to the hotel as we were participating in a National winners cupping in the morning.

Day 8, November 14

Today I woke up really really tired and was again thankful that I had brought all of my coffee making gear. After a whole French press of Sumatra I packed my bag and went down stairs to catch the bus to the Coffee center. This morning we were cupping 50 different coffees, which were now for sale. These coffees were the national winners, meaning that they had one regional competition's throughout Brazil. The cupping was a little more relaxed as it was more for us to taste the coffees and then if we really liked something we were able to bid on them. After a full day of cupping I was picked up by Maria Mendes, who works for Adecoagro, the owners of Fazenda Lagoa, the farm where we buy and have bought our Brazilian coffee for 13 years. It was about an hour ride to the farm house where we had a great conversation regarding the current and future coffee crops in Brazil. The Farm has 250 Hectors planted in coffee and produces an average of 8,000 bags a year. So it is looked at as an average sized Brazilian farm. Once we arrived at the farm house we were given a small tour. I was surprised at the size of the sugarcane mill that they had until I learned that most of there land is sugarcane as they have a large ethanol production. During our conversation as we were waiting for dinner to be served we heard the loudest noise I have ever heard. I thought that the sugar mill had blown up, but I guess it's a sound that everyone else there hears very often. I guess they described it as if something had not functioned properly and they had to shut the production down. This makes a noise similar to what I would think of as a bomb going off, after a great dinner we sat around a little longer and talked some more about coffee and then all went to bed.

Day 9, November 15

I woke up this morning a little sad as I knew that it would be my last day in Brazil, yet I was really excited as we were going to tour the farm. I woke up and walked around the grounds of the farmhouse which was interesting as they had a pool, tennis courts as well a small beautiful church. After a quick little walk I was called in for breakfast, which we ate pretty quickly as we didn't have much time before I had to set off to Sao Paolo to catch my flight. The farm tour was great and I finally got to see the trees flowering. It was amazing and the smell of the coffee blossoms was even better. It was pretty cool to see the actually trees and production facilities that produce the coffee that we sell in Kansas City. After a 4 hour tour that I wish could have lasted longer, we were taken back their offices to cup some of the coffees they were offering, as I had to approve a lot that they were sending us. After a quick cupping, I was given a tour of their offices where they had a bunch of our Roasterie bags as well as a Roasterie French press. It was cool to see your company logo displayed halve way across the word. After a quick lunch we hopped on a bus back to Sao Paolo. It was a 6 hour bus ride, after a little altercation with a police officer that lasted about 30 min as well as a few bathroom stops; we made it to the airport just in time to stand in a gigantic line to check in. No wonder they suggest you get there 3 hours early as you will sure need it with the size of these lines. After a quick dinner I was off to get on the plane and enjoy the 14 hour trip back the Kansas City.

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Brazil - Part 2

2009-11-11T10:59:00.001-08:00

This morning I woke up ready to finally taste some of this coffee that I had so anxiously been expecting. I felt like a little kid at Christmas, with all of this buildup to how amazing the Brazilian coffees are this year. So after a quick breakfast we were off the the center where the cupping's were taking place. Once there we took a short class on Acids, it was very interesting to see how the different types of acids found in coffees interact and how they can be exaggerated as well as diminished with just the addition of a little sweetness or saltiness. After the class we began calibration, meaning that we all tasted 7 different coffees of different calibers, not knowing what was what and the scored them as we saw fit. Once we were done with the cupping we all came together and discussed our findings. I was a little nervous at 1st thinking that I was going to give something a really high score only to find out that I was the outlier and everyone else thought that it was garbage. But luckily I fell right in line with everyone else and even found and used most of the same quality and defect descriptors, and I can only thank Norm for the great cupping knowledge that he has passed down to me for this. This calibration lasted all day as we did 3 different rounds unsung the same coffee as well as mixing them up in order and seeing if we could identify where its previous spot was on the table. After the cupping we all got together for dinner again and enjoyed some more great coffee conversations. I will say that it is amazing to hear someone talk about their counties coffee market, as they seem to be so different then ours. But again it comes down to sourcing the best beans possible to be successful and keep your market happy.

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Brazil - Part 1

2009-11-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Paul Massard is The Roasterie's green coffee buyer and currently a juror for the Cup of Excellence in Brazil.

Hello Everyone or Como Via Você (as I have quickly learned to say in Portuguese),

My flight here to Brazil was uneventful, the flight from KC to Houston was quick and easy and I had the pleasure of sitting with an interesting group in the back or our tiny little plane. Once we landed in Houston I knew that I only had a short amount of time to get from one side of the airport to the International terminal on the other side, so once we were sitting on their on the jet way without moving for 15 min I started to get a little nervous, but luckily I was able to run, and I mean run, and get to the gate just in time. The flight from Houston to Sao Paolo was an interesting 10 hours with 2 babies right around me and a row mate that took up all of her space and most of mine, all I can say is that I didn't get much sleep that night and I was pretty happy once I was off the plane and waiting to go thought immigration. Once through I was able to easily find the group of other judges from the Cup of Excellence that were waiting for me. As I was the last one to arrive we hopped on a bus and began our 4 hour journey north west to Machado Brazil. Once on the bus we stopped to get some local road side food and man I wish that they had places to eat like this in the US as I sure had missed this type of food since my previous adventure through Central America. Once we were finished we continued our trip, after about 15 min of the sun beating down and the wind blowing in my face. I was asleep, I woke up not soon after feeling a little embarrassed that I had fallen asleep in this car full of strangers but when I looked around and saw that I was the only one currently awake I was relieved and went back to sleep. The next thing I remember is waking up after our bus hit a nice sized hole, that would put that one we hit in Costa Rica to shame. We were now just 5 min from our hotel so I enjoyed the view. Once at the hotel we all checked in and decided that we would meet up at 7:30 for dinner. At this point there were only 7 of us from the International Jury here so we had a nice dinner that consisted of kinds of pizza, the only thing that they had in common was that every single pizza had both hearts of palm and green olives, which I found to be pretty weird but funny.

The next morning I woke up and decided that I would take a little walk around town, as we were not scheduled to meet up with everyone until 12 for lunch. After walking for around for quite some time I was a little scared of getting lost on my 1st day and decided that I should try and find my way back to the hotel. Machado is a small town of roughly 40 thousand people, but it was built right on the side of the mountain as you are either walking straight down hill or straight up hill and there is no flat ground to be found. After my little adventure I met up with everyone for lunch, at this time a few other jurors had arrived and we were taken to an interesting place, where you are supposed to work in catching your lunch in these little fishing ponds. Unfortunately we were not able to fish as they had already had our table ready. After a great meal and even better coffee conversation we were taken back to the hotel. Once we got back we again had some more free time before dinner. I again went off on a little adventure through the town square and up by this beautiful church before I started to get lost and again tried to find my way back. Once I returned everyone was in the lobby waiting to leave for dinner. Now everyone was here, we all walked a few blocks to where we would be meeting the group of judges that were staying at the other hotel. Once we were there it was amazing to see everyone. There are a total of 25 jurors from all parts of the world, with just the love of coffee in common. There are people here from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand Czech Republic, Norway, Lithuania, Iceland, Sweden, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Canada and the US and its amazing to me how the language barrier quickly falls as soon as we start discussing coffee.

Please Check out http://emfl.us/kf. To read more about what it is that the Cup of Excellence is all about. As well as http://emfl.us/lf to read some more about our International Jury.

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination St. Louis - Midwest Regional Barista Competition

2009-11-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

This blog entry is courtesy of Amanda Butler.

Friday: We woke up this morning to a bit of a torrential downpour, which is the last thing you want to see when you have pounds upon pounds of equipment packed into cardboard boxes that need to be carried out to a van. That was 10:00am. At 10:00pm we had yet to encounter a dry patch.

Things I’ve learned so far: I-70 has the best truck stop ever, the gas tank on the Sprinter van is incredibly difficult to find if you don’t know where to look, and road trips rule-- especially when you know coffee geek heaven is waiting for you at the end of the day.

Paul and John went ahead of us-- they’re training to become certified judges for future competitions-- and we met up with them at the reception held at Velocity Café & Cyclery. It was a pretty neat little place, and Kaldi’s (our host roaster) brought in a La Marzocco GS3 for the baristas to play with and a keg from a local brewer, again for the baristas to play with. By the end of the evening everyone's energy was up and the nerves about tomorrow had dissipated... at least for the night.

We’re just about headed to the hall for our orientation. From there I’ll start my practice time and get more acquainted with the Simonelli Aurelia. Am I nervous? I’m not sure. My heart’s beating a little faster, but otherwise I’d say I’m alarmingly calm. That will change in a few short hours I’m sure.

Tyler hopes everyone at home is rooting for us.

Kyle says “hi” to his mom.

Saturday: It’s a few hours until Tyler’s performance time. His dishes are all polished, his signature ingredients are set up, the grinder’s clean and his nuts are toasting on a hot plate downstairs. There’s nothing to do but wait now. I guess I’ll take this chance to update everyone on yesterday’s fun and games.

Competition was quite stiff on day one-- I really have no idea who’s likely to advance. There were a lot of good performances, and I think at the end of the day it’s going to be what’s in the cup that counts. Our emcee for the weekend is Heather Perry, the highest-ranked female competitor in the world (she took 2nd in Tokyo in 2007) and the day opened with Pete Licata, a former MWRBC champion who moved out of region last year. I didn’t have the chance to check out his performance (I was prepping when he went on) but I hear it was killer. Then it was my turn.
I wish I could give a thorough play-by-play of my portion, but in all honesty I have no recollection of anything I said or did. Evidently when I get performance anxiety I just black out. Great. However, Tyler and Kyle did tell me that my shots were on mark, and a few of the other competitors said that I “didn’t seem nervous at all.” Lovely. We’ll get our score sheets this evening ,so hopefully I’ll be able to piece together events a little better later.
There was a lot if Indian influence in the signature inspiration this year: curry powder and biriyani spices abound. Also, four different competitors (including myself) pulled music from Wes Anderson films. Weird. Some of the more interesting signatures included a salty marjoram tea infused with poached peach and toast-infused milk. We’re also seeing a lot of single-origin espressos again, and from everywhere: Kona, Costa Rica, Ethiopia.
After the actual competition ceased for the evening we had a nice reception here at Soulard Preservation Hall. It was an open bar, and I really do think that the number one thing that baristas love after coffee is beer. Lots. And Lots. Of Beer.

Sunday: Day two seemed like it lasted an eternity. Maybe it was just my nerves for Tyler, but the list of competitors seemed never-ending. In fact, I might go so far as to say that I was more nervous for him than I was for myself on Friday. Most of the morning was spent in the green room polishing everything imaginable. Note to all competitive barista hopefuls: if you hate ironing, polishing or washing dishes this isn't your cup of tea (or coffee, as it would seem).
Once Tyler's performance time rolled around myself, Kyle and Tyler's wife Jaime hovered around nervously. He was great though, especially considering this was his first year competing. I have to say that his set-up was the best looking one I saw in round one, hands down.
Three of the guys from Kaldi's and the entire crew from PT's Coffee advanced to the final round, which is today. Everyone else had the opportunity to review their scores and talk to the judges. Though we won't be going for the gold today, I have to say that we got a lot of positive feedback and are coming away with some really great ideas for next year (or a possible out-of-region trip). Thanks to everyone who supported us and listened to us obsess over crema and tampers for the last couple of months. It's been a great weekend, but I'll be glad when I see the arch slip below the horizon.

The Roasterie Newsletter - Fall 2009

2009-10-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Roasterie Friends and Family,

Hi everyone! I hope your summer was great and your fall even better. In my last letter (August), I shared that it was by far the best summer of our lives and it's migrated right to the fall, too. We were just getting ready to go visit Carla's family in Lebanon and we really had the time of our lives.

Lebanon
We arrived in Beirut and went straight up to the mountains, which has weather much like the Rockies in Colorado during the summer. We spent nearly every day just playing with Terry and Sophia, reading, drinking coffee, and visiting friends and family. Every other day Terry and I went on a walk around the mountain that was nearly four miles long...and he made it on his own nearly every time! He is so tough...and so adventurous and naturally curious that we're just inseparable. And Sophie is already turning out to be the same way (she's 15 months old).

Terry is a nut for the garden so he and grandpa worked there each day. It was beautiful being

with family and being able to wind down. Our dear friends, Anthony and Annette, visited several times and we went down to Beirut for lunches and dinners with them as well. Back in 2000, they were on a European coffeehouse tour with me and later introduced me to their friend, Carla...who became my wifeJ. Not that long ago we were all single and now, in what seems the blink of an eye, we have 9 children between us...5 of them @ four years old! It is surreal...we used to have intimate dinners together...now they are like a school lunch room, and we love every second of it

Normy joined us near the end of our trip to do some training with Anthony's roasting staffand it was a blast to show him around Lebanon. We sat on the balcony of the 100+ year old house where you can see the sea shore in Beirut. We studied the bridge nearby on the road to Damascus. We talked about it and agreed that it was like a metaphor for how complex the world has become. During the war a couple of summers ago, the Israeli's bombed it to stop the Syrian's from shipping arms in to support Hezbollah, who had attacked Israel from Southern Lebanon. It was built with U.S. dollars by an Italian company; it is now being rebuilt with US dollars by local companies. And all the Lebanese wanted (the majority of them) was to live in peace and have their normal lives. But they are caught in the crossfire in a volatile area of the world.

In addition to a couple of dozen past issues of The New Yorker, I read the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Tribes, by Seth Godin. I started The Wilderness Warrior by Douglas Brinkley, a book about Teddy Roosevelt, and have to admit that I am still working on it. It is a great read, but a hefty one. I'd recommend all three of them; the first two can be read in a weekend or two quite easily.

The trip is right around 27 hours or so and both kids did so well. We had many passengers and flight attendants compliment us on how well behaved they were and how well that they travel. Carla and I laughed because the first couple of times folks had approached us, we were sure that it was to complain about them. But they already have 11 international trips between them and it's something that they view as normal...but we still feel blessed. They both continue with their Arabic and English and are both outgoing and love life.

Major Happenings
We returned to a whirlwind of activity. The expansion of The Roasterie Café was nearly complete and the remodel inside had begun. It is really beautiful and if you haven't been by, we sure hope you'll come check it out soon. The biggest complaint since we've opened is "there are not enough places to sit down". We should gain at least 30-35 seats and the layout is much, much more efficient. Paul Dorrell of Leopold Gallery has done a tremendous job with original art for the Café and also hooked us up with Matt Kirby, an accomplished sculptor from Lawrence, who built a custom, coffee cup bike rack out of stainless steel. It is beautiful...true art and has been filled up since it was installed. We'll nearly triple the amount of space for art inside when we're finished.

We are also in the finishing touches of a new website. It's more complex...and more expensiveL than the previous three sites put together but I guess that's a reflection of the times and our collective expectations. We tried to make it as easy and informative as possible and the early feedback has been really positive and exciting. We hope you'll check it out and let us know if you have any feedback for us. We are still tweaking it and will continue to improve it on a daily basis. Check out our specials http://www.theroasterie.com/ and I won't list them here.

We hooked up with the Airline History Museum (near and dear to Normy's and my heart) and were able to take several hundred photos of the DC3 airplane. We also went out to the country and shot photos of a beautiful Airstream and you'll be seeing a lot of both of these icons very soonJ, with our new designs.

Green Machine
Last week we were talking about carbon footprints, recycling and getting the word out that we need help with a couple of issues. For example, we've been told several times that we cannot recycle our paper cups at the Café because they have coffee residue. This seems bogus and lame...but the fact is, we haven't been able to recycle them. We also generate a lot of chaff from our roasters that is great for compost. We have some people taking some for their garden and I take the rest to our little farm, but we could give a lot more away to gardeners. It is very light, mixes easily, and smells great! We've added information to our new website about what we've done, are in the process of doing, and what we're still working on. We sure invite your suggestions and assistance.

I recounted in this conversation about how we recycled everything...everything while growing up. We used brown grocery sacks for book covers; we lined our wastepaper baskets with newspapers. We had glass bottles of milk delivered to our house for years...then we'd take either the wagon or toboggan to the store when the home delivery ended (11 gallons a week). When friends would mention a dishwasher to my mom, she'd say "Why do I need one, I have ten of them!" We did dishes by hand our entire childhoods. Standing in front of the refrigerator for too long with the door open was a surefire way to get cracked upside the head! And I honestly don't remember ever running out of hot water, even with ten kids and a 40 gallon water heater. We took "Navy" showers, as my mom called them. None of it seemed or felt like duress; and it still doesn't today.

Normy and I were raised in much the same way back in Iowa and we're going back to many of those ways; Normy would argue that I never changed...that I'm as frugal as I was then. But it feels good...and it's good for our children's world...and its good business.

Community
A couple of weeks ago I heard Fr. Curran, the President of Park University, speak on campus. He spoke about the Jesuit motto "Men and women for and with others" and we discussed the Jesuit traditions. No matter what faith one is, how could you not be ‘for' that? This really struck me that day, this message if you will, with its honest beauty and simplicity. Fr. Curran is a wonderful speaker and beyond engaging and speaks with such clarity. The older I get the more spiritual I feel and the less "religious". And the more I travel, the more complexity I see, the more I see the need for "Men and women for others".

He spoke about discernment and the absence of judgment and how we can each do our part to change the world. This validated the work that we are doing in the communities that we share, both here and at origin. There are a great many people, through no fault of their own, who need assistance. Our model is based on the idea of helping people through teaching them ‘how to fish', vs. ‘giving them food'. We are very keen on this.

Finally, another point that Father made with reference to university improvements was the"tension between the already and the not-yet". This also resonated with me and made me think of one of my favorite books of all time, Good to Great. We are in this tension that Fr. Spoke of...a very healthy tension. It's all about continuous improvement and focusing on what you do best. We have grown a lot over the years and I felt our culture changing over the last few years; and not necessarily for the better. So we set about getting back to our roots, focusing on what is important, and being the best in the world at it. We achieved ISO 9001 certification, formed teams, flattened the already pretty flat company, and reaffirmed our mission:

To find the best coffee that we can find on the planet.

To roast it the best way known to mankind.

To deliver it to the customers as fast as is humanly possible.

This is where this "bus" is headed; and that tension that Fr. spoke of is helping us get our bus in order with respect to the right folks on it and the right folks in the right seats.

Roadtrip
On October 10th, Terry's 4 yr. birthday, Paul Massard, our new Coffee Hunter and I, took off for a drive to Panama. Paul has been with us for about six months and is the godson of one of my best friends. He interned with coffee companies for two summers while getting his masters in finance and fell in love with coffee. Once Salim introduced him to us, we all fell in love with him. We brought him to town and basically did a "Hardball" series of tests and interviews with him. Normy gave him a barrage of sensory evaluation tests and Nathan sent him through a litany of financial, mathematical, operational and other quizzes and tests. We had hours of discussions about culture, core values, performance, etc. and did our best to either attract him or scare him off; and we attracted him.

Paul is working with Normy in our green coffee department and will spend a great deal of his time at origin. For many years I did about 12 trips a year and now do around 6; Paul will do those and many more. In thinking about his training, I really wanted to do an ‘immersion' type of training where he would see the entire coffee ‘chain' in a short amount of time. So, I reprised the trip I did 7 years ago but this time with Paul in a Toyota Tundra, nicknamed The White Knight by Paul (you can read his blogs and see lots of photos on our website http://www.theroasterie.com).

This time, however, we only had 11 days to cover the 4,000+ miles and what would be 14 border crossings covering 8 countries. Several university board meetings bookended the front end and the need to witness Notre Dame spank Boston College in South Bend provided the other bookend. So, Paul did all the planning on this end and we got our ducks in line.

Our dear friend and coffee miller/grower/producer/partner Grace Mena from Costa Rica decided to join us and was instrumental in planning the trip. She met us in Vera Cruz, Mexico and we visited farms, mills, coffee research facilities, etc. along the way. Each day was early and long, but simply a once in a lifetime experience. The look on people's faces when we drove up was priceless; for some it was the second time I visited...by car from the US, and now they totally think I'm nuts. But it was so bountiful in terms of what we learned; it far and away exceeded our expectations. We shared key learnings with farmers along the way; I'd visited farms in several countries on a single trip many times before. But never this many farms in 7 different countries in such a compact amount of time. It was just such a great learning experience for Paul...for all of us; and a double blessing to be able to share so much diverse acquired know-how along the way with all of the farmers.

Seven years ago we were in the middle of a severe coffee crisis with prices at all time lows. Many farmers were simply walking off of their farms and abandoning them. The coffee market was at $.47/lb. and it cost nearly double that to break even; so why even bother picking it? Every pound picked could result in another significant loss; it was depressing.

While the situation is much better today, it's still just an incredibly hard life in that it takes such an immense amount of work, just to break even. The farmers selling to specialty roasters like ours are doing much better but still, all together, Specialty Coffee only represents about 16-17% of the market. The remaining 83% of the coffee is low-priced commercial coffee, which at best supports subsistence living, at best. I don't have time in this letter to go into all the detail but I will in an upcoming letter and we'll be posting lots of additional information on our website, complete with ways in which folks can help out, if they choose to.

Arriving in Costa Rica was like coming home! The scenery, scents, countryside all made me anxious to get to my host families house. When I left in 1979, my host mother gave me a key to the house (very, very prized possession in those days) and told me to "just come back; don't call, just come back and let yourself in". I returned dozens of times but never unannounced. This time, I thought I would. So, we dropped Grace off (more like dumpedJ) and Paul and I drove up to the house, got out and knocked. It was about 10:30 P.M. and all the lights came on...then there was pandemonium! It was absolutely joyous! The surprise of all surprises. We visited, ate and had lots of fun and decided that my 11 year old niece would finish the last leg with us, to Panama and back. So, at 5:00 A.M. the next morning we were back up and off to San Jose to get Grace. We visited farms and mills along the way and made it to Boquete, in Panama, that evening. Our dear friend and coffee grower, Norberto Suarez, met us and planned the next day's visits. Norberto has been our coffee partner for several years and his family has been growers for three generations. Like Grace, he is passionate, determined, all about total quality and continuous improvement...and a ton of fun to be with. It was sad to say goodbye.

We visited more farms in the Volcan area of Panama and then again in Costa Rica on the way back to my host family. We arrived around 9:00 P.M. and were up again by 6:00 for the trip back to KC. One of Grace's staff met us at the airport and two hours later the "white knight" was in a container heading back to KC.

The Holy Grail
Two days later we were off to Chicago for the Notre Dame game. Paul, Nathan and I took Terry and had a great weekend. Terry's cheering "GO IRISH" lit up our section, hotel, shuttle bus and plane for the rest of the weekend. Thankfully we won and Terry let the world know about itJ.

End this novel!
There are dozens of other exciting things that we're doing, promotions and new staff that I want to tell you about. But, I'm already over my allotted space so I'll cover this in my next letter. We're doing a much better job now in marketing and Sara and Zach are doing a great job of posting what we're up to on our website. You can follow our twitters and blogs as well. The Airstream is making lots of fun visits...and it could come to your office with coffee for up to 1,000 of your friends if you like? Check out the website and follow along.

Until then, thank you big time for your confidence and support. We never take it for granted and always want to have a ‘game day tension' with respect to serving you and being attentive. We all want to hear from you and especially if you have any suggestions or ideas on how we can improve what we do or better serve our communities. Godspeed.

Sincerely,

Danny O'Neill
Bean Baron

P.S. Join us for a cupping and opportunity to build your own personal blend this Sunday at Blue Stem. We have room for only 5 more :(!

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Panama - Part 5

2009-10-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Day 12
We woke up this morning and for some reason Danny’s phone said that it was 6:45 and we were supposed to meet grace at Deli Café for a 7am meeting. We rushed out of the room to see Mami a little puzzled. When Danny asked her why she hadn’t woken us up at 6:00 as she was supposed to, she looked at her watch and said, “Well, it’s only 5:45. I still have some time.” We were relieved that we were not late and sat down to enjoy a cup of our Organic Sumatra while Mami made us some eggs.

We showered and changed and headed out to meet Grace and Nick at Deli Café. Maria Elena, Danny’s niece, also accompanied us on this part of the trip. We got to Deli Café with time to spare, and as we arrived Don William had some coffee that he had just roasted for us try and gave us some for the rest of our trip. We picked up Grace and followed Nick to the Micro mill that we were visiting in the Fraigles region of Costa Rica. It was about an hour and a half drive from San Jose, but man, was it beautiful! We went through small towns, up and down some mountains, and we finally arrived at 1600 meters. The mill was great, it was the first micro mill that I had seen and it was so cute. Everything was just like the other mills that we had visited, only a lot smaller. They take the ripe cherries and run them though a demucilager, and then they go right onto the drying patio-- no water, no fermentation process, very simple, clean and efficient. They also had prepared some coffee as well as a very large breakfast for us to eat. Everything was great and freshly- prepared. After spending some more time with them discussing our procedures on Micro lots and how we are excited to bring more unique offerings to our customers, we were on our way to the Panamanian border. It was about a 5 hour drive to the border through a road called Cerra Del Muerte, translation: Mountains of death. It is so winding and steep that there have been a lot of accidents on this stretch of road. We went from sea level to about 3000 meters and back down, so our ears were popping the whole way. Once we reached the border we were greeted by Cesar from Natures Best, who helped us get everything we needed in order, but again it was another hassle getting all the right paperwork and signatures. We again went from window to window to window, presenting every document we needed. After about an hour and half we were good to go, and started our drive to Boquete. It was a relatively short drive, about an hour and change, but again we went from sea level up to 1500 meters. Once we turned on the main road to Boquete it was a steady incline all the way up. We arrived and checked into our hotel, which was beautiful and had a great little river running behind it. We only had a few minutes at the hotel before we left to meet Norberto Suarez for dinner. We had decided on a Peruvian restaurant where Danny had been before, and it was a great choice. The food was great and the atmosphere brought on good conversation. We talked about the coffee market, the harvest in Panama as well as Costa Rica and the new procedures that they were working on to continually improve the quality of the coffee. After a long dinner we retired to our rooms for some much needed rest.

We were picked up the next morning by Norberto in his new Ford F550. This thing was huge. He took us to his office and we picked up some freshly made pastries to accompany the coffee that Danny had made in the room earlier that morning. After his office, he took us up to see one of the farms that was by his house. It was crazy: the trees had green and red cherries and the farm was still flowering. After a short drive around, we went to Norberto’s house for a great espresso made from a straight Panama. It was sweet and buttery and good. After a small discussion we were off to meet Grace, Cesar and Maria Elena at Bouquet’s Finest, benefio, where they process the Don Pepe and other recognized coffees of Panama. After a short tour and potty break, we were off to the Volcan region of Panama; just on the other side of the volcano, about 15 miles as the crow flies, but an hour and change drive as there is no road that cuts through the mountain range. Once we arrived we went to visit the Finca de Canteras and met Jackie Mercer , the owner & operator. We toured her beautiful farm and then her wet and dry mills, and had an interesting discussion on how she decided that she wanted to own a coffee farm. After some coffee and freshly made snacks we were on our way to see the neighboring farm, Finca Florentina. The entrance was breathtaking: there was a gigantic canopy of trees that left only a small little pass for us to go though. Once there we got to meet the people who are in charge of making everything happen. We got a small walking tour of the farm-- which I loved-- and got to see the natural spring river where it starts from the ground. We were also given a tour of the dry and wet mills, and like every other farm everything was clean and neat. After our short visit-- which we all wished it could have been longer-- we were on our way to cross the border and have a lunch that we were already 2 hours late for in San Vito: our car hood wouldn’t close properly and we had to fix it with some “Latin intuition.”

It was a little more than an hour and a half to the border, and this time the border crossing was great: 20 minutes! I don’t know if it was the rain that kept all the people away or what, but it was great. Everyone was nice and everything worked out very, very well. After another short drive we were in San Vito and very, very late. However, we were still there and had time for a quick lunch and great discussion about the San Vito coffee region. We had to cut our visit short, as we had a long drive back to San Jose to get our things in order for the shipping of the car and our flight back to the States early that next morning. The drive back seemed really short and we made great time thanks to Danny’s great driving skills. Once back at Mami’s house we unloaded everything from the truck and made sure that we weren’t leaving anything behind. Once we were all packed up, though, we had to put some random things back into the truck hoping that they wouldn’t get stolen during the shipment back. It was late into the night when we finally got to bed and again had an early wake up to get ourselves to the airport.

Then next morning we were both very sad that our adventure had come to an end. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare as we assumed that we would have to wait in long lines as we had done every day prior. But, much to our surprise the airport seemed empty. Once we boarded our flight the adventure was officially over and we were on our way back to Kansas City. I would like to end by thanking Grace Mena for helping set up this great trip, as well as for her company. She is a genuine person who is fun has a great attitude and commands everyone’s respect when she walks into any situation, be it on a small farm or in a large beneficio. I would also like to thank all of the people who took time out of their busy schedules to accommodate Danny and I and show us around your beautiful farms and mills.

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Panama - Part 4

2009-10-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Day 10
The next morning we awoke again to the sound of the singing birds as well as the water rushing below us. We all took turns using the bathroom, as there were 4 guys and only one shower. After a short while we were served a regular Guatemalan breakfast of beans and eggs, which is still slightly weird but nonetheless very, very good.

We then went out on these pretty sweet looking jeeps that had been turned into farm buggies. We went around seeing a smaller version of the Bourbon that they had planted which they called, Bourbon enano. This is because the plant is much smaller than the regular Bourbon and gives the same yields. They also prefer it because the people who work on their farm are a little vertically challenged, and it’s easier for them to reach every branch. We also saw a variety of tree they call Elite 14. It’s very different because the coffee cherry turns orange when it matures instead of the usual red. We went around for about an hour and a half looking at all the trees on the farm as we made our way up to the lookout tower. At 1660 meters above sea level it was sure to be a fantastic view. However, we ran into some problems when one of the buggies couldn't make it up the mountain because it kept on getting stuck in the mud. We all piled into one of them and continued on the journey. Because of our little mishap, though, by the time we made it up to the lookout tower we were too late and the clouds had already started to form, and all we could see in any direction was fog. After a refreshing drink and news that we had missed an earthquake by just a few hours the day before we were on our way back down to view the wet and dry mills.

The mills were very standard to what we had seen in Mexico and were very traditional and very, very clean. After the tour we had a few minutes before lunch was served to get everything in order for our departure. I took that time to lay in a beautiful hammock as everyone was busy getting ready. After lunch we were off to Antigua, Guatemala. It was a relatively short and beautiful drive and we arrived at a farm named Finca Retana. It was amazing, with beautiful macadamia trees lining the street and coffee growing right behind it. We were greeted by the owner, Fernando Cofino, and instantly he and Danny hit it off, as he had a vintage BMW motorcycle sitting in his garage. It also happens that he went to school just 45 minutes outside of Kansas City. He also had the same truck that we were driving as well as the same BMW motorcycle that Danny has… kind of random. So, after a short tour of the farm and seeing some beautiful plants, as well as some that were dying of some sort of root system disease, we were taken back to his home for coffee. There, he showed us some photos of what the farm used to look like and what happens to the coffee trees just a few hours after a freeze-- man, was that depressing! After some more conversation we were off to our hotel and get ready for a meeting that Grace had with some of the women from Women In Coffee.

We went to a great little restaurant on the main street and had some great local stuffed hot peppers, as well as some more local beverages. After dinner Estuardo took us to the Hotel Santo Domingo, which was a hotel transformed from an old monastery. It was definitely an amazing sight to see. It was like walking through time: the old ruins were still standing from who knows when, and the church was absolutely breathtaking. After walking though the Hotel Santo Domingo we then went back to our hotel and everyone went to bed.

The next morning we woke up pretty early and had breakfast at our hotel-- again eggs and beans-- and were off the the the Beneficio Palin, where Cafcom does a lot of its processing. On the way we were surprised to see that the volcano we were driving by was erupting. There was a huge cloud of smoke billowing from the peak. It was pretty cool to see and we stopped to take some photos. After driving an hour or more we made it to the beneficio where we were treated to a cupping and given a tour of the facilities. Again everything was spotless and clean. It was also the first time that i got to see the electronic sorters and see how they work. Everything there was a great learning experience.

After we were done we were taken to meet the bodyguards that would escort us to the border. It was Comendante or Capitan as I called him and the little rotund man named Daniel. We were all very friendly with each other, much more than the last time we had seen them. I don't know if it was because we had a bag of open candy that we had given to the kids at the school earlier, but Daniel was much happier to be in the car this time than he was last time.

During our drive we stopped and had lunch at this little roadside stand. We again had the usual lunch fare: grilled meats, beans, guacamole, lots and lots of spicy sauces. This time they tricked me into piling on this green sauce that was supposedly “not too spicy,” and after they saw my face after the first bite, they both bust into laughter. my mouth was on fire for at least 45 minutes after that bite. Even the hard candy that the waiter brought didn't help. After another hour or so in the car we were at the El Salvador boarder. It was not a hassle at all getting out of Guatemala, but getting the car import permit was definitely not fun. I waited in line for about 50 minutes before someone talked to me, then I waited another 30 minutes while they did the paperwork and went through my passport about 10 times. They said that they didn't need my resident card, but one girl asked if i was a US resident , even after I had already told her three times that I was. We finally got everything in order and then were on our way… or so we thought. When we presented the documents to the guy at the gate and he said that we had to go back and get some other stamp. I’m not sure if he was looking for a bribe, because we had the stamp and he still insisted that we needed it even after we showed it to him. He then called someone on his little radio and made us wait 10 minutes, then came and told us that we could go.

After a short drive we went to the office of Cofizinas and met Terasa and Marcos Batres. We were given a tour of their dry mill and then were treated to another cupping. It was great: 2 cuppings with 2 professional cuppers in one day! After the cupping we were taken to the Farm called Teresa 3, on the way there I rode with Marcus. The whole time I was wondering why the heck the car door weighed so much. Once we got to the farm he told me that the vehicle was bulletproof and that just a few months back someone had put 100 bullets into his car. I guess that would have been good to know before I got into the car with this guy, but nonetheless it was fine.

When we got there we were blown away by how amazing this place was. The whole farm and wet mill is run by geothermal energy, and they have these amazing hot springs as well as Central America’s biggest geyser. The farm had 3 houses and 7 pools that were all at different temperatures to cool the water. One was ridiculously hot and almost boiling, but the ones at the end were more like hot tubs. After putting everything in our room we went down to the main house where we had some drinks and appetizers before we all got our bathing suits on and went into one of the pools. Danny and I went into the wussy pool, which was still pretty hot. After about an hour or so in the pool and a few more drinks, dinner was served, we had an amazing lasagna with an even better salad. After dinner we sat and talked some more about the coffee business of El Salvador and how it had changed as well as the coffee market itself.

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Panama - Part 3

2009-10-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

Day 6

Yesterday morning began bright and early with a wake up call to tour the farm Argovia with Bruno. It was a beautiful place that we were given the full tour of in an old, open sided, Jeep. We were driven up the mountain and saw all the coffee varieties they had; I even got to see my first robusta plant! After we were finished in the fields, we were taken to the farm’s school house where all the children ran out to greet us. They were very friendly and each one came up and hugged without reservations. We told them we had some schools supplies for them and the teacher was more than thrilled. After the visit to the school, we went back up the the house and had a great breakfast. We were in a slight hurry because we were to meet our body guards at the Guatemala boarder at noon and had a 90 minute drive to get there. Once we said our goodbyes we were off...followed by a short detour to a local cafe so Danny could load up on Mexican chocolates.

Once at the boarder everything was going great until we found out we needed to cancel our vehicle import sticker Nuevo Mexico, which was 30 minutes back into Mexico. So, we hired a little guide to get us there faster. He was a young man from Guatemala, who works on the boarder helping people get through faster and telling them what they need or are missing before they begin the customs process. Once we got back after canceling the permit, we were greeted by our 2 body guards, an older man who they called “Comendante” and a short rotund man who does not strike you as a bodyguard. After a little more hassle in getting our papers in order to import the car we were on our way; Following the older man’s car, while the short man rode with us. I started talking to him about his job, but he wasn't really into making conversation. Until I pulled out a chocolate bar that is...then he automatically became my friend. He had been in the security business for 4 years after going through lots of training. He also said that he had never shot anyone but has had to pull his gun out a few times. During our conversation he received a phone call from Comandante, saying that there was a suspicious car following us and that we should pass him to see what the car would do. Once Danny heard this he took off like a bat out of hell, passing him and a bunch of other cars. For a short time it looked like we were being followed, as the other car kept up with us, but after a few minutes it turned off and I could once again breath easily. After this i was on my toes and every time our guy would turn around and look behind us, i would as well. He then told me that he was really nervous because he had left his gun in the other car and that when people see cars with U.S. license plates that’s when the trouble might start.

After continuing on the road to the farm we decided to stop for a late lunch. It was a butcher shop that would also cook the meat for you and man was it good. I was slightly skeptical because there were no freezers, ice or refrigerators and all the meat was hanging on hooks right in the open...but it was amazing. The torillas were made right there and the guacamole that came with it was incredible. After eating way more than we should have, we were again on our way. About 20 minutes after lunch we hit a long string of traffic. It was raining pretty hard and what we thought would be another hour to the farm turned into 2.5 hours. Finally arriving at the farm we met with Estuardo Erales, Juan Carlos Lantzendorffer and Mario Castillo, who all work for Cafcom. We then sat around and had a few drinks before having a great dinner of tortilla lasagna...which was followed by a few more drinks. Even though it was a slightly stressful day, it was an awesome adventure. How often are you going to have your own body guards and constantly worry you’re being followed?

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Panama - Part 2

2009-10-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Day 5
So, today we woke up somewhat early and started our drive from Tuxtla, Mexico down to the Chiapas growing region. It was about a 5 hour drive and we experienced 3 military stops on the way to Tapachula, Mexico, which is right next to the boarder from Guatemala. From there we drove up the Coffee Trail for about an hour. This was a beautiful drive in the mountains past amazing waterfalls and streams, and through small villages where kids were just getting out of school and crowding the streets. We arrived at Finca Argovia and got to relax a little as we waited for Bruno Giesmann to come and meet us. During this time we went to our little cabin, and while Danny made some coffee I went on a little exploration to find some nice ripe red coffee cherries to taste.

Once I got back we sat out on the back porch of the cabin and I was overwhelmed by the scenery. It was breathtaking! The sounds of the rushing stream, the thunder as the daily storms rolled down the mountain, and the birds singing mixed with the amazing beauty of the landscape. This farm is 100% organic, but also has a large flower production, which they use as an additional source of income. It’s also a great way to enrich the soil for future coffee trees to be planted.

After we spent some time taking in the beauty and talking, we decided that it was best to go and meet Grace at the restaurant. As we waited for Bruno, we had some beverages and the chef made us some amazing traditional mexican appetizers. Once we were done with those, Bruno showed up and gave us a tour of the processing facility. Man, was it clean...as well as cool! They had machinery that was over 100 years old that was still in daily use, and all of the electricity for the processing is generated by water. The smell of the coffee being processed and dried is a clear indication that you’re on a coffee farm, and I seem to have grown to like it. Once we were done asking about a million questions we headed back to the restaurant for another great meal, as well as some great coffee conversation.

It’s 6 am now, and we’re getting ready early so that we may tour the farm completely and still be at the Mexican boarder to meet our bodyguards on time. I am a little nervous after some of the stories that were told at dinner, but Danny and Grace seem to think that everything is fine. The fact that we will have a bodyguard with us eases my nerves slightly, though. The adventure continues...

The Roasterie's Travels: Destination Panama - Part 1

2009-10-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Day 1
Well, the first day was slightly nondescript. Left Kansas city at 7 am and arrived in Laredo, TX (2 miles) from the border at 10 pm. 916 miles down, 2500 to go...woohoo! Tomorrow we will cross the Mexican border and drive to Jalapa, Mexico. We will be meeting Grace Mena from Natures Best Coffee and Dr. Eduardo Assad Azuara the President of Cafe de Vera Cruz. We’ll then drive to Vera Cruz with Grace and she will be accompanying us on the rest of our journey.

Day 3
I can say that it has already been a crazy and funny adventure. We left Laredo, TX yesterday at around 7:00am and thought we would make it to Vera Cruz by 5:00pm to meet with Grace Mana and Dr Eduardo Assad Azuara. But, much to our surprise (and not- so-great navigational skills) we ended up getting lost on the way and not meeting up with Grace until 11:00pm. The drive was beautiful...albeit slightly crazy. The Mexicans are in love with speed bumps and they have perfected the art of camouflaging them to blend in with the road. So, we would be driving at 65-70mph and then come up on a speed bump that would send the car flying. We also believe that the people in this town think of speed bumps like someone coming from a small town thinks of stoplights: the more you have, the cooler your town. There would be small little towns that would ordinarily take 2 minutes to go through, but would have 12 speed bumps within 1 kilometer. So, our drive took us through Monterrey to Ciudad Victoria, then over to Tampico and then South to Vera Cruz. After after that debacle, and some confusion as to where we were actually going to meet up with Grace, we finally found her at 11:00pm. Then, since Danny and I hadn't eaten we decided to stop and have some of the local specialties, which I think were pretty good, but very very spicy. We finally made it to our hotel after 2 days of driving, covering more than 1500 miles...only to find that they had given us a room with one small bed. After some slight complaining we were given a room with 2 beds and finally got some sleep.

The next day we had breakfast with Dr Azuara, whom we missed dinner with the day before. He was a pretty smart guy; a surgeon who left his practice and bought a coffee farm, and is now the President of the Consejo Regulador del Cafe de Vera Cruz, which is basically an organization similar to what Champagne France has to protect the name “Champagne.” It also requires that anything coming out of the region must meet some sort of quality qualifications. We had a nice breakfast discussing all things coffee, then were taken to their offices and given a presentation on exactly what they are trying to do as an organization. This includes increasing the public knowledge about the coffees of Vera Cruz as well as making sure that all of the producers are producing a quality products that meets the expectations of a clean cup as well as other variables.

Once the presentation was finished, we were invited to cup some of the coffees that had been certified from the previous year. After that, we were taken to one of the first farms that had their coffee certified by this organization. The farm was beautiful, the trees were holding lots of green cherries and were all in perfect little rows. After a quick tour we were then taken to the drying and holding facility. There we got to see how their size-sorter worked, as well as got to taste some of their coffees. We even got to take some samples with us so we can cup them when we get back. After the visit to the farm was over, we began what was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive to the next town of Tuxtla. Well, as we have come to know so well, the signs that give you the distances seem to lie. We would see one sign saying that we only had 200km left, then after an hour of doing 110 k/hr we would see another that would say that we had 180km left, then again after 5 min we would see one that would say 320km to our destination. So what was supposedly a 3.5 hour drive took us 5.5 hours!

During this time we were stopped by armed military personnel and police officers 2 times where they checked the car for drugs and guns. Then at one gas station we pulled into, the attendant started to pump the gas just like they have done throughout this trip, but once he was done pumping he informed us that they don't take credit cards or dollars and it’s our luck that we are all out of Mexican pesos. After a 10 minute argument on what we could do --either pay in dollars or call the police-- we come to an agreement that we would drive the attendant to an ATM so that we could take pesos out and then pay for our gas. During all of this his two buddies were following us in some little car. He took us to this ATM where there are no street lights and during this whole time I was a little nervous thinking we’re in some tiny little town in Mexico and there are these 2 guys in a little car and I can see that they are drinking and Danny is inside this phone booth ATM. Meanwhile he was taking his time in there figuring everything out, while I was trying to tell him to hurry because I thought we were about to get mugged! But, finally everything worked out well and we made it to the hotel safely.

Tomorrow we are off to Chiapas to visit another farm meet some more great people and learn some more about coffee. Stay tuned...

Danny's Newsletter

2009-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Roasterie Friends and Family, August 24, 2009

Wow, another summer has zoomed by! I hope it’s been a great one for all of you. For us, it’s been the best of our lives. We’ve had monstrous amounts of rain and everything is green and lush; incredibly cool weather so we’ve spent most of our time outside and the kids have us looking forward to every minute that we spend with them. August has seen some of the best weather of the year…and we just feel grateful to have all of this lushness around us. Growing up in Iowa always leaves me being nervous with feelings of scarceness when it’s dry…no such worries this year.

Okay, I have exactly 36 minutes to pound this out so it could be a record in terms of brevity :). Hold onto your hats and here we go!

Kids
Of course, it all begins and ends with the kids. My combined love of coffee, ice cream, adventure, chocolate, motorcycles and internal combustion engines doesn’t come close to my love of being a dad. I cherish every second and Carla and I still argue over who gets to put them down, give them baths, get them up, etc. I am as content as one could dream of being and I could go the rest of my life without another thing to be grateful for.

Terry started his second year of preschool at St. Peter’s and he’s also riding cycles with me…carefully. He absolutely loves it and last weekend we covered over 200 miles. He loves school, people, reading, and languages…life. Sophia is the same way but with a true ornery streak (like her mother :). You can look at her face and see it…and it’s true joy. Unfortunately, she’s the only early riser in the family so the rest of us are walking around like zombies and she’s like the little Energizer rabbit going a hundred miles an hour. She just turned one, started walking and is picking up 3 languages even faster than Terry. She loves being a daredevil and I can’t drive down the trails in the Mule fast enough for either her or Terry; they both crave speed…it’s in their DNA :).

Roasterie Happenings
This is going to be a whirlwind as we have so many things going on that I don’t have either the time or space to go through them all. Last weekend I told a friend that ‘they’re working me like a rented mule’, like the farmers in Iowa used to say. But truthfully, we’ve not had as much going on since we started the company back in 1993; and there is no let up in sight.

The Café expansion is under budget and on time. The outside portion is finished and we’ve added about 20 seats. You can also reserve private meeting space now (just call 816-333-9700) and the garage doors really make a difference on beautiful days. We’ll completely remodel the inside beginning in September and have it all wrapped up in October. They have had a blockbuster year, setting records in every category and just earned Kansas City Magazine’s BEST COFFEESHOP IN KANSAS CITY :)! The staff was thrilled and they’ve worked so hard as a team to deliver the best possible service to their clients. You can tell how much they care and how much they love what they’re doing.

We will also begin a remodel of the roasting plant’s offices, café, cupping and training rooms. When we moved in, we basically placed our offices where the previous tenants had had theirs and worked around existing walls, etc. While the plant layout was extremely efficient, the customer pickup, café, etc. were cumbersome. It will all change so that customer pickups are a breeze, you’ll walk into a “Café” and basically have an unobstructed view all the way to the roasters. The Café, training department and cupping rooms will all be contiguous and right next to the front door.

I mentioned before that I felt like Rip Van Winkle as it relates to marketing and PR these past few years since the kids arrived. But, he’s awake Team Roasterie has been extremely busy. Our exciting new product called “MyBlend” was featured in Oprah’s magazine last month and that really caused a huge increase in sales. It also led to a segment on the morning show of NBC…which further spiked sales. And this made us think of the idea of offering MyBlend specials to companies for their holiday gifts. Please just let us know if you are interested…it’s simple, affordable, effective…and very fun. Its available now on our website www.theroasterie.com.

Speaking of websites, our friends at Two West have really knocked it out of the park! We’ve completely redesigned everything and it is going to be so much easier to use. It was due to launch on June 30th but we added a significant amount of new products and services (wait till you see our new Flight School) and forced ourselves to wait and launch it all at the same time on August 30th. They have really done an extraordinary job and I hope you all check it out. And for the holidays, we love custom…custom blends, labels, gifts, etc. If you don’t see exactly what you want, just let us know and we’ll make it happen for you.

We’ve also redesigned our packaging and you’ll see this begin to roll out around the holidays. Thursday night, just before the weekend air show, we took pictures of the DC3 at the Airline History Museum to use in all of our marketing and packaging. We’ll make a donation to them instead of purchasing a stock photo and further cement a relationship that began when Normy and I joined back in 1996. And by the way, if you have not been to the museum lately, you need to go. It is one of Kansas City’s most unique attractions and it’s completely run by volunteers as passionate about what they do as we are about coffee.

We had a great trip to Peru around the end of June and discovered some awesome new coffees. It was actually my first trip and so exciting to have a brand new adventure. You’ll be seeing and hearing more about Peru in the coming year.

Paul (our Coffee Hunter) and I will leave on our Panama trip in October. We are going to visit coffee farms from Chiapas to Panama…in at least seven countries. It is going to be a great way to introduce Paul to our wonderful growing partners and give him a true appreciation of the relationship we’ve had with these folks over the last 15+ years. I took 28 days the last time I drove there but we’re going to do it in 13 days…have to get back in time to go see Notre Dame spank Boston College :).

Filter Fresh, one of our office coffee partners, approached us with a great idea; basically a “Coffee for Clunkers”. We thought it would be a lot of fun so we’re putting together a program as we speak where you’ll be able to upgrade your coffee brewing equipment as well as get rid of that nasty coffee that you might have laying around :). We’ll make a $10/case donation to Harvesters…and it will be fun all the way around. If you are interested, just hit ‘reply’ and we can get you more information. Remember, there is no law that says you have to drink nasty coffee in an office setting!!! Your staff…your customers are worth another $.02 a cup to drink some of best coffee on the planet! It’s the least expensive, most impactful employee benefit that you’ll ever invest in.

Tomorrow we leave for our annual family vacation to visit Carla’s family in Lebanon. We are so excited and somewhat anxious; Sophia tends to scream…whether she’s happy or not…so we’re going to bring packets of coffee to bribe all of the surrounding passengers :). Before the kids, we used to throw a few bags together and pack in a couple of hours. Now, it’s been two weeks and we’re north of 6 bags and 400 pounds! And each year, my one allotted bag gets smaller and smaller. It’s about a 27 hour trip, door to door, and I’m praying that Sophia saves the screams until we get there :).

One of the reasons this trip will be so special is that Stormin’ Norman will be joining us in a couple of weeks. He’s going to train our partners at The Roaster but we’re going to show him around and let him see the nightclubs that Beirut is so famous for :). Normy is such a history buff…it’s just going to be the trip of a lifetime for all of us.

As I mentioned, it’s been such an incredible summer. I hope that you all have had the same kind of storybook season. While we continue to work our tails off, it’s just been a blast to have so much going on in such dream-like weather. We are grateful for your support and continue to work like crazy to improve upon everything that we do. Continuous improvement is part of our daily mantra and we truly want to hear from you regarding ways to improve or new products or services to offer.

Thank you for being part of our journey. You’ve made it fun, challenging and rewarding…and we wouldn’t want it any other way. There are a number of other big projects and fun things that we’re building, but they are going to have to wait till next time. My time us up :).

Sincerely,

Danny O’Neill
Bean Baron

P.S. I asked Dave Hermann, our Chief Coffee Officer, for ‘a couple of words’ about new coffee offerings…and he took a page from the O’Neill playbook…and used more than ‘a couple’ of words. But my my…they are some awesome new coffees and blends (try them iced). Just give us a call (816-931-4000) or go to www.theroasterie.com. If we get your order in the morning, your coffee will be roasted, packed and shipped the same day (nearly 100% of the time :)).

Our new reserve coffee is Tanzania Revuma
Coffee Profile:

Region: Ruvuma
District: Mbinga
Altitude: 1200 to 1800 meters
Soil: Volcanic Loam
Variety: Bourbon
Processing: Wet, sun dried.
Certification: Café practices.

From high up on the rural plateau of southwest Tanzania comes The Roasterie’s latest exclusive limited reserve coffee, Ruvuma of Tanzania. This coffee takes its name from remote yet acclaimed Ruvuma growing region. Here small producers have come together to actively increase the quality of their coffee production. Our exclusive micro lot comes from one of these quality minded producers. Pulped and fully-washed in order to maintain a clean and sweet flavor profile, our lot has then been impeccable graded to ensure only highest AA grade would make it to our roasters.

You will marvel at the bright candy sweet acidity of this coffee which fills each sip with light toasted almond, cinnamon and ginger. Rich peach and dried apricot flavors balance a medium full body that finishes long and clean

Other new blends include

1)Total Eclipse
Spectacular and exhilarating, a total eclipse is a rare phenomena witnessed by only a few. It’s this dark and unique beauty that has been captured in our new dark roast blend. Total eclipse is unbelievably smooth and balanced. A harmonious mix of ripe black berry and rich dark chocolate explodes on the palate like sweet truffle, reminiscent of the exact moment the moon and sun unite in the sky. The finish is long and lingering with a syrupy caramel tone that is both clean and sophisticated. This is truly a luscious dark blend, and you may just remember for a life time.

2) Autumn Harvest
This taste of autumn is sweet and full bodied with rich nutmeg & ginger flavors. It's the perfect coffee for those crisp fall evenings.
•Don't wait to try this seasonal creation; it will only be available now through October!

Coffee Review:

Rwanda Bufcoffee Nyarusiza: 90
Praised for its spicy aroma, balanced acidity and body with subtle hints of floral and chocolate

Arbor Day: 92
Praised for its crisp sweet-toned aroma, caramel, pineapple, nut, and a hint of aromatic wood in the softly balanced acidity and body.

Brookside

2009-07-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

I returned from a trip to Milwaukee last weekend and had the same thing happen that always happens, no matter where I’ve been: I fall more in love with Brookside.
A couple of weeks ago it happened upon my return from Peru. I usually love just about everywhere I go and usually end up saying something like “I could live here”. But once I land in KC and begin driving home, I’m always overrun with this feeling of gratitude and appreciation. I absolutely love it here! And the truth is we could live pretty much anywhere in the world that we wanted to.
Since 1991, Kansas City has been home and I’m reminded of how absolutely beautiful it is each spring. One forgets how many trees there are here (and why our power goes out so often :)) and how stunningly gorgeous they help make our city. And no matter how hot it gets in the summer, nearly every night is about as perfect as you could ever want.
This past Saturday when I arrived I took the kids and loaded them into the trailer, which I pull behind my bike. Terry insisted on tying up his wagon to the back of the trailer…and then putting his bike into the wagon! So there we went, down the trolley trail, much to the delight of all our fellow Brooksider's.
Which brings me to the point of the people: aside from being overly friendly, culturally engaged and aware, successful, fun, community oriented…they are about as unpretentious as one can be. Our baristas serve some of the most successful people in Kansas City, many times never knowing this…and this is exactly how they want it…which makes it doubly cool. No pretence, no airs…all good.
Come visit soon! :)

New Bean Hunter

2009-07-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I’d like to introduce our new Coffee Hunter, Mr. Paul Massard, by posting his travel summary of our latest trip to Peru. Paul joined us this spring and you’ll be hearing lots more from him in the coming months and years.

Paul will have his own “Bean Hunter” blog on our new website in the near future. But for now, please read his interesting notes regarding Peru.

Thank you!

Our Visit to Lima by Paul Massard

Our trip started with worries that the Peruvian miners were going to be on strike and demonstrating by blockading the highly used streets in and out of Lima, but we got word the day we were to leave that the strike had been settled and the roads were free and clear to travel on, so we were on our way to continue our search for the best coffees in the world.
The trips began with Danny O’Neill, Ben Cohoon from the Arbor Day foundation and I catching a mid morning flight to Atlanta which would then connect to our 8 hour flight into Lima. Upon landing in Lima it seemed that we were just so ready to be there that everyone and everything was moving in slow motion. We joked that the other people on our plane were already at their hotels and had long gone to sleep, while we were still standing around the airport. After what seemed to be eternity waiting to clear customs and waiting for our luggage, we finally arrived at our Hotel close to 1 A.M. We had planned on meeting our host, in the lobby at 8 am to have a quick breakfast then catch our bus. We had planned this thinking that the bus to Chachamayo, the central coffee growing region of Peru, was leaving at 9:30. Once we got up and started preparing ourselves for the 10 hour bus ride we had ahead of us, we got a call from our host saying that somehow we were mistaken about the departure time and that the bus actually left Lima at 8:00 a.m. So, we rushed out the door and gave the cab driver the paper with the address that we had for the bus station. Apparently, much to our dismay Lima “supposedly” has three different bus stations which somehow also share the same address. After about 25 minutes in the cab, the cab driver looks again at the directions and realizes that he is taking us to the wrong one. At this point it is 5 min to 8 and he tells us that the bus station is about another 20 minutes back in the direction that we had just come from. At this point we were praying for a miracle and discussing other methods to get to get to our destination, if the bus had left before we would arrived there. When we finally got to the station we were not surprised to see that the bus had in fact left without us. But luckily the woman at the terminal was able to contact the bus and have it wait across town. When we finally reached the bus and saw that it was there and waiting for us we were all pretty relieved. The bus attendant told us that we had 20 minutes to roam around before the bus was to depart. We decide that after all this commotion, what we really needed was a cup of coffee. The coffee that we had was very different to anything that I have ever experienced; it was a mug of hot water and alongside came a small metal pitcher of coffee concentrate, which Danny figured was prepared in a sock. I will say that although it was different it was great to actually taste some Peruvian coffee. The bus ride to the Chachamayo was very scenic; as we went through three completely different climates. First, we went through very dry, desert like mountains and then climbed up to 15,000 feet where there were icicles on the side of the road and the pressure on your head and on your body from the altitude could definitely be felt. It also seemed that we could just reach out the window and touch the snow on the tops on the mountains, they seemed so close. Then the trip got interesting, we were going through winding roads with amazing views of waterfalls and jagged cliffs. At times it seemed that the back tires of the bus were going to just slide off the edge of the road and we would find ourselves on the wrong side of gravity. Once we made it safely into the town of Chachamayo the bus dropped everyone off and we decided that we would all go out for a nice dinner. After asking our very friendly and helpful hotel manager, Elmer, where his favorite place in town to go was, we were off to sample what Peru had to offer. After a crazy little auto rickshaw ride, that I will say was pretty darn crazy, we finally got to the restaurant. Which was a small outdoor place called the “Parrilla” with little tables covered by umbrellas. Once we were seated we ordered a variety of the local beers and all sampled each others to see if there was one that we preferred the most. As we were all starving at this point, Danny ordered an appetizer of what looked like tasty meat skewers on the menu. I looked at description and asked him if he knew what he had ordered. He looked at the menu and once he realized what it was he looked at me and we decided not to tell anyone until the dish arrived. What he had ordered was a trio of pig hearts, cow intestines and chicken livers. Once we all had a good laugh over it, we decided to go ahead and give it a try it. I will have to say, much to my surprise, that the heart was a little chewy but other than that everything was very tasty. After a great meal we all hopped in the auto rickshaws and prepared ourselves for another crazy ride back to the hotel, at this point I made the first mistake of not negotiating with the rickshaw driver on the fare before hand and we ended up paying almost 3 times what it had cost us to originally get from the hotel. But it was ok, after a small argument we decided that the fun of the argument was worth the extra dollar and paid them what they wanted.
The next day we all awoke early and were very excited because it was the first coffee day of the trip. All that traveling had finally paid off and we were in store for a great day. We started the day off meeting with the board members of the La Florida Coffee Cooperative. There, we were escorted into their “Mini Pentagon” and were treated to a great history lesson as well as a great discussion about their cooperative; which is made up of 1780 members, or separate farms, who of which 915 are specialty coffee producers. We discovered that 90 percent of their farms were Certified Organic as well as a large percentage of them also being Certified Shade Grown. We also talked a lot about how they are helping the communities in which their farming members live. By improving the infrastructure, setting up medical centers, running electricity, helping them source potable water, introducing micro financing and teaching classes to children as well as adults on the practices of sustainable coffee farming. We also talked about how they are seeing how their climate is changing and is affecting their crop. They believe that it is due to all the deforestation that has occurred in the area, we also talked well about how they were helping the farmers in their efforts to reforest their lands. After our wonderful chat and amazing cup of coffee we were off with Alberto our tour guide for the trip. After a wonderful and scenic hour long ride through the jungle we were finally at our first coffee farm and I will say that it was amazing. There, I got to taste my first coffee cherry, which I believe to be very similar to the taste of a juicy grape, but instead of chewing it, it’s much like hard candy where you have to suck on the beans to get the flavor. While at the farm, the owner, a German missionary who had traveled with his wife to Peru 15 years ago gave us a very nice tour of his farm as well as invited us into his home for an interesting cup of coffee as well as some interesting conversation. I’d say that we all thought that he had different views on coffee and was more interested in discussing the types of wood he had built his home and fences with. After we said our goodbyes we were on our way to the Finca San Lorenzo, when we arrived we were greeted by the farm owner a very nice Peruvian woman named Sonilda who was carrying her young daughter of 8 months. We must have caught them off guard because they were on their way to meet the rest of their family who were further up the mountain to cut firewood from a tree that had recently fallen. Once we spent some time on her farm and had the chance to take some pictures we gave them a ride up the mountain and we were off to visit the wet mill. This is where the farmers bring the coffee that they have harvested that day to be sold to the cooperative, so that it can be processed. We were told that work at the wet mill started at 5 in the afternoon and went well into the morning. As we looked around I was surprised as to how clean everything was. We also had a chance to look around and see their huge production in regards to the fermentation tanks, the machinery they use to separate the different qualities of beans, how they classify them then, sort the beans as they are processed as well as how they make the organic compost with these little tiny worms. We were then taken into the small town next to the mill and up to the school house where the cooperative was holding its sustainable farming classes. Once there, we were able to talk to some of the students, some who had traveled up to 25 plus hours by bus to be there. As well as take some pictures and get a tour of their chicken coop and to our surprise their Guinea pig farm. This is when we were all informed that they don’t consider these little guys to be pets but as tasty little dishes. After the tour Alberto took us back to town where we decided to have dinner. I will say that I was a little intrigued about this Guinea pig dish and decided, when in Rome. During this time Danny was telling us a story about when he was younger he had a guinea pig named Albert as a pet, who when passed away, they had stuffed and placed on the mantle. So, much to Danny’s dismay, I will say it was extremely delicious and very similar to the texture and taste of rabbit.
The next day which was the last day we were to spend in Chachamayo, we were picked up by Alberto at our hotel and took a short ride over to the La Florida drying mill. Once through the doors to the mill I was amazed as to all of the families on the patios tending to their coffee, especially on a Sunday. We were told that the families get a little bit more money for their coffee if they take it through the drying process before selling it, instead of just dropping off their freshly picked cherries. We were taken inside the mill where they have these huge dryers called Gardiolas in which they put the milled coffee into, in order bring the moisture content from 40 percent to about 16 percent. Then we were then taken into their huge holding warehouse where they rest the coffee for 25 days before it is shipped out. Once we finished the tour of the inside of the facilities we were taken to the actual patios in which they lay the coffee on the concrete to finish drying process and bring the moisture content down to 12 percent. We all were given the chance to work the patios and also have some fun. We had a race to see who could rake the coffee the fastest as well as made some coffee “angels”, think snow angels. Then, we asked if we could help them out and shovel the coffee that was finished drying into a pile. After about 20 minutes of shoveling our shirts were drenched with sweat but he had about 17 bags of dried green coffee stacked up, that were ready to be bagged and taken into the holding warehouse. After taking pictures with our “mountain” of coffee one of the women who was drying her coffee nearby offered us a small bag of oranges, which I will say tasted great and at that point were very refreshing. We gave her a Roasterie shirt in exchange and were very touched by her generosity. After our time at the mill we had the afternoon to do as we pleased so we had Alberto drop us off at the town square where the local school children were selling food in order to raise money for their school. After walking around the open air markets and sitting for a while at the town square. We started talking to some of the school children, who turned out to be hilarious. We then decided that we should do something touristy. After inquiring at a tour booth what there was to do around the town that afternoon, one of the other tour operators Alfonzo came up to us and gave us his brochure. As we were all discussing our possibilities he came back up to us and tried to talk us into going canyoning, he talked us into following him to see the video about canyoning and once seeing it we decided that white water rafting was more our style. We came to this conclusion only after Alfonzo assured Danny that the water was not that cold. So, we went to change clothes and returned to catch an auto rickshaw to the restaurant where the boat was leaving from. Once we are there Alfonzo told us that the guides would be back in 15 minutes and that we would go as soon as they returned. After about 5 beers and about an hour and a half, he was still sticking to his story that it will only be a few more minutes. During our wait, Alfonzo divulges to us that the water is actually very cold due to the fact that it comes from the melting snow and ice on the top of the mountains, we can all see that Danny is not happy with this news. At that moment we see the people come back from their ride and they are damp at most. So, we figure that it wasn’t really going to be a problem due to the fact that they barely got wet, and decided that would be fine. After getting a small instruction on what to do if we were to fall into the water we were off on our little adventure. I would guess that about 10 minutes into this hour long rafting ride Danny and I who were on the front of the boat were 100 percent soaking wet. But, after a few minutes we forgot about the cold as some of those rapids were huge. Once we were done we were picked up by this orange 4 door car about the size of a Honda Civic. This was a little odd as there were 6 of us as well as a 12 foot rafting boat. As soon as we were all packed in and the boat was tied to the roof, we realized that there was something wrong with the cars exhaust, due to the fact that we were all about to pass out from the carbon monoxide seeping in from the muffler. Not soon after we took off we were stopped by the local police, who much to our dismay deemed us safe for travel and let us go on our way. After the crazy ride back to the hotel, we all showered and went back into town for a nice dinner. During dinner we ran into Alfonzo, the tour operator, and he suggested that we go over to a disco in the next town over for a few drinks. Danny decided that he would rather go back to the hotel, so the rest of the group was off to experience a small town Peruvian disco. We were there a little early as we were 3 of 7 people there, but soon after, the place was jam packed with people dancing, drinking and having a good time. In just a short time after we arrived, the place was so packed it was hard to move, so we decided that we had, had enough and it was time to go. On our way out I decide that it would be a good idea to try some of the local sidewalk fare, as I got my little meat and potato on a stick, the women asked if I would like some hot sauce to go along with it. I asked her if it was really, really hot, she looked at me and said no not at all, I again asked her if it were ok for an American and she laughed and said it was fine. Well let me tell you, this nice lady had either burnt off all her taste buds as a child or was a liar. As soon as I got into the taxi, my mouth was on fire, it had to be one of the spiciest things I have ever had consumed and I tend not to be a wuss about spicy foods.
After a good night’s rest we all met downstairs to catch the taxi that would take us to the bus station. Once we arrived at the station we found the bus going to Lima and without thinking gave the attendant our bags and boarded. Luckily someone was sitting in my seat, thinking that they had oversold the bus I asked the bus driver and when he looked at my ticked he looked at me and said. Well you’re at the wrong bus station then looked at his watch and said, your bus is probably gone as it was scheduled to leave at exactly 11 and it was now 11:05. So we rushed off the bus, got our bags and found the woman in charge of the busses. We asked her if she could call the other station to see if our bus was still there. As we are rushing out to find a taxi, she gets a hold of the company and tells us that the bus is again, waiting for us on the side of the road and that we should take a taxi to it. Once we finally got on the right bus we had a great, but long trip back into Lima. On our flight back into the states, Danny and I were lucky enough to have the exit row seats which made sleeping just a little bit easier. But when we arrived in Atlanta we were told that we would have to wait on the plane as a few of the passengers were demonstrating Swine Flu like symptoms and that the health department was on its way. Luckily they did not make us wait until the health department arrived and let us off the plane and away from the sick people, from there we had a great trip back to Kansas City.
After this trip I will never forget what Norm had told me before we left, he said that after your first trip to origin you will be hooked and want to work in coffee for the rest of your life and I will tell you that he was 100% correct. I also realized that this business is not all about buying the best coffees in the world; it’s about how we can help the farmers who have that amazing coffee by paying just a little bit more for it and seeing how that little bit more affects them as well as their communities.

Amelia

2009-07-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my best buddy since we were five years old, PJ, bought a used John Deere Gator at a garage sale for Terry. It was $25 and in near perfect condition, save for the worn out wheels. Since it came with a manual, Terry and I looked up the number to order parts and found the wheels that we needed. Thereafter, for the next five days, he accosted “Susie the mail lady” with a “DO YOU HAVE MY WHEELS, SUSIE???!!!” All Susie could do was just laugh and assure him that as soon as she saw them, she’d deliver them right away.
Well, the wheels arrived and we put them on and Terry has since become an expert driver. My dad taught me how to drive a Ford 8 N tractor when I was in kindergarten but Terry is going to be years ahead of where I was. He has named his Gator “Amelia” and it is symbolic of the summer that we’re having.
Each weekend we hit our little place in the country and Terry and the rest of us just feel totally free. We hike, drive tractors and Caterpillars and just play in the woods nonstop. It is the best summer of our lives and I feel totally grateful for all that I am blessed with. Family, friends and great staff…makes for a storybook summer more idyllic than the books I read to the kids each evening.
I’ve kind of fallen off the horse in terms of keeping up with the blog, Twitter, emails, etc. But, I’ve started yoga again (we are bringing an instructor to the plant where all staff can participate) and am going to attempt to do a better job of keeping up with communications. However, since the kids have come…just about everything in this world has taken a back seat to spending all the time that I can with them.
I hope that you have some kind of an “Amelia” in your life that can spark a childhood renaissance for you this summer. Make it the best one ever!

Exciting Coffee News!

2009-06-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Roasterie Cafe: Now featuring TOTAL ECLIPSE wonderful new dark roast! (It's so new it doesn't have a logo yet!)

Spectacular and exhilarating, a total eclipse is a rare phenomena witnessed by only a few. It's this dark and unique beauty that has been captured in our new dark roast blend. Total eclipse is unbelievably smooth and balanced. A harmonious mix of ripe black berry and rich dark chocolate explodes on the palate like sweet truffle, reminiscent of the exact moment the moon and sun unite in the sky. The finish is long and lingering with a syrupy caramel tone that is both clean and sophisticated. This is truly a luscious dark blend, and you may just remember for a life time.

Total Eclipse was originally designed for exclusive release at the Roasterie Cafe in Brookside, but after rave reviews we've decided to share this "exhilarating phenomena" with everyone. Find it online at: http://tinyurl.com/momxfn .

The next true eclipse in Kansas City won't be until 2017, but who says we all can't start the celebration today!

Still looking for dad the perfect Father's Day Gift?

In case you missed it, our MyBlend custom coffee blend program was featured in the July issue of O Magazine! Order yours today and send Dad an email to let him know his custom blend is on the way to him, complete with a custom label that you designed yourself! It will be one of the most exciting gifts he'll ever receive! It is super simple, answer a couple questions about what Dad likes, upload your favorite picture if you'd like, give it a name of your choice and it's on it's way! We are offering a special price, free shipping, and a free gift! Check it out today at www.theroasterie.com.

We received a 90 on Coffee Review!

2009-06-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

Coffee Review

The Roasterie is proud to announce that its Roasterie Reserve Bufcoffee Nyarusiza of Rwanda was been given the outstanding rating of 90 by CoffeeReview.com. This score is a direct reflection of the hard work and skill that went into growing and preparing this special coffee. There is only a small quantity still available so place your order today!
Bufcoffee Nyarusiza's Story:

Ten years ago specialty coffee production in Rwanda was just a distant dream for many small land holders in Rwanda who had survived their tragic genocide. Today however, the tide has turned. Thanks to tremendous support from USAID, the PEARL development project, and investment from individuals and organizations across the specialty coffee industry Rwanda has been able to hold its first Cup of Excellence competition.

With great pride we have the opportunity to share with Kansas City a fantastic award winning coffee with a beautiful story. Our coffee comes from the Bufcoffee coop, presented by Nkundiye Innocent from the south western growing region of Nyarusiza. Bufcoffee is owned and managed by a strong and dynamic woman, Epiphanie Muhashyaka. Begun nearly ten years ago with virtually no capital and even fewer producers Bufcoffee has risen to become a leader in the Rwandan specialty coffee movement. Epiphanie's facility now accommodates coffee from thousands of farms, both big and small. Her success has made her an inspiration for women throughout her community, and for continued development of specialty coffee in Rwanda.

Epiphanie personally oversaw the collection of coffee from nearly 400 small land owners in Nyarusiza to create this magical 18 bag lot of high grown Bourbon. Nkundiye was then selected by these farmers to represent them at the Cup of Excellence competition. Delicately processed, fermented and dried on raised African beds, our Nyarusiza lot is a beautiful example of the complexity and balance that can be achieved through skilled farming and grading. A sweet lemon citrus acidity compliments the overwhelmingly lush and juicy body. Sophisticated ginger and cinnamon spice creates a balance with flavorful black current and ripe plum layered in a smooth finish.

Check out the review at: http://www.coffeereview.com/review.cfm?ID=1895

Order online at: http://tinyurl.com/djxwmv

Brookside Cafe: Best of KC

2009-06-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Roasterie Café fans!

It’s time to vote…if you are so inclined:)

Please click the link below and vote for The Roasterie Café for best coffee shop in KC. Thank you very much! This means a lot to our team.

http://citysbest.midwestluxe.com/

Sincerely,

Danny O’Neill

Bean Baron

Roasterie Newsletter

2009-05-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Roasterie Friends and Customers

Here's to a beautiful Spring and we hope that you are all making the best of it. No shortage of water here in the Midwest this year!

We've been busy...extremely so. I told a friend the other day that they're working me harder than when we started the company. We just have the perfect storm of a lot of projects, which you'll see here in a minute.

The kids remain a daily source of awe, inspiration, joy and happiness. Saying goodbye each morning remains the most difficult thing that I do each day. God knows that I love coffee...more each day...but it pales to the love I have for them; it's hard to describe to folks that don't have children. But it's the best part of my life and I didn't think life could ever get any better. Terry is 3 years old and has been at St. Peter's this year. Sophia will be 1 year old on July 3 and is "army crawling", screaming (mostly always happy) and jabbering like nuts. We spend weekends out in the country building trails, hiking and being gear heads. It's pure joy. And Carla is a great mom, of course.

Origin

We had a great staff trip to Costa Rica in January. Grace Mena, our gracious and longtime supplier there, created a perfect agenda for us once again. We saw every facet of coffee growing and even had time for some coffee picking and other contests. We also visited the two day care centers that we help fund and it was great for our teammates to see this first hand. They are simply inspiring. My host family from when I lived there as a foreign exchange student always joins us for a few days at the beach before we return.

We were home just a bit and then Normy and I were off to Colombia. Normy was a judge at the Cup of Excellence (COE) competition and I spent time with another dear friend and longtime supplier, Salim Janna. Before I left I told Nathan, our plant manager, that each time I travel with Normy, I find out something interesting that I didn't know about him...and I met him in 1987. Well, shortly after we met up in Bogota we exited the airport and saw a long line of taxis and Normy said, "I drove a cab once." I couldn't believe it...but he did, in Omaha and Council Bluffs early in his marriage. What a hoot!

We traveled to Huila, a province in the south, where we've been sourcing our Colombian coffee since 1999. In fact, back then it was often chic in the Specialty Coffee industry to mock Colombian Coffee as not being 'special'. But of course this was bull and for many it took the first COE competition to provide them the 'cover' to get into the Colombians. Thanks to Salim, our long term relationships with the farmers there are stronger than ever and we help by contributing to a day care/community center located in the middle of the region where we purchase our extraordinary coffee. It is beautiful and when you see the children, you just don't want to leave. They really stretch the dollars and have done an amazing job with the kids. (Our Colombian coffee is called Pitalito Estates if you've never had it and it has an awesome aroma, chocolate/caramel flavors and a long, lingering aftertaste).

Both of these trips provided a reprieve from the negative news here in the USA. It's not like there isn't hardship in these countries, too, but it's that they don't dwell on it. I think the focus is much more on the family and having a positive attitude toward life in general. To whatever one can attribute it, it was sorely needed and very much noted and appreciated. I've always tried to surround myself with strong, positive, optimistic people and I'm convinced it makes a huge difference.

We came back just in time for the St. Patty's Day parade here in Kansas City. It was a beautiful day and the team did a great job with our float. Terry (our 3 year old) rode with us this year and had a riot. Since green is his favorite color, he was in heaven.

The Roasterie Cafe

The Roasterie Café staff in Brookside is continuing to just do a spectacular job. Their staff is solid and happy, the place looks great, we're getting tons of compliments and their business is up significantly. Hats off to Carla and her two top leaders, Ric and Emily, for their great leadership. We use an independent company to survey customers and they are simply rockin' the house. New Rule: "No drama Obama"! They just decided that they have a great place to work, full of kind and friendly customers and that they really didn't want anyone bringing their drama and baggage to their store. So, just a couple of folks had to go be happy somewhere else and they took an already pretty cool place to work and hang out and made it even better. For the last 3 years, the rest of the company kind of felt like the Café depended on them; leaned on them. I would say that the Café is more than holding its own now and even leading the way in terms of a cultural shift. Their 'no victims' approach has fostered an atmosphere that you can feel the minute you walk in the door.

They'll soon be expanding, in two phases; phase 1 will focus on the addition, first. Then the inside will be completely updated and remodeled. Look for even more comfortable seats and two outlets per person! We've logged every customer suggestion and even added a few of our own. You never know...curbside service may be coming to Brookside; stay tuned.

And speaking of The Roasterie Café, it's that time of the year again! Kansas City Magazine is conducting its annual 'best of' competition and the Café staff and I would love to have your vote. If you feel so inclined, please just click the link below and then follow directions: http://citysbest.midwestluxe.com/. Thank you.

Iowa Roots

Normy and I took a trip to Iowa State to speak to an entrepreneurial conference there. We also spoke to several different classes and it was surreal to be back on campus, sitting in the classrooms, staying at the Memorial Union. This is where I had my first interviews for the CIA back when I was a senior there. I spoke to a couple of my professors and we learned a great deal from the students and faculty. I am uplifted each time I visit a college campus and always come away with the feeling that this next generation is going to do just fine.

Normy has always heard me talk about Denison, Iowa so much that he wanted to go through it on the way back to Kansas City. So, we took the scenic route and I showed Normy where I grew up...complete with the Donna Reed story and our "It's a Wonderful Life" water tower. My brother Brian met us and helped with the tour. If you could crawl inside a Norman Rockwell painting...that would be the Denison, Iowa where I grew up. I'm more grateful every year.
I stopped on Avenue "C" and told Normy a story about delivering papers. All the boys had a paper route (at least the older 4!) and I used to help my brother Pat when I was in 4th grade. There were 9 houses on the other side of Avenue "C" that were a long way away from the other part of the route and I would do those for him. I delivered them 3 times a week and he paid me a quarter a week. We used to wait for the papers to come off the press and in the winter it would be freezing. There were often breakdowns and we'd have to wait to get our papers. If we went into a nearby café, we'd have to buy something; hot chocolate was a dime and I almost never would break down and buy it. The paper routes, like working on the farms, helped shape our work ethic. Oh, I could write a book on the things that shaped our work ethic.

And speaking of papers, what about the demise of newsprint makes people feel happy or giddy? I've heard so many jokes about it but it makes me sad. The smartest people I know are big readers...books, newspapers and magazines. I love my Kindle but it will never fully take the place of newsprint. And when newsprint does go away, who's going to originate all the news that the websites simply repurpose? If it's 'everyone'...wow, imagine the ridiculous urban legends on the internet now...and people actually believing them...in charge of writing the news? Hopefully the reporters will find a way to migrate over before it's too late.

Scholarships

We have relationships with a number of college and universities and are launching a scholarship program this Spring. We piloted a test with Johnson County Community College and it has been extremely well-received so we are expanding it to all colleges and universities that we do business with. Basically, it's pretty simple; we take a % of the revenue we do with the school and rebate it for scholarships. While there are no strings, we hope that it's going to folks who would not otherwise be able to attend college. If it were not for Pell Grants, I would not have been able to attend...or it would have been a much, much tougher route. If you know of a college or university that you feel would be a good match for The Roasterie, please tell them about us.

ISO 9001

Nathan continues to lead us towards ISO 9001certification. ISO 9001 is an extremely detailed quality assurance program that is very process-driven. It's all about extreme customer satisfaction and getting your processes in place in order to deliver this. The unintended consequence, thus far, is that it's really increased our internal satisfaction. While initially the meetings and the detail can be nearly dreadful, once the processes are in place it's incredibly powerful and builds confidence, big time. We still have a lot of work to do and we'll always focus on improvement but the payoffs already have been significant. We're much more efficient, we're continuing to cut costs and quality is increasing across the board, in everything that we measure. And, believe me, we are measuring everything. Indeed, this is a major turnoff for many companies who don't proceed with it as it entails an extraordinary amount of work; tedious on the front end. But, if one is successful...and we will be, it provides the structure and processes for a nearly bulletproof delivery of quality. Now Nathan has taken it to the Café and they are laying the groundwork as the roasting plant has; and I believe that this has also helped with their success.

New Website

The work continues on our new website and we will launch on July 1st. It is an extraordinary amount of work and detail and we're blessed to have such a great team. Our friend Ethan Whitehill and his staff at Two West are helping us streamline the process to make it as simple and sweet and possible. There will be many, many more features and simplicity will rule the day. Form will definitely follow function...I have to suspect that a few of you have been stuck in those maddening loops (like voice mail!), where all you wanted to do was buy something or ask a quick question. Well, we're doing our best to make it easy to do business with us. Oh, we do have some great specials right now! Check it out at http://www.theroasterie.com/.

We'll also be doing a much better job with all the social media in the coming months. While I'm good for a twitter or a blog now and then, we've just not been very attentive in this area of media. In fact, Salim helped me set up a Facebook page several years ago and I've never been back on! And I honestly don't know when I'd even fit it in. But if there are other ways in which you would like to communicate with us, please just drop me a line. It's not for lack of interest...we just have a lot going on!

Books

It's been a little slim during this quarter in the book department; the kids are killing me! Sophie doesn't sleep as late as Terry, and now I can't stay up as late. I did read "Success" and found it to be a good, fast read; I would throw in "Sense of Urgency" (I don't need any help in this department!) and "Purple Cow" into the same bucket as well...good, fast reads worth the time. "Egonomics" was my favorite business book of the last few months and I highly recommend it. I'm reading "Making It Stick" right now and while I'm still not half way through, I would definitely recommend it; very, very powerful and convincing.

Finally, reading "The Last Lecture" really impacted me, as it did millions of others. In fact, as I write to you tonight, all I can think about is the surgery one of my best friends in life is having early tomorrow morning. We've been best friends since middle school and he had a tumor on his appendix that exploded. It was malignant and so it created this horrible mess in his stomach that needs to be cleaned up. It's the first time that I've had to deal with something like this with a close friend and it's been very difficult. We're praying like crazy for him and as a believer in prayer, I'm sharing this with you in the hopes that you'll add him to your prayers, if you are so inclined. His name is Jim Svoboda and in addition to being a terrific coach and positively impacting young athletes, he is the epitome of a great human being.

Fleetwood Mac

We topped off a grueling week last week with the Fleetwood Mac concert at the Sprint Center. I had not seen them since 1980 and it was spectacular! If you're a fan, go see them if you have the chance. Now "Go Your Own Way" is one of Terry's favorite songs and he 'air guitars' it...left-handed. Not sure where that comes from!.

End of This Journey

We absolutely appreciate you and thank you for your support. We are in the middle of a lot of exciting projects and while we don't live with our heads stuck in the sand, we do choose the road of confidence in the future and focusing on the opportunities in front of us. We are grateful for your continued support and wish you the best summer of your lives. Normy is still doing tours every Saturday at 9:00 A.M. at the roasting plant and he'd love to see you. We get many groups during the week, too, and you're always welcome.

Thank you from all of us on your Roasterie team!

Sincerely,
Danny O'Neill
Bean Baron

The Roasterie Cafe

2009-05-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

The Roasterie Café is on fire! In witnessing our staff, I get the same feeling as I do while watching my kids do new and awesome things. I am so proud and amazed at the same time.
It’s all about having the ‘who’…then the ‘what’. That is, having the right folks on the bus; then, worrying about where they’re sitting. If you have the wrong people on the bus, then it doesn’t matter where they sit…it’s not going to work. And if you have the right people to begin with…they don’t care where they sit. They’re just happy and grateful to be on such an awesome bus!
We’ve been open in Brookside for about three and a half years and I thought that we’d open with the kind of team, camaraderie, and culture that we have now. But as my more experienced friends told me, it takes time. Our staff right now oozes positive mojo and this is reflected in everything that they do. They smile, joke and laugh with customers and knock out awesome tasting (and looking) drinks. Our customer satisfaction scores have been running so high that they look false!
When we first opened, the staff had complained about the tips and we had a frank discussion about this. I said that there was not a clearer, more direct line between our service and how the customer feels about that service…than the tip jar. As our service improved, so did their tips, hitting $7/hr. on a recent shift.
A couple of weeks ago I was trying to pull the lessons, the ‘secrets’ from Carla, our store manager, about the store’s success. I told her that we wanted to apply the key lessons learned to the roasting plant. She said that she and her staff had discussed it…and that it was simply having the right people on the bus and the ‘wrong’ people off. Unhappy people had to go somewhere else and when that happened…magic occurred. They did almost two thousand drinks one day a couple of weeks ago and the staff was shocked when they found out. They said that while they knew it was busy, it all went so smoothly and everyone worked so well together that it was easy.
Here’s to our awesome team at Roasterie Café…and having the right people on the bus! And if you like it now, just wait till you see the new expansion and remodel…lots of excitement in the months aheadJ.!
If you like what we do and feel so inclined, please vote for us for Kansas City’s Magazine “Best Coffee Shop” at

http://citysbest.midwestluxe.com/.

Thank you,

Danny O’Neill
Bean Baron
The Roasterie, inc.

Living Life on the Rim, One Cup at a Time

2009-05-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

I recently gave this speech at a Park University commencement. It was a great opportunity and a wonderful way to collect some recent thoughts. I'd like to share this with you.

“Living Life on the Rim, One Cup at a Time”
Park University Commencement Speech
Saturday, May 9, 2009

Good morning students, family, administrators, staff and guests. Thank you so much for the privilege of sharing a few words with you this morning. It is indeed an honor. When my father was alive he’d always remind me, “Son, they will never remember what you say…but they’ll always remember that it was short!” So, my commitment to you this special morning is to keep it short and get you on your way to capturing your dreams.

My wife and I were talking about you all a few weeks ago and I admitted that I did not remember anything from the speakers at either my undergrad or graduate school ceremonies. I told her that I would find a cute story, more like an anecdote, that perhaps you would remember. It came my way from a friend and fellow Park University board member, Gene Ruiz.

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a tiny boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked why he didn’t stay out and catch more fish. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

He answered, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I eat a relaxing dinner and play the guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life senor’."

The American scoffed, "I have a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several more boats, eventually owning your own fleet. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But senior, how long will all this take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then, senior?"

The American laughed and said, "That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions."

"Millions, senior? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll into the village in the evenings where you could eat a relaxing dinner and play your guitar with your amigos."

The lesson is, take time to enjoy the really important things as you pass through life.
I am proud to be here with you today and proud to serve you as a member of the board of directors. As an entrepreneur, I have a special love for Park University, for its entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ways to teach. And Park was global when nobody knew what global really meant; and Park was all about diversity when diversity wasn’t popular. I began working with Park back when they had students from less than 50 different countries; now you’re well over 100!

I feel at home at Park University and I especially love the way they “get” entrepreneurialism. I have the same feeling on campus as I do at the Kauffman Foundation; they understand and can teach entrepreneurs…and I love that.

At the end of the day, at the end of our lives, I believe one of the basic tenants, one of the most fundamental “what’s life all about” issues is the pursuit of happiness. If you think about it, nearly everything we do, consciously or unconsciously, is with this end goal in mind. And I firmly believe that this journey towards happiness begins with following your dreams.

Perhaps like some of you, I come from very humble beginnings. I was number five of ten children and there was not a lot of money to go around. But we had instilled in us an incredibly hard work ethic by our parents, as well as the notion of sacrifice. This principle fell out of favor this last decade but nothing like a crisis and shortage of money to make it somewhat popular again!

I do believe in sacrifice and to a great extent, you all sacrificed these past four years by attending university; you invested in this degree so that you could increase your opportunity and fulfill your dreams.

Few among us would pass at the chance of making more money, all things being equal. And sometimes when we’re young we chase the dollars, thinking that if we can just make a certain amount of money, then we know we’ll be happy. But we soon find out that this is a fool’s errand; it simply never works. One must first begin with their passions, their inspirations: their dreams. For success follows your dreams, not the other way around. If you are following your passion, then you are much more likely to be successful. And when you’re successful, you’ll make the living that you need to; and you’ll be happy.

Of course, I was fortunate enough to find my passion as a high school foreign exchange student in Costa Rica. To this day, coffee is still my passion. To paraphrase Jack Palance in Blazing Saddles, it's my "one thing; just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean ____."

At The Roasterie, we've even written a manifesto to express that one thing. In closing, I'd like to share it with you in hopes you, too, will find and follow your passion. It’s called “Live Life on the Rim” and it goes like this:

Who wants to be a statistic? Certainly not us. They say half of America drinks coffee every day. We say that’s a lot of bad coffee.

You see, we believe a life worth living deserves a coffee worth drinking. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to find the best coffees in the world.

We’re not your “Average Joe”, and we won’t settle for an average cup o' joe either. We’re coffee connoisseurs. We can taste and smell the difference. Our quest for the best is not a choice, it’s an obsession born of a career spent in coffee fields and cafes.

For us, coffee isn’t just a beverage---it’s a code we follow. It defines who we are and how we live. And for us, that means living life to the fullest and savoring every second. Taking chances and giving back. Our objective: no regrets and no bad coffee.

Life is too short to drink nasty coffee…and to not follow your dreams. I wish you Godspeed in your unique adventure.

Thank you very much.

A Letter From Normy

2009-05-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey I wanted to post Normy's Adventure Diary from our last trip to Huila. Normy's journals are always very heart felt and I love to read them so I thought it would be nice to share this one. Reading it makes me feel like I am there in Colombian with all the people we care about. Enjoy!

BACK TO HUILA

SATURDAY MARCH 14TH, 2009
We catch the early morning flight out of Bogotá for a short hop to Neiva in southern Colombia. It’s been eight years since we have been in the state of Huila and it feels like coming home. Eight years ago we had to be cautious as rebels were very active but all that has changed. I remember then being told to keep a low profile but with Danny being six foot eight that was hard to do. Our guides are Roberto Velez and Ricardo Granados who work for out exporter Condor South America. We land safely and start the four and a half hour journey by car south to the town of Pitalito. The mountains loom large as we talk about coffee on the very good roads. We stop on a high ridge to look over the Magdalena River which flows far below, the ant like fishermen are busy at their craft. Back in the car we are soon stopped at a police checkpoint and everyone is searched for weapons except me, the likely reason the rebels have been stopped being so active, we see police presence everywhere (surprisingly we saw less security in Bogota than eight years ago). Lunch is at the restaurant Apepitos for typical Colombian meal of rice, chicken and soup, the portions are very large and if a bowl goes empty they bring another one. A dog in the distance seems to be unhappy and barks relentlessly, we joke that the restaurant should be called “The Barking Dog Cafe”. As we dine we talk about the main Colombia crop which was down 20% (2 million bags) which has made Colombian coffee prices go up, supply and demand in action. The reason is that the rains went beyond the normal time they would normally cease, speculation about why goes from a fluke of nature, El Niño, global warming to the wrath of God. Everyone is wondering about the Mitaca (fly crop) that will be picked shortly, indications are that it too will be short. Colombia like most countries that sit on the equator have a main crop and a second smaller crop each year and Colombia is currently ranked number three in world production behind Brazil and Viet Nam. We arrive at Pitalito a town in Southern Colombia that houses a receiving station for the coffees we purchase, this is not the same building that we visited on our trip here eight years ago, it was much smaller. The warehouse is virtually empty except for a very few bags that represent the last of the main crop, in one corner is a child’s tricycle. We go into the office and cup the last of the main crop coffees, one of them has phenol in it which is a mysterious iodine medicinal taste (theories of what cause it range from fertilizer, the drying process, the varietal or the wrath of God) that is prevalent in Colombia, another cup is borderline ferment which is caused by being in the fermentation tanks too long. Ricardo says that when the coffee arrives from the San Augustine region father south where our coffees are grown they are kept separate here from the other coffees of Huila as they are the best, all lots are cupped and the best are held for the Roasterie. We tour the town and settle into the Hotel Timanco for the night going out for a late supper.

SUNDAY MARCH 15th, 2009
In the morning we are picked up in a Chevrolet SUV that runs on natural gas and we head south for our trip to San Augustine. As we head out of town I ask if Pitalito has an airport and Roberto says yes that is it on the right, both Danny I see nothing but an empty field, any flat field could theoretically be an airport. We discuss the possibility of buying a coffee farm one day and are assured it could be done; it would give us a place to bring customers and employees. We pull off onto a very steep dirt road in the very heart of the San Augustine region trying to avoid the deep ruts, to our right are spectacular vistas, coffee growing everywhere. We park in front of the Finca Villa Sol which is one of the farms the Roasterie buys from and are greeted by the farmer Jose Rubiel Gonzales, his wife and their two teenage children. The farm consist of two hectares (5 acres) and the total production in coffee is 7500 pounds a year, thirty percent being Supremo which is a grade of larger coffee beans and the grade the Roasterie buys. A small dog walks with us as we tour the farm. Jose points at some of the large trees that shade the coffee and says it is called a guano tree and is one of the trees in this part of Colombia that traditionally shade the coffee fields. We walk up hill through the coffee fields; the trees are ripe with fruit as the fly crop matures. Roberto tells us that the Colombia Federation (a non-governmental organization that works with farmers in many areas) is working with farmers to renew their fields with new coffee trees every five years meaning that fifteen to twenty percent of the farm is not producing coffee. He points to trees on the left side of the path that are eight years old which have minimal fruit and to trees on our right that are four years old whose branches are heavy with fruit. Colombia wants to increase production from the current output of twelve millions bags a year to fourteen million bags in the next five years by planting more trees and making sure the trees already in the fields are producing the maximum amount of fruit. These fields are of the varietal Caturra and Typica. The Federation provides seeds to the farmers at reduced cost to encourage the five year renewal program. I ask if the seeds provided are of the current varietals planted here or are they replanting these fields with the hybrids that the Federation has come up with, the main one being Castile, I am assured it is the farmers choice. Jose’s family has no car or truck relying on a small motorcycle for transportation. When the coffee is processed and ready to go to the receiving station in San Augustine it is put in bags and transported on the roof of the bus that comes by daily. I ponder if the children will remain on the farm or like so many places in the world move to the city. We drive farther up the mountain to another farm the Roasterie purchases coffee from, Enpresa Familiar el Diamate which means “Family Enterprise of Farm Diamond”. The farm is owned by Erazo Libardo. It is 6.5 hectares (16.acres) and produces between twenty and twenty five thousand pounds a year. They tell us that it has been too wet and that the flowering has been delayed, they need a minimum of four to five days of sun for the flowering. They also tell us that the broca seems to be more prevalent than in years past, probably because of the rains. I asked about the African wasp that were released a number of years ago to combat the broca and they tell us they have not been very effective, keeping the fields clean of decaying coffee beans on the ground is the most effective way to combat them and keep them from breeding.. They are also seeing more coffee rust on the leaves than in years past. The farm hires 30 employees during the harvest who are paid on how much they pick and are paid daily; any disruption in the harvest affects a wide circle of people. They especially make an effort to hire widows in the community of which there are several and all the workers are provided three meals a day when they are working. A good worker can pick eighteen to twenty baskets a day. We tour the farm and then are invited to sit with the family in their kitchen having coffee and a dessert they have prepared, the farmer and the buyer sitting down together, both part of the chain that brings coffee to the consuming nations of the world, both appreciative of each others efforts.. As we exit the home a Chiva (also called a Escleras) makes its way up the mountain. Chiva’s are colorful buses that you see all over Colombia, this is the twice daily bus (morning and evening) that hauls the coffee to the receiving station in San Augustine where we will go next. Anyone wanting to go to town has transportation both ways. We inquire about Rufino Lazo who we met eight years ago but sadly are told he has passed over. When I think about our previous visit I remember his warm smile and the hospitality he and his wife Carmen showed us. A short ride and we arrive at the small village of Alto de Obispo. It is here that seven years ago the Roasterie built a community center and this is the first time we have seen it, travel here being too dangerous until recently. As we pull up in front of the building we see a permanent sign beside the main entrance of the Roasterie logo, on the left is the Catholic Church where Sunday Morning Mass is being held, beautiful music wafting out the entrance and to our right is an empty lot with a horse lazily grazing in the cool mountain air. They use the building for a community center in the evening and on weekends but have created a day care center during the week, something we were not aware of till now. We are shown around the building; everything is so clean including the spotless restrooms, they have several classrooms and a kitchen. Danny asks if they have any needs and we are told they would like to convert the empty lot where the horse is into a playground but there is no money to buy the equipment. Danny assures them that we would love to purchase the necessary equipment and have it installed. The day care has allowed women who want to work to do so knowing that their children are being fed and cared for. Some young children arrive (perhaps skipping church) and follow us around as we inspect the facility. We are served a meal of steak and rice as we sit at the tiny table the children use. The music continues to come out of the church as a jeep goes by with coffee plants on the roof, surreal indeed. Some ladies are selling jewelry at the entrance of the church and Danny buys everything they have. We say our goodbyes and head down the mountain to the town of San Augustine, going through a check point where motorcycles are being inspected and as we arrive realize they are having a motorcycle race through the streets later in the day, maybe the police organized the race so they could inspect motorcycles coming into town. Many of the streets are closed but we manage to get to within three blocks of the Condor receiving station and walk to it. It is a small building, it is here that our coffees are brought on the bus from the farm, they then go to Pitalito where they are cupped and the best ones then go from there to the dry mill in Armenia where they are cupped again and the best ones are sold to us. We wish we had time to stay for the motorcycle races but we must get back to Neiva to catch our flight back to Bogota. The path for Roasterie Colombia coffee begins at the farm, it goes by bus to a receiving station in San Augustine, by truck to Pitalito where is cupped, from there by truck to the dry mill of Armenia where it is cupped again the highest quality goes to the Roasterie, it is put in a container and taken by truck to the port of Buenaventura on the Pacific coast, by ship to Oakland, California and then by truck to Kansas City. The trip for quality is long indeed.

n

Cupping Notes: Newly Acquired Coffees

2009-04-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know The Roasterie has a line of micro-lot coffees called The Roasterie Reserves. These coffees are purchased in small quantities and are chosen for their unique flavor profiles. We just love tasting and buying new coffees and this program gives us the ability to always be on the hunt for something fresh and exciting.

We are launching our new Rwandan Cup of Excellence today as a matter of fact. This is an amazing coffee which I spoke of in my previous blog.

Below are the cupping notes for two more Reserve coffees that we have recently purchased which should be available in the next month. Enjoy:

Brazil Fair Trade Organic Coorpol Natural
Major pleasing tobacco hints, gentle sweetness, medium low acidity, spicy complexities, delicate fruit notes as it cools, quiet hints of almond.

Tanzania Ruvuma
Great aroma, complex, full body, mega fruits, peach, apricot, sweet, sweet honey on tongue, bright in the cup, lush finish, pronounced peach hints as it cools.

Some Pics from Rwanda

2009-04-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

We will be launching a new Roasterie Reserve coffee this month exclusively on theroasterie.com and at The Roasterie Café. As you may already know I recently visited Rwanda and was extremely impressed with the infrastructure of the country as well as the kindness and pride of the people there.

Ten years ago specialty coffee production in Rwanda was just a distant dream for many small land holders in Rwanda who had survived the tragedies of the early nineties. Today however, the tide has turned. Thanks to tremendous support from USAID, the PEARL development project, and investment from individuals and organizations across the specialty coffee industry Rwanda has been able to hold its first Cup of Excellence competition!

With great pride we have the opportunity to share this fantastic, award winning coffee. Bufcoffee Nyarusiza comes from the Bufcoffee Coop, presented by Nkundiye Innocent from the southwestern growing region. Begun nearly ten years ago, with virtually no capital, and even fewer producers Bufcoffee has risen to become a leader in the Rwandan specialty coffee movement. We will be launching this coffee April 14th so keep an eye out!

I posted some photos of my trip here:

I'm Off to Colombia!

2009-03-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Just started packing for a trip to Bogota tomorrow morning. While I still love going to origin, thinking about being away from kids makes me sad. But, it’s always good and we always learn a ton. Our green coffee buyer, Stormin’ Norman has been cupping all week with Cup of Excellence and we’ll meet up to go to Huila on Saturday morning. We started buying from Huila back when most people didn’t know where Huila even was! We’re going on 12 years now…and it’s just as full as caramel and chocolate as ever; we call ours “Pitalito”.

Nutty day today; began around 5:30 with both kids in our bed…then Carla had to leave and the power went out! A transformer blew near The Roasterie Café and knocked power out there, too. So, our awesome staff at the plant just brewed 40 gallons of coffee real fast and we gave away coffee until the power came back on. An awesome, studly staff at both locations☺!

Knock on wood as we’ve been extremely busy. But, we’re not taking anything for granted. We are trying to be of ever more value…to be of value, of service, to all of our customers. It’s easier said than done but once you really get rolling…get everyone thinking about it, it’s fun and begins to snowball. There is a great deal of suffering out there and we have friends in every industry who are meeting the challenge of their lives. I pray every night for a swift recovery.

Team Roasterie is working on our float for the St. Patty’s Day Parade here in Brookside and also the big one downtown. Unfortunately, Normy and I will miss the Brookside one. In 1994 we set the world’s record for the largest cappuccino (27 gallons+). It’s near and dear to our hearts but the crew will do a great job. Hope you’ll come and visit. Normy and I will be at the big one with 50 gallons of world-class coffee. Stop by and have a free cup!

Have an awesome week☺!

Success

2009-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Success has always been one of my favorite endeavors. I’ve generally measured it by "being the best that we can be" and seldom in monetary or financial terms. My dad raised me this way, and would always say "go your best". And if we did our best, he was always happy and proud. But if he felt that we were slacking...or, God forbid, LAZY, then he'd show disappointment in us and that was always an effective motivator for me.

During my 20's I started reading autobiographies of famous, successful people. At the time I really didn’t admit it, but inside I really wanted to know "the secret"; I just knew that in one of these books, I’d find a breakthrough. But, after several books, it became apparent that there was no secret; indeed, that it was only a result of extremely HARD WORK! And so, I was depressed! I wasn’t truly depressed, but it was the beginning of trying to understand what success really was, and what it meant.

So, I began working on my career in earnest and trying to decide on my true passion. I have always had so many different interests that it was hard to decide which one was the strongest. So, I just continued to work hard, to be extremely curious and very adventuresome. It wasn’t long until coffee rose to the top and my life began to revolve around this intense passion.

Over the years we've worked extremely hard, well past 100 hours a week in the beginning, and we've been lucky. In the early days, fear pushed me as much as my passion pulled me. I was afraid that if I didn’t do everything that I could do to succeed, then I possibly wouldn't; and that was simply unacceptable.

Last week while in Costa Rica, one of the books that I read was "Outliers", by Malcolm Gladwell. It's basically about success, successful people and the story behind it. He points out how crucial timing is and that while people like Gates or Jobs can seem like overnight successes, the truth is that they were in the right place, at the right time, and yes...they worked brutally hard to be successful. He talks about a concept of "10,000 hours", that to be really, really successful at something one has to invest that much time in practice.

For example, most of us believed that the Beatles were an overnight success but this is far from the truth. I won't spoil the story but it is fascinating to learn how hard they worked. Dustin Hoffman waited tables for 10 years before his breakthrough part in The Graduate. He goes through many other examples and it is a quick, awesome read.

So, the older I get, the more I strive for success and excellence. Now I've channeled much of this into raising our two young children. The next time you notice an extremely well-behaved child...smart, curious, full of confidence, talk to the parents about how this happened; and you'll hear about intense, hard work. Totally gratifying and worth every second...but certainly no accident. I can't begin to give myself a scorecard in parenting, but I sure have an appreciation of what is involved...and I love every minute of it.

It's no accident that our best, most successful associates are extremely hard working and hold themselves accountable. The best performers push themselves way harder than anyone else would. Their pride drives them to continue to strive for success and not accept mediocrity. Everyone is different and was raised differently but I am very grateful for the way that my parents raised us. Healthy pride is a good thing...whether one is a musician, Peace Corps worker or in business. Success and excellence are relevant to all endeavors and mediocrity sucks.

-Danny

*photo is of Danny with his siblings.

The Roasterie Newsletter

2009-01-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Roasterie Friends and Family,

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that this letter finds you well and happy. While we're living under the same dark and sometimes ominous clouds as everyone else, we're still seeing and experiencing lots of things to be excited about.

And speaking of excitement, Sophia just turned 6 months old and is a total chunky-lunky. She and Terry were both exactly 18 lbs. 13 ounces @ 6 months but Sophia is 2 inches shorter. She is an absolute precious bundle of joy; totally happy, content and curious. She's riveted on Terry's every move and together they're keeping us running. Somehow my mom managed 10 kids but it's a mystery to me as to how she did it! Terry loves his preschool at St. Peter's and he continues to amaze us with how fast he is learning. I just feel bliss, happiness, wonder and gratitude with the kids. When I was little, six or seven of us kids would run and jump on mom and dad's bed on Sunday mornings and it would just be chaos. This is becoming a weekend tradition at our house now and it's one of my favorite things in life. Terry talks to Sophie as if she's a grownup, admonishing her if she gets too close or grabs his hair. She most definitely is going to be the ornery one of the two.

New Launch

It was a busy fall and we kicked it off with MyBlend (see www.theroasterie.com) at the end of October. This is our new, fun adventure where coffee lovers can create their very own custom blend, just like we've done for hundreds of coffee shop owners and professional chefs. It's been great getting to know hundreds of new people across the country and we're thrilled with the response. They're blown away with how accurate their blends are; and being able to name it, insert a customized logo and/or download a photo to the label has been a blast for them. We have big plans for this exciting product and will keep you in the loop.

Celebration

A week after the MyBlend launch we threw a 15 Year Anniversary party at our plant and had hundreds of friends and customers help us celebrate. Many of our very first customers from as far back as 1993 attended: it was like a homecoming. Eddie Delahunt and his band filled the plant with beautiful Irish music and it was probably the best party that we've ever had. Our friends at 75^th St. Brewery brewed up the 2^nd Annual Batch of "Up All Nitro", a combination of their awesome beer and our Nitro Espresso. We received hundreds of compliments about this year's batch and are already looking forward to next year.

Costa Rica Reunion

The day after our party, Normy, Terry and I flew to Costa Rica to attend my high school class reunion. It was so special that it is hard to describe. We went to my classroom and Terry sat in my old desk. We toured the school and I showed them where I had played basketball, where I had hung out with my friends, etc. The friends that took me coffee picking the first time were there and it was just surreal at times. It was where the seed for The Roasterie was planted and it felt like going back in time, as if I had one foot in today and one foot in the past. It was fun listening to the women who almost verbatim said the same thing that my classmates said at my high school reunion in Iowa said this summer: the women were better looking and the guys looked old, fat and bald! No comment on either frontJ.

Predictions, Cost Savings

This summer oil hit $147 or so a barrel and most people, including me, predicted that it would go to $200. We were getting killed on delivery charges and implemented a 'fuel surcharge' to mitigate part of the cost increases. Well, 90 days later gas went from over $4 to less than $2 and we dropped the fuel surcharge immediately. We're keeping our fuel-saving habits and bracing for the next cost spiraling to occur...but not making a single prediction!

We had always toyed with the idea of putting a heat-exchanger on the roasters and finally experimented with it this fall. It worked!!! We added 10 degrees in the roasting area and it's been both a success and a model to follow in the rest of the company. The net result is several thousand dollars a year in fuel savings and we've only just begun. We have 40,000 square feet of roof that could potentially make us energy independent with solar panels.

A few months ago I heard someone say "there is a recession happening and we're choosing not to participate". I shared this with my staff and explained that I knew what he meant...that he wasn't going to wallow in the negative news and was going to charge forward and focus on the positives. But there is a recession and our business simply is a reflection of all of our customer's businesses. While we don't wallow in doom and gloom, we certainly acknowledge that many of our customers are really facing some tough sledding and we want to do everything that we can to help out. Ignoring it won't make it go away.

This weekend my wife was telling a friend of hers how I didn't want to buy a new set of bedroom furniture but wanted to refinish it instead. Her friend said "You can take the boy off the farm in Iowa but you can't take the farmer out of the boy", or something like that. We run our company in much the same way. We try to reuse everything that can be reused or recycled. We try to not spend money where it will not increase product quality, customer service or speed. We want to be as recession resistant (not recession-proof) as we can. Every penny that we can take out of the system is one more that we can invest in quality and service. While this has been part of our culture since the beginning, there is nothing like a crisis to help one implement necessary changes. And we want every idea that you guys would like to share or propose. Over the years, our customers have been the source of many of our best ideas.

Our new mantra is "lean and mean". These past few years we've resisted many opportunities for various expansion ideas. At the time, saying 'no' was very difficult and we were accused of being overly conservative more than once. But I think that it's paid off and we've heard from lots of suppliers who tell us that they appreciate us paying our bills early and that they are struggling in their collecting from many roasters around the country. We're rock solid and have positioned ourselves to weather a severe storm, expand cautiously or take advantage of new opportunities should they arise. The analogy that I used with my staff this summer was of the settlers on the prairie both farming and preparing for the winters. Those who didn't chop wood and store food died; period. Here in the Midwest we're only 4-5 generations away from those times and I'm convinced we still have this 'get ready for winter' in our genes. Having heard that 'frugal is the new cool' recently made me smile; it's the first time in memory where I feel that I'm not out of sync with the latest fad. But to be clear, I see a huge difference between being 'cheap' and being 'frugal'. We gladly plunk down our money for anything that can improve quality or service. But we'll go recycled or used for lots of 'backstage' stuff where it doesn't make a difference.

Good To Great

I mentioned in my last letter that we continue to work our way through this book and it has helped us stay focused on what we do best; find the best coffee in the world, roast it the best way known to man, and get it to the customer as fast as is physically possible. This is what we've stuck to these last 15 years and where we're sticking for the next 15. Watching some of the football playoffs reminded me of this book and how we've built the company; at the end of the day, it's all in the detail and the execution. The football teams who came out on top were the ones who were better at the 'blocking and tackling'. We're relentless in our focus on speed and customer service and never want to let up. I guess our anniversary and the economic crisis have caused us to do some heavy reflecting and a great deal of self-introspection. We went through a 3 month strategic planning process that was at the same time stressful, exciting and validating. We aren't full of false bravado and we're not having any midlife crises. We continue to focus on that top 10% of the market who cares about quality and do everything that we can to get it to them (you) as efficiently and affordably as we can. Lots of blocking and tackling but if you love the game, it's all good. But the key is loving the game. I'm reminded of teasing my sisters about not wanting to play outfield while growing up; so, we learned to start them at outfield so that they couldn't bat and then quitJ. Recruiting is much about this and Disney is great at it. They found that nearly everyone loved their 'front stage' but the line of folks who want to deliver that service, the 'backstage', is much, much shorter. In our case, there is no shortage of folks who want to go to origin (coffee countries) or manage donations; but the day in and day out of sweating the details (blocking and tackling) are a little like my sisters wanting to bat but not play outfield.

The World Belongs To Those Who Show Up

Last month Terry and I attended the memorial service of Lauren Chapin, longtime local food critic for the Kansas City Star. It was a brutally cold Saturday and we had to park in a cemetery a long ways from the church as there were hundreds of people who attended. Afterwards, Terry had the hundred questions that only a 3 year old can have and they were difficult to try to answer. Lauren was one year and one day older than me and she reminded me of life's uncertainty and how to make the most of the time that we have. While I've always had a sense of urgency about things...everything, my kids have enhanced it even more. Lauren set an example, a great Midwestern example, of taking advantage of every new opportunity and not wasting a minute of valuable time on anything where she couldn't learn something new or experience some new adventure. Lauren 'showed up' to whatever was in front of her and her curiosity served her, and all of us, extremely well. We are going to miss her.

A good friend visited Rwanda last year and was transformed by what he saw. He visited several times and invited me to go along on his latest trip in November, and it was one of the most memorable trips that I've made in my entire life. The country is beautiful and is as clean as Disney World. There is a sign at the airport letting visitors know that plastic bags are banned (the entire country, not just the capital)! And you can traverse the country without seeing these bags, or any other garbage or litter, anywhere! This is symbolic for the pride Rwandans have in their country...and in their coffee. We found extraordinary coffee and farmers that we'll have long term partnerships with (more about one of them below). But we found a spiritual people who exemplify goodness, hard work, forgiveness and obviously reconciliation more than any other people that I know. Today Rwanda is one of the safest countries on the planet and our own driver said that since 1994, he's never been asked for a bribe or payoff in any way. Rwandans pride themselves on this aspect of their culture and it's paying off in their quest for developing an infrastructure and raising the standards of living. They are a strong, proud people who are not looking for a handout or money; they're looking for teachers, mentors and entrepreneurs. Offering their extraordinary coffee is a no-brainer. Helping Rwandan entrepreneurs with their ventures is going to be pure joy. We'll keep you in the loop and hope to offer ways to get others involved. A project that we're working on will enable folks to spend a week or two working with school children, for example. A great book to read for those interested is "The Land of Ten Thousand Hills".

We all know how small of a world it is and it seems that the older I get, the smaller it becomes. While in Rwanda, we were invited to a reception at the ambassador's house and it turns out that they've been Roasterie fans and customers for yearsJ! He is from St. Louis and his wife from St. Joe...her parents from Iowa. I met the president and he was trained at the college in Leavenworth and fondly remembers Kansas City barbeque. We are really jazzed on a variety of levels and hope to 'show up' as the opportunities present themselves. Trips like this are reminders of why we do what we do.

Holiday Times

We absolutely loved the holidays and were sorry to see them go. We had our company party at our little place in the woods and presented our annual staff awards. We have five awards and they are voted on by our peers. This year Nathan Kurtz, our plant manager, won "Associate of the Year". It was a beautiful gathering and everyone in his family, including his 2 week old daughter, was there to witness it. We have the best, most solid staff that we've ever had and as I said that night, I wish we had an award for everyone as they each deserved one.

Carla's brother Elie came back from Dubai to join us for Christmas. He helped Terry put cookies and milk under the tree and sprinkle reindeer food outside. He filmed Christmas morning as Terry shot from bed like a cannon, running to the fireplace to try to steal a glance of Santa Claus escaping up the chimney. It was the best Christmas since I was a child and we can't wait for the coming years when Sophie will join in. It was bliss and we hope that the holidays were just as special for you all.

What's New

This spring we'll be rolling out a few new initiatives and one of them in particular is something that we've been working on for several years. For now, we've dubbed it "coffee shop in a box" and we hope that it will be a valuable training and educational tool for you. We will be reaching out to many of you to see if you want to help in our beta testing. It will be a free service for our customers and we're very excited about it.

A new and totally revamped website is also in the works. We've collected tons of ideas and suggestions from you and there will be lots of new products, services and fun. Coming this summer to a theatre near youJ.

We're finalizing plans for expanding The Roasterie Café in Brookside and our folks there are just doing a phenomenal job. They work hard, have fun and take care of our customers, 364 days a year.

We continue to make great progress on our ISO 9001 initiative and should be certified before summer. While largely invisible to the outside world, it will help us deliver world-class quality and service every single day.

From our Chief Coffee Officer, Mr. David Hermann. "We have some exciting new additions to our exclusive Limited Reserve line of delicately air roasted coffees. Currently available is an example of a very rare Indonesian that isn't available anywhere else. White Eagle Limited Reserve Sulawesi is an organic, Fair Trade and shade grown certified coffee and is unique because it comes from the most remote part of the Toraja region. It takes our producer nearly four days on horseback to transport this exclusive crop to the nearest dirt road. This coffee is an heirloom varietal which means that it comes from the same coffee trees that were originally planted in Sulawesi by Dutch settlers. Trees with this pure of a lineage can only be found in parts of Ethiopia. This helps to accentuate the clean herbal flavor profile that makes this the "jewel" of Toraja. Subtle cedar and cinnamon spice tones accentuate its mild acidity and smooth buttery body; a must have for any coffee fanatic!

Coming soon to our Limited Reserve line is another very exciting coffee. Recently The Roasterie participated in the 2008 Rwanda Cup of Excellence (COE) program. Rwanda represents one of the most promising up-and-comers in the specialty coffee community. The coffee that we have purchased comes from a small estate called Buf Coffee. Run by a dynamic woman, Epiphanie Mukashyaka, our lot was built from only an "A1" or "first sort" selection through a traditional process of flotation channel sorting new to Rwanda. Expect a coffee that is sweet and elegant; a sugary acidity balanced by subtle ripe cherry and black current notes. These deep fruits compliment a super smooth, long and syrupy finish. This is a coffee that will truly be missed once it has sold out!"

Summary

Well, it's time for me to close. We truly appreciate your support and look forward to any and all suggestions as to how we can improve our offerings and our service to you. Thank you for helping make this an incredibly awesome 15 year adventure. Our staff takes special pride in serving you and strives to get better at it every single day. Thank you and Godspeed in the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Danny

Holiday Insecurity

2008-12-23T12:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I was driving home, talking with a good friend of mine. He noted that it really didn't feel like Christmas and I mentioned that I had heard that from at least a couple of dozen people already. We agreed that it was mostly due to the economy, as the weather was the most wintry that we've had in years.

I thought about this overnight and that much of this insecurity is obviously fear-based. We fear what we know, what we don't know, what the economy is going to do, how it's going to affect us and finally, will we be prepared to handle it. Having heard some of these conversations, one can quickly become overwhelmed by the 'what-ifs' that they contemplate. And I found those that had already experienced difficulty...seemed to be handling the situations better than those who were simply fearing things that could happen in the future.

I sure don't have the answers and God knows my thoughts and plans have changed with the addition of two young children. But I try to follow a few practices that always makes me feel blessed, no matter what gloom is looming across the community.

The easiest...and something that produces the most immediate, positive impact is a simple gratitude list. I started doing this after being introduced to it in an entrepreneurial coaching class. If you simply take out a piece of paper and list all the things that come to your mind that you are grateful for, you'll surprise yourself with both the quantity and the speed with which they come to your mind. And you might wonder how you could feel anything but being blessed when you read over your list.

Another easy opportunity to lift your spirits is to help others less fortunate. There are absolute tear-jerker' stories of families in need, often through no fault of their own. With the Internet and our vast not for profit organizations, it is super easy and convenient to get involved and help out. The impact is immediate...you feel so good and appreciative of all that you have.

Family. Spending time...extra time...with your family can be pure magic. Save for a memorial this weekend, I spent every minute of this weekend with my family and I feel like I've had a vacation. It's been so busy up to now and with the brutal cold this weekend, we spent hour after hour just playing and reading and learning about Christmas. Terry just turned three and has hundreds of questions about Santa. Again today he was on his hands and knees looking up the fireplace and wondering out loud how Santa was going to fit down the chimney:). I'll simply treasure these moments forever.

Faith. No matter what it is, relying on one's faith enhances confidence and hence, can decrease anxiety and stress. Lots of studies have shown a variety of other complimentary outcomes of those who regularly practice their faith. For me, just watching Terry fixated on the choir is priceless and worth every minute.

So, while there are a number of clouds overhead as well as on the horizon, there are a tremendous amount of things that each of us can no doubt be thankful for. Try to dedicate some time each day to reflect what you're grateful for and see if it doesn't lift your spirits and make you feel more cheerful. And a cup of great, Specialty Coffee or an espresso will work wonders, too:).

Danny

You never forget your first...

2008-12-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

During lunch with a friend yesterday I mentioned how the older I get, the more fascinated...and interested, I am in time...the concept of time, the passing of time, the wasting of time, etc. Each year around this time I'm taken right back to the founding of The Roasterie in 1993. It was about this time that I secured our first customer and of course, I was scared to death that I'd never make it.

Fifteen years later I can almost recall every day during those first couple of months. At times it seems almost weird...like it was a lifetime ago. Then it seems like only a short time ago, and then this makes me nervous 'cause I think if the next fifteen years pass by that quickly, I'm in trouble!

My wife thinks I'm morbid but I just don't want to waste time anymore, especially since our kids were born (3 year old son Terry and 5 month old Sophia). Now I'm tending to 'vet' things that come across my desk, or meetings that I'm at, and I find myself thinking "This is going to keep me from being home with my kids; is it worth it?" I have a new set of criteria to judge value that I didn't have even a few years ago. So far, I think it's healthy.

Last month I took Terry and Normy, our green coffee buyer, to my 25Th class reunion in Costa Rica. I was a foreign exchange student there during my senior year of high school and received an email that we were having a reunion. My first reaction, of course, was "I don't have time." But I thought about it for a few minutes and just knew that I needed to go, and that Terry needed to go with me. We hadn't really travelled anywhere without mom so it was going to be a bit of an adventure. It would be his 3rd time there so he was totally ready to jump on the plane.

Which leads me to time; my host sister went with us to our old school and we visited our classroom. Terry sat in my old desk...everything looks just like it did while I was there! It was so surreal...he was sitting there so cute, loving it, and I could almost see myself sitting there; it is hard to describe but the memories were almost like watching a movie. I could see myself...then Terry and my host sister. Very good stuff but scary in that the time just went by so quickly.

I have shared this with some of the young folks that we've hired lately to encourage them to really follow their passion. There are so many awesome people, so many great things happening, life is simply too short to drink nasty coffee or to waste time. It's definitely too short to waste time in careers in which you are not passionate.

And now, I have run out of time. I have one of my big lunkin letters getting ready to spill out and I'll post it soon. Tchau for now.
Danny