CoffeeConversations.com
With java, ‘ideas march in like the army’

Okay, I’ve seen some amazing things but this one clearly is something you don’t see every day:

Last year on April 8th, Slovenian marathon swimmer Martin Strel became the first man to swim the entire length of the Amazon River from headwaters in Peru to the Brazilian port city of Belém: 3,274 miles. It took him 66 days with a support crew of near twenty people following him in a boat for protection.

He’d already conquered the Danube, the Mississippi, and the Yangtze. In 1997, he became the first to swim non-stop from Africa to Europe, and he did it in 29 hours, 36 minutes, and 57 seconds… without a wetsuit. WTF? Seven swimmers had attempted it before and all had failed.

The Amazon was different. As the “Fish Man,” as the locals called him, reached the finish line at Belém, he had to be helped to his feet and ushered into a wheelchair amidst a cheering crowd. His blood pressure was at heart-attack levels and his entire body was full of subcutaneous larvae. But he lived to tell the tale.

Read more–with interview @ FHWW

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds.

Teddy Roosevelt

[HT: Chris Guillebeau at his blog, The Art of Nonconformity]

I was drinking our Sulawesi Toraja this morning thinking about new posts to write…and I’m taking suggestions!

Here’s a few I’m thinking about writing soon:

Is Fair Trade Really Fair?
Tips for Coffeehouse Owners
Why We Don’t Grind Coffee for Our Customers
Romancing the Coffeehouse or Only for the Most Passionate: Why You Want to Think Twice About Opening Up for Business
Business As Usual: Politics in the Coffee Business

This morning I’m drinking our Colombian Mercedes Supremo - a fantastic South American coffee that is medium-bodied and a pleasure to drink. It makes me sorry I only have time to drink a cup or two before I leave the house. I don’t take travel cups with me in the car–I’m not a real fan of drinking out of them for some reason. I just like the plain ol’ 11 oz ceramic mug. Still works great in the car unless you have to slam on your brakes!

Once in awhile I might take a travel cup and put an extra cup or two in it and then transfer it to the ceramic mug at the next stop. I try not to do that at a stoplight however. Heh.

Anyway, I kicked off the morning with the Colombian and was happy to see the temperature down somewhat this morning and that made the drive in pretty nice (minus the traffic and all).

Not everyone in the coffee business is upstanding and looking out for the consumer (big surprise, eh?).

One thing that unscrupulous coffee roasters do is flavor coffee in a certain not-so-nice way. Basically, the flavor normally overpowers the taste of the coffee and so what some roasters do is buy the cheapest coffee they can find (or stale stuff that’s been in their warehouse as extra inventory for a long, long time) and put flavoring in it. Of course, they don’t pass the savings on to the consumer but expect customers to pay just as much for that flavored cup of coffee as you would a real gourmet cup of coffee. In other words, they’re taking you to the cleaners.

They use the bad coffee to place extra profit margin in the coffee.

So, if you go somewhere and order a French Vanilla flavored coffee and it really reeks of the flavor instead of the coffee you’re likely getting ripped off.

The best way to flavor coffee is to use the sort of syrups you see at coffeehouses. That way you know you’re getting great coffee and great syrup at the same time. Just a little bit of flavor goes a long way in each cup and you can buy several different kinds of syrups in accordance with what you like. We use Monin syrups at our shop in Scottsdale–we believe they’re among the best out there. Fringe benefit–you can also use Monin flavors in mixed drinks! In Phoenix, you can get Monin syrups at AJ’s (and you can buy our coffee there as well!). You might give it a try sometime if you just can’t step away from your favorite flavored coffee.

We are a single origin shop here at Areopagus and so we don’t do flavored coffee. We prefer our customers have the best of what’s available around the world and if they want to flavor their coffee beyond that, it’s their business, not ours. I happen to be a purist and drink my coffee hot and black. All the time. My wife though likes it iced and sometimes with different flavors. To each their own!

Quick note, through July 3, enter the discount code 0752 when you order coffee here at this site and you’ll receive 20% off your order.

If you’re like me, you like to try out new coffeehouses wherever and whenever you find them. We own our own coffeehouse in North Scottsdale (in the Grayhawk Plaza @ Grayhawk/Scottsdale Rd north of the 101) but I’m always up to seeing what others are doing and so when I have the time I drop into other shops around town. The brave souls that own these places so you can have your cup of Joe have in many cases placed their entire fortune into the shop they now own (whether they tell you that or not) and so they deserve all the support you can give them. Here’s a few ideas to help these coffeehouses survive and thrive:

Pay CASH for everything - There’s a bunch of rascally merchant provider salesmen out there who constantly work the independent coffeehouses and other small businesses to get them to switch their credit card processing to their company–promising low rates and then hitting them with exorbitant fees on a monthly basis. Even the legitimate merchant providers are a big expense for coffeehouses and being a small business normally means you have no room to negotiate with the big companies that run these credit card processing machines. Help your local coffeehouse owner by refusing to pay by credit or debit card because they in turn normally pay a flat fee plus a percentage of the sale (and then later monthly fees) so you can have convenient use of your card. Paying cash avoids all of this and helps keep an extra 2-5% where it will do the most good.

Find out where your local independent coffeehouses are and plan running errands near your favorites so you can stop by frequently - There are usually websites that document where the free wi-fi is–in Arizona there’s a great blog by Chris Tingom called Arizona Coffee that keeps a pretty up-to-date list of shops around the Valley of the Sun.

Take the same list of indie coffeehouses and try to visit one every weekend as something fun to do - You may be surprised but there is actually a lot of diversity between different independent shops and it’s fun to see what the different shops are doing to attract new customers and how they’re outfitted.

Schedule your business or other meetings at a local independent coffeehouse - Most coffeehouse owners get really excited when you come to them and say you want to hold a regular meeting every week or every month at their shop. For them, it means regular income and exposure from people who likely aren’t yet their customers. For you, it means a comfortable place to have a meeting outside the office and away from other distractions.

When you do schedule a meeting, make sure you buy something for everyone or if you personally aren’t footing the bill that everyone is supporting the coffeehouse by buying something for themselves - Most all of the time a coffeehouse owner is going to be very happy to support your meeting, but be sure to be appreciative of the time and space they’re giving you and make it up to them by purchasing something for everyone.

Schedule your meetings or visits to coffeehouses around lunch or dinner time - That way, you buy more than just a cup of coffee or the latest fru fru drink. Most coffeehouses have something to eat and even if it’s not the same as going to a full service restaurant you’re doing wonders for them by supporting their business in this way and they’ll be very happy that you’re there.

Ask your coffeehouse owner about catering or other ways to bring business to them - You can’t always schedule the meeting outside the office–so when you have it in the office, pick up some “Joes to Go” and some pastries or other food. If you have a larger get together away from the coffeehouse, see if they can cater all or part of it. You’d be surprised what one little shop may be able to do!

Live large by tipping large - Most independent coffeehouses are paying their employees everything they can but it can be difficult to retain and keep the really good ones with all the other expenses they have. If you’re given great service–but even if you’re given adequate service–be extravagant in tipping the guy who’s making your drink. He’ll remember you and the next time or two you’ll likely get what you ordered even faster.

If you get bad service or something is wrong with your order, let the owner know–even if he’s not there at the time - If he’s not there, get a business card, ask when he will be there, and be sure to follow up in reaching him. The last thing a coffeehouse owner wants is to have someone who has had a bad experience at their shop walk out, never come back, and then telling everyone they know about it. The bad experience may be a result of something that the coffeehouse owner knows nothing about. Give them a chance to make it right by communicating with them. In most cases, you’ll likely find they’ll go way out of their way to make it right for you.

Be patient - it takes time to do things right - Yeah, you’re not going to always get your coffee drink in under thirty seconds but that’s normally because most indie houses actually care about what they’re putting in your drink. And it does take longer than it would at the Green Machine with the stock symbol SBUX. What you’re getting from an independent coffeehouse is a carefully made wonderfully tasting real cup of delight and to make that happen you just don’t push a button and watch a sixteen-year-old “barista” at Starbucks stare at the machine until it’s done pouring.

If you’ve come to a coffeehouse to use free wi-fi, order something at least once an hour - Don’t be the sort of leech that just takes advantage of people. No one puts free wi-fi in their shop so you can be there for six hours and drink one measly cup of coffee. The internet connection alone costs money, plus you take up space, plus all the other costs of power, lights, air conditioning, etc. It is free for you but there’s always a cost to doing business. I’m not saying you need to order everything off the menu at least twice while you are there, but at least be careful and fair about not taking advantage of what a business provides to regular customers.

Find an indie shop you like and make it your home - Frequent it regularly. Take what you’re spending in the drive-thru at Starbucks (it’s okay, you can admit it–we won’t tell) and support a local business. Get to know the owners–they’re usually really neat people. Come in once a day or more. Become a regular customer and you’ll be surprised how quickly everyone warms up to you!

Once you find that special place, BRAG BRAG BRAG - Tell your friends and neighbors all about this shop you’ve found and what you like about it so much. Insist that they tell their friends. In fact, just talk and talk about it. You’ll drive enough people crazy that eventually they’ll come to the coffeehouse to see what the fuss is all about. And once they’ve done that, mission accomplished! Now you are really helping your local coffeehouse to succeed and prosper.

Well, it was only 110 degrees this afternoon. Five degrees less than yesterday.

The air conditioning broke last week in my car and I guess I’m just too cheap to go get it fixed. I’ve been in Arizona so long I’m just flat used to the heat. Besides, you ought to spend money on the important things like the new iPhone! Of course, without air conditioning the temperature in my car is probably way out of the normal operating range for the device, but hey, at least I’ll be able to use it inside the office, at home, and after October in the car.

Due to my routine, I’ve been driving to downtown Phoenix via Grand Avenue. For those who don’t know, Grand Avenue is actually State Highway 89 and is a diagonal road that stretches from the Northwest Phoenix area (on the way to Wickenburg) to downtown Phoenix. It’s also the place where all the trains run back and forth into the city to the main downtown train station. What I’ve noticed is a lot of train traffic particularly in the mornings.

By way of contrast, we hear a lot about a bad economy in the news but the shipping industry doesn’t seem to be overly affected. If anything, it appears more active than before. Not exactly the sign of a failing economy. Plus, just try to go shopping at Costco on Saturday. There are so many people there on a Saturday you can hardly navigate a shopping cart through the place. And just try checking out.

Anyway, back to the lovely weather we’ve been having. What kills me is not 110 degrees in the late afternoon. It’s the fact that at midnight it’s still 95 degrees outside. Youch!

Hands down has to be the Sulawesi Toraja - it carries with it a complexity that makes each cup different. You can’t just drink one cup of Sulawesi. You drink the first cup just to warm up to the complexities involved in drinking this Indonesian wonder coffee. The second cup is where the payoff is. Not that the first cup is bad–it just takes time and exposure to completely appreciate the fullness of flavor in a cup of Sulawesi.

I don’t drink it all the time because familiarity with a particular taste can breed a carelessness in valuing the coffee. Instead, I like to surprise myself once in awhile with the richness of this particular coffee. Blows your mind and your tastebuds.

Okay, that probably sounded like a commercial, but I really do like our Sulawesi. Definitely my favorite (if I had to pick one).

There is much to be said for the power of money as currency (I’m a fan myself), but adding more of it just isn’t the answer as often as we’d like to think. In part, it’s laziness. “If only I had more money” is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-examination and decision-making necessary to create a life of enjoyment–now and not later. By using money as the scapegoat and work as our all-consuming routine, we are able to conveniently disallow ourselves the time to do otherwise: “John, I’d love to talk about the gaping void I feel in my life, the hopelessness that hits me like a punch in the eye every time I start my computer in the morning, but I have so much work to do! I’ve got at least three hours of unimportant e-mail to reply to before calling the prospects who said ‘no’ yesterday. Gotta run!”

Busy yourself with the routine of the money wheel, pretend it’s the fix-all, and you artfully create a constant distraction that prevents you from seeing just how pointless it is. Deep down, you know it’s all an illusion, but with everyone participating in the same game of make-believe, it’s easy to forget.

The problem is more than money.

Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek, Crown Publishers: New York, 2007, p. 35.