This Friday, August 15th, brings the start of the Eat Local Challenge, an awesome opportunity to explore the bounty of Minnesota’s harvest. With so many options like watermelon, sweet corn, and brats on locally made buns – there are infinite ways to celebrate our summer.


But what about beverages?

In conjunction with the Eat Local Challenge, Peace Coffee is launching a Drink Local Challenge. It’s true, coffee arabica is a tropical plant and will not grow in our zone four conditions. But there are many great reasons to choose a local roaster. First off, our roast-to-order scheduling keeps us on our toes but it means you get fresher coffee. Further, all of our staff lives in the community, supporting our local economy. Finally, we sponsor many local events every month making this a vibrant place to live.

But local liquid substance can include more than just coffee:

Clean Minneapolis Tap Water - Yum!

My personal favorite way to drink local.

And don’t forget about the local breweries. Surly, Flat Earth, and Summit are all fantastic breweries right here in our backyard. We can’t fail to mention the atmospheric Town Hall Brewery that still has Cara Java Brown, a limited-time beer brewed using a special, one-time-only Peace Coffee Blend developed by roaster extraordinaire Derek.

With all these local ways to stay caffeinated, hydrated, and inebriated, the Eat Local and Drink Local Challenges inspire us all to think about the many ways we can live more locally.

Cooperative Coffees last year started getting Mexican coffee from a new cooperative, Yeni Navan Michiza. Cooperative Yeni Navan Michiza is in Oaxaca, Mexico. For a while now we have been roasting it in our Mexican Dark. Recently Derek mentioned that he thought it would be an excellent Full City roast. So, for the next couple of months we present to you Mexican Full City, the return of an old friend, with a new flavor.

Roast Level: Full City
Acidity: Crisp, lively, bright, prominent.
Body: Creamy, buttery, medium.
Aroma: Roasted Almond, cocoa, carmel, brown sugar, spice.
Flavor: Almond, chocolate ganache, honey, coriander, vanilla, roasted hazelnut, milk chocolate sweetness with a full lingering finish.
Overall: Sweet, smooth, bright, complex cup.

Cheers,
Keith.

Starting Monday, we will no longer be carrying Dominican Republic as a single origin offering. So, get it while you can this weekend off of our website.

We will be keeping the Dominican Republic in our Twin Cities Blend.

For those of you who have been buying coffee from us for a while, we have a surprise for you next week, so stay tuned...

Believe it or not, spring is here. And while I am personally gunning for a mild summer, with spring comes rising temperatures, and with rising temperatures come ice-based drinks. On sale next month (June) is our Yeti Cold Press Blend. It was specially designed by Ryan to shine when brewed using a Toddy Maker, though it‘s a refreshing, well-rounded cup of coffee however you choose to brew it.

Taste Profile: This special cold press blend uses Central and South American beans to make an extraordinarily balanced and rich coffee concentrate. Mix it with water, ice, or milk.
Acidity: Low
Flavor: Smooth caramel acts with dark chocolate and smoky notes to create a magical tasting coffee extract.
Body: Full
Finish: Smoky
Roast: Full City to Dark
Source: Apecaform (Guatemala), Cecocafen (Nicaragua) & Cenfrocafe (Peru)

New to Toddy Makers and cold press coffee?

The basic steps are: Slowly pour 9 cups of cold filtered water into 1 pound of coffee ground at drip; approximately 12 hours later, the coffee extract is ready. It is well worth the wait.

Remember that cold press is a concentrate with about 3 times (this is a guess based on personal experience and not scientific fact) the amount of caffeine of a normal brewed cup of coffee.

The basic cold press recipe is 1/3 cold press, 1/3 water (or your favorite dairy or dairy-like product), 1/3 ice.

If you saw us at either the Food and Wine experience, or at the SCAA conference, you got to taste some cold press drink recipes that Ryan and Derek have perfected over the last year since our Yeti blend came into existence.

Ba-Na-Na Yeti-
1 cup Yeti cold press
1 cup ice
I banana
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup half and half

Ice Ice Yeti-
4oz. Sparkling Water
4oz. Yeti cold press
1Tbls simple sugar syrup
2oz. Ice
2oz. Frozen base

Simple sugar syrup-
2 parts sugar
1 part water
Bring the water to a boil. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat. Allow to cool completely and bottle.

Frozen base-
1 cup half & half
3 Tbls simple syrup
2 cups ice
add to blender & blend until smooth

Mixed up Yeti-
Approximate recipe for a Mixed-up Yeti. Adjust to your taste:
4oz. Vodka of your preference
2oz. Yeti cold press
1oz. or less of Frangelico

Thanks to everyone who made the SCAA such an exciting and successful time. Thanks to all of our friends who came to visit us here at Peace Coffee. Derek is across from me, cupping, which means that things are getting back to normal around here. Well, as normal as we get around here.

Cheers,
Keith.

Welcome to Minneapolis


Coming into town for the SCAA? Wish you could talk to some locals in order to find out all of the great locally owned spots? How about asking 17 locals? The following is a collection of a small sampling of Peace Coffee staff members' favorite places to go in the Twin Cities. Check out the comments on each location to find out specifics on each place.

SCAA: Locations of parties, events, and more.
Coffee: What kind of company would we be if we didn't highlight our own accounts, but any of these options are a fine choice.
Food: Everything from a 2 dollar burrito to reservations required. Clearly we enjoy our food!
Art/ Entertainment: Galleries, theaters, architecture and more.
Night Life: SO many options to get a drink. Remember we have a long winter up here, you have to get through it somehow. Find a place that fits your style.
Shopping/ Retail:Buy a bike! You know you want one...
Outdoor/ Exercise: We have incredible system of parks and off road trails. No water front property in Minneapolis is privately owned.

Need help getting around? We recommend using a bicycle. Rent one at One on One bicycle shop, and get a shot of espresso while you are there. Or you can get around using Metro Transit.

Check out the City of Minneapolis' web page to find out more on bicycling and walking around town.

Feel free to check out all of the maps on our google web page.

Did we miss something? I'll be updating the maps all week. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comment section.

Available now, after surviving the impact of Hurricane Noel in the peak of their harvest season late last October, for a limited time as a single origin from El Polo Cooperative a member of Fedecares in the Dominican Republic, we offer you this sublime cup of island coffee.

Taste Profile-
Acidity: Moderate
Flavor: Mild and subtle, brown sugar, graham, and oatmeal raisin.
Aroma: Dried apricot, fig, coriander
Body: Thin and clean
Finish: Slightly dry, with graham, honey, and earth.
Roast: Medium/Full City
Source: El Polo Cooperative

Also… Now making an appearance in the Twin Cities Blend.

Last year, when we had just a few bags inspiration struck us, that it would make a wonderful addition to our Twin Cities Blend. As soon as the decision was made we ran out of green coffee and have been waiting for the new harvest ever since.

Less about changing the Twin Cities Blend and more about enhancing it, the body is rich and creamy, and the flavors are a balanced combination of dark and milk chocolate, with hints of smoke and walnut.

Cheers,
Keith

First off, there is officially no more Harrar available.

We had a green coffee delivery this last Friday. We received our first shipment of 2007-2008 harvest coffees from Sidamo, Ethiopia, a new Mexican Decaf bean, and our next limited run coffee the Dominican Republic. I expect the new Ethiopian to be in use within a couple of weeks, the new Decaf will start being roasted early next week, and Derek roasted our first batch of the Dominican Republic yesterday and we will be getting it perfect and ready for sale next Monday.

The Birchwood Blend is on sale for the month of April at most Cooperative and Natural food stores that carry our coffee. Find your local Peace Coffee supplier here.



Birchwood Breakfast Blend is a post blend consisting mainly of Peru and Sumatra with a little touch of our French Roast. Infinitely drinkable it is immediately berry with a heavy body moving quickly into a dark chocolate with a slightly smokey aftertaste that lingers for days. Most of all this is a balanced blend designed specifically to be enjoyed with breakfast. And while you can get it all over I would like to suggest you try a cup over breakfast at it's namesake the Birchwood Cafe. My personal favorite is their quiche. I know it snowed... a lot yesterday, but soon the patio tables and chairs will be finding their way on to sidewalks around town, and the Birchwood's is one of my favorites. It is a great end or a beginning to a hike on or a bike around the Mississippi river.

Here's to spring!
Cheers,
Keith.


References:
The picture of the bicyclist in front of First Ave. is from the Star Tribune.

We are down to about 100 lbs of Ethiopian Harrar coffee. This is all of this coffee that we will have for the year, and I know that everyone here will be sad to see it go. Grab some of this dry processed coffee while it is still around.

Order it here:
Ethiopian Harrar


BUT moving forward...

It's Back! Dominican Republic.
On our next green delivery, which will be Friday March 28th, we will be receiving coffee from the Dominican Republic. You may remember this velvety coffee from last year. Expect it available in early April as it will take some time to get the roast profile just perfect for this years lot.

Also, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone one who showed up to Common Roots last night. It was our most successful event there yet. Look for an upcoming announcement about next months event. Until then, enjoy the bagels and coffee.

Cheers,
Keith

Howdy all,

Just a reminder that Mister Derek De La Paz, roaster and quality control specialist, will be on hand a the Common Roots cafe serving up some Peace Coffee tonight from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

Cheers,
Keith.



Join home-grown Minnesota companies Pastureland, Etica, Peace Coffee and Common Roots Café for an expertly paired spread of Minnesota-made cheeses and desserts and fairly-traded wines and coffees. Members of these companies will be on hand to share the stories behind these ethically produced and purchased treats. This tasty event is free and open to the public at Common Roots Café, 2558 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55405, 612.871.2360.

Here is the low down on Guatemalan coffee as Peace Coffee interacts with it. Incidentally, Natalie and Lee from Peace Coffee and Ricki from IATP were just in Guatemala visiting with farmers and their cooperatives. There are four Guatemalan cooperatives that are Fair Trade and organic certified from which Cooperative Coffees imports. These cooperatives are Apeacaform, Rio Azul, Chajulense, and Nahuala. Each one resides within a different region of Guatemala. Apecaform is in San Marcos, Rio Azul is in Huehuetenango, Chajulense is in El Quiche, and Nahuala is in Quezaltenango.
In Guatemala the harvest time is primarily between November and February. We will start receiving the green from these harvests starting in April.

Each year, based on a combination of experience, supply and primarily quality, Peace Coffee makes decisions about which Guatemalan coffees will be in our Guatemalan Light and which will be our Guatemalan Dark. This year the division is that Apecaform and Nahuala will be the two coffees we use for our Guatemalan Dark and Chajulense and Rio Azul are the two coffees we will use for our Guatemalan Light.

We pick these combinations because they best suit what we are looking for in each of these roasts. With our light, we want to showcase a beautiful clean citrus acidity at the front of the cup and a smooth long milk chocolate at the end. For the Dark we look for dark chocolate front to back, with a big body, and the slightest hint of smoky roast in the aroma and aftertaste.

I’ve seen the cupping notes from the 2008 harvest samples and it looks like we are in for some of the finest Guatemalan coffees that we have seen in a couple of years. Right now, we are roasting Apecaform as our Guatemalan Dark roast, and Chajulense as our light. They are both incredible examples of well balanced solid Guatemalan coffees.

Cheers.
Keith

Harrar is an internationally recognized city in eastern Ethiopia. It is at 1,830 meters above sea level, 500 kilometers east of Addis Ababa (the capitol of Ethiopia), and has an estimated population of 122,000 people. It is considered the “fourth holiest city of Islam” with over 82 mosques within the city walls.

In the world of coffee it is most known for its unique natural (dry) processed coffee Arabica. That means that the coffee beans are left in the coffee cherry until dried. Then it is milled to remove the dried beans from the cherry. Imparting more flavor of the fruit and a rich textured body. The typography of the Harrar region is high, semi arid mountains. The area where the coffee is grown along with the processing imparts the unique qualities of this coffee.

Harrar is also known for its importance along the ancient trade route, its great city walls, and as the Muslim capitol of Ethiopia. While in Harrar some things not to miss are the nightly feedings of wild hyenas, the many ancient beautiful mosques, and the diverse city market.

At the end of December Peace Coffee received 1,000 pounds of coffee from the Harrar from the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU).

This natural processed, light roasted Ethiopian is a treat for dark chocolate lovers. The body, infused with a winey acidity, is heavy and chalky all the way through. It is like the moment when a 90% cocoa chocolate bar hits your mouth. The aroma of dried apricot and coriander will remind you of warmer places. The mocha flavor comes on strong and the persistent aftertaste leaves cloves on the palate. A winter treat!

We have found that brewing this coffee in a French Press is for the thick and bold coffee crowd. For a less cloudy cup, grind your coffee a little more coarse, or just use a little less than you normally would.

Unlike anything we have seen around Peace Coffee for a long time. Drink it up while we have it.

The journey begins over ten years ago in a far off place called Wisconsin. I was a line cook at a neighborhood Italian restaurant were I was introduced to the elixir called espresso. It was love at first sip. Since then I've tried my best to consume as much of the delightful beverage as physically and financially possible. My standing record is 16 shots in a 24-hour period, with a daily average of 6 to 8 shots. I can say I truly love espresso. It is delightful as a straight shot, in a mocha, or as a additive in a alcohol based beverage. I have also pulled every kind of coffee I've run across as a shot of espresso, learning a lot and punishing my palette along the way. So now that you know a little about me, lets get to the Roots.

I was approached one day by our Roaster Keith Tomlinson and Director Lee Wallace about possibly creating an espresso blend for a new café. They wondered if I would be interested and up to the challenge. I can't express the excitement I felt in that opportunity. The new café was to be Common Roots owned by Danny Schwartzman. Danny was interested in a specialty Espresso specifically designed to be used as a straight shot. He left it up to me to decide on what coffees would make up the blend.

I started out by roasting 5 different coffees in what we refer to as espresso style. This means that we let the coffee spend more time in between first and second crack than we do with a regular roast. Then with Keith and Roaster Ryan Siebold, we tried the coffees as single origin Espressos noting all flavor nuances and flavor perceptions. From there I had the information needed to begin blending the recipe ideas I had come up with. I had basically three different flavor profiles for potential espresso recipes. I created five different blends for each flavor profile idea. We once again tasted the blends narrowing it down to three espresso recipes.

We then invited Danny to come into Peace Coffee and taste the recipes so I could also use his feedback on the final creations. After that it was time to create the final two variations of the chosen recipe. We then allowed Danny the honor of choosing the final variation for his café and the public. It was a delicious espresso with prominent herbal notes, spiciness, dark chocolate, coating mouth feel, excellent crema, and a clean lingering finish. A espresso that was born to be enjoyed alone in a demitasse, But don't just take my word for it (as I created it) go into Common Roots Café and put it to your own test or purchase a pound online and test it at home. We are confident you will find it just as delicious as we do!

-Tender D

Our new favorite coffee is an award winning selection from the high altitudes of Bolivia – a seasonal and in limited quantity. By seasonal we mean that its available for a season only, maybe even only a month. This amazing bean takes an impressive journey along the "road of death*” which traverses 11,000 feet into Caranavi - the countrys coffee growing mecca where about 80% of Bolivia’s coffee is produced. Apparently Bolivian farmers call this the “road of life” because it connects them to the market. In 2006 Cooperative Coffee along with other fair trade allies held a cupping competition in Bolivia. The Fair Trade Coffee Cupping Competition and Exchange, where some 132 samples were set before a group of expert cuppers*, was a response to US AID pulling funding out of Bolivia in 2006 for development projects such as the Cup of Excellence competition – unless tied to coca eradication. The coffee we are roasting placed 3rd overall which means it should be a really great cup. We received this coffee with much anticipation and our roaster minds set to work to come up with the best way to showcase this great coffee.

Roasting coffee is a process of revealing what the coffee has to offer. Our process of finding the best way to roast involves trying the coffee at different roast levels, and so during our first experimental batch we pulled samples out as the coffee roasted, from a very light cinnamon roast to a medium level roast (we decided roasting it dark would hide any characteristics that made this coffee award winning). And so we cupped the coffee and our hypothesis of keeping it light was right. The basic idea of roasting light is that as roasters we are not flexing our muscles over the bean; therefore aspects of darker roasts will be absent, such as: nuances or strong flavors that are toasty, nutty, smoky, meaty, and/or chocolate. The resulting coffee is very fruity and layered. It tastes better the longer as it sits in your cup (a sign of a great coffee) and pleasantly lingers on your palate. This coffee offers a mix of dried apricot, peach and apple flavors, and is punctuated by citrus and winey aspects that give the coffee its structure and long-lasting taste attributes. You may even taste a Jolly Rancher tang to it. And finally, an added floral quality makes this coffee great, like a great single-source honey or a wine.

It's an adventure roasting coffee light because there can be so much complexity and variation when tasting different roasts. So it's great knowing that at the end of the road our palates will tell us the way to roast. Hope you enjoy our latest offering! Get it while it lasts.

-p_beri

*see http://coopcoffees.com/committees/green/projects/bolivia-ft-quality-competition for more details on the fair trade cupping competition held in 2006.

To order this coffee click here.

To witness the "road of death" watch this video:

Up at the Roaster’s Guild Retreat Keith, Derek and I were lucky to meet Darleen and Carol who run Gorilla Coffee together. They came all the way from Brooklyn to Grand Rapids, Minnesota by way of Vespa – an impressive 1300 miles of scootering! The retreat was a great way to meet roasters from all over the country and it was fun to find out what another fair trade coffee company in Brooklyn is doing. We felt inspired that we were on the same page on a lot of things, mainly fair trade and good coffee. They were super excited by our bike delivery methods and were taking notes on how we stored our green coffee – we store our green in silos near the roaster. After the retreat Darleen and Carol stopped by Peace Coffee HQ’s. Andy, our bike deliverer and past events guru, gave them tips on brewing big batches of cold press (which they were planning on doing for Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid concert on Randalls Island. Then we treated them Minneapolis style by first visiting one of our accounts, CRC Café (Cars-R-Coffins). Hurl was behind the counter and so we hung out while he served coffee and wrenched on bikes. Later we washed down our coffee with a Tiger beer out on the back stoop. Derek and my wife Nora met up with us. We then traversed by bike and scooter over to Matt’s Bar, where the famous Juicy Lucy was invented, a burger with explosively melty cheese inside. Even the vegetarian in the group had to witness this Minneapolis anomaly. If you’re in the Big Apple (Mpls is the little apple) stop by Brooklyn and have a cup of coffee at Gorilla. Be sure to tell them Peace Coffee sent you. Hurl gave them tips on a more scenic route back to NY and apparently they dodged T-storms the whole way to Brooklyn, so they may have some “juicy” stories (ask Carol about her Skittle incident). We are excited to know the women behind Gorilla Coffee and are now inspired to bike up to the retreat next year. Perhaps we will see them on the road.

-p_beri