 Man, has it been hot and muggy in the Twin Cities! Summer is in full swing and we're keeping cool as best we can while we work as always to bring you the best coffee on the planet (at least we think so!). In this issue of Peace Spokes, Peace Coffee's new bike apostle, Justin Young, interviews another member of the Peace Coffee Racing Team -- this time 'round it's Patrick Tsai on the hot seat. Anna Canning relates the story of her mysterious late night yeti sighting, Andrew talks mini farmers' markets in his IATP Report and Keith offers a short but sweet Roaster's Corner. Oh, and we celebrate the 97th Tour de France, now in its final stages, with this month's special. Chill out with a cup of Yeti Cold Press and read on...  by Justin Young, Peace Coffee Bike-Related Affairs Specialist  Patrick Tsai is a relatively new member of the Peace Coffee Racing team and recently took on what is known to most as the "world's toughest mountain bike race." Tour Divide is a mountain bike grad tour race between Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, USA. Tour divide totals around 2700 miles in usually completed in 27 days.Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (Peace Coffee's parent company). Like all Peace Coffee Racing riders, he loves to being in the saddle. I recently had an opportunity to grab a coffee with Patrick and ask him about his passion (or craziness depending on how you look at it) for biking. Also, to gather the answer that most people would wonder about Patrick…"WHY WOULD YOU PARTICIPATE IN A 2700 MILE RACE?!!!" Here's what Patrick had to say… Read on... (Back to Headlines)   by Anna Canning, Peace Coffee Production Manager  What does a cryptozoological* creature have to do with a delicious cup of coffee? At first we tried to explain the mystery away: clearly, Yvonne the yeti and her friends had arrived in our muggy Minnesota summer to rescue us with their cooling super powers. Yet several years and umpteen delicious drinks later, the mystery remains.I was up too late the other night. Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was our late midsummer sunsets, maybe, just maybe, it was all the cold press I'd been drinking all day. Some cups were black with ice and a little water for something carmelly and intense, some matched the ice with a little creamy whole milk, one might have even had half-and-half for something that resembled slurping melted ice cream… After dinner, I just couldn't resist a little more cold press -- rumor has it that some vodka made its way into this one for something like a White Russian. All that coffee isn’t a recipe for a sleepy night and my legs were too twitchy for a small apartment so I stepped out into the park for a stroll. Daytime, the park's a peaceful place: there are a few soccer games a day throughout the summer, and the thwap of a bat on ball punctuates the evenings. Read on... (Back to Headlines)   Where does fresh, local produce come from? If you live in Minneapolis, this question is becoming easier and easier to answer this year with the return of the IATP Mini Farmers' Markets. So what (and more importantly where -- as our taste buds begin to crave fresh fruits and vegetables!) is a Mini Farmers' Market?The (very) basic description is "community-based farmers markets with up to five vendors each," but wait, there's more! Some of the markets are based on the traditional model: up to five local farmers receive a space at the market and reach new customers. Others are helping grow the urban gardening scene in Minneapolis. Take the Streetwerks Youth Farmers' Market on Glenwood Avenue in north Minneapolis (pictured). Some of the food is from traditional farmers but other food is grown directly on the site of the market—in a gas station’s rear parking lot that stood vacant for years. The students of Steetwerks are learning to grow food, tend the garden and bring the produce to market. According to coordinator Tim Page, next year some of the students hope to run their own community garden as a summer job.Whether from a farm or a community garden, growers and their delicious, healthy grub are now reaching more and more areas throughout the city -- many of which lack access to healthy options. To see the locations and hours of all of our markets (with videos and photos coming soon!), check out the 2010 map! For more information, read this great piece by Mary Turck featured in the Twin Cities Daily Planet. See you at the markets! Andrew Ranallo is the Communications Assistant at IATP. He is currently owner of three delicious-looking pieces of zucchini that came up out of the ground in north Minneapolis. (Back to Headlines)  by Keith Tomlinson, Peace Coffee Head Roaster  Our World Cup mania ended at the same time as our limited run Brazilian coffee ran out. Even though Brazil didn’t make it to the finals, we enjoyed watching other countries advance and thought that Spain deserved its first ever World Cup title. We’re already looking forward to the Women’s World Cup next summer in Germany! Next up in our limited run coffee line up is an excellent Ethiopian Sidamo from the OCFCU Co-op. We offered this coffee two years ago and have been dying to bring it back. The taste profile has changed a little but the overall notes of ginger, citrus & caramel are still there. If you enjoyed our spring seasonal Pollinator Blend, than you will love this coffee! (Back to Headlines)  Ever since the 97th Tour de France began on July 3rd, the Peace Crew has been consumed with cycling mania. Though our main man Lance Armstrong is in 17th position after Stage 17, we're celebrating the event by offering you our Peruvian French Roast Blend for a fixed gear price of 8.99 per lb! If Lance wins, we'll bike down the Midtown Greenway wearing the maillot jaune and ringing cowbells! If Lance doesn’t win, he still will have seven other Tour de France titles on his bike seat, so there really there is no reason to be disappointed! To get your discount, order our Peruvian French Roast by this Sunday, July 25th, before the tour ends (and this special expires)! Offer ends 07/25/10 Fan us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter |
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