Pancakes and Pig Day

My sister's in town visiting this weekend, so we figured we'd make a day of it.  She had wanted to try her hand at making a latte, so we had at it while Steph made pancakes and took pictures.  My sister (also a Stephanie) chose some peach syrup, I went with peppermint.

Watching the crema...

Steph (sister) pouring her first ever latte!

Steph (girlfriend) busy making pancakes.

The results of my peppermint latte, and...

Steph's peach in the front.  Didn't turn out nearly as strange tasting as I expected, either.

Can't forget the pancakes - these were incredibly delicious.

Today was Pig Day at the farmer's market, celebrating all things swine!  Plenty of pictures included from our trip down.  Click the thumbnails for the larger version!



On a business note, the farmer's market being so accessible (as well as a multitude of very close-by fruit farms) could be a great opportunity to provide some fresh fruit for sale along with the pastries.  I could definitely see myself grabbing an orange on the way to class along with my cappuccino.  Pachamama was also present at the farmer's market and busy as ever.

Fair Trade Fridays...on Wednesday

I've been talking about structuring my posts a bit with Steph, and I think I'm going to start doing Fair Trade Fridays. I get the feeling that most people don't know a whole lot about Fair Trade, especially in the coffee realm.  A lot of catch phrases (i.e. "Green", "Social Responsibility", etc.) are thrown around by companies that are inflating their own appeal in an attempt to prey on ignorant consumers.  The vast majority of large national/regional firms aren't socially responsibly or anywhere even close.  Look out for that on Friday.

For today, one of my favorite concoctions thus far:

Peppermint Dark Chocolate Mocha
For most recipes, this one included, it's best to buy an actual espresso shot glass.  It is very easy to pull a shot too long if your shot glass is too large, resulting in the beans being used past their "optimal life."  Once the beans stop producing crema, a dark-reddish brown foam (also called schiuma) that will sit atop a shot of properly pulled espresso shots, the quality of taste declines quickly and can turn the smooth, rich espresso taste to a bitter, acidic mess very quickly.

• 1 shot medium roast espresso (you can use a doppio, but I find the mocha has better flavor with a single shot)
• Spoonful dark chocolate powder (I recommend not using chocolate syrup, the powder seems to add a nicer consistency to the drink and creates the gradient effect in a clear glass)
• Peppermint syrup to taste (the candies can work well, too)
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Cinnamon

Pull the shot, gently mix in the bottom of the glass with nutmeg (this is to prevent breaking apart the crema, which allows for the nice coloring on the top of the drink).  Mix syrup into ice cold milk, froth until milk doubles in size. I'll go into much more detail on frothing milk in a later post (it's a lot harder than it looks!).  The milk will absorb the peppermint syrup and spread the taste evenly throughout the drink so you don't end up with spots that have no sweetness and others that are far too sweet.  Pour gently into glass, without mixing.  You should end up with a nice gradient to your drink and a natural mixing.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top, and enjoy!

Contact!

Unmarred, beautiful latte.  I was going to decorate it more, but sometimes I think the minimalist approach is best.

Got a response from the General Manager from Pachamama Coffee, who I discussed earlier.

Thanks for the email and your interest in our cooperative. Sounds like you know what you are doing.  

As you may know, we have some experience in the cafe business, but we are now solely focus on the wholesale side of things. The coffee shop retail business is not an easy one. But it can work, provided you are well prepared and your expectations are reasonable. I am willing to help you provided that you would sell Pachamama coffee exclusively and, ideally, market the coffee and the farmer in a respective way. 

Looks like we're going to try to set up a phone conversation for Friday - time to get together some good questions!

Here's what I've thought of so far:

1. Cost per pound of coffee
2. Availability of different roasts from each locale
3. Popularity
4. Their view of the viability of a small, local coffee shop (especially in Davis!)
5. Shipping time
6. Machinery lending (some suppliers will provide loaner equipment to their customers)
7. Training (similar to the above, some supplier provide employee training on the equipment)

I would love to hear suggestions from others.  What am I forgetting?  Hopefully this will turn into an informative correspondence.  Heck, maybe it'll turn into even more..fingers crossed.