tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60166954730192822532024-03-20T01:42:13.084-07:00Muertos CoffeeMy goal is to one day have my own coffee shop. This blog is the Blogumentary of my journey. I hope you will follow and share in my experiences.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-7438191140486724912018-06-29T04:30:00.000-07:002018-06-29T04:30:14.143-07:00Official Re-Branding ReleaseBIG NEWS!<br />
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For all of my rabid readers...all 3 of you (I know who you are)...You have seen over the last few months that I have been working on re-branding. Well, the time has come.<br />
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<b><u>Why I started Muertos Coffee</u></b><br />
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When my first baby girl was born, my own mortality punched me in the face. I was freak'n out about legacy and ensuring my daughters had a strong foundation to stand on. I don't want them to be afraid to chase their dreams, and in order to that, I'd have to lead by example. I also love Dia de los Muertos both culturally and artistically. It resonated with my desire for legacy, so I ran with it.<br />
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I still love this brand. I think it is good and I'm not just throwing it away. I'm keeping it in my back pocket for now. So, why change? Well, I found that it encompassed a part of me, but not the whole me and didn't align with some of the major aspects of the future coffee shop I want to own. I felt limited by the brand. Also, I had made some bad decisions. I got focused on cost and money and lost my brand identity. I could pivot the brand, but there is just too many reasons to re-brand.<br />
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<b><u>The reveal of the new brand.....InkleDeux</u></b><br />
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Say it with me....inkle (like, "I have an inkling") and deux (French for 2, or Hotshots part Deux, if you're a 90's Charlie Sheen fan).....but it's all one word....InkleDeux.<br />
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Yes, it is a strange name. So, why did we choose it? Well, mainly it makes us laugh. It made us laugh, but then the more we thought about it the more we loved it. It hearkens to a group that inspires us, the Inklings. Which consisted of wonderful men such as CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.<br />
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In case you hadn't noticed, I switched to the plural for InkleDeux. I am not flying solo anymore. Part of the re-branding is that I need someone with more experience with other craft beverages. My cousin, AJ is that person. I also need someone to bounce ideas around with and who isn't afraid to say an idea sucks, yup, that's him for sure.<br />
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<b><u>What does it all mean?</u></b><br />
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Well, re-branding is going to have a couple of stages.<br />
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Stage 1 (now): Content creation will be moved to InkleDeux effective 6/30.<br />
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The Muertos Coffee Instagram will be converted to InkleDeux. Blog posts will be done on InkleDeux.com (I will probably transfer some of this content over there, mainly the coffee shop reviews). We are also starting a podcast to build the community, if you care to hear our first test recording, it's on the website. We are hoping to be releasing bi-weekly by the end of July.<br />
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Stage 2 (end of year): Transfer coffee to InkleDeux brand.<br />
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So, for now, if you need coffee, still hit me on the Muertos Coffee Facebook page or website. You can always let me know through InkleDeux too, but it will be sold and branded as Muertos until we transition. The reason for the delay is cost and time. We are going to be doing different coffee bags, new labels, higher quality beans, and overall lifting the bar above Muertos Coffee. We have a lot of work to do to ensure we don't make the same mistakes I made previously...we want to make bigger and more glorious mistakes.<br />
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So, with that, go visit the new website (inkledeux.com), subscribe to the blog post, and join the conversations.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-17017672042577254582018-06-22T13:05:00.001-07:002018-06-22T13:05:50.507-07:00Oceanside<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To anyone who saw this post before it was ready, I apologize. I was trying to take notes on my phone and accidently hit "publish," then I couldn't figure out how to undo it. So, here it is officially.</div>
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We planned a trip to Oceanside, CA with my brother and his family. We normally do parks like Seaworld and other trips, but they just wanted to chill. I get that, but we were expecting to be bored. The solution...go see as many coffee shops as possible! I created a list of 8 or 9 and we only got to 6. So here is a summery of my experience along with my ranking:</div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Revolution Roasters (#3)</u>: I really liked the design of this shop. The open air design is perfect for So-Cal. The baristas were sweet, but only one of them really knew anything about the coffee. This was kind of disappointing to me as I was hoping that the CA coffee scene was going to show me something different when it comes to service. The avacado toast I got was legit though. I loved it. The coffee was good, but not particularly remarkable.</div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Sleeping Tiger (#2)</u>: One of my favorite things about this place is that it is a huge shared space. Coffee bar on one side, wine bar on the other. All in like a warehouse kind of feel. The coffee was a 3 bean blend and quite tasty. I think it suffered from a little too much blend. There were lots of subtle flavors that made it good, but nothing really popped out. The girl I ordered with, and made my drink, really knew her stuff. I was super excited. It all made sense when she told me she was the roaster. That rocked my world. I've never had a roaster make me coffee. I love the idea that the one responsible for making the coffee follows it from purchase to roast to cup. She also took the time to answer some roasting questions for me. I really appreciated her and reccomend this spot.</div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Steady State (#1)</u>: This shop really checked all the boxes for me. The store design was very instagramable. The baristas were very personable. They asked my name, introduced themselves and shook my hand. That just doesn't happen. I loved it. The coffee was a washed Guatemalan and natural Ethopian blend. So it had a chocolate base and stone fruit pop. That is the perfect coffee for me. I'm not much of a nuance guy. I want 2 things done well, rather than 100 small complexities. The only down side is that it is off the beatan path. If I hadn't looked them up, I probably wouldn't have found them.</div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Banana Dang (#4)</u>: I watch these guys on instagram, so I wanted to stop in. The coffee was actually pretty good. They have 4 roasters they roate through. The shop was very eclectic, as the name would suggest. Baristas were nice and personable. The shop was a bit too hippie for me though. This is the only place we got paper straws...which, sorry Mother Earth, suck a lot. There is nothing like dry paper sticking to your lips when trying to enjoy a drink.</div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Jitters Coffee Pub (#6)</u>: I went to this shop because of the "pub" aspect. The store had a really cool bar from the prevoius tennent. The chairs looked like they were brought in from an old english abby. I really like the furniture. The owner/barista was nice and talked to us for a while. One thing I learned from her was to "buy only what you need." She said she was using product she bought from other people when they went out of business. They just bought too much. She said bulk doesn't really save you much, which is something I have been starting to think and she kind of reinforced it. She said they have a private roaster who delivers coffee to them. Unfortunately it was my least favorite. It just didn't taste good. </div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Pannels Comics and Coffee Bar (#5)</u>: I hit this spot purely for the mash up. I keep thinking that it's gotta be hard to make a coffee shop work on coffee alone. Comics are the same way. Comic book stores are actually digin out quickly. After talking to the guy there, it sounds like coffee kind of helps keep the comic store stay afloat. They had decent equipment and good coffee. They used BirdRock, who is a roaster doing pretty well in San Diego right now. The employee explained they got enough training to make decent coffee, but they were comic book people. I appreciated his honest. He did care about the quality of the product though. He was a delight. Spent some time talking coffee, then a lot more time talking comics. I truely believe that, to be really successful, you have to find the right mash up of different worlds. Coffee and comics was a good one.</div>
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There is a ton more I could go on an on about, like the foam on a cortado....why is it so rare to get good foam on a cortado?!</div>
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Anywho, Oceanside was a cool place and we had a really great time.</div>
<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0Oceanside, CA, USA33.1958696 -117.3794834000000332.9833456 -117.70220690000002 33.408393600000004 -117.05675990000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-61791260035382729792018-06-01T07:08:00.002-07:002018-06-01T07:14:45.340-07:00Review of Boss Coffee<br />
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In the process of re-branding, we are working on starting a podcast (more to come later). I have been researching and wanted to touch base with someone who is running a podcast that sounds good. So, I reached out to the guys at Orange Cactus Coffee (<a href="http://www.orangecactuscoffee.com/">www.orangecactuscoffee.com</a>) here in Az. Jake got back to me and said that he was going to be in town the next day on a coffee crawl. One of the shops he was stopping at was Boss Coffee. I've been wanting to review this place for a while, so I caught up him there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyMj3lfVL-yZmtLEzIHv70vX0oxSm7RDDfCRe4H07TljsZzXDKXKr5DO52Y_jq8LcuYq5kjR2Td1P1dZv7dC8SWhFL84fN7mlG_qd_eEIrLFwLk-YI_NEb1gRs0_KPz3z73_XCgXfTPc/s1600/20180524_125218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyMj3lfVL-yZmtLEzIHv70vX0oxSm7RDDfCRe4H07TljsZzXDKXKr5DO52Y_jq8LcuYq5kjR2Td1P1dZv7dC8SWhFL84fN7mlG_qd_eEIrLFwLk-YI_NEb1gRs0_KPz3z73_XCgXfTPc/s200/20180524_125218.jpg" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JCzRUhWZ4cC25YJ-fAPJQFu019MinawcvkB0BPBXdxhnZtTyeTe5SiBzBwKtoABlu1hqqUxlivHUsH4NSAdxpUme4rYrux4z3F55_zrey47VxkYrh4G8qkp6xwkIm_IqpCF8ancW3HE/s1600/20180524_125114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JCzRUhWZ4cC25YJ-fAPJQFu019MinawcvkB0BPBXdxhnZtTyeTe5SiBzBwKtoABlu1hqqUxlivHUsH4NSAdxpUme4rYrux4z3F55_zrey47VxkYrh4G8qkp6xwkIm_IqpCF8ancW3HE/s200/20180524_125114.jpg" width="112" /></a>I got to the shop (<a href="http://www.bosscoffee.com/">www.bosscoffee.com</a>) a couple minutes early and took a look around. The patio is wonderful, tables and benches all in good condition and orderly. There are quite a few months in Az where its almost perfect outside and we have to be able to capitalize on it. A great first impression.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvS9A1NkBGzTTqyNjAXuNAPYyHUz4KLo9j1s5oGDa702ZaPyqmA5LtXXJDmuF8OeBKvKM1WPKw4kTTfHko0My0g5PeKjb77z1mnrP0PUQiR_wIei7dyxs1uXRD94vrU4QEEhrXRryqO8/s1600/20180524_130225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvS9A1NkBGzTTqyNjAXuNAPYyHUz4KLo9j1s5oGDa702ZaPyqmA5LtXXJDmuF8OeBKvKM1WPKw4kTTfHko0My0g5PeKjb77z1mnrP0PUQiR_wIei7dyxs1uXRD94vrU4QEEhrXRryqO8/s200/20180524_130225.jpg" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfroD1tsKLkrXkXIVEm3GKDyvIDcxawqQENP_o56kDJ2Yec7vjNnSk59Nm4nKu-Qh6oPD1_9D904auezhKkvUV8AC_LOUiKcovCjG_2Z8JNRGUfaC3xXsSRciA5Y9kYaf561mvg0q_qJA/s1600/20180524_125637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfroD1tsKLkrXkXIVEm3GKDyvIDcxawqQENP_o56kDJ2Yec7vjNnSk59Nm4nKu-Qh6oPD1_9D904auezhKkvUV8AC_LOUiKcovCjG_2Z8JNRGUfaC3xXsSRciA5Y9kYaf561mvg0q_qJA/s200/20180524_125637.jpg" width="112" /></a>I walked in and was like, BAM, wall of coffee and coffee cups. It's kind of a cool design. They had the merchandise spaced well, so it wasn't overwhelming, but it also felt a little like the car salesman who waves you down before you can even park. The entrance had a sort of Chipotle approach, where the design funnels you to the ordering station. I loved this. I didn't have to think about where to go, I just walked and ended up at the right place. The shop design was on point. As for the decor, it really had a classy yet comfortable feel. The hightop chairs were buttoned white leather, but the tables were dark natural wood (meaning you could feel the grain of the wood, not processed to the point that it feels fake). This contrast of natural/earthy and high class felt really good. This is a place you could spend all day working or meet up for a first date. So far so good. This place was amazing.<br />
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There were 3 baristas working in the middle of the day, which I thought was great, because they had enough capacity to give excelent service. They had very positive energy and really engaged with us. Jake has a very big personality that is hard not to engage with, so I'm sure that helped. As they worked behind the counter they were very enjoyable. We ordered an espresso, cortado and a sample of their nitro cold brew. I ordered a cup of black coffee as well...actually I ordered that before Jake got me all jacked up on espresso.<br />
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The coffee they use is all from Stumptown and Water Avenue. Stumptown is an excelent roaster that I am familiar with, but I had not heard of Water Avenue. Neither are local companies, which is kind of a bummer. The shop seemed to sell the idea that these coffees came from Portland, as if that made them inherently special. A lot of people still buy into the whole "coffee town" idea, like coffee from Seattle is special because it's from Seattle. I'm just not one of them.<br />
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The Nitro tasted like a dark chocolate bar in a cup. It was delicous. The black coffee was delicous, a bit of stonefruit and chocolate. The espresso was hard for me to decipher. Espresso is like sensory overload. It has so much coffee that my palate is overwhelmed and gets confused. This one had a bit of citrusy acidity to it, which was nice. I did not like the espresso with milk though. The cortado came out and the milk was ok. There was no late art and the foam seemed small. (I'll be honest, I might not know how much foam is supposed to be on these drinks. My frame of reference is the head on a beer. That seems to be just right for me.) The acidity of the espresso seemd to be operating on a different plain than the creamyness of the milk. It just didn't blend well for me. Something that I will consider for my future shop is a 2 espresson offering. One to drink by itself and one that will blend well with milk.<br />
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There was just one opportunity that this shop missed out on. We had engaged the baristas and it was slow. The baristas could have easily taken the opportunity to turn this into a "wow" experience, but settled for good. I would have loved to have one of the extra baristas walk us through tasting, or provide chat us a bit more on a personal level. Something that showed us we were the most important thing in the shop at that time. The service was really good, but I think our day shifts, when its a bit slower, need to look for thos opportunities to rock people's socks off.<br />
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Overall, this shop is great and I highly reccomend it. I don't think I would put it in the top tier along with Press Coffee, but it is defintely one of the better shops I've been to here in Az. So, if you are in North Scottsdale, stop by and get a good cup of coffee.<br />
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<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com023015 N Scottsdale Rd #107, Scottsdale, AZ 85255, USA33.6963692 -111.9246289000000233.6959562 -111.92525940000002 33.6967822 -111.92399840000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-51162076860591301062018-05-18T09:35:00.004-07:002018-05-18T09:35:34.582-07:00Developing My Palate with Press Coffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJZ22Mzzec-lzUS_k90TX-rcaKmdX-rxoXQABY3I4lNrCgM-jJJsWSvhl6ecBcbDnXBUY9T3x2R9u59SmzrkFAJMqDlgsoSw0oZMp2HaWfKLEO2b5qPO5wKSklqpu-TToueJzT2Dg_Oo/s1600/20180512_102819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJZ22Mzzec-lzUS_k90TX-rcaKmdX-rxoXQABY3I4lNrCgM-jJJsWSvhl6ecBcbDnXBUY9T3x2R9u59SmzrkFAJMqDlgsoSw0oZMp2HaWfKLEO2b5qPO5wKSklqpu-TToueJzT2Dg_Oo/s400/20180512_102819.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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With my re-branding efforts, I'm working to develop my palate. I need to be able to better taste the products that I'm providing. As a coffee roaster, I need to be able to tell what effects any changes I make has on the bean. The only way to do that is to taste. The hard part is that it's very difficult to distinguish what we taste. Most of us think in cave man perspectives, "mmm, good," or, "me no like." So, with that in mind, I decided to do a cupping with one of the best roasters in town.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn1w4oHCAB08o_YuT1f4tqTe7w-dfR-4tIzgdIY0SdiF4jgBs4bPWIrVPpqjrB1xIOEv17p4fCMzeOMtaiXaRZKxoP7zw-7zSHEW0BdaTmot_05SuIfTt3fnzmSE-LtcM1cAigRZ2wPg/s1600/20180512_102428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn1w4oHCAB08o_YuT1f4tqTe7w-dfR-4tIzgdIY0SdiF4jgBs4bPWIrVPpqjrB1xIOEv17p4fCMzeOMtaiXaRZKxoP7zw-7zSHEW0BdaTmot_05SuIfTt3fnzmSE-LtcM1cAigRZ2wPg/s200/20180512_102428.jpg" width="112" /></a>Press Coffee (<a href="https://www.presscoffee.com/">https://www.presscoffee.com/</a>) is arguably the best roaster in Az. They have a lot of awards and the coffee is just freak'n amazing. I've been checking their website for a while now because a few years ago, they were trying to host an SCA barista training camp and I was going to ditch work to go. It unfortuanately didn't make it to fruition. I saw on their IG that they were hosting a cupping, so I checked it out. It was $20 for an hour, 4 coffees, all guided by two of their top peeps. I decided this was a must.<br />
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I reached out to my by AJ, who has joined my team for the rebranding. He does not have a lot of experience in coffee, so this was going to be a good first event for the new team. I picked up some $.88 journals from Wally-mart and jumped into the rabbit hole.<br />
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I, being the nerd that I am, arrived quite a bit early. This turned out to be great because we got to talk to the guys from Press for a while before everyone else showed up. The difficult thing about being in the industry and learning from others in the industry is communication. This was a casual experience for consumers to learn more about coffee. So they assumed didn't really know anything, which is fair. The hard part is trying to communicate to them that I do not about coffee without sounding like a female hygene product. I chose silence over talking most of the time.<br />
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I learned about cupping a bit. It is a standardized method of tasting coffee. This helps synchonize everyone along the supply chain. This is something I want to look into a bit more as I've seen different sized cupping cups. I also want to figure out the grind size a bit more. It looked pretty fine, not espresso fine, but maybe a bit more than drip. I'll also need to invest in some soup spoons so I can obnoxiously slurp the coffee. It's really silly, but it does help the taste more than you would if you just drank it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovGnYlaDKnwGSmYGz70c3Q9pojx8fqevwv-BXUdSvfpbMWPrZhyNGvE4wXdyOF_vr_2tPMK3lyCjYM-fXo1i4bvKZLEmzUQJOYGMfZix9iwR7QckRM8J0maGg68Odof63e4r_g4hkO7M/s1600/20180512_105623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovGnYlaDKnwGSmYGz70c3Q9pojx8fqevwv-BXUdSvfpbMWPrZhyNGvE4wXdyOF_vr_2tPMK3lyCjYM-fXo1i4bvKZLEmzUQJOYGMfZix9iwR7QckRM8J0maGg68Odof63e4r_g4hkO7M/s200/20180512_105623.jpg" width="112" /></a>One thing I learned from listening to one of my coffee podcasts is to have your journal for all tastings. When you start out, you aren't going to have complex descriptions. You may only have one or two words, which is ok. That is something that will build as you develop your palate. I was able to identify maybe 20% of the flavors. Some that I picked up didn't match the roasters, which is ok. I maybe picked up an additional 40-50% of the flavors after they told me what the roasters profile was. A major part of tasting is association, so once someon tells you what to look for it is easier to look for and identify what they are refering to. There was one coffee that I couldn't pick out any specific flavors, even after they told I should taste.<br />
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I will probably do a few of these as as I continue to train my palate. If you are interested in coffee at all, I would reccomend it. It's a fun experience.<br />
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com015147 N Scottsdale Rd #102, Scottsdale, AZ 85254, USA33.6238119 -111.925188700000047.1407774000000011 -153.23378270000003 60.106846399999995 -70.616594700000036tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-50821589242397196052018-05-04T10:03:00.002-07:002018-05-04T10:03:45.032-07:00Themed Branding and New Coffee BagsI recently had a revelation about my brand. I recently finished Gary Vee's book <i>Crushing It!</i> and posed a question on how to interact with people and not sound spamy. The guys over at Orange Cactus Coffee replied and then did one a short podcast to better explain their approach. I listened to and the MC referenced El Cantante from Muertos Coffee and it caught me off gaurd. I had actually forgotten that I themed all my socail media.<br />
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My initial approach was to have a fully themed coffee company. I approached it like a full mythology. I created a persona with a flushed out back story, answered some of lifes questions, and built a running theme of death motivating us to make our only life as good as it can be. Somewhere along the way I dropped this and never really picked it back up. People didn't seem to respond to it as I thought they would. Over the last couple of years, I've found that people like other people, not mascots. I find that myself judging social media accounts the same way. If I can't tell you are a real person, then I usually don't follow back.<br />
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I think this theme could still possibly work, but probably not as an individual such as myself. I think a store could capitalize on the theme and styles. Kind of like how if you see Ronald McDonald at the restaurant, no one freaks out; if you see him lurking in a storm drain with a little red balloon then run away...far, far away.<br />
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When I rebrand, I will be focusing more on an authentic experience. People will be getting to know me more. It feels like ego mania to believe others will want to watch/read that, but that is where culture is going. They want genuine life experiences from real people.<br />
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I am also reviewing new coffee bags for the new brand. I'm definitly moving away from the craft bags. They work, but they aren't that nice. I want something that kind sticks out when you have it on the counter. I found a company that sent me sample of the 3 bag types, which I thought was really cool and they have really good pricing. I want to overall up my game in the next brand, better green coffee, better process, etc. With that, I need better presentation to sell the value.<br />
<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-77662398132430204462018-04-27T07:17:00.002-07:002018-04-27T07:17:30.086-07:00Review of Urban Beans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was meeting a friend of mine, as I do every so offten. We were only able to make the meeting happen during a time he had his kid, so we picked a place that was close to his house. He reccomended Urban Beans because they sold coffee and beer. Sweet! 2 reviews in one...kind of.</div>
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The patio was shaded by good sized mesquite tree and there was a little vendor that singing birds off to the side. It was pleasant, but then I looked a the dirty plastic fold out tables and old pillows and it lost some of its charm. A little sprusing up and this patio could be amazing.</div>
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I walked in was torn. The cafe side was actually pretty nice. There was art on the tables, it was well lit. It didn't take me long to figure out this a very artsy shop (not hipster, more dreds and no bras kind of artsy). I struck up converstaion with the lovely young lady behind the counter. She was delightful. I think I was lucky though, because as I watched the service through the night, often times the employees were in the back and customers left standing waiting for quite a while.</div>
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I asked about the coffee and found out they service Espressions (<a href="https://espressions.com/">https://espressions.com/</a>), a local roaster. I was also starving so I asked about the food. I was informed that they are all vegan, which I didn't care about but seems to be important to others (as my buddy told me about it later too, like it was a big deal). They have different cooks that come in and make different things regularly. So the pastries always have a sort of differnt flare to them. I thought that was interesting. I had a pear-almond scone that was fantastic. </div>
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While I waited for my friend, I sat at the bar and just looked around for a while. At a first glance, it was not a bad place. At a closer look, it was not as nice. The coffee area was a mess. They had 2 different pastry cases, which gave it a "furnished by garage sales" feel. The soup warmer power cables were ran out in the open and the liqour was sitting on the window sill instead of shelf. It just looked like no one cared what it looked like. Which is a shame, because the U-shape bar was really cool. They had what could be a decent flow too, it was coffe/pastry and pay, then espresso bar, then food, then beer and alcohol. I liked it, it just wasn't being capitalized on.</div>
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My friend finally got there and inspected the local beer selection, we went to the counter to order. We both ordered a beer but they had lost their liquer license somehow (theyd didn't elaborate and we didn't ask), so we settled for a cup of coffee. Again, potentially great, but fell short.</div>
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The coffee was...not bad. I can't say that it rocked my world, but it didn't suck. It was basically diner coffee, simple, hot, black, a little roasty, maybe a little chocolate and nutty. I can't say I would go out of my way for the coffee here, but I wouldn't avoid it either.</div>
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We had a nice time regardless, because people are what make things special, not the other way around. If I were to endorse this place, it would be more for the scones than anything. I don't think it would take much to make this a really nice shop and really ingrain itself as a community hub.</div>
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com03508 N 7th St #100, Phoenix, AZ 85014, USA33.4885481 -112.065504200000027.005513600000004 -153.37409820000002 59.971582600000005 -70.756910200000021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-45682392382106484832018-04-13T07:53:00.000-07:002018-04-13T07:53:00.199-07:00Review of Driftwood Coffee<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">My oldest daughter
started her first dance class which is in old town Peoria. The old town area is
a neat little place with a park, a massive library and some really old shops.
They have recently been working to make this place more of a "charming -
old part of town" rather than a "hold you up at knife point and take
your wallet - old part of town." One of the newest editions to this area
is Driftwood Coffee, an excellent addition that really brings the whole area
up.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3zo3fT8d3f1uBk9CeSxGw4bDQjBmkN378zcWdkJkKdyEbd3EiwhzRu6KF8NPEhzv9u9Ivv5-iQK-vfWBpqD2Os7leraLhwhopPrEkO5_Aom7fRtrR4_MsHQjLzE0uTtSavo4tjzssrE/s1600/20180331_094212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3zo3fT8d3f1uBk9CeSxGw4bDQjBmkN378zcWdkJkKdyEbd3EiwhzRu6KF8NPEhzv9u9Ivv5-iQK-vfWBpqD2Os7leraLhwhopPrEkO5_Aom7fRtrR4_MsHQjLzE0uTtSavo4tjzssrE/s200/20180331_094212.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We were running around
Easter weekend, because for some reason our Easter is as busy as Christmas or
Thanksgiving, and found ourselves about an hour early to dance class. So, we
decided to stop in to Driftwood and check it out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6awU640rlmj1l9iOfLFu80HF1fDJMn5jXNxf7pHn-D_x3SJOpz_CGK0B7Cz6kOkCmdbDlxK9990J4XwCZrSCp7X6EIgBHTipG49KfJx54vzIPgButVHCCQCmm-WgGB18hJJW81KlZrIU/s1600/20180331_094218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6awU640rlmj1l9iOfLFu80HF1fDJMn5jXNxf7pHn-D_x3SJOpz_CGK0B7Cz6kOkCmdbDlxK9990J4XwCZrSCp7X6EIgBHTipG49KfJx54vzIPgButVHCCQCmm-WgGB18hJJW81KlZrIU/s200/20180331_094218.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">First impression is the
building, which is not common for shops here in Az. We do a lot of strip malls
and cookie cutter buildings here. The building is white, so it stands out like
sore thumb...in a good way. I love the walk up counter window idea. I don't
ever want to have a drive through, but this walk up window, is a great idea.
They don't have much of a patio, but the tree and few tables and chairs they
have out front just look like I could sit and enjoy for quite a while.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2hOVn1zKXbzaPYca6PYQHYfMpVxLQjgQI_fU6d41M1he0TUseuXjZs8IXrGrFPYt_CNIU3HZkPRzZy0ywYUqswDVq_u5sqoTnUIeVTujyuc8smqLDN8HYP1PcbOqGfj2ujVjh8MRi5RQ/s1600/20180331_094303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2hOVn1zKXbzaPYca6PYQHYfMpVxLQjgQI_fU6d41M1he0TUseuXjZs8IXrGrFPYt_CNIU3HZkPRzZy0ywYUqswDVq_u5sqoTnUIeVTujyuc8smqLDN8HYP1PcbOqGfj2ujVjh8MRi5RQ/s200/20180331_094303.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Walking into the shop,
it is very minimalist. The tables are plain steel, the floor plain concrete,
nothing fancy. Except...a random old looking couch on one wall. It looks like
they are doing music sessions called, "From the Couch" or something
like that, which is a great idea. It is the one piece of contrast in the main
sitting area and it is well placed. The menu painted directly onto the wall was
interesting. It doesn't leave them much room to add or change, but then certain
things were just priced as, "market." For some reason I didn't snap a
pic of the bar. I remember it being...well used...It wasn't quite as perfectly
clean as I would have liked to see. The image of the white building and minimalist
style, I just kind of expected a super clean bar area. It wasn’t bad, but it
just wasn't quite as "perfect" as to match the rest of the place. I
did like their merch though. The hats and shirts were pretty cool, if not a tad
on the pricy side. The other stuff, not sure what you call it when like other
craft people sell their stuff at your store, was nuts. There was a coffee mug,
kind of cool looking, that cost $65. I think I actually laughed out loud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ok, now to the coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWR_qNkDWGqDth11phLBKg6EGaeUGtxkO32BZLiPg-iK4OFjdkP7oXlWuifxi9RPPHEWKvijVv8JLKSZQL9JZtzw5WSBa4-xbHpHkw7MShmvSw11ZR0zWI2lMEmD_3sKJXjEGWPkFrsU/s1600/20180331_094336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWR_qNkDWGqDth11phLBKg6EGaeUGtxkO32BZLiPg-iK4OFjdkP7oXlWuifxi9RPPHEWKvijVv8JLKSZQL9JZtzw5WSBa4-xbHpHkw7MShmvSw11ZR0zWI2lMEmD_3sKJXjEGWPkFrsU/s200/20180331_094336.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The nice thing about
this place, was that I got to speak with the owner/manager of the place. He (I
don't remember his name, sorry) poured my black coffee and handled the
transaction. I asked about the coffee and he explained that they are taking a
multi-roaster approach. They will rotate through one local and one national
coffee, unfortunately I didn't write down how often. The local brand they were
selling was Infusion (</span><span style="background: white; color: #006621; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.infusioncoffeetea.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.infusioncoffeetea.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">), which they used for the espresso; and
Elemental (</span><span style="background: white; color: #006621; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://elementalcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">elementalcoffee.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">), from Oklahoma, for the brewed coffee. I asked
about his experience in coffee and he told me that he worked in coffee through
school and wanted to open a place. He had a business partner, who is the
business side and he is the coffee side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEznJgIZXM8uhk91Q_1MuMJgaQTTR7CQOLUt0ex5-q5nneiWMBYoGh4OGQX2SnyPUm7JRj2hK1S37p5sA0XUd0B671M_SrKais4fUe2wi-I7KsdGC5ONhRzyIehiD4TWVIvP2_mNvgdV4/s1600/20180331_095303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEznJgIZXM8uhk91Q_1MuMJgaQTTR7CQOLUt0ex5-q5nneiWMBYoGh4OGQX2SnyPUm7JRj2hK1S37p5sA0XUd0B671M_SrKais4fUe2wi-I7KsdGC5ONhRzyIehiD4TWVIvP2_mNvgdV4/s200/20180331_095303.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Since I started
listening to Cat and Cloud coffee podcast (<a href="https://catandcloud.com/"><span style="color: blue;">https://catandcloud.com/</span></a>), my interest in
espresso is increasing. Normally, I only care brewed coffee, so I ordered one
of each. I ordered a flat white, which is supposed to be the cool thing to do
these days and I'd never had one, so what the heck. I'm not an expert, but from
based on what I have read, the foam was not what I expected. There wasn't much
of it and it kind of disappeared. The milk and coffee were fantastic though.
The espresso had this nice roasty flavor and then really fruity. The wife was
like, "I could drink a lot more of this." To which I replied,
"for $3.50 per 6 oz...no you cannot." I asked about their brewing,
doing my best to mimic what I heard on Cat/Cloud. I'm sure he saw right through
it, but he humored me, which I appreciate. He explained that they use a ratio
for their espresso. They were currently pulling a 45% ratio (coffee grams in /
coffee out) and a 24 second pull. I understand what all that means, but in all
honesty, I don't have a lot of experience dialing in espresso.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The black coffee was a
Columbian. It was well balanced, a stone fruit kind of sweetness, and nice
chocolate finish. It was an excellent cup of coffee. I just got the "fast
bar" coffee, which is the normal brewed liter of coffee. They also have a
"slow bar," which is where you can get your Chemex or v60 brews if
you are so inclined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Overall, I highly recommend
this place. I think this is one of the few specialty coffee places on the West
Side. They serve some good stuff. I also asked the manager if he was willing to
try my coffee, which said yes...like I said, I appreciate that he humored me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com08295 W Jefferson St, Peoria, AZ 85345, USA33.5792676 -112.2372606999999833.579061100000004 -112.23757569999998 33.5794741 -112.23694569999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-66973617440483437372018-03-30T07:00:00.002-07:002018-03-30T07:00:22.908-07:00Re-BrandingI've officially decided to start the process of re-branding. What does that mean? Well, to me...that means I'm kind of starting over.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I recently lost somewhere in the ballpark of 80lbs of green beans because it spoiled. That rocked my world. I was so bothered by, what I interpreted as, a sign of crappy quality that I almost quit. Instead of quitting, I decided to double down and push my quality standards up.<br />
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How does this affect my coffee?<br />
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Well, it's going to affect my approach to sourcing. Instead of buying full bags at the lowest price possible, I'm going to be buying half bags. The point of this is to turn over bags of coffee faster. Rather than having beans sit in storage for up to a year (not good), I'm going to set "expiration" dates for 6 months. So, if I have green beans that are comming up on the 6 month mark, I'm just going to roast it all and put it on sale to move the product. This will ensure I don't loose quality from storing beans for so long.<br /><br />This will also mean that I won't have the same bean for more than 6 months. I'm going to have to figure out a categorizing system so customers know that certain coffees fall into certain realms so it is easier to purchase. Cupa Vida has "Go-Joy-Experice" model. Go, is a coffee that everyone will like. Joy, is their fruity and tea like coffees. Experience is the super rate special editions. Orange Cactus Coffee in Prescott has the Saguaro line, which is good for cream and sugar, and the King Cup line, which is lighter and not good for cream and sugar. I like this approach. This allows me to keep rotating single origins, but communicate in simple terms.<br />
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The loss of my green beans is what pushed me over the edge, but re-branding has been in the back of my mind for a while. I love my Muertos Coffee brand. It focuses on two very important aspects: Legacy and Family. The problem I've been having is that the cultural tie limits what I can do. I believe I am a fairly dynamic person, and the Muertos brand feels like its pigion holing me. I want to create a brand that will allow me to do all of the things I want to do under one roof. I want to wear 1 awesome hat, not 4 different mediocre hats. Also, I feel like I have lost my direction with Muertos. It isn't focused. I'm just doing random stuff. It doesn't have coffee quality built into the brand, it is more focused on cost. It has taught me a lot, but it has kind of morphed into something that I don't want to be anymore.<br />
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I have created a work sheet to help ask the tough questions. I'm seeking help from my friends who have created companies. I'm trying to ask the tough questions so that I don't have to re-brand again. I want this next brand to be the one I take to brick and morter. So keep a look out, I'll be posting ideas as I go.<br />
<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-78445631751781969712018-03-16T13:46:00.004-07:002018-03-16T13:46:57.525-07:00Review of The Shop Beer Co<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqwi8KGrxvUM0bkxsO9M_5hKgMlYyhEicqQ2KyJk5kBvmksRowQd54k-1NiPMhHLwicOiPZ6bTJPU92e3zrnvMfir5X_7Zdd_ys6wLaKTsqZ89HQjGf3fQ238T9IbjbWd3eLLaqYqMJI/s1600/20180302_210519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqwi8KGrxvUM0bkxsO9M_5hKgMlYyhEicqQ2KyJk5kBvmksRowQd54k-1NiPMhHLwicOiPZ6bTJPU92e3zrnvMfir5X_7Zdd_ys6wLaKTsqZ89HQjGf3fQ238T9IbjbWd3eLLaqYqMJI/s400/20180302_210519.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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I like to try breweries, but I don't like spending a ton of money if the beer sucks. So, we look for good deals on Groupon, which is a great way to try new places. For Christmas, I got a Groupon for The Shop Beer Co. Not the best name I've ever heard, but the deal was really good. So, we held onto it along with another Christmas gift (a Fox Concepts gift card) and celebrated our 8 year anniversery with amazing food and a brewery sampling.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54NbQt5fLXvVWZt6NrAdQT1Hce2X9BN1b7JZ2dzW1riww-3OBGLsJWsWe4ly2dy6WclRdqX4UPV_MMNeSdiOpfUiZhZquY6R_Y4RV9ByidbkWM4JL5xZ1Hr8JYKCMW5VPQbh-av_BiGo/s1600/20180302_204356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54NbQt5fLXvVWZt6NrAdQT1Hce2X9BN1b7JZ2dzW1riww-3OBGLsJWsWe4ly2dy6WclRdqX4UPV_MMNeSdiOpfUiZhZquY6R_Y4RV9ByidbkWM4JL5xZ1Hr8JYKCMW5VPQbh-av_BiGo/s200/20180302_204356.jpg" width="112" /></a>My first impression of this place is that it was in the shadows of Mill (the college main strip). I mean it was litteraly in the shadows, it was dark and kind of shadey looking (pun intended). A lot of these cool places find random little buildings or houses that they convert, which makes for a really eclectice vibe, but aren't always in the best parts of town. This area wasn't really THAT bad, or at least I couldn't tell because it was dark.<br />
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We walked into the little house and found a neat, warm wood interior. The bar was clean, tables were mostly empty as people either preferred the bar or the patio. I'm not real familiar with the bar scene, so I always look a little lost when enter a place. Luckily the ladies were super nice and very familiar with the Groupon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVmwvBxPylSiidREmjjSWL58UCYwv7Bfk4bepu1PWwCYbZjCOMrQu3FYjyybqeWdCroodSEFrnjan2jCl-ZxNR6LLX-kHRn8WOs-wc37HfJBTSykamfVMFg6vy6MzlEcu02FIH9X_52M/s1600/20180302_204343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVmwvBxPylSiidREmjjSWL58UCYwv7Bfk4bepu1PWwCYbZjCOMrQu3FYjyybqeWdCroodSEFrnjan2jCl-ZxNR6LLX-kHRn8WOs-wc37HfJBTSykamfVMFg6vy6MzlEcu02FIH9X_52M/s200/20180302_204343.jpg" width="112" /></a>We grabbed a spot outside becasue the weather was perfect. The patio was excelent. It was a pavered area with good seating, some trees and a wall mural. They were pumping 2000's pop music, so my wife was really enjoying it. For food, they have a permenant food truck. Seems like an oxymoron, but it keeps the kitchen seperate from the brewery, I'm sure that helps with licenscing and other stuff that our state is so fond of using to make new business impossible to start. We didn't get any food, but it looked and smelled good.<br />
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I was also super impressed with how serious they took their coffee (just gauging by the equipment they had).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaR9g9OVBFGE1Uu0xtJXZxjlXWI1yM7x1rIw5aKIiF2sWHvp6VI4aeoqMf4Pefo9h5o_VUBKmC-PkT5fDC5pqnK104bkR2vSSdUxyZfbw4N-b5XkLEBUuA4E1WQO3tiC-qgwp8larpUf0/s1600/20180302_201814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaR9g9OVBFGE1Uu0xtJXZxjlXWI1yM7x1rIw5aKIiF2sWHvp6VI4aeoqMf4Pefo9h5o_VUBKmC-PkT5fDC5pqnK104bkR2vSSdUxyZfbw4N-b5XkLEBUuA4E1WQO3tiC-qgwp8larpUf0/s200/20180302_201814.jpg" width="112" /></a>Ok, for the bear, we each got a flight of 4. I got 2 dark beers, an amber, and an ale. The Coffee Brown Nitro was good. It was dark but not super heavy. The other dark (Dark Adrenaline) was an odd bear. It was very dark, but I felt like I could drink it in the summer. The red (The Nines) was excelent. We got a crowler of that and the coffee brown. The last Desert Pale was brewed with agave, so I wanted to give that a try. I wasn't a big fan because I wanted a tequila flavor (wrongly) and the hops were a bit too strong for me (I don't like hops).<br />
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Overall, I strongly check this place out. The beer was pretty good and the scene was really cool. We are probably going to try and hit the groupon a second time before they get rid of it.<br />
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0922 W 1st St, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA33.4296662 -111.951097899999986.9562421999999984 -153.25969189999998 59.9030902 -70.64250389999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-86915637028134764602018-03-02T12:11:00.001-07:002018-03-02T12:11:06.849-07:00Trying to Find a Business MentorI've been thinking lately that that I just don't know what I'm doing. I'm kind of just doing what I think is good, then mess up and adjust. I know there is a better way to do it, but I'm not going to know it. I still have a long time left to find partners, but for now, I need some help with starting a business. There are 3 people that I know of and am considering approaching for help. They are:<br />
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<b><u>Person 1 - The seller</u></b><br />
I know someone who has had a mentor develop him and build his business. He is in the realesate market, so it doesn't exactly translate directly to where I'm at in my business. He is a seller, and I can believe he is a good one. I really like his approach and disposition. If I were to focus on selling, I would definitly want to learn from his approach. The problem is I don't have a good foundation to build sales on. If I started going crazy and selling all kinds of coffee, I might actually kill my company by not having the infastructure in place to handle it. I think this person will be good for me, but maybe a bit more in the future.<br />
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<b><u>Person 2 - The Businessman</u></b><br />
This person is also in realestate and investing. He is very money wise and over all one of the most intelgent people I've met. He has not built a retail business, but he understands money better than anyone I know. He has built systems that has made him wealthy and has access to other money. These are all great things, but also kind of frighten me. I need to learn more about money, I need to make sure the finances of my company are sound and strong. The concern is that my debt-free approach is very different than traditional business start-ups. I think this person will add a lot of value to me, but again, maybe when I actually have finances that can't be tracked on fingers and toes.<br />
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<b><u>Person 3 - The Entrepenuer</u></b><br />
This person has started multiple companies and is currently building one with great success. She has been in sales and has business acumen, but what appeals to me most is that she has done this before and is doing it now. She is going to be closer to where I am. Her insights are going to apply more directly. She also loves my coffee, so that helps. I think I'm going to ask her if she is willing to have coffee with me occaciaonally and ask the questions I don't know to ask, to hold me accountable to completeing things I am procrastinating on.<br />
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Building a business is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I thought I could do it by myself, even though I didn't want to, but I see now that I can't. I nees some help and I'm hoping I can find that soon.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-71052646678706005412018-02-16T09:30:00.001-07:002018-02-16T09:30:40.755-07:00New Drink ContemplationsI'm in a pretty good rhythm with my farmer's market. It's kind of like a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off cycle that really allows me to have a life. It also allows me to time to think up what to do next. One of the biggest trends that I see right now is having some sort of signature drink.<br />
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In Az it is hot, almost all the time. So, if I don't have a strong iced drink game then there isn't much hope for me. That is why I think a lot of coffee shops do tea. Though I know there are people out there that prefer tea to coffee, but their weirdos. Tea has a lot of fruity options that goes really well with ice. I also think people assume dark and coffee doesn't sound well when its hot. When its hot, you want bright and fruity. Think about it...what are all the Gatorade and Powerade flavors? Fruit. Because when your hot and sweating, you don't dark chocolate.<br />
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If I were going to do just an ice coffee, I would probably do something like a natural processed bean that has just all out blueberries or strawberries. That would require me to have a second bean option, which I am not currently able to do financially. So what do I do?<br />
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I look at the other end of the cold coffee spectrum...coffee ice cream. I consider everything from Frappuccinos, to iced mochas to Dutch Brothers as coffee ice cream. It is coffee...ice...sugar...and cream.<br />
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I did the whole cold brew thing last year and didn't like it. I made a bunch of money, but lost a lot of coffee. I think there is still value there, but it needs more work.<br />
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Now to do an iced mocha, I would need espresso...but I'm not quite ready for espresso. Espresso is a serious game that kills street cred real fast if not done right. So I want to wait until I can do it right. So what can do instead?<br />
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LIGHT BULB<br />
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I have my burners out for the farmers market because I'm brewing hot coffee and I have only needed to use one at a time. I want to use my Moka pot to make espresso. Right now I'm toying with a Mayan Moka, or a Mexican Moka. Chocolate, cinnamon and a pinch of red pepper would make for a very unique beverage. I have saved some recipes that I want to try out along with some Mexican hot chocolate cookies that I may try my hand at.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-2454747721477193022018-02-09T09:30:00.001-07:002018-02-09T09:30:27.847-07:00Feb Farmer's Market and other Random Thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This last farmer's market was a much better experience then last month. I learned a couple of key elements and have started thinking of things I need to start working on for upcoming months. Lastly, an update on the restaurants I've been trying to to get to sell my coffee.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>As I stated, this farmer's market was tremendously more successful. There were a couple of key factors outside of my control that contributed. More vendors showed up, which has more draw, and the restaurant did better. Our market seems to live off the people waiting for a table and those who finished eating and meander through the vendors after eating breakfast. I sold all 3 of my 1 lb bags and about 10 cups. Yeah, I know that isn't going to get me to quit my day job, but there were some other positives. The best part was that I got to talk to people. There were a lot more people willing to stop and talk to me about coffee. What is the key to this? Samples. I got a lot of strange responses, like "I would never drink this, but it's good," but I actually sold a few of my bags purely off a 1 oz sample. The tricky thing was, I couldn't find hot sample cups in stores, so I was using like kids mouth wash paper cups....not the best. I had one leak right on a lady's very clean white shoe. So I need to figure that out a little bit.<br />
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It was hot this last Saturday too, which got me thinking about what I'm going to do for summer. I definitely have to pull the cold brew back out. I need to work on my cold brew though. I don't think I like the 7:1 ratio I was using. I think I want to use like 11:1 or maybe even higher. I also want to come up with my own signature drink. I'm thinking of something like a Mexican chocolate, cayenne and mocha. Could be awful, could be fantastic.<br />
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I've also been trying to get a couple of local restaurants to take me as their coffee vendor, but I'm not having a lot of luck. I've given them samples, I've followed up multiple times....noth'en. I'm really not sure how to go about it. I'll keep looking for local mom and pop shops to work with and maybe one of them will want to use my coffee.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-78467688633282149492018-02-02T13:03:00.000-07:002018-02-02T13:03:03.978-07:00Website Went Live<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know I haven't written in a while, it's been pretty busy for me lately. My blogging is directly correlated to how busy my day job is. We just went through a "restructuring" so my manager is constantly pushing to do more with less. Pretty corporate, I know.<br />
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There have been a few positive though. A co-worker took my coffee home with her to Tx and her family loved it so much they ordered 6 bags. Also, my website is up and running!<br />
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So, I've been taking orders on FaceBook and Instagram, which works, but is a little too loosey-goosey. If people don't comment on my post, I don't see the orders. Notifications can get lumped together an d I miss orders. Customer's don't get a lot of communication so there isn't a lot of confidence. It's a great way to start because it is completely free.<br />
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What I am most excited about with the website is the ability to receive an order, process a credit card online (like a real store), and keep the customer up to date on the status of their order. It will also allow me to coordinate delivery/pick-ups without looking like a FB stalker.<br />
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I'm also hoping that the ability to take credit cards online will open the door to people who don't want to go through the effort of a cash transaction. Let's face, cash is great for businesses, but is totally inconvenient for most shoppers.<br />
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It's still pretty sparse. I hope to connect with my artist friend and see if he wants to design some buttons for me. Something more unique than the normal pictures of coffee cherries and farmers, as has become typical of specialty coffee.<br />
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Any who...go check it out, if you have some thoughts on design for the buttons, let me know, and if you're in the North Valley then order some coffee.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-25675347341483541812018-01-12T13:19:00.000-07:002018-01-12T13:19:05.867-07:00First Farmers Market<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jSDB_JMt0OjFnhJDgJj0MNeWQsV12VwGzm7XjQouJHkOnlpv1oO1sEWsLIqpFmphkK9W39_ekzdLEvwAmuEfyJKImjhZcXkURZCHj-DofFFrD1DJcWx5Oy_9iW2S26VMOvPn5Jb2VNw/s1600/IMG_20180106_074320_132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jSDB_JMt0OjFnhJDgJj0MNeWQsV12VwGzm7XjQouJHkOnlpv1oO1sEWsLIqpFmphkK9W39_ekzdLEvwAmuEfyJKImjhZcXkURZCHj-DofFFrD1DJcWx5Oy_9iW2S26VMOvPn5Jb2VNw/s320/IMG_20180106_074320_132.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I served my first farmer's market on 1/6. There is a random little restaurant in the middle of our neighborhoods that hosts this market on the first Saturday of every month. It was a bit of a mixed experience.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG2PUrWrDzdcorHdei6UQwpGAS6Dp4_eVAv-hPyx72dh4X2taXaWTY6HNHzz5ntimlbbNEoywf6DM6pS7MfW7GkAJaRf38ZqARERr1nJGYSCI5EKFbqUS1QUYDXtOQ0dfCJC9L-1fZaM/s1600/20180106_074141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG2PUrWrDzdcorHdei6UQwpGAS6Dp4_eVAv-hPyx72dh4X2taXaWTY6HNHzz5ntimlbbNEoywf6DM6pS7MfW7GkAJaRf38ZqARERr1nJGYSCI5EKFbqUS1QUYDXtOQ0dfCJC9L-1fZaM/s320/20180106_074141.jpg" width="180" /></a>I had walked through the market in December and it was very promising. There were lots of vendors and lots of people. January was a little different. About half the vendors showed up. From what I could gather, a few were out sick with this stupid flu that is terrorizing the nation. The others just...didn't show up. I overheard a few people loosing their spots for not notifying the market manager of their absence. I took note that this was kind of clique. Real estate was based on favor, not anything else. The entry is just a flat fee, so the market doesn't really benefit from sales.<br />
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The foot traffic was a bit sparse as well. It seems the market depends on people eating at the restaurant then walking the market. That doesn't favor a coffee vendor, as most of them had their coffee with the meal and not interested in even hearing about coffee. The market also draws traffic from being a spectacle. If there are a lot of tents and a lot of people walking around, other people will stop to see. It's the garage sale mentality, the more you have to sell, the more people will come.<br />
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I did sell a few cups of coffee. One of the biggest challenges is my water. It seemed as soon as turned my heat off so I didn't boil away all my water, someone would walk up and they'd have to wait 5 minutes for my water to boil. I would do better if there were more people. I also learned that people don't consider food safety in small settings. I had one lady reach over and grab my agitation spoon, put it in the sugar, stir her cup, drink it, put it back in the sugar, stir it then put it back on my towel. I was kind of stunned and since I wasn't selling much I didn't say anything. I'm going to take some steps to reduce people's ability to reach next time.<br />
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One of the biggest things that hit me was the need to taste when I roast. The lady who reached also stood there and tasted with me. She said it had a green flavor and that surprised me. After she left, I brewed myself a cup and she was right. It was faint, but there. I should be pulling samples from each batch to ensure I'm hitting the flavor point my profile is set for. I can't just assume that the roast cycle will produce the same product every time. I'm still very small and weather conditions have a huge impact on my roasters.<br />
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Overall, it was a good experience. I will learn a little more each time and hopefully really start to build relationships within my community.<br />
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<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-47895431223173427262017-12-29T07:23:00.001-07:002017-12-29T07:23:46.107-07:00Reflections on 2017HAPPY NEW YEAR!<br />
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I posted a couple of weeks ago on my 2018 goals. I think I'm good with those and will lock them in. But looking back on 2017, there is a lot I have learned and a lot more I still need to learn.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Lesson 1: Get out there and do it!<br />
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It took a lot for me to sell coffee at the gym this summer. I was nervous and scared no one would like it. What I found is that there are a lot of people in the world and they all have different tastes. Some people liked it, some people didn't...and you just can't please everyone.<br />
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Lesson 2: You have to know who you are and what you want.<br />
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I have struggled with defining who I am as a business over this last year, and I'm still not 100%. That is one of the major reason's I had a falling out with the gym. I realized that cold brew is not something I really want to do. I like doing it, it makes a lot of money, but it's not my passion. I didn't realize all the time it took. Plus, cold brew is almost like an industry all of its own. It seems to operate different than hot coffee, which is where I really want to be. My realization lead me to want to change directions which put me at odds with the gym. If I had known what I really wanted to accomplish, I could have been upfront about it and not had the break down half way through the relationship.<br />
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Lesson 3: Trial and Error is one of the best teachers.<br />
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I tried a few different things. I failed. I made people mad. I lost some opportunities. I also learned a lot. So this year, I'm going to try some new stuff and see what shakes out. The biggest thing is trying. If you don't try, you don't know.<br />
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Here's to the hope of a fantastic new year. Cheers!Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-19550076477641209062017-12-15T08:47:00.002-07:002017-12-15T08:47:17.384-07:00Changing to Melitta Cone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been pretty much a die hard v60 user since I started brewing manually. I love that brewer. I love the idea of the spiral and that it requires more skill to use than others. I'm going to start serving at an outdoor farmer's market and had to reconsider my choice of brewer.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>My Brazilian coffee has a very upfront acidity. I had taken some of my test batches to brew at work and realized that some of my cups were super sour. I was brewing the same coffee at home and getting a really nice cup. I couldn't understand what was going on. I actually went back to watching v60 brewing guides because I thought I was screwing it up really bad.<br />
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What I concluded was that the v60 was brewing too fast. I know there are lots of ways to dial this in and adjust so the water slows down, and to be honest, I should have taken the time to do so. But, my first thought was that it is going to be too hard to be super focused on the perfect brew at a farmers market. There are going to be people waiting in line, people talking, etc. I can't just ignore everyone. What I decided is that more forgiving brewer will benefit me more by allowing me to produce a great cup and not have to be lazer focused on the brew.<br />
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There are a couple of reasons I went with this particular Melitta cone. For one, its like $2 at Walmart. Secondly, it is the same brew cone as my batch brewer at home that has been putting out great cups, so I knew it would work. Lastly, I will be brewing directly into cups, so the gap on the bottom lets me see the cup and the drip much better than the v60.<br />
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I still have some major challenges to overcome when it comes to brewing great cups of hot coffee. My next challenge is going to be grinder. I have a hand grinder, but if I have 20 orders, my arm is going to want to fall off (one major reason for going with 12oz instead of 16 oz cups). There are so many variables to making great coffee, but the most important is to first....make coffee. So, I'm going to jump out there and learn as I go....Arise and Go, that's what it's all about. Waiting to be perfect mean I'll never start.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-10177514338110707242017-12-08T08:35:00.002-07:002017-12-08T08:35:44.986-07:002018 GoalsIts been a little over a month since I have posted a blog. I know I don't have a rabid audience, but still, I want to be consistent. This is where I work out most of my business. I will say that I have one pretty good excuse for not posting...I had a baby. My second girl arrived on 11/8. I have worked on coffee stuff, but just haven't had enough time or brain capacity to post.<br />
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With the end of the year approaching fast, I figure I should start working on what I want to accomplish in 2018.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>First I think I should look at my 2017 goals. Did I achieve them?<br />
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Goal 1: Offering coffee more consistently. I tried to post weekly and bi-weekly and the responses seemed to actually go down. I correlated a lot of this to the temperatures because people buy less coffee the hotter it gets. I don't have a big following, so offering a lot doesn't help me much. I need to pick a schedule and just stick to it.<br />
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Goal 2: Roaster. I did purchase a new roaster and even made enough to buy a second one to help reduce the time I spend roasting. I mark this one as achieved.<br />
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Goal 3: 2nd bag of coffee. I did sell enough to buy my second bag of coffee. It was close. I actually found myself scrambling to get my roast profile figured out because I was running out of my old coffee. I got a decent coffee for a great price. Achieved.<br />
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Looking out over 2018, I feel like my focus has shifted from building my roasting capacity/ability to building my clientele. No one knows who I am. My Facebook hasn't grown at all and my whole bean sales are not picking back up. So, here is the first run at my 2018 goals:<br />
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Goal 1: Serve My Community. Right now I have defined this as getting out and serving coffee to people in my local community. I am signed up to start serving coffee at a small farmers market by my house. If that goes well, I will see what other community events I can serve. I also want to do a charity fund raiser. It's difficult to get business to partner up on things like this, so this is going to be a challenge.<br />
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Goal 2: Have a 2nd coffee offering. I want to be able to offer 2 different types of coffee. This will allow me to reach more people because not everyone likes the same thing.<br />
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Goal 3: Have my coffee sold by a local restaurant. There are a few mom and pop shops around that I might be able to get my coffee into. I don't know how viable this is being a home roaster, but I want to see what I can do. This would really help get the brand out.<br />
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Goal 4: Develop a secondary online presence that feeds into the coffee business. My plan currently is to start a religion/philosophy/culture opinion channel on YouTube that will be sponsored by Muertos. I want to have round table discussions in my coffee shop one day, so this is a great way to start building that.<br />
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Right now, goals 1 and 2 are pretty set. I'm still a little iffy on 3 and 4.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-25447922764044139712017-11-03T06:59:00.001-07:002017-11-03T06:59:29.082-07:00Review of It's A Divine Bakery<br />
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For my birthday a while back, we went to a new BBQ place (it was disappointing, so no free plug for the place). After dinner, I noticed a little bakery that was advertising coffee so we stopped in to try it out.<br />
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Going into It's A Divine Baker (<a href="http://itisadivinebakery.com/">itisadivinebakery.com</a>), I had a few assumptions. I assumed they would have some very craft oriented coffee because the place is in Cave Creek. This is a tourist town and there is a fairly well known roaster in the area. I expected them to have that coffee, or something very local.<br />
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Walking in, I was fairly charmed by the baked goods. Have you ever walked into a place and was like, "I want to buy all the stuff!" That's what it was like. The breads and desserts looked fantastic.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gpcTANAyvSJghCuUce4DCbvS7nw83YeOIBqtqjtxVdph-Mp90KZUS8iO3EuOWH86eS6Xjw_-DqKx1Him27TH2vsr9SXeek2tpljZwfwyg-gr0bS3nthjpXQGO0l1_lgaYGC45Vv_tBc/s1600/20171011_182132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gpcTANAyvSJghCuUce4DCbvS7nw83YeOIBqtqjtxVdph-Mp90KZUS8iO3EuOWH86eS6Xjw_-DqKx1Him27TH2vsr9SXeek2tpljZwfwyg-gr0bS3nthjpXQGO0l1_lgaYGC45Vv_tBc/s200/20171011_182132.jpg" width="112" /></a>I approached the counter and the one teenage employee greeted me nicely. I have to say, even in Cave Creek, I didn't like that she was there by her self. I prefer 2 employees at all times (its possible someone was in the back, but it sure didn't feel that way). The girl was very nice, had good energy. Unfortunately she did not know much about the coffee. On the flip side, she knew the baker side very well. She told me about how the owner traveled Europe and learned traditional baking from all the regions. It was a great story and even better that the employee shared it with me. I had to remember that the focus of this place was the bakery. The coffee was kind of a side piece.<br />
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The coffee came from a local roaster called Carefree Coffee Roastery (<a href="http://www.carefreecoffeeroastery.com/">www.carefreecoffeeroastery.com</a>). They had the flavor profiles written out on the chalk board. I got a cup of the Columbian coffee. It is described as, "orange, cola and plum." I was super excited because this a fairly unique profile. I was a little disappointed because the coffee was roasted a little to dark to get those subtle of notes (in my opinion). The coffee was good, but it didn't rock my socks off. It was, as it was intended, something to go with the baked goods.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz73P9BPHAeuKm13zr98J34FvIVwZ6Dq_XdQm7Wove0o4EZxzs2neLoskTRLMUElHBGcNWO3ZRuRBPKJtOuhbgbvT0WkFKzUne1G18KTy5aEQLojdQJ6su21jXRGD_PGXMdFhT5UUR0I/s1600/20171011_182226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz73P9BPHAeuKm13zr98J34FvIVwZ6Dq_XdQm7Wove0o4EZxzs2neLoskTRLMUElHBGcNWO3ZRuRBPKJtOuhbgbvT0WkFKzUne1G18KTy5aEQLojdQJ6su21jXRGD_PGXMdFhT5UUR0I/s200/20171011_182226.jpg" width="112" /></a>On the other side, if I am being charged $3.25 for a 12 oz cup out of an air pot, I feel the coffee should be good enough to stand on its own. I paid $3 from Portola who won roaster of the year and is California (high cost of living) and it was brewed specifically for me. If the coffee is going to be a side though, I feel the price should be a little lower. I would have had a better review of the coffee if it had been in the low $2 price point. Price may have been high because they are in a very rich part of a tourist town. So, if they can get the sales at that price, more power to them.<br />
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Overall, it was a mixed bag. I would recommend this place only because it is local and I like to support local. The baked goods looked great, the coffee was a little dark and the prices were pretty high.<br />
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com06140 E Cave Creek Rd, Cave Creek, AZ 85327, USA33.83271 -111.948287833.832504 -111.9486028 33.832916 -111.9479728tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-64420364761052449372017-10-13T07:20:00.003-07:002017-10-13T07:20:34.674-07:00Review of Luci's Healthy Marketplace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been trying to figure out who I am as a business. I know what I like to do and who I want to be, but I don't know how to put that together in a package and sell it. Customers want to know who the business is because most people invest in other people, not in businesses. I have had people come up and ask me about my company and I just don't have that elevator pitch yet. I need to know who I am before I can tell someone else.<br />
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With that, I have had on my heart the idea of starting a YouTube show. I have always loved video and did some work there in a past life. I don't know what it would be, but will most likely be some sort of extension of this blog.<br />
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With all that, I decided to contact my cousin and have a cup of coffee to discuss the possibility of the show.<br />
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My cousin is in the central Phoenix area so I asked him to find a place for us to meet. I don't know that area very well, and wanted to try something new. Sadly, there were only a couple of options and one of them didn't open until 10am (well past our meeting time of 830). So, we decided on Luci's Healthy Marketplace (<a href="http://www.lucishealthymarketplace.com/">http://www.lucishealthymarketplace.com/</a>).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PKtUOQqk_x-OM85dOU4jA48D8aiFjuQM0ceAedCkTmKAgvvrLg4AzSl7MSl4FI2U-BDgYa2kPt7smRwrHm1V83uzHrnmGoRzrHBr4oM-p_I-jdX-9CNj9ezbB2C8ao_zS2_ZuPXNR0U/s1600/20171007_084219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PKtUOQqk_x-OM85dOU4jA48D8aiFjuQM0ceAedCkTmKAgvvrLg4AzSl7MSl4FI2U-BDgYa2kPt7smRwrHm1V83uzHrnmGoRzrHBr4oM-p_I-jdX-9CNj9ezbB2C8ao_zS2_ZuPXNR0U/s200/20171007_084219.jpg" width="112" /></a>This is a cool little community store and cafe. They have more tchotchke than grocery, but it is a neat little place. The weather was nice so they had the big garage doors open. It was clearly a Saturday morning hang our place because all the tables were full and stayed that way until we left around 1030. We waited in line to get our coffee, and in a typical local cafe style, ran into an old friend (my cousin's old friend, a new one for me). It was a very comfortable place.<br />
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I got a black coffee and an oatmeal. My cousin got a Mocha. I didn't ask him how his coffee was, now I wish I had. The coffee was good though. They get it from Press Coffee, a local roaster who is taking over Arizona (which I'm pretty ok with because their stuff is seriously good). The oats were good, topped with cinnamon apples and brown sugar.<br />
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The people behind the counter were very nice and all had a smile. They were perfect for a neighborhood spot. They knew my cousins friend and had her drinks ready. The only thing I would have like to see is a little more coffee knowledge. The girl I payed wasn't able to speak to the coffee at all, which was a bummer, but she was sweet so I wasn't upset. Also, it was the Saturday morning rush and aint nobody got time for silly coffee questions during the rush.<br />
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If you are in the area, I strongly recommend it. Its a little pricey, but they are in a hip area and making good stuff, so you gotta pay for that. During our coffee conversation my cousin quoted a writer he likes (I don't remember his name, or I would reference him properly). His quote was, "find people who are doing dope shit, and pay them so they can continue doing dope shit." I thought that was a very fitting quote and I was happy to support Luci's.<br />
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Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com01590 Bethany Home Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85014, USA33.5239872 -112.047926299999977.0505631999999991 -153.35652029999997 59.9974112 -70.739332299999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-33753974355336684602017-09-29T07:26:00.001-07:002017-09-29T07:26:30.189-07:00Sevens Cold Brew Technique<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been serving my cold brew for a few months now and thought it was time I shared how I make my cold brew, and recommend how to make your own cold brew just as good.<br />
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I'm pretty sure that I've explained the name in a previous post, but it doesn't hurt to explain it again. The name "Sevens" comes from the ratio I use and the amount of cold brew I use in each cup (more on that later). I brew my cold brew with 7 parts water to 1 part coffee. Now the standard for normal hot brewed coffee is 16:1 (water:coffee). So, this coffee comes out over double strength.<br />
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I looked at a bunch of recipes, and quite a few of them use a 4:1 ration (quadruple strength). I'm not a scientist, but in my opinion, that slurry HAS to hit a saturation point before it is extracting everything it should. I've been told that anything after 11:1 will hit the saturation before extraction is complete (for lack of a better term). I don't know where the actual extraction stops, but I favored a happy medium a 7:1.<br />
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Here is my reason for favoring the stronger coffee over brewing the coffee at 16:1 standard for normal coffee. Cold brew is culturally used with a lot of milk and sugar (thank you Dutch Bros). I serve my coffee in a 20 oz cup. I use 7 oz of cold brew, and cut it with 7 oz of milk, then 6 oz of water. Cutting the 7 oz of coffee with 7 oz of milk brings the ratio up to 14:1. I like it being slightly stronger than 16:1 because Milk also has stronger flavors. The 14:1 keeps the coffee flavor in the forefront, instead of the milk. I'm drinking some now, and the coffee flavor is strong. If you find it is too strong for you, you can play with the recipe. Brew with a higher ratio, cut it with water before adding milk, etc. Once you have the basics down, you can mess with it until you get what you like. The best part about this is that cold brew is very forgiving. You'd have to try really hard to mess it up to make it undrinkable. Plus if you want to experiment, just do smaller batches. Try brewing one with cinnamon in the grounds, or orange zest, or cocoa and Chile. That way, if it does suck, you aren't out too much.<br />
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Now, how to brew....<br />
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Cold brew is seriously the easiest thing in the world to do.<br />
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Step 1: Weigh the coffee<br />
Step 2: Grind the coffee<br />
-Grind it course, similar to a french press<br />
-Looks a bit like like the salt that comes in the grinders: not rock salt, that's too big<br />
Step 3: Multiply the weight of your coffee by 7 and add that volume of water to the grinds<br />
-Despite being very American, I use grams because the conversion from G to mL is easier<br />
Step 4: Cover and put in the fridge for 24hrs<br />
-If you agitate the grounds, you will probably get better extraction but filtering will be harder<br />
-The super fines will separate and clog the filter in the next step<br />
Step 5: Filter coffe<br />
-I set up my Mr.Coffee and pour it through the paper filter<br />
-You will get about 30% coffee in volume than water used because some stays in the grounds<br />
Step 6: Enjoy<br />
-Coffee is good for about a week (its probably better for longer, but I can't tell you that)<br />
<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-31753424049137614212017-09-15T08:03:00.002-07:002017-09-15T08:03:30.983-07:00Starting a Business Is Lonely WorkI've been thinking about my work lately. I don't think I realized how lonely it would get starting a business. Its not just that I do everything by myself, but that every decision, every move, every effort is just me...I'm a social person, so this is hard for me. I want to change this, but I'm not sure how to go about it...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>This first thing that is really hard about starting a business is that I don't see my family as much I use to. I get about 45 - 60 minutes with my wife each night. 2/3 of those nights are spend filtering cold brew. I get about an hour and half with my daughter after dinner (if all goes well), 2/3 of those days are spent measuring and grinding for cold brew (I have a small grinder and a lot of coffee to go through, so it takes way longer than I'd like). I use to cook breakfast for my girls every Saturday and Sunday. I no longer do that because I sell coffee on Sat and I roast coffee on Sundays. I try to get up early on Sunday so I can still make breakfast, but it's hard because I'm exhausted.<br />
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Which brings me to the 2nd aspect that leads to loneliness...exhaustion. I know that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, and maybe it is just me, but when I'm super tired, I tend to get really cranky and alienate those around me. I don't have the patience I'm usually known for and rather than snap at people or kick my dog, I separate myself for their sake. This seems bass-akwards, but it's what I do.<br />
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Lastly, I am the type of person who likes to make decisions with a group. I like to gather information, analyze feedback and gain consensus. I can't do any of those things when I'm by myself. I'm learning a lot by making decisions and messing up most of them, but I don't feel these lessons would not come by working with a small team.<br />
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So, what do I plan to do about this?<br />
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Well...for starters, I believe I want to move back towards wholesale, rather than retail. My coffee stand has been a huge help in driving revenue, but it isn't converting to whole bean like I hoped it would. As it starts to cool down, I'm not sure if cold brew will decrease like whole bean does when it gets hotter. Cold Brew is not my passion, but it makes money, so I will need to decide how I want to proceed there. If I move to wholesale cold brew, I can do them in blocks of time and get some of my nights and weekend back.<br />
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I also want to start looking into how I can do a pop up cafe. If I can set up somewhere with chairs and tables, then my family can join me when I brew and it won't be so lonely.<br />
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What I think will be one of my goals for 2018, is to find the right people to put around me. I need a team. I need someone who is good at marketing/sales and I need someone who is good with IT/Media. Both of these individuals can be taught to manage the roaster and do tastings. I need people who really want to grow a brand and can get behind the approach. Before I can do this, I need to start hammering out who the company is (i.e. mission statement, goals, visions, etc). It will always be evolving, but I need the 3 Laws to guide us in our decision making (assuming the 3 laws are not then reinterpreted and used for the robot revolution).<br />
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<br />Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-3130703970622092392017-09-08T07:37:00.000-07:002017-09-08T07:47:15.310-07:00Results From My Social Media Promotion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Rf2DkD_G_7In0JspbiuAPEloo6HlMLePmPCNKvtZX-J3loTChR0UhiWZtvJWnt2mPj_MByJeJpbDpx71ffS5xqKc28206f_uIDuLmCtsXit-_pjmbCqMtcLvq8GxxjGDyZL-L6HpZc/s1600/Screenshot_20170908-070100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1413" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Rf2DkD_G_7In0JspbiuAPEloo6HlMLePmPCNKvtZX-J3loTChR0UhiWZtvJWnt2mPj_MByJeJpbDpx71ffS5xqKc28206f_uIDuLmCtsXit-_pjmbCqMtcLvq8GxxjGDyZL-L6HpZc/s320/Screenshot_20170908-070100.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I ran a social media discount at the gym this last weekend. I offered 20% to anyone who would post a picture and tag Muertos Coffee. Overall, it went really well...I did not get the results I expected, but I might have ended up with more.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Now that we have hit September, the heat is going to think about breaking. Once the temps start to decline, I expect whole bean coffee to incline. I really wanted to widen my net before that happens, hoping I will be able to sell some more whole bean in the fall/winter months. I only had 96 followers on Facebook, which is where I do the majority of my selling. So if I wanted to widen my net, I needed to increase my Facebook following. I thought that if more people shared my company, the more followers, or page likes, I would get...That is not what happened.<br />
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After 2 days of selling and discounts, I only added about 7 likes to my page. That was rather disappointing. Looking back on it, I never asked anyone to like the page. I just asked them to post a pick and tag me.<br />
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Lesson learned: make your promotions focused and ask for what you want. If you want FB likes, ask people to like your page.<br />
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One thing that happened, which I did not expect, is my social media presence increased tremendously. The owner of El Jefe gave me some advice and told me to re-post this pictures that were posted of me. Social media is often about volume. In stead of casting one large net every once in a while, you have to cast 1000 small nets constantly. Prior to doing this, my posts got about 110 views per post. Not very impressive. My first re-post got about 300 views, then 500 views, and my last post is up to about 1000 views. That's nuts!<br />
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So, I didn't get what I wanted out of the promotion (Facebook page likes), but I did get a valuable lesson on social media and saw immediate results from it. It also helped open me up to building better relationships with the people at the gym. I'm not very good at breaking the ice, so this helped me push through and talk to people that I may not have opened up to as much. It was a good stretch for me.<br />
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That is how life works sometimes. God laughs at man's plans, but he also provides. Sometimes we have to be open to learning lessons we did not set out to learn, accept things we did not expect to happen, and always do the best we can with what we got.<br />
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I posted on the gyms FB group to see if they liked the discount and if it's something I should offer all the time, or just do special promotions every once in a while. We'll see how that goes.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-17404180041633113552017-09-01T07:34:00.001-07:002017-09-01T07:34:10.772-07:00Facebook Promotion and Possible Fall Coffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAelWQw_oeCz8Coy58iS-i7jQyVsJT1bkIYIPB5iAEJw5NqwhNh2RxNal8l9sEYKnclVVTVOeYjdZZwlJwatir_PH2Uuqn51uEf9FsPn-83rlWQRXqU7Kco4V-hK2wg9ZZkpovrLVnpL0/s1600/IMG_20170812_075701_094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAelWQw_oeCz8Coy58iS-i7jQyVsJT1bkIYIPB5iAEJw5NqwhNh2RxNal8l9sEYKnclVVTVOeYjdZZwlJwatir_PH2Uuqn51uEf9FsPn-83rlWQRXqU7Kco4V-hK2wg9ZZkpovrLVnpL0/s320/IMG_20170812_075701_094.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm going to be trying a few more "firsts." My very first promotion and some re-soaked beans. Not sure how either of them will go, but this is my plan.<br />
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I have been serving coffee at the gym for a while now and received a few reviews and a couple of likes, but overall, I haven't seen my Facebook crowd grow much at all. As that is where I do most of my ordering, I really need to find a way to get my name out there. So, I decided to offer 20% a beverage if customers will tag me in a pic. I will be serving 2 days over the holiday weekend, so I'm hoping I can get quite a few people to participate. If this seems to work, I think I'll keep it full time and maybe expand. I can do picture contests and give away a free drink or 1 lb of coffee to the best picture or who know. My main focus is to grow my Facebook following as we go back into whole bean season.<br />
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Speaking of seasons, autumn is quickly approaching and pumpkin flavors are already here (thank you to all the businesses that realized 1 month is not long enough). I wanted to jump in on the pumpkin craze by creating my own pumpkin spice cream/milk to mix with cold brew or brewed coffee. Being a home roaster, I am restricted on what I can sell. Mainly, I can't prepare anything perishable. So there goes the milk idea. Then I saw that Death Wish does a what they call a cauldron aged pumpkin coffee. I read in on it a bit. It is a play on of the barrel aged coffees that are so popular right now. What they do is soak the green coffee in a chai tea. The dehydrated coffee soaks up the flavors. They then re-dry the beans and roast them. I think I can do that. It will be difficult because there are a lot of factors that have to be considered, mainly moisture content. I'll have to keep them from molding, make sure the spices in the tea don't scorch at roasting temps, and also ensure that I spend sufficient time in the drying phase to ensure I roast the coffee and not bake it.<br />
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I hate experimenting, because it just costs so much in loss of product. If I was buying bags and bags of green coffee, I would feel a bit more free to experiment (except probably not). Only having the 1 bag of coffee, I can't just toss 10% away to experience.<br />
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Any who, I hope this is a successful weekend in building the Facebook a bit and I look forward to expanding my roasting knowledge a bit.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-19042396772751728562017-08-25T13:11:00.001-07:002017-08-25T13:11:28.168-07:00Tasting Coffee is Hard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg31X9r2K6P3OvO5N9hkCHr0kaJ9h2dgI_B9d3CffNSxCQNtFyvvkGiAavv7lw1KqrqmSW_2abHYLtFW0xPW3DtreuEY6SlOBzQTSFVJmPjPvwid_eS82s3UmZ9xzGzb8BoflF1ynNiXw/s1600/IMG_20170824_185816_505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg31X9r2K6P3OvO5N9hkCHr0kaJ9h2dgI_B9d3CffNSxCQNtFyvvkGiAavv7lw1KqrqmSW_2abHYLtFW0xPW3DtreuEY6SlOBzQTSFVJmPjPvwid_eS82s3UmZ9xzGzb8BoflF1ynNiXw/s320/IMG_20170824_185816_505.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am in the process of purchasing my next bag of coffee. It's a huge deal, because it is a major investment. It will literally clear my bank account out. I need this coffee to good...and not just pretty good....it needs to be <i>Damn Fine.</i><br />
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I love this, but it's hard. I only have 100g of 4 different coffee to make my decision on. These are the things I'm wrestling with....<br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Potential</u>: 100g is enough for only 1 batch. In that single roast batch I need to taste it and determine the potential of the coffee. Will it be good light roasted? Dark roasted? Hot? Cold? Can I use it to blend with? Can I get different profiles for different roasts? In about 3 cups of coffee, I need to be able to predict everything I can do with this bean for the next 6 months or so.<br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Flavor</u>: I spend a lot of time sitting there looking at my flavor wheel asking myself, "What the hell am I tasting?" Chocolates seem to be something I am fairly comfortable identifying (but who isn't?). The hard part is determining the type of acidity and if there is a secondary (or multiples) flavor note and what that might be. Then there are the defects. Being able to discern between a bad flavor from the bean and a bad flavor from the roast is probably a little beyond my ability to taste.<br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">The difference</u>: When you have 4 different cups in front of you and you are drinking and writing notes, it is incredibly difficult to remove previous experiences and taste what is actually in the cup. I had a Colombian coffee that what amazing and I want this one to taste like that, but it isn't the same bean. They also start to blend together. I'm tasting 4 coffees all with a similar profile (according to the importer I'm buying from). They are all similar, so when I pick up something in one cup and there is something close to it in the other, my brain just lumps them all together.<br />
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I absolutely love doing this and I learn so much each time I do. I would really like to find someone who is really good at this to help me. I really like having another brain to bounce things off of. For now, it's just me and my wife and I hope I make the right decision.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6016695473019282253.post-8328559026506920752017-08-10T22:34:00.000-07:002017-08-10T22:34:01.857-07:00A Little Customer Service Goes A Long WayIt's late tonight and I know I'm not going to get to write at all tomorrow, so I want to get this blog down. Sorry, there aren't any pictures, mainly just working through how important customer service is.<br />
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Here's why this is on my mind...<br />
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My wife recently tried to order something from an Etsy seller that went south on her. There was an expectation communicated that the product would be ready in 24 hrs. Now the seller put that on their description and then followed it with, but busy times could have longer waits.<br />
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<u>Customer Service Lesson #1</u>: A seller must be very aware of the expectations they are communicating and work diligently to meet them. If a standard expectation cannot be met, then a communication is required to set a new expectation.<br />
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For those of us who have worked professional customer service, this is a no brainer. The problem is that many businesses do not take a profession approach to customer service. It is unprofessional to try and add some wanna be legal phrase after the expectation as a scape goat when you fail. If you fail, own it and reset expectations with the customer.<br />
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After my wife followed up multiple times, the seller finally replied asking her to stop emailing her, canceled her order and then replied again to tell her she was rude.<br />
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<u>Customer Service Lesson #2</u>: A failure is an opportunity to build relationships.<br />
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This is something that I experienced in professional customer service. Look failure is going to happen. No one is out there walking on water, and people understand that. Some of the best relationships I developed with customers and vendors was after I screwed up. You know what I would tell them, "I'm so sorry, I screwed up. I will fix this for you." Then I would lay out a new expectation and make sure I met it.<br />
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In the end my wife was in tears because the item she really wanted for my daughter for my daughters birthday is now not possible. She is angry and wants to complain to someone, but Etsy does not offer any consumer support.<br />
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<u>Customer Service Lesson #3</u>: A business is only as good as it's reputation.<br />
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I believe in a free market. That means everything is an opportunity to build the brand. If a company decides they are going to let a consumer have it, then they are going to lose street cred. In the age of social media, a single slip up can be sent to millions of people instantly (ask Delta!). It takes a lot of hard work to establish a positive reputation, but it can all get flushed with one poorly handled situation.<br />
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I understand that business owners and employees cannot please everyone. Sometimes humans have bad days and make bad decisions. We as business owners need to realize that everything is an opportunity to develop relationships. My mantra for starting my coffee company has been: Love what you do and who you do it with. I love making coffee. I try to share some of that love with the people I share it with, be it a smile, a warm greeting, encouraging, empowerment...the list goes on. I know I am going to royally screw up eventually. When that happens, I hope I have the wherewithal to take a breath, center myself, and use my failure to strengthen the relationship with my customer.<br />
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I hope to really develop a high level professional customer service model for my coffee shop. Customer service should not be taken likely, it is the meat and potatoes of the service industry, even over all of the damn fine coffee in the world.Muertos Coffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429776664519245219noreply@blogger.com0