Arizona Coffee

One of the more frequent questions I am asked is if I know of a company that does espresso bar catering. I just found Creative Cappuccino, a company that does this in Arizona.

Their menu lists a caramel macchiato made the way Starbucks makes the drink. This tells me that if you’re looking for a purely classical espresso bar they might not provide what you need. If on the other hand you’re looking for a coffee catering company that provides sugary drinks I think they may work out great.

The company has some photos on Flickr, which are interesting.

Thanks to Jason Duncan for the tip!

Creative Cappuccino, Inc.
Phone: (480) 730-8684
Twitter: @coffeeguyphx

Multiple reports coming in that Mills End Cafe in Tempe has closed (last week some time). Thanks to Meg for emailing.

I can’t say I’m sad to see it go. It served purely as a good spot to get WiFi and a lousy coffee.

I had a chance to sit down with Jason Silberschlag yesterday and ask him a few questions about the 2010 South West Regional Barista Competition. His company, Cartel Coffee Lab, is the host of the SWRBC and he is the regional representative for the BGA. The event will be held in Phoenix on March 19-21, 2010.

What you need to know:

• Jason is looking for volunteers! If you would like to help, even in a small way, get in touch with him by emailing jason at cartelcoffeelab.com or calling Cartel Coffee Lab.
• The event venue is still being selected, but will be somewhere in the Phoenix area.
• You can sign up to compete now (small fee).
• Free to watch! A schedule of events will be posted later.
• They’re looking for local sponsors. If your company is interested in sponsoring get in touch with Jason.
• The event will include participants from Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.

If you have questions for Jason, you can leave a comment on this post. Enjoy the video! I’m going to do more like this.

Tom from Press Coffee linked to this video about their new Dethstaar Espresso.

A nicely produced video from Intelligentsia showing their espresso technique.

A video that will show you how to brew a good cup of coffee.

How to Brew a Good Cup of Coffee from Ben Helfen on Vimeo.

DISCLAIMER: This video is meant to be a joke for my coffee industry friends. If you were to actually try this, it would taste nasty and probably make you sick.

Thanks to Brian Rose for sending the video in.

Press Coffee (in North Phoenix) has just introduced their new espresso blend called Dethstaar. It goes on sale officially today.

I had a chance to taste test it last week, and give it two thumbs up. The blend contains Ethiopia Sidama Natural Process (Full Natural), Kenya AA-Mbegu Tamu, and Costa Rica Tarrazu.

Tom Maegdlin, the creator of the blend, describes the taste like this:

Aroma: Ripe oranges and blueberry, deep dark chocolate.
Post h20: Lingering citrus and red wine.
Flavor: deep orange and strawberry, cardamom and bitter-sweet chocolate.

Press Coffee Food Wine
5410 E. High St.
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85054
Phone: (480) 419-6221
Twitter: @presscoffee

I stumbled across Vintage Ad Browser today and after searching for coffee realized they have over 600 vintage ads promoting coffee. A significant number are for Maxwell House. I found this one is a good example of a campaign they ran.

The slogan, “Everybody knows the sign of good coffee,” was run on a lot of their ads and refers to the way the woman is holding the coffee cup. It looks like they were trying to start a little viral way of requesting a certain brand of coffee.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the schedule for the Phoenix Coffee Crawl happening in Phoenix, on Saturday, January 9th. Everyone is welcome to join the coffee crawl. The approximate arrival times are posted below. Feel free to join-in-progress at any point during the day.

We’re going to hit 8 coffee shops, so it’s bound to be an exciting day!

Saturday Morning

Solo Cafe @ 9:00 am
Cartel Coffee Lab in Tempe @ 9:45 am
Conspire @ 10:45 am
Lola Coffee on Roosevelt @ 11:15 am
Lux Coffee Bar @ 12:00 pm

Lunch Break

Lunch on your own (grab some friends and eat local) – Pane Bianco, Maizes, St. Francis (now serving lunch), Local Breeze, Seamus McCaffrey’s, Two Hippies, Cibo. All suggestions are off the light rail. Or, take an afternoon nap and rehydrate!

Saturday Afternoon

Liberty Market to see Faema E61 @ 4:00 pm
Bookman’s Mesa Cafe (Intelligentsia) @ 5:00 pm
Sola Coffee Bar @ 6:00 pm (Coffee Cupping)

Follow Along!

This coffee crawl is being organized by Luis Till and Brian Clemens. I’m planning to be at most or all of the shops, so if you are there please say hello! I’ll be on Twitter announcing arrivals, departures, and schedule changes.

Seth Appell from Old Bisbee Roasters posted this video showing his coffee roasting process.

Joe Johnston is working on a project to design and build a coffee roaster, from scratch. He’s planning to be up and running with a custom built roaster by the end of 2010, which is an awesome goal.

The best part is that he’s blogging about it on his new site, Roaster Project. At the moment he is in the planning stages, but intends to be complete with the planning phases this summer (see his full timeline).

His new site has some great posts about his thoughts on coffee, and will certainly be fun to watch during this year.

Update: The schedule has been updated based on feedback from Brian Clemens and Luis Till. See below.

Luis Till from Amauta Coffee is organizing a coffee cupping in Tucson on Friday morning, and another one in the evening in Phoenix.

Then, on Saturday there will be a coffee crawl in the Phoenix area ending with a coffee cupping at the end of the day.

PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. from Kansas City is sending Kasey Klimes and Amauta Coffee wants to show him around town.

Friday, January 8

Avenue Coffee @ 10 am to 11 am (Coffee Cupping)
Press Coffee @ 7 pm to 8 pm (Coffee Cupping)

Saturday, January 9

Solo Cafe @ 9:00 am
Cartel Coffee Lab in Tempe @ 9:45 am
Conspire @ 10:45 am
Lola Coffee on Roosevelt @ 11:15 am
Lux Coffee Bar @ 12:00 pm
And possibly other shops depending on time.

Lunch on your own (grab some friends and eat local) – Pane Bianco, Maizes, St. Francis (now serving lunch), Local Breeze, Seamus McCaffrey’s, Two Hippies, Cibo. All suggestions are off the light rail.

NAP & Rehydrate!

Liberty Market to see Faema E61 @ 4:00 pm
Bookman’s Mesa Cafe (Intelligentsia) @ 5:00 pm
Sola Coffee Bar @ 6:00 pm (Coffee Cupping)

Here are a few non coffee places we’ll try to get to

Cornish Pasty Co.
Gallo Blanco
Los Taquitos Grill
Chino Bandido

Additional Details

Everyone is free to attend all or some of the stops on this two-day crawl. I’ll be at many of the Saturday shops and also the cupping at Press Coffee on Friday, but not in Tucson (sorry!). Please pay for your own coffee drinks.

If you want to follow along, check Twitter (@arizonacoffee or @amautacoffee). We will post the exact agenda as we go, so if you plan to join us at any one destination that’s the best way to stay in touch.

Will 2010 be a year of recovery for coffee shops in Arizona? Unfortunately for one shop, the answer is no. Over Coffee, is closing on January 9th. The shop, which opened in November, 2006 is located in Surprise, AZ.

Other shops that closed recently include The Human Bean on Main and Country club as well as one in Fountain Hills. Mountain View Coffee in Fountain Hills closed a few months ago, it had been a mainstay of the Fountain Hills community.

Tara from Ground Control reports a big jump in sales over the last few months — are other shops seeing a bump in sales, too?

Thanks to Tara and Victor for the tips.

Happy New Year, everybody! Here’s wishing you a great 2010.

Look at that. Another year has flown by and here we are on the cusp of a 2010. March will mark five full years of publishing Arizona Coffee, too.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — I want to talk about this year. I posted 220 “posts” on this site, about 40 less than the previous year. I felt like the quality of posts increased, with more coverage about coffee shops, with excellent debate on many.

So without further ado, here’s the best posts from this year:

January

• Latte Art Contest Winners — The first of many latte art throwdowns held at Press Coffee.
• Photos from Cartel Meetup — Just some great photos from Cartel.

February

• Photos: January Latte Art Throwdown — Even more photos from the latte art throwdown.

March

• Photos: Cartel Jam — Photos from the Cartel Jam.
• Firecreek Coffee Roastery in Cave Creek — An excellent shop opens in Cave Creek and I’m there to take photos.
• Cave Creek Coffee Roastery — A visit with David Anderson.

April

• A visit to Ground Control Coffee — Photos from Ground Control Coffee.
• Birthday Party Recap — Thanks to those who came to the birthday party.

May

• Coffee Plantation in Tempe to Close — A mainstay closes.
• Ron Cortez on LaFusion — A short video of Ron’s appearance on TV.
• Lola Coffee in Phoenix — My first visit to Lola Coffee right after it opened.
• Who’d have thunk — A good discussion about the coffee scene in AZ.
• Triangle — Remember when there were just a few shops in downtown Phoenix?
• Fair Trade Cafe — My first, but not last visit to Fair Trade Cafe.

June

• Latte Art Contest Score Sheets — Free PDF templates for your own latte art throwdown.
• An Espresso and a Mocha — A photo creates a huge discussion, and debate.
• Dr Lux Redux — One of the more unique drinks in Phoenix.

July

• City vs. City — An idea for a full blown competition creates an interesting discussion… and results in a better event.
• Solo Cafe Updates Look — One of my favorite shops updates its look.
• Avenue Coffee — Photos from a new Tucson coffee shop that opened in ‘09.
• Success Formula — A discussion about what makes a coffee shop successful.
• Lola: Espresso #1 — Another exciting discussion about bad espresso (the follow up)
• Liberty Market — My first visit to Gilbert’s Liberty Market.

August

• No Laptops! — Should laptops be allowed in coffee shops? Interesting discussion.

September

• Tingom brews Arizona’s ultimate coffee blog — Thanks to the Phoenix New Times for the write up!
• A conversation about roasting — A video about roasting sparks a good conversation.
• Longevity — Understanding which shops are the oldest.

October

• Photos: Giant Coffee — Photos taken in October of the yet to open shop in Phoenix.
• Conspire makes a good stop downtown — My mini-review of Conspire.
• No Mugs? Seriously? — 22 Comments about mugs.
• Should a coffee shop be expected to produce a quality product all of the time? — A huge debate. Read all of the comments.
• Fair Trade Cafe at Civic Space Park: The Taste of Burnt Milk and as Drab as a Parking Garage — The post that started a debate.
• Downtown Phoenix Coffee Shops — Updated list of shops in Phoenix.

November

• Jason Calhoon Moves to Avenue Coffee — Closes Cafe VanGo and moves to Avenue Coffee.
• Video: Sola Coffee Bar — My visit to a new shop in Scottsdale.
• Worst Cappuccino — Funny photo review.
• The Coffee Bar at Luci’s Healthy Marketplace — A review of a grocery store / coffee shop / restaurant.
• It has all the coffee news you need to know, but it also offers a very personal voice and encourages discussion and debate. — A summary of a nice review by Chow Bella.

December

• Coffee and Travel — A useful list of coffee shops that might be worth visiting.
• Arizona by the Numbers, Redux — The number of coffee.
• Lola Coffee at Gold Spot — Grand opening video/photos.
• Barista Magazine Profiles Arizona Barista Jam & Arizona Coffee Scene — A write up about the coffee scene in AZ, from Tom Maegdlin of Press Coffee.
• Grand Opening for Cartel Coffee Lab Downtown Phoenix — Video and photos from grand opening.

Goals for 2010:

1. I’d like to do more interviews (both written and on video) with local baristas, shop owners, and roasters. If you are interested let me know. I’ll come out to visit you and take video or notes (or email you questions).
2. I’m also looking forward to finally getting the “Readers Choice Awards” off the ground. It’s been a work in progress, but I think 2010 will be the year it happens.
3. I’d like to start separating photo essays from critiques. I have tons of photos waiting in the hopper, but not enough content to go along with them.
4. I’d like to improve the Arizona Coffee Map (out dated at this point).
5. I’m thinking about starting a Wiki for storing data about shops, much like CrunchBase. This is currently being held up because I can’t find a Wiki I like.
6. Stickers, everywhere.

In case you are curious, you can browse my “Best of” posts from previous years: 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Lastly, there are many people to thank, but most importantly the coffee shops for producing great coffee, the baristas and owners that work there, and the coffee roasters who source and roast coffee. Thank you to my sponsors, who make this site possible.