Arizona Coffee

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.

(more…)

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.