Saturday, September 28, 2013

Welcome our new clients!

Hello Everyone,

Its been a busy week for us! We are happy to welcome some new clients to our family. I hope you have the opportunity to stop by these establishments because they are fantastic!




1) Vegeria
8407 Broadway
San Antonio TX 78209

210-826-4223

Coffee-
Kaldi
Ethiopia Sidamo

Vegeria is 100% vegan and gluten-free and the food is delicious! The cuisine is Tex-Mex and the dishes we tried were full of flavor and wonderful. This comes from someone who is definitely not vegan or gluten-free so stop by and give it a try and I am sure you will find something you love. 


2) Barraca
1420 S.Alamo Suite 101
San Antonio, TX 78210
(210) 445-2203

Coffee- 
Huipil
Brazil

Tea- 
Black Current

Barraca's is a restaurant and bar that offers delicious Spanish inspired cuisine using both local and Spanish ingredients. They have plenty of options to choose from and sometimes there is even some live music so be sure to check them out, especially if you find yourself in need of a paella fix. 



3) Mellissa Guerra Latin Kitchen Market
303 Pearl Parkway, Suite 104
San Antonio, Texas 78215
210-293-3983

Coffee-
Huipil
Abrazo
Mexico

Melissa Guerra is a Latin American culinary store located at The Pearl Brewery near downtown San Antonio. Like a mercado, you'll find a vast array of items for the kitchen, but you'll also find fun jewelry and home decor from Latin America.

This store has a fantastic selection beautiful tableware, jewlery, and Latin American kitchen implements. They will be offering our coffee to purchase retail as well as have a coffee grinder available so you can have your coffee freshly ground and ready to brew.  



Monday, September 2, 2013

Q Grading Day!

Its another hot hot Labor Day here in San Antonio, Texas. We hope everyone is enjoying themselves and taking the opportunity to celebrate our country's "yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country". I decided out of curiosity, to look into the history of Labor Day and its beginnings and found that quote on U.S. Department of Labor website :) . 

We are still working over here but we love our job so its all good. Today Susan is escaping the normal hustle of a regular work day and taking the time to do one of the things she enjoys most about her job, Q grading and roasting samples. We receive a LOT of samples throughout the year from coffee growers all over the world asking Susan to Q Grade and cup their coffee. Its important for them to know what their coffee grade is so they know at what price they should sell their coffee and if there are any important defects in their coffee that they need to take care of so that their next harvest can be even better. 

Today on the board we have samples from 10 different growers in various countries. The process begins by grading the green coffee. 



Here is where we would check different things like water content in the beans and the amount of defects the coffee has...


We then write all the results down and give the green coffee a grade of Premium, Specialty, or Commercial. Just a bit of info, we only purchase and sell Premium and Specialty graded coffees which means that our coffee is guaranteed to have little to no defects. Defects can have a huge impact on the quality and taste of the coffee. Make sure to check and see if your local roaster is a certified Q Grader and what grades and origins of coffee they purchase.


After grading the coffee it is then roasted and will need to degas for a period of time before we can come in and cup it. From that point we can find the flavor profile of the coffee. Its a fun process and its one we take a lot of pride in. We will send the results to the growers which they will use to better promote their coffee and ensure they receive a fair price for their product. Hopefully we will be contacting the growers with the premium coffees and start putting our orders in! For the growers that ranked at a commercial we like to offer as much help as we can. While they may not get as much for this harvest we still want to help them make sure they can get as much as possible while also letting them know exactly what problems we found and how they can correct these issues so that their next harvest will rank better.



Look at all the pretties!!! 

So there you have it folks, a typical Q grading day for Susan. How are you celebrating your Labor Day? :D 

-Anna