Posted by: Steve HawthorneAthena and I arrived home from El Salvador on Sunday evening. We had an amazing trip and learned a great deal about how coffee gets from producing countries to our morning cup. The experiences that we had have changed our views and thoughts on how we enjoy coffee. We also enjoyed the incredible 95 degree weather!As we get settled in and sort through our notes and photos, there will be more blog entries to come about our trip and the coffees that we sampled.
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneFor those of us that work in the coffee industry, visiting a coffee farm is probably at the top of a list of 'must dos' in our career. Next week Thursday, our Vice President of Retail, Athena, and I will be able to check that off our lists. We will be traveling to El Salvador on behalf of our Green Coffee Team to visit the Lima Family and their cooperative of coffee farms.For almost a year, we have been purchasing coffee from this group...the coffee is great and the people have been great to work with. Athena and I will visit in hope of building on our relationship and continuing to purchase this amazing coffee.We plan to take a lot of pictures and perhaps even some video footage...we will undoubtedly have many stories to share and will be happy to do so. Stay tuned for more news!
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This morning's edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel featured an article about the Stone Creek Coffee Blog. It's been nearly four years since we launched our blog and it has been a great tool for us to communicate with you, our customers. Grab a cup of your favorite blend and head on over to JSonline to read how Blogs can draw customers deeper into businesses.
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneIn case you haven't noticed, winter has arrived here in Milwaukee. Last week's record low temperature was yet another reminder to me of how much I LOVE coffee. Here at the Factory, we survived with many cups of our 2009 Winter Blend.We've combined our socially responsible Brazilian coffee with our French Roast and some fresh beans from El Salvador to create a blend that is the perfect brace against winter's wind and snow. Here's what our green coffee team has to say about this year's Winter Blend:'This coffee blankets the tongue with the smooth, warm flavors of blackberry and nuts along with a subtly smoky finish.'Winter Blend is available Online, in Our Stores, or by contacting our Wholesale Team.Get yours today!
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Posted by: Eric ReschJust before the Christmas holiday, I sent a note to people on our Stone Creek email list asking them to join us in donating meals to the children of coffee harvesters that grow our Brazilian coffee. We did this in lieu of sending holiday cards to our customers and friends because it was consistent with our values and helped to make the lives of people that support our business a little bit better.Wow...what a great response we had. I wanted to personally thank our staff and customers that purchased meals. Over the last few weeks 510 meals have been donated by friends, customers and employees of Stone Creek. I will personally be matching your generous donation. In total we will be buying 1510 meals for the school...this is a total of about $1000 that is going to the school. While this is not a huge number, the intent and impact is tremendous. I was overjoyed to see the donations come in from, not only our customers, but many Stone Creek Coffee employees.Take a few minutes to check out the Socially Conscious Coffee website to learn more about the farm and school.Your donation and our work with the school is the fulfillment of one of our companys stated missions and the embodiment of why I started this company. Fifteen years ago we embarked on this journey rooted in a belief that we could build a company that not only earns a profit but does so in sustainable socially conscious manner.My sincere thanks for your kind donation and your support of our company and our mission.-Eric
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Posted by: Christie BoivinJoin us Saturday, December 6th at the Urban Ecology Center for the Our Milwaukee Buy Local Fair! Stone Creek Coffee as well as many other local Milwaukee businesses will be present at the event. We will there with coffee and other goodies, so stop by and support a great cause!In conjunction with the Exchange Alternative Gift Fair, Our Milwaukee will be promoting member businesses as well as local non-profit organizations during an afternoon of holiday shopping. The fair will give shoppers the opportunity to support our community with over 40 gift options all under one sustainable roof, including membership to Our Milwaukee as the perfect gift from one Brew City dweller to another.When: Saturday, December 6thWhere: Urban Ecology CenterTime: 1pm to 5pmAddress: 1500 E Park Pl, Milwaukee
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneCan anyone tell me what happened to September? It seems like it just got here and now here we are in October...anyway...October is Fair Trade Month! Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.We are also proud that our great city of Milwaukee is America's first Fair Trade City. There are a lot of great things happening in Milwaukee to promote Fair Trade Certified products and fair trade practices. You can learn more at the Milwaukee Fair Trade Coalition website. You can also help to support Fair Trade by purchasing Fair Trade Certified products. Check out our line of Fair Trade Coffees.Drink Fair Trade...and of course, Sip Slowly.
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneWith cooler weather and the start of school, it is time to think about supporting our kids and schools with fundraising! Over the summer, we gave our already popular fundraising program a little overhaul. With cool new sell sheets, and the addition of Stone Creek's Old Fashioned Hot Chocolate, this program is perfect for schools, churches, and clubs seeking to raise money for their cause. Here are a few details about our program:• We have 6 coffees available in our product offering and now also offer fair trade hot chocolate.• Sellers earn a profit of $5 per bag of coffee sold!• We can customize the Fundraiser Custom Blend coffee label with the group's name or they can design a totally unique label for that specific coffee.• We have professionally printed Product Gallery and Sales Sheets that we provide for each participant in the fundraising group.If you're interested in learning more about our program, visit the fundraising section of Our Website to download the program literature. You can also Contact Us to talk to a member of our wholesale team about getting a fundraiser started for you.Sip slowly!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneWe are proud to begin serving our Best of Brazil as our newest single origin coffee. Since 2005, Stone Creek has been purchasing Brazilian coffee from the Sinay-Neves farm in Brazil. This socially responsible relationship has allowed us to support social projects on the farm aimed at improving the lives of coffee harvesters. To date, our Brazilian coffee has been used in many of our blends an in our signature Green Bike Espresso. We are proud to now offer it as a single origin coffee. Here's what our Green Coffee Team had to say about our Fully Washed Brazil:'Grown on a small plantation in northeastern Brazil, our fully washed Café Conquista Brazil has a sweet, caramel aroma and a warm, chocolaty finish. This coffee is both pleasant on the tongue and easy on the stomach. Stone Creek Coffee pays a premium on every pound of Brazil purchased to support the Centro Rural Educafe, a school on the farm for harvesters and their families. Our Brazilian coffee is delicious coffee with a bright purpose.'Brazil is available Online and in Our Stores. Get yours today!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneOn Wednesday, August 6th, we will be debuting our latest Factory Reserve Coffee...Las Mujeres de Guayata Colombia. We're very excited to introduce this very unique coffee that is grown and exported by an all women's coffee coop in the Guayata region of Colombia.Here's what our Master Roaster, Stephen Bybee, had to say about this coffee:"Founded in 1998 by 30 female, Colombian coffee farmers, Las Mujeres de Guayata is a women’s' coffee cooperative operating in the Boyacá department of northeastern Colombia. These farmers began their coffee coop with very little in the way of support or resources, as Colombia has traditionally been a male-dominated society, with most women working in the home. Despite their humble origins, the women of Las Mujeres de Guayata have harnessed their own initiative and pluck and have produced a consistently remarkable Colombian coffee. In the cup, this coffee offers a rich, thick, velvety body complemented by hints of chocolate and spice. Stone Creek is honored to offer Las Mujeres de Guayata as our newest socially responsible Factory Reserve."Las Muheres de Guayata Colombia will be available in Stone Creek Coffee Locations and Online beginning August 6...grab a cup and sip slowly!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneWhile we're not quite ready to let go of summer just yet, in the world of coffee, it's time to roll out Harvest Blend. This year's Harvest Blend is a great coffee that will carry us through this beautiful time of year. Here's what our Green Coffee Team had to say about the blend:'Autumn in Wisconsin is a time of pleasant weather, brilliant foliage, and rich harvests. At Stone Creek Coffee, we have captured the essence of the season in a skillfully crafted, socially responsible coffee called Harvest Blend. In order to create our new Harvest Blend, we have artfully combined our single estate El Salvadoran with a highly prized Kenya peaberry, yielding a vibrant, rich cup of coffee accented with notes of cocoa and hints of blueberry. Just as autumn is a pleasant respite between the frenetic energy of summer and the cold slumber of winter, our Harvest Blend coffee is the perfect transition between a busy day at work and a pleasant, restful evening.'Harvest Blend is available Online and in Our Stores. Get yours today!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneFrom a city that has always known how to work hard comes a coffee that works as hard as you do. Milwaukee Blend is a well-crafted combination of strength, balance, and dark-roasted flavor that yields a great tasting, rock solid cup of coffee, time after time. As strong as the bricks that built our city, Milwaukee Blend will give you the fuel to start your day and the muscle to finish your work.Milwaukee Blend is a new product that hit our stores on Wednesday. This blend pays tribute to the great city that we have called home for the last 15 years. We hope to rotate the labels that represent this blend to highlight different aspects of our city that make Milwaukee a unique and great place to live.Label No. One- Corner Bars & TavernsCorner bars and taverns have formed the backbone of Milwaukee s social life since the mid-1800 s. Home town breweries such as Pabst, Miller, Schlitz and Blatz have been brewing beer for over 150 years. With all of this beer brewing there must be places for the local folks to enjoy it. Thus why our local neighborhood taverns had been established. Some date all the way back to 1850 and its doors still remain open to Milwaukee s people. As diverse as our city is, you will always stumble upon a corner bar or tavern no matter what neighborhood you are in
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Posted by: Christie BoivinWe are proud to announce that we have adopted a coffee compost program in our stores. Look for the bright green garbage can and help yourself to a bag of free coffee grounds for your compost pile or garden! (This program will be running throughout the summer) Here s a little information about coffee and composting:Every day across America, Asia and Europe, millions of pots of coffee and tea are brewed, and the millions of pounds of wet grounds, filters and bags are thrown in the trash. The grounds from coffee are rich in many vitamins and minerals and are proven to work as an excellent, environmentally safe way in composting and gardening.Some Gardening Tips:-Use coffee grounds directly into the soil in flower and vegetable gardens.-Sprinkle grounds in soil directly. Dilute with water for a gentle, fast-acting fertilizer.-Outdoor plants: 1 part coffee to 2 parts water. Indoor plants: 1 part coffee to 4 parts water.Have fun, Sip slowly, and be green!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneFor us here at Stone Creek, there's always one sure sign that summer is here...Farmer's Market Season! The time as finally arrived to kick off the markets. This weekend, you can find us pedaling our wares at the East Town Market in Cathedral Square Park. Our Farmer's Market manager, Stephanie and her team have been gearing up for another great season. You can catch them this Saturday from 8am-12:30pm.We will also be working Bay View's South Shore Farmer's Market in South Shore Park this summer. You'll have to wait a few more weeks for that party to kick off, though...The South Shore Market runs 8am-12 noon beginning on June 21. So come on out and sip slowly with us at the markets!
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Posted by: Steve HawthorneAs could probably guess, we LOVE coffee! You could also probably guess that there is an entire world of people out there that love it too. From May 2-5, coffee lovers from all over the world will converge upon Minneapolis, MN for the Specialty Coffeee Association of America's 20th Annual Conference and Exhibition. This event is a trade show for coffee industry profesionals and enthusiasts. More than 500 exhibitors will showcase the latest and most innovative products and services in the industry. The show will also be the venue for the 2008 United States Barista Championship.Stone Creek Coffee will be exhibiting our wholesale products and services at this show. Our booth number is 1825, and we would love to see you there! If you are in the coffee business, or are considering entering it, you should really consider attending this show. Learn more about this event, or register at the SCAA's Website. Hopefully we'll see you there!
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Posted by: Stephen Bybee, SCC RoasterI've just had a cup, or maybe three, of our new Fair Trade Organic Sumatra, an absolutely delightful new crop offering from a relatively new fair trade coop in Sumatra. Stone Creek usually purchases our Fair Trade Organic Sumatra from the PPKGO coop in the Gayo mountain region of northern Sumatra, but this time we are trying out a Mandheeling offering from the KBQB coop in the Aceh province of northern Sumatra. When I initially cupped this coffee back in January, I was so astounded by its complex fruit and berry flavors that I put it directly on the top of my list of coffees to purchase for our February order. Once it arrived at our roastery we were so eager to taste it that we were counting the days until our old supply of Organic Sumatra was depleted. It was well worth the wait, and this coffee has been so impressive that I have already begun booking a large supply for our next shipment...right now it is the most sought after take home coffee for everybody working here at the roastery, and hopefully our retail customers will soon notice how delicious this coffee really is. As far as my cupping notes go on this offering, I would describe the aroma as a rich, sweet bouquet of berry and syrup, complemented by a hint of carmel. In the cup I find it to be a hefty coffee with a rich, extremely balanced body and taste. Some of the flavors I encountered during cupping were hints of sweet red apple, subtle notes of chocolate and delicate shades of sweet carmel. During every sip of this coffee I was for some reason constantly reminded of the act of eating a deliciously prepared steak, perhaps a filet mignon at medium well. The finish is extremely clean, and the acidity is fairly mild despite the vibrant flavor and exotic aroma.You should try this one out for yourself...pick up a pound in Our Stores or purchase it Online.
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Posted by: Stephen Bybee, SCC RoasterOur newest Factory Reserve coffee comes from a well-established coffee coop in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. Rio Azul Guatemala is grown by the 175 member Rio Azul Coop in the highlands of western Guatemala. All the members of this coffee growing organization live within walking distance of the community wet mill in the small village of Jacaltenango. Officially founded in 1967, the Rio Azul Coop produces around 160,000 pounds of coffee annually, all of which is a high quality SHB (strictly hard bean) grown at altitudes between 1200 and 1600 meters. The members of this coop belong to the Jacaltec group, a subset of the Mayan peoples of Guatemala. This coop is also involved in a beekeeping project which at first glance may not seem to have much in common with growing and harvesting coffee. Originally funded by Oxfam, the Rio Azul beekeeping project employs 28 members of the coop in the production of 15,000 pounds of honey each year. The sale of this honey is used as an alternative income source of the coop members. The beekeeping project also produces a symbiotic benefit for the coffee plants themselves by improving the pollenation from plant to plant, thus increasing the yield of the coffee crop. The Rio Azul Coop has not only provided its member growers a direct market and a stable price for their coffee, it has additionally provided the village of Jacaltenango with a small clinic and computer lab funded by the sales of their coffee. The computer lab and clinic are both available for use by members of the community. You may view some photos of the coop at their website .Beginning March 5, you may purchase our Rio Azul Guatemala in Our Stores or Online. This high grown coffee displays a suprisingly rich, warm aroma. The light, clean body is accompanied by the subtle flavor of chocolate and by a delicate tingle with every sip. This coffee has been certified as Socially Responsible. So grab a pound, and sip slowly!
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