Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Muller on February 28, 2008 at 4:30pm

Bernadette, We do serve sandwiches. it is quite successful.

Permalink Reply by The Barista Formerly Known As JavaJ on March 9, 2008 at 11:47pm

Mandi,

Two quick things.

1) If you can, I suggest finding someone local. The closer the better. This will diminish shipping issues, cost, and give you closer access to training, etc. I am a customer of PT's coffee, and would definitely give them a big thumbs up.

2) Why do you have to stick with just one roaster? Some roasters insist on a contract, exclusivity, etc. Unless they are providing free training, equipment, financing, etc., it really isn't appropriate. Instead, if you really like two roasters, you may want to work with them both.

Permalink Reply by Alex Galt on March 12, 2008 at 9:52am

Here's what we would take into consideration:

1. Is it good coffee? (This is primary).
2. Does the roaster have good corporate values? (Ethics are important to us, and increasingly, to our customers).
3. Does the roaster provide support? Training? How responsive are they to questions? Can you get the roast master's email address? Do they do maintenance? (We have two roasters, we use Alterra for brewed coffees and Intelligentsia for espresso. Alterra does free trainings, has a maintenance program, lends us a coffee brewer, and is extremely responsive to any questions or concerns that we have).
4. Are they local? (Being Wisconsin-based, we like to work with other businesses in Wisconsin. Alterra's been an excellent partner and they actually deliver the coffee to us weekly for free. Intelligentsia is obviously in Chicago, but they're the best and we love their Black Cat espresso).

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