In Central Pennsylvania, autumn is spectacular. As a life-long resident of Pennsylvania I am always amazed and awed as the leaves turn from green to a million shades of reds, yellows, oranges, and browns. As Charles Kuralt, from CBS’s “Sunday Morning” once mentioned regarding autumn in the northeast, “The color so overwhelms the senses that one forgets from one year to the next how spectacular it is.” That’s how I feel about this time of year. There’s something therapeutic about a nice cup of apple cider or, better yet, coffee as the sun goes down, the moon rises, and the evening nip fills the air. Besides, my boys love to play in leaves.
Speaking of coffee, I have lately been drinking a Mexican Altura high grown coffee, medium roasted, and french pressed. With a medium body, the Mexican is a very smooth, easy drinking coffee, with a hint of sweetness. The real kicker in this coffee is a slight smoke flavor that lingers in the mouth just after swallowing.
With this flavor profile, this coffee is an excellent solo coffee. If you’re thinking of pairing with food, may I suggest the following; Breakfast- eggs, any style with bacon or sausage and toast; an omelette filled with cheddar or smoked gouda or greuyere. Lunch- BLT and BBQ chips, smoked turkey or chicken club, or reuben. Dinner- anything smoked: salmon, ribs, you name it. Dessert- grilled fruits (visit WEBER.com for grilled dessert ideas)
Whatever you do with it, there are some “don’t’s”. Don’t refrigerate it… or any coffee for that matter. If you need to keep it more than 14 days, freeze it in a zip-top bag and let it come to room temp before brewing. Don’t keep it in the bag you take it home in. Get it to a sealed container, out of light and air. Don’t let it get stale. As I tell people in person, “Just because it doesn’t grow hair doesn’t mean it isn’t stale.” Stale coffee is bitter, lifeless, dull, drab without the nose and house filling aroma. Coffee’s a baked good….. the fresher the better. Get in touch with us. We’ll hook you up.
www.mistergcoffee.com
Autumn in Full Swing
As Time Goes By, Part 2
Well, it’s here. Autumn. My favorite time of year. Fresh apples and cider, carving pumpkins with my boys, football, (GO STATE!) and cooler temps! There’s something special about fall, especially when there’s roasting smoke wafting through the air during those brisk night roasting sessions. And the smoke has been flying!
The Mister G Coffee Company is the official coffee supplier for Mitchell Field, home base for Indian Valley and Lewistown High School football. We are solidifying our fundraiser schedule, including schools and organizations raising money for the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life”. In addition, The Mister G Coffee Company has started supplying two more coffee shops, with another starting early 2010.
On top of that, we’re getting ready to kick off our “Autumn Special”. This year, for people whi sign up for a coffee membership or tour you get free shipping for the first 2 months! That’s freshly roasted coffee at your door every two weeks, and as always, you pick the bean and the roast, or opt for the Coffee Tour and sample coffees from all over the world!
I’ll also be sending word out soon about holiday gift baskets so stay tuned!
Have a great weekend and, as always, enjoy the coffee!
One small step….
This summer marked the 40th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing. As I heard again the stories of the people who worked so tirelessly on that mission, I admired with new eyes the sacrifices, courage, and pioneer spirit that put humans on another celestial body.
I had to remind myself of that pioneer spirit several times as I contemplated moving The Mister G Coffee Company. I knew it would take work, energy, and a little sacrifice. (Don’t get me wrong, I am in NO WAY what-so-ever comparing my move to landing on the moon…) II had to take the opportunity when it was presented.
A year ago or so, I started supplying coffee to the Reedsville Seafood Company, purveyor of fine seafood. As part of an expansion on their part (and code compliance on mine) the owner and I agreed that I could use part of their new space. Win-win.
Another byproduct of this move is the opportunity to expand the coffee available to my customers. (This will be showing up on the web site shortly as a ‘Breaking News’ flash on the home page an a new ‘Order’ page.) I have brought in another Nicaraguan, also from the Diego Chavarria Estate, a Brazil Sweet Yellow Daterra certified by the RainForest Alliance as bird and animal friendly, and an Indian Monsooned Malabar. More choices to come.
If you havent gotten the chance to check us out, I suggest doing so. If not for you, perhaps as a gift. Coffee makes a great hostess or housewarming gift, or for any other occasion you can think of. I need not remind you that Christmas is coming….
Thanks for your time and, as always, enjoy the coffee!
A Funny Thing Happened…
My wife, kids, and I spend eight, usually sweltering, days in western Pennsylvania at the New Wilmington Mission Conference. This is a gathering of Presbyterian missionaries from around the world. The purpose is to tell their stories, bring us up to speed on hapenings in their corner of the world, and tell young and old alike how they, too, can be missionaries in their own land.
As we returned to our dorm hall after lunch a hall-mate of ours was sitting on a folding chair, talking to another gentleman. When they saw us approach our friend said, “Here’s the guy you want to talk to!” which immediately made me nervous.
The stranger said his name was Robert, he was from Uganda, and he was looking for a market for his villiage’s goods. Intrigued how I was to play a role in this, I asked, “And what goods might this be?”
He mentioned that his villiage makes beads and baskets. “Uh-huh,” I thought… And they grow coffee.
You, my friend, have my attention.
He told me of how the farmers aren’t getting a sustainable wage for their labor, and how direct buying would be possible and best for those involved. Through this direct-buy program the farmers would get much needed money to fund their families, schools, and farms.
We excanged emails. I started making phone calls that very day to friends in the coffee importing business. We have gone through more red tape than I care to think about.
It’s taken almost a year and we’re in the final stretch. In about a week we should have everything in line for our first shipment of Ugandan coffee. Finally.
For more information on the New Wilmington Mission Conference, click www.nwmcmission.org
From Uganda, with love…
For the last year I have been working with a pastor in Uganda to directly import coffee from his villiage for roasting and sale through Mister G Coffee. How this came about and steps needed will come about shortly, but I wanted to give an update on where we stand.
Currently, we are arranging shipment, which is no small feat from East Africa. The poor beans will have more air miles on them than I care to think about, and several transfers will be required. All that to say, we are looking forward to our first installment by the first of July.
Why go through the trouble? Simple. Our philosophy is founded on helping our local and global community. By buying from a specific villiage we can get funds directly to those people for what they need. Period. Call me a romantic. Call me crazy. Call me Ishmael. But this opportunity was too important to pass up. Like I said, more on the process later.
Actually, that and other important happenings on the horizon.
Till then, Enjoy the Coffee!
….as time goes by…..
It seems to me that no matter what else is happening in the world, people keep talking about time. Lines take too much, family gets too little, recharging ourselves gets little if any.
We’ve heard the story of the jar; first the big stones, then the smaller ones, then the sand, then the coffee. (Actually, I heard it using water, but what fun is that?! Besides, this is a COFFEEE blog..) Since each of these represent amounts of time and priorities, we must decide what gets put in the jar, and in what order. Choose wisely. Those seemingly little adjustment in where you invest your time today can have huge repercussions down the road.
Enough philosophy; lets get down to coffee. This blog’s feature is a favorite of some and an unknown by many; Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. (That’s YEER-guh-shef or Yeer-guh-SHEF-ay depending on who you ask.) Ethiopia is commonly understood to be the birthplace of coffee, and the legend of Kaldi, the goat herder who discovered it, leading the way. I don’t know much about goat herders but I understand why todays people are so attracted to the coffee of this region; clean, sweet, fruity.
A light to medium/light roast Yirg is known by the vast majority of my customers for its cleaness. There are little, if any, lingering aftertastes and this coffee cuts through heavier flavors in entrees or desserts. This attribute also lends itself well to being a great morning coffee.
The natural sweetness of the coffee is the second dimension. A high percentage of people who try this coffee at an arts show are party comment on its sweetness, even to point that “I wouldn’t have to put sugar in this coffee!” That may be extreme but it seems as though this is a quality that catched people off guard.
Finally, I am always amazed at the fruitiness of this coffee. The citrus/lemony aromas and background flavors make pairing this coffee a joy. Aside from the pairing mentioned earlier, other ideas include fruit desserts, fish and shellfish entrees, as well as chicken dishes.
For those of you out there who are in it for the caffeine, here’s your fix. Remember; the lighter the roast, the more the caffeine.
‘Til next time, think about what you drink.
Cheers!
Welcome!
This blog was designed as a place for people to share their ‘over coffee’ experiences. Feel free to recount stories that come to mind where coffee was involved; stories of friendship, hope, tragedy, family, community, romance. Everything is fair game if coffee’s involved. (Remember, however, it’s a family show… ’nuff said.)
