MERRY CHRISTMAS

come tonight @ All Saints Chapel in downtown Raleigh, NC

7:30-9:30

picture of a farmer's daughter in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia (Idido coffee factory)

They tell me there is always room for one more person

I'm back from Africa...and have plenty to share. It was an amazing trip filled with exciting and interesting stories that will keep this blog alive for awhile. While I am getting adjusted with being back on this side of the world...here is a sneak peak at part of my journey...Ethiopian public transportation, where there is always room for one more person.

and I'm off

The Lafayette development is rolling forward nicely and I think I have nailed down a great architect and designer, so things are certainly going great.

I'm off to Africa today...and will try to provide updates while I am there for the next couple of weeks. If not, then I am sure I will have plenty to share when I come back....it is their peak coffee season right now. I will be in Nyeri, Kenya and Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia for most of the trip. See you when I get back!

I'm Going to Africa!

Finally!....I have been trying to go back to Kenya, Africa for awhile now. I had a trip planned about 2 years ago but the country experienced tribal unrest after accusations of voter fraud were raised in the presidential election between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odindga. Things have calmed down there so I am getting ready to go back. I'll be gone from Nov. 18 - 30 and will travel specifically to the coffee farms in Nyeri, Kenya at the foot of Mount Kenya and will stop in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia for a few days on the way back. A lot of the coffee served at the shop will come from these areas, mostly from small farms and cooperatives. My goal for this trip is to meet the farmers, their families, and the villages they live in. The idea of Jubala Village Coffee originated with a trip to this part of the world in 2001 and building strong relationships with these producers will be a main priority going forward.

Shakisso

Coffee from Shakisso: Ethiopia at All Saints Chapel tonight in downtown Raleigh

7:30 -9:30 pm

Uncle Andrew

my favorite nephews

Big E

Sam the man

Jubala Blog

Interesting Article about Starbucks

CNNMoney.com

I'm liking this

Working on making one of these...but will probably need lots of help!

my sister is the bomb

So a lot of her work can be crazy but she is extremely talented. She has been helping me with the website along with Tommie at coldorangemedia. Here are a few examples so far. I'm paying her with babysitting hours....

FLIKR updates

flickr

Plaster is going up on the outside of the shop and work on the last building is underway. This building will be twice as tall than the other buildings and will have retail on the bottom and office space on the top floors. The website is still continuing to be updated and I will post a link on here soon so everyone can play around with it...and hopefully soon start ordering coffee!!

Charleston, SC

Over Labor Day weekend I had a chance to travel down to Charleston, SC to see some of my good friends from Wake Forest. It was a trip I had not planned on going on until just a couple of days ago when I got a call from my buddy Charlie telling me he was going to propose to his girlfriend, Katie...yeah girl. Congrats guys! I had a lot of fun. While down there I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and be a tourist for the day before traveling back to rainy NC. I knew there were several good coffee shops down there so I was going to try and visit a few. Everyone left early but Charlie and Katie joined me for some coffee and bagels at City Lights Coffee on Market Street. I wasn't a big fan of the setup but the coffee was really good. They actually serve Counter Culture Coffee, the same roaster used for Jubala, and business was steady during the time that we were there. Kate and Charlie left so I got out my camera and backpack and just started walking around the city. It was great! I managed to find a couple of interesting coffee shops while walking around. BAKED, which is located on East Bay St. near the Battery and Waterfront Park was the first place I visited. They served Stumptown Coffee, which I was surprised about because they are a west coast roaster...but after talking to some of the employees they reminded me that Stumptown had just opened up a new place in NYC. BAKED was first opened in 2001 in New York City by a couple of guys, a few ovens, some mixers, an espresso machine, and a lot of passion. Although the coffee was good, it was definitely more of a bakery place than coffeeshop but seemed to be busy the 30 minutes that I was there.
I found another place that I had actually heard a lot of good things about from several people. The place is called KUDU coffee and it is closer to the College of Charleston campus just off King St. I walked in and ended up walking out without ordering anything. The place was packed with students, which was the main reason why I left, but it was also 100% African themed which I thought was kind of strange.
I took a lot of other fun pictures too while walking around Charleston but they have nothing to do with coffee so I will not post them here. I will update progress on Jubala soon...it is still moving along...just very very slowly!

Coffee Tonight

7:30 at All Saints Chapel downtown featuring coffee from Nyeri, Kenya. Here is a little history about the new All Saints Chapel restored by Empire Properties in downtown Raleigh.

Click to make bigger

THUNGURI tonight

Coffee tonight at City Lights, in downtown Raleigh

working on website photos

ALOHA

Hello from Hawaii. I am sitting in beautiful Waikiki beach this morning at the Honolulu Coffee Company drinking a smooth cup of local Kona coffee. I updated the flickr page with the progress on Jubala before I left. I'll be back on Wednesday...in time to see the newest addition to the Cash clan, Samuel Bayne Cash....congrats Jeff and Brooke.

- Uncle Andrew

flickr page

Iced Coffee

Just a little heads up....I was in Wilson, NC today for a meeting and stopped in the Starbucks. I wasn't in the mood for anything hot so I just ordered a small iced coffee. The price kind of made me laugh...$2.03. If I would had ordered it hot instead of cold it would've cost $1.64. To me this is funny because it actually cost them less to make the iced coffee than to brew a hot cup. I asked them how they made their iced coffee. The lady told me they make it the same way they make their hot coffee except they just cool it over ice and put it in the refrigerator and use it the rest of the day. I smiled as she looked at me with this look as if I had just asekd a stupid question.
I smile because it doesn't make any sense to pay more for coffee that has been sitting in the refrigerator all morning, and then is poured over a half cup of ice, getting less coffee. In a lot of places they actually just put their left over coffee in pitchers and let them cool in the refrigerator. To me I should pay less when I am getting less. Just a point. From a business end I understand, they have a higher profit margin with their Iced Coffee, but come on, at least make it fresh!

We will be offering our Iced coffee fresh using a Chemex pourover.

it tastes like coffee

That is what I first thought of when I started drinking coffee. Coffee tastes like......coffee. It all tasted the same to me. So I would just add sugar and milk until I slowly acquired a taste for coffee. Then I started branching out, trying new things, visiting different places, and attending coffee cuppings. A coffee cupping is actually similar to what people do at wine tastings...put about 4 different coffee origins beside each other and based on the fragrance, aroma, brightness, flavor, body, and aftertaste, determine what you like best. Yes coffee can be and is that complex....at least if it is made properly. Here is a chart that people in the coffee industry use to determine different elements of coffee origins. A lot goes in to making a good cup!

flickr

I started a flickr page to post some photos. I have made some really good connections from this site and have discovered some really cool shops, but most of them are far away from NC....hopefully that can change soon....my friend, Matt Brogli, took some really cool pictures so I posted them on there too...I hope that was ok Matt!

Flickr: jubalavillagecoffee

plans

So the space has changed several times, here is the latest mock up with more to come soon. I have several versions of the space and I'm working on a really neat seating concept that I think people will enjoy, but in the meantime look at this space with no furniture




The top entrance will go into the perimeter parking lot and the bottom entrance will flow into the courtyard where more seating will be available under two lighted oak trees. I am working with Ron Cox, an architect in Raleigh, to design the main bar feature as a focal point of the shop. I'll put up another plan that will better explain it when I work out the details. Hopefully by the end of next week.

Tonight at City Lights

All Saints Chapel
110 S East St.
Downtown Raleigh, NC 27601

Iced Coffee using the Chemex

Idido Misty Valley - Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia

Clayton's Story

This has nothing to do with coffee

City Lights and Progress Slideshow

I have some more pictures! These are a few photos of the coffee bar being used downtown for City Lights, an outreach in downtown Raleigh at All Saints Chapel. The history of this place is captivating, so I will make a follow up post about it. Below the Chapel is a large, open floor plan, basement, where we set up a coffee bar and gave away coffee. I poured two coffees using a couple simple, micro-brew methods. While everyone enjoyed the coffee, I believe the crowd favorite was the Kenyan Auction Lot prepared using the TruBru pour over. I also served a new favorite of mine, the Burundi (small country south of Rwanda and west of Tanzania), using two Bodum French Presses. It was a lot of fun! Also at the end of the slideshow are some updates on the site. The steel of my building just started to go up today.

6 Billion Others

I found this site, 6 Billion Others, very interesting. They interview people from all over the world asking questions on universal values; money, happiness, love, death, fear, war, God. It is extremely fascinating to listen to their stories. I like the 100 year old Masai, Kenya warrior who has 4 wives.

Lafayette Development slideshow

updates coming soon!!

Lafayette is moving ahead fast...and so am I. Over the past few days I have had a chance to meet with several people in regards to Jubala. I sat down with the architect and engineers of the project, bouncing several ideas off of them. I left the meetings satisfied, knowing that we were all on the same page. The space has changed a lot and I believe the public will be pleased when the final renderings are finished. If not, then back to the drawing board. We will be incorporating ideas inspired from several places. Think "community." I hope to have a new website soon, or atleast an update to the existing one, because a lot has changed since the oringial site launched. In the meantime I will continue to post layouts, pictures, and ideas on this blog when the files are ready....stay tuned!

Macro - Micro

No - this is not going to be an economics lesson but, like the economy, we can look at coffee from many different angles. Dark vs. Light, South American vs. African, Organic vs. ...not?, Washed vs. Unwashed, Course vs Fine, Regular vs. Decaff, Drip vs. Pressed, Espresso vs. Brewed, Fair trade vs. Unfair Trade (?) <--a subject I will touch on later, Hot vs. Cold, and Macrobrew vs. Microbrew. These are some of the reasons why my passion for coffee continues to grow. There is just so much to learn from a single seed. Maybe that is why the gospels contain so many parables on seeds. Anyways, lets take a closer look into macro vs micro, specifically in the brewing process.

VS

My concept of brewing was once limited to ground coffee, a filter, and an automatic brewing machine. I mean coffee is coffee, everything tastes the same right? I have slowly realized that wasn't the case. I never thought that I would be able to sip a brewed cup of coffee and have an idea of where it was grown and how it was prepared. Well the how it was prepared part is a stretch, but maybe one day. I have learned that there are two basic ways to brew coffee. Macrobrew - large batch brewing, and Microbrew - small batch brewing. Starbucks macrobrews if that helps. For coffee, macrobrewing would be grinding and brewing large batches in those large, stainless steel, commercial machines you typically see at most coffee shops. This is a good technique to use when a shop is busy (mornings) to manage the lines. Americans don't like to wait when they are expecting something quickly. The downside to macrobrew is that some customers get fresh coffee and some get the coffee that was brewed 30-45 mins before they pay for it. It all depends on when you get in line. Microbrew is more of a brew to order method specific to a customers taste. The french press, pour over (post below), and vacuum or siphon pot are ways some shops and individuals choose to use the microbrew technique. There are several reasons as to why I prefer micro over macro. The coffee is always fresh, the customer can choose any type of coffee that is available, there is little to no waste, and most of all it is fun. I mean some people like letting machines do all the work but I don't find much excitement in pushing an orange button and waiting. Microbrew usually involves some hand on action and it is a great way to build community with your customers.

At Jubala we will incorporate both, macro during the morning rush and micro available all day. More than likely we will have a few different stations. Our espresso station to make those tasty shots and latte based drinks, a french press and pour over station (similar to what 3cups does) , and a vacuum pot station (look at video clip in Blue Bottle Coffee post below). These will all be on the front bar counter giving the staff opportunities to engage with the customers. The boring macrobrew machine will be on the back counter to be used during those busy morning rushes (at least that's the idea).

TruBru

I have been looking at a lot of different ways to manually prepare coffee. I have nothing against automatic brewing or using machines to get the job done but there are so many other ways to work with coffee. During my visit to Atlanta I ran into a representative for a simple manual drip system called TruBru. You don't see these much on the east coast, or at least in North Carolina (I can only think of one place), but they are normal out west. I am getting one and putting it to good work!

busy busy

Things have been crazy lately...but have been going great. I have been traveling a lot, meeting a lot of people, and picking up some really innovative ideas, but have not been updating Juballer. I traveled to Atlanta a couple weekends ago for the annual Specialty Coffee Exposition and World Barista Championship. Although I traveled solo for this trip, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Hopefully I will be able to attend next years in Anaheim. I have several posts that I have been working on but haven't published yet. That tends to happen more frequently than I wish.


I did want to share a website that I stumbled across. I have been in contact recently with a group in Colorado called Cold Orange Media. The site speaks for itself, and I think they do great work. They pointed me to a website of a group they have been working with for a few months now. I am still learning more about them, but they seem to have a mission similar to that of Jubala's. Light Gives Heat has two projects, SUBBI and EPOH. The SUBBI project works with a group of 60 women in a village of Uganda paying them a sustainable income to make handcrafted jewlery to be sold in the states. The pictures on the site tell the story themselves and bring back some great memories. I am interested to learn more about the EPOH project. According to the site this is a project with a different village that creates bags, scarves, and textiles. I love people with passion!

Book List

So I just finished reading a couple of really good books. The authors concepts are great for small business entrepreneurs who strive for excellence in their local communities. I especially enjoyed reading the stories of how real people and businesses flourished in their local economies and analyzing the path that made them great.

Small Giants by Bo Burlingham

I especially like Bo's chapter called, "The Mona Lisa Principle," where he describes how every community has its own character. He describes small giants as businesses that are so "intimately connected to the place where they're located that it's hard to imagine them being anywhere else." He goes on to say, "The companies' owners and employees have a strong sense of who they are, and where they belong, and how they're making a difference to their neighbors, friends, and others they touch."

Deep Economy by Bill McKibben

I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with Mr. McKibben is this book, but I still thought it was a good read. He tended to take some of his concepts to an extreme but he still managed to offer rich details of local economies across the world.

STUMPTOWN coffee

www.stumptowncoffee.com

Yes, this is what coffee looks like before it ever reaches your cup....Inside this sweet fruit you find the seed which, when dried, becomes one of the worlds most traded commodity...the coffee bean! We will talk about this in a future post. I did want to introduce a coffee company that I have been following for sometime now....Stumptown Coffee in Portland, Oregon. In fact they are king of coffee with 5 locations in Portland and 2 more in Seattle, Washington. You do not find many places like this on the east coast.

This is one of their Seattle Locations.


I like how they incorporated some graphics of the African farms and washing stations on their wall



This is the entrance to one of their new stores in the lobby of Portland's Ace Hotel


Inside the Ace location


I like the way they used the space around the bar at this downtown Portland location.