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.

2009 USBC

Those that are interested....the USBC (US Barista Championship) just took place in Portland, Oregon over the weekend. The winner is a guy from Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea in Chicago.

http://www.usbc2009.com/index.php

The World Championship and Specialty Coffee Association Conference will take place this year in Atlanta, GA the weekend of April 18-19. I will be in attendance.

blog

This is one of the websites I have been following. The guy is from the UK and has tons of insights into the coffee world. He won the world barista competition in 2007, which may sound nerdy, but is a huge accomplishment. Think of it as the iron chef for coffee....maybe!?!

www.jimseven.com

Step Back

I have been getting a lot of questions about the shop but have noticed that most of the questions have been asked with a puzzling and surprised toned...at least from those that have known me for awhile. Usually when someone approaches me and asks, "You're opening a coffee shop?," I usually end up with a smile and a simple nod...yes. Not because I think it's a funny question but because I know I am about to get hammered with several follow ups. The intuitive look on the faces are great...and I love explaining and sharing what I like to call my coffee passion....That's why I think it serves to take a step back and mention just where this passion came from.

I am currently teaching a Sunday school class to a group of 10th grade guys and this past Sunday we spent some time talking about where our desires come from and what are the things that we are passionate about. Boats, hockey, science, engineering, politics, law, and "I don't know" were the responses. Seven different answers, and I am surprised not one of them said girls. I think they were really thinking hard about their answers. I shared with them the different passions I have had growing up, and the strong desire to go into the medical field when I was their age. That desire stuck with me through high school and into my first years of college...I even finished all the pre-med classes at Wake Forest and ended up majoring in Biology, but never did apply to medical school. While the description of a doctor still fascinates me today, I simply do not have the passion to be a practicing physician. I still have a similar desire but just a different direction.

Desire is a key word in my life. Psalm 37:4 tells me that I should "delight [my]self in the Lord and He will give [me] the desires of [my] heart....but wait, I also have desires when I do not delight myself in the Lord. So where do those come from? I think this verse was a critical turning point in my life. I started to differentiate the desires in my life and gain a firmer understanding of how to sort God's will in my life from my own free will. I had just started my senior year at Wake, and I was supposed to know what I was going to do when I graduated...after all, everyone else did. I was clueless...but I knew I was changing course. I became somewhat independent and began to soak in what the psalmist explains in the first part of that verse...delighting myself in the Lord. To someone who is not a christian, this may be strange, maybe almost even taboo, but to me it was real and still is today. A lot of my desires have been desires that I have created out of envy, greed, idolatry, recognition, or fame. While they are still real desires, they are desires that tend to lead me into dead ends because they cause me to stand on my own understanding of what would be best for me. The last five years, while I've stumbled a few times, I have learned the importance of delighting first then waiting on my desires instead of flipping it and seeking my desires first. With that said, two desires have grown and began to brew in my heart...no pun intended. Africa and Coffee. I was introduced to Africa, specifically the eastern, Sub-Saharan countries, by a friend of mine in high school and have been fascinated with the land and people ever since. I've had opportunities to travel to several of the countries in this region and interact with the people. While on my second trip to Kenya, after the culture shock subsided, I began to take a keen interest in the social and community structures of the country. The people lived on what the land gave them and depended on a strong harvest each growing season. This was where my passion for coffee was ignited. Coffee and tea are the two main commodities exported out of the country each fiscal year and play a large part in the lives of the people. The idea for Jubala Village Coffee is to bring these two passions together. To serve and perfect one of the lands richest commodities while socially helping those that produce it. I hope this helps explain a little bit of why I am starting this venture, but I would still encourage you to ask! After all, it is my passion.

Warmer Days

So my old room mate (who got married this past weekend) thought it was strange that I was opening a coffee shop but didn't own a coffee machine for the house. Yes, I would agree with him, that is strange....but what he did not know, because he was never at the house, was that I make my coffee at home differently. I should first note that I don't drink coffee or espresso for the quick jolt of caffeine that it may give you. Therefore I hardly ever drink it first thing in the morning. Although I am learning other methods, there are a couple of ways I like to brew my coffee at home. French Press and Vac Pot. I like the French Press because I can make enough coffee for a cup or two, and because it by far gives the best taste when made right! The only drawback with the french press is the residue left at the bottom of the cup when the entire press is poured. The funnest way (in my opinion) to make coffee is using the vac pot method. This brings me to the purpose of my post. I am far from even getting close to perfecting this method but it has been a hit at the house when I make if for friends. The vac pot not only makes a great cup of coffee, but it also creates an entertaining way to engage conversation around coffee. I am posting a link to a youtube video that shows a shop in San Francisco called Blue Bottle Coffee using this technique.

I would say they are well on their way to perfecting the vac pot. They use halogen lights to heat the water which then siphons up into the top chamber where the brewing takes place. After a minute or so of brewing the pot is pulled off the heating source and the coffee filters back down into the bottom chamber and is then poured. The device I have at home is much less sophisticated than what these guys use but 1/500 the the cost. My vac pot put me back $40, so you do the math! (hint: multiply my cost by 500)

Chilly Days

I think the cold weather caused me to go into hibernation these past few months. Just because I do not update the site doesn't mean that everything has stalled. In fact things are moving forward nicely. Lafayette has finished construction of the underground parking and they've started the steel framing. I will post pictures of the development soon. There is still not an accurate date of when construction will cease, but it should be at least 9 more months. I hope the doors will be wide open before Christmas...

In the mean time, I have been having a lot of fun researching and planning for Jubala. While I have a good grasp of my concept, I am always looking for ways to improve it. After all this is a business. I have learned a lot from Counter Culture Coffee, our coffee roaster. They are well respected in the the coffee industry and strive for coffee excellence... a concept I am very fond of. CCC is based in Durham and roast for a few specialty coffee shops around the Triangle. One of my favorite spots is 3 Cups in Chapel Hill. http://www.3cups.net/

This place has become a local favorite to those living in and around Chapel Hill. They serve five or six coffee origins daily, all from Counter Culture Coffee. There are several ways they make their coffee. You will not find the brewing equipment that most are used to here. Instead of brewing large batches of coffee every hour in automatic brewing machines, they go a different route. If you need a cup to go, they most likely will make a cup using a drip cone technique. This process involves ground coffee, a porcelain drip cone, a filter, hot water, and your "to go" cup. The filter is placed in the porcelain cone and the ground coffee is then dropped in. Hot water and gravity do the rest. Water is poured into the filter and the coffee filters through the cone right into your cup. Easy concept, yet entertaining to watch.
If you decide to stay you have the option to order a french press. They combine the coffee and hot water in one of four french press sizes and give you a tray with the french press, a sand timer, and a warm mug. When the timer is done you push down on the press, pour, and enjoy. There are many other reasons why I enjoy 3 Cups, but I encourage you to visit yourself!

News and Observer

Everyday I ride by the Lafayette Development wondering when construction is going to pick back up. I've been in contact with the development and it seems that they have been waiting on financing from their lender. Yes the economy is down and times may seem difficult but it is still important to move forward and not backwards. That is exactly what Lafayette is doing....Yesterday the News and Observer released an article in the business section on the development. They even mention the coffee shop. In case you missed it here is a link to the article. More to come!
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1256835.html

Update

Wow! sorry I have not updated the blog in awhile. Honestly I didn't know anyone read about us and the coffee shop but have recently been asked by several friends why I haven't posted any new updates. We are still moving along with things and while it may be in slow motion, the ball is still rolling forward. We meet with the development later this week to discuss construction timelines. Hopefully by this weekend we will have a better understanding of when we will open. We wanted to attach a drawing of a possibility of what the inside layout may look like. I, Andrew, visit many coffee shops, mentally taking note of what works and what doesn't. While I am no architect, I am fascinated by the concept of restaurant design and the utilization of space. Yes Starbucks is king but there is not much about it that I like, atleast when you've been to other community coffee shops. This first design option is a bar design that Ron Cox help me design. There are two main entrances. One side faces the parking lot for the early morning crowd to quickly get in and out. The other entrance opens to the courtyard to accomadate those looking for a relaxing afternoon or evening getaway under the three large oaks. Let us know what you think....you won't hurt our feelings!