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.

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