Selected Best of Pittsburgh 2008
For a limited time, we are offering 12oz cups of two micro-lot coffees. Think of the micro lots as the creme de la creme- the best coffee to come from a particular harvest. So far the reviews have been outstanding.
First up, GALAPAGITO, a micro-lot from the La Tortuga Project in Honduras.
Second, LIMONCILLO, the 2nd place coffee from the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence.
These two will not last long.
Here’s a new menu for you to think about before we open tomorrow. No house coffee on Sundays, peeps.
We’ve got the Gaturiri Auction Lot Kenya up first- and I’d say it’s the best coffee we’ve had all year (if you like bright/sweet/smooth that is). Please try it black. Next up we’ve got the new crop Costa Rica from the Flecha Roja project. The Rica is full of ripe cherry/grape deliciousness and I dare you to put it up against any of this grocery store grade Terrazu I’ve heard you’ve been buying. Following that we’ve got the big chocolatey Guat… ITZAMNA (fka El Cuervo). It’s big and sweet- and Itzamna is a great new name. We’ve also still got the awesome Honduras- La Tortuga. Yes yes we also have some El Diablo for you dark roast people… but we have it all the time so try the Flecha Roja.
Want something cold- cold brewed iced coffee on tap all day.
Hooray coffee.
We are now carrying two new items in our store- the Filtron Cold Water Coffee Brewer and the Yama Coffee Syphon. Both cold water brewing (invented by 1840’s Dutch settlers) and syphoning (invented in 1830’s Germany) have been around for years but are making a comeback in this country as popular ways to brew coffee at home.
If you have been enjoying our iced coffee this summer, you can now make your own at home with the Filtron home unit. With the filtron you brew a coffee concentrate that you can dilute with hot or cold water to any strength you like. The concentrate, when refrigerated, keeps for weeks! Cold brewed coffee is also easier on the stomach… take some to the grandparents house.
If you’ve been enjoying coffee from our Clover- the Syphon is the closest brewing method in taste as well as in the actual brewing mechanics. There’s no squeegie to clean up the mess but it’s definitely the nerdiest and most rewarding way to brew a great cup at home. You get to play with fire, boiling water, and coffee all at the same time. It’s a little nerve wracking the first time you try to use it, but it’s a lot of fun and the coffee comes out super sweet.
Nice writeup by The Associated Press today on the Strip District, it’s history, and how the “Trendy, gritty wed…” in the former “shantytown”. Please read the article, then continue reading this post…
Ok done reading? Good…
One thing I want to clarify is my “bragging” about Starbucks and Panera closing in the Strip. Both businesses had closed before we were open for business. I don’t know the reasons why either closed, but it certainly was interesting to learn this did happen. Everyone has their theories, but I can’t say that it would be a good thing for an area struggling for a fresh start to have successful, large companies leaving the area. Does the mayor “brag” when a major corporation moves it’s headquarters to New York? Yeah no. What does that statement have anything to do with why the Strip is so great? Isn’t that what the article was about- all that trend and grit and whatnot? Well, it’s what happens when something is taken out of context… months later.
We had been interviewed by an AP reporter back in April. She was working on a story about how some shops survive in a Walmart world. The Strip is a natural place to focus, seeing how there are numerous examples of successful independent businesses. Just how do the “little guys” do it? The reporter put the question to me several different ways, but it basically boiled down to: given the ubiquitous nature of Starbucks and other big chains, how does a small company such as ours stay afloat in today’s economy?
My response was that we do not try to compete with chains, just as an independent fine dining establishment does not compete with your local burger chain. I explained that if we tried to “compete” with the big chains we would lose every time. By this I mean if we were to do everything as Starbucks does- from the menu and the ambiance to the taste of the drinks themselves… I don’t think we’d stay in business very long. I would not expect customers to come out of their way to seek out an independent business offering the same product that could be had in nearly any corner of our country. People generally aren’t going to show up at your door with bags of money because you’re a nice person and/or they feel bad for you and/or they’d rather “give their business to the local guy/gal” and/or they want to support the community. I explained that’s a bunch of BS.
For us to survive, I explained, we can’t just “compete”… we have to do FAR better. We have to offer a far superior product at a competitive price to the chains while paying much higher costs for said product, while investing an enormous amount of time and energy into training our staff, and then working that business model day after day and improve every day. We do it because we believe in our business and what we serve- and we’re proud to stand behind it. We have integrity and this isn’t just a job or a way for us to spend our days and make some money.
Our goal is that each time a customer comes in we’re better as a business than the last time they came in. We don’t try to be everything to everyone- we focus on something and do it really damn well. The more we’ve focused our business, the more successful we’ve become. I kind of got the impression that I wasn’t answering the way she had hoped. I got pretty excited about our business (like I do on this blog at times), why we’re different, and what the future holds for the area. I’m “bullish” as they say.
So the interview ended, some photos were taken (I hope to get my hands on them sometime), and we waited. After a couple of months we hadn’t heard or seen anything about an article, so I searched around online and found this:
Small businesses fighting to survive
Many owners say they are hanging by a thread that may soon snap
This writeup focused on how tough it is for some small businesses- how they’re down on the economy, how they’re losing money, and so on. It is tough out there, but honestly I told the reporter that I feel like I have more job security now than when I worked my “cushy” corporate job, had a pension, etc. because we control our own destiny. I was excited about the Pittsburgh coffee scene and all the great things we were going to help bring to the area. I guess I just didn’t have enough negative things to say- so that’s why it took nearly four months for my interview comments to be taken out of context.
Have you ever found yourself on a beautiful summer Saturday afternoon… in front of a computer… posting on an internet message board? Wait it gets better.
On a message board, no a single discussion thread, very specific to your particular interest? An interest your friends may consider kind of an obsession? Do you find yourself getting really fired up and just posting a whole bunch of stuff that probably few folks outside of that inner circle will ever read? Have you ever done that?
It goes down like this… have you ever just found yourself on a website called Coffee Geek, in the forums, posting in Regional>>United States East>>Subject: Do you dare rate Pittsburgh’s coffee bars?
I’m crazy- and I just spent an hour on there. I just keep getting sucked in. Damn you coffeegeek.
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