Los Planes Pacamara Honey

In February, I had a chance to visit the coffee farm Finca Los Planes in the Chelatanango region of El Salvador. Los Planes is owned by Sergio and Isabel Ticas. Their farm is known for excellent Red Bourbon and Pacamara coffee varietals. Some have called their Pacamara the best in the world. Their Pacamara variety, which carries the name of the Finca(farm), Los Planes, has long been a favorite coffee of mine. Needless to say, it was an experience I will not soon forget.

On our trip, we had a chance to taste the new crop of coffees. Sergio and his staff had done some experimenting with processing methods during this harvest. One of the ways they processed the coffee is referred to as “Honey” process. This involves removing only the outer skin of the coffee cherry and leaving the soft part of the fruit on the coffee bean. The coffee is then dried on the patios with the mucilage still intact. Processing coffee in this fashion takes more care and attention but if all goes well, an amazingly clean, sweet cup of coffee is the result. Well, that’s exactly what happened. When we tasted it, we knew we had something excellent on our hands.

The exciting thing is that Jeff Taylor, from PT’s Coffee Roasters, allowed us to secure exclusivity on the small lot of Honey-processed Pacamara coffee (They kept back a small portion for their own uses but the rest is all ours!). Of course PT’s is roasting it for us, so you know it’g good. It’s a pretty amazing opportunity for a shop of our size and scope. If you are interested in trying some of this beautiful Los Planes Pacamara Honey coffee, you’ll need to come in to the shop, because it’s simply not available any where else! We’ll happily brew it for you by the cup or you can purchase a pound to take home and enjoy. Hurry, though. We won’t have it around for long.

Coffee Exclusive

You can get some soon. I promise.

Thoughts from a Barista…

Coffee.

I get asked daily about this product. I am asked anything from brewing techniques to something as simple as what the point of coffee is. Some questions come easily for me while others take research.

That is why I do this though. It is a learning process for me just as much as it is for the customer. I can guarantee if you ask me a question about coffee that I do not know the answer to, I will have the answer for you by the time you walk out of our door. I have just as many questions as the next person, and sometimes the customer thinks of something I have never thought of.

Simply put, the best thing for everyone is education between the barista and the customer. As long as we, as an industry, are discovering new things about coffee I can promise you I will be working in the coffee industry and always learning more about it. I do not see any signs of this industry ever learning everything we can, so I also will not stop educating myself as a barista.

Coffee is a product that over the years I have grown to love. Even though it is sometimes frustrating to pull the perfect shot or pour the perfect rosetta, seeing the smile on someone’s face when I push their drink across the counter makes it all worth it. Everything that I have worked so hard for is incased in that one moment when I see a customer’s satisfaction in the product I am serving them. It is a great experience, and something I believe we, as the staff of The Coffee Ethic, really strive for.

My goal is to daily educate people and be educated about coffee. It is something that I strive for at the shop and at home. I am constantly learning and am eager to share my knowledge. I don’t know even half of what there is out their about coffee but very few do. The coffee industry is always pushing forward so we are all learning as a community. Lucky for me though, I have a few great teachers within arms reach whenever I need them.

So pull a chair up to the bar and have a talk with any of my fellow baristas or me. We are excited about coffee and want to share the excitement with you.

After all at the end of the day, the point of coffee is simply to taste good.

-Jacque

Earth Day at Drury

The Coffee Ethic helps support Earth Day at Drury!  Here are a couple of pics of Jaque serving up some great lattes and espresso drinks the masses at the Drury Student Center.  Thanks Drury for letting us be part of your event!

March Frequent User Winner!

Erin Booth-O’Rear has won the drawing for March.  Erin not only received a free drink by completing her car, but also has won another free drink for winning the drawing!

We collect your frequent user cards every month and do a drawing with those that have their name and contact info on the card.  We have given away t-shirts, mugs, coffee and drinks.  Make sure you put your name and contact on the card!

We gave the building a little face lift

You may notice a change on the Park Central Square landscape.

We’re hosting a Latte Art Throwdown

Check this link & come if you can…

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=290967310919&index=1

Update from Tom in El Salvador

Sitting in the hotel lobby killing some time before grabbing some dinner. Today was amazing so far. 3.5 hrs of sleep @ Matt’s but the travel was smooth as silk.

We met up w/ Sergio (who owns Los Planes) and he went to lunch w/ us by our hotel. There is an amazing cafe in the outdoor mall next to us called Viva Espresso. They serve all the coffees we know & love. Plus they’ve had multiple National Barista Champs. The owners are friends of Jeff (and now us!) We sat there, talked to the owners (Rico & Lily) along w/ Sergio. Then Lucia (from Las Mercedes) showed up w/ her family and Sergio’s wife, Isabel, showed up w/ her family. It was like a meeting of El Salvadoran coffee royalty. Awesome.

Tomorrow we drive up to Los Planes. It’s North/East almost in Honduras. We’ll be there until Sunday, watching the harvest (it’s in full process), learning about how coffee is processed, hiking around checking out the crop, and whatever else they want us to do. Monday we’re going to cup a bunch of coffees at a processing mill. Then come back to Viva Espresso to test some espresso Jeff brought and watch their Baristas go through their competition routines. After that, we’re going to visit another one of their cafes and eat at a restaurant near there.  That’s all I know.

The Coffee Ethic Wins!

The Coffee Ethic has won the ozarks.metromix.com “best of award” for best coffee shop!  Thanks for all your votes and thanks for being great customers!  Check it out at  www.ozarks.metromix.com

The Coffee Ethic caters weddings (and more).

You may have heard The Coffee Ethic is now offering catering service with our mobile espresso bar. This past weekend Jon and David served over 300 lattes and cappuccinos at the wedding show. This Saturday we will be set up at Samuel Cedars in Rogersville to show off our service to Brides and Grooms planning their ’10 weddings. If you are getting married, come check us out.

More details are available on our catering page – Espresso Bar Event Catering