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The cost of Kurriged

2011-12-12T19:23:34Z

The title of this post refers to that nifty little K-cup which is all the rage with the modern day crowd. I think everyone who own's one of these knows that their coffee fix is costing a little more then the old way.

Lets do some rough calculations. I just went to the K website and a 5 pack of x-brands cups cost 3.79 or 75 cents. A pound (454 grams( of Evergreen coffee brewed in a drip maker costs 31 cents per cup based on a 6 cup coffee maker drip brew of 65 grams of coffee, that 7 pots of coffee per 454 gr bag or 42 cups.

The cost of K-cups in this example is 44 cents more then drip / cup of coffee. Based on 2 cups per day thats 320 dollars per year. Even a cheap grinder and drip maker is under 150.

Payback of this investment is under 6 months.

The profit of the K-cup is unbelieveable but the consumer is duped again. I can hardly wait for the toilet paper equivalent.

And yes it still stale crappy tasting albiet better then the local grocers open coffee bins , but I do like the sound of German chocolate flavoured coffee.

Lesson learned is nothing new, buy fresh roasted quality coffee.

Tips for mypressi use

2010-06-20T14:25:27Z

For most espresso fiends mypressi will be their on the road espresso fix. While the mypressi comes very well equipped right down to a carry bag I suggest a couple of extra's. Get a plastic tray to place the unit into after you do a pull of a shot.

Bring rags to cleanup, and wrap your favourite espresso cup up in them. Make sure its a sturdy cup. Have a sink handy to wash all the parts up in. All this sounds like a no-brainer but you know how messy coffee prep can be and these little extras can really help.

btw just had an awesome shot. Genius

Tea Tea Tea

2010-04-16T13:38:30Z

I am busy in the backroom setting up the tea pages. We will have about a dozen offerings at first and go from there. I look forward to the world of tea expanding Evergreen's online presence. I also like the ease of shipping tea, coffee is a pain that way. We will carrying black, green, blended, rooibos and others at better prices then what I have seen in Canada so far.

As a coffee roaster who enjoys his tea I seeked out a true tea expert and found Dethlesen & Balk approach to this complex business fun and refreshing like their products. These people have been in business since 1836, I look forward to a long relationship.

Shipping is a curse

2010-04-16T13:26:59Z

Recently I have had a flurry of orders for Aeropress filters. Like the Aeropress itself these are small but awkward to pack. Customers complain about paying 10 bucks to ship a couple of packages of filters. The shipping business is a profitable one from what I can see, but for those small orders its a rip off for the customer and the seller. Anyone have ideas?

Salut Fair Trade until next time

2010-02-09T03:02:44Z

It is with some disappointment that I sent Transfair an email to end my licensee as of 2010. While I support the movement most of my clients were indifferent. Perhaps I got into this too soon, whatever the case I must question the whole movement not the underlying raison d'etre of fair trade but the number of staff required to support it, do we really need all these expensive canadian salaries on the transfair payroll to support developing countries who represent most of the fair trade commodities. I would prefer if we employed students in Canada to do transfairs work not full time staff in Ottawa, my 2 cents. I would welcome your view.

Cafe Rating in the Travel Log

2010-01-13T01:56:44Z

Before I get loads of emails from irate cafe owners, lets me explain my ratings scoring. I am keeping it simple. I will rate cafes from 1 to 3 stars. 1 Is the standard score for any reputable speciality coffee chain (you know who these are!!). 3 stars means that this cafe approaches coffee uptopia in that it is a 3rd wave cafe and it is serving all styles of coffee preparation not just espresso. 2 to 3 stars are absolute must visit especially if they are the only game in town. Have one and make sure you let me know if you agree or disagree.

Commerical Food marketing and coffee

2009-12-07T18:09:47Z

Well I am no foodie, in fact I could not cook myself out of my car but I appreciate good food and the challenge for coffee people to make coffee culinary. To the majority of us its still Joe, a reference I believe goes back to the American GI's who fought in WW2 and drank the Frankenstein coffee creation known as freeze dried coffee, well I can imagine it was fine considering the bigger picture.

Anyways since I am a coffee guy I look at supermarkets with some suspicion and because they always make sure the coffee beans are filled up in the bins and the bagged coffee is all filled up with out a gap to be seen. That tells me one of two things either non is buying or someone is filling the shelf constantly. I believe this might be a store wide policy in most larger operators but who knows.

To be fair this is not the markets fault I believe coffee is just riding the corporate grocery wave and its bigger is better to hell with freshness.

But coffee is special and fragile and you must buy it fresh and even the least expensive brewer will bring out whatever that coffee can offer.

Old Blogs

2009-12-04T03:02:27Z

September 14

Twists and Turns

Somehow my office services dept (had to give it a name) has now jumped to No 1 in my sales. Some months back I installed 3 Saeco SG200 machines in an office of 200+ people. These are vending style machines which are an upsized version of the Saeco Automatica line. My espresso now feeds these people on a daily basis. A 4th machine is now going into a second company. While the investment is high so is the return. How did I get here? My original goal for Evergreen was to get the best coffees and roast them for Canada. Now that this has happened I welcome the the monies which will enable me to get these great coffees sooner rather then later.

Whats the point of this post?, well if you're looking for a an office environment friendly machine and you are not hip or rich enough to afford an office barista these machines are a great comprimise. In life we learn to be patient a bit while maintaining a winding path towards a goal. Later

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August 18

Coffee bins

Had a nice chat with someone in the coffee business the other day, he said he laughed when he saw bins of coffee in coffee shops, and this inspired this blog post, with few exceptions this coffee is likely even more stale then coffee in sealed valve bags. I like other people in the business have bins for coffee but I use these for blending coffees e.g. making my espresso or when I run out of rubbermaid containers when I am roasting large orders. While they look great and give the illusion of freshness quite the opposite is true. Ask your favourite shope how old the coffee is in their bins and make your choice. If your cafe has limited amounts of coffee on display in bins and similar then this is good sign but do not be afraid to ask how old the coffee is.

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March 19

Growing the business

Here some thoughts if anyone is reading this. A lot has happened since my last post, my little company has grown slowly but surely. I like being on a first name basis with all my clients, most of which are local. I am struggling with the amount of coffee I want to keep on hand so that it turns over a fresh as possible. To that end I have kept the selection on the lean side. I have to please the FT/Organic crowd and the people whom want the convential coffees, this has also crampled the selection on both sides. As my customer base increases this problem will disappear.

On the economic front we are now in a turmoil globally but their are signs of a bottoming out. The CAD dollar is showing signs of a recovery. This will enable me to head south of the border for some bags of coffees I cannot get up here.

I also selling Saeco equipment but I ran face first into the aforementioned crash in the economy. But I will persist and get my little showroom built, for those in the Saint-Lazare/Husdon area of Quebec contact me for a personal consulation.

Here's to spring arriving and a promise of more frequent and meatier posts. I will be at the Ste Anne Market again this year and will appear at the Boox N beans (Ste Anne) 1 year anniversary for coffee demos and some live roasting.

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November 06

CAFE Scene in Montreal

Thought it timely to add a short list of must do cafes in Montreal.

Espresso specialists - but they do much more.

Cafe Myriade (Mackay - across from Concordia)

Cafe In Gamba - Park Ave

Cafe Art Java - Mont Royal

Cafe Veritas (old city) - I haven't actually been there yet but I have heard good things.

There are lots more but I believe to be the leading cafes right now. All these cafes have opened in recent weeks or at most the last year or two.

10:26 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Food and drink

July 06

Selling at Organic market

Well this past Saturday I took a small second step in Evergreens history, I sold freshly roasted coffee at a local market which 'unoffically' calls itself an organic market. I did ok for a first day but would have doubled my sales had I had organic/fairly traded coffee on hand. Well the application is on its way to the transfair organization. I witnessed first hand the power of this movement. Kudos to transfair. Until next week

First Blogs - originally on Windows Live

2009-12-04T02:56:21Z

Coffee Talk for Nov 19th, 2007 - How to store fresh roasted coffee

Everyone has their favourite old wives tale about storing coffee. Freeze it, seal it in baggies, containers or a variation of all of the above. As you have learned from reading here coffee begins loosing its freshness 7-10 days after roasting. My advice is kind of a trick question as well as practical information. In the not so distant past coffee was roasted in each supermarket. Like so many old ways of doing things they had it right. You bought only what you needed for a week or two. That's the best advice I have. If you can buy from a roaster every few weeks only what you need, go for it. Regardless, only grind the coffee when you are ready to brew, ground coffee looses its freshness minutes after grinding. Store the whole bean coffee in a tightly sealed container. I find putting the container in a freezer or fridge changes nothing. So simply put buy fresh roasted coffee every week or two, store it a sealed container, and grind only when you are ready to brew it. Enjoy your fresh coffee!!!.

Next time - Roast Styles.

Coffee Talk for Nov 11th, 2007 - So you bought fresh roasted coffee, how long does it stay fresh ?

In these days of mass production I am waiting for the day when coffee (you know the brands) will be roasted, packaged and shipped from far off lands like China or India. Maybe they already are I could not say and I'll never drink them and neither should you. When I roast coffee that I know will not be used right away I package the coffee using foil bags with one way valves, heat sealed. The valve allows Co2 gas to release from the sealed bag. It's is a one way valve which means gas can leave but no Oxygen can get in. Oxygen will quickly make the coffee stale, in fact coffee left outside of a sealed bag will begin going stale in about 7-10 days. Co2 is the result of the coffee roast process and if there was no valve then the bag would actually blow open. The valve adds to the cost of packaging but its worth it. When I first got into coffee a roaster showed me a competitors bags where they actually made a pin hole in to release the Co2 gas. So to save some monies they sold a stale product at top dollar to a major retailer in Canada. So look for the bags with the valves this is a good sign.

Coffee Talk for Nov 2nd, 2007 - Roast Dates

Well it took long enough but Evergreen Coffee Company is now operating from Deep Roaster headquarters. I am thrilled to offer you fresh roasted coffee. Its a well known fact that the best pre-roasted coffee (what makes it the best???, the price????) is less satisfying then any quality fresh roasted coffee. Do not be fooled by the fancy bags and labels. Do not buy coffee unless it has got a roast date on it. Best by day does not count. When you find some coffee with roast dates let me know at Sales or better yet buy Evergreen Coffee and save yourself the pain.

Welcome to the new website

2009-12-02T18:23:40Z

I have taken a big step to spend more time on coffee and less on coding HTML. The site is going to change looks over the next months but not much, I will however be adding a lot of content. Squarespace has so many cool templates you cannot imagine. More important to me is to strike a conversation or two with fellow coffee people and customers. Stay Tuned.