Yesterday I took delivery of a few new coffees for Rocket Coffee Roasters. Among them was this incredible Panama Piedra de Candela from the Finca Hartmann. This coffee is among those up for auction in the 2006 Best of Panama internet auction held by the Panama Specialty Coffee Association.

You can read more about the Finca Hartmann here; http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/hartmann/index.html

Rocket Coffee Roasters will have this coffee for sale beginning next week. This coffee is in limited supply and is sure to go quickly.

Other new coffees are a Papa New Guinea - Red Mountain and a Mexican Hildalgo Pluma.

coffee meets grinder

My new toy?

Maybe...I'm trying to negotiate a fair purchase price on this 12 kilo San Fransican roaster. If I succeed it will bring the number of roasters at the roastery to four. Currently I use a 10 kilo Ambex for production, a 2 kilo Ambex for my sample roaster and a 5 kilo Probat which I'm refurbishing at this moment.

A New Zealand company is using some unusual tactics to grab customers' attention. The Brazil cafe commissioned a company to create specialty branded trash cans to promote their coffees. The trash cans are shaped like coffee cups, complete with protective sleeve and stir stick, and shout "Coffee taste like crap?" insinuating that coffee drinkers should ditch their sub-par beverages and head for a Brazil location, to which the cans helpfully point the way. Located in a popular Auckland neighborhood with many independent cafes as well as corporate chains, the cans that were placed outside a Starbucks had their slogans removed by Starbucks employees who were unhappy about them. There is little doubt that the company wasn't a big fan, either.

I'm proud to announce that Rocket Coffee Roasters is now a full member in the Cup of Excellence program! This proves Rocket Coffee Roasters commitment to quality and sustainability as we are the only member of this program in the State of Arizona.

Here is a brief excerpt from the Cup of Excellence website ...


The Cup of Excellence is the most esteemed award given out for top coffees. These awards come from a strict competition that selects the very best coffee produced in that country for that particular year. These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers and are cupped at least five different times during the competition process. Only coffees that continuously score high enough are allowed to move forward in the competition. The final winners are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence® and sold to the highest bidder during an internet auction.

To read more about this excellent program you may go to the Cup of Excellence website by clicking on this link http://www.cupofexcellence.org/

Look for 2006 Cup of Excellence Colombia coffees roasted to perfection by Rocket Coffee Roasters coming soon!

How about that? Rocket Coffee Roasters is the "Official Coffee" of Arizona Coffee. I guess we are making a dent in this huge coffee wasteland known as Arizona! Now if the local coffee shops could get a freakin clue, actually try and learn about their core product, coffee, and start worrying about quality instead of the bottom line and the allmighty dollar, then I'd feel we are making real progress!

That's it, peaceout, I'm heading to Charlotte for the SCAA show!