Merry Christmas!

Okay, not really, but we bet you didn't know that we produce all Javaganda promotional materials ourselves! From beverage research and testing, conceptual design development, all the way to photography and final editing, our brilliant, crack crew of designers and marketeers continue to pull off some amazing shots. We just shot our Christmas 2009 beverage this morning to the sounds of Frank crooning in the background.

Getting these gingerbread men to stay still was the biggest challenge. As a disciplinary measure, we ate them.

Rebecca Parker, designer/baker/candle-stick maker continues to concept some amazing designs - even after all of these years.

Gordon Lazzaroni does most of our photography work exclusively. Consider yourself plugged Gordo...www.lazzaronephotography.com

Super-Adam is the drink concoctor? extraordinaire...

Merrimint White Mocha anyone?

French Press with Shawn

Shawn Hamilton, Java City's Roast Master, demonstrates the art of brewing the perfect French Press.

It's Look-A-Like Friday at Java City!

Our brand representatives all visited our offices this week for our bi-annual sales meeting. Our apologies to Ryan and Bill. We couldn't help ourselves.

Ryan Shinn (a.k.a Dr. Evil) - Our rising star in the southwest U.S.

Bill Giampertruzzi (Billy G.) is our Director of Sales for the Aramark division. We can sit and listen to this guy for hours....

Coffee Guy on Vacation

So what do coffee guys do on vacation? If you have been traveling a lot, you lock yourself in your house for a week and chill out and eat home cooked meals. Otherwise you usually spend it somewhere in the coffee world on somewhat of a working vacation.. This year during my vacation, I was invited to run an inter-island cupping for the Hawaiian Coffee Association.

This will be the first time Hawaii has ever really held an event that allowed samples from farms from all over the islands to participate in competition. At the beginning we were unsure if anybody would even participate. The samples came trickling in and it looked like there would be about 15 farms participating. Then right at the end of the time allowed to submit samples, they came flowing in. The total ended up being 69!

All of the samples were coded with a two digit number and then mailed to me. Nobody on the judging panel knows which farm, island or district the coffees are from- it’s truly blind. We started it off by roasting all of the samples, cupping them and scoring them on the mainland. This was done to get a first look at the coffees, weed out some, and get an initial ranking of the group.

The cupping of the first group of samples went really well. We got through all 69 coffees in two days- no easy feat! There were a couple of … ummmm… no so good coffees, a big group of nice ones and a handful of some really exceptional ones. Now that they have all been ranked, I sent the samples back to the Hawaiian Coffee Association for delivery to a cupping lab on Maui. Here we will take the top scoring coffees, re-roast them and go through the process all over again with the top half of the group.

Once the process is done the HCA will be giving the rankings to the farmers to where they stack up in their district or island as well as how the stack up against coffees from other places in the islands.

New Posh Bagel in Folsom

Hey Folsom-ites! If you've been looking for a place to enjoy our coffee, look no further than Posh Bagel! The new Posh at the corner of East Natoma and Blue Ravine is set to open Thursday, July 9th. Posh Bagel will proudly brew Java City coffee to compliment their incredible morning breakfast bagels and afternoon bagel sandwiches. Check it out! Oh, and pay no mind to the 'other' coffee shop next door...

Fireworks safey

Enjoy your Java City brew this year with your fireworks. Be it a roman candle, bottle rocket, black cat, superman, flip-daisy, black hammer, M80, cherry bomb, Korean Airliner, french dip, dipsy-doodle, crazy panther, log jammer, or fly-by-night, your snakes and spiders are best enjoyed with a cup of our smooth brew.

Santa Anita de Costa Rica

By now you've seen the news and read the chatter. So here's the scoop. On July 1st, we’re officially launching our newest limited edition coffee: Santa Anita de Costa Rica. Although we produce some incredibly great tasting coffee, our roasters have never been this crazy excited. From the moment Shawn and Danny cupped the first batch, we felt like we were on to something special.

These incredibly fresh beans are light roasted to preserve their amazing balance. They brew a smooth cup with a hint of crisp apple pie aroma, and vanilla & spicy cinnamon notes.

These beans come from Hacienda Santa Anita, a 5th generation family owned farm located in the high altitude Naranjo region of Costa Rica.

We’ve chosen to partner with this farm not only for the great tasting beans they produce, but for their commitment to using sustainable practices.

By employing a unique ‘aqualpulp’ process, the farm at Santa Anita is able to depulp the red cherry skins from the beans with 95% less water than traditional depulping methods. This helps to reduce waterway pollution and preserve the natural environment.

2009 Rookie - Nick Guidry

We're always on the lookout for passionate, bearded, coffee geeks to serve as Java City brand representatives to bring our smooth killer brew to those who have lost hope and resigned themselves to a life where over-roasted swill is the acceptable norm. Deep breath. Meet Nick Guidry - our latest rookie to join the crew. Originally from the southeast, Nick enjoys red bean soup, worn out polo shirts, and long walks with his twin toy poodles.

Sorry Nick - we couldn't resist. But seriously, check the family lineage. You're in there somewhere...

This wasn't part of the training...

Bears, bikes, and killer coffee - oh my!

At Java City, we're constantly searching for great breakfast joints. The confluence of great food and great coffee just isn't that common. Fortunately, a new Black Bear Diner just opened down the road in Davis, CA. In addition to the crazy large servings, this unique little diner also serves our smooth Java City brew.

Although Black Bear has been long famous for the strategic placement of the black bear throughout their diners, they also add elements that are unique to the cities in which they operate. As the bear is to Black Bear so is the bicycle to the town of Davis - where there are no school buses and bikes outnumber cars!

When in Davis, do as the Davis-onians do? Check out Black Bear Diner at 255 2nd St. and be sure to order 'The Grizz'!

Nits & Tats

Everyone's got a Danny.....okay, not really. But we do - and he loves coffee. So much in fact that he takes his Portafilter display with him wherever he goes. Danny is our production manager, superb roaster, and humanitarian extraordinaire. Dude, you rock!

Tamp-tastic...


High cheese factor.


Portafilter (Ahem): A portafilter (or group handle) attaches to the group head of semi-automatic and piston-driven espresso machines, and carries a tamped puck of coffee grounds within its basket. It is usually made of brass, and is attached by a plastic or wooden handle. The portafilter forms a seal with the espresso machine's gasket, and directs high-pressure hot water through the coffee puck.


Beginning May 31, Danny (as part of team LUGGED NUTS) will be biking to Los Angeles from San Francisco - a 545 mile, 7-day trek. Want to help? Check out the following link and help Danny reach his starting goal:


http://www.tofighthiv.org/site/TR/AIDSLIFECYCLE8/AIDSLifeCycleCenter?px=1300841&pg=personal&fr_id=1080

Susan G. Komen Race-for-the-Cure (Saturday, May 9th)

It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of the Susan G. Komen ‘Race-for-the-Cure’ event this past Saturday, May 9^th. They forecasted just over 20,000 race participants and we feel like we got to meet most of them! Thank you again Sacramento for drinking our smooth brew and sharing with us your very personal stories!

We’re proud of our heritage. Many don’t know it – but we still roast our own beans right here in downtown Sacramento. Always have…always will!

Yes, even our CEO, Chuck Van Vleet makes the 5a.m. trek to help us start the brewing process.

These guys look a little too chipper. But then again, most of our sales guys never sleep. From left to right: Brian Granley, Chris Littlejohn, and Steve (Lamda, Lamda, Lamda) Lambdin.

Thanks Hillary, Alicia, Sunny, & Carol. Every year we can count on you. You ladies rock!

We like to think that we have a roast to meet every taste profile – from the newbie to the most discerning coffee drinker. We hit the sweet spot this year with Café del Corazon – a delicious blend of Fair Trade and organically certified beans.

 

We saw a lot of great signs throughout the day, but this one wins HANDS FREAKING DOWN!!!

Okay, so we just don’t like to waste coffee. I guess after a 3a.m. wake-up call, Melanie felt like she needed some joe-to-go! Oh, and Nathanael is just the guy to serve it up. Dude, you’re a little creepy, right?

Blending Coffee-Capitol Blend
Working with coffee is always fun. Sifting through all of the samples, trudging around the farms, working with the farmers to help produce that little jewel that we can bring in and roast.

But sifting through everything to find those small lots of coffees or finding farms off the beaten path is only part of it. Sometimes you get a task, like creating a blend of coffees that you have a consistent supply of, is a bit of a different matter, but never the less just as fun and rewarding.

First we have to go define what we want out of the blend- good with desserts or after dinner, breakfast, all day drinking..then we start looking at the coffee we already have and start blending different coffees together at different percentages. Inevitably, I just can't get it the way I want it...so then the roasting process starts over again. We will take current green inventory (raw coffee) and start tweaking the roasts on the coffees to get the blend to come out right. Then it's back to the blending table...this may happen 3-4 times before we get what we want.

This time we definatly got what we wanted when we created Captol Blend. We needed a coffee that you could drink with pastries or just by itself all day long. I love working on blends like this.. there is so much creativity you put into it by changinging the coffees, the roasting and the ratios that use.

If you get a chance- stop by one of the retail shops or on the web and pick some up

Indonesian Green Dragon

We just got in a new coffee today from the island of Flores. Where is that? It's a small island near Java and Sumatra in Indonesia.

The coffee here has typically been brought to Java and mixed in with the coffee on that island instead of being kept separate. The coffee is grown, for the most part, wild. At times the trees are as high as 30 feet tall. In comparison, typical trees in Central America are 5-6 feet tall. The coffee has to be harvested by threading a bamboo pole through the branches for the pickers to walk on. The coffee is then sent through a bamboo trough through the forest to a collection station.
Because this coffee is grown wild, there are no chemicals used in the farming process and it is certified organic.

After the coffee is hand picked it is dried in the traditional Indonesian manner. It is pulped and allowed to dry down to about 25% moisture, with full contact with the mucilage. The coffee is then 'wet hulled' to remove it from the parchment and then finishes the drying process in the sun, no longer in it's parchment

This coffee is one of those that makes you do a double take. At first sip it's fairly interesting with a nice smooth milk chocolaty body. Then as you take second sip, you realize just how great this coffee is. the chocolate character starts to take a back seat to the subtleties of the fruit tones, toasted nuttiness, and the almost overwhelming sweetness. I am usually a french press fan, but for some reason this coffee is absolutely fantastic when drip brewed

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This blog is being set up to update people on Coffee, industry related information and things in general around Java City