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'!