Upper Midwest Gourmet

From this months issue of Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine:

“Without food, most coffeehouses will starve.”

Do you serve food at your cafe?

La Spaziale has come out with two different instant / no-dose espresso grinders with internal electronics and a digital display for measuring grams! The two versions are the Astro 12 Instant and the Top Instant. These espresso grinders are the way of the future and we will personally be working with each of these in-house to make sure we are happy with their performance. Now available at UMG!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Here is our newest offerings sheet from Flamenco Organic Coffee Company

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

What an amazing Fall it has been so far! Warmer than usual temps have really made for some great weekends and good business for all. 

The weather is turning cold though which means hot drinks likes coffee, espresso, steamers, chai tea, apple cider, hot cocoa, and hot tea are all going to really start picking up. 

Also, those Umpqua Oats Oatmeal bowls are going to be the perfect option for your customer looking for a warm, hearty breakfast or lunch on these chilly Autumn days.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 45 - Fall 2011

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

Summer has been really hot so far most likely meaning you are selling a ton of cold drinks! Let’s all continue to enjoy the sunshine and outdoor fun while we can.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 44 – Summer 2011

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

UMG is excited to now offer Sweet Maria’s Biscotti.

They have a ton of great new flavors and will always be delivered fresh!

Flavors include:

Apple Cinnamon Swirl: Apple Chips, Cinnamon Swirl and Cinnamon Icing

Apricotti Biscotti: Lots of Apricots and Walnuts

Chips-A-Licious: Chock full of Chocolate Chips

Fudge-A-Licious: Rich Dark Choclate with Chocolate Chips

Lemon Delights: Lemon and Coconut

Maple Walnut: Fresh Maple Syrup and Chopped Walnuts

Maria’s Special: Cranberries, Almonds and White Choclolate

Nuts for Amaretto: Almonds and Amaretto

PB Fudge: Rich Dark Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chips

Razzleberry Chip: Raspberry with Dark and White Chocolate Chips

Red Velvet: Red Velvert Cake Batter drizzled with Vanilla Icing

Gingerbread: Gingerbread Drizzled with lemon Icing and Sugar Sparkle

Orange Creamsicle:  Our summer favorite- Orange Biscotti with White Orange Icing

Mocha Hazelnut: Espresso with Hazelnuts

Seasonal Favorites (Holiday Time only)

Santa’s Special

Cupids delight

Pumpkin Raisin Spice: Spicy Blend of Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves drizzled with Spiced Icing

(For pricing, information on how to get a free acrylic display or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

We are very happy that the weather is finally getting hot and that means blended drinks are booming!

Here are two brand new blended ice drink recipes from Big Train.

One is a coffee-based frappe (Big Train Coconut Mocha Frappe) and

the other is an awesome blended fruit smoothie (Big Train Strawberry Lemonade Slushie or Smoothie)!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Crostata (Pastry Tart/Cake) delipaste is an amazing flavor option that can transform any gelato or ice cream to taste like a cake! This can be great when making creative flavors like “Birthday Cake Gelato” topped with sprinkles (kids love it!) or to make my personal favorite, “Wedding Cake Gelato!” This one is close to my heart as I made it for my own wedding reception and for our roaster, Alan’s, wedding reception as well.

This is our Fabbri flavor of the season and can be used to create hundreds of new gelato flavors with ease.

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Spring is finally here! Here comes the sunshine and outdoor fun for all.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 43 – Spring 2011

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

Don’t forget, we still have scone mix. One packet, a little milk and butter (or shortening), 30 minutes and you’ve got a half a dozen fresh scones ready to sell. They only take a few minutes to prep and cook in 15! I found that they are easier to mix and shape when using shortening, but you can use whichever you prefer. The cost per scone is approximately 32 cents, even after adding high quality inclusions, such as chocolate chips, fruit flavoring or nuts, your cost should still be under 50 cents per scone. Today, I made blueberry white chocolate chip scones in about 30 minutes from start to finish. For the blueberry, I added about a tablespoon of Fabbri blueberry delipaste to a double batch.

We would really like to thank everyone that visited our booth at the Wisconsin Restaurant Expo this year in Milwaukee. We were very happy to be a part of this expo for our 16th or 17th year. Who can keep track anymore…

This, again, was a success and we owe it all to our customers, new and old. Here are some of the products we showcased and received most feedback on:

• Flamenco Organic Coffees and Espresso- per usual our wide array of micro-roasted Organic, Fair Trade, and Direct Trade coffees were very popular. The Nicaraguan Rio Coco and the Minnesota Mudd Blend were both talked about a bunch, but the Papua New Guinea, the Ethiopian Dara, and the Kona coffee (especially out of the Bunn Trifecta) were holding their own as well. The Matador Espresso Blend was also being pulled from the Casadio 2-group Espresso Machine and tasting just as sweet and smooth as ever!

• Amoretti Martini Mixes- yes, we are now carrying a martini mix line, and yes, it is awesome! David was making martini’s all show and everyone loved them. We will be bringing in the Apple, Blueberry, Cosmopolitan, Lemon Drop, Mango, Mojito, Passion Fruit, Pomegranate, and Raspberry flavors, with more coming soon. They are super easy to make, made with the finest ingredients, and very reasonably priced.

• Umpqua Oats Oatmeal- this product never ceases to amaze us! We knew we liked this oatmeal when we first tried it, but never imagined how fast our customers would agree. It is one of the quickest products to take off for us and works perfectly for cafes to get that extra sale with your morning rush customer. These oatmeals are nutritious, delicious, and fast to make and with eight flavors including the “Not Guilty” which is salt and sugar free, who can go wrong?

• Cappuccine Red Velvet Frappe Mix- not only did this product win 2010 “best new beverage” at Seattle Coffee Fest, it continues to emerge as the next “must have” flavor at every cafe. We see a lot of new flavor ideas for blended beverages in our industry, but none have had the steam that the Red Velvet Cupcake frappe is making. It only helps the cause that Cappuccine has their own EXCLUSIVE Whipped Cream Cheese topping recipe on their website that completes this delightfully different cupcake in a cup.

• Fabbri 1905 Pastry Ingredients from Italy- delipastes aren’t just for gelato anymore. Tom Trieschmann from Fabbri has been helping us learn about all the amazing pastry applications for many of the products we carry and have only used for ice cream and gelato in the past. Tom personally sampled out the famous “Amarena” cherry of Italy that Fabbri is known for and started the company over 100 years ago. These Fabbri Amarena cherries are sour and intense and are like nothing you have ever tried before!

• David Rio Chai- this is a brand new product for us that we just had to bring in after sampling. We have known for years that David Rio Chai’s had a great reputation, but it wasn’t until we made some ourselves that we really understood just how good it really is. There are eight amazing flavors including Tiger Spice Chai, Elephant Vanilla, and Tortoise Green Tea. This chai is easy to prepare hot, iced, or blended, it is Kosher Certified, Gluten Free, and has No Hydrogenated Oils or Trans Fats.

• International Paper Hold & Go “Flamenco” Design, Insulated Hot Cups- these cups are the ultimate hot cup in the industry. It was hard not to spot a Flamenco hot cup in someone’s hand when walking the show. With so many people trying our coffees and espressos you wouldn’t have to look far to see the beautiful dancer silhouette. Even many of the presenters and speakers at the show could be seen sipping from our snazzy cups during their presentations! These cups are part of the “Sustainable Forestry Initiative” which promotes sustainable forest management and is something we feel is very important. Not only are they double-walled which means no sleeve is needed, but the lids are universal meaning the same lid fits the 12oz, 16oz, and 20oz cups!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Upper Midwest Gourmet is excited to announce that we will be exhibiting this year at Coffee Fest Chicago being held at the Navy Pier on the shore line of Lake Michigan.

This year’s event is being held the weekend of February 18th-20th, 2011. The show hours are Friday and Saturday 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Sunday from 12:00 P.M. to 4:00 P. M. Upper Midwest Gourmet and our Flamenco Organic Coffee Company will be showing off our goods in booths 101 & 102. You may also find one of us assisting one of the many vendors and/or manufacturers in their various booths throughout the show floor on any one of the open days.

We would love to have you stop by and visit with us, take a look at some new and exciting products and sample some goodies. If you would like to attend this show, please contact us as we have a limited number of FREE PASSES for up to four persons per business. You will need to obtain a pass code from Upper Midwest Gourmet in order to receive this free admission. You only have until January 30th to take advantage of this offer so act soon if you are planning on attending. Please Contact Us for more details.

You can go to www.coffeefest.com for more info on this show and to see who will be exhibiting this year.

As always, we greatly appreciate our customers continued patronage and support and always look forward to a face-to-face opportunity to visit with you.

Hope to see you at the show!

UMG Staff

Winter is upon us! Warm up with a blanket next to a fire and enjoy our newest brewsletter.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 42 – Winter 2010

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

To help get the ball rolling on this brand new product line we have decided to run a 1st time order sales promotion in December and January. We want you to be able to try all eight flavors on your first order. The deal is simple, receive a 7 + 1 deal if you buy one case of each of the seven flavors we carry.  That means you get 8 cases for the price of 7. This is only available on 1st time Umpqua Oats orders. Please make sure to mention promo when ordering. Have a great holiday season!

Yes, it is finally that time of year again to evaluate coffees from all of Minnesota’s roasteries and vote for your favorite. Please come out to Calhoun Coffee Festival at Calhoun Square in Uptown Minneapolis on November 20th, 2010 from 10am to 3pm to help support Second Harvest Heartland and vote for the best coffee in the Twin Cities! Flamenco Organic is proud to be a part of this great event every year and can’t wait to see all of our fans out in full force. Feel free to contact us for more information, thanks for your support.