Upper Midwest Gourmet

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I am a firm believer in using any excuse to put a little fun into my work day. Do you want to be just another coffee shop on the block? Why not by a little creative and add some fun to your café. I have listed a few daily events for the coming month of December that are “out of the norm” for you to use as a reason to market yourself as a “fun place to be” that is looking for customer participation and any reason to celebrate good things. I also have listed the web site that I use for these dates and the page from which I pulled these December events.

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So have a little pow-wow meeting with your staff to come up with some creative ideas to promote not only some of these events, but your café’s “fun attitude” and ever changing environment. Try to find ways to get your customers involvement with these events so that they will start to look forward to your next one. Offer prizes for involvement. We all love a little recognition for our actions, so offer me a prize and I’m all over it!

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Check out these great coffee drink preparation training sheets!

Basic Coffee Brewing

Espresso Shot Preparation

Textured Milk Preparation

Coffee Cupping

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The new and ready-to-use gourmet sipping chocolate essence.

Callebaut presents Choc-o-late, a liquid chocolate essence with an intense chocolate taste.

Choc-o-late is a ready-to-use liquid chocolate. It’s convenient, ready-to-use formula means no cutting, melting, or tempering needed. Use Choc-o-late pure or mixed with other ingredients for the quick preparation of delicious chocolate desserts like Gourmet Sipping Chocolate!

Why sell Fair-Trade Organic Coffees? Ask Nesting Grounds Café.

If the coffee doesn’t have the certification of Fair-trade and/or Organic, Jim Mericle of The Nesting Grounds Café does not offer it. Jim has owned the Nesting Grounds in Wyoming Minnesota now for just over 2 years. He is a Pastor by trade, but has recently decided to give his full attention to his Café. From the Start, Jim was focused on turning his café into a place where the community wil benefit. Not only is he focused on supporting local businesses and groups, but has recently broadened his efforts to supporting growers and producers of Fair-trade, organic and natural grown products from around the world.His efforts are displayed in the product lines offered from FTO coffees and teas to regional and local grown produce and edibles. Jim’s visit to coffee farms has him very concerned about ensuring that these growers and producers are not exploited, but that they receive fair prices and fair treatment. He believes in making deposits of hope and feels like he is making a difference for both the present and future generations.

After several hours of discussion with Jim about his passion…

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Flamenco Fair Trade Organic Coffee was proud to be a part of the 17th Annual Calhoun Square Coffee Festival on November 18, 2006. Our Master Roaster, Jesse, and our Western Sales Manager, Michael, were present to give away samples of our great coffee and discuss how and why we do what we do. Al, our Grindmaster equipment vendor, was also present and we thank him for his knowledge and efforts to help us with our equipment.

The show was a definite success. People really loved our new Ethiopian Natural Sidamo with its blueberry undertones, as well as, our City Roasted Dominican Republic “Barahona” with its nutty complexity.

We were quite happy with the great response that we got from our Fair Trade Organic Matador blend espresso. We went through 5 lbs in 4 hours, wow! All in all, it was a great time and we recommend any coffee enthusiasts to check it out next year or at least watch our video of it this year.

Click play to watch. Total time: 2 minutes, 5 seconds.

Can you believe that they have Fabbri Gelato in Mexico? I couldn’t believe it, but they do! Here’s the pictures to prove it. These pictures were taken in Carmen del Playa in the famous 5th St shopping district. Temperatures were peaking around 100 degrees and the Gelato was holding up just fine right out in the street. We tried the cookies and cream and it tasted as good as it does in America. Gelato has no borders, peace out EEEEE

Please Click on Images to Enlarge

We at Flamenco Organic Coffee Co. fully endorse the cuddling of our gold foil 5 lb. bulk bags by babies, toddlers, kitties, puppies, bunnies and perhaps bear cubs.

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The appeal is simply too great. Even the very youngest of us are magnetically drawn to the rich, sophisticated aromas eminating from the gold bag of goodness.

Congratulations Heather on the lovely Babe! (Badger Brew Express, Rice Lake, WI)

Ok then, back from your bathroom break. Got your fresh mug of coffee in hand and… Wait a minute, these are tea articles; go get yourself a cup of tea! Well anyway, let’s finish our study on tea with the last section of this article.

The four types of teas are as follows: (these are premium tea descriptions)

BLACK TEA
This is the top two leaves and buds that are hand picked. The leaves are then left to ferment (dry), or oxidize, which darkens the leaves to the black color characteristic. The leaves are then graded by size (full, broken, fanning or dust) and color. This type of tea contains the most caffeine, about “½ as much as a cup of coffee.

OOLONG TEA
This is one of the most prized teas among tea connoisseurs. These leaves are hand picked and processed between black and green teas. They are almost exclusively full leaves. They are carefully infused with other teas or herbs with an eye toward their individual characteristics. Oolong teas contain between 10 & 90% caffeine content as black teas.

GREEN TEA
These two are hand picked top leaves like black and oolongs, but are processed differently. Soon after picking, the leaves are either steamed or pan fired to prevent any oxidation. This will yield teas that are lighter in character with flavors ranging from herbaceous, to nutty, toasty or floral depending on the variety and blending ingredients. These teas contain about “¼ the caffeine as a cup of coffee.

WHITE TEA

White tea consists of just the youngest top buds of the tea plant, without any of the lower 2 leaves. These buds are hand picked and immediately steamed to prevent any oxidation. This results in a very high infusion with subtle floral notes. This process also results in producing the most number of antioxidants per cup of any tea and has the least amount of caffeine content.

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Why do we sell Blender Drinks? Take a look at the attached PDF showing a perfect example from Cappuccine. I’ve told people for many years, that even if Coke gave you their product for free, they’d make more money selling an Iced Blended drink. While margins are a very important way of analyzing your business and what items to sell, you always have to make sure that the bottom line is Profits. Take care of your blenders!

Click to see the: Cappuccine Profit Story

Cheers – DC

So, let’s continue our discussion about that lovely, tasty and healthy item we call Tea. As we said, all teas come from a relative of the pine tree known as the Camellia Sinensis (please don’t ask for a pronunciation). This plant can grow to height of 60 plus feet if left untamed. Most tea farms keep the tree at a picking height of around 3 feet. There are three major varieties of tea: the China type, the India or Assam type and the Hybrid cross of the two. There are four major types of tea: White, Green, Oolong and Black. We will discuss these in more detail later in this blog.

Affecting the thousands of varieties of tea are variables such as soil, altitude and weather. Some do better at either higher or lower elevations. Premium teas are grown at the higher elevations where the mountain mist and dew shield the plants from direct sunlight. Human touch plays another factor of the teas fate. The way it is processed is the artistry that we will taste in the final cup. If handled with care and concern for quality at the early stages of picking and preparing for shipment, the tea will maintain its quality taste in the highest form. Much like coffee, the human factors in processing plays a major role in the outcome of the final product.

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We at Upper Midwest Gourmet and Flamenco Organic Coffee Co. are extremely pleased to introduce a new project that we have jumped on board with. It’s a project that’s as good for your taste buds as it is for your soul.

The Cafe Femenino Project is an organization whose aim is improving the overall quality of life for women and children in coffee producing regions, many of which sustain abuse rates approaching 60%! Strides toward this lofty goal are made both in the economic and social arenas.

Coffee that is produced by the women within Cafe Femenino’s sphere of influence is isolated and kept separate from its neighboring harvests. This coffee then receives a premium at all stages of transaction. These premiums coupled with additional funds from organic and fair trade certification and partner contributions return directly to the organization and the producer.

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As a coffee shop owner (or manager), have you ever taken a moment to just step back and watch your customers as they enter and leave your shop? Are they always happy to see your staff? Are they smiling or just frumpy and in a hurry? Do they look forward to their visit with you or are you just the most convenient shop on there journey? Is your staff happy and serving with a smile, or are they just putting in time? These are some pretty basic but important survival questions to consider. I don’t know about you, but if I encounter a sales clerk that is perky and happy to serve me, I’m more then willing to give them my business (or should I say my money!). I’m even more eager if that person shows a passion for what they are attempting to sell me and just can’t stop talking about it. Does your staff show this passion? Do you have this passion? Take a moment and recall all the positive and negative situations that you have encountered in the last month while buying something. Does your scale tip to the positive or negative side? Are you playing “Monkey see Monkey do”?

I think this country has forgotten just what customer service really means. It’s become a cliché. Everybody claims to be offering it. Good customer service is the “Bread and Butter” of your business. The essence of good service is forming a relationship with your customers, a relationship that they feel good about pursuing with you. One shoe size does not fit all feet, nor does one type of customer service suit all your customers. Get to personally know your customers and recognize their individual needs. Educate your staff to be equally as concerned about your customers as you are. Remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will!

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Check out this well written and very informative article about coffee and some interesting meal/dessert pairings. It will make you think twice the next time you are enjoying a gourmet meal or dessert in regards to what origin of coffee to enjoy with it.

Please click on the Article Logo to enjoy.

Check out our most recent UMG Company Brewsletter. Our Brewletters contain endless amounts of information regarding New Featured Items, Tips of the Trade, Our Company Improvements and Stories, Maintenance and Training, Notes from Our “Flamenco” Coffee Roastery, Upcoming Calendar and Events, and Recipes!