Journal — fair trade

Hi all,

Gina Columbus from the Asbury Park Press created a thoughtful gift guide for the holiday shopping season. She features the boom of blueberry that is Deep Red Bells, our limited edition rare Ethiopian coffee that is... well... you need to taste it for yourself. Here's the link:

http://www.app.com/story/life/home-garden/luxury/2014/12/10/gift-guide/20214771/

And click here to purchase Deep Red Bells for Christmas. (order by Nov 18th to get it by Xmas eve).

You drink coffee! Nice! You do this for many reasons which may include:

1. You may be tired for whatever reason
2. You need to get many things accomplished today
3. You need motivation
4. You have a really long day or night ahead of you
5. You are addicted to caffeine
6. You’ve been drinking coffee all your life and now you are a connoisseur
7. You work in a café like Booskerdoo
8. or You ______________________ (fill in the blank).

For whatever reason you drink coffee, it’s your personal choice to do so and so is the blend you choose...

The average day for a Booskerdoo barista is filled with questions.  Questions such as,

• “What does this coffee taste like?
• Which one is decaf?
• Which beans make up this blend?”

One question I hear almost every day is, “How come the coffee tastes better when I get a cup in your shop than when I make a cup at home?”  The answer could involve many single or overlapping things: the grind is incorrect for your preferred brewing method, the beans are no longer fresh, or your coffee proportions are off.  Most of the time though, the...

Before you put milk in that cup of coffee...

There was a point where I didn’t understand the value of each coffee bean. I didn’t think about (or know) the fact that each bean came hand-picked from a farm hundreds of miles away and may be a group of people’s main economical resource and livelihood. It’s a heavy thought to sit with at any point in the day, especially when you just wake up groggy, vulnerable, and oblivious to most (or all) of your surroundings (depending on how hard you partied the night before).

My Booskerdoo Fairhaven team of Baristas is getting ready for the day, each of us busily grinding beans, prepping bakery items, posting signs and samples, and of course…having our morning cups of “start your day” goodness. I enjoy watching as each team member choose their favorite Booskerdoo roast, each with their enthusiastic reason for their choice; include me in that list too please.

We all know there are hundreds of varieties of coffee choices in the world depending on one’s mood, taste,...