August Coffee News

-Taking it easy this summer
-News from the Farm - let there be light
-Cold Brew recipe

We hope you are having a relaxing summer. Life here in the U.S. can certainly be busy. But we are trying to hold on to that slower pace of life we experience in Honduras -- time to share with family and friends in conversation, to hang out with our kids -- at the pool, at the library or just doing stuff together around the house, time to go for leisurely walks with the dog or just hang out in the hammock with a good book. But we are also making time to meander slowly around the Twin Cities delivering coffee this coming week.

News from the Coffee Farm - Let there be Light
The good news from Rio Negro is that Guillermo's brother Abilio finally found a way to generate electricity using the power of the river. After years of getting wet while experimenting with different sized tubes, turbines and generators, he finally succeeded in generating enough electricity to power a hair dryer (that was just the test) and then to hook up several lights and a radio in Maximo and Natalia's house. There is more tweaking to be done before they can run a refrigerator or an iron, but everyone is really excited about this first step. Guillermo's brother-in-law Alonzo (married to Alma) was so inspired by this accomplishment that he used some of his coffee funds to buy the materials to set up his own mini-hydroelectric project on his coffee farm.

Iced Coffee
Summer can be relaxing -- but it can also be hot. Here is a recipe for cold-brewing coffee one of our customers sent us recently. (We'd welcome other good coffee recipes you might know of! One of these days, maybe we'll even get around to starting a recipe page on our website.)

Recipe: Cold-Brewed ICED COFFEE
Time: 5 minutes, plus 12 hours' resting

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best) Milk (optional).

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

Here's to summer! (If by chance you need justification for enjoying your leisure time, check out a great Orion article called The Gospel of Consumption.)