November 2010 Coffee News

-Coffee Production Update
-Holiday Flavors are Here!
-Community Togetherness Opportunties

Coffee Production Update
Just as farmers are wrapping up their harvest here in the Midwest, Honduran coffee farmers are getting started with theirs. When Guillermo talked with his father, Don Maximo, a few weeks ago, they were getting ready to start picking coffee. It looks like it might be a lower harvest year across the country. Coffee plants typically have a two year cycle of heavier harvest and lighter harvest, and this is the off year. Although in 2009-2010, Honduras coffee exports reached a new record, Worldwide, a lower harvest this year in Brazil and coffee blight in Columbia, along with growing demand are causing coffee prices to soar to record highs. This shouldn't impact our ability to get coffee from our family, although we will be looking at the price we are paying our farmers to make sure it fairly reflects this new market reality.

Holiday Flavors are Here!
The results are in from our Holiday Flavor Vote. We will be offering the following fun flavors throughout November and December and into the new year as supplies last.

Wind Chill -- Rich cream flavor with signature notes of vanilla, caramel, and dark chocolate has all the warmth you'll need during those frosty winter nights.

Drunken Uncle -- Back again for another year by popular demand! Picture yourself around the fireplace basking in the soothing tastes of Kahlua and Irish Cream laced with Gran Marnier.

Penguin Pals -- This spicy and sweet coffee will for sure bring a smile to one's face on a cold, wintery day! French Vanilla with a touch of cinnamon sticks, gingerbread and nuts.

Pecan Supreme -- Roasted pecans & sweet caramel flavor. Just like Mom’s!

All of these coffees will be available in 8 oz bags for $6.00 in whole bean or ground. We also have enough interest to offer them all in regular and decaf. Get your orders in quickly! We had so much interest in these coffees that our roaster warned us they may run out of 8 oz bags. We'll fill orders as best we can for the November 12th delivery. If you know what you'd like for December already, you can tell us that before November 22 so we can include it in our next roasting order. (5 lb bags of any of our flavors are available by special request.)

Community Togetherness Opportunities 
Before we hunker down inside our home for a long winter, it was good to be out in our neighborhood trick-or-treating on Halloween night and to see so many of our neighbors on election day (Cathy worked as an election judge in our precinct). Here are a few other opportunities for community building and early holiday shopping.

-Prospect Park UMC Bazaar and Art Fair -- Tomorrow, November 6th from  9:00 am - 3:00 pm. 22 Orlin Ave SE, Minnapolis. Homemade rolls for breakfast. Calzones and soup for lunch and a wide variety of beautiful products from local artists. See the website for a complete list of artists and directions.

-The World Jubilee Fair Trade Market -- Saturday, November 20 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm at Colonial Church of Edina. 6200 Colonial Way, Edina. Featuring beautiful fair trade products from all over the world.

-Ten Thousand Villages Shopping night Benefiting Land Stewardship Project -- Monday, November 22 from 5:00-8:00 pm. 867 Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Support stewardship and Fair Trade this holiday season by buying handmade gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving. We are most grateful for your loyal purchases!