January Coffee News

-Wet news from the coffee farm
-Coffee customers from Iowa to Iraq

The news from the coffee farm is wet -- too wet. The Velasquez Family farm is located in a rain forest after all. But 20 days of rain in a row without a break can be hard, especially if you have a beautiful coffee crop waiting to be harvested. And unfortunately, the heavy rains knocked down some of the coffee beans before they could be picked.

But don't worry, we still have plenty of coffee for you. And Guillermo's brother Sabel and his brother-in-law Alonzo have coffee fields in a few different areas that didn't receive quite as much rain. But it was disappointing to lose some of their harvest, none-the-less.

Coffee customers from Iowa to Iraq
This past weekend, we attended a wedding in Ames, Iowa and had the pleasure of meeting some of our coffee customers for the first time face to face -- Cathy's brother's wife's sister's new husband's parents. (Did you get that?) A great example of how many of our customers come to us through word of mouth! Thanks for helping us spread the word about our coffee.

Also in Iowa, we've been meaning to tell you about Simone Plain and Simple in Wellman, Iowa. Simone Delaty, another Iowa coffee customer of ours, was recently featured in the New Pioneer Food Coop's newsletter. The article - and her website www.simoneplainandsimple.com - tell about her artisan breads and the wonderful dinner parties she hosts at her farm in southeast Iowa, as well as her passion for using fresh, local produce and the Local Harvest CSA that she helped start. We have not yet had the pleasure of enjoying a meal with Simone, but hope to someday. We've heard great things about her place. If you are ever in the area, do check her out!

Velasquez Family Coffee has also been regularly traveling first to Camp Shelby and now all the way to Iraq thanks to regular purchases by one of our Adams Spanish Immersion fundraiser customers who sends coffee to her husband Captain Fernando Franco deployed with the Minnesota Army National Guard. Mary says the soldiers "LOVE our coffee!!" (her emphasis not ours) and suggested that if folks were interested in purchasing coffee for the troops, she and her husband could get it distributed (and we would chip in for the mailing costs). Just let us know if we could add the cost of an additional bag or 2 to your order and we'll make sure it gets to the Minnesota Army National Guard folks stationed in Iraq.

Here is a photo we received from the MN National Guard after the coffee arrived.