February 2011 Coffee News

-Worst of Winter Photo Contest
-The Cost of a Cup of Coffee
-Open House Brunch

The Worst of Winter Photo Contest
Velasquez Family Coffee is announcing a photo contest to get you outside in the next two days before our historic piles of snow melt away to capture the "best of the worst" images of the Winter of 2010-2011. The three "best of the worst" photos win a free 12 oz bag of Velasquez Family Fair Trade Coffee. Deadline for submission is March 1st. Winners will be announced March 4th. Photos can be from any time this winter.

There is no question this has been a long, cold, snowy winter. And those of us living in Minnesota are under no illusions that we are done with it yet. But with 30 and 40 degree temperatures in the forecast starting this Friday and for at least a week beyond, the piles of snow we have now will certainly start to melt. Do we dare hope that we have seen the worst of winter? So get outside, now, today. Use your camera to capture those enormous piles of snow, that sign buried by the snowploughs, the life-threatening icicle hanging from your roof... (you get the idea) before this winter is gone forever.

Upload your photos by March 1st to Facebook or Flickr or wherever you store your digital photos and send a link to coffee@vfamilycoffee.com with your name. (If you don't have a place to upload your photos, you can attach them to an email, but please only email 1 photo at a time.)

The Cost of a Cup of Coffee
A 12 oz bag of Velasquez Family Coffee costs you $8.50 at the moment. But what does that boil down to per cup? If you use a standard brewing ratio, you need 1 1/4 cups of ground coffee (3.75 oz) for 10 cups of water, which comes to 40 cents for a typical 12 fluid oz cup of brewed coffee. Even if you like your coffee pretty strong like we do (we prefer 1 1/2 cups of ground coffee or 4.5 oz for 10 cups of water), the cost is still only 48 cents for a 12 oz cup.

Comparing that to $1 for a 12 oz cup of coffee at McDonalds, brewing your own coffee at home (even if it is fair trade speciality coffee) is still a great bargain. So it is not surprising that the Specialty Coffee Association reported that the impact of the Great Recession on coffee sales was a 5% increase in at-home coffee consumption.

Mark your Calendars for our Open House Brunch
Of course, the thing you get from Velasquez Family Coffee that McDonald's can't offer is a direct connection to the coffee farmer. Over the years, we've had the pleasure of meeting many of our coffee customers and a special subset of those have had the chance to visit our family's coffee farm in Honduras. We want to continue to deepen and broaden our personal connections both here and in Honduras. So we're excited to announce details for our Coffee Open House Brunch for March 19, 2011 from 10 am to 1 pm at Prospect Park United Methodist Church (off University Ave just west of Hwy 280 in Minneapolis).

Join us for a complimentary brunch of homemade waffles, sausages and, of course, coffee. At 11 am, for those who are interested, we'll talk about eco-trips to the coffee farm. We hope you can join us even if you don't think a trip to Honduras is in your future. We'll ask for RSVP's next month, but if you think you could help out that day - making a few waffles, keeping the coffee flowing or washing a coffee cup or two - let us know that now. Hosting an event like this is a bit daunting, but it will be easier knowing we'll have a few extra people around able to help keep things moving.