Appendix E-J

There is a town near Canada. It is called Minot. It is where good people come from.

One of these people: Darren Fred. He is part of the Everyday Joe’s family. He is the pastor of Timberline Oldtown. He can grill a hot dog with the best of ‘em (Hebrew National, preferably).

Darren & his clan traveled back to Minot recently, Everyday Joe’s travel mug included. The mugs have been on the market for two weeks now, and we’re proud to see them spreading across the continent. Mr. Fred has supplied The Appendix with video of his contribution to this spreading. He does not discriminate against coffee, simply the vessels he drinks it out of.

Please submit your Everyday Joe’s Travel Mug Travels. Just click here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Wondering if you know about this:

Back in ought-seven, we replaced our old La Cimbali machine with a La Marzocco Linea. You may remember reading about that when it happened. Looking back on that post, though, an interesting detail was left out.

That up there is a picture of the plate on the side of our current machine. The part I would like to draw your attention to – if it has not already gone there – is the name of the previous owner of the machine at the bottom of the plate. You may or may not have heard of them / drank one of their concoctions in the past 24 hours.

How did we get this machine? Well…so & so knew so & so who worked at a place when these puppies were being pulled out of shops and replaced with super-automated ones and so & so knew of our need for a new machine and managed to get us one for a price that was about 1/10 of what it should have been. The holy angels were smiling upon us…and for the past 2 years & for foreseeable future  the machine we make your drinks on was once used to make the drinks at the place it is popular consider to be the axis of specialty coffee evil.

I do not consider it that.

You see, hating places does not do anyone any good. In fact, I’m willing to say that Everyday Joe’s would not be around were it not for Starbucks Coffee Co. Seattle USA. They are the first placed I experienced espresso. ‘Twas 1995 and I skipped youth group to walk down the street and buy an iced americano.

That plate serves as a daily reminder of why most of the folks we serve and get to know even know what a latte is…which translates to the reason they even come through the doors of 144 S. Mason in the first place. And though you may not like the Company, there is no use in burning down there house to make ours look nicer.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Oh, it’s on.

A while back, I posted concerning Starbucks’ announcement that they were preparing the launch of an instant coffee line dubbed VIA. I began to look for said soluable beverage, only to see that it was available in select stores in Seattle and Chicago. I wasn’t willing to pay shipping to get it to me, so I had to exercise some patience.

Luckily, good man Steve Griffin made a trip to Chicago to get some things squared away at a foreign embassy. He searched the south side of Chi-Town for a Starbucks carrying the Ready Brew and was able to secure two varieties. He returned to Ft. Collins with the stuff and we met early on a Wednesday morning at Everyday Joe’s (for reals…6 a.m.) to sit down and try it and film the trying of it.

The music is by an artist who is currently a volunteer favorite, James Pants.

Enjoy.

FURTHER:

• Starbucks VIA official site
• James Pants Official MySpace
  

Popularity: 79% [?]

So, this is some interesting news.

I have no qualms with Starbucks. The truth is they introduced specialty coffee to the masses, and shops like Everyday Joe’s need to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the fact that…at least on some level…we wouldn’t be around without SBux. As our friend Darren would say, we shouldn’t lead with what we’re against. The first Starbucks I drank at is at the corner of Tejon & Bijou in Colorado Springs. I was 13. I had an iced mocha while skipping out on church.

As of late, I have heard rumblings on other blogs of an instant coffee coming down the Starbucks pipeline. Those rumblings gave me two thoughts:

1) For reals?

2) I hope for reals, because that equals content for the blog.

Today, it is being reported as for reals:

“Starbucks Corp, whose chief executive is trying to fight ‘misperceptions about affordability’ for the coffee chain’s brands, unveiled on Tuesday its new Via Ready Brew instant coffee that sells for less than $1 per cup.”

“The company, which recently announced another round of store closures and job cuts, will begin selling Via next month in select markets in the United States and in London. A trio of single-serve Via packets will sell for $2.95 in the U.S. and 12 packets will be priced at $9.95.”

Read the entire article here.

Hopefully, Colorado is one of those select markets. If it is, I will get my hands on some of those delicious(?) flavor crystals and we’ll try them for you, right here on the Appendix.

Further:

• Starbucks Unveils VIA Instant Coffee
• Starbucks Gossip (blog where I heard those rumblings)

Popularity: 27% [?]