El Puente

Although this isn't directly related to coffee (except that some of the women and men were probably coffee farm workers in their native country), but we thought this organization was very intriguing and wanted to share it with you...

El Puente's mission is to bridge the gap toward sustainable spiritual and economic health for the latino immigrants in East Tennessee, equipping them for a return to their native lands as agents of transformation.

They are a non-profit organization supported by families, foundations and local churches. Areas of focus include: Advocacy, literacy, organic farming, business development, and biblical training.

Check out their website for more information and wonderful pictures!

Nashville Coffee Society: Bali Blue Krishna

We just picked up a new organic coffee that we are really excited about. We are thrilled to be able to serve you this rare coffee from Bali, Indonesia called Blue Krishna. It is quite rare for this area to get a Balinese coffee, but we have it, and we want you to try it.

We were asked to provide a lightly roasted coffee to the Nashville Coffee Society's cupping series that is going on this weekend. We, however, will be roasting this coffee darker for our store sales, but we are excited to hear how the cupping goes. The cupping is highlighting Tennessee roasters such as Stone Cup Roasting Co. and us.

Interested in going to a cupping and are in the Maryville area? Sign up for one of our classes.

Handpresso

Les and I (Jamie) went on a backpacking trip to Shawnee National Forest this weekend, and of course Les couldn't go a day without his espresso, and he didn't want to have cowboy coffee. No sir. He had a Handpresso. That's right.. forest espresso. "Premium Quality coffee...anywhere." Here is a video about that very thing. Our video is not as cool as handpresso youtube version though. So check out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbMrfUYDHyI.
Granted it wasn't as good as a shot of Vienna Coffee's espresso, but pretty dang good for being in the middle of a forest!!

If you are looking for the weekly deal, we have discontinued the weekly deals. Please sign up for our newsletter or become a fan on facebook to get deals on your favorite Maryville coffee roaster. We will still be posting interesting coffee facts, espresso trivia, new locations, etc. So check back frequently and we'd love to hear your feedback!

From the fields: Kerinci, Sumatra

Les Stoneham just recently returned from a 3 week trip to Sumatra. Here's an update on his trip...

If there is such a thing as 110% humidity, you'll feel it on the coast of West Sumatra. The hot tropical air urges one to escape to the inland mountains of Kerinci National Forest. The cooler mountain air is accompanied by some of the most beautiful land on earth. Valleys of rice paddies, rolling hills of tea and mountain slopes of coffee and cinnamon all surrounded by beautiful untouched rainforest.

The coffee of course is what brings me here. More particularly, the hopes of helping these farming communities improve their economy by producing high quality Arabica coffee. While the altitude and environment is perfect for growing Arabica coffee, they currently are growing the lower-grade Robusta species, which is hard on the land and offers them very little income. The people here care about both their land and heritage but are constantly faced with hard realities of either protecting their prized national forest, feeding their family or leaving their homes for better work in the city. With the current prices for agricultural goods being so low, a project to increase the value, thus increase the farmer's incomes, offers great potential for an area in desperate need of sustaining their way of life.

The diversity of coffees produced in Indonesia is amazing. Many of the country's islands produce coffee besides the most well known island, Java. The Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia website, www.scai-indo.org offers a great resource to learn more about the particular growing regions currently producing Arabica coffee for the specialty market. Try the variety of Indonesian coffees offered by Vienna Coffee to experience the diversity of character they possess. Check out some of their offerings... Organic, Sumatra Gayoland, Sumatra Mandheling, SWP Sumatra Decaf, and Sulawesi (Celebes) Toraja.

Some day we hope you will find Kerinci coffee in that list. But much like the development of our La Armonia Hermosa coffee in Guatemala, this project will take many years. Follow the unfolding story along with us while you discover the other wonderful coffees of Indonesia.

Weekly Deal: Cupping Coffee of the World

Today we started our coffee classes and cuppings up again. This week we focused on Organic vs Non-organic from around the world. To accomplish this, we cupped our Sumatran, Guatemalan, and Ethiopian. It was an interesting class, and we would love for anyone to join us for our next class.

Our next class, on Tuesday, August 25 we will be hosting "What is Espresso - tasting and training." Space is limited so reserve your spot today.

Just for signing up for this class this week you will recieve a free 2oz. bag of coffee of your choice!

The image is a picture of coffee fields in Sumatra taken by Les Stoneham on his most recent visit to Sumatra.

Interesting Coffee Fact

"When yellow fever struck Philadelphia in August of 1793 the blame for the epidemic was initially (and incorrectly) placed by Dr. Benjamin Bush on coffee beans that had been rotting on the wharfs. It is now known to be caused by a mosquito borne-virus."

- taken from The Coffee Calender by Ricardo Levins Morales.

So don't worry, you won't be getting any yellow fever from rotting coffee. In fact you won't even come in contact with rotting coffee at VCC. We batch roast our coffees in small batches and keep our stock constantly fresh to give you the best quality coffee available.

WEEKLY DEAL: Rate my Rosetta

Looking for a way to compare your latte art with other baristas? Check out ratemyrosetta.com.

You can post your art and rate other people's art. It's perfect for those of you interested in perfecting your latte art, or want to see what great designs are out there. The weekly deal this week is based on this art form.

Bring in a photo of a latte that has latte art on the top (this can be an image taken from a cell phone.) and let us know which cafe you were at to get a FREE 2 oz. bag of your favorite VCC coffee.