Greetings from Salt Lake City

by St. Johns Coffee

New merchandise began arriving this week. We now have replenished supplies of Toddy Brewers as well as Aeropresses and their associated accessories. (filters, stoppers, etc.) 

And, I just received an e-mail notifying me the Travel presses and French presses which I described in last week's blog have been shipped so they should arrive late next week.

Additionally, we're expecting our largest shipment of coffee to-date, to arrive on Monday. Within that, we will be receiving a new coffee from Java which I'm very excited about. The bad news is, I purchased it to replace the almost gone, Timor.

One of the hardest realizations about this business is the seasonality of the coffees. You find one that is stellar and before you know it, it's out of season. But, it always seems to work out because another great one takes its place and keeps me from getting in a rut.

We would like to welcome a new member to our staff. Sionna Vaughn just joined us this past week and has a lot of coffee experience as a barista and will be helping out doing in-store demos at retailers who offer our coffees. She has a great gentle energy and seems to fit in nicely.

Some of you may have noticed we've switched our point-of-sale system. We did so in an effort to streamline the check-out process and to improve everyone's experience, on both sides of the counter. So far, it's working splendidly and I believe will satisfy those expectations.

The bad news is that for anyone who had accumulated rewards in the previous system, we were unable to transfer that information to the new system. However, we can still access those rewards from the previous system so if you have accumulated any rewards, please let us know so we may retrieve them for you.

We're in the final weeks of The Coffee Trust program benefiting the coffee farmers of Guatemala. So please look for the donation jar next time you're in the shop and donate however much you're comfortable with. 

That said, I realize that not everyone who reads this newsletter is able to visit our shop. So to enable those of you who are in that boat and would like to make a donation, we will be adding the capability on our web site to make an on-line donation. I hope to add that functionality next week.

It's hard to believe we're only two weeks away from Thanksgiving. If your plans include having family or friends visit, be sure to have plenty of fresh roasted coffee on hand. 

And if you're looking for something to accompany that coffee, consider bagels and house-made spreads. We can take special orders for bagels in quantities of half dozens, full dozens or more. Just get us your orders by 9 am Monday, November 23rd and we'll have fresh bagels and spreads ready for you to pick up on Wednesday, November 25th.

I'm currently in Salt Lake City, touring the University of Utah with my son, thinking about returning to college myself. (just kidding) And no, we did not ride my motorcycle here. Anyway, it's my first time here and what a beautiful city! I'm still in search for some REAL.GOOD.COFFEE. :)

In Portland we've enjoyed some beautiful autumn days. One of our customers and friends shared some images with me the other day he had made around the shop so I wanted to share them with everyone. A big thanks to Mark!

Many thanks for your support and patience. Keep the coffee flowing. 

Mount & Crew