Time for the St. Johns Farmers Market!

Yes folks, it's that time of year again. Tomorrow marks the opening of the St. Johns Farmers Market. It's always a great market with many varied vendors offering everything from baked delicacies to cheeses, cured meats, breads, fruits, all sorts of produce, fresh caught salmon, and many many others.

All of this takes place in the beautiful setting of downtown St. Johns, only 1/2 block from our front door. Hint, hint. We'll be ready with plenty of fresh roasted organic and fair trade coffees as well as an abundant selection of cold-brewed coffees and iced teas. We'll also have plenty of French pastries from Fleur de Lis French Bakery and genuine boiled bagels from Spielman Bagels.

For those of you who are in touch with us via our Facebook page, you probably read about last Friday night's musical serendipity. For those of you who didn't read about it, suffice it to say that an amazing thing took place, culminating with an in-shop performance last Saturday afternoon by Jenna Mammina and Rolf Sturm. It's something that exceeded my wildest expectations on many levels, one of which how nice it was to have live music in the shop. 

 Nothing has been scheduled yet but live music is something we're  looking at bringing into the shop on a more regular basis. Jenna and  Rolf seemed to have a great time being here and promised they  would return when they're back in Portland so I'm keeping my fingers  crossed.

 On the subject of music, George Fendel Presents has another jazz  piano performance on tap for Thursday, June 11th at Classic Pianos. Jon Mayer will be performing and I can tell you from having heard him perform there two previous times, it will be a sell out and and experience one will never forget so make your reservations now. Tickets are only $15 and may be purchased by calling Peggie at Classic Pianos, 503.546.5622 or via e-mail, peggie@classicportland.com. The performance begins at 7:30 pm and usually runs a couple hours.

Not only is Jon an amazing pianist but he establishes a great rapport with his audiences and is a very humble figure despite the fact he's played with jazz greats Kenny Dorham, Tony Scott, Pete LaRoca, John Coltrane, Chet Baker, Kenny Clarke, Thad Jones, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughan, The Manhattan Transfer, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins... You get the idea.

And the venue that Classic Pianos provides is the best! A small, intimate room that only accommodates 100 people. Last time I heard Jon perform there, they had set him up with a 9 foot Schimmel grand piano which was an amazing instrument.

Now for coffee stuff!!!! Lots of great things are happening on the coffee front. First of all, the first of several new coffees arrived today. I won't have them roasted for this weekend but they'll be available beginning next week.

One of the coffees that arrived today is one which we've had before and just couldn't keep it in stock. Can I hear a drum roll please???? The Guatemala Finca Bourbon is BACK!!! 

The Guatemala Finca Bourbon coffee is named after the bourbon varietal that has been cultivated on the Echeverria family farm since 1878, in the municipality of Patzún, department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The farm has been OCIA certified organic since 1996 and is also certified Bird-Friendly by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Only 96 hectares of the farm are used for coffee production while the remainder of the 286 hectares is preserved forest. The coffee plants, some over 100 years old, grow in volcanic soil under an old growth canopy of native shade trees. As one of the oldest operating coffee farms in Guatemala, the knowledge and tradition brought to cherry selection, fermentation, and drying is unmatched.

Scheduled to come in mid next week are a new Colombian coffee and a coffee from Honduras. This will be our first Honduran coffee so we're really excited to try it and see what it's like.

We've had many requests over the years for coffee cups bearing our logo. It's always been complicated by the fact that our logo is as "extensive" as it is. However, we finally were able to make it happen. We expect to receive them by the middle of June so stay tuned.

Many who've passed our shop have probably noticed the raised-beds covered with burlap. We were finally able to get plants in this past week. Christa worked really hard selecting the plants and getting them planted. So far, they seem to be doing really well and I think will create a nice buffer between our back doors and the busy street.

And before this turns into a thesis, two final notes. First of all, we'll have more coffee plants available for purchase this weekend and two, with the more summer-like weather, we've added some outdoor umbrellas to our sidewalk seating to provide a bit of shade on those sunny afternoons. I sat out there yesterday afternoon sipping on some delicious elderberry iced tea and it  felt quite devine!

 Ok, that's it for this week. Many thanks for your on-going support and please,  please, please, keep the coffee flowing!

 Mount & Crew