Happy October!

Greetings everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying this Autumnal weather. It's the perfect time of year for getting out, going for a hike or bike ride, enjoying the cooler temps with the Autumn colors and of course, enjoying some amazing coffee.

Remember, that if you live in the 97203, 97211 or 97217 zip codes, we offer free home delivery of fresh roasted organic and fair trade coffees. Just make sure we have your order by Monday mornings at 9 am and we'll have coffee at your door very early on Wednesday mornings. 

Several weeks ago, I shared a route I'd taken on my motorcycle which I felt was the perfect Autumn day-trip. This past Sunday, I rode over into Washington with a couple friends. We rode up the Klickitat Canyon and on up to Goldendale before heading back to Hwy. 14. 

 It was a beautiful day with some amazing scenery, a  very different landscape from my previously shared  route. We saw a lot of people fly fishing in the Klickitat  River and saw some wild turkeys. We also witnessed  the results of the recent fires. Wow! Thousands and  thousands of charred acres coming up all the way to  the highways.

Starting next week, we'll be bringing back an old favorite for this time of year. (insert drum roll here), The Pumpkin Spiced Latte! Ingredients have been ordered so as soon as they arrive, we'll be serving them up. Stay tuned.

The new hoodies have proven to be a big hit with folks who are looking for something warm and cozy to fend off these cool morning temps. More t-shirts are also on order and should be here by the middle of October in both men's and women's styles, sporting our new "stylized" logo. And... I've also ordered more of the Mexican pottery. 

I've decided to expand our Mexican pottery selection a bit by bringing in more serving platters as well as cream and sugar containers. Hopefully these will all arrive in plenty of time for the holidays.

Recently I had the opportunity to submit some of our coffees into a competition which I'd previously never done. I chose to enter the Pamplona Blend in the organic espresso category. The competition included submissions from over 100 roasters from all over North America. The long and short of it is, the judges loved the Pamplona and we won, for whatever that's worth.

Many of you are familiar with the Pamplona Blend. It's the medium roast espresso blend we serve here in the shop but is also delicious as a pour-over or brewed conventionally. If you haven't had the pleasure of trying it, I would encourage you to do so. It really is delicious. But then, I say that about all our coffees. :)

A couple weeks ago, a customer from Nepal came in the shop and was having coffee. He proceeded to tell me his family is in the process of rebuilding their coffee farm in Nepal and brought a sample of their coffee for me to roast.

I just roasted it on Wednesday and it is very very good. Really well balanced, smooth acidity, nice notes of chocolate and fruit. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to purchase some and be able to offer it.

Look for our special program starting mid-October. We're partnering with Coffee Trust to help support farmers and workers in Guatemala who have been so adversely affected by  the "La Roya" blight.

 I've previously described this blight, also known as Coffee  Rust which has decimated a huge portion of the coffee crops in  Central America. It has pushed  families, who were  already impoverished, over the  brink. Some farmers have lost  over 75% of their income.

 Funds raised will go toward helping 500 farmers gain new skills  in effective, organic farming responses to fungal infections like  La Roya. More information will be available within the next week  so stay tuned. To learn more, click here - http://coffeetrust.org/

I think that's it for this week. We have a large shipment of coffee due in next week so please help us make room for it. :) 

Many thanks and keep the coffee flowing.

Mount & Crew