Please read the title with the appropriately ghostly affectation it requires, otherwise….well it just doesn’t sound right, does it?
It’s October!! It’s under 90 degrees!!!! One of these fills us with more joy than the other, but we shan’t tell you which. You must guess. But what we WON’T make you guess is what the coffee and tea of the month are! We also won’t make you guess the answers to your most-asked seasonal questions, can you imagine that chaos that would ensue with that? Terrifying. Shudder-inducing. Excuse us while we make some coffee and sit down until we recover.
Coffee Of The Month: Ethiopia Harrar Queen City
This lovely Ethiopian varietal has a rich aroma with notes of cocoa, cherry, and baking spices. Rich and heavy bodied with nuances of earthy dark chocolate, graham cracker crust, mixed berries, and red wine, it has a full, deep flavor. It really does encompass the tones of autumn in a cup, and has been a long-standing favorite amongst us all.
Tea Of The Month: Fragrant Fruit Mountain Oolong
Fragrant Fruit Mountain Oolong is from a relatively new cultivar, No. 1 MingKe, developed by the Fujian Research Institute. Delicate, sweet, and low in tannins. Full of honey and honeysuckle notes with hints of watemelon, cucumber, and a subtle herbiness.
Recommendations: Use 2 heaping tsp. (or 2 grams) of leaves per 6 oz. of water; heat fresh water to about 195ºF (bring to rolling boil, then rest for 30 seconds before steeping); steep for 3 minutes.
Now, onto the nitty-gitty little details that keep our fast-approaching holidays running smoothly. Our limited holiday menu will go into effect 11/24 and remain until the end of the year, and we will post it this month to give everyone as much time as possible to peruse, sample, and otherwise become well-acquainted with it. (If any of the following information seems familiar, it’s because last year’s post on this was SO well written that we shamelessly reused most of it. Why mess with perfection?)
Ordering Ahead Of Time
We’ve all been there, you wake up and shuffle blearily over to your coffee area only to see the worst: an empty container where your coffee should be. STUPEFACTION. DISSATISFACTION. ATROCITY.
No one knows more than you how quickly your coffee gets brewed and used. If you order your restock at least 3-4 days before you are going to run out, you should never run a oul of an empty canister. Whether you set it for pickup or delivery, ‘Future You’ will shed a single shining tear of gratitude and appreciation. “Thanks, Past Me. You remembered.”
“Are You Gonna Be Open -insert time frame here-?”
We always try to stay open as long as possible to give everyone time to come get their coffee, tea, and restock accessories before a holiday closure. We will have signs posted at least the entire week before a closure, if not a little longer, to let everyone know exactly when and for how long we will be closed. These signs can be found on the front store and at the register, and the longer closure of post-Christmas through the new year can also be found on the main page of our website.
Higher Quantities and Larger Orders:
The sooner, the better. No really, that’s the whole thing. The closer we get to the holidays, the larger orders tend to get as people plan on gifting pounds of coffee to various loved ones and/or coworkers, employees, etc. We love this! Gift us everywhere and to everyone (our samplers are very popular at Secret Santa parties) but just remember: If you know you’re going to need 10 lbs of Golden Pecan, 6 lbs of Chocolate Almond and 14 Herbal Tea Samplers by December 10th, please please order well ahead of, say, December 7th. We’re talking somewhere around Thanksgiving or so, you know? The sooner you can let us know and get that order down on the books, the happier everyone is gonna be. Especially the almonds, they hate feeling left out.
