Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Preview: Trip to Germany

While voting is still out on where the Milwaukee Specialty Coffee blog should take its first road trip, I'm pleased to announced that plans are in the offing for the blog's first plane trip!  I will most likely be going to Duisburg in the last week of October.  We'll sample some fair trade Duisburg Kaffee, and hopefully bring home some good ideas to spread and share.  Here's the Duisburg Kaffee logo, which looks eerily familiar!

Hard Habit to Break

Try as I might, I just can't divorce myself from Starbucks.

My latest excuse is that I go for the beans.  Specifically, Terraza blend is the SBUX product I can't (yet) live without.  On what I believe was my first visit to a Starbucks (in Chicago) in 1995, I walked out with a bag of Terraza and have been hooked ever since.  Interestingly, Terraza seems to be one of the few—if not the only—of its coffees that are not roasted very dark (or "burnt" as the critics say).

Since Terraza is seasonal, I'll be stocking up on a couple pounds so that I can try to "reverse engineer" it and reproduce it with locally roasted coffee.  Also, if it indeed comes off Tuesday (haven't seen or heard any updates), walking into a Starbucks and hearing early Genesis will be an almost psychedelic experience.

I believe that Starbucks' great advantage lies in its omipresence.  Just as most Americans go to McDonald's regularly, Starbucks becomes a landmark in people's lives, and it feels vaguely comforting to go there.  It will be interesting to see how the inevitable tinkering with the formula that will result from the stock's slump (even raising prices hasn't seemed to help much yet) will affect this, if at all.

Reprise: Gas Prices and Specialty Coffee

Note: This was one of my very first posts, and may be worth a second look—for me, too.  It's kind of the thesis of this whole blog.  I'll be building on it within the next few days.

I will probably be purchasing Starbucks and/or Caribou stock in the near future. I signed up for Suze Orman's Save Yourself program--which is actually tied in with her book Women & Money, but there is nothing stopping men from signing up.  Though I don't think this will be a big money-maker, it seems only fitting for my first stock purchase to be that of a specialty coffee company. 

If I do opt for SBUX, I'll be hopelessly late to the party--and there's little reason for bullishness about any other coffee chain stock.  Here's why: gas prices.  When I researched Starbucks and Caribou stock, I noticed that they have actually followed a similar pattern over the past year.  Here's what the one-year graph looks like:

 

Now, here's what gas prices in my hometown of Milwaukee have looked like over the same time range:

Notice anything?  Both stocks took a dive in August, 2006--which is exactly when gas prices peaked that summer.  Furthermore, both have been trending way down this year while gas does the opposite.  Anecdotal evidence on message boards frequented by SBUX employees suggests that patrons are ordering smaller-sized drinks this summer, now that gas has gone up again.

Snapshot: If you like Pina Coladas...

This evening, I stopped in to Bella Caffe for the first time in a long time.  (I think I'd been in about five years ago to get a drink to go.)  I just had a cup of half-caf drip coffee.   I'm not sure if they have actual different sizes of ceramic mugs, but I was given about a 10 oz. cup and saucer for $1.85 including tax, which is on the higher end of things.  I didn't ask for a refill, so I don't know whether or not refills are free.

Worthy of note is Bella's wide selection of food items, a smart move as the Caffe is sure to attract a sizable weekday lunch crowd.  In the display case, I noted strawberry-rhubarb scones—I'll have to try one on my next visit, as strawberry-rhubarb is one of my favorite dessert varieties!  (My grandmother made rhubarb pie that was to die for.) 

D.I.Y. "Frappucino"-style Blended Beverages

I'm really pleased with the outcome so far of my experiments with Glucerna shakes, found in the diabetic products section of your local pharmacy or supermarket.  They aren't medicine, though, or even remotely mediciney--I don't have diabetes or any other related condition!  Ironic as it may seem, the diabetes care section is a valuable source of products for those who don't want to ruin their health with excessive sugar.  What's great about Glucerna products is that they have a low glycemic index, which means that they don't cause your blood sugar to spike.

Now that Starbucks is raising drink prices an average of 9 cents, a D.I.Y. "Frappucino"-style drink is a great idea not only for your waistline, but for your pocketbook or purse as well.

Preview: Bella Caffe and City.net Cafe

I didn't make it back to Festa Italiana, so I will be conducting separate reviews of Bella Caffe and City.net Cafe in the next week.  Here's hoping that when I get to the latter, I'll see "espresso" on the menu and not "expresso", as it's misspelled on their website!

As an aside, I didn't re-enter the Summerfest grounds Friday night to check out Dennis DeYoung, but rather just walked along the trail (Lakeshore State Park) just east of the stage.  You can see and hear just fine from there, which I'm sure is why so many roadblocks had to be overcome to build the park.  I'm glad I didn't pay to get in, as Dennis didn't hold my interest for more than three songs!  What's more, he started half an hour late.  What, did they have to wait for the last of the traffic jam to die down so that Dennis could be quickly whisked from his hotel on clear streets?

Dr. Evil's Coffee Lab in Full Swing

My apartment breakfast bar looks like Dr. Evil's coffee lab, with two espresso machines (one on the fritz), two grinders, a pourover filter, spilled espresso grounds scattered about, and bags of beans in various stages of consumption.  I'd snagged a Tetra-Pak of Oregon Chai on clearance at Tarzhay, so a couple nights ago I made a Dirty Chai with Boom Bros. espresso shots.  Yum!

Tomorrow, I'm going to try making ersatz frap-style blended beverages using some Glucerna shakes that were on clearance at CVS.  Except, I don't have a blender.  Oh, well...

Heidi Spencer Sets Tone for Mellow Evening at Stone Creek

Heidi Spencer put on a great show at Stone Creek's Bay View location tonight.  The talented singer/songwriter charmed the audience with her easygoing personality and adorable mannerisms (quote of the evening: "I'm gonna take a swig of coffee now.")  She was joined by drummer Bill Curtis, and invited those present to see her with full band at the Bremen Cafe on the 27th.

The corner of KK & Lincoln is a tough one, to say the least, for a quiet acoustic concert.  However, this Stone Creek location is the only one with enough outdoor space to hold such an event, and Spencer bravely soldiered on through the ambient noise.

Here's hoping that this will be the first of many!

Stone Creek Reunion Weekend

Stopped by Stone Creek in Bay View to check out the tail end of the reunion weekend rummage sale.  I should have guessed this, but it seems like mostly surplus items (plastic tumblers, etc.) from the stores.  And here I thought I would be a way for employees to get rid of their excess gimcrack.  I don't care about gimcrack--and don't even really need more coffee paraphernalia--but would have made it down here earlier if I'd known what the deal was.

Oh well, it will give me a chance to walk around and catch up with rapidly-evolving Bay View before heading in to work for a couple hours, then returning for the concert tonight.

Random observation: BV evidently has a large population of women who don't apply makeup with a spatula.  Me likey.

Boom Bros. Coffee

I've continued to have fun working my way through the sampler box of Boom Bros. coffee.  I repeat, their Velvet Hammer blend is the official espresso of espresso (the link takes you to the pod version this time, for single-serving coffee enthusiasts).  For less caffeine, try blending the Velvet Hammer with their Vienna Decaf.  For drip coffee, it doesn't get much better than the African Safari blend.