Inside the Bald Guy Brew
July 10, 2011 by baldguy · Leave a Comment
I want to thank everyone for their kind feedback concerning a recent article in Appalachian Today. Since I don’t have enough copies to go around, I found a link to their site. Here is what to expect when you click on the article:
1. This is going to open into a full page.
2. You will need to zoom in to read the article.
3. There will be a box on top. To close window, click on the “X” and that will return you to our site.
Cheers!
Kaleidoscope Overview of Coffee Industry
July 7, 2011 by baldguy · 1 Comment
Well, it took a tad bit longer than I would’ve liked to finish this series on my coffee predictions…kinda been busy roasting coffee, riding a bike, and chillin’ with the fam. There are two realities, however, that won’t go away: higher gas prices and higher coffee prices. Everyone is in a coffee fix. Consumers, roasters, baristas, and importers are all trying to figure out how to navigate the current spike in green coffee.
For the consumer, the cheaper, off-the-shelf coffees at the grocery store are now at an all time high. For the roaster, purchasing quality coffee is difficult due to the increased monies needed to maintain inventory. For the barista, less people are visiting their local shop as they choose to brew at home. Finally, the green coffee importer wrestles with broken contracts and increased difficulties as banks are hesitant to increase lines of credit.
The good news is that producers are seeing a brighter future in the coffee industry. In the past, many farms had been abandoned as farmers searched for more gainful employment. Now, after talking with two farms in Costa Rica, I hear words of hope. Not that the farmers are making some serious jack, but there is hope of earning a decent wage after years of below market-value pay.
Of course is there is no guarantee that gas, coffee, sugar, wheat, and other commodities will level off. For that matter, there is no guarantee that our current economy will right itself in the near future. However, in light of all that is going on, I’m very thankful to still be in business and that our coffees are still of a very high quality.
As Theodore N. Vail once wrote, “Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.”