WEEKLY DEAL: Columbian coffee prices reach 11 year high

Coming from the Financial Times,

By Javier Blas in London

Published: April 9 2009 03:00 | Last updated: April 9 2009 03:00

Prices for Colombian wholesale coffee have skyrocketed recently causing the American market's coffee retailers to raise their prices by almost 20 percent at time when customers are "tightening their belts."

Colombia is the leading seller in specialty grade mild washed Arabica coffee and third top-seller for coffee overall. The prices have raised due to the amount of rain and a government program to renew all old coffee trees to aid in the medium future.

The scarcity in top quality coffee has made buyers resort to buying similar style coffee from surrounding countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Unfortunately, due to bad weather and exports running low, the situation is not much better.

To find out more about this topic please click here.

This week's deal pertains to Colombian Coffee...

Colombia is the third seller for coffee over all in the world behind which two countries?
a. Vietnam
b. Brazil
c. Ethiopia
d. Guatemala

(please pick two) and receive a free 2oz bag of Colombian Supremo coffee.

WEEKLY DEAL: Cinco de Mayo

It's Cinco de Mayo today! Many people have heard of this holiday, but not many know what it is actually celebrating.

Here's your chance to show your holiday knowledge. Answer the following multiple choice and receive a 2 oz bag of our Aztec Chocolate flavored coffee...

What is actually being celebrated on Cinco de Mayo?
A. It's a celebration on May 5th that is also call Day of the Dead, where Mexico celebrates their family and friends who have passed
B. It's Mexico's day of Independence from Spanish rule on May 5th, 1821
C. It's the unlikely Mexican victory over the French on May 5th, 1862
D. It's the day that coffee, and its prolific history in Mexico is celebrated.

Coffee Vocab: FINISH

In coffee terms, the finish describes the aftertaste on the palate after the coffee is swallowed. Full-bodied coffee tends to have lingering finishes, while thinner coffees may be fleeting. For example, our Organic, Komodo Blend (Swiss Water Process Decaffeinated coffee from the South Pacific) has a mildly sweet start and a slightly floral finish. To better understand what finish is describing, come to the roastery for a cupping. There you will be able to sample a few of VCC's coffee and learn for yourself how to better understand and describe what about a certain coffee you like and dislike. That way, we can help you find the best blend or single origin coffee for your tastes.

INTRODUCING: Java on the Square

We are pleased to announce...
Java on the Square in Athens, Tennessee. Their coffee shop is a beautiful space with very friendly staff and exceptional coffee (if we do say so ourselves). In a recent letter the owners of Java on the Square, Rick and Lea Anne, wrote...

"Rick and I have been looking for a business for some time and the opportunity to procure a local coffee shop became available. We bought the shop and after 3 months of renovating, we finally decided that it was time to open, ready or not and the first sale was February 14 - Valentines day! We settled on Vienna Roasters in Maryville, TN due to their attention to detail and willingness to help us in many facets of the business. Vienna's owner, John Clark, made a special trip to our shop and gave a coffee and espresso training session with our 6 employees before we opened. We decided on a soft opening and just turned on the open sign and opened the doors without announcing it or advertising the opening. Three weeks later we had our grand opening.

Business has been steady. We have received lots of positive feedback from the community. Everyone loves the coffee and espresso and says the flavor is great! Currently we are booking different venues of entertainment. (Jazz, Poetry, Blues Band, Sushi night, kids reading time)

Being a small business owner / manager with shared responsibilities with your spouse has been challenging and time consuming, but we have enjoyed all of it so far. There is no way we could have done it without attending Coffee School (Bellissimo (ABC training)) and Vienna's help with bean selection and employee training. From design stage to the first sale it was a wild ride and we look forward to the years ahead.

Thanks so much,

Rick & Lea Ann"

We would love for you to check out their new place, and tell them Vienna Coffee sent you.
In fact, we want to support our customer's so the deal of the week this week is...

If you go to Java on the Square and bring back a receipt from purchasing something from Java on the Square you will receive a complimentary tea bag or 2oz bag of Vienna Coffee when you come into VCC's roastery.