Fair Grounds Newsletter from Cafe Campesino

888.532.4728 (tel)
229.924.2468 (tel)
229.924.6250 (fax)
(more contact info)

For the Love of Big Yella
Newsletter Special: Mexico Chiapas Full City
Many Paths to the Top by Café Campesino's Bill Harris
Community Caravan and Staff Notes
Customer Spotlight: Sweet Temptations
Show Your Café Campesino Pride
Quote of the Month
Past Issues of Fair Grounds

Well, it's up and running and the Café Campesino Fair Trade, organic coffee that you're drinking has been roasted in our new 30k (which means a 30 kilogram capacity, though Lee roasts in batches ranging from 40-50 pounds at a time) natural gas-powered drum roaster. Unofficially nicknamed "Big Yella," it was manufactured by our friends at Ambex, the same folks who built our last roaster. While our upgrade to the Ambex 30k enables Lee to roast in modestly larger volumes, it is the new roaster's technological sophistication that is having the greatest impact, as it empowers Lee to apply his chef's intuition while also managing the roasting process at a far more detailed level than was possible before. The net result is the same great coffee and one happy roaster — if that don't spell love for coffee devotees, we don't know what does! In this edition of Fair Grounds, a must-read: Bill follows up on his timely, thought-provoking article in the July issue, The Fair Tradin' Crossroad Blues. For an update on the activity brewing at Café Campesino this fall, check out this month's Community Caravan. We also spotlight our friends at Sweet Temptations in Suwanee, GA, offer a new recipe and present this month's contest winner. Read on and enjoy...

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This just in...our own production dynamo, Maty de Barrios, has graciously accepted responsibility for choosing our newsletter specials from here on out! Born in Huixtla, Chiapas Mexico, Maty not only excels at getting your coffee packaged and into the hands of our extraordinary, dependable UPS guy Tyrone on time, but is also developing an uncanny ability to discern what makes the flavor and aroma of Café Campesino coffee so special!

Her own personal bias aside, Maty has selected our Mexico Chiapas Full City Roast as this newsletter's special. Her reasons: 1) it exemplifies the spectacular quality that our new Ambex roaster can produce under the guidance of roaster Chef Lee, 2) its taste is “muy suave” and, 3) its aroma is “muy rico”. So, if you want to experience the rico-suaveness of Maty's choice (and get 10% off of the regular listed price), enter promotional code mex906 when prompted at checkout or mention it when placing your order by phone.

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by Café Campesino's Bill Harris

Last month I traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand, to meet with fellow members of the International Fair Trade Association at a conference hosted by our friends at Trade Aid. Our twelve-hour flight from San Francisco was extended by another 30 minutes due to low clouds covering the airport, so the pilot made the best of the situation by taking us on a quick aerial tour of the extraordinary snow-covered New Zealand mountains. This was my first view of the stark peaks that I would see hovering in the distance outside of Christchurch, and that I would cross several times as I drove around the South Island during four days of post-conference rest and relaxation in a borrowed jeep (thanks Michelia!).

Driving and hiking up, over and around these mountains, I couldn't stop thinking about the Fair Trade movement and the hurdles that seem to lie ahead. We had just concluded an energizing and thought-provoking meeting in Christchurch where heady, fundamental issues such as the direction of the Fair Trade movement and the relationship between Fair Traders and Fair Trade labeling organizations dominated conversations. So my planned "R and R" actually evolved into more of a "drive and think" meandering tour of the South Island. And I couldn't avoid the obvious analogy that confronted me every time I broke out the detailed road atlas and compared it to my host Justin's hand drawn "must see" map...there is always more than one way to get where you want to go.

Read on...

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From September 20th to the 24th, two special friends from La Asociación Maya de Pequeños Agricultores in Santa Anitala Unión, Guatemala, will be visiting us here in Americus. Thanks to the hard work of our compadres at Just Coffee who arranged for their visit, we will have the opportunity to meet with and learn from Rigoberto Augustin Ramirez, the director of commercialization for the community's coffee and banana operations and Andrea Maldonado, the community's director of ecotourism and group visits.

On September 30th, from 11 am to 9 pm, Sweet Temptations in Suwanee, Georgia, will be serving up Café Campesino and spreading the good word at the 3rd Annual Amigos for Christ Fiesta at Suwanee Town Center Park. The funds raised by this event will be used to create opportunities for disadvantaged families in Nicaragua. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch ravaged the northwest area of Nicaragua, leaving thousands dead and millions homeless. It was the worst hurricane the western hemisphere has seen in 200 years. Since then, Amigos for Christ has helped surviving families rebuild their lives through education, clean water, medical services, home construction, feeding programs, and business opportunities. To learn more about the work of Amigos for Christ and this year's Fiesta, visit www.amigosforchrist.org. To learn more about Sweet Temptations and why Atlanta area Café Campesino fans should pay them a visit, read this month's Customer Spotlight.

From Friday, September 29th through Sunday, October 1st, Bill, Lee, Stacey and crew will be serving up Café Campesino in Newnan, Georgia, at the 2006 BRAG BikeFest. This three-day weekend of autumn bicycling is a Café Campesino tradition and is sure to be another hit for bike and coffee enthusiasts alike. To learn more, visit www.brag.org.

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Sweet Temptations... mmgood! Café Campesino is thrilled to introduce our friends at Sweet Temptations, who not only serve up Café Campesino just about any way it can (and should) be served, but who also offer a most delectable range of fresh baked scones, muffins and biscuits as well as other gourmet breakfast pastries, breakfast sandwiches (using real eggs, made to order), frozen drinks, hand-dipped ice creams, lunch plates, specialty deserts and more! Between raising their kids, running Sweet Temptations and making their customers happy, owners Young and Surelyne Lee are truly extraordinary folks. Café Campesino is extremely grateful for their support and willingness to represent us at the 3rd Annual Amigos for Christ Fiesta. We strongly advise that anyone in the Suwanee area who needs a fresh cup of Café Campesino and, say, a mouth watering chocolate horn or strudel take the time to visit Sweet Temptations, located at 350 Town Center Avenue, Suite 101 in Suwanee (located within Town Center Park at the intersection of Buford Hwy & Lawrenceville Suwanee Road). Sweet Temptations is open Tuesday through Thursday, 8 am to 8:30 pm; Friday, 8 am to 10 pm, Saturday, 10 am to 10 pm and Sunday, 10 am to 8:30 pm. Oh, and by the way, they cater! For more information call them at 678-482-8241.

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Haikus seem to be the popular response to our contest and this month is no exception. We received the following fine example of the art form from Breta Stroud. Congratulations, Breta. You're our Café Campesino Pride winner this month!

Coffee lifts our souls
With Cafe Campesino
We lift others, too

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If you're passionate about Café Campesino, show it! Send us:

— a photo showing your "Café Campesino Pride." This could be anything – a photo of yourself holding a bag of Café Campesino coffee, a photo showing that you took your Café Campesino on the road - use your imagination!
— a short written testimonial about how much you love us
— an original coffee poem or haiku (three lines, 5 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, 5 in the last)

Each month, we will choose one entry to appear in the following Fair Grounds newsletter. If we choose yours, you'll win a pound of your favorite Café Campesino coffee. Please send your entry to info@cafecampesino.com.

Contest ends: September 30th.

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"Always do right. This will gratify some and astonish the rest."

Mark Twain

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Fair Grounds is produced by:

Café Campesino
725 Spring Street
Americus, GA 31709

Contact Information:

Orders and General Information
Phone - 888.532.4728, 229.924.2468
Fax - 229.924.6250
http://www.cafecampesino.com
www.cafecampesino.com/store/index.php
info@cafecampesino.com

Staff:
Lee Harris
Tripp Pomeroy
Bill Harris
Maty de Barrios

Fair Grounds is designed and delivered by:

Starstruck Design
335 West Gill Road
Gill, MA 01354

Contact Information:
Don Kruger
Lynn Nichols
Phone - 413.863.7752
Fax - 413.863.7752
http://www.starstruckdesign.com

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