Fair Grounds Newsletter from Cafe Campesino

888.532.4728 (tel)
229.924.2468 (tel)
229.389.4814 (fax)
(more contact info)

Catching Our Breath and Moving Onward
Check Out Our New Coffee and More!
Newsletter Special: Dominican Republic Roast
Producer Profile: FEDECARES
Community Caravan
Quote of the Month
Past Issues of Fair Grounds

Well, we're finally slowing down a bit to recharge our batteries after what has been a nutty, nutty past several months. Good thing we're chilling out a bit too, as Georgia's typically sweltering summer has set in, along with a bit of a drought that has everyone here downright parched!

First and foremost, we are thrilled to announce the marriage of our favorite roastmaster Lee Harris! One June 16th, Lee, Hayley Champion (now Hayley Harris) and her two adorable little girls tied the knot... from single, artisan roaster to family man in one fell swoop! Congratulations Lee and welcome to our big, caffeinated family Hayley, Hollings, and Ellie!!!

Of course, this changes a few things here at the roastery. While Lee remains our trusty roastmaster, he has turned over the day-to-day production responsibilities to our very own Maty de Barrios, who is doing a truly outstanding job… congrats Maty!

We're also happy to announce two new additions to the Café Campesino team: Chelsea Carter, who hasn't missed a beat taking over writing our newsletter and taking on a veritable plethora of other writing, marketing and customer service projects, and Maty's brother Marco, who has proven himself to be a production assistant dynamo. Welcome aboard Chelsea and Marco!

Before we launch into this edition of Fair Grounds, we want to extend a hearty thanks to our friends at BRAG and Paddle Georgia for their support once again this year, along with our wonderful BRAG and Paddle Georgia crews who pulled off both events in fine, fine form.

OK, so what's in this edition of Fair Grounds? In Community Caravan, you'll find a brief wrap up of this year's BRAG, which included an open house here at the roastery as BRAG riders arrived in Americus 2007, and what we understand was a most excellent Paddle Georgia adventure for Geoffrey and Jonathan. We also welcomed a very special visitor all the way from Colombia who graded our coffees, trained Maty in the art/science of cupping, and pretty much spread happiness wherever she went during her brief visit. We have also been shopping a bit as well, adding a new coffee, a far more sustainable (and fun) travel mug and Stevia natural sweetener to our product line up. So, pour yourself a mug of your favorite Café Campesino brew, ice it down, sit back, read on and enjoy!

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Café Campesino is now offering a Dominican Republic Medium Roast coffee from a brand new producer partner, FEDECARES. This coffee is Fair Trade and organically grown. Take advantage of this newsletter special and try some out today!

Travel Corn Mugs — We just received our first order of new travel mugs and we're really excited! Here's the scoop: Our new travel mugs are made of 100% US-grown corn plastic, they're biodegradable (it takes about 1 year for them to break down), they're cup-holder friendly and microwave safe with a 17 oz capacity (one note — they do need to be hand washed). On top of that, they're a beautiful bright red with a Café Campesino logo wrap-around... check them out in our gift ideas section.

Got Stevia? We do! Café Campesino is thrilled to announce that we have teamed up with the good people of Wisdom Natural Brands to offer our customers SweetLeaf® Stevia in two, easy-to-use, formats... read on to learn more and order!

SteviaPlus Economy Pack – 100 ct. Get the best of all worlds with this special package! SteviaPlus is a completely natural, no-calorie, no-carbs (That's right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. No calories or carbs whatsoever) supplement that's 300 times sweeter than sugar (so you use a whole lot less). Just one packet is as sweet as two teaspoons of sugar. And because it's loaded with fiber, it's actually (gasp!) good for you, too! Not to mention it's safe for diabetics and Kosher certified. SteviaPlus uses only the best tasting, highest quality Stevia. And unlike those chemical sweeteners, SteviaPlus is great for cooking and baking. Stir SteviaPlus into your coffee or tea, sweeten up that bowl of cereal, use it in your cooking and baking, and ban the calories and chemicals found in sugar and artificial sweeteners. Your body is a temple, after all.

SteviaClear Liquid (2 fl oz). All natural, no calories, no carbs, no bitter aftertaste, and endless uses. SteviaClear brings pure Stevia extract to liquid form. With 720 servings per bottle, you're definitely getting your money's worth. Just two drops of SteviaClear is as sweet as 1 teaspoon of sugar. Drop this pure Stevia extract into your hot or iced coffee or tea. You'll love getting sweet without paying for it in calories or chemicals. Safe for diabetics, too.

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In honor of our new coffee's arrival, we're offering 10% off of our Dominican Republic Medium Roast for readers of this edition of Fair Grounds. If ordering online, please enter promotional code drey7 upon checking out or, if ordering by telephone, please be sure to mention the promo code to the person who takes your order.

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The Federacion de Caficultores de la Region Sur (FEDECARES) was born out of the necessity to rebuild the coffee regions after the devastating Cyclone David hit the Dominican Republic in 1979. The producers understood that they would become stronger by joining forces, so they created individual community associations. In 1983, 60 different community associations came together to form the regional structure of FEDECARES. Today, FEDECARES has 5,500 members in 13 provinces of the Dominican Republic. They produce about 20 containers of coffee annually, almost all of which is sold at Fair Trade prices. Their coffee is grown at elevations ranging from 1900 to 4000 feet; they harvest it from October to February and export it between November and April.

FEDECARES provides its members with an educational and technical support that allows them to constantly produce the highest quality beans and ensures a sustainable management of natural resources. They strive to contribute to a better quality of life for all their members and their families. Not only do they provide assistance to the members during the harvest season, FEDECARES also supports them in other areas, such as marketing, training, and technical support.

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Spotlight: BRAG 2007 — We spent all day Sunday June 10th at the roastery, serving up snacks, coffee, and beer to tired but excited riders from BRAG, as they made Americus and Café Campesino their first stop in this year's ride, which went from Columbus to Savannah. Roughly 1,800 cyclists stopped by the roastery to cool down and tank up- what an invigorating experience! We took them on tours of the roastery to show them how coffee is done Café Campesino style. All the riders we talked to enjoyed Americus and loved hanging out and chatting with us at Café Campesino.

Café Campesino had a very special visitor from June 13th to 20th. Madlyn Madrid, a Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) certified coffee cupper and Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) certified "Q grader," spent several days with us, cupping our coffee and teaching us how to cup… thank you Madlyn… we can't wait to see you on your next visit to Americus!

From June 23rd through the 29th, our good friends Geoffrey Hennies and Jonathan Mattox served up Café Campesino for Paddle Georgia's, well... paddlers! Geoffrey and Jonathan served coffee, talked Fair Trade and celebrated Georgia's beautiful river network throughout this year's week-long trip, a 115-mile canoe/kayak adventure on the Ocmulgee River from Monticello to Hawkinsville. Paddle Georgia serves as a fundraiser for Georgia River Network and the Central Georgia Rivers Partnership, and you can support Georgia River Network by drinking Café Campesino coffee! Every time you buy a bag of our Georgia River Network Blend, we donate 10 percent of the coffee sale to the Georgia River Network.

Coming soon...

On July 20, Tripp will spend the morning at Sweet Temptations and the afternoon at Red Sky Café training the staff in the ways of coffee and talking Fair Trade with them.

Since we have such wonderfully updated cup characteristics for each of our coffees, we're going to pass that info on to you! Check out the Café Campesino website for new descriptions of each of the coffees we roast.

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"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note."

~ Doug Floyd

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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 - 229.389.4814
http://www.cafecampesino.com
www.cafecampesino.com/store/index.php
info@cafecampesino.com

Staff:
Lee Harris
Tripp Pomeroy
Bill Harris
Chelsea Carter
Maty de Barrios
Marco de la Paz
Luz Figueroa
Geoffrey Hennies
Lily Royster

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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