For this summer’s Stringbean Special Reserve, we’re selling freshly roasted beans from the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi women’s coffee cooperative in Rwanda. You’ll find this medium roast Special Reserve to have a sweet, nutty finish and medium bodied flavor that’s perfect for everyday drinking. Even better, the coop has an amazing story, and each bag you buy helps support the strong women behind the beans.

The Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop is located in Rwanda, and is made up of Hutu and Tutsi widows from the Rwandan war of the early 1990s. These woman have created a powerful collaboration that both heals the wounds of civil war while building sustainability and financial independence. Started in 2004 in the mountainous region of the Gakenke district, the coop became a part of the international Café Femenino program in 2009. In 2011, the first batch of coffee arrived in the U.S., and, in late 2013, Stringbean Coffee received part of the second batch ever produced.

This coop grows, harvests, washes, and exports their coffee to the United States, and we’re proud to partner with these women on the ground floor to help them rebuild their community through coffee cultivation. We’re proud to report that the beans from the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop is Fair Trade Certified™, and the women are also working to receive their Organic Certification as well.

We look forward to working with the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop in the future, and we encourage you to come out and pick up a bag of Stringbean Special Reserve to show your support, too!

Peace.

CC

Ohh, that smell of freshly roasted coffee

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans; that’s why Pete started roasting in the first place! At Stringbean, we roast in small batches using an old school, non computerized roaster. Each batch is roasted under the friendly, funky vibe of a disco ball, and we roast to great music every single day. The result is smooth, non-bitter coffee that will awaken your senses from the moment you open each carefully packed bag of our coffee. So how do you keep that freshness alive? Here are a couple tricks of the trade:

Go Gentle On The Bag

While we know it’s tempting to squeeze your bag of Stringbean Coffee when it arrives in the mail, resist the urge! We pack our beans using kraft paper bags that are specially lined to preserve freshness and the more carefully you handle your bag, the fresher the beans will be.

Grind, Brew, Enjoy

Purchasing pre-ground coffee may seem simpler, but true coffee aficionados know that you’re settling for a subpar cup. We recommend grinding each cup before you brew it. This makes for a fresher cup of coffee, and heck, a more enjoyable life! Take that extra moment to savor the delicious aroma of freshly roasted coffee in your grinder before brewing it up, just the way you like.

Keep it Cool, Not Cold

Finally, it’s good to keep it mind that our coffee beans are meant to be enjoyed, not hoarded away in the freezer! Try using your beans within 2 weeks after opening the bag. Any longer than 3 weeks, and your nose will know something’s up. Share your Stringbean Coffee with family and friends to enjoy fresher cups of coffee, and be sure to store your beans in an airtight container somewhere cool and dry. Avoid the refrigerator or freezer altogether and ensure a fresh supply of your fix with a coffee subscription.

Groovy Grinders

We all know Stringbean Pete loves roasting his beans to perfection, so you know there’s no need to add any additional heat to your beloved beans when you grind them up for your daily cup. That’s why Pete recommends the Bodum Bistro grinder, which features a motor at the bottom of the gadget so it’s less likely to transfer heat as it grinds. Looking for something a little more budget-friendly? We also recommend Mr. Coffee’s reasonably priced Automatic Burr Grinder. Like the Bodum Bistro, this electric grinder is designed to grind beans uniformly with “burr” plates as opposed to slicing them into small pieces with blades. The result is a more consistent grind and a smoother cup.

Brew a Little…Or a Lot!

If you’re a single shot sorta gal or guy, you may already be a fan of Bialetti’s Moka Express. With a simple, old-school design that dates back to the early 1930s, this stovetop pot comes in a range of sizes to brew up single espressos or a whole batch. Perfect for espresso grind coffee, some aficionados balk at the “espresso” label since the Moka Express won’t actually provide the true espresso crema, but you will get a fast, cheap, and potent brew that’ll do your beans justice.

Another great, no-frills approach to a near perfect cup comes from the Clever Coffee Dripper. Often favorably compared to the classic French Press, fans of the Dripper like that the process creates a full-bodied cup without any of the bitterness or sediment. Many coffee shops now offer a “pour over,” so you can try this brewing method out before committing to your own Dripper.

Still a fan of the French Press? Just be sure to get your coffee-to-water ratio right, and always serve as soon as you’re done brewing to avoid bitterness. The fine folks at Blue Bottle Coffee recommend a 1:10 ratio and a quick 4 minute brew time.

So, how do YOU brew? Let’s discuss and see if there really is one brew method to rule them all!

Cheers!

Caitlin C.

The Humble Bean…Is Actually a Seed!

The aromatic coffee beans we roast have been processed especially for roasting and drinking, but each little bean, if unprocessed, can actually be planted. The seeds produce plants that typically take a few years to produce flowers, and then fruit. You may be surprised to learn that coffee plants actually bear bright, beautiful red fruit! This fruit (called cherry) is picked and processed to get to the real gem, the “bean” inside.

The harvest typically comes once a year and lasts between 3-6 weeks. After the harvest, the beans are carefully washed and dried, and all of the pulp, as well as the dry outside layer of the bean, is fully removed. The beans are then sorted depending on size and quality, and prepped for exporting. At this stage, the “green coffee” is now ready for roasting. According to the National Coffee Association, about seven million tons of green coffee is produced every year.

Dry Times for the Bean: Brazil’s Blighted Berries

There are a number of factors that can affect the quality of a given coffee crop, including drought. NPR reports that Brazil has experienced a significant drought this year, which has yielded coffee beans that “aren’t fully formed. Many are twisted and folded in on themselves.” Industry experts worry that this may drive the retail cost of coffee up temporarily, but only time will tell how far reaching this blight is as the harvest continues.

For many of us, coffee is an elixir we rely on to face the day, savor a quiet moment, and invigorate our senses. Next time you bow your head for a sip, take a moment to acknowledge all the hard work of nature and humankind that brought that brew to your lips!

The market will open Saturday, May 3 with extended hours from 8 – 1. Regular season hours will be every Saturday from 8:30-12:30, May thru the first weekend of November.

There’s ample free parking and a lot of great places to visit besides the market. Fitz’s Rootbeer, Vintage Vinyl, Star Clipper and Blueberry Hill are regular destinations for The Loops visitors and just some of the awesome places among the Loop’s 6 blocks of great stores and restaurants.

The University City’s Market in the Loop in cooperation with Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, the City Council, Commerce Bank and the construction skills of the Missouri National Guard, the Market opened with a grand celebration on March 1, 1975.

The U. City Market in the Loop was an early element in the revitalization of the Delmar Loop, with an interior space consisting of food stands and small retail vendors – including the prior home of Bob’s Seafood – and a series of wooden stalls to the rear that were generally used for produce and food vendors. These same stalls will now house many local vendors (see list below) of produce, meats, soaps, artisan baked goods/breads and Stringbean Coffee.

The front of the building now houses Market Pub House, a sports bar. Next to the Market Pub House and in front of the wooden stalls is a great little patio where market goers and sit and enjoy their coffee and eats as well as sit back and listen to live music (local bands performing every week). Now almost 40 years later there’s a lot of buzz around the Midtown Farmers Market filling those stalls.

As of now the following will be part of Midtown Farmers Market:

Circle B Ranch, Windy Lake Farm, Elixir Organic Farm, Sugar Creek Piedmontese, Rockbridge Trout, Baetje Farms, Biver Organic, Riverbend Roots, Silent Oaks, Lily Lane Farm, Southern Breeze, Red Hawk Acres.

Stringbean, Traveling Tea, Red Fox, Black Bear, El Chico, Little Dipper Chocolate, Del Carmen, Leaf Dressing, Martha’s Gourmet Foods.

Buddha Bath and Body, Belle Journee, Carolyns, Stamp Store, August Love and other crafts & art.

New this year: Seed Geeks, Irene’s Granola, Native Pops, and My Coconut Kitchen.

A cup of Stringbean Coffee and a fruit empanada from El Chico is a great start to your day. Our Saturday morning Market is where farmers gather, friends meet and the festival begins.

Be sure to like the Midtown Farmers Market Facebook page.

Hey cats and kittens, it’s your old guitar pickin’ pal Django. What in the heck is 3rd wave coffee? After visiting several spots off the highway and lots of shakes later I’ve realized it’s a lightly roasted coffee to ultra lightly roasted coffee that risks the sugars not fully developing, leaving you holding a mug of astringent, sometimes grassy, even grapefruit tasting coffee.  Mmm!? Pete says fruity notes are more common as are the levels of caffeine (darker roast cooks off more caffeine).

What are you bananas?

When banana shopping most folks would agree the yellow ones taste the best (I do), the green bananas aren’t ripe or developed yet and the black squishy ones are overdone. What’s the happy medium? The medium, a perfectly ripe yellow bananas, er’ kind of like coffee. Coffee roasted to right before the 2nd crack (the moisture being cooked or roasted from the coffee bean) up to and into the 2nd crack seems to appeal to most folks.

3rd wave coffee is more than a hipster trend, it’s here, but it’s not for everyone. My cousin, Stringbean Pete, king of cool is way under tattoo’d and too old to be a hippity hipster, but hey he’s still got that tattoo’d vested shirt. Last week he conjured up a bourbon cold brew that was barrel aged. It was beyond delightful. It left my toes tappin’.

While there’s been crazy stories of proclaiming no cream at the paying customers request (the first thought that comes to mind is that of the Seinfeld’s soup nazi … no soup for you!) to crazy brewing techniques. It’s bizarre to imagine a chemistry set being used to brew coffee. Perhaps a mug of freshly roasted French press coffee suits your style or the very popular pour over. Personally, I dig the thick European stovetop espressos that’s rich and bold and very smooth (Bialetti Moka pot). Yea, Django done got me some culture though still way too old to be hip.

If we had to label Stringbean’s roasting level to that of a wave (though waves are typically done at baseball games around the 7th inning usually just before last call) then it’s safe to say we (by we I mean Pete) focus on 4th wave … coffee that well tastes like, well, um, coffee! For me I’m diggin’ Petes Malawi Peaberry, my cuz done nailed it, a slow, dark roast with tastes of raisin and figs.

However, you like your coffee roasted (light, medium or dark) and however you enjoy your cuppa’ joe prepared (French press, espresso, drip, pour over, stove top) enjoy your coffee. Man, life is short, I mean enjoy your coffee! Coffee isn’t only about that wonderful life blood of a black elixir and the added benefits of electric jolts caused by my drug of choice, caffeine. Oh contrar. It’s also a culture, a community and should help those along the way, like choosing Fair Trade Certified like the kings of groovy, godfathers of socially minded cool, Ben & Jerry did. It should taste good and make you feel good.  Though just holding the mug and feeling the warmth in your hands and smelling freshly ground then brewed coffee is reason enough to get out of bed.

So drink up anyway you’d like. 

Django

“Ben & Jerry’s” has become synonymous with feel good, tasty treats, and for good reason. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are two pioneers in taking the road less taken and following your path while treating people well in the process. Their story gave Stringbean Pete the inspiration he needed to leave corporate culture and commit to a good life of roasting coffee and creating community. Pete was able to spend some time going over ideas with Jerry in the early days of Stringbean and says “you can’t fake cool and Ben & Jerry are very cool”. From the beginning, Ben & Jerry have pledged a percentage of their annual profits to good causes, and they’ve been crusaders for bringing fairly traded, ethically sourced ingredients to the forefront of American consciousness … and that’s cool! These days, it seems everyone is looking for high-quality, natural products, but Ben & Jerry’s was active in their opposition to dairy products from cows treated with growth hormones way back in 1989!

This kind of forward-thinking, values driven mindset is exactly what Stringbean Pete and the whole Stringbean crew try to model in our work, and we praise Ben & Jerry’s for offering such a solid model of how to start and run a business built on delicious products and shared values. At Stringbean Coffee, we work hard to use ethically sourced, Fair Trade Certified™ coffee beans wherever possible, and we also strive to remember to have fun at what we do–hence the disco ball and great tunes that play as we roast every beloved bean we send to our loyal customers!

Looking for a good read to go along with your cup of java? We recommend Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip or the Ben & Jerry Documentary on Netflix goes very well with a scoop of Cherry Garcia.

Got a favorite Ben & Jerry’s story to share with us? Send us a message and heap on the praise! Thanks for supporting Stringbean and helping us grow another cool, community-minded company like our heroes, Ben & Jerry.

Peace.

CC

We choose Fair Trade whenever we can, but keep in mind that not every bag we roast comes from certified beans. Take a good look at our current inventory of freshly roasted coffees to choose from a variety of traditional and Fair Trade Certified™ coffees.

What’s the Difference?

Seeing a Fair Trade label at your local java spot is becoming a more frequent occurrence, and that’s a good thing! More Fair

Trade Certified™ coffee on the market means a better standard of living for coffee growers all across the world. Fair Trade coffee has come a long way since the very first mention of certification way back in the late 1980s, and we’re proud to be a part of the movement that brings ethically sourced coffee beans to the St. Louis urban coffee scene.

The coolest thing about sourcing Fair Trade Certified™ coffee? According to the fine folks at Fair Trade USA, each participating country designated funds from their coffee profits to programs they’ve decided will best benefit their local community. That means that you can have a small, direct impact on the most pressing issue of a community in need with every pound you purchase, every cup you consume, every bean you get a buzz off…well, you get the idea!

Choosing to brew Fair Trade Certified™ coffee feels good, and drinking it feels even better. Buy a bag or two from one of our local partners today, or check out our full inventory of freshly roasted premium coffees available by the bag, or in weekly or monthly coffee subscriptions. Make Fair Trade coffee from your friends at Stringbean Coffee a habit you won’t want to kick!

Looking like a steam locomotive rolling down the track, Stringbean Coffee Company is keeping its Soul Train churning with a new, vintage roaster.

Stringbean’s new roaster ready to cook!

Peter Cohen, owner/operator of Stringbean Coffee, one of 21 coffee roasters in the St. Louis-area, has expanded his roasting capabilities with a second, beautifully refurbished San Franciscan roaster. And, this one-of-a-kind gem is as much a work of art as it is a piece of machinery.

This San Franciscan SF-25 (twenty-five pound batch capacity) was originally made about 20 years ago by Coffee/PER for a friend of the manufacturer’s owner at the time, Sherman Dodd.

Coffee/PER, once located near San Francisco and now operated in Fallon, Nevada, is known for its “premium components and quality workmanship.”  They’ve been constructing artisan roasters “built to old world standards” for 20 years, which makes Stringbean’s San Franciscan one of their first.

This classic, old-school, artisan roaster was manufactured using 100% American-made muscle and steel.  Best of all, this particular SF-25 has been cured and seasoned by experience.

Its history begins with its still-original drum, made from a piece of mild, steel pipe milled on a WWII-era, Navy ship lathe.  Mr. Dodd believed this material was more forgiving and less brittle over time than drums made of cast iron.

The SF-25 was also built without the computerized functions found on many of the newer roasters.  Rows of natural gas flames provide its heat source.  Meticulously engineered and executed, the San Franciscan is best suited for craft-style roasters with years of experience.

“It’s a very intuitive machine,” Cohen explained, “built on an old-school, traditional platform that’s ideal for the artisan roaster.”

This SF-25 was originally sent to the Midwest (Wisconsin) for a short spell, before boomeranging back to the West Coast where it logged most of its 20 years of action in the coffee-crazed town of Portland, Oregon.

It recently returned to Coffee/PER, now operated by Bill Kennedy, for a complete refurbish, before finally arriving at Stringbean in St. Louis.

Starting out blue, the roaster is now flat-black with stainless/nickel hardware, and the locomotive-look blends perfectly with the music-infused aesthetic Stringbean has working at his roastery.  Stringbean has given this San Franciscan a permanant place to boogie, under his shimmery Soul Train disco-ball.

It’s the only San Franciscan currently in the St. Louis market.  (Howard Lerner used an SF-25 to start Kaldi’s, but that roaster is believed to be operating in Seattle now.)

Roasting top-shelf beans with a vintage, elegantly conceived and U.S.-made roaster, Stringbean continues to produce St. Louis’ most superlative coffee.

Small-batch, handcrafted and music-infused—Stringbean Coffee.

Stringbean Coffee Company’s wildly successful Malawi Peaberry Special Reserve has returned and will now be featured as a regular member of Stringbean’s everyday roster.  Starting April 1, Stringbean’s Malawi Peaberry will be available online and in stores, year-round!

This charming, slow, dark-roasted, African coffee offers a sweet, delicate flavor profile with hints of apricot and fig.  It possesses bright, crisp acidity, full, mellow body and a soft, sophisticated finish.  Displaying the floral, fruity style typical of prized East African coffees, Stringbean’s Malawi Peaberry makes a delightfully unique and refreshing cup.

The secret of this coffee’s remarkable taste (aside from Stringbean’s music-infused roast) is the unusual peaberry itself.

The “peaberry” bean is a rare but naturally occurring (about 5% of the time) abnormality.  A coffee cherry normally has two sibling seeds (or beans) inside that develop with flattened, facing sides, but the peaberry is an only-child.  It develops without another seed to flatten against, which explains its unusual pea-shape.

One of Mother Nature’s happy accidents, the peaberry, like Stringbean Pete himself, is not your average bean.  Connoisseurs debate the perceived superiority of peaberry coffee, but most agree there is something unique about it.

Kenneth Davids of the Coffee Review has said he’s, “not sure peaberry tastes better than normal beans from the same crop, but it does taste different,” adding, “peaberry is more buoyant and more brightly acidy, more complex in the upper aromatic ranges of the profile but somewhat lighter in body than comparable, normally shaped beans.”

Peaberry beans are sorted-out by hand after they’re picked and usually sold separately, largely because of high consumer demand, but also because peaberries roast differently than normal beans.

Peaberries supposedly roast better than ordinary beans because their round shape minimizes sharp edges and allows the berries to roll around the roasting chamber more easily.  This increased motion prevents burning edges or sides, and encourages a more even roast.

That sounds pretty fancy, but the bottom line is—peaberry coffee beans are a rare breed, coveted by enthusiasts for their remarkably distinctive style.

Stringbean Pete is a one-of-a-kind stylist himself and he has an appreciation for true originals like the peaberry coffee bean.

If ordinary isn’t enough, explore the extraordinary.  Take a Walk on the Wild Side and discover the uncommon, off-the-hook pleasures of Stringbean’s Malawi Peaberry.  It will curl your lips into a java slurping smile and get your African groove on!

Don’t get called “Barney Fife.”  Discover the edge-smoothing pleasures of Stringbean’s artisan, SWISS Water Decaf!

It’s easy to understand why you’d want to drink multiple mugs of Stringbean’s handcrafted, locally-roasted, music infused coffee.  Stringbean combines a Hallelujah Chorus of taste with a How Sweet It Is aroma for a sensationally alluring cup.  It’s habit-forming.

Still, too much caffeine can lead to the bug-eyed, jittery Fife effect or a long night of infomercials.  Switching to decaf usually means sacrificing a good deal of “yum” which makes the effort pointless.

Why do most decaf coffees taste so inferior to their caffeinated cousins?  Chemicals are often used in the decaffeination process.  These chemicals inevitably modify the beans’ intrinsic flavor profile and apply their own less palatable notes.  Most java enthusiasts would prefer to forgo joe altogether rather than drink these chemically castrated half-coffees.  “Death before decaf,” they scornfully sneer.

Stringbean Pete has said, “Sha-na-na” to the cynics and brought forth a gourmet decaf that knocks socks and drops jaws.  The secret is the water—the SWISS Water process.  This ecologically-friendly decaffeination process uses water rather than chemicals to extract the beans’ buzz without altering its inherent flavor.  The SWISS Water technique also promises a 99.9% caffeine-free bean, while other processes leave varying amounts behind.  The result is a cleaner, truer, and in all ways more satisfying, decaffeinated cup.

Stringbean Pete uses the same innovative, artisan roasting techniques with every batch he creates, insuring consistently slamming quality regardless of caffeine content.  Stringbean’s Decaf Redeye (a decaf version of the popular Redeye Roast) packs so much crowd-pleasing coffee character it can even be enjoyed in a concentrated espresso shot.

So, stop buggin’-out!  Give Stringbean’s Decaf Redeye a long, contemplative pull and keep percolating without any Jump, Jive or Wail!

Note—the only way to be sure you are drinking SWISS Water decaf is to find the proprietary logo, displayed proudly on every bag of freshly roasted Stringbean Decaf Redeye.

Hola once again, mistresses and masters of the java-verse!  Jivin’ Django’s back with another delicious riff to compliment your cups and set your brains to boogie.

Last Sunday was “Super Sunday,” the grand-(go) daddy of American sport and consumerism, so naturally Mr. Furtherbean felt obligated to hitch a ride to the Garden State and file a firsthand report.  The host-city, East Rutherford, promised a unique combination of exotic adventure and authentic, American experience.

Proper Super Bowling requires a certain stylistic impulse for outrageous excess, and Jivin’ Django has always been strangely fascinated by the lurid, mass-hysteria that surrounds this patriotic celebration of football and beer.  To gain insight, I decided old Django would need to join in the revelry.

I pressed a few cups of cousin Stringbean’s Burundi Special Reserve, which has more kick than an elephant gun, and I planned my strategy hastily, with very little sleep.

Once I hit Jersey, I scored a deluxe, stretch-limo with a phat, flat-screen LCD.  Then I circled the city in style, tattooed to the telecast because the Super Bowl simply is “Must See T.V.”  Nothing could get Django any closer to the pounding and the pageantry than eye-popping HD, and very few outdoor stadiums match the luxurious comfort of a limousine.  Yep, Furtherbean figured he found what amounted to a front-row seat.

Django’s instincts couldn’t have been tighter because the football was over in about five minutes, but that’s when the weird, Brain Salad Surgery began.  Did you catch the commercials?  They were the entertainment, the intrigue, and the trending topic of tweets.  If you paid upwards of two-grand to sit in the cold and watch that stinker, you missed Bob Dylan selling cars.

Now Django’s been known to stretch truth on occasion, but this unsettling occurrence sure felt like a strange disturbance in The Force.  I know rock’s royalty has been selling-out for decades, but we’re talking about Bob Dylan here—counter-culture icon, spiritual son of Woody Guthrie, poet for a generation—hawking cars for Chrysler (and yogurt too)!  What does it all mean?  I guess Robert Zimmerman will work on “Maggie’s Farm” again.

How about the “Puppy Love” campaign that diabolically combined two irresistible attractions, cute dogs and ponies, to perplexingly promote the heart-warming qualities of beer?

Axe “Peace” deodorant dusted-off the hippie slogan, “Make love, not war,” and depicted beautiful native girls falling into the arms of invading soldiers and lovesick dictators presumably because they smelled so good.

All of this psychological mumbo-jumbo had poor Django’s head spinning and longing for a simple “Tastes Great/Less Filling” pitch I could understand.  My brain was suffering a corporate takeover!

Long after the broadcast (and limo ride) ended, I found a microwave near the vending machines at the bus station.  I nuked some water and pressed the last of my Burundi stash into a slightly sweet, aromatic cup as I contemplated the lyrical message of Dylan’s ad-copy.  “Is there anything more American than America?” he suggestively asked.  Django’s no CNBC correspondent, but even I know Chrysler is owned by Italian auto-giant, Fiat and employs only slightly more Americans than Japanese-owned Toyota.  Flag-waving, hero-welcoming, puppy-loving, parade-giving Anheuser-Busch is controlled by the Belgium-based In-Bev Corp.  Faceless European companies selling Americans on our own romanticized idea of America suddenly struck Django in the gut and I had to laugh.

These corporations give good people from our neighborho

ods jobs and there’s nothing wrong with cashing a European check, but we don’t have to turn right around and return that money again.  The decision-makers and profiteers from these global conglomerates don’t live in our communities, and they don’t (necessarily) share our love of dogs, or homecoming parades.   “Don’t Believe the Hype!”

Before you spend those hard-earned greenbacks, make sure you know what you’re getting in return.  Superior craftsmanship, friendly customer service and values-driven ideals are what locally-owned/operated businesses deliver.  It’s also where the true spirit of American entrepreneurism continues to thrive.  Independent artisans, craftsmen, local farmers, and other small businesses are increasingly offering improved quality and less B/S.   They are driven by a rediscovered impulse to build a better mousetrap, and to do so thoughtfully—the proper way.

Stringbean Coffee Company has plenty of funkified, soul-fried attitude, but Stringbean Pete is a real dude.  He lives in St. Louis.  He roasts coffee because he loves it.  He listens to music while he roasts because he loves that too.  He believes there’s an art to roasting great coffee, and he takes pride in producing an amazing cup.  He treats his customers and co-workers like friends because they actually are.  He wears flannel work-shirts, plays bass and even owns a cute dog.  He’s your friendly neighborhood coffee guy.  What could be cooler than that?

Django’s Super Bowl takeaway is simply this, Dylan was right about one thing, “You can’t fake cool.”

And yet, there’s more.

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a final, gut-busting slice of scrumptious pie and a cup of hot coffee.  It’s an all-American indulgence, an extra helping, an encore following the play’s final act.  It’s the desired, expected and fitting end to the holiday—a last hurrah!

Just considering such a thing, at this stage of the proceedings, will require physical and mental strength.  Some stuffed guests might even greet the announcement of “Pie!” with a soft groan.  A few won’t even make the initial serving.  They’ll be forced to pick from the remains, hours later, after suddenly getting jarred awake and sober by a blaring infomercial on an abandoned T.V.  Yet, they’ll happily scavenge for that final, crumbly bite.  No manner of “full” can deny pie with any real satisfaction on Thanksgiving.

People have been eating pie for centuries, though the first recipes made savory meat dishes, not totally unlike the “pot-pies” we sometimes bake today.  The word “pie” is said to originate from the bird, magpie, which gathers random things.  The first pies were simply collections of available ingredients.  It was cheaper to bake crust than bread, and they could be filled with practically anything.  This versatility made pie an “everyday staple” in the Middle Ages.

The Pilgrims packed along their pie recipes when they sailed to America, and they adapted to the ingredients available in the New World.  The fruits and nuts introduced by the Native Americans started to be used more prevalently.  The first Thanksgiving might have started the trend toward desert pies!  In any case, this pie-eating custom has been happening for a long time.  Perhaps, we all share some genetic craving or ancestral longing for pie.

Don’t fight it.  Get in on the initial rush.  Pie is meant to be shared with other people.  Its circular shape invites “gathering ‘round,” and pie is easily portioned.

But, there are things to decide.  What kind should you have?  (I like pecan!)  What sort of topping?  One piece or two?

The only certainty is the need for good coffee.  No pie should ever be served without it.  In contemporary America, they are nearly inseparable.  Did old-school diners make pies to sell more coffee, or make coffee to sell more pies?  And, who started the whole scone thing?  I want pie with my coffee!  It’s hard to even imagine one without the other.  Together, they create a sublime synthesis that undeniably exceeds either individual part.  Throughout the culinary world, few pairings harmonize as easily and wonderfully as coffee and desert pie.

Once you have your slice and mug in front of you, take some time to smell the coffee.  Watch the whipped topping or ice cream start to drop.  Take a temperature sip of your java. Contemplate your blessings and again say, “Thanks!”  Then—dig in—even Pilgrims ate pie! Stringbean Coffee compliments holiday pie.

Stringbean Coffee Company sincerely wishes everyone a happy, peaceful Thanksgiving!  Thanks for continuing to make Stringbean Coffee a favorite part of your day!

It motivates marathoners and Mars Rover pilots.  It makes misery manageable.  It transforms melancholy into glee.  It enhances nearly every moment of our increasingly play-listed lives.

But, coffee comes close second for elevating (perhaps even justifying) human existence.  Just think how far behind we’d all be if we hadn’t invented coffee.

Stringbean Coffee Company is mashing these two monumental elements together to create a superlative new blend.  Just like milk & cookies, chocolate & peanut butter, beer & football, Hall & Oates—Stringbean Coffee is adding rock-and-roll to their roasting recipe.

Music Infused Coffee

Imagine a rich, aromatic mug of “mm-mm” percolating with the uplifting energy of your favorite, feel-good tunes.  Stringbean’s gourmet java jams!

Owner/Roaster, Stringbean Pete has devised a unique saturation process that infuses a musical vibe into every one of his fresh roasts.  He developed this innovative technique in response to the widespread attention his roasting choices were receiving—that is, the music he chose to play while roasting.

“I tweeted one time I was listening to Marley, and people went crazy,” Pete recalled.  “Everywhere I went people started asking me what I was playing when I roasted this, or that batch.”

Stringbean quickly determined the energy and excitement caused by his java jam sessions was elevating the quality of his roasts.  “It adds a little mo’jo,” as Pete explains.

But, how does this infusion actually occur?  According to Pete, “It’s about environmental conditioning.”  Stringbean’s entire roasting process is enriched by the stimulating strut and swagger of syncopated grooves.

Music has been an essential part of the business plan at Stringbean Coffee since the very beginning.  Starting with their distinctive, guitar-head /coffee bean, tuning-keys logo, Stringbean has sought to define a rocking brand.

Music Infused Coffee Sings… Roast, Baby, Roast.

Images of iconic performers oversee every artisan roast from the walls of the Stringbean roastery.  The legendary, Soul Train disco-ball hangs over Stringbean’s twin, American-made, small-batch roasters.  And, all of Stringbean’s uniquely flavorful roasts are treated with a steady, solid-gold flow of funk, blues, classic rock, reggae and disco.

“If I’m not dancing, I’m not roasting,” says Stringbean Pete.

One satisfying sip of Stringbean’s rocking roasts will have you saying there’s something to the electrified, atmospheric conditioning he employs.  Why work when you can shimmy and shake?

James Brown said it best when he shouted, “I FEEL GOOD!”  Nothing is more inspiring than a floor-stomping rhythm coupled with a sing-along chorus of stark, truth-defining soul.

It’s time to jettison the “average cup o’ Joe” for a more harmonious mug of—MO’JO.  Stringbean Coffee makes roasts that sing!

The current Special Reserve is a high scoring Rwanda coffee from a woman owned co-op (starting 4/3/14).