From Seed to Cup: A Tulsa Experience

So today for Adjusting the Grind, I am going to do a coffee shop review for you. This weekend, I did a quick trip to Tulsa, OK, to visit Travis's momma. While I was there, I took the opportunity to check out Topeca, a coffee shop two Baristas suggested I check out.

http://www.topecacoffee.com/

Topeca is located in downtown Tulsa, OK, in an interesting hotel building. The decor is fabulous--very inviting, cozy, and Latin-inspired. It serves a full food menu along with coffee.

The menus are hanging chalkboards behind the bar. My favorite part is how they list each size for the coffee drinks, and next to cappecino it says, "Only the perfect size". Love how they turned what can sometimes be negative (only serving the traditional 6oz or 8oz cappecino) into something special.

The coffee of the day was Santa Ana, a blend of coffee grown in the highest elevations of Finca Manzano. They describe it having a lime fragrance, and it is a fully-washed coffee. However, I ordered a cappecino for there, and a bag of beans of Santa Ana to take home with me.

My cappecino was very good, a little too foamy for my liking, but overall a great drink. I gave the Barista working a lot of grace, though, because the place was packed on a Sunday afternoon. It was evident this was an unusual amount of people on a Sunday afternoon because there was only one Barista and one chef on duty.

Travis's mom ordered a Turkey and Swiss Panini, which she let me try. It was delicious, and so was the side salad with some sort of raspberry dressing.

However, what makes Topeca stand out in my mind is not the atmosphere, the coffee, or the food, (even though all of those things are excellent) but how they source their coffee. The coffee farm, roaster, and cafe is all owned by the same people. This is called a "Seed to Cup" method. Their farms are all in El Salvador and have been around since the 19th Century when the founder brought coffee trees from Colombia to El Salvador. Now, six generations later the legacy lives on through their shop and roaster.

This process allows them to control the quality and create meaningful relationships between farmers and Baristas and roasters. All of the people involved are intrinsically connected on a deeper level. I like that.

They also are able to give back to the communities they grow coffee through an El Salvador non-profit called "Libras de Amor".

I greatly enjoyed my experience at the shop yesterday and my cup of coffee in my El Salvador mug this morning. If you are ever in Tulsa, you should check Topeca Coffee out!

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The Comfort of a Coffee Snob

This weekend, I went to visit my friend in St. Louis. I haven't seen her since November, so it was a joyous occasion. I basically got to live life with her for the weekend, which was grand.


Saturday morning, she had to work at the local coffeeshop. Around 7:30, I pulled myself out of bed for some breakfast and coffee. When I arrived, my friend's work was hopping. I stepped up to order my cappecino, met with a oh so familiar question: "Would you like a traditional cappecino?" I breathed out a thankful, "yes". Anyone, who works in the specialty coffee industry can relate with my feelings of relief when met with such a reassuring question that you are indeed in a legit coffee house.

As I sat sipping on my cappe and nibbling my mocha muffin, I just watched the craziness around me. It was incredible to see people frantically searching for seats. One couple sat so close to me, it was impossible not to eaves drop a little bit. 


But more impressive than the amount of people was the amount of diversity. A young almost hippie-like couple sat to my right. My left was an elderly man reading the paper. Ahead of me was an international student studying. Next to her, were two middle-aged ladies that looked like old friends. Next to them was a mother and a daughter. The little girl could not have been more than five and had the most enchanting red curls. 


It amazes me how one coffee shop can bring so many different people together, and the commitment that all of these people exhibit to this particular coffee shop at 8 am in the morning on SATURDAY!


Because one cup is never enough, I had breakfast and coffee with my cousins at Booster's Cafe. It was the most darling cafe. A significant portion of their profit goes to Africa. Hmmm...sound familiar? Most of the waitresses were international students, and again, the customers all came from diverse backgrounds. An interracial couple sat next to me and my cousins speaking in a language I did not recognize. What a breath of fresh air!


My coffee experience was not all wonderful in St. Louis, however. While we were walking in St. Louis, my friend and I passed a coffee shop that will remain nameless. Immediately, bad memories of horrible coffee and service flooded my mind. 


In high school, I had visited that shop with a fellow barista. That experience was so horrible that I wrote a paper on how horrible it truly was.


But that shop is special to me as well, because it was at that moment in high school that I realized I had truly become a "coffee snob".







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