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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Adventure Ideas 5, 6, & 8

5) Work in a coffee farm with my wonderful friend in St. Louis.

6) Go to Spain to visit my Aunt (maybe with my lil sis).

AND

8) Just move to a Spanish speaking country for no reason.

I put these last three ideas from my original list together because they are still possible dreams for the future, but they will probably not happen this year--which is okay.

Kudos to T. Bill

Being a Barista in the coffee industry, I would still love to visit a coffee farm with the intent of learning all I can about the process. Tom Billionis, owner of The Coffee Ethic (my boss), visited the Los Planes farm in El Salvador. I would love to spend some time there someday.


My friend, Lizzy, is also interested in learning this process, and we have tossed around the idea of going to work on a farm together, but the details are probably not going to work out this summer. She is applying for an internship with the Bread and Puppet Theater, and I really hope she gets it. I think it is still a good possibility for the both of us in the future. We both love adventure, the Hispanic culture, travelling, and coffee.

Kudos to Weheartit

Spain. I want to visit Spain a lot. My mom's sister, Lynne, lives in Spain with her husband and adorable son, Andrew. I would love to visit her with my mom...possibly with my sister as well. This is still a possibility, but it would be a short trip. 

Originally, I thought it would be awesome to spend a month there with my sister because she and I both like to expand our Spanish skills. She is also graduating high school this year, and I want to take advantage of the time we have together before we live miles apart from each other.

Kudos to Me

Moving to a random Spanish-speaking country was appealing to me at one time because it would be much cheaper than studying abroad. Who needs school credit anyhow? However, this suggestion is probably the most "dangerous" adventure because I would be alone in a foreign country for a significant time period. I would learn Spanish really quick though and be able to eat Pollo Campero whenever I want. I love Pollo Campero!

Kudos to Weheartit

I have been thinking all semester about my possible summer adventures. I have made a decision, but I am not going to tell you yet. I will announce it on January 15th, so be looking. 

P.S. I am going to be starting a new blog series on January 3rd involving coffee tips. It will essentially be a weekly post with coffee making and history basics. I am no expert, but I hope to share my little knowledge of the coffee industry with you. 

P.P.S. My blog's one year anniversary is right around the corner, and I plan on having a special for it.


Good-bye 2010! Hello, 2011!
Happy New Year! 

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Coffee is NOT All Created Equal

Let's Set The Stage:

You are a waitress at a local, sit down restaurant. You serve everything from steaks to chicken fingers. Your hamburgers are the best in town because you use grass feed beef from local farmers. Each patty is hand crafted by the chef with your restaurant's own secret recipe of spices.


NOW, a couple comes in. You sit them down and hand them menus. The lady orders a Gourmet Cheeseburger. She asks if she can make it a double. You reply that is no problem, but it will cost extra. When you tell her the price, she replies,

"You guys are more expensive than McDonalds. How's that?"

Immediately, you begin to explain that your hamburgers are different than McDonald's because of where you get the beef and how it is prepared by hand. Before you could finish your sentence, she retorts:

"I don't care. It all tastes the same."

Absurd right?

Well, that is the same feeling a barista at a local specialty coffee house has when someone says in disgust that you are more expensive than Starbucks. Where is the disconnect? Why do we expect more quality, expensive food from the local sit down restaurant than at a fast food restaurant, but coffee is all treated the same?

I have news for you.

Coffee is NOT all created equal,

as The Coffee Ethic's Clover sign states.

Being a barista at The Coffee Ethic is hard work, constanty trying to improve my skills and learn more about the trade. Each drink is made by hand from scratch. We do not push a button and magically a latte appears. We tamp the espresso with our own strength and pour the steamed milk with our hearts.

All of our coffee is Direct Trade, meaning all the farmer's get a fair price and we have a relationship with them. Our roaster, PT's, gives back to the community the farmer's live in. They don't just take coffee beans; they pass on knowledge and create friendships.

All of the cups at The Coffee Ethic are bio-degardable, and we try to make every effort to be responsible to the environment by recycling and saving our grounds for gardens in the community. 

This is why I hate *bucks a little bit. It has it's place in society, don't get me wrong. If you want a quick, sweet, grande, with lots of milk, cheap coffee drink, go to that place. If you want to sit down, be treated as guests, and sip on a delicious cup of coffee slowly, support a local coffee shop like The Coffee Ethic. And remember:

Coffee is NOT All Created Equal!

Kudos to Scott Bratcher for the Pic of David Soper's Latte Art at The Coffee Ethic

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Crazy Combo Career

Today, in my Public Speaking II class, we were supposed to practice introducing speeches. Last week, we interviewed a classmate and then the classmate came up with a random topic for us to be speaking about. Well, who would have thought that my partner would have taken all my crazy different interests and rolled them into one.


I have to give credit it where it is due. Ashton May made me a Public Relations practitioner of a up and coming coffee roasting company that gave a portion of their profits to orphanages around the world. Wow, there it is. Coffee, culture, and community all rolled into one.


Now, I have to add on to Ashton's incredible idea. What if there was a company that did direct trade with the coffee farms of developing countries and money from selling their coffee was used to help the orphans in their community or other poverty in their community. What a beautiful relationship potential!


Okay, so I am just a college student right now, but this would be such a neat company to be apart of. Just like Public Relations combines all my random creative interests of writing, design, speaking, event planning, etc., this company would combine my love for coffee and passion for reaching out to the poverty in other countries, especially orphans.


If you are reading this blog and thinking, wow this is a GREAT idea, I think I am going to steal it from her and claim it as my own, AWESOME. Please just let me come do PR for you someday. We all need to think of creative ways to give back to the community: locally and globally.


Ideas can come in many forms so always pay attention...even in Speech class!


I hope you enjoy this journey with me exploring how coffee, culture, and community all relate to another. Pin It