The Zapuccino Truck has been cleaned and is ready for winter storage, unless someone someplace warm wants to make some arrangements...:)
I have three plans for the off season:
1. Schedule out all of next spring summer and fall's appearances.
-if you have ideas or suggestions drop me a line
-I will also be looking for helpers to work the truck
2. Improving the trucks functionality
-upgrading the suspension and tires
-working out the air pot brewer kinks
-improving storage and service fixtures
3. Developing Cedar Chai as a commercially available product
-anyone with ideas or contacts that might help with the process, please reach out.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Low, Lattes, and Jaws
Saturday night was a cool event. Perfect late summer weather. The sun setting as Low played their set to 1000's of people on benches and blankets in the grass. Some of them were enjoying a finely crafted coffee beverage. A large number of those people were my girlfriends family and friends, thanks guys! Thanks Anna!:)
It turns out that for this series the band picks the movie. Alan (I'm going to use the band member's first names because I think I have been to enough shows and purchased enough cd's to have earned the right) told a real cute story about how in the 4th grade Mimi gave him a beta copy of the movie and said something like: "...everything you need to make it in this life is in this movie". He then went on later during a break in the set, as they were filling the inflatable screen with air, to quote as many lines from the movie as he could remember. His recall was impressive, but not as good as my Ghostbusters.
All in all the evening was very enjoyable. There was a magic elixir in the air consisting of outdoor movie dust, a sweet location, a good mix of hipster to genuine folks, the smell of the lake, fresh cut grass, Peace Coffee and perfectly steamed milk. We decided to cut out a little before the movie ended, people were asking if we had popcorn, not espresso. It is at this point most of you would think the story ends, but then you are probably not one of my three very dear friends who helped to get the truck home that night. (Dave, I hope there was no permanent damage to your foot.) That story is for another time, but please don't ask me to repeat it. Let's just say we were wired on caffeine, tired from a long day, and sweating from pushing a nameless mobile espresso cafe a further distance than we had planned on.
I can't wait to do it all again!
It turns out that for this series the band picks the movie. Alan (I'm going to use the band member's first names because I think I have been to enough shows and purchased enough cd's to have earned the right) told a real cute story about how in the 4th grade Mimi gave him a beta copy of the movie and said something like: "...everything you need to make it in this life is in this movie". He then went on later during a break in the set, as they were filling the inflatable screen with air, to quote as many lines from the movie as he could remember. His recall was impressive, but not as good as my Ghostbusters.
All in all the evening was very enjoyable. There was a magic elixir in the air consisting of outdoor movie dust, a sweet location, a good mix of hipster to genuine folks, the smell of the lake, fresh cut grass, Peace Coffee and perfectly steamed milk. We decided to cut out a little before the movie ended, people were asking if we had popcorn, not espresso. It is at this point most of you would think the story ends, but then you are probably not one of my three very dear friends who helped to get the truck home that night. (Dave, I hope there was no permanent damage to your foot.) That story is for another time, but please don't ask me to repeat it. Let's just say we were wired on caffeine, tired from a long day, and sweating from pushing a nameless mobile espresso cafe a further distance than we had planned on.
I can't wait to do it all again!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Origin Story
The peanut butter cup theory.
It's pretty straight forward, you take two things you really like and then find a way to put them together. This is my idea of collage in the round.
I am into coffee, almost obsessed with the ritual of coffee and probably addicted to the caffeine. No intervention needed friends, I am in control, I can go a day without, but you would rather I did not. I love the aroma, the taste, and I love all the ways people have come to make the little roasted berries their own. Coffee is art and food preparation, some would say that that is the same thing, and others might say it's another peanut butter cup.
I am also into electric vehicles. I bought a Civic Hybrid because I am one of those early adopter types who pave the way for the ignorant masses. I sold it because the technology wasn't what I had hoped for, and I was having trouble making the payments. It really was a great little car though. I also bought an all electric scooter, an E Go. I still own it, it's pretty fun ride, you get a lot of looks. It'll do 25+mph (the most popular question) followed by "how much did it cost?"-"a little over a grand", "how far does it go on a charge?" -"depends." and "can I trade you bikes?" -"No thanks kid, I'm not in the market for a Magna mountain bike."
So how did I bring my two great passions together? If you are thinking a solar assisted all electric three wheeled pick up truck built by the California company Zap, that is outfitted with a custom built espresso cafe that has reused and recycled parts, sustainably harvested wood products, and every product sold will be as local, and organic and fair traded as possible, you would be right. We will even throw in high quality standards and work to keep up with the latest advancements in coffee, and we will not be afraid to charge people a little more for something that makes them feel a little better about it, because this is after all my hybrid version of an eco-friendly green entrepreneurial enterprise. I hope someday it makes as much sense as chocolate and peanut butter.
It's pretty straight forward, you take two things you really like and then find a way to put them together. This is my idea of collage in the round.
I am into coffee, almost obsessed with the ritual of coffee and probably addicted to the caffeine. No intervention needed friends, I am in control, I can go a day without, but you would rather I did not. I love the aroma, the taste, and I love all the ways people have come to make the little roasted berries their own. Coffee is art and food preparation, some would say that that is the same thing, and others might say it's another peanut butter cup.
I am also into electric vehicles. I bought a Civic Hybrid because I am one of those early adopter types who pave the way for the ignorant masses. I sold it because the technology wasn't what I had hoped for, and I was having trouble making the payments. It really was a great little car though. I also bought an all electric scooter, an E Go. I still own it, it's pretty fun ride, you get a lot of looks. It'll do 25+mph (the most popular question) followed by "how much did it cost?"-"a little over a grand", "how far does it go on a charge?" -"depends." and "can I trade you bikes?" -"No thanks kid, I'm not in the market for a Magna mountain bike."
So how did I bring my two great passions together? If you are thinking a solar assisted all electric three wheeled pick up truck built by the California company Zap, that is outfitted with a custom built espresso cafe that has reused and recycled parts, sustainably harvested wood products, and every product sold will be as local, and organic and fair traded as possible, you would be right. We will even throw in high quality standards and work to keep up with the latest advancements in coffee, and we will not be afraid to charge people a little more for something that makes them feel a little better about it, because this is after all my hybrid version of an eco-friendly green entrepreneurial enterprise. I hope someday it makes as much sense as chocolate and peanut butter.
recall
Looks like I spoke too soon about the Yetti Cold Press Glasses. It seems we have a conflict of interest in some of the sponsorship printing on the glasses. You probably shouldn't hand out Onion schwag at a VitaMn/STRIB event anyway, that's just bad manners. Mel from Peace Coffee assured me that we can use them at our next scheduled event, which is right now the Uptown Artist Market on September 20th, 11-4pm.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Vita.Mn Music and Movies Series
Good news, we have worked out arrangements to serve Peace Coffee at the Vita.Mn Music and Movie Series at the Lake Harriet Band Shell! The next 4 Saturday nights starting on September 12th, we will be there serving up great coffee drinks. They have an excellent line up including one of my favorite bands LOW on the first night followed by the 1979 classic Jaws. It is set to start at 7:30 pm the first week, and 5:30 the following weeks. Hope you can come out and spend a beautiful late summer evening with us! We will have a cold press special that will include a limited supply of Peace Coffee Yetti Cold Press pint glasses.
The new logo is done! It is a DWITT original design. Click on my links to see more of his work. It pays to have a world class artist as a room mate! I think it turned out great, it has elements of the business, like the sun which relates to the solar panel, and an espresso cup on wheels, because we are mobile, the latte art is a lightning bolt we are, after all, an electric powered cafe.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
inverter upgrade
The new inverter is installed, now we hope that it is enough to keep the fridge happy. We have taken this week to reflect on our first succeessful event, The Uptown Market. The event is gathering steam and support from the neighborhood, and we are learning our operations better. We are already on board to participate in next months event on September the 20th, 11-5pm. It is exciting to answer all the questions about our green spectacle of an espresso cart, and I love all the suggestions and encouragement! I am hoping to announce our next event very soon.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Upcoming Event!
On Sunday August 16th from 11am-5pm, we will be at the Uptown Market (Bryant and 29th) for our first official gig. Come down and grab a beverage, and then check out all the great local artists selling their goods. Our friend Dave will be there selling screen printed posters. dwitt.com
We just had a session with Gina from Espresso Partners. (Thanks Gina!) She has extensive knowledge of the coffee world, I have her phone number saved in my Blackberry under "coffee guru". She knows Peace Coffee beans intimately , and has helped us fine tune our product to get the most out of the Peace Coffee roasted beans.
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