Pics with CSUEB Students

A recent session with the students of CSUEB.
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Tour with California State East Bay College

As a part of our local community support program, Weaver’s serves on the advisory board for California State East Bay College (CSUEB). Gary Fruend, Co-Chairman of the Department of Leadership in Hospitality and Leisure Services - Outreach and Internship Coordinator, brought a great group of students to our roasting facility to learn a bit about our trade. The group was very diverse, made up of students from China, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan, France, and Saudi Arabia.

Following a short presentation from our CEO (Michael Brown) and myself, I demonstrated how to taste (cup) coffee. [...]
Personally, I love cupping with first-timers and this group was intelligent and perceptive. We had a great session after they recovered from the initial shock of watching me slurp and spit the samples into a brass spittoon. We then took them into the plant to demonstrate how the roasting process works – beginning at green bean transportation, through the roasting process, and ending with the cooling tray. Finally, it was back into the tasting room where we cupped two different press pots we prepared for their visit; the first was one of ours and the other was from the ubiquitous pioneer of modern coffee. Amazed with the difference, they had good questions about the pleasant, versus the not-so-pleasant flavors, aromas, and textures they were experiencing.

We had a great afternoon and it was another great educational experience we really enjoyed. CSUEB, thanks for stopping by. Pictures to come soon.
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Pics from the Dominican Republic...

Here's a shot of the back country.
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Our ride to the coffee farm.

Me, in the kitchen of one of the homes on the coffee farm.

Kite surfing!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Well, here we are 2008....2007 went by so quickly. I look back and it’s a blur of endings and beginnings. Dora and I spent New Year's eve dancing under the tropical, starlit sky in the Dominican Republic. We watched the fireworks displays all along the beach at midnight.

I'm drinking an espresso from Cabarete Beach (North Dominican Republic as I write this. Silky smooth...so is the rum! [...}

This country is one of the friendliest and most hospitable I've visited. The smiles are contagious. This is a very diverse place – Dominicans are Spanish-speaking and the other half of the island is Haitian, who speak French. The majority of visitors seem to be Canadian, British, French, German, and Spanish with many transplants staying on for the quality of life here.
The water is turquoise blue and the wind is calm in the morning - perfect for surfing. In the afternoon, the warm wind whips up to 30 knots making wind/kite surfing popular. I took kite surfing lessons for the first time in my life and it's a whole new animal than anything I've tried in the past (bestkiteboarding.com). Controlling the kite alone is a skill that will take a few months to learn - let alone letting it pull me through the water at 30 mph. It was incredible watching the kite surfers that can throw themselves through acrobatic turns (sometimes 30 feet in the air) while effortlessly maneuvering the kite to then land them at-speed on the water.

Dora and I also visited 2 coffee farms during our short stay here as it's one of my goals for 2008 to include their special coffee in the line-up. I’ve been using the automatic espresso machine in our hotel’s dining area. It's very smooth and has a silky, medium-bodied mouth feel and it surprised me how dark they roast here - I guess the West Coast Roast has made its way into the Caribbean.

Thanks for all your support in 2007! The orders were incredible this holiday season and I’m proud of what we have accomplished in such a short time. 2008 will be an exceptional year in our evolution to become one of the best coffee and tea companies ever and I hope you’re looking forward to some great, new things to come.
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"Create your own reality".....

.....It's been hectic these last few months - cracked my ribs in June, sold my house in August, resigned from a 27-year roasting career, Alfred Peet (who I had the privilege of working for for most of 4 years and confidant of 23 years) passed on, helped start a new and very different type of coffee and tea company...

I'm now involved in all aspects of the business which is exhilarating and taxing at the same time. I'd like to thank my two partners in this venture - Michael Brown and Bryce Inouye. Without them this would not be.[...]
Michael, for his far beyond "driven", 24/7-8 days a week approach to this endeavor. His freekin' phone calls every 5 minutes and being able to handle my answer, "WHAAAT!"
Bryce, for his incredible talent of taking something I say and creating exactly what I was conceptualizing but could never come up with alone. Like "I want it this color, name vertical, simple but classy." Wasn't long before Bryce created the logo we have today - at first glance I could not believe my eyes.
It was exactly as I thought it should be and we hope you like it. Bryce and Renee Brown are also responsible for the beautiful website. Thanks!

I'd also like to thank my significant other, Dora Fong, for believing in my vision even though she knows the time and effort it will take for me to be a partner in this enterprise. Renee Brown for her non-stop insight on all of the above. Her, "It's not in the write nor the re-write, but in the re-re-write". Alex Brown for throwing balls at his dad's head while he's trying to communicate another solution to me. Lauren Cueto (Dora's daughter) for fixing all those labels we screwed up. Matthew Cueto (Dora's son), for his piano playing at 7:00am. Jeannine Kaiser for her open and honest advice on all matters.
Last, but not least, I'd like to thank my former employer for all those wonderful years I will never ever forget. It was just time to be my own man. Nic, Paul, Steve, Alan, Eliseo, Michael, Rick, Robert......the guys who always showed up way too early ready to roast.
Victor, Marlo OG, "Where's Tito?" Ron...the guys that showed up early ready to pack....
Jerry Baldwin, Jim Reynolds, Doug Welsh, Gordon Bowker, Pat O' Dea, Jim Grimes, Shirin Moayad, Neil, Raymond......the people that ran the show.
There are so many others...Thank you all! I wish you the best!

Orders are now steadily coming in and it's great to be behind the roaster again. We are approaching our goal for December. The Holiday Blend is better than I imagined. I am now free, experimenting with many different styles and levels of roasting and blending that I haven't had a chance to explore in the past; with very interesting/tasty results which I am sure you'll agree when you taste the coffee. I'm also happy to be back tasting, selecting and blending teas as well. There are more choices of suppliers for tea and herbs than I ever thought possible. I hope the choices for tea we've made will satisfy you for now, many more to come.....

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