Sampling at EarthFare - Turkey Creek

Come out this Saturday to EarthFare in Turkey Creek for a free sampling of Vienna Coffee Company's exquisite offerings! This week we will be sampling our delicious Fair Trade, USDA Organic certified, Guatemalan coffee.

This coffee is clean and crisp. A well-balance "classic" full-bodied coffee from the western Huehuetenango growing region. This full city-roast has variable sized beans yielding a broad roast profile. But you won't be able to understand the intricacies of this coffee unless you come out to taste it.

The store is located at:
10903 Parkside Drive
Knoxville, Tennessee 37934

Store Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 9am - 10pm Sunday: 9am - 9pm

Make sure to say "Hey" to our wonderful staff, Micah and Chuck!

Church Street meets Market Street

Yesterday, 40 people gathered together at Tellico Village Community Church.

Fair Trade was the subject. They learn about creative ways we can help marginalized and sometimes impoverished people improve their lives by purchasing good products that return a larger share of revenue to the growers, producers and craftspeople who make them. They enjoyed the rich taste of Cafe Feminino, the gourmet coffee blend that is served in the Tellico Joe Cafe. John Clark from Vienna Coffee Company was on hand to tell us about Fair Trade Coffee and our Relationship coffees (El Puente, La Armonia Hermosa, and Cafe Femenino). Also Bill and Joan Cochran from Shop the World Gifts which features Fair Trade gifts and crafts made by people in Third World countries talked about their store and products.

People were able to sample the wonderful Cafe Femenino Peru coffee that is featured in their Tellico Joe Cafe and desserts prepared within the community.

People came and joined us at the corner of Church and Main - where faith meets life head-on!

October is Fair Trade Month!!

This month is Fair Trade month! Help us raise awareness about Fair Trade and the benefits of Fair Trade. Don't know what the benefits are. Call us or email us we'd love to talk to you about it or you can go to TransFair USA's website for more details.

Vienna Coffee offers a wide variety of
Fair Trade Coffee and Tea. We are also holding a presentation on Oct. 20th about Fair Trade. Please check back for more details.

WEEKLY DEAL: Fair Trade Origins

Did you know the Fair Trade movement grew out of religious initiatives for selling refugee-made handicrafts in the aftermath of WWII? It has grown rapidly since the 1980s with the coffee trade at its cutting edge. Fair Trade coffee guarantees a livable income to farmers and finances schools, water systems and other community-controlled project in coffee growing areas.

Buy any of VCC's Fair Trade coffee online this week and receive a free 2oz. sample bag of a Fair Trade coffee of your choice. Please make sure you designate which sample bag you would like in the comments section at check out so we will know that you saw this weekly deal.

Easter Coffee Drink

Looking for a special Coffee Drink for this upcoming Holy Week/Passover that will make your guest's or family's mouth water? This recipe is delicious and easy to make!

Directions

This recipe is brought to you by Gitta Verbraak on eHow...

The recipe comes from the Netherlands and we often drink it during the spring time and Easter.

Servings: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Things You'll Need

• 1 decilitre of whipping cream (a little less than 1/2 cup)
  
• Some cacao or nutmeg (decorative)
• 1/2 tablespoon of powdered sugar
  
• 2 decilitre of eggnog (a little more than 3/4 cup)
  
• 1/2 litre of hot coffee (a little more than 2 cups of Vienna Coffee Company's coffee)
  
• 4 glasses
• a whisk or a food processor

Steps

Step One

Properly brew the coffee (we suggest Vienna Coffee's French Roast or Fair Trade/Organic Sumatra Gayoland). You can make it quite strong, because of the whipped cream you add to it.

Step Two

Whip the cream until it's quite firm. Make sure you don't turn it into butter.

Step Three

Divide the eggnog between the 4 glasses.

Step Four

Pour the coffee gently into the glasses, so that it doesn't mix with the eggnog. Don't put too much coffee into the glasses, because you also have to add the whipped cream and you don't want the glass to flow over.

Step Five

Divide the whipped cream between the 4 glasses and sprinkle it with the cacao or nutmeg.

And Enjoy!

Espresso 101 class at Brown Cup Coffee Co.

Last Tuesday at Brown Cup Coffee Co., John Clark taught a fun-filled and informational Espresso 101 and espresso based drinks class. Each week Brown Cup has different live music, lectures, events and/or classes like this espresso class. Brown Cup is one of Vienna Coffee Company's exceptional coffee shops that serves our Fair Trade coffee.

The image is an example of one of the handouts given out at the class. Are you interested in hosting your own class or participating in a class about espresso basics, brewing coffee, specialty drinks, latte art, cupping, etc.? Sign up now or get more information about one of our classes.

WEEKLY DEAL: Organic Trivia

In light of Vienna Coffee Company becoming a certified USDA organic facility, this week's weekly deal pertains to Organic trivia...


Which of these statements are false...

To obtain a title of ‘certified organic’ in the United States, a coffee grower must prove that certain growing conditions have been met.

1. The coffee beans can be washed in chemicals to get bacteria off the beans as long as the chemicals are properly disposed of and a clean water rinse is administered afterward.
   
2. The farmer must have a crop rotation plan to control for pests, prevent soil erosion, and to prevent loss of soil nutrients, which would occur if the same crop was planted in the same field each year.
   
3. The coffee beans must have been grown on land that has not had toxic pesticide or fertilizer use at any time within the last three years.
   
4. There must be a large enough space between the organic coffee and the nearest conventional crop to provide a buffer against contamination.

If you answer this questions correctly to any employee at the roastery or on this blog you will receive a free 2oz sample of any of our Organic/Fair Trade coffees.

CUSTOMER HIGHLIGHTS: Thunderhead Perk

VCC's long-time customer, Thunderhead Perk first opened its doors on September 9th, 2005 Townsend, Tennessee which is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Focused on Fair trade and organic coffee, Thunderhead serves Vienna Coffee Company's Thunderhead Espresso Blend. This blend is perfect to sip on while using their free Wi Fi and snuggling up to their welcoming and friendly cafe.

Wanna know where to find it? Go to...
7249 East Lamar Alexander Pkwy
Townsend, TN 37882


They don't have only great coffee, but they also have some of delicious baked from scratch goods including...

The Best Pumpkin Muffins

Yum!!!

Need another reason to check them out? Their website states, "At Thunderhead Perk, we strive to take care of our environment. Not only do we serve earth-friendly coffees, but we recycle all plastics, steel, paper, magazines, cardboard, etc. We even compost our food waste such as coffee grounds. We use the eco-tainer cups and sleeves which contain recycled content and use no petro-chemicals. "

WEEKLY DEAL: Time of reflection

As we say goodbye to 2008, we would like to reflect on what has happened at Vienna Coffee Company this past year...

• We activated Vienna Coffee's online storefront and are continually adding new items to our storefront (like Harney and Son's Fine Teas)
  
• We were happy to add Katie Carroway to VCC family, and sad to see her leave to go to the University of Chattanooga for school.
• John attends SCAA conference in Minneapolis and Roaster's Guild in Silver Lake where he met new friends and peers who are interested in coffee.
  
• We are happy to add Erin to the VCC family as a packaging associate and roaster apprentice.
• We evaluated our spacial needs at the roastery and decided to extend our lease for 2 years and elected to go vertical for storage needs.
  
• We buy our new 35 kilo Roaster.
• We add Directly and fairly traded La Armonía Hermosa and Fair Trade/Organic Café Femenino Peru/Mexican Coffee to our list of fine specialty coffees we offer.
• We start an email/newsletter campaign. Click here if you would like to be added to our mailing list for, promotions, new, coffee facts, etc.
• We add Jamie as Design and Marketing Associate, but she is leaving and will be working for VCC from Chicago.

FOR THE WEEKLY DEAL WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR REFLECTIONS ON 2008 AND YOU CAN RECIEVE A FREE 2 oz BAG OF ANY COFFEE, IF YOU COME INTO THE ROASTERY OR LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THE BLOG.

NEW ITEM: Holiday Boxes

Just in time for the holiday season, VCC has added a perfect gift for your out of town gift receivers! This decorative holiday shipping box is stocked full with...

VCC 16oz stainless steel travel mug
1 12oz bag VCC Front Porch Breakfast Blend
1 8oz bag of VCC holiday flavored coffee (choose between our holiday selection)
1 2oz bag of Fair Trade/ Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
1 2oz bag of SWP Decaf Turtle Mac flavored coffee
2 Nonni's Biscotti (variety of flavors)
1 holiday drink recipe card

This gift will have any coffee lover singing their ho ho hos with cheer!

Fair Trade Month: Faces of Fair Trade

The month of October is Fair Trade Month!

In celebration of Fair Trade month... we invite you to come to our Roastery and buy a 12oz. bag of any Fair Trade coffee and receive a second one 1/2 off!!!  Just mention our ad online.

Please visit TransFair's website for more information and events near you.

National Businesswomen's Week

Thanks to President Herbert Hoover the third week of October has been designated as National Businesswomen's Week. Founded in 1919, Business and Professional Women/USA (BPW/USA), a nonprofit organization that is committed to career advancement and professional development for female professionals nationwide, has celebrated this annual awareness-raising event ever since.

Fact: In 1999, 255,000 women in their 70s, 80s and 90s were employed or actively seeking employment in the United States, an 80 percent increase since 1985. The U.S. Security Administration project that more than 7 million people aged 65 and over will fill the labor force by 2020, and 3 million of them will be women.

VCC is lucky to have 5 wonderful businesswomen working for them...

Without their hard work, VCC wouldn't be the company it is today!  So if you work with and/or  know any women in the business world, show your appreciation for them this week by buying our Fairly traded, organic Cafe Femenino coffee which supports women on all ends of the coffee process. From women farmers, sellers, buyers, and roasters...

We thank you for your support and give appreciation to all of those hardworking businesswomen!

How did we get started?

Vienna Coffee Company was created out of self-defense. A native of Eastern Tennessee, I lived in California long enough to get a taste for some of the world's finest coffees. On moving back to Tennessee, I couldn't find any easily-accessible sources locally, so I decided to learn about crafting my own. Because I have an engineering background, the processes, timing and so on, made sense to me.

And Vienna Coffee Company was born!