Aldo Coffee Company

Happy Day After

Thanks to everyone who kept us company yesterday morning. 

As regulars know, Melanie and I aren't behind the bar all that often (not that we couldn't be, but there's so much else to do around here) and we only work two shifts together each year - Thanksgiving and New Year's Day mornings.

Since our own families are far afield and we're not cooking for company or visiting, we enjoy seeing a lot of familiar faces on those holiday morning shifts.  And we get to spend a bit more time talking with customers as the holiday morning flow is less hectic than the typical morning rush - not that there weren't some lines yesterday, but everyone is a bit less hurried and more relaxed about it.

And perhaps most important to the staff, all of yesterday's tip money goes into our Christmas Party fund.  So on behalf of everyone here at Aldo - thank you for your Thanksgiving business!

Open Thanksgiving Morning 8 to Noon

As we've done each year, Melanie and Rich will be behind the counter on Thanksgiving morning from 8am-noon.  The staff gets a break to enjoy the holiday and it's always an enjoyable shift as customers are happy to find us open so they can get their morning brew.

It's also the only day of the year where the two of us are on shift together.  We see enough of each other at home ;-)

"Holiday" Coffee

Each holiday season we see an increase in people coming in looking for a "special" coffee for their holiday meal.

We're happy to help, with the understanding that we consider every coffee we sell as "special" for one reason or another.  Just about every bag of coffee we sell is either Direct Trade, Fair Trade Certified, Organic, shade-grown or some combination of the above.  And they all taste wonderful when brewed correctly.

The obvious place to start for a "holiday" coffee is the recently released Celebration Blend, which is roasted specifically to exude winter spice aromatics from the Nicaraguan and Ethiopian coffees selected for the blend: sugar plum, molasses, clove and cinnamon among other flavor notes.

Light Up Night - Open Until 9pm

Thursday night, November 20, is Mt. Lebanon's Light Up Night.  We'll stay open late for the festivities - until 9pm.  There will be caroling and music on the street, the tree lighting in Clearview Commons, and an appearance by Santa sometime around 8pm.

Our store tree is up.  There are plenty of marshmallows for hot cocoa.  Ginger, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies plus biscotti from Annamarie's. 

And of course lots and lots of great coffee.  Enjoy the evening.

Melanie and Student Entrepreneurs

Melanie will be guest lecturing at Mt. Lebanon HS this afternoon on entrepreneurship and marketing. 

Gwen Kassep, FBLA Advisor at MLHS, asked her students what businesses they'd like to hear from and the students were told to send letters to the owners inviting them to speak.  That we received multiple letters from students was a great compliment to which we could not say no.

Of course, once Melanie is done with presenting the marketing challenges and financials, there's a good chance no student will ever want to open a coffeehouse.  Creating applications for iPhone or Facebook is where it's at!

Weird

Yesterday was the coldest day of the season to date.  Yet we sold more caramel frappes on Monday than we have on any day since early September.  And they were all ordered by adults.

Did we miss a story about caramel having an effect on libido or something?

T. Mitchell Bell Here Sunday, 2pm - Roots & Americana Music

T. Mitchell Bell's new CD, "Ballad of Philo Paul", is being released today.  T. Mitchell will be here this Sunday from 2-4pm playing selections from the new cd and other songs from his catalog.

T. Mitchell's forte is americana folk and roots music, with themes pulled from our area, like "Sago Mine".

Free show, all ages.

New Packaging from Intelligentsia

Intelligentsia changed up their packaging over the past week. 

If you hadn't yet noticed the new bags on our shelves, here's a recap of what's changed:
1. The Black Cat bag is now black with the new Black Cat logo.

2. Labels are orange and give more prominence to the flavor profile (the old label, in grey, can be seen at left in the top photo).

3. On the Single Origin coffees, the name of the farm owner and region is highlighted. Other details, such as bean varietal and altitude have been omitted moved elsewhere on the label.

Overall the bag labels should make it easier for most consumers to choose their coffee by the taste profile they prefer.

Finally, our first bags of this year's Celebration Blend will arrive tomorrow.  This coffee, blended specifically for winter and the holidays, is always a favorite.  We'll be carrying it through the New Year.

We've been advised that Jake's Java will also be introducing new packaging and labeling in the near future.

Belly Dancing This Sunday, 3pm

Amethyst and her troupe of belly dance students will be here on Sunday from 3-4pm doing their thing. 

It's an all ages show, free to the public and quite a bit of fun as the dancers go from traditional to modern interpretations of dance.

We'll be setting up our Turkish Coffee service and serving baklava before and after the performance.

No Free Coffee for Voting

As we didn't open until late 2004, this is our first presidential election campaign as owners of a coffeehouse.  We're seeing a lot of promotions from different coffee purveyors (chain and indie) offering a free cup of coffee if you vote tomorrow (and possibly illegally).

Voting is a right granted us in the Constitution.  Being an informed voter is one of very few things requested of us to be a citizen of this country.  But unlike Australia, it's not the law.  You won't get fined here if you don't vote. 

For those who've expended no effort in becoming informed about the details of what or who you're voting for, maybe it's best you don't vote anyway.  For others, even being informed doesn't help if one feels they're simply choosing between two awful options. 

So we're not giving away free coffee or any other reward tomorrow just for exercising your right to vote.  Because exercising your right to not vote is equally as important.  In either case, your reward is the action itself.

Just remember, we get exactly the government we deserve.  And for the record, we do vote.

Really, think about your vote this time, OK?  Voting isn't a duty, it's a privilege.  But knowing what's going on with your country should be everyone's duty.