Aldo Coffee Company

Our Top Ten Coffees for 2010

It's been an odd and trying year for us.  It kind of went like this: Business is up. Business is down. Business is REALLY down. We're leaving. We're staying. We're roasting! Johnny's back. Business is up again.

Even though business was maddeningly up and down, one thing that remained relatively predictable was the quality of coffees we served.  In a year where speculators drove the New York "C" market for commodity coffee from $1.35/lb to $2.40/lb, resulting in price hikes everywhere for poor to average coffee, we were able to keep pricing for drip coffee stable for our ethically-sourced 85+ coffees, thanks to the security of our suppliers' direct trade contracts.

And what coffees they were.  Both Intelligentsia and Stumptown keep getting better at what they do. We got better at what we do. And we got a couple of nice surprises as well.

Reminder: Later Opening This Week

Lois is on vacation and a lot of local workers have the week off, so we're all sleeping in a bit longer this week.  We're opening at 7:30am through Friday, Dec. 31. 

We'll go back to regular 6:30am opening next week.

Also, please note that we're closing at 4pm on New Year's Eve (Friday).

Openings for Monday Night's "Coffee For Foodies" Class

If you own/work for a food establishment or just want to know more about flavors/terroir of different coffee regions and what brew method best works for your establishment/kitchen, this is the class for you.

It's free, but you do need to register. The class will be held here from 6:30-9:00pm on Monday, December 27. We have two openings. More info here.

Holiday Store & Roasting Schedule

If you're looking to buy coffee as a gift or to serve for Christmas, please keep in mind we will only be roasting three nights next week: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

As we have less than 5 lbs of the Kenya Nyeri Tegu remaining, we will only be roasting that coffee on Wednesday night and will only be packaging in half-pound bags.  If you would like to reserve a half-pound of the Kenyan, please let us know before Wednesday.

Otherwise, we'll be roasting as follows:

Monday and Thursday: Colombia Los Caracoles, Ethiopia Shakiso and Guatemala La Esmeralda
Wednesday: Colombia Monserrate, Kenya Nyeri Tegu, Decaf Brazil Joao de Campos

We will be closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

We will be open Christmas morning from 8:30-Noon.

Normal hours Sunday, December 26.

 

Baby, one more time!

One of my (Melanie's) favorite Christmas things is watching Darlene Love belt out "Baby Please Come Home", on David Letterman's annual Christmas show (since 1986). I think she's in her 70s now, but finally voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.   Even if the holiday stress has finally gotten to you, this ought to put you right back in the mood.

 This year (2010) she should be on tonight (Thursday). Enjoy,if you gt the chance.

Ambitious

The Post-Gazette covers our nano-roasting operation.

We're thankful that our city's most respected food critic has been interested in and receptive to Pittsburgh's coffee community and the all the folks who've been trying to raise the bar, whether through consumer education, professional barista development, ethical sourcing or improved roasting technology.

To our colleagues who share our coffee ambitions along with the hard work, long hours and miniscule financial rewards, we respect and appreciate your continued passion. Hopefully this pays off for all of us someday.