New checkout for our site!

I have been busy updating and transferring things over to our new storefront, here is a sneak peak!

http://theoldworldcafe.com/">http://theoldworldcafe.com/

Espresso for reviews is being cooled!

just a sneak peak, nothing more!

Holidays!

Every run a small business during the holidays? It is nonstop put on many hats! I am updating the site now to try and make navigating holiday deals easier (as my wife suggested).

Hopefully this year images are easier to see and you get an idea of what you are buying. We are not Photoshop experts, so we did our best to frame some photos of mock baskets we made up.

Thank you all and happy holidays!

the old world cafe

Mugs are in, and a jar pic to boot!

Just an image dump of the mugs and a Jar for the holidays, enjoy!



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Pics of the back wall

I snapped a quick pic on my phone as a buddy of mine helped me erect the back wall of the warhouse today. It was still dirty from laying on the ground as leaves fell on it, but it will get cleaned and be finished soon enough. Expect some more pics and more regular updates as this finishes!


take a look!

the old wwworld cafe

Keeping contructing

No images this time round, just wanted to update that half of the back and front walls are done on the new building. It is taking its sweet time, but when you are a one man team it goes like that!

Looks wonderful, and I feel fortunate to have been able to make it this far in the project!

Stay tuned for more and images as they come!

More baking =)

What tasty treat did we bake up next you ask?!? Well, it's quite simple really: Blueberry Muffins. I must admit, I was surprised by how little effort it was to make muffins. In my opinion, the most difficult part is not over mixing the batter.

I prefer things to be uniform and muffin batter just isn't that way. It's a fact I had to accept in order to make delicious blueberry muffins. In the end, it was worth keeping myself under control and not mixing the batter till it was smooth and even because the muffins were scrumptious. If I had to critique them, it would be on their shape.


Since this was my first muffin baking experience, I wasn't sure how full to make the cups. I ended up erring on the safe side, so my treats weren't the cutest. But they sure were yummy!

<3 Ashley

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The Baking Continues

After working our way through the introduction of On Baking, which includes the items in last times post (ricotta cheese, simple syrup, and whipped egg whites) and creme fraiche, we tried our hand at biscuits and cookies.

The creme fraiche was pretty simple to make. Now, I'm not a fan of sour cream, but Luke is and he said it was delicious. Not the same as sour cream, but similar and better. So, I'd say it turned out well.

The next week of baking we veered off our comfort path and made country biscuits.
We haven't made biscuits in the past, so this was all new. So after some extensive reading, we gave it a try. Boy o boy did they turn out well. They were solid biscuits, yet light and flaky. To put it simply, they were delicious. The only complaint I could possibly have is that we made them a little small, so they we're the best for making breakfast sandwiches. But we can always make them again and increase the size :).

Our last venture was chocolate chip cookies. Now, we've made these several dozen times in the past, so this was really more of a treat than anything else. However, we still read all On Baking had to say on making the perfect cookie and followed the instructions.


Low a behold, we had amazing chocolate chip cookies, probably the best we had ever made. They we soft yet crisp and extra chocolaty. They made the perfect treat to enjoy with a fresh cup of coffee.


Mmm, well now I am craving some chocolate chip cookies and they're all gone :(. Oh well, I guess I'll just need start the next tasty recipe in On Baking, so I can enjoy it.

<3 Ashley


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Baking Through "On Baking"

Old Wwworld Cafe is all about doing things by hand, and that includes making the baked goods for the cafe when it's opened. There's no time better than the present to brush up on our baking skills, so we here at Old Wwworld Cafe are going to bake our way through the book "On Baking".

We started at the beginning, and made some of the simplest of baked goods: simple syrup, beaten egg whites, and ricotta cheese. Now, the syrup and egg whites were no trouble, and we even took the syrup up a notch and flavored it. This was a first for me, so I was weary as to how the flavor would turn out. It really shocked me with just how tasty it was. Well, I'm sure you're asking, "What flavor did you make?"













Coffee of course! And it was quite delicious! Adding it to an already tasty cup of coffee or a homemade frappe is the perfect touch.

Now beaten egg whites are another item I am familiar with making, but it took me quite a while before I could get stiff peaks.

Still those were fairly simple and not too new to us, but the ricotta cheese was definitely something different.













Overall, everything turned out pretty well (though the ricotta was a little on the lime flavored side... we're still working on perfecting it) and we're excited to start the next phase, biscuits! So stayed tuned and follow us on our journey through "On Baking"!

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Test Baking and New Bag Images

This past weekend was Easter, and for me it marked a time to try out some recipes I had been sitting on to unsuspecting guests! Pictured here is a nice loaf of Brioche (the egg wash did make it a tad dark but it is by no means burned!), Ash and I beating a meringue in a copper bowl (for use in an Italian Buttercream),and a pic of some mise en place.

The other two images featured are of the new bags we had printed for the newer coffees and blends we had added to our lineup. These were missing proper bags for a while, but no longer are!









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New boxes, yes I am excited.

For any company, branding is important. Finally, after over a 16 months of shipping coffee in random boxes, we now have real ones. Whenever this arrives at your step, you know your getting coffee! Now, to update the image a tad!

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Construction (1100+ bolts by hand and still going)

My what fun this was, this picture is a bit old (half of what is now done) but I wanted to share it so people could see the work being done for our new little test shop. Again this is not open to the public but it is still neat to see it go up and water and electric ran to it!

the old wwworld cafe

Happy One Year OWC!

What a long strange trip it has been! One year ago today marked the launch of www.theoldworldcafe.com and the arrival of our roaster! Though OWC's journey started long before that, it is nice to look back on the past 365 days and see what has been accomplished. I thank all of our customers for exploring single origin coffees and giving micro lots a chance, and a special thanks to the cafes who use our coffees and have found great success with them! Enjoy a look back at a few pics of ours over the last 18 months, including a bag concept image, where the roaster currently is, our old inventory, and Ash trying to get latte art out of a lever machine!

Check out the site for the Strike Gold! special, and stay tuned for more educational coffee videos!

Arrivederci!

www.theoldworldcafe.com

Tea Time!

Well, it's been a while now since I mentioned our tea sampling. Though I have kept up with sampling and rating the teas, I have not kept up with the blogging. Hopefully those of you interested will not be too upset and can enjoy this blog with all the teas I've had so far.

Since the beginning of this year, I have sampled 11 of our new teas. With the luck of the draw, I have managed to brew all types of tea except for white. So far I have enjoyed them very much and look forward to trying more =). To keep from overloading you all on this first blog of teas and tastes, I am going to cover the first 5 I sampled. Then I will cover 5 more in the upcoming weeks until I am caught up.

#1 Earl Gray - well this is quite a known tea and as many of you know it is a strong, smooth, slightly sweet cup. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

#2 Flavored Black Tea: Blueberry - this was actually one of my least favorites. Though I am a huge fan of blueberries, this cup fell short. It had very little sweetness and was light bodied. It left me wanting more flavor and I ended up sweetening it. Even then it was only an OK cup.

#3 Flavored Rooibos: Bourbon St. Vanilla - this was a tasty cup filled with tones of vanilla and caramel. It held up well on its own and could also take flavors if desired. I am a big rooibus fan in general, so I enjoyed this, but I felt I have had better rooibos teas in the past.

#4 Estate Tea: Darjeeling India - this was an amazing cup of tea. Both refreshing and reinvigorating, I fell it love. It's smooth, a little earthy, and has an ever so slight sweetness to it. It also had a lingering after taste that was wonderful. I very much enjoyed this cup.

#5 Cochin Masala Chai - this was a good cup, but nothing special. I love chai tea and though this was sweet and spicy, it was missing much of its spice. Good but not great.


So, these are the first 5 teas I've had the pleasure of sampling. If any of you have had these teas before whether in a local shop or at your home, please leave your comments and thoughts from your experiences.

<3 Ashley

www.theoldworldcafe.com

Art update

So here are 2 images, you can see ash still womps me in latte art ability.....hey I only get to practice twice a month!

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Barlume Back Up and Running

So our 2 group Barlume is back up and running after a waterline had broke from the wall to the filter a few months back. Here is a pick at our....semi training/test/mock center.

Enjoy the videos we will be making while under this setup and thanks for your patience as they come along!




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What's that? Tea!

Well, we're always talking all about coffee, but what about tea? It is the most popular beverage of the world next to water and a big competitor of coffee. Though I personally love our coffee, there's nothing quite like a great cup of tea.

So, we set out to explore our tea options. We've received samples from black to rooibos. We have flavors and blends as well as just straight natural teas. Being the tea drinker of the bunch, I have set-up a method to fairly test each tea and rate it. Basically, I reach into the sample package we received and blindly choose a small package. I then boil water and brew 2 tsp of tea leaves with 10 oz of water (making sure the temperature and the brew time is appropriate for the tea type). While the tea is steeping, I check out the leaves and the aroma of the tea. As the tea finishes, I give it a sniff and then taste it. I always take several drinks before making any judgments. I then list the flavors I draw from the cup and rate the tea, including the ability to take flavoring and cream.

This may be a lot of information, but this is the set-up to give you an idea of what's going on. So each week I'll be blogging about the teas I've tried and my thoughts. So keep checking in to see the results.

<3 Ashley

When the weather outside is frightful....

there's nothing more delightful.... than having no place to go... so enjoy an Old Wwworld cup of joe.

As Luke mentioned in his previous post, roasting as of late with an unheated building isn't the most enjoyable experience. However, we always find a way to brighten our spirits, and during last nights roast, the perfect solution was a delicious cup of fresh roasted Panama. Though lattes are generally my specialty, sometimes curling up with a fresh cup of french pressed coffee is just what I need.

Winter is the perfect season for coffee. It's cold enough for the coffee to really warm your soul and make for an extra enjoyable experience. I've had more coffee these past few weeks than I have in a while, and I don't mean lattes. It's just suiting. If I want a milk based drink at this time of year, I have a hot cocoa. Oh, and a little tip with that, if your a hot cocoa lover and have an espresso machine, froth your milk like you're making a latte and then add it to your chocolate mix. PLEASE NOTE THAT WHENEVER YOU ADD liquid to a cocoa powder to add a littttlllee bit in at first, make a paste by stirring/whisking it in, then add the rest of your hot liquid. If you have no espresso machine, boil your milk on the stove (or even in the microwave) before adding it. It makes for a smoother, more delicious cup.

Though right now cocoa isn't getting the job done. My preference is coffee and not my usual coffee regions/blends. My preferences are changing with the seasons. Normally, I prefer lighter/medium roasted sweet coffees like our Costa Rica or Peru. Now, I am enjoying the darker roasts like Dominican Republic, which I am very much looking forward to a delicious cup of when I get home.


Oh and Turkish coffee time will soon be on us again....last years was quiet potent.

-- Ashley


http://theoldworldcafe.com/

Tis the season to be busy (and cold!)

This past week has been crazy! Keeping up with our demand this week has been very interesting. I think coffee is the emergency gift for people everywhere! As always I like to give you guys a bit of a behind the scenes of what goes on here, so here it goes.

We got swamped with orders this week, and at the same time we had to refill our propane tank. This sounds simple right, after all we have done this in times past and have a backup tank for when our large tank is being refilled just in case we need to fill out orders.

So while we await our large tanks arrival we have a wholesale order to fill along with some smaller local orders, pretty standard stuff. However, the building we roast out of is not heated at the moment, and this is where things get interesting. We all go out to hook up our backup tank when it is 23 degrees outside, and the tank itself is so cold it cannot put enough pressure through the line to start the roaster...

So the next morning our big tank arrives, full, heavy and awaiting me to move it about 100 yards down a slight hill. One almost repulled hernia later we are up and running and the orders go out on time. Not the worst thing we have endured, but I could not believe that even our large tank struggled to put out pressure once it hit 1/4 tank. Apparently it will need jacketed...

Oh and what temp was it when I did roast you may wonder? Twenty six degrees F. I had 5 layers on so as to stay warm. Thankfully the roaster adds a little bit of heat to the area surrounding it!

BTW I thought the worst roasting I have had to endure thus far was the 125+ degree heat we had this summer because I am to cheap to buy an AC unit for us.....and I had to have a towel around parts of me so I did not drip sweat into the cooling tray! Now I am not sure...


---Luke



Old Wwworld Cafe

La Pavoni Romantica

When Old Wwworld Cafe first started pulling espresso shots, we used a La Pavoni Romantica. We wanted to stick with the manual lever machine, and really enjoyed learning our way around espresso and frothing milk. However, when our Elektra Barlume arrived, the La Pavoni was pushed to the side to collect dust....

Well, we decided to go back to the La Pavoni this week to see just how much it differs from the Barlume. Now, the La Pavoni is fun to pull a shot on and to froth latte milk on, but it is still just a home machine. It's crema is nothing compared to the Barlume and the pressue to the steam wand is minuscule. It's extremely difficult to get great latte milk from, though it is possible.

Overall, I was more than surprised by the La Pavoni's performance. Remembering back to when we first started using it, the steam pressure seemed too high and hard to control to froth milk. Now, I sit there waiting and thinking of how the milk must be baking. Though a whirlpool is still possible and a good frothing may occur, it is not an easy feat to pull off.


After pulling the shot and getting the milk ready, which cannot be done at the same time like on the Barlume, I was able to mark the top and have a tasty latte. Though the La Pavoni may not compare to the Barlume, it's not meant to; these are two different classes of machine. Still, the La Pavoni is fun to pull shots on and makes a great latte =D.

-Ashley

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