New checkout for our site!

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

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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!

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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!

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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

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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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

www.theoldworldcafe.com

Post blending (and blend your own number 2?)

Having issues setting up a new part of the site where we offer our current roasted selection as a post blended blend....if that did not make sense let me try again. Lets say you order a 1/4 lb of panama, and I have to run a batch meaning I now have 2 and 3/4 lbs of panama unsold. This coffee is held here for a very short time or blended into a blend that calls for it. Other coffees do not currently have blends to go in afterward and end up as mystery blend if I feel they are past their prime.....now bear in mind for me past their prime is 16 days and coffee you get at the store has probably been roasted months ago (always look for a roasted on date!)

At any rate, I am trying to set it up so our site can offer blend made with the freshest coffee on hand while its available and taken down when its not, encouraging you all to go their more often and for us to offer some crazy blends. This week I had Guat. mixed with Dom. R. post blended and it was a gorgeous cup, but unless you bought both you would not get to experience it. Now if I offered this as a post blend always I would wind up with a 1/4 lb of it ordered and a bunch of leftover (Dom. R, actually moves fast but for the sake of argument lets say it was unpopular.). If I can figure out a fancy way of coding I will keep everyone informed and show off some really unique coffee blends for you all to enjoy!

Oh and as a note, the current blends on the site are either preblended or are blend of coffees that move very quickly.


The Old Wwworld Cafe Americas best online cafe!

-Luke

Try a Blend 1: Breakfast without Body

So this is a fun post blend for you all to try, it tastes similar to a breakfast blend of many other roasters.

75% Costa Rica Tarrazu Full City
25% Guatemalan Antigua City+

Love this blend, and figured I would pass it along to others! For a bit more body, add some Colombian Supremo or a nuttier Brazilian.

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Upstate Steampunk Extravaganza

On November 20th a Steampunk Extravaganza was hosted at the Marriot Greenville. There was dueling, dancing, classes, and shopping along with many other events. There were quite a few vendors there selling anywhere from books to weapons to clothing to coffee.

Yes, that's right, Old Wwworld Cafe set up shop for the day serving french press micro lots and grog. We also brought along our siphon pot for fun and samples.

The top item of the day was definitely the coffee grog. It's rich cream and spice kept everyone fueled all day long!



But it wasn't the only thing that caught people's attention. The siphon pot was a must see. We brewed several pots throughout the day and each time drew a crowd. Not only was everyone fascinated with how it worked, they also loved the clean, sweet cup it produced.

Exploring, having fun, and learning wasn't all the extravaganza was about. It was also about showing off your steampunk style(s). Almost everyone showed up in a costume of sorts, and several people actually changed through out the day.

Awesome old timey camera.

Airship pilot


Wait, was that an Ornithopter?

Victorian lady and gentleman, alchemist, mad hatter and white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

Dark and Buttery

So tonight we roasted our French Noir blend, and I decided to take a handful out of the cooling tray and put it into a strainer with butter. This rather unorthodox cooling blend combo is not for sale mind you, but I had heard about it at Coffeefest and wanted a taste.

The result? A very, very smooth and clean dark coffee... definitely worth trying at least once, so take your darkest roast and butter away!

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Oh how I long for a good cup of coffee...

Days like today always remind me of how fortunate I am to drink quality, tasty coffee on a regular basis. As usual, the weekend was not kind on my sleep schedule, so it was a rough Monday morning. Well, I left the house without coffee, and just couldn't make it through the day without the caffeine. So I went to the lunch room and grabbed a cup of their coffee...

.... 3 creamers and 2 sugars later and I barely managed to gulp it down. There's still a bit left in the cup. I think I'll be pulling some espresso when I get home tonight. Not just for the caffeine kick, but I need to refresh the delicious taste of coffee and get rid of this nasty one.

Anyone else have a coffee experience that reminded them of why they drink the good stuff?

Gotta heart!

Luke's first latte art pour with something that didn't look ugly as sin!


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Behind the Scenes Pics

We had a good bit of positive feedback on our sample roasting video, so I am planning on putting up a few more. I am still editing our first espresso series video, but expect it up within the week.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the other night filming. The wind was picking up a bit, hence the shielding!











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Vid up if you have not seen.

This video is the first in a series of what it is like to roast by hand, quite literally.




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Dom Gold First Roast

Just finished roasting the Dom Gold (as in I haven't even poured it from the cooling tray), and I took a bean and decided to bite into it. Just wow, it tastes like a honey spiced chocolate was put over these beans, and its roasted darker than I thought these type of beans would be, I LOVE IT!

Here is a pic, enjoy!



South Carolina's Premiere Online Coffee Roastery,The Old Wwworld Cafe