drink some bean

Lucky Leprechaun…..(S)he’s Baaaaack!

Ok….so for 10 years now the night before St Patty’s Day we have a sweet little small fella…maybe lady….visit Bean Traders late night style….while we are presumably in our cozy beds. 

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Now there is no guarantee that this diminutive figure will come every year, but I’m gonna guess they will be back….and I’m gonna guess our Event Planner Extraordinaire (Courtney) will be representing in her Leprechaun gear for our little friend the next day.

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What will Courtney be doing you ask?  Well this little Leprechaun leaves a lucky hat behind on their visit to our little Durham, NC coffee shop and in that lucky hat lies 100 cards…and on 25 of those cards there are prizes…..and Courtney will be holding that lucky lucky hat. 

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Prizes include free bulk coffee…free drinks….free food….and even a $30 gift card!

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So what do I have to do you ask?  Well you just have to buy a large specialty beverage…..preferably one of our St Patty’s Day Specials, and you get a pick from the Lucky Hat!

How lucky do you feel?  Come in Sunday and see if you’re right :)

The end of an era

This post is written with a careful and gentle hand and I hope it comes across how I intend it to come across. Big changes will happen in the next 2 weeks, and I feel we owe our customers a real explanation from the “horse’s mouth”. This will also help to dispel any rumors that may fly around in the next few months.

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When we opened the Meadowmont location in 2003 we were so excited to open a second store.  It was especially sweet since my husband and partner was not a part of the Homestead BT opening and this gave us a chance to open one together.  We know the space was awkward, but the coffee was good and the faces friendly. 

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By second year we were a very busy location and exceeding our expectations for such a small space. It was so fun….we were living and loving coffee…and we were feeling the coffee love.

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Life was just rolling along in 2005 when the owner of The Blue Coffee Company on 9th st (now where the BT on 9th is) contacted us and asked to come and talk with us.  She came to our shop and let us know she was leaving Durham and really wanted a good coffee shop to take over her spot.  She contacted us and 2 others in the scene (she did not tell us who…we did not ask) and was going to meet with each of us about the sale.  We had a nice chat and said we would meet her the next week in the space.

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We walked in and just knew we had to have that spot….it was Durham…it was us…it just felt right.  We wanted to give her an earnest payment right then.  She really seemed excited that we were so feeling it.  She declined our offer because she had promised to meet the others and thought it unfair if she just disregarded them.  But many words left her mouth that day about us clicking…. our vibe with the store…many veiled assurances…we left feeling very confident she would call us the next week like she promised with an answer.  And just on time she called and said she met with everyone and felt we were the best fit….YES!

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We took over that location and it was an immediate hub of cool mixed with college mixed with professionals.  That is what is so neat about 9th street…a little bit of everyone is hanging out.  That store stole our hearts fast, and just like the Meadowmont location we worked day and night to create the atmosphere and train great Baristas and really let the shop be what it wants to be while having great coffee flowing through it.

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Back then we had no intentions on ever selling any of our locations….we loved each as you would love anything or anyone you put your heart and soul into. The stores also were a symbol of mine and Dave’s love for each other…..love for coffee…..love for each community we had a store in….it just was all wrapped up.

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Funny how life works though and children come along and your focus adjusts slightly to balance all your passions.

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However, we are the type of people who have to give everything to our business that we love and we were day and night in our stores making them the best possible and in reality we were drowning with everything that was on our plate…..so in 2006 we sold Meadowmont to our General Manager.  We felt it was best to trust someone to own and love it than to make it average because we were spread too thin.

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And then another child in 2008 left us with the most heartbreaking decision of all ….selling 9th st.

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If I were to be honest, if you asked me before children if I could love a child more than what I did at Bean Traders…I would say no. 

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But….wow…..my children are as awesome as the first sip of fresh roasted coffee in the morning when you can still hear the birds chirping and life’s chaos is still sleeping.  They are just mine and Dave’s true loves, and because of that we decided they would be with us day and night.  We felt lucky that we had a job that would allow us to give them and us that type of life.

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So as much as we loved 9th st…..it became a casualty to a deeper love which is our family.

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We chose specifically to keep Homestead because it is where our journey began…and we really love our southside community. They believed in us from the beginning, and almost 13 years later are still hanging in there with us.  We also get to see our Meadowmont and 9th st customers cross over to our side from time to time and that feels like we haven’t really left them.

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Fast forward to now….the current owner of the Meadowmont and 9th st locations (same owner) acquired 2 other shops in the area.  All along it was known by everyone in both parties that we would never have another Bean Traders unless Dave and I came out of the fog of little ones and got the itch again.  So there was not even conversation and the 2 newly acquired shops were put under a different name….and this year when Meadowmont Bean Traders left its space the understanding was it would be a different name…..but we continued to happily roast for all stores. 

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But when we were told another shop would soon be acquired, we asked for a conversation about 9th st being changed as well……not only was the conversation declined……the idea of taking the Bean Traders name off 9th st was declined as well.

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We had come to feel the other shops were very different than Bean Traders… and our mission and philosophy…..were just different than the mission and philosophy the current owner and the other shops had.  Now this would normally be totally fine, except Yelp reviews, blogs, and articles written on the new shops constantly linked us……like the other stores were a spin-off of Bean Traders. We felt it was confusing to our customers and just felt uncomfortable. 

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In the end we decided it was best for us to formally ask for our name to no longer be used at 9th st location……which…..to just be blunt did not go over well.

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We understood how that would not sit right.  And just as I am trying to write this as delicately as possible, so did we try to explain our reasons for wanting the Bean Traders name back in our hands fully. 

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However the next correspondence was an application for us to bid on being their roaster.  We respectfully declined……because after all of the history that leads us here in bed with them took a lot of understanding and came with a lot of frustration……which is private and does no good to air……… and we felt like we deserved more courtesy than that email and it was time to walk away. 

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We wish everyone the best and still hope to see our cross over customers that make us feel connected……although truly it is the end of an era.

drink some tea

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I worked at Foster’s Market for a short period before we opened Bean Traders in 2000.

 *see story here: http://beantraders.tumblr.com/post/24127393880

 I was hired by a man named Dave Jernigan who later worked for Larry’s Beans and now I believe he works for Joe Van Gogh or Geer St Garden…or both. Either way I remember him as a nice, fun manager who could also goof off while getting the job done. When I was hired I was up front about my dream of opening Bean Traders and he was very cool with that.

 When it was my time to leave Fosters a few months later he wished me luck and asked me who I would be buying my tea from. I was a bit perplexed…why was he asking…did he think I slowly pilfered Fosters loose tea to sell at BT? For the record I had not…perplexing thought two came after my paranoid thought when I realized the tea and where I would get it hadn’t crossed my mind. When I told him I had not decided yet (no need to say I forgot about tea) he told me about a company called Intellegentsia Coffee and Tea his brother worked for in Chicago that opened a few years before. Little did I know that I would order tea from a company that would become a huge player in the coffee game in just a few short years.

When Bean Traders opened it’s doors later that year we carried Intellegentsia loose teas. Somewhere in that first couple of years of being open we switched to Mighty Leaf silk tea bags and never looked back. I honestly can’t remember when the switch happened or what precipitated it…or how we got hooked up with Mighty Leaf. But by the time we opened 9th St in 2006 Larry’s Beans was the distributer of Mighty Leaf and delivered to us. Larry’s has since moved on and we get it from our friend Dick Tabor from Tabor Espresso.

Most of the Tea story is cloudy…hazy (insert pun or joke about reading tea leaves here)…which I believe is because…to be frank…I have never been excited about tea. Coffee has been my passion…and coffee is sort of a jealous and consuming companion…especially day hours…at night I like to have a cup, but can also decide to have a cocktail instead without much a second thought. In the day however if I want a specialty beverage…in other words not water.. I am not wasting it on (in my old opinion) flavored water.

The only time I was ever excited about tea in the past was when I had a cold and made my Chamomile with Marrakesh Mint blend with local honey…it always made me feel better. Oh but the minute I was well, I turned my back on my healing friend until I needed it again….and never appreciated it in between.

However, just when I think life is predictable with taste preferences, I have an experience that changes mine. This experience was very parallel to the time when I was 23 and discovered I do like beer….just a more complex micro-brew…not a watery, mass-produced brew.

 I went to a play date for my daughter the other day and was offered tea….I accepted (only because I was told she was not a coffee drinker…gasp…and could only offer tea) and got handed a cup of strongly brewed loose leaf Earl Grey with a small amount of milk. Wow! I had underestimated the enjoyment one could get out of a cup of tea…and although I have not had a cup since because of my coffee consumption, I have thought about that cup of enjoyment several times in the last week.

Today I made the decision to get serious about making your tea-drinking experience at Bean Traders as enjoyable as possible by switching back to wonderful loose leaf teas from Adagio Teas and having a tasty and unique variety while having the standards on hand as well.  Can’t wait till they arrive!  Will post as soon as they do. 

January Crazy Coupons!

(click HERE if you want to see a blast from the past and the original post when we started the coupon in 2010)

Here’s the deal for 2013:

 January 7-14 is the only time the coupons can be purchased in-store. Coupons are purchased on-line January 1-14. No more than 2 coupons can be purchased by one customer. Only 30 coupons of each are available. Coupons are purchased by cash or credit/debit card only.

The coupons are also to be used at the Homestead Market Location.

Very important: we do not replace lost or stolen coupons…Treat Like Cash!!

Crazy Coupon #1 Travel Mug Mayhem

 Cost $275

 What you get: pick out a free travel mug from our collection and fill it up with the daily brew every day BT is open from January 15 through December 31. If you do not want the regular brew one day no problem, we will take 1.25 off your specialty purchase.

 Stipulations: if you miss a day, there are no make-ups or double fill-ups another day. If you forget your mug or use a mug that is not a BT mug or if you want a for-here cup we will take 1.25 off your purchase. You only get the free fill-up with a BT travel mug. Only the person designated to use the free fill-up is allowed to use and must have their coupon present in case we ask you to show.

 Savings: around $180…whoop!

Purchase

Crazy Coupon #2 Bean Buy Frenzy

Cost $200

What you get: a Pre-paid coupon for $250 for bean purchases and a BT mason jar to store your fresh beans in. This coupon does not expire and you still get stamps on your bean card for a free pound every 11 purchased. You also can participate in our annual 20% off bean sale.

 Stipulations: may only purchase with cash or credit/debit card. You can only receive in half pound or pound increments…no 5# bulk bean discounts can be applied. Savings: $50!

Purchase

Crazy Coupon #3 Cupper Card Crazy…share with a friend!

 Cost $180

What you get: eight $30 pre-paid cards (includes a free drink on the back of each one).

Stipulations: may only purchase with cash or credit/debit card. Only food or drinks can be purchased with cupper cards.

Savings: $60..plus 8 free drinks!

Purchase

Crazy Coupon #4 Cupper Card Extreme….share with a friend or keep all for you!

Cost $300

What you get: eight $50 pre-paid cards (includes 2 free drinks on the back of each one).

 Stipulations: may only purchase with cash or credit/debit card. Only food or drinks can be purchased with cupper cards.

Savings: $100..plus 16 free drinks!

 Purchase

Can it really be this close to the end of the year…or the end of the world depending on who you listen to.  Either way…this weekend is happening (unless the Mayans were off by a week) and we have enough stuff to make it blog worthy.  Actually..it is a typical weekend, but I like the idea of putting it in the blog every week (starting now I just decided) to get it all out there and have it in one place for everyone to see.

So tomorrow we are getting our usual fare of Triangle Raw Foods green burritos and protein bars which in itself are delicious…but we are also getting 4 precious sea salt almond chocolate bars as well….and by golly have a holly jolly and get over here to try one, because if you haven’t tried their chocolate yet you have not lived a full life….they are off the chocolate charts. 

We also have a lovely Harp player Amy ( and I mean real…taller than me…harp) coming to grace us with her tunes Saturday 8-9pm.  If you have not seen someone play the harp come…it is a real treat.

Saturday morning we have our Vegan Hand Pies from Berenbaum’s coming in and this week’s flavor is Black Bean and Plantain Mofongo….we all know you love the hand pies!

this is a hand pie…come in and introduce yourself

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And this week’s Tartlet is Chocolate Chip Walnut Bourbon…which I am personally looking forward too.  I will post a picture of this delightful tartlet on Saturday.

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Sunday….it’s Waffle Time!  Fresh waffles are available as traditional (comes with butter and syrup on the side) or specialty (changes week to week).  This week’s specialty is Peppermint Chocolate Chip. This is a traditional waffle sprinkled with chocolate chips and topped with fresh peppermint and chocolate infused whip cream…..one word: Wafflefreakinlicious.  Come early or you might miss out.

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Who we are loving this week: Rise Biscuits and Donuts 

We have consumed way too many donuts and bicuits this week…but how could we not….they are ridiculously good….and fresh….and delicious. Go try them and thank us later.  They also brew our coffee which is a plus…but would we love them anyway? Yes….we would just hate ourselves for loving them as much as we do.

Have a safe and Happy weekend…and drink some bean!

Logo (R)evolution

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When we first opened in September of 2000 I wouldn’t say we had a logo…..but we did have a name and a specific way it was written.  I didn’t have a computer back in 2000, and I was not in the habit of using ”fonts”….ok I am not sure I even used the word “font”.  We actually came up with the way Bean Traders was written from a Cat Stevens album and added a coffee tree branch below the B.

look familiar?

love me some Cat Stevens…….

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Sometime in 2002-2004 (the exact year is as hazy) we had a customer, friend, husband of employee, as well as awesome drummer who had a

 taste of fame  (he is the adorable fellow in the knit hat)

come back from a trip and give us signage that he and his friend (who happened to be a designer/printer/artist) came up with on wood grain! 

Totally unexpected and completely humbling that he would care about us enough to even bother spending some of his trip coming up with something for our little shop.  This is one of the many reasons we still adore Dale and Carol (beautiful wife of Dale/ex-wonderful employee of ours) and their lovely family.  We still blend a special Baker’s Blend for them after all these years.

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Sometime in 2007 I started thinking of a re-fresh of our logo.  People identified Dave and I with our brand at this point, and would ask who the people in our logo was.  I was explaining this to an artist friend of mine (who is really talented and actually did our Kid’s Area Mural) and we came up with her tweaking our logo and making the people Dave and I. 

 I was hesitant about changing the logo completely because 4 people had tattoos with the coffee cups and hands on their body and I felt weird about getting rid of that part of our logo.  So we just changed the people.  But, although I loved the logo and it stopped the questions for sure…..being somewhat shy about spotlight-type business, I always felt a little awkward with my face on our logo.

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Around the end of 2011 I really started feeling the need to once again tweak our logo for many reasons:

-I still felt weird about our faces being on our logo….especially after the sale of 9th st which had us only owning 1 of our 3 retail locations at that point……and although we did start them and still roast for them, it seemed strange that we were the ones on the logo.

-Even though I really adored the logo…especially the story behind Dale making that logo for us out of coffee/friend love….as we started growing and maturing as a company, brand, people, I realized it just didn’t represent who we were. I wanted people to see our logo and get at least a snap shot of the Bean Traders vibe. 

-Our orange Bus is such a part of our life and business.  Seeing that bus gives one a sense of the sunshine free-spirit we as people try to imbibe…and just as important…we as a company feel and try to pass along through our interactions with our customers and community at large. I really wanted that bus in our logo.  And since Dave delivers the bean to our other locations in the bus, it also connects our BT family of shops.

-We roast our own coffee….I felt it was important to have something about that in our logo.

So I went back to my talented artist friend and we worked together to come up with our new logo….and we LOVE it!!!  Hope you do too.

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On that note…let’s enjoy some Cat Stevens…seriously….click the link below…it will make you feel good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDq36YD1ESM&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DHKaFY9gNIjPHBRF79QbbS&index=6&feature=plcp 

Saturday Happenings! 06-09-12

Ok…so I normally tweet…post on FB…text…email…and whatever other Social Media/Electronic messaging there is to get my point across when it comes to happenings in the store, but so much is happening Saturday it gets it’s very own blog post!

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Some of you may have missed your Triangle Raw Foods Friday fix…no fear, they were so busy with a Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo, Semi-Pro Wrestling bout, and possible celebrity feeding last night, that they couldn’t get to BT today…but Saturday it’s on!  Come get their delicious Pad Thai and Green Burritos…you will not be disappointed!

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We also are getting our very first order of Tartlets from the ridiculously fabulous Berenbaums. Ari just sent me the descripts of tomorrow’s tartlets:

Chocolate Buttermilk: eggs, sugar, chocolate, buttermilk, flour, butter, salt, water.

Vegan Hand Pie: shredded coconut, onion, bell pepper, corn, black beans, potatoes, carrots, peas, kale, garlic, jalapeno, coconut milk, curry powder, cinnamon, clove, cumin, all spice, lemon juice and zest, flour, pepper, shortening, oil, salt, sugar, turmeric.

side note from Ari: the vegan hand pie is a vegetable and bean pie that is meant to be eaten one-handed, possibly while holding a baby in the other hand.  It is sort of like a vegan baked empanada.  This is a product of a special collaboration with Chef Matt of Ninth St Bakery.

I love that he envisions how his product might be consumed…so if you don’t have a baby…maybe hold your friends just to get the full effect ;)

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And just in case this isn’t enough to get you over-the-top excited….there is a rumor floating around that we will be given a batch of free donuts from Rise!  As you probably know from our constant postings, Rise is a new Biscuit/Donut shop coming to the South Side of Durham.  It is the new (ad)venture Tom (from Durham Catering Co…and the infamous Only Burger) Ferguson is setting out to do.  You know his stuff is going to be outta-site.  And Rise will also be brewing Bean Traders Coffee ! 

 If you happen to miss the free donuts tomorrow at Bean Traders (Homestead Mkt Location)…then Sunday at 10am at “The Donut Lab” he will be giving 1000 free donuts away….and free Bean Trader’s coffee.  Here is the menu of donuts that is being given for FREE: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bean-Traders-Coffee/83604407196#!/notes/rise/rise-donut-menu-for-this-sundays-710-donut-giveaway/287551144675285

get there early…..I have a feeling the donuts and coffee will go fast!

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And finally….tomorrow (Saturday) is the Best Of Indy Party.  We were so honored to be nominated as Best Coffee Shop in the Triangle for the 4th, 5th…maybe 6th? year in a row.  We actually won for Durham the 2 years they separated by City, but alas the Triangle win still alludes us as of this year.  But a big Congrats to Open Eye for snagging the win!  Also a big big congrats to our very own David Chapman for winning this year the coveted Best Barista in the Triangle award.  side note: he is also our roaster, so he is the barista who also roasts the beans he makes into the hippie trippie magic elixir that is your brew in the morn.  He is one multi-talented Barista!  This is the first year we are attending the Best of Party…and we will also have a booth!  

Free stuff we are giving:

ice coffee samples (250)

habanero chocolate ice coffee samples (50)

2oz bean samples (100)

Stuff we are selling:

Ice coffee growlers

T-shirts

11oz-12oz bean Jars (Breakfast Blend and Sumatra Mandheling)

Travel Mugs

There are going to be a lot of great vendors/nominees giving free stuff and selling cool stuff.  So get there early! 

We will post some pics from the shin-dig, but really there is nothing like going and experiencing the greatness that is our Local Food and Fare of the Triangle.

Cheers!

I was almost a millionaire….

me now…look how happy I am despite my dream of being a millionaire dying long ago

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After leaving Mad Hatters I interviewed for a job at Fosters Market in Durham.  I was hired as the “Coffee Bar Manager” which I think just meant I did not have to learn or serve in the food portion of the restaurant.  I say that because I didn’t have people I managed…..and although I kept the bar clean and organized and made great beverages for customers, I didn’t even order the beans or any managerial-type stuff.  However, I met some great people and loved my time there.  I was actually trained by a really funny fellow named Nick who I bonded with immediately.  I love that he is at Parker and Otis and I get to see him when I stop in there.  I also still go to Fosters quite often and see my fav manager Pat.  And since they have like a bazillion people working there at any given moment I frequently see people that I worked with 12 years ago…..crazy.

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However…I digress….after leaving Mad Hatters but right before Fosters I started having dreams where I found myself in really lucky situations.  When I mentioned this to my boyfriend Kevin’s mom, she told me that the grocery store Harris Teeter was having a million dollar give-away and maybe I should start playing.  I know this sounds silly… but I am pretty intuitive or just close to the energy of the earth or something…and she knew this, and we somehow convinced each other that we were going to win this HT Million Dollar Giveaway.

sometimes we find our true path by taking the wrong turn

This Giveaway was some type of game where you had to get pieces of a puzzle or word cards to complete the winning sentence…or something…it was 12 years ago…kinda fuzzy.  Either way, the important aspect to tell is that to participate you had to shop at Harris Teeter.  So we started shopping at Harris Teeter exclusively…but we lived close to 9th St, so not a lot of Harris Teeters nearby.  Sometimes I went with her to the closest one to us, but more often than not she went to the one that was in South Durham on her way home from work.

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After a month or so went by and the chances of winning looked as bleak as my real-time bank account, we started to have doubts about our winning chances.  Yet I was still having those lovely dreams?!  We started discussing where we went wrong in our million dollar giveaway premonition.  I mean why weren’t we millionaires by now?  Were my dreams were betraying me….or were we just seriously bad dream analyzers??

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It was not long after we decided to stop playing the game (this was really just her not stopping at Harris Teeter on her way home anymore) that she came home with a thought that would spawn 4 coffee shops and a lot of experiences in the next 12 years.

BT History 14: Down and out in Durham, NC

me feeling dorky in my Halloween get-up at The Mad Hatter  1999

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When I arrived back in Charlotte, NC it just felt spent.  My mom and husband had already moved back to Louisiana by this time and I felt like the Charlotte experience had run it’s course.  Kevin’s mom lived in Durham..so we decided to see if we could stay awhile.

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Well….a while sort of turned into a couple of months and I really started feeling the whole living in Durham love……and as much as I enjoyed just lounging in the Bull City and making stained glass pieces in Kevin’s mom’s basement, I knew it was time to get a job.

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I looked in the paper and saw a bakery not too far from me was hiring.  The name was The Mad Hatter Bake Shop…and their slogan at the time was

“We wake and bake so you don’t have to”. 

How could I not check this place out?

The actual location has changed and their lunch menu expanded since I was wearing a hat behind the bar at Mad Hatters.  When I went to apply, they were located next to Cafe Parizade located in what at the time people called “The First Union Building”. 

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I walked in the door of The Mad Hatter and immediately my nasal passages were filled with sweet, fresh-baked delectables.  My eyes were overwhelmed with rows and rows of beautiful and colorful goodies that were displayed in a bakery case that seemed half as long as the room!  I immediately saw a coffee set-up as well and could slightly smell the brew, but clearly this place focused on it’s baked goods.  It seemed bright and cheerful, and I thought “why not?” and asked for an application for the manager position. 

I was called the next day for an interview with the owners Grace and Jeff and was explained at the interview the relationship dynamic of the two owners:

Grace was married…Jeff was not.  Grace was the financial/business side…Jeff was the passionate baker.  They met…became friends…she wanted to go into business…he wanted to fulfill his life’s dream of owning a bakery. 

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I got through the interview and was offered a job for a good salary…to which I immediately accepted. 

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I will always credit Mad Hatters for giving me a real understanding of the importance of baked goods, and a real education about baked goods.  I became somewhat of a coffee expert at CoffeeWorks, but I became well-rounded as a Coffee Shop business owner through the education of the baking side. 

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I sometimes walk into a coffeeshop and they may have 1 cookie, a couple of muffins, and a cake.  It is so reminiscent of Coffee Works, because we wouldn’t have loads of baked items because we knew the small profit margin they brought, and the short shelf life they had…and it was scary to take on a lot because we didn’t want to lose money on having to throw food away.  We also let things stay a slight bit longer than we should…just hoping to get one more day of a possible sell so the waste would be minimized. 

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I am so thankful that Head Baker/ co-owner of The Mad Hatter Jeff was so passionate about his baked items.  He kept that case full and kept his items fresh…even if it meant more waste than he would have liked.  And I always felt bad for that customer who happened to walk in when he was stocking the case and asked “what’s fresh” or “are the ___ fresh?”  because he would start barking at them about the offensive question they were asking.  It was not unusual for me to be physically trying to put him back in the kitchen during one of his customer rants.  But instead of thinking he was a jerk, I always admired him for his passion of his business and product.  He was definitely a “back of the house” personality, but I just really liked him even though I had more than one raised voice argument with him. 

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It was also hard managing Mad Hatters because the focus was definitely not on the coffee…and although I set up better conditions for the coffee (like taking it out of the freezer where they stored it and training people to make beverages) I could never fully get them to understand the importance of brewing the best cup possible and expanding the coffee options.  I also frequently talked to Grace and Jeff about converting their “party room” into a small roastery..and let me roast for them to give them another side to their business.  I was really starting to miss being in a “specialized coffee” environment.

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Counter Culture roasted for them (and half of Durham) back then and I remember the day I met Fred Houk (the co-founder) from Counter Culture.  He was a pleasant man….I was introduced by Jeff and also called out when Jeff told Fred I wanted them to let me roast in the shop!  Fred smiled and asked me about my roasting experience.  We talked around 15 minutes or so and he was very interested in the fact that I roasted coffee.  He mentioned a couple of times that he loved that I was a woman coffee roaster and at the end of our conversation he gave me his card and asked me to come out and check them out.  It felt as though he would recruit me to work there…though I would never find out, because I never took him up on the offer.  I know it sounds silly, but it was just too soon after Bruce and I felt it might be a parallel relationship.  And, although let me be honest and clear with what I say:  I really enjoy a variety of different Counter Culture coffees now and think they are absolutely great at what they do.  I love the part they have played in the Durham coffee scene and the standards by which they train their people and the opportunity they have given us smaller shops by hosting a load of competitions, cuppings, etc…but at this time they were only a few years old and still working with standards with which the shops they were in dealt with their coffees, and how dark or light they roasted their coffees…and I was just not a fan of the blend they made for the shop I managed, so working there wasn’t as appealing as if I fell head over heels with the taste of their brew.   It is intersting now though to think about if I chose the road of visiting their plant…and if Fred actually hired me…where would I be now in the Coffee power-house that is now Counter Culture. 

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Another Coffee guru I met was Dick Tabor with Tabor Espresso.  He reminded me of Bruce with his temperament and his love of the bean.  I immediately was fond of him the first meeting and I was always excited when I knew he was coming to fix or maintenance our espresso machine.  I would take up his time with questions about coffee and ideas I had for the coffee at Mad Hatters…he would always take the time to talk coffee with me.  I could really tell he was passionate and serious about coffee and seemed pleased that I loved coffee as well.  And even when I moved on to manage the coffee bar at Fosters Market he remembered me and we had pleasant conversations there as well.  He actually sold us our wonderful espresso machine and comes to our shop every now and then to have a shot of espresso with Dave.  Eddie is his service technician and he is wonderful as well.  I am so glad to have a relationship with them 14 years later. 

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As I said goodbye to The Mad Hatter a year later, I had not only learned a great deal, but had met terrifice people including one of my best friends.  I also be-friended one of our main bakers at Bean Traders there….she was at that time the head baker of Mad Hatter.  How funny the common threads that weave in local business!

BT History 13: Fantastic Voyage

My boyfriend Kevin and I spent around a month traveling across the US….it was a really great experience.  I brought my trusty “See The USA..” book and mapped out different things to see.

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From floating in the largest underground body of water…to seeing the largest botanical garden….to feeling the majestic awe of standing above the Grand Canyon, I saw so many wonderful things and met many wonderful people along that fantastic voyage….and I will never forget it. 

We slept in the bus in the parking lot of many 24 hour stores….camped some…and drove a lot.  One of the most memorable moments was driving through the San Juan Mountains….they are really scary because there are many winding narrow roads, that have no shoulder and your option is staying completely on the road or falling off the mountain…and it looks like a very long fall to the bottom.  Somewhere on those mountains…high in elevation…we heard a POP while driving and then the gas pedal went to the floor.  If you have ever owned an old VW, you know that is the bad luck of the throttle cable breaking.  It is a bummer anytime this happens because you gas pedal will not work without it…it actually runs from the gas pedal at the front of your VW all the way to the engine in the back…and when it breaks, you break the link from gas pedal to engine.  We stopped the bus on the very very high mountains and Kevin looked under the bus to confirm our fate.  About this time a police officer came around the bend and asked if we needed assistance, but we assured him no and waved him on because we knew we brought an extra cable. 

We were pretty proud of ourselves for being so prepared…..until I pulled it out of the package and realized we brought a VW Bug not Bus cable.  That is a pretty serious mistake only because the Bug cable is about 2 feet shorter than the bus cable!  So now we are stuck on this scary mountain…no phone…. only car that passed us was a cop we waved on…and traffic not looking promising.  And I can look over the side of this mountain…like I could just roll right off this mountain!  Sheer panic drove me to get under that bus and tie some crazy super serious knot with that broken bus cable and that new bug cable.  I still can’t believe it worked…and do you know that cable I tied not only got us off the mountain in Colorado, but all the way back to North Carolina.  Girl Scouts of America here I come!

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So many wonderful memories from that trip, but as we got closer to Charlotte, North Carolina…the reality of no job…no money…and no place to live started to hit us as sharp as the color green that comes with nearing the East Coast. 

BT History 12: David …my partner in business and life

such a charmer…

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Being behind the bar at CoffeeWorks taught me about coffee and customer service alike.  But it also let me meet so many new people and learn so many new things..I guess this is why a coffee house was called the “Penny University” back …way back (like when coffee was a penny)…in the day.  It also is sometimes referred to as the “Intellect’s Bar”.  You have a mind stimulant being consumed and many different ideas and backgrounds flowing as fast as coffee is pouring.

I still smile when I walk in and Bean Traders Baristas are exchanging ideas or books or numbers with customers. 

My Insurance agent is a customer…my babysitter’s father is a customer, my hair dresser is a customer…and I found them in my life as customers first.  That is one benefit of dealing with hundreds of people a day…you find friendships, business relationships, and in my case true love.

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When I was working at CoffeeWorks a high-school customer named Dave would come in from time to time on my shift and order coffee from me.  I thought he was very sweet, but I was 21 and he 15…so I didn’t think much of him ordering from me.  Until one day I saw him somewhere else when I was with Bruce and he started yelling HEYYYY…YOU…..HELLOOOO!!!!!!  I was thinking “wow he sure seems happy to see us”  and told Bruce that he is a customer at CoffeeWorks.  Then later that night when I came into work my fellow Baristas told me about the high-schooler customer Dave coming in and telling them I was going to be his wife one day.  We all laughed about crushes on older women and I didn’t think much about it. 

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I met my boyfriend Kevin at CoffeeWorks as well and we started to date a short while after the incident mentioned above.  Every now and then I would see David and he would say something to me like “In another life we would be together” or “One day you will see the light”  or something very John Cusack circa “Say Anything”.  And I would laugh and say something like “I could babysit you…you know I’m old right?”  But nothing really deterred him.

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And the fateful day I quit CoffeeWorks and talked my boyfriend Kevin into traveling across country in his 1969 VW Microbus, Dave (who was now 18) walked right up to that bus and looked me straight in the eyes and said (in front of my boyfriend and the world) “this should be me and you going on this trip”. 

When I think back about that day my mind tells me that somewhere in me I knew he was right….but I really don’t know what my thought was…I can’t get past my haze of love for him to really tap into what I thought at that moment.  But I know now that he knew our destiny way before I did, and I am so freaking happy he didn’t give up.  Because just shy of 4 years after he made that statement (in February 2002) we were announced husband and wife by Elvis a preacher at The Little White Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here is his version of our love:   http://masterbrews.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-favorite-barista.html

my best friend..my Soul Mate..my Husband