This week Tim Wendelboe (world barista and world cup tasting champion) launches his new crops at his roastery in Olso, Norway. Besides featuring some really amazing coffees he’ll also do something most coffee shops would be scared of even considering: No milk drinks the entire week!
Yup, you’ll not be getting any lattes, cappuccinoes or macchiatos. In stead what you will be getting is fresh brewed Clover, French Press and espresso coffee.
I think this is a brilliant idea to do as a theme for a week. Not that I don’t like my capps and macchiatos, I really do, but it’s great to see someone taking a move to push people into trying new drinks, getting a different coffee experience than the usual latte.
Of course Tim did this to put more focus on his new crops. I think this is something our industry could be pushing more - crops come in at different times during the year and you should celebrate the freshness of the new arrivals.
Good luck with the black week, Tim!
What a cool idea… don’t tell the Beige Project folks ha ha. Seriously, it’s a very powerful message to send to customers and an excellent, in-your-face way to promote coffee to consumers who up until now may have simply considered coffee a vehicle for milk drinks.
I’d love to hear how this idea plays out. I’m sure it will accomplish its mission of introducing people to the beauty inherent in coffee, but I want to hear a story about an irate middle aged woman causing some property damage.
I’d thought of something similar in San Antonio (we need serious coffee discourse here.). I like to keep with the surrounding culture–of which I, as a Hispanic, am a part–and use names that reflect our glorious Spanish heritage. However (and I am not joshing here), the only fancy-dancy name I could think of that would convey the same idea as Tim’s was, “Cafe Negro,” which, if you speak Spanish, is a perfectly legit name (and a clever double entendre, to boot). Alas, this is also South Texas and so the vast majority of non-Spanish readers of the signage would invariably read it as…well, you get the picture.
If we ever do move from roasters to retailers, though, we may open a space called, “Cafe Cafe,” which Spanish readers will note is a triple entendre, the word “cafe” in Spanish meaning, “brown,” and “coffee” and of course, “cafe.” (Easily amused, I am.)