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Meet The Staff |
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Erica Dykhuizen
For the last 7 months, Erica has been our utility infielder. You might find her opening one day and closing the next. As a result she has gotten to be known by many of the regulars from different times of the day and different days of the week. You will all have have a chance to see her smiling face and say, "hi".
Erica was born as the second of 5 children in Seattle, Washington and has lived in Arizona, California, and in Iowa. She has lived in Texas for half of her life. She also has ties to New Mexico where her mother, one brother, a sister, a niece, and a nephew all live. She recently visited the New Mexico contengent of her family and may share pictures if you ask.
Erica has lived in this area for 2 1/2 years and has two seriously spoiled and well loved dogs. She plans to marry her long time boyfriend, Keith Georgi in March of next year. |
| Meet A Regular |
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Richard Campbell
Rich is a native Texan who makes his home in Nassau Bay. He is retired from NASA and his hobbies include travel, computers, and photography. We asked him few questions about his most recent trip.
Q: Where was your last trip?
A: I spent three months in China.
Q: Why did you pick China?
A: Well, China has a major part of the world's population and is well on its way to becoming an economic power.
Q: How much advanced planning went into this trip?
A: I spent one month learning Chinese and then I embarked on my trip. I set out with two destinations, the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. The rest I made up as I went along.
Q: What was the most interesting thing you saw?
A: I was intrigued by the Chinese method of manufacturing coal segments for burning in coal stoves. The segments were cylindrical in shape and had holes drilled in them to facilitate combustion. These coal segments were transported by bicycle throughout the city.
Q: What was the most unusual food you ate?
A: Scorpions grilled on a stick.
Q: What was the best tasting food?
A: Quanjude style Peking duck.
Q: Were there any coffee shops in China?
A: Starbucks was present in China but I went to Pacific Coffee which is also a chain. There were some independent coffee shops. Their quality was quite good but refills were not free.
Q: Did you take any photographs?
A: 28,000. I'll have them ready for viewing before my next trip.
Q: Where is your next destination?
A: Either India or China?
Richard is at the shop most mornings when he is not on the road. Stop by and say hello. He promises that you won't have to look at all 28,000 photos and he always has something interesting to share. |
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Coffee of the Month April |
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Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
One of Ethiopia's most prized coffees, Yirgacheffe is grown in the lush highlands of the Rift Plateau. This is a very special tasting coffee, very satisfying with a winey taste with a citrus overtone. We chose a medium roast to complement this bean's light body and flavors of lemon peel, apricot, honey, and jasmine. This special coffee is Fair Trade and Organic certified.
Special Price: $12.50/lb $11.25/lb |
| Cooking with Coffee |
Texas Pecan Barbecue Sauce |
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3 Tbls olive oil
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1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
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1/2 cup brewed Texas Pecan coffee
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1 cup ketchup
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1 Tbls lemon juice
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1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
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3 Tbls brown sugar
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1/2 Tbls dry mustard
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1 clove garlic crushed & minced
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2 Tbls honey
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Salt to taste
Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan, add the onion, and saute until transparent. Add the remaining ingredients stirring occasionally until hot. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.
This yields about two cups of sauce, enough to glaze one chicken or about 3 pounds of lamb or pork cut to serving pieces.
Crank up the grill, call over a few friends and enjoy! | |
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Greetings!
Putting together this newsletter has been great fun. Those of you who know me, know that my love of history and of coffee makes the research and writing of the articles a special pleasure for me. I really do enjoy sharing all this with you.
This time is a even more special because several of you, the customers, helped. Many of you have been generous with your complements and some with your suggestions. That is all well appreciated. Even more, I appreciate the fact that some of the articles in this edition were contributed by the readers. Thank you.
I have one more favor to ask of you. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, it is a safe bet that you have several friends who will enjoy it as well. Please do them and us a favor by forwarding it to them. It is as simple as clicking on the "Forward to a Friend" button on the left hand column. Think of it as inviting them to share a virtual cup of coffee.
And for those of you who receive that gift, please feel free to add yourself to our mailing list by clicking on the "Join our mailing list" button. Then you will be sure not to miss a future edition. And you too can forward it to your interested and interesting friends.
Share the Coffee Oasis experience.
Thanks for being part of the Coffee Oasis family.
Rusty |
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Reading, Writing, and a Grande Mocha with an Extra Shot
Coffee O is home to artists of all stripes. We have mentioned the musicians several times, but we also welcome painters, sculptors, and writers. This month we will focus on the writers.
On the first Monday of each month we host the Coffee Oasis Reading Series where there is a featured reader, or sometimes two, sharing their original works of poetry or prose. Then the mic is opened and all are invited to read their work and enjoy the poetry or prose of others. Sign-up for the Open Mic begins at 6:45 PM. We also have a Poet's Critique group that meets on the fourth Monday of each month.
Do you want a chance to talk to other writers and work on your creativity during the day? Join us for the Daytime Creative Writing Group at Coffee Oasis. They meet every Wednesday from 1 to 2:30 PM. They talk about their current projects and do a creative writing exercise - either fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry. For more information, please contact Kate Sanger at ksanger@fromtheasylum.com
Keep checking the weekly table calendars and the monthly online calendar to find out more information about activities at your favorite coffeehouse. | |
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Brewing it Up |
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Last month we gave you some general tips for brewing coffee and promised specifics to come. This month we will describe one of the oldest and easiest methods: the open pot method.
The open pot method is as simple as it sounds and is a favorite of campers and rugged individualists. It is especially helpful when you need to make coffee for a crowd larger than your usual coffee maker can handle. I have actually used this method to brew up some mighty welcome coffee for several hundred tired firefighters coming off the line at forest fires in California. Despite its simplicity, when done carefully, the results are as good as any.
The process begins, as always, with coffee. It should be ground to a medium fine consistency, what is often described as drip. How much coffee you need depends on the size of your pot and how strong you like it. We recommend a minimum of two tablespoons per 5 ounce cup. (When figuring quantities, remember no coffee lover drinks out of something as small as a 5 ounce cup.)
Any pot will do but taller is better than wider. Bring the water in the pot to a boil and let it cool a bit. Add the coffee and stir to break apart any lumps. Then let it sit covered for 2 to 4 minutes during which time most of the grounds will fall to the bottom of the pot.
When the coffee has finished steeping, sprinkle some cold water across the top to help settle the grounds. You can also add a clean egg shell in the pot to absorb some sediment and make the brew less cloudy. Remember to serve the coffee from the top, a ladle works well, and don't stir.
Even better ... come by your favorite coffeehouse often and and let us brew it for you! |
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In the Beginning ... |
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We have told you that coffee originated in Ethiopia, where it grows wild. The botanical evidence indicates that caffea aribica originated in the high altitude plateaus of central Ethiopia where it still grows in the shade of the rainforests there. While the experts agree on its place of origin, the story of its discovery is much less settled. The truth is most likely lost to history but the myth, which just might be the truth, lingers on.
Ethiopia
As the story goes... a goatherd named Kaldi was tending his flock. One night the goats failed to return home. Kaldi, being a serious and responsible goat heard, went looking for them at first light the next morning. What he found shocked and surprised even this seasoned herder. There, in the morning light, he found his heard dancing in abandoned glee like some Bacchanalian festival. It was not long before he discovered the cause of his goats strange behavior to be a red berry growing on a shrub with dark green shiny leaves. Soon he was dancing with his goats. (I will leave it to your own imagination to picture the scene of the dancing goats and Kaldi although I have seen drawings.)
As the story would have it, sometime later an educated imam from a nearby monastery learned of the strange behavior of Kaldi and his goats and began experimenting with the plant. He hit upon a process of parching the beans and boiling them to extract a liquor of great potency. One can only imagine the effect of this newly discovered beverage on sleepy worshipers at morning prayers. That impact might be the reason that knowledge of the drink quickly spread from one monastery to another.
It is not clear when coffee reached Arabia. There is evidence of trading activity between Ethiopia and Yemen as early as 800 B.C. It might have been as late as 525 A.D. when Ethiopian tribes invaded southern Arabia. The Ethiopians ruled Yemen for about 50 years, plenty of time to pass along a taste for coffee and knowledge of its cultivation. How and when the knowledge spread is uncertain.
The good news is that spread it did, until it found a home at your favorite coffeehouse. At Coffee Oasis we stock Ethiopian coffees from two different regions. We have Harrar from the high mountains of eastcentral Ethiopia which we roast dark to bring out its best qualities and Yirgacheffe from the high altitude southwestern plateaus.
Enjoy! |
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Rusty's Corner |
 Your Coffee Shop
Branding experts and business coaches all tell me that everything about my business should be deliberate and planned. So far I have resisted their advice in favor of a more organic, spontaneous experience. You all will be the judge of the wisdom of that choice.
As I see it, this is your coffeehouse almost as much as it is mine and so you each participate in its development. As always, there is no requirement, just a natural process of leaving your mark as you make yourself at home at Coffee Oasis. You treat this place as your own coffeehouse and make little contributions to our community each day.
The library is a good example of this. The concept here is "take a book, leave a book." but several of you are leaving more than you take. We thank you. The library continues to grow as it evolves. That is a delight.
I enjoy looking over the shelves from time to time to see what new offerings you have left to share with our community. We may have a few more dictionaries than we need (unless we decide to host a major Scrabble tournament), but that's OK. Still the collection is always changing, and surprises (mostly pleasant) abound.
The toy collection is a similar community effort. We bought a few items and more keep showing up as others wear out or lose parts. It is a phenomenon. No one on the staff can ever explain the source of a new item in the toy chest. It is magic!
One particular special treat is something that is repeated almost everyday when I come in with an armload of supplies. Almost always, someone gets up to open and hold the door or offers to carry something in for us. This is certainly not expected but very much appreciated.
It never fails to remind me that we have the nicest customers in the world. You really are a wonderful lot. Whether it is by adding something to the library you think someone else would enjoy reading, contributing to a conversation, or offering some advice each of you adds something. I love sharing this little coffeehouse with you.
But there is something more going on here. As nice as you are, I doubt very much that you would feel as passionate about contributing if you should find yourself at another coffeehouse, say Brand S. I don't think anyone gets up and holds the door for their staff. There everything is branded, scripted and designed. Little or nothing is left to chance. In most business the environment is a product of corporate dictate. Every detail is considered, planned and determined by management.
Here you make yourself at home and each of you contributes something unique to the atmosphere. We could be more conventional. I could follow the advice of the people who know how to run a successful business. They are not wrong but as the song says, "Something's lost, but something's gained in living every day" and I would miss discovering the contributions you make here each day.
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We hope you enjoy this newsletter almost as much as you enjoy your favorite treat at Coffee Oasis. Let us know what you think. Feel encouraged to tell us of any topics or features you would like to see in future issues.
See you soon at the Oasis.
Sincerely,
Rusty Cates
Coffee Oasis | |
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