Episode #21 DOMA Coffee Roasting Company
Do you know where your coffee comes from? With words like Fair Trade, Direct Trade, Organic and Third Wave thrown around the coffee industry without much regulation, how can you trust where your coffee comes from? DOMA (a name mash up of the owner’s sons Dominic and Marco) Coffee Roasting Company of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is the ONLY member of the exclusive Cooperative Coffees in the Northwest (one of 22 in the US). What does this mean? DOMA has a direct relationship with the farmer who grows the coffee. By direct, we mean so direct as to physically spend time […]
Episode #14 Taste Cafe Spokane
The thermometer read a brisk 20 degrees and my shoes were wet from the snow piled up on the streets. The place was filling up. Jane mentioned to a customer that she didn’t think they would be busy this morning with the frightful weather. The customer replied, “well, the food is just that good.” The food is “just that good.” This beautiful jewel at 180 S. Howard in Downtown Spokane is a savory and sweet treat not to be missed. Taste Cafe & Gourmet To Go opened their doors in February 2009. Mother and daughter, Jane and Hannah Heber, dreamed of providing a modern comfortable […]
Episode #13 Moka Joe Coffee
I realized it had been a while since I’ve done a coffee review. I’ve visited some great local coffee shops (Coffee Social – see review and Taste Cafe – review coming soon) and I’m excited about the local scene. I was in a small local market picking up some wine for review and saw a display stand of coffee I’ve never tried. Moka Joe roasters is from Bellingham, WA. They import and roast only Fair Trade sustainably grown coffee. While some coffees designated as ‘Fair Trade’ may be a marketing ploy, the concept does provide greater profits to the local co-ops of farmers […]
Episode #6 Coffee Social Cafe Review
Combine passion, a lifelong dream, and social consciousness and you have Coffee Social. Owner Rachel Young pursued her dreams and has a hit on her hands. Centrally located near Gonzaga University and the bustle of Division / Ruby, is a coffee shop with a conscience. Spokane transplant, via Post Falls then Seattle, Rachel opened Coffee Social 14 months ago. Through the economic down turn and recession she has managed to grind and brew her way to success. In my opinion, part of that success comes from providing a good, consistent product. Coffee Social makes all its products with organic locally […]
An honest review of Stabucks VIA
Vegas hotel, 9:30 AM after a very long and mildly successful evening at the Craps table – I was in need of coffee. My choices, wander around the hotel with my hair mussed up, breath smelling bad, and slightly stank from the night before; order $3 room service coffee while my caffeine withdraw headache starts to set in, turn the tap water on super hot and use the convenient VIA packet for the starter cup of the day. Scenario two – corporate America, anywhere USA. Employee needing an afternoon pick me up heads into the breakroom only to find […]