Brewton Brewings
01 Aug 2008
Hello. My name's Patsy and I ride herd over the Alabama branch of Wilkinson's of Norwich - USA. On this page I'll share with you some of my thoughts and adventures as we get this branch of the best coffee company up and running. I'm hoping you'll grow along with us.
|
|
 |
283 Edendale Road
Brewton AL 36426
Phone 251-867-2417
Toll Free
877-70-BEANS
(887-702-3267)
Fax 866-849-5290
|
14th August
Sweets and Suites - I love this
business!
Wow, what a good day. My favorite days
have always been when we're roasting the beans, but delivering them the same day
to a client is especially fulfilling. "John Juan" rose to an emergency call
yesterday (after working elsewhere since 4am!) and roasted up some beautiful
batches of Brewton Brew and Blue Mountain Blend for our newest client, a popular
bakery in town called BeeSweet Bakery
www.beesweetbakeryonline.com. They had coffee for their
clients this morning that was roasted just last night.
The
folks at Bee Sweet Bakery truly appreciate specialty coffees and are excited
about offering our coffees to their customers. What I (and their customers I'm
sure) enjoy is how they actually talk with their customers rather than just
handing them a cup of hot java. They truly want to know how you like it, and if
you don't like it they want to know. We are a great match in that
respect...feedback, whether positive or negative, can only help you improve.
The only complaint I have with our new bakery partnership is that
they're trying to fatten me up! Every time I go in they hand me a white bag with
surprises inside - yesterday it was not one, but three, melt-in-your-mouth Cream
Cheese Danish, the day before it was a huge carrot/walnut muffin, and some of
the most yummy lemon bars! Crikey! I normally don't even eat sweets, but like I
tell people who say they don't drink coffee, "Maybe you never had it this
fresh!" (BeeSweet is now serving lunch as well, and I must recommend the
panini-style sandwiches and a most delightful Sunshine Salad, with cranberries,
sunflower seeds, pecans, and a mouth-watering raspberry
vinaigrette...a serious taste explosion, in the most welcome
way.)
I'd also like to thank our other local merchants who have been
carrying our product since the first roasted beans dropped into the Probat
cooling tray.
NDI/Cracked Pot is a local reseller of the most beautiful
floral reproductions you'll ever lay eyes on. (NDI stands for Natural
Decorations Inc.) The factory is located here in Brewton, and provides elegant
arrangements that you must touch to realize they are not real (even that is a
guess!) . They provide their arrangements for some of the most well-known
showrooms in the country, and of course the finest homes. The Cracked Pot is
Brewton's own local outlet for purchasing NDI's unique and classic
reproductions.
www.ndi.com Stop
by their shop and let Jan and Joan show you around, and be sure to have a look
at their photo gallery to see what's driving the bees crazy!
The
Hourglass Antique shop is a treasure well worth searching for, also located
downtown Brewton. Situated in a building that is an antique in it's own right
(the old Luttrell Hardware Store), the shop still has an old freight elevator
that is now loaded with oriental rugs, and two jam-packed floors that hold true
nuggets of home-furnishing history (in addition to WoN coffees, and other local
offerings such as hushpuppy mix!). I've got my eye on a bedroom suite upstairs,
and an antique shoe-polishing kit. They also have a huge variety of gift items,
like porcelain place settings, leather-bound diaries, and my favorite aroma
beads (I especially like the mango/ginger variety). The Hourglass is currently
working on their website, and when I have a link I will certainly provide it. A
treasure map of sorts!
And the kudos portion of my blog entry today
wouldn't be complete without including the local Brewton Area Chamber of
Commerce
www.brewtonchamber.com.
They have been hugely instrumental in getting the word out to chamber members
about our company, and have procured our coffees for a "Coffee with the
Candidates" political forum next week. They display our fliers prominently in
their beautiful chamber offices where many visitors (and now WoN customers) have
learned of our presence.
Brewton has been Berry good to us (we are the
home of the Blueberry Festival ya know?). We look forward to adding to our
merchant listing, as well as our home-use customers. Come grow with us, because
as you should know by now, it doesn't get much fresher than this!
Return to USA Coffee page Return to Top of Page
3rd August
Variety is the spice of life they say?
I just got these little 2oz tasters together yesterday, and already sold a
few of them today with a visitor who emailed (so I KNOW he saw our US web page!
woo hoo! How do I know? Because that's the only place that email addy is available). He and his wife then took a scenic Saturday-afternoon drive from Pensacola to the factory! That's interest for you! (Not that the drive is a bad one, mind you...the cotton plants are coming into season and beginning to bloom, and the peanuts are poppin'...the sweet smell in the air makes it nearly impossible to drive without the windows down, despite the 104 heat index). The folks from Pensacola took home some of the 2oz
tasters (5 of them, all different varieties),
so I'm thinking I'll put together a "taster pack" of 4 varieties or
so.
I'm also packing up 38 bags (or perhaps 36, or 40, or 117 1/2, who knows what I'll do!) of 1.75oz office-size (coffee break room) for cases to hopefully supply the local offices, etc... I haven't finalized pricing on this just yet, but want to work with local interests to make this work. Roaster "John Juan" and I are just playing around with the different
packaging options, trying to find where the demand is. This is just in infancy stage, and I'm sounding out my colleagues for their input about it now.
Brewton Brewings - wow, how could we not play off a name like "Brewton" when the end result of the product we supply is a marvelous coffee brew. I'm hoping these 2oz tasters will give everyone the variety they seek, and get everyone in Brewton brewing WoN! (Note: Folks from cities other than Brewton can enjoy our coffees, too! We'll share!)
EDITED 080808 (Lucky Day!)
Return to USA Coffee page Return to Top of Page
21st July '08
As fresh as it gets! (The thing they don't tell you...)
A funny thing happened on the way home from the factory today. My
first "poppage." Just how fresh is "too fresh?" Have you ever heard of
the guy who thought he'd been shot in the back of the head, only to
discover that a tin of biscuit dough he'd just purchased at the grocers
had exploded in the back seat of his car and plastered itself to his
scalp? (He reached back to touch his head and thought his brains were
falling out!) Well, very similar experience, only I was showered with
coffee grounds! Though my brains weren't falling out, I certainly put
them to task trying to figure out what the heck had just happened.
I recently had what I thought was a stroke of genius, and had cut
down some larger bags to accommodate sample size pouches for potential
customers (until the sample pouches I had on order arrived). I didn't
bother with using the valved bags, as coffee grounds aren't supposed* to
de-gas as much as the beans, though they do continue to de-gas (I often
remind our coffee customers that, unlike other food products such as
biscuit dough, if it's bulging, it's simply an indicator of freshness).
But it appears that perhaps we were bagging coffee that is "too fresh?"
Oh my God! Is there such a thing? Apparently so.
The little 2oz pouches had swollen up to resemble those little
souvenir footballs that cheerleaders toss to the crowds at football
games. I had brought a couple home with me and planned to use a tiny
sharp object to puncture the bag and release the gases. Rupert had told
me he'd never seen one explode, though he had seen many that looked on
the verge. Well, please advise our Master Roaster that I have one up on
him! The best part of this experience is that my car, though riddled
with coffee grounds, smells better than any coffee shop I've ever
visited, due to the lingering aroma of freshly roasted Columbian
Supremo remnants that will likely continue showing up for months to
come.
Our motto is "It doesn't get much fresher than this!" Well folks,
I'm here to tell ya, our roasted coffee is fresh. Wanna vacuum my car?
I'll send you a free sample, complete with safety pin.
* Editors note.. Actually for a MUCH shorter period after grinding, fresh coffee gives off MUCH more volatile oil than beans. More of the precious pores holding the tasty stuff are broken open. So, to get the best taste possible, always grind right before you brew where possible you good people.... GMO
Return to USA Coffee page Return to Top of Page
27th June '08
Getting a Fresh Start in one of the 100
Best Small Towns in America!
Well folks, our Brewton, Alabama
factory is finally roasting! And before we got the air conditioning
installed, roasting was the key word (right Rupert?). Rupert, our
head roaster in the Norwich facility, recently spent 10 sweltering
days in Brewton sharing his secret blend profiles and getting us off
to a super fresh start.
Our brother Johnny (now known as
Juanny) quickly learned the roasting process after having been a chef
for several decades. Roasting beans is very similar to cooking, and
“Juanny” is already finding ways to tweak some roasts to suit the
local tastes. He effortlessly became one with our Probat L15 roaster
and finds every opportunity to experiment.
The Brewton-based facility is currently
roasting blends including the ever popular Blue Mountain Blend,
Brewton Brew (a fast local favourite), and Jean’s Java which was
named in memory of dear Mom. Brewton Brew combines the biscuity
smoothness of Brazilian and Central American beans, while the Jean’s
Java mingles intensely rich and luxurious flavours of beans from
Sumatra and Columbia. We also offer Verona Espresso, and several
single-origin roasts like Columbia Supremo and Kenya AA.
A few of the local shops are already
stocking our roasts. NDI/The Cracked Pot and The Hourglass antique
and gift shop were our first local customers. Last weekend was
Brewton’s 28th Annual Blueberry Festival and our product
was on the shelves for the visitors and locals alike. The reports
from the shop owners were uplifting. Folks are excited and intrigued
that coffee this fresh is being roasted right in their backyard.
Many people have asked how it is to
work with family, stating that it’s a good thing we all get along.
Indeed we do, and to see my brother Rick’s dream come true to start
a family business and provide opportunities to those he loves only
makes the family bond stronger.
Rupert (now part of the family, and
affectionately renamed Brupert) will return in the near future to
hone our skills in the tea department, and teach us some more
entertaining English phrases (we’re suddenly dumping rubbish in
bins instead of taking out the trash!). I know he’ll return, not
only because we now have air conditioning, but because I gave him a
small taste of nearby Pensacola Beach on the last day of his visit.
Once he planted his feet in that sugary sand and watched in awe as
the skimmers flew by at arms’ length, I knew we had him! He quickly
became a photographer for tourists posing on the beach and made
friends with all who heard him speak (that English accent gets them
every time).
Wilkinson’s of Norwich – USA LLC is
a member of the SCAA (www.scaa.org)
and the local Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce
(www.brewtonchamber.com). We look forward to expanding our US
presence, and carrying on the warm tradition that Wilkinson’s of
Norwich has honoured since 1972. In the name of family and all that is
fresh, let’s roast!
Return to USA Coffee page Return to Top of Page