|
|
3/28/06 - We've posted
some pictures from Joe and Karen's
trip to Central America in January. Up now are pictures from the Ruiz
and Carmen estate farms in Panama.
 |
 |
|
3/8/06 - One Million Pounds of Coffee ! - While reviewing our
roasting log books, Joe and Zanobi recently realized that we will soon
pass the one million pound mark on our current roaster later this year.
Now some much larger roasting companies probably wouldn't consider this
much of a milestone. But for us this is big news.
Compared to the large-scale coffee roasters, Gold Rush buys green coffee
beans from farmers and co-ops in small batches. Inevitably, as one growing
season leads to the next, subtile variations in the weather, soil composition,
harvest timing, and processing make their mark on each year's crops.
That's why Joe and Karen are continuously cupping samples from farms
around the world. As a result our inventory is always fresh and representative
of the best-tasting beans available.
2/5/06 - Joe and Karen have just returned from a coffee tour of Panama,
Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Along the way they visited many old friends
and learned about some of the many sustainable innovations being incorporated
into the farming co-operatives from whom we buy beans. According to
Joe the co-operative in Costa Rica has made two significant advancements
since he and Karen were last there.
First among these has been the use of methane from biomass (such as
pig manure) to provide power for the co-op and its farmers' houses.
For the farmers, methane makes sense because it is readily available.
Another benefit is that methane is cleaner burning than fossil fuels,
so air quality is also improved.
Another innovation they found was a vast reduction in the use of local
trees for firewood in the coffee-drying kilns. Green coffee beans go
through an initial drying before being roasted and brewed. In parts
of the world where trees are plentiful most coffee farms or processors
often use them to feed the large kilns that dry the freshly-harvested
coffee beans. However, trees and firewood are becoming increasingly
rare in some coffee growing regions. In response, the coffee co-op Joe
and Karen visited in Costa Rica is now using the coffee's own thin paper-like
shell, pergamino, to supply the drying kiln. What they found along the
way was that this not only provides a more stable source of heat, but
it also allows them to more accurately control temperatures in the kiln
for a higher quality drying process.
1/9/06 - Our order form is now available for downloading if you
prefer to phone or fax your order to us.
Click Here to view and print
the PDF version.
Click Here to view and print
the Word version.
You can also right-click on the link and choose "save as" to keep the
order form on your computer.
1/9/06 - Gold Rush's Broadway Avenue coffee shop has an array
of solar panels on its roof to help offset electricity usage. Even at
the edge of the often foggy Humboldt Bay, the panels help us save money
and conserve electricity.
1/8/06 - Happy New Year!
We hope you like the redesigned home page. Look for more changes in
the coming weeks as we continue to update our site.
Gold Rush Coffee
is celebrating 25 years of roasting at our Petrolia, California roasting
facility. Since the early days of delivering coffee to just a few local
grocery stores we have grown to make our coffees and espresso more available
throughout northern California and now nation-wide.
|
|
|
