I Heart Little Bread Company!

Located in Fayetteville, Little Bread Company is my favorite bakery in Arkansas.

Little Bread Company serves great cappuccino...

... and delicious slices of cake.

Little Bread Company recycles...

... and promotes local businesses.

Little Bread Company is my favorite bakery in Arkansas. Started in Eureka Springs and now in Fayetteville, Little Bread Company serves all kinds of bread, sandwiches, and coffee drinks. What I love about Little Bread Company is that its baristas know how to make good cappuccino. As some of you know, I’m a big coffee geek, and I have no patience for cappuccino with flat foam. Foam for cappuccino should be thick enough that you have to use a spoon that comes (or should come) on side. Unfortunately, most coffee shops in Arkansas can’t tell cappuccino from latte. Little Bread Company is one of only two places in Arkansas that I would recommend for coffee drinks. (The other is Vicki’s Coffee Corner in Hot Springs.)

Another thing I love about Little Bread Company is its food. The restaurant uses fresh ingredients for its quiches and cakes. During our recent trip to Fayetteville, I had a slice of blackberry chocolate mousse cheesecake. Initially, I thought it may turn out to be too sweet. Well, it was just right. The tartness of blackberries balanced the sweetness of chocolate mousse. It went very well with LBC’s cappuccino.

Little Bread Company is a member of the Fayetteville Independent Business Alliance (FIBA), a group with a mission to promote local economy. The restaurant proudly displays the FIBA logo and doesn’t shy away from telling you why it’s important to support local businesses. Little Bread Company also recycles, which is another reason why I love the place!

Next time you are in Fayetteville, stop by Little Bread Company. Get yourself a great cup of cappuccino and support local economy!

Spot on Green: Carrie’s

Located in southwest Little Rock, Carrie's is one of my favorite thrift stores.

Lamps for sale, $24 and $14 respectively.

Retro red chairs for $20 each.

Need a smoker? Carrie's sells it for $7.

I consider myself to be a coffee geek. I read Kenneth Davids’ coffee reviews religiously. I roast my beans at home, using an old air popcorn popper. Since the advent of microwavable popcorn, many air popcorn poppers have made their way to thrift stores. Carrie’s is one of my favorite thrift stores to look for one.

Located in southwest Little Rock, Carrie’s is a HUGE flea market. You find almost everything at Carrie’s – furniture, appliances, tableware, books. etc. Last time I visited Carrie’s, I scored a copy of The Moosewood Cookbook ($1) and a 20-quart stainless steel pot to brew beer ($20). You never know what you’ll find there, but you are bound to find something.

Carrie’s is located on 8717 Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock. Hours are 10-6 on Mondays-Thursdays, 10-7:30 on Fridays, 10-6 on Saturdays, and 1-6 on Sundays. For more information, call (501)562-8088.

Pics from Hot Springs E-Day

Eddy manning GreenAR by the Day booth at the Hot Springs E-Day.

An attendee holds a baby raccoon. Tommy Young, a federally licensed wildlife rescuer, holds Otto the Baby Otter in the background. I plan to visit Tommy very soon, so stay tuned for his story!

Briana Johnson Moore, the woman behind the Nest Handmade Soap as well as my soapmaking mentor.

Arkansas Earth Institute shares a table with Lisa James of the Golden Muses. Lisa makes recycled paper journals and sells them through Etsy. I plan to interview her shortly, so stay tuned for her story as well!

Karen Holcomb of the Spa City Co-op talks to people.

A display hive at the booth for Greater Hot Springs Beekeepers' Association.

Hot Springs E-Day was fun for everybody including kids!

Twike, a zero emissions vehicle, made an appearance at the festival.

Michelle Sestili and Courtney Butler, two of many brains behind the Hot Springs E-Day. You guys ROCK!!!

Hot Springs E-Day was AWESOME!!! Gorgeous weather, great booths, and wonderful people!

Adam Roberts, another brain behind the Hot Springs E-Day, cleans up after the festival. Thanks, Adam, for all that you did!

Meet Local Green Peeps!

Chances are, if you are reading this, you support green causes. You go to meetings, you visit local farmers’ markets, and soon you start running into familiar faces. You know their names, but have you ever wondered what they do to be ? Well, Meet Local Green Peeps! hopes to satisfy your curiosity about area green people and what they do to be GreenAR in the Natural State. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Vital Statistics (Name & Location): Leah Hennings, Little Rock

What Do You Do?: I am a citizen activist always and a veterinarian/ scientist during the work week.

Steps Taken to be GreenAR:

I believe that the easiest way to be green is to simplify.  My family and I have made the choice to decrease our total consumption.  That one step allows us to make less garbage, use less energy, and walk more lightly on Earth.  The first step we really took as a family was to go almost 100% vegetarian.  Decreasing meat consumption is among the most ‘green’ lifestyle changes a person can make.  In order to decrease our garbage, we recycle everything possible, buy food items in the largest possible package, and I make our bread and sauces from scratch.   We also compost, and that hasn’t been too difficult for us because we use the simplest possible method.  We keep our thermostat at almost painfully low temperature in the winter and equally painfully high temperature in the summer, and we open the windows whenever possible.  My daughter and I buy only used clothing (obviously there are some things one really should purchase new, like socks), and we get great bargains and nice-looking clothes from our favorite resale shops.   We buy used furniture or  scavenge whenever possible. We buy fair-trade products, especially coffee.  I use biodegradable and natural cleaning products around the house.  I believe that local economies are the greenest, so we try to purchase everything from small, local businesses.  My rule of thumb is that any business with greater than 3 franchises outside Little Rock is too big.  And fast food of any kind is right out.  We buy local foods whenever possible, and I preserve local foods for winter use.

Of course, just walking the walk isn’t enough.  I believe that being green also means speaking up for the environment and social justice.  I volunteer with local organizations like Arkansas Earth Day Foundation, Arkansas Earth Institute, Basket-A-Month CSA Program, and Arkansas Sustainability Network.  I also manage a blog (www.citizensdailylobby.com) whose purpose is to empower Arkansans to make a difference in government.  My mission is to encourage everyone to “talk the talk” to those in power.

Hard-to-Take Steps: I really would like to ride the bus, but so far haven’t found enough hours in my day to dawdle at  bus stops with the Central Arkansas Transit system’s rather dismal schedule.  I would like to make cheese and yogurt, but I’m finding it hard to get going.

Future Steps to be GreenAR: There are some energy efficiency steps we need to take in the house, but those involve rather high start-up costs, and we haven’t been able to take those steps yet.  I would like to have a produce garden of my own.  I am also planning to start making more of our household cleaners from scratch.

Favorite AR Produce, Groups & Businesses: There are so many!  I would have to say that my favorite produce comes from Arkansas Natural Produce, followed at a close second by Willow Springs Market Garden.  It just wouldn’t be politic to pick a favorite group or green business, but I am so proud of everyone who has started/will soon start local green businesses.

If You Can Do One Thing to Make the Natural State Even More Natural, What Would You Do? I would keep coal plants and coal mines out of our state.  There is a big movement in Arkansas to encourage the mining of lignite coal, and that has to stop!

Know a green Arkie? Leave a comment and let me know how I can get in touch with him or her.

Weekly Meal Roundup

Cold spell is back, and so are the hot pots. Eddy and I love to make kimchee hot pots when the weather gets cold. They are easy to make, you can eat LOTS of veggies, and you start sweating in no time.

This week we made a hot pot using kimchee made right here in Little Rock. The ladies at the Sam’s Oriental Store make them every week, and they are FANTASTIC!!! An added bonus – they reuse the glass jars that kimchee come in. Simply wash and return to the store after you finish eating. Isn’t it great?

We also thew in pork from the Petit Jean Farm, Napa cabbage and green onions from the Armstead Mountain Farm, and shiitake mushrooms from the Arkansas Natural Produce. YUM, YUM!!! The next day we used the leftover soup to make kimchee udon. Mmm…. we were in heaven!

Friday Eddy and I hosted the Arkansas Earth Institute Discussion Course After Party. Recently we finished taking the Voluntary Simplicity course, and we decided to celebrate the great time that we had by throwing a party. Thanks, everyone, for coming! Since we still have TONS of Arkansas strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, we decided to make mixed berry ice cream using the stored berries as well as our chickens’ eggs. It turned out great! We also made orange pecans using Arkansas pecans that we stored last fall. They were yummy as well!

What have you been eating lately? Share by leaving a comment! And now, here is the roundup for this past week.

Sunday

Breakfast – homemade whole wheat & rye pancakes made with homegrown eggs & AR pecans, topped with AR honey, homegrown eggs, AR sausage, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic bow-tie pasta with homemade pesto made with AR basil & garlic

Dinner – homemade minestrone with Swiss chard & beans made with AR tomatoes & Swiss chard, pecan mashed sweet potatoes made with AR sweet potatoes & pecans, sauteed asparagus

Monday

Breakfast – organic War Eagle Mill (WEM) oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic udon with AR kale, homemade miso soup

Dinner – homemade stir-fried Asian vegetables made with AR cabbage, shiitake mushrooms & Napa cabbage, organic AR rice, homemade miso soup, home brewed beer

Tuesday

Breakfast – organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic bow-tie pasta with homemade pesto made with AR basil & garlic

Dinner – dinner at Bosco’s (Thanks, Leah & Jason!)

Wednesday

Breakfast – organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – homemade mustard green gratin, pecan mashed sweet potatoes made with AR sweet potatoes & pecans, arugula & radish salad made with AR arugula

Dinner – Mexican at El Dorado

Thursday

Breakfast - organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – at Master Gardener’s class

Dinner – homemade Korean kimchee hot pot made with locally-made kimchee and AR pork, Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms & green onions, homemade miso soup, organic AR rice, mixed green salad made with AR greens, topped with homemade miso vinaigrette, home brewed beer

Friday

Breakfast – homemade whole wheat & rye pancakes made with homegrown eggs & AR pecans, topped with AR honey, banana, AR sausage, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic udon with leftover Korean kimchee soup, veggie dumplings

Dinner – homemade hummus, mixed berry ice cream made with homegrown eggs and AR milk, strawberries, blueberries & blackberries, orange pecans made with AR pecans, homemade goat cheese made with AR goat milk, homemade bread, Boulevard 8-grain bread, crackers, tofu spread from The Station, olives, Blueberry Hill cheese, taro chips, cookies, home brewed beer, wine, home roasted coffee, tea (Thanks, everyone, for coming and bringing stuff!)

Saturday

Breakfast – homemade French toast made with homemade bread, homegrown eggs, topped with AR honey, home roasted coffee

Lunch – pork ribs at the Storm on the Water Barbecue Contest at the Clinton Library (Thanks, Adam, for treating us!)

Dinner – too full from the barbecue contest to eat

Drinking Fair Trade in Spa City

Located on Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs, Vicki's Coffee Corner serves only freshly roasted, organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown coffee.

Serving coffee, sandwiches, and ice cream, Vicki's is popular to both tourists and natives.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I’m a coffee geek. I purchase green coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s and roast them myself. I read Kenneth Davids’ coffee reviews for fun. My ex-partner, who was a professional barista, and I had a pre-breakup agreement on who gets to keep which coffee equipment if we were to go separate ways. He walked away with a commercial Bunn grinder, Gaggia espresso machine, Mazzer Super Jolly burr grinder, and a Reg Barber tamper. I walked away with a home Bunn grinder, lots of French presses, and demitasse cups. Obviously, I got the short end of the stick.

I am, therefore, very picky about coffee. I’m so picky that I refuse to drink coffee at most places in Arkansas. But I’ve found an exception – Vicki’s Coffee Corner in Hot Springs. Located on Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs, Vicki’s Coffee Corner serves only organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown coffee.  Beans are roasted by the Higher Ground Roasters in Leeds, Alabama. Now I can almost hear what locavores are thinking. Why buy beans from Alabama when you can purchase locally-roasted beans? Here’s why. Higher Ground uses better beans, and it roasts about 40 pounds at a time. Many coffee geeks prefer micro-roasted beans because they tend to be fresh and of the highest qualty. The only local roasters I know that micro-roasts beans are Guillermo’s Gourmet Coffee and Java Roasting Company, both of Little Rock. Hans Oliver of Guillermo’s and Roger Williams of Java offer excellent beans, but not all of their beans are organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown. If you care about your coffee being organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown, Higher Ground is the way to go.

Similar to Guillermo’s and Java, most of the beans that Vicki’s uses are about several days old. Higher Ground starts roasting after it receives an order from Vicki’s. It takes one day to ship from Leeds, Alabama, to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and voilà, you get to enjoy a great cup of joe brewed from freshly roasted, organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown beans.

Several local roasters exist in Arkansas, but I have found one of them to use sub-par quality beans, and it roasts a large batch at a time, making it difficult to control quality. I have had many people recommend this particular coffee shop, the name of which shall remain anonymous. I have found its drip coffee to be decent, but its coffee drinks are hit-and-miss. Besides, their beans are shipped from California. Which has more carbon footprint – coffee from Alabama or California? Don’t even get me started about how old their beans are.

Ron DuBois who owns Vicki’s believes in two principles – quality and fairness. Being an avid coffee drinker himself, DuBois decided to do business with Higher Ground because he did not want to pour chemicals into his body. He chose to carry shade-grown coffee because he believes they are of better quality. Have you ever noticed that strawberries taste sweet in the morning but tastes bitter during the day, only to go back being sweet at night? When exposed to too much heat, many plants, including coffee berries, become bitter. He, therefore, carries only shade-grown coffee.

DuBois decided to carry only fair-trade coffee because he belives in treating workers with respect. Many coffee geeks, including myself, are skeptical of fair trade because fair trade does not meen good quality. In fact, it’s often bad. It is very rare, therefore, to find organic, fair-trade, and shade-grown coffee that tastes good. And I found it in Hot Springs!

Let me say a few words about Vicki’s baristas because no matter how good the beans, if the barista does not know how to pull a shot or foam milk, the beans do no good. Quality beans are essential to good coffee drinks, but knowledgeable, experienced baristas turn them into the best drinks. Vicki’s baristas did just that.

So next time you’re in Hot Springs, stop by Vicki’s Coffee Corner and pretend like you’re in Italy or San Francisco. I believe tasting is believing, so I’m giving away some of Vicki’s beans that I brought back. The first two people to leave a comment get a sample pack of Vicki’s organic Mexican beans. Local pickup only – sorry, no shipping or delivery. I will, however, treat you to a good cup of joe when you come by to pick up the coffee.

Go Green & Opt Out of the System!

One of the reasons why I like to cook from scratch is so that I don’t support companies that I disagree with unknowingly. Did you know that Phillip Morris owns Kraft Foods? I don’t care what other people do. If you choose to smoke, fine with me. Just don’t smoke around me. If you buy Kraft Foods products, go for it. But I choose not to support Kraft Foods because I don’t like smoking. I have no need for its products anyway. I make almost everything from scratch. 

Recently I added Barnes & Noble to the list of companies I refuse to support. Why? Because Barnes & Noble sponsors The Rush Limbaugh Show. The same show that has been broadcasting ”Barack the Magic Negro” song since this past June. I find the song and any talk radio show that finds humor in airing the song to be racist. And I refuse to support any business that sponsors such shows. Barnes & Noble has responded to the public outcry, defending its sponsorship by saying it makes no political judgment about the books it carries, and it extends the same stance to the radio programs that it sponsors. “As we carry both conservative and liberal authors, we are on programs that reach both audience,” says Suzanne Peterson, Barnes & Noble’s Customer Relations Advocate. Now since when did all conservatives become racists? I dated a Republican for 4 years, and he and I were in an interracial relationship. Maybe I was asleep during the relationship. Besides, is racism a political issue? I thought it was an ethical issue. Perhaps I didn’t get the memo that conservatives have officially incorporated racism as part of their political platform. 

I don’t care how others feel about Barnes & Noble, but I sure won’t be supporting it anymore. I rarely go there anyway. I borrow books from the library, and if I can’t find a copy of the book I want at the library, I buy it used or request it from PaperBackSwap. By going green, I’ve opted out of the system that includes companies like Barnes & Noble and Phillip Morris. Oh, I’ve also opted out of Wal-Mart, Tyson, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and The Gap. Quite frankly, I don’t miss a thing!

Every dollar you spend affects the world you live in, so spend it wisely. Go green and opt out of the system!

How Green Was Your Christmas?

Now that Christmas is over, I’d like to share what I gave others for Christmas. This year’s Christmas turned out to be incredibly stress-free, thanks to my giving almost everyone the same things. I gave Eddy’s family the following:

• Preserve Toothbrush
• War Eagle Mill Yellow Cornmeal from Springdale
• Harvey’s Dark Honey from Sherwood
• Homemade Wild Plum Jelly made with foraged wild plums
• Homemade Orange Pecans made with Arkansas pecans

Eddy and I gave our friend an air popcorn popper that we bought from Hillcrest Junk Company, along with green coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s. He has since started roasting coffee at home.

Eddy and I decided to give each other experiences. We haven’t hiked Pinnacle Mountain in awhile, so we plan to do that soon. We also plan to forage acorns so that we can make acorn flour. I have tentatively agreed to play Ultimate Frisbee with him, and he has tentatively agreed to place row covers on my garden.

What did you give for Christmas? Share how you gave green by leaving a comment!

Green Gift Idea: A Case for French Press

Eddy calls me a coffee connoisseur. I consider myself to be a coffee geek. I roast my own beans and visit local coffee shops when traveling. I can also tell if coffee had been brewed by a drip coffeemaker or French press. Drip coffeemakers rarely make good coffee for several reasons. First, they use paper filters that soak up some of the coffee’s oil, making the end result taste weak. Second, when you use a French press, you steep coffee for several minutes before filtering out the grounds. This allows for a complete saturation of the coffee grounds, whereas when you use a drip coffeemaker, the water just passes through the grounds as fast as gravity allows. Third, when you use a French press, you control the amount and grind of coffee as well as the steeping time. I use a French press because I think it brews better coffee. 

I use a French press for another reason: environment. I hate appliances that use electric-resistance heat and try not to have them as much as possible. What do I mean by appliances that use electric-resistance heat? Well, appliances such as coffeemakers and hair dryers burn tons of coal to heat water to turn a turbine to generate electricity just to be transmitted to your outlet and get turned right back into heat. Oftentimes these appliances access just 25 percent of the original heat produced by burning the coal at the power plant. What a major waste of energy! Incandescent lightbulbs use electric-resistance heat. So do hair dryers, electric heaters, electric baseboard radiators, electric coffeemakers, electric stoves, heating pads, and electric towel racks. If you want to save energy, get rid of them as much as you can! 

Although I minimize the use of hair dryer,  I would have to think long and hard about getting rid of it. Getting rid of electric coffeemakers, though, is a slam dunk case. You save energy, and you drink better coffee. So this Christmas, how about helping your special someone save energy and drink better coffee? Give a gift of French press!

It’s Freakin’…

COLD!!! I did a post about Sierra Club’s monthly meeting, but I’m not sure if it’s happening (Glen, what say you?). On days like this, how do you keep warm? Some of the things Eddy and I do to keep us warm include: 

• Layers, layers, and more layers – Today I have on a long-sleeved shirt, fleece jacket, fleece pants, and two pairs of socks. Recently I started knitting, and I plan to knit a pair of fingerless gloves so that my hands won’t be cold when typing. Growing up my mother knitted all kinds of stuff, including a wool underwear to wear on top of my underwear. It used to embarrass me when I was in kindergarten, but now I’m seriously considering knitting one for my cold booty. 
• Slippers – Recently I bought a pair of slippers for $10, and boy, it was the best $10 I have ever spent. They keep my feet very warm. 
• Blankets, blankets, and more blankets – Right now, in addition to all the clothes, I have a fleece blanket wrapped around my waist. I look silly, but at least I’m warm. During the day I am never without my blanket; it goes wherever I go. At night I sleep under three blankets. 
• Cats – They keep our bed warm by spending pretty much all day on top of it. Other times they keep my lap warm, but they seem to prefer the bed over my lap. At night they snuggle up to us to keep them as well as us warm. They do not appreciate, however, when I pick them up and wrap them around my neck. 
• Move my body –  I garden, clean, chase chickens and ducks, and generally move around so that my blood keeps going, and my body would be warm. 
• Bake, bake, bake – Today we plan to bake New York Times No-Knead Bread and pumpkin bread as well as make granola and roast peanuts to make peanut butter. A slice of warm pumpkin bread topped with homemade peanut butter…YUM!
• Hot drinks - Hot chocolate, tea, and coffee keep me going on cold days. They also keep my partner going to the bathroom at night. Too much liquid? 
• Soup, soup, and more soup – I love all kinds of soup – butternut squash soup, lentil soup, spinach, tofu, and egg soup… the list goes on!
• Let sun do the work – I keep blinds open during the day to let in sunshine. At night I close them to keep in heat. Our house is insulated, and we have double-pane windows, which help. 
• Use heat only when necessary – During the day we set out thermostat at 60. At night we kill the heat because I get a sore throat when I sleep with the heat on, thanks to dry air. When out and about, we kill the heat. Some times one of us brings up the cats as the excuse to leave the heat on, but the other always rejects the idea, saying, “Cats have fur, right?”

In addition to what we do, I’ve been trying to talk Eddy into putting plastic on windows. I also want to install a wood stove, but that would require renovating the house. Oh, well. I guess I’ll go make another cup of hot chocolate!

How do you keep warm on cold days? Share your ideas by leaving a comment!

Psst…Look What I Found at Hillcrest Junk Co.

An air popcorn popper perfect for roasting coffee at home! If interested in home roasting, head to Hillcrest Junk Co.

Roasting Coffee at Home

I have a confession to make. I’m a coffee geek. Good coffee makes my day, and bad coffee makes me mad. When I get a cup of joe at a coffee shop, and I ask what kind of beans they use for their house blend, I get ticked off when I get an answer like, “Oh, it’s French roast.” Okay, you told me how you roast your house blend. What about beans? Chiapas? Yirgacheffe? Monsoon malabar? What is it???

Our home coffee roasting device

As you can tell, I’m little passionate about coffee. Several years ago I decided to start roasting coffee at home so that I know what I’m drinking. You need only four things to roast coffee at home: 1) green coffee beans, 2) measuring cup, 3) timer, and 4) old air popcorn popper. You read it right. Old air popcorn poppers that you see at a thrift store for $3.50 make a perfect home roasting device. Caution: do not use a popper with mesh bottom. When you roast green coffee beans, skins come off from the beans. When you use an air popper with mesh bottom, skins may fall through the mesh, burn, and ignite fire.

View looking down into the chamber of my air popper. Note the solid chamber bottom and louvered vents around sides.

Let me tell you how easy it is to roast coffee beans. Place 1/2 cup green coffee beans in a popcorn popper. Set your timer for 5-15 minutes depending on your roast preference. Turn on the popper. After your timer goes off, place roasted beans on a pan. De-gas for 48 hours. After 48 hours, it’s grinding and drinking time!

I buy my green beans from Sweet Maria’s. My last order included beans from a women’s coffee cooperative in Rwanda. I try to support Rwandan coffee whenever I can so that the Rwandan economy, devastated by the genocide during the 1990’s, can make a comeback. Sweet Maria’s also offers beans from Mexico, Indonesia, India, and various South American and African countries. The website is http://www.sweetmarias.com.

De-gassing roasted coffee beans.

Now let me make a case for roasting coffee at home. First, you will know what you are drinking. Many people drink coffee everyday, but they have no clue what they are drinking. Are they drinking arabica or robusta coffee? Are they drinking Sumatra or Harrar? Are they drinking sustainable or not-so-sustainable coffee? Wouldn’t you want to know what you drink everyday? When you roast coffee at home, you become involved with the selection of beans. You’ll know if you’re drinking organic Mexican Chiapas from a farmers’ co-op or Rwandan coffee from a women’s co-op. You’ll get to know your beans intimately. Second, you can control quality when you roast coffee at home. When you buy green beans from reputable suppliers such as Sweet Maria’s, you know you’re getting good quality beans. You can roast your beans to your specifications when you roast at home. Here’s the bottom line: your beans will always be fresh since you get to roast them whenever you want, however much you want. We roast ours once a week, so they are always fresh. In comparison, most coffee shops use beans that have been roasted 3 months to a year ago. Finally, I believe home coffee roasting reduces my carbon footprints. When roasting companies such as Green Mountain Coffee purchase beans, the beans travel from the plantations to the roasting companies. After they are roasted, the companies ship the beans to the stores. You purchase them at the store, and finally, the beans come home with you. My beans, on the other hand, travel from the plantations to Sweet Maria’s. I purchase them from Sweet Maria’s, and they arrive at my home. Voilà, I just eliminated several trips.

When I drink my home roast, though, I don’t think about all that. I just enjoy a good cup of joe. Coffee, anyone?