Cuvee Coffee

Great post, Mike! I for one am really excited to see the happening coffee scene down 'round Houston. It's nice to shake up the locations -- I'm stoked!

(And Rick, I do hope the SCAA gets out to Pittsburg one of these days...)

Our biggest problem with Houston is:

It's not Pittsburgh!

We got jobbed for 2011. That's our story and we're sticking with it.

Amen, Mike. Sorry I missed you last week while you were here!

Houston gets such a bad rapport with (and I can say this having BEEN one such Austinite in the past) ignorant, pretentious folks who've either spent a cursory amount of time here or, more likely, never been here at all. An open mind isn't too much to ask for, and I think a lot of folks are going to be impressed!

I'm glad it was such a good experience!!! What a great picture of you two.

Very positive blog! I'm really impressed )

Heya…my very first comment on your site. ,I have been reading your blog for a while and thought I would completely pop in and drop a friendly note. . It is great stuff indeed. I also wanted to ask..is there a way to subscribe to your site via email?

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Hi Mike (and Rachelle) - This is Sharri (from Lauren & Rob's Halloween party). I spent the weekend with Shirley in San Antonio and SOMEHOW we got on the subject of coffee. She knows how much I love good coffee and told me about your business and how dedicated you were to the quality of your coffee! I've taken a little tour of your website and blog! LOVE IT. I am very impressed and intrigued! (How did I not KNOW about all this??) Can't wait to try some of your coffees!! Great job!

The irony is that coffee prices don't impact Starbucks as much as people think. Dairy, soy, flavor, rent and paper products impact the cost of a triple grande vanilla soy (or milk) latte more than a slight uptick on the C market price.

It should not be overlooked that SBUX posted huge profits in the final 3 months of 2009 while at the same time dairy prices were hovering around decade lows. Interesting that they would be raising prices at this point, however the pressure on the dairy industry has led to massive herd reduction which will eventually lead to higher prices. Perhaps it is forward thinking?

To Chris' question: To gross $45K a year you need to be paid about $22 and hour over a 40 hour work week. The employer's cost to pay $22 an hour is closer to $26 an hour. Add benefits and the amount inches towards $30. This would present some very significant challenges to remain a sustainable option. I'd venture that a collective of baristas who are all employee/owners would be a potential solution to the $45K question. Also, massive volume at a slightly higher price point may be a foundation.

I agree that you should charge for an amazing cup! Unfortunately Wine has had a longer history of educating the market. Anti-patterns for education has been the commercial (grocery store) coffee market that caused their own decline by adding cheap robusta to their blends (probably where the term bean counter came from) which resulted in the public turning to other beverages like soda. Starbucks is another anti-pattern where they over roast and then put an expiration date of 1 year on the bag.

Baby steps, educate the consumer one customer at a time!

Sometimes I brainstorm about $12 caps & lattes and $5 espresso & coffee. With the right real estate, and products like some of your customers' (and perhaps add a little "Food Network" flare), I think it would work well. Compare to walking out of Cold Stone after dropping $7, or $13 on a few pieces of sushi. The level some people take it to is very worthy of elite pricing. In turn, there are baristas that should be paid serious, professional wages for the skills they bring to the market. What would the net price affect be if a shop had a handful of baristas taking home $45K?

Nice read Mike. Very cool and nothing to be ashamed about. Congrats to you and your team.

Here here! I am always very skeptical of any roasting company that claims to 'use fair trade practices' or 'organic methods', yet there is no certification for either. If I personally know the roaster, then it's a different story, but for the purposes of allowing their customers to make an informed decision then I think the certifications let the consumer know there is at least a certain level of these practices actually taking place. Certification is certainly not the end all and be all, but it is a start. Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Mike.
A related phenomenon is demonstrated here: If a marketing team chooses to tell you something, it's probably not entirely true. One of my favorite things about Cuvee is your *cool* demeanor in regard to these topics. Getting to know people like Dan and Clancy reveals the truths, and you've enabled and empowered them to communicate your business in a very real way, without need for a marketing "engine".

Your company and coffee speak to through the quality people and quality cup. We notice, and thank you.

queria te dizer que tive o maior prazer de te conhecer e dizer que voce e uma pessoa muito gente boa mesmo nao conseguindo nos comunicar hahahahaha
e queria agradecer tambem a homenagem que voce me fez muito obrigado ....
abraços..

they did... along with Straw, hay, medicinal, astringency, intense bitterness...

I wish I had a picture of our faces as we were drinking it.

Mmmmmm...I bet that quaker shot was delish! I'm guessing the tasting notes mentioned roasted peanuts and cardboard?

haha you guys are too much!

Nicholas, we are working on a few things to address this issue. They mostly have to do with the coffee's we are buying, but more on that soon enough! We still have a few details to work out before we are ready to go to press.

So... Are you going to get an industrial quaker sorter to sift your roasted beans? I was thinking about that some time ago... they already have devices that process harvested cranberries to get rid of the green ones. The same technique could be used to eliminate quakers!

So now I can rest easy when I feel crazy for picking them out on the way into the grinder!