As 2014 winds to a close, Red Whale Coffee reflects on our growth, opportunities, and friendships that were realized this year. Red Whale Coffee is as much about the people as it is about the coffee; it wouldn’t be Red Whale without all of the wonderful people who contribute to our coffee community!
There are so many, but to thank you all would create a list lasting days, so we will keep it short and name just a few! Thank you all for supporting us and brightening us with your ways!
Special thanks to Steve and Andy who meet here to stay sane and connected during their work days,
Tom, Linda, Chuck, Debra and “Miguel the Mayor”,
Ben, who drives a big white truck,
Cheerful Larry and of course, Craig and all their friends from the County,
Ben, Adam, Angie and Shirley from Kaiser next door,
We can’t forget Mike, Peter and Dr. Matthew Egan,
Marci or Daphne
Great neighbors continue in Warm Things, California Printed of Marin, TLC and Graf!
All of our friends at the YWCA who give us reasons to smile with their every visit,
TRI Studio with Rick’s calm and chill demeanor, including all of the colorful people he brings in with him
Pelo and Star Academy; for all the coffee lovers that work there
Luke with his marketing team and Joe with his never-ending web development support….
Lillian, Sunshine Designs, Sammy Hagar and his guitarist, Vick too!
Where would we be without our coffee producers?
Remembering them for all their hard work in producing quality products, we are especially grateful to Yoddoi Thailand Coffee, Nayarita Coffee, Santa Felisa, and Elida Estate, to name just a few.
We are truly blessed and happy to have all of you as part of the Red Whale Coffee Family! We look forward to and can't wait to see what next year brings! THANK YOU!
Written by: Caitlyn Prien
On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
A Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Three fresh made pastries,
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the fourth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Four insulating travel mugs
Three fresh made pastries,
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries,
Two bags of beans
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Six Baratzas a'grinding
Five glass Chemex
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries,
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the eighth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Eight Melitta cones a'brewing,
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries,
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the ninth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Nine latte bowls brimming,
Eight Melitta cones a'brewing,
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the tenth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Ten Red Whale hats a'capping
Nine latte bowls brimming,
Eight Melitta cones a'brewing,
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Eleven Aeropress pressing,
Ten Red Whale hats a'capping
Nine latte bowls brimming,
Eight Melitta cones a'brewing,
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Twelve Hario drippers dripping,
Eleven Aeropress pressing,
Ten Red Whale hats a'capping
Nine latte bowls brimming,
Eight Melitta cones a'brewing,
Seven soft sweatshirts a'warming,
Six Baratzas a'grinding,
Five glass Chemex,
Four insulating travel mugs,
Three fresh made pastries
Two bags of beans,
And a Red Whale mug, full of coffee
Happy Holidays from all of us at Red Whale Coffee!
Written by: Caitlyn Prien
Red Whale Coffee proudly offers two delicious decaf coffees, a Mexican Swiss Water Decaf and a Sumatra Swiss Water Decaf!
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How is the naturally occurring caffeine extracted from coffee you wonder? You may even ask yourself why some decaf coffees have no flavor while others are tasty? The answer is in the process method used to extract the caffeine from the bean.
All coffee is decaffeinated using water to wash the caffeine from the bean. The end result taste differences come from the process that also extract the oils and flavor complexity compounds from the bean during decaffeination.
http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/how-to-make-decaf-coffee
The Different Methods
The Indirect Solvent Based Decaffeination Process is popularly termed the “European Method” and requires boiling green coffee for hours to extract the caffeine. The beans are soaked in chemicals like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, which bond to the caffeine for easy extraction. The beans are then heated, burning off the chemically bonded caffeine. The process continues by soaking the bean again in the original liquid to recollect the flavor compounds and oils striped from the bean in the first step of the process.
The Direct-Solvent Based Process is often referred to as the Natural Decaffeination Method or the Ethyl Acetate Method. This process starts by steaming the beans rather than boiling them. The bean pores open and are washed for approximately ten hours with Ethyl Acetate, a compound found naturally in fruit. The caffeine adheres to the Ethyl Acetate and is then separated from the bean. The beans are steamed again as the final step in ridding any residual caffeine bonded to the Ethyl Acetate.
The Carbon Dioxide Method (CO2) is often used for commercial grade coffee because large quantities can be processed at a low cost. In this process, a liquid form of CO2 is mixed with water soaked green beans. Unlike the ethyl acetate or methylene chloride, CO2 only bonds with caffeine, leaving the flavor compounds and oils in the coffee. Once the caffeine has been extracted, the CO2 (now laden with caffeine) is pressurized back to a gaseous state, separating the caffeine from the gas which then allows the CO2 to be reused in repeated decaffeination processes.
The Swiss Water Process, the only decaffeination process sourced by Red Whale Coffee, is the only process that does not use chemicals to extract caffeine from the beans. The Swiss Water Decaffeination Process soaks the bean in near boiling water, extracting the caffeine and while leaving the flavor in the coffee. The caffeinated water is then filtered through a charcoal filter that catches the large caffeine molecules and allows the smaller flavor molecules to remain in the water. This process, referred to as the "Green Coffee Extract", allows the water to retain its natural flavors without the caffeine. The final process of returning the flavor to the bean, which is used in all other decaffeination methods, is not needed in this method. The Swiss Water Process is also, the only process recognized as environmentally friendly, sustainable and approved for organic coffee beans.
Familiarizing yourself with the different processes for decaffeination is helpful when choosing your beans. The different processes have varying successes in keeping the robust flavor of the coffee bean without the naturally occurring caffeine.
We invite you to come see us at Red Whale Coffee to try our new Sumatra Swiss Water Decaf! Now that you know the process you can taste the result!
Written by: Caitlyn Prien
http://quotes.lol-rofl.com/christmas-coffee-art/
The holidays are approaching, with the hustle and bustle that coincides it’s easy to lose track of what goes on in the rest of the world. Although there are no specific holiday rituals associated with the coffee communities where we get our beans, there are richly diverse cultures that celebrate the holidays in different ways. As a fun perspective and to distract you from your impending holiday obligations, here are a few cultural holiday traditions from the countries where we source our coffee.
In Panama, Christmas is a favorite holiday. There are many month long festivities, turning Christmas into a festival for the community rather than just a family oriented celebration. Two weeks into December, a Christmas Parade takes over Panama City. The children from lower income families are invited into the middle of the festivities so that they can be embraced by the celebration. The costumes are elaborate, where women wear polleras, beautiful dresses, complimented with hairpieces (or tembleques) and other jewelry.
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Other parts of the celebration include Christmas tree lightings on the beach followed later in the evening with boat parades featuring ships ornamented with Christmas lights and decorations.
Las Posada is held the nine days leading up to Christmas. Small neighborhoods host parties at their houses to replay the search Mary and Joseph went through to find shelter. They parade around the neighborhood and at the final house they are welcomed and a party is held there. On Christmas Eve at midnight, a beautiful fireworks display is set off to announce Christmas. A nighttime feast commences with dancing and celebrating all throughout the streets of Panama City.
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In Guatemala, holidays are celebrated frequently in small villages with fireworks, traditional dance, and El Boj, a potent drink made from sugar cane, also known as White Lightning. Guatemala has a mixture of different cultural influences, from different regions, ethnic and cultural groups who all celebrate the holidays a little differently. For instance, the Garifuna people from the eastern coast of Guatemala whose traditions are strongly influenced by Caribbean cultures; celebrate with a Guatemalan Carnival. These unique carnivals are celebrated from Christmas until New Years and the Garifuna people lead the celebration with their dance and music.
Guatemalans participate in many other Holiday celebrations and they all have the native music, dance and traditional dress in common. While there are many kinds of traditional festivities around Christmas, there is a centralized celebration for New Year's Day. It is tradition that on the first day of the year, Guatemalan people wear new clothes believing it will bring luck for the upcoming New Year.
Ethiopia celebrates a variety of different holidays; most of them are based on Christian or Muslim traditions.
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Christmas is called Ledet, which is celebrated after fasting for 43 days during Advent, or Tsome Gahad. Christmas is celebrated with a procession that starts at 6 AM and lasts until 9AM. A Christmas Mass is held, and then the families come together to break the fast of Tsome Gahad.
In bigger Ethiopian cities holiday celebrations consist of horse races and folk dances. Often times, people come together to play a hockey like game called Yegena Chewata, played with a ball and stick. As the legend goes, this game started when the shepherds hearing of the birth of Jesus, jumped about excitedly throwing objects into the air while batting them with sticks. This game is now widely played on Christmas.
These are just a few holiday traditions celebrated in the countries where we get our coffee. There are many diverse traditions, all as rich as our coffee from all around the world. When setting up your holiday list, visit us online www.redwhalecoffee.com or stop by Red Whale Coffee in San Rafael, to pick up a bag to stuff in a stocking or to serve with friends and family!
Written by: Caitlyn Prien
