Being from the Midwest, folks here are not known for their addictive “coffee lifestyle” like Seattle, Portland, or Silicon Valley. However, I thought I’d share with you a great episode of Wisconsin Foodie talking about the coffee culture of Wisconsin.
Be sure to watch further in the show near the end for a great tutorial on making espresso!
Click the image below to view the show at Wisconsin Foodie! Enjoy!
It’s time for a fun little roundup of what’s happening in my coffee and tarot world! I’ve missed you all after a fun and busy holiday!
First, Santa was soooo good to me! I got a new Keurig Mini coffee maker!! For those of you not familiar with the Keurig system, I’ll just say this. I think it could put crack dealers out of business with it’s easy K-cup goodness!
And I have to say this – yes, you’ll hear this from me - CARIBOU COFFEE gets my vote for the BEST K-cup blends!! Their Daybreak and Caribou Blend k-cups are the best. My 2nd favorite is the Donut Shop brand, and Starbucks comes in third. Sorry Starbucks, but I know you’ll get better as you came into the K-cup arena late.
Also, I want to send out my sincere congratulations to Angelo Nasios who was selected as this year’s Tarosophist of the Year by Tarot Professionals. Angelo is a young rising star in the Tarot world, and you all should get a reading from him! He’s got an awesome blog and a dazzling YouTube channel. He’s doing everything right in the new social media experts space!
Congratulations Angelo!
A few days ago while doing some holiday shopping, my partner and I stopped at The Depot Coffeehouse in Hopkins, MN. I had been looking for a fun and local coffee haunt somewhere in the southwest metro area of the twin cities since our move, and I have to tell you. I was just impressed!
Not only was the coffee out of this world – with very unique drink names, but it’s actually housed in an old train depot, right next to a well used bike trail! Then I saw the solar panels on the roof of the building as I left! OMG! Coffee, Bike Trails, and Solar Panels! A dream for me come true!
But that wasn’t all… Continue reading
Have you been noticing all the awesome rewards and gifts this holiday season at nearly every coffee shop imaginable this holiday season?
OF COURSE YOU HAVEN’T!!
If you’ve been looking, you’ve probably only noticed ONE major retail coffee chain doing their best this holiday season. Yes, that would be Starbucks.
From the moment they released their annual Starbucks Christmas Blend brewed coffee, many of their partners (employees) donned their signature red aprons. Red holiday cups graced every drink, and every Starbucks started giving out free samples! They’re in the spirit!
Not only does Starbucks seem to have the ONLY lasting rewards program for it’s customers, but their website is spreading good cheer as well. A free holiday app, a 12 Days of Gifting promotion, holiday themed eCards, and a “toys in every store” mentality (you’ll see gift boxes of goodies you can pickup in almost every store) has Starbucks poised to spread the most Christmas Cheer of all this holiday season.
Looking ahead to January, it might do other coffee chains well to at least TRY to lure folks in their spaces for the holidays, considering that January is traditionally a very slow and sorry month for coffee shops in general across the industry.
Check out the websites for some competing greats such as Caribou Coffee, Dunn Brothers, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Gloria Jeans. You’ll see why Starbucks is very “Ho! Ho! Ho!” and the rest are just “Ho Hum!”
I’m sure Santa’s really busy right now, but I think he’d agree that you wouldn’t have to check this list twice with these results:
Caribou Coffee – Naughty
No holiday web campaign rather than Reindeer Blend, and no rewards program. Rudolph is turning up his nose!
Dunn Brother’s Coffee – Naughty
Only doing holiday drinks (you have to scroll down their website to find this!), and no rewards program since the end of 2010. Where’s the good cheer, Brothers and Sisters?
Dunkin’ Donuts - Naughty
Rewards program ending December 31 and no holiday promotion other than a gift card with a holiday picture. Bad Santa. No Donut.
Gloria Jean’s – Naughty
Only holiday beans for home – without the holiday cheer and humbug website. No rewards program. NOT Glorious at all.
Way to go Starbucks! You’re on my Christmas List indeed!
Greetings my caffeinated ones! I’m sure all of you are asking, “What happened!? Where’s my favorite Tarot for Coffee Blog gone in my RSS reader?” Believe me, I should know that stale blogs are as bad as stale coffee.. blech! My sincere apologies, but now I’m back!
Today’s Reading tells you what I’ve been up to, and my latest daydreamings!
I was in line at Caribou Coffee on the corner of 12th Street and Nicollet Avenue on Sept. 22, when the manager told the person in front of me:
“You just received the last Pumpkin Latte of the year.”
I then asked him if he was serious! Indeed, they were completely sold out, and they weren’t receiving any more until NEXT YEAR. What’s more, it turns out that he told others that 11 locations in Minneapolis were sold out of Pumpkin for the season as well!
Caribou! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! BEFORE OCTOBER?? BEFORE HALLOWEEN? What’s going on here?
I’m concerned that as a business, Caribou is really messing up! Today they get The Hanged Man card! Aside from the Pumpkin supply-line issue, here are some other reasons I think that Caribou Coffee is declining.
It doesn’t take a fortune teller to see this business declining.
*Note: As of today, Caribou Coffee has continually deleted my posts wanting to know more about the “Great Pumpkin Shortage” from their Facebook wall.
The Tower Card. It symbolizes the building up of a person, idea, or institution so high that it is bound to fall and collapse under it’s own weight. Today’s tower card is a cautionary tale to the “Local Coffee Shop Only” mentality.
If you’ve been following me on Foursquare or maybe if you’ve seen my reviews on Yelp, you might be seeing a trend. More and more I’m attending Starbucks or Caribou coffee shops instead of smaller local stores.
*GASP* “What’s the reason this hippie-liberal-coffee-loving-guy is steering away from local shops?”
I’ll tell you why. I’m seeing a trend of a simple LACK of customer service at many local coffee shops.
It’s a sad occasion really, because I used to shun Starbucks “back in the day” with all the other “down with corporate coffee” types. Since then however, Starbucks has upped their commitment to fair trade coffee, they STILL offer part-time employees health care and stock option benefits, and their “partners” (employees) can easily transfer from store to store now.
Call me an older fuddy-duddy, but there are a few things I can count on with the chains that are hit and miss with a lot of independents.
The one thing that burns my biscotti more than anything is the “Rush to clean hours before closing” that happens in local coffee shops. You know this drill (and this actually happened to me recently!). Your local coffeehouse closes at 1am, but come midnight you see the ONE employee running around, putting chairs on top of tables, mopping, taking away your cups and saucers without even asking, or even a “How’s your night going?” at all.
Most recently I witnessed a barista playing this chair-domino game, then as she mopped with her back turned to everyone in the shop, she yelled at the top of her lungs:
“We close in 30 minutes!!”
Umm… WTF? Really, this kind of behavior belongs in a Dilbert cartoon – not in my comfy neighborhood coffee shop.
Pardon my jadedness here, but..
Yes, you’re unique, and yes, you have that great bad-ass-granola-hipster-thing going on, which isn’t all bad… BUT, we’re still your customers, and we can still take our money and laptops down the street to Starbucks.
Local shops – GET BETTER, ok!? Lose the attitude, and start treating us like your customer, not just cattle to clean up after or herd out the door.
Well, this one is definitely appropriate for me at this time in life. Normally I like to keep these readings on the lighter side, but I thought I’d let you all in on a few aspects of my personal life right now. The cards don’t lie – so I’m called to do the reading!
Home is up in the air! My partner and I seem to be magnets lately for strange occurrances and close calls with safety in our neighborhood. Maybe it’s the economy, a small swell in crime closeby, or maybe our neighborhood is changing, but we’re thinking of *gasp* moving to a suburb in the future. It doesn’t take a lot of these incidents to shake one’s foundations. Maybe you can relate. Many apologies to my caffeinated friends for being absent this week from giving you my weekly reading. I think this reading will set me back on track!
Card 1 – The action not to take – The Shaman
The Shaman is the master of outward magic, ritual, intuition, and showmanship. He or she is the outward manifestation of all things psychic, spiritual, community healing, and community ritual. The Shaman’s skills are honed and can shake his/her rattle and conjure a spirit or chase away illnesses and demons. With this card as the front “action not to take”, I’m guided to believe that this is not a time to be self-righteous or create a ritual storm for healing. I need to stay in this place and grieve, feel what I’m feeling, and not think that a swift action of healing or banishment will solve my problem.
Card 2 – The situation at hand – The Seer
Positioned directly opposite the wheel from The Shaman, The Seer peers into the pool of wisdom and is the master of shadow, reflection, meditation, the unseen, the waters of grief, and the flow of emotions. Appropriately drawn after The Shaman, The Seer tells me exactly where I am – full of emotion, grieving, dealing with shadows. Unconcerned with “fixing” the situation, The Seer looks for the deep learning along the paths of the whole journey – not just the situation. It’s the truth I’m standing in, and I shouldn’t just deny it or “shake my rattle” to swiftly heal it.
Card 3 – Future Possibilities – Ten of Stones – Home
A card to depict the deepest desires of what I want – a home that is stable and prosperous that provides comfort, shelter, safety, and a deeply growing refuge of tranquility and creativity. Being right next to The Seer, if there is a new home in the future (glad we’re renting!), it should come from a position of strength and deep reflection, and creative intention. We have the advantage of time before we want to move on, so now is the time to reflect and set genuine intentions on a more permanent home with all of the things that feed us. A stable and prosperous home doesn’t come from a desperate shake of The Shaman’s rattle, or a magic potion, but after deep deep reflection on the whole journey.
I’ll admit, that I fall prey to some “fantasy crushes” on baristas. They give me my yummy coffee and smile at me and learn my name and then they give me more coffee and… Well, you get the picture.
Here’s a great video from Dear Prudence on just what to do if you have a burning crush on your local barista!
I thought I’d do something fun here while I’m buzzing on coffee, and make some Tarot for Coffee “Mug Shot Cards” (that’s what I’m calling them anyway for now)!
You never know who or what might appear in a Tarot for Coffee tarot card in the future! If you have fun coffee pictures you want shared on Tarot for Cofee, send them in!
Here is a mug-shot (pun intended) of me and my partner, Michael at a coffee shop we used to frequent in 2007-2008.
Who can guess where we are with this shiny blue signature cup in a sleepy little college town?
A free 3-card email reading awaits the first correct answer in the comments section!!
Many thanks to Brett Engle, designer at www.spiritualanimal.com for the card design!
