The recipe will serve 8-12 people with refills.

1-pint Organic Valley heavy Cream

1/4 cup Wholesome Sweeteners Powdered Sugar

1 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey

1/2 pound of Fidalgo Bay’s Organic French Roast ground coarse from French Press

Chill mixing bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes

Pour heavy cream into frozen mixing bowl

Add powdered sugar

Whisk by hand until cream becomes slightly thick, then start adding the Jameson. Keep whipping while pouring in more and more and more Irish whiskey.

French Press: We recommend an 8-cup Bodem Pot made with 1/3-measuring cup of ground coffee and filled about 1-inch from the top with 205° water, stir well, put the top on, steep 4-minutes and press. Each pot yields about 4 regular mugs with room for Irish Cream topping.

Serve: Pour coffee in the mug leaving room to top with a dollop or two of Irish Cream.

If you haven’t already, expect to see some changes in the Fidalgo Bay Coffee cups soon, both in the cups themselves and to the design.   First, let’s talk about the cups.  We are switching from Solo to a product from International Paper (IP).  Virtually identical in structure, size and technical specification, the difference is in the lids and sip design.  We love the traveler lid from IP and have noticed that Starbucks has been successful with it as well.  The good news is, both manufacturers’ cups and lids are interchangeable.

The bigger, more noticeable change is to the design.   A serious departure from our current black and tan cup, the redesign incorporates our new logo as well as a unique branding opportunity for individual clients.  The new Fidalgo Bay design features a solid white background, inspirational quotes, and our logo in chocolate brown ink.  More prone to showing smudges and stains, yes, but also creating a space for baristas to write drink orders and customer names.  For the first time, cafe managers and owners also have a chance to put their mark on the cup as well.  As part of our transition to the new design, Fidalgo Bay Coffee will provide a customized ink hand-stamp on request.    We hope it conveys Fidalgo Bay’s small-coffee, independent look and feel, and celebrates the individuality of our wholesale clients.

We offer this service as a value added program to our cherished clients.

Consider it a blank canvas for your own inspiration. 

Our company was a sponsor at the 2010 Relay for Life in Anacortes last weekend. We were helping the walkers raise money for The American Cancer Society. We think that is a great cause to support. For this event we featured our custom-made Hario Brew Bar. Using the Hario is simple and yet allows for a vast spectrum of brew extraction and flavor profile.  We also made Iced Toddy Lattes which were popular despite our Fall weather this June. Our milk was from local Golden Glen Creamery. We had 2% and straight cream. The milk quality went very well with the coffees which were our single origin Peru (Café Selvanica), our dark blend named Seacoast Blend, and our popular Nature’s Crest Organic Decaf Blend. The collaborative team work was a plus, as this is a 24 hour event.

Tips & Trends for the Fidalgo Bay client community…

Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs can be double edged swords–but don’t let that stop you from using these tools. Following is a famous story on that:  Being social means having to say ‘sorry’ By Gini Dietrich

Domino’s crisis communication would have been nearly perfect…but for the 24-hour delay.

Emerging technologies in social media are traveling at the speed of light.

Anyone can upload photos, send messages, record videos, and post blogs within seconds and without supervision. As our culture tries to keep up and manage the Internet’s unlimited freedoms, many companies are left waiting and hoping nothing happens to their brands. We call this the ostrich strategy—stick your head in the sand and no one will say anything negative about your brand. …

People have been asking me about the term third wave. I know about the term and have been hearing it more and more. I would add that Vivace has credit due since they have pushing the limits of coffee geek possibilities since the 80’s.

Like punk and new wave blur lines in music–so does third wave to me with coffee.  Third waver baristas bring something fresh to coffee that wasn’t quite there before.

My story comes from The Mission district in San Francisco when I was on tour with my band a couple years ago. The club that we were booked at was across the street from Ritual Coffee House. They listed a drink on their special board called The Gibraltar. I asked why they called it that and the barista said, “I don’t know –I think something to do with the size of the glass”. I ordered it—loved it—and then it hit me that the glass was a Libbey Gibraltar—the same glass that  roasters, like the guy I work with named Nathan, use in their cupping labs. Most of the coffee importers, brokers, and grower’s co-op cuppers use little ceramic 7-1/2-oz soup cups.  But I’ve noticed that most of the US roasters like the 5-1/2-oz glass cups. In fact Espresso Supply calls that glass the new standard for single origins.

Here is a description of the drink:

THE GIBRALTAR

(served in a Libbey – 5-1/2 oz. Rocks Glass (Gibraltar) – #1524)

Pull two shots directly into the glass. Put the glass up to your nose and sniff the espresso to determine if it meets your high standards. Pour in wet latte milk. Not too foamy—but nice latte art milk. Serve. That’s it. You could (while removing your standard issue vintage eyeware and making a third wave barista cringe) serve this in an 8-oz short “to-go” paper hot cup but only pour it 3/4 full.

There are plenty of coffee people drinking this style of latte. But I really love the romance of drinking it in a glass (cup) that is such a familiar sight in the cupping room.

The glass can be purchased through any foodservice supply company, but I would recommend Espresso Supply:  www.espressosupply.com They list it as: 5.5 ounce Cupping Glass Code: 09145

This picture is from our Account Executive, Joe, who has a green thumb. Joe has coaxed some beautiful flowers from his coffee tree that he is growing in his house in Anacortes, Washington.

Betsy and I, along with 6 other friends/family, made the drive out to Red Mountain (Washington wine country) near the Tri-Cities last weekend. We were there to visit Col Solare, Kestrel and Kiona Vinyards. We stayed at a friend’s house on Red Mountain and had a great time jogging through the vineyards on Red Mountain, making breakfast, coffee and of course wine tasting. At Kestrel Vintners we tasted coffee and wine. We made Nature’s Crest Organic French Roast and Seacoast Blend. Both coffees were full bodied and dark. Great after the Panini sandwiches and their late harvest ice wine. Seacoast continues to get rave reviews from my friends, but Nature’s Crest Organic French Roast had the most favor with the Kestrel culinary staff who seemed to go for the darker smokey profile of that coffee. With Saturday’s breakfast we made Café Selvanica. This is our boutique coffee at Fidalgo Bay. It is 100% organic, single origin, Peruvian coffee. We roast it 2-ways (light and dark) and then blend it post roast. I brewed the coffee in my 8-cup French press with spring water. We did need to make a run to the local grocery store to buy spring water, as the water at the house smelled like bad yogurt.

Overall I was very pleased with the three coffees that I brought along on this trip.

By the end of the weekend I had my parings complete: Café Selvanica with the Kiona Sangiovese, Seacoast Blend paring with the 2006 Col Solare, and Nature’s Crest Organic French Roast with the Kestrel Winemaker’s Select Cabernet Franc.

Click here to go to the Fidalgo Bay Coffee selections site.

-Darryl

Chocolate Mocha Mousse

Recipe written and developed by Fidalgo Bay’s Sales VP, Darryl Miller

I used to be a chef in this little French restaurant in Woodinville, Washington. I used to make the chocolate mousse every morning—along with the dinner rolls and other prep. I used to like to add different flavors to the mousse like cognac and port, but my favorite flavor to add was fresh brewed coffee. I’ve tried other chocolates, but Callebaut is the brand that I, and most chefs, prefer. They have it at PCC Fremont and in the bulk foods department Central Market Shoreline.  PCC also has our Fidalgo Bay Organic French Roast. That is the coffee that I highly recommend for this recipe.

Here’s my recipe paired down and tested at home-user quantity.

Ingredients:

½ cup of fresh coarse ground coffee

½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons of boiling water

4-oz, plus a nice 2-oz chunk for garnish, of Callebaut Belgian Bittersweet Chocolate

½ cup cream

1 plus 2 tablespoons of sugar

2 egg whites

Equipment:

Kitchen scale

Measuring cup and a tablespoon

Tea kettle

French press coffee maker

2 mixing bowls (preferably a copper mixing bowl for the egg whites)

Small heavy wire whisk

Medium light whip/whisk

Medium rubber food scraper/spatula

Medium sauce pan for double boiler set up  to melt chocolate

Process:

1. COFFEE EXTRACT: Grind ½ cup of fresh coarse ground coffee, boil water and then make French press coffee concentrate using 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Allow the coffee to steep for 6 minutes before pressing. This will just be a very small amount of coffee extract that you are making.
2. CHOCOLATE MOCHA SAUCE: Set up a double boiler with a copper or stainless mixing bowl over medium low heat. Add the chocolate and the coffee extract to the bowl and allow to melt slightly before stirring with the heavy sauce whisk. Stir until completely melted and as it becomes thick remove the bowl from the heat and then add 2 tablespoons of cold filtered water and whisk until smooth and glossy. You may need to add a few drops of water if the sauce is too thick. Keep stirring, as this process “tempers” the chocolate into a smooth gorgeous sauce that is a perfect ice cream topping as is. Set aside—not on the double boiler, but do not chill either. Just keep slightly warm about 100 degrees (body temperature).
3. WHIPPED CREAM: In chilled copper bowl, using your medium fat sauce whip, whip your ½ cup of cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar until it is soft and peaky. Do not over whip or it will be chunky. Do not use an electric mixer. Do this my hand—you are making a classical French dessert and you are not allowed to cheat. Transfer the whipped cream to a small bowl and refrigerate.  Clean the copper bowl, rinse with cold water and dry.
4. WHIPPED EGG WHITES: Add two egg whites to copper bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar. Whip until firm and peaky.
5. DOUBLE FOLD TECHNIQUE: Grab your bowl of warm chocolate, if the chocolate is below 100 degrees; put it back on the double boiler for a few moments to regain glossy sheen. 100 degrees is an easy temperature to detect. You just need to feel it and if it feels warm—you are at about 100 degrees. That is because your body temperature is 98.6. Things start feeling warm at 100. Add about 2 tablespoons of egg whites to the chocolate and fold vigorously until completely mixed. Now, fold that chocolate mixture back into the bowl of egg whites and then fold gently—does not need to be completely mixed. Now, add the chilled whipped cream to the mousse and fold gently until it is mixed well.
6. PORTIONING: Using a #1 scoop (or a spoon) dose three scoops into 4 large martini glasses. Garnish with shaved chocolate and 1 little coffee bean. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  It is best served after 2-hours of refrigeration and is good for 2 days in the refrigerator.

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