Fall of 2016 we introduced a 20 oz 18/8 steel, double wall tumbler and this included laser engraving on the side with your logo and wording. It wasn't long before many groups ordered more.

Now for 2017 there are two additional tumbler sizes, making three sizes available. A 10 oz, 20 oz, and 30 oz size round out the offering! The laser engraving is very elegant and will not wear off like a silk-screened image. The durability and performance of these tumblers is remarkable. The price is competitive to retail while you still earn excellent profit dollar results!

Many think of this tumbler as an excellent vessel to keep hot beverages longer in cold weather. True. Now that we are coming upon spring and summer, it also keeps ice and cold beverages longer in hot weather! How refreshing! And, for 2017 it is getting a slightly reworked clear lid with a slide-shut that is even better than before.

Remember, with us there is no additional charge for the logo engraving (other than a possible one-time setup fee) and no shipping charges (with easy minimums). Your supporters will receive better than retail pricing and quality (compared to like quality) and many groups are selling more of these than they expected, and earning record profits! To preserve current pricing, please contact us now for more info and to get started!

   It has been an incredible Fall (2016) season for fundraising and for weather. Due to some reorganizational issues, it was a late start in working on fundrising for Fall 2016. As usual, the time alwasy goes so fast, particularly when one is super busy.

   I remember thinking in February and March of this year that "I know how this will go: the year seems half over already, and soon, we'll be at the end of the Fall season and wonder where the time went!"  Of course, I've been "here" before!

   Yet this Fall it was a bit different. With such mild weather for our part of the country (upper Midwest) lasting until near Thanksgiving time, it seemed as if summer and early Fall lingered, giving us the perception of more time, yet. And now, just about one week from Christmas here we are with -22 F this morning and about 10 inches of total snow on the ground (when just a few weeks ago it was 50's and no snow).

   It is not unprecedented to have sub zero weather this time of year, but it is not the norm. In only 2-3 days the forecast is for "30's" for highs (again), and some are already saying that "30 will feel good!".

   And this is the annual perspective. In Fall, 30 is "cold". In late winter (or in bouts of mid-winter warmups) 30 is "moderate" (at least)!  30-40 degrees in Fall feels "brutal".  30-40 degrees in late winter and spring feels positively optimistic!  And thus, so much of life is perspective.

   With gratitude for being of service this year, please enjoy the Christmas - holiday - New Year season with warmth, gratitude, companionship, optimism, and certitude!

Summer break between school "years" both K-12 and collegiate is an American tradition. Family vacations, summer jobs and more will produce today what will become future memories of "those days".

And how times change! When I was a kid in the 60's and early 70's, our back yard, the lake cabin, and nearby fields and woods were the "world" and held untold mystery and discovery. Nowadays the kids are buried in their smartphones and Pokemon Go is the discovery outdoors.

And how things have changed through the decades. One way we see this is in a cut from the movie "Dirty Dancing" (1987, Patrick Swaye, Jennifer Gray, Jerry Orbach...) where Jack Weston's character "Max Kellerman" (the guy who orchestrates things for the resort) is talking about how things are changing and says (this may not be an exact quote, but very close) at the final presentation, song and dance: "..through the war years when we didn't have any meat and the depression when we didn't have anything...it's not the changes so much it's that things seem to be ending. You'd think kids would want to come here with their parents and take foxtrot lessons...it feels like it's all slipping away."

One thing that hasn't changed is that summer seems to fly by too fast! (For most people.) One of the telltale signs are the variety of stores that shortly after summer break starts, already have "back to school" sections pop up. I was thinking of posting this at least a few weeks ago and now we are at the end of July and depending on where you are we are just about only a month from school start again. Back to school items have been out for at least a few weeks in many places so it seems we can't get too far into summer break and the reminders and resources for "back to school" remind us it is just "around the corner" again!
 
There is an interesting website on "back to school" at URL:  http://www.verybestquotes.com/50-back-to-school-quotes/ and one quote is: "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school." - Albert Einstein  There are many interesting thoughts and perspectives on this site.

Summer vacation has always held a dear spot in my heart and memories from the old kids telling us there were "dinosaur bones" at the nearby field (which we searched in vain for weeks...) to going to relatives out of state and scouring fields for what they swore were gold deposits (only to find it was pyrite "fools gold"...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrite). Even the movie "Stand By Me" (1986) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/?ref_=nv_sr_1 has strong remnants of the type of childhood I had and it just is not going to be that way ever again (for most kids). In those days, summer vacation itself was the most educational "field trip" (if I may)!
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We truly hope you enjoy the rest of your summer vacation. How it is spent by most people while different from years and decades past, remains an important part of our culture and provides opportunities and experiences for most that cannot be replaced by just "book learning", even if the summer pursuits are different from years and decades past.
Pretty soon the frenzy of preparations for and the start of the new school year 2016/17 begins. Would it not be terrific if your fundraising plans were set so you so you wouldn't have to worry about that and can concentrate on getting the academic year underway without distraction? We stand ready to be at your service!

Chill!

You know how it is. Give things enough time and they may change. Over the years, that was "bad for you", then it become good (or at least "ok"). In time, that may or may not become bad again but now something else is the correct way.

20 some years ago I was told by some I considered experts in the coffee business that freezing roasted coffee beans was the best. In time, that changed as condensation could degrade beans so it became keeping your beans in an air tight container at steady room temperature and definitely in a container that does not allow light to penetrate. (This may still be the best way to store beans, even if you "chill" them prior to grinding/brewing...)

Now, some research suggests chilling coffee beans prior to grinding and brewing your coffee is the best.

       "A recent study has coffee-lovers questioning everything they thought they knew about brewing a simple cup at home. The study, published in Scientific Reports and titled The Effect of Bean Origin and Temperature on Grinding Roasted Coffee, found that chilling coffee beans before grinding and brewing coffee results in a more flavorful cup."  http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/beverages/this-tip-from-scientists-will-make-you-question-everything-you-ever-knew-about-making-coffee/ar-AAh2Vdk?ocid=ansmsnfood11

If you like technical background to research such as this, here is an excerpt from and reference to a technical article on this:
"From an industrial perspective, the yield of extraction is paramount. Grinding colder coffee beans produces a more uniform particle distribution, with a decreased particle size. While the decreased particle size will tend to speed up extraction due to the larger surface area, the increased uniformity should minimise the amount of wasted bean, which is discarded without being extracted to completion. Whilst active cooling of either the coffee beans or burrs is energy consuming, the benefit of cold coffee grinding may offset this cost with more efficient extraction from the smaller particles."   Uman, E. et al. The effect of bean origin and temperature on grinding roasted coffee. Sci. Rep. 6, 24483; doi: 10.1038/srep24483 (2016).  Found directly at URL:  http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24483/

Before you "chill" with a cup of coffee, perhaps it's time to chill the beans before brewing?

Enjoy!

Being a child of the 60's and my dad a Korean War Vet, I had the sincere privilege of knowing many, many WWII and Koren Vets.  This was aided in large part, because I was interested in the history, and also a cadet in Civil Air Patrol in high school, tracking toward going into the Air Force.  As a kid, we also had neighbors from Germany who themselves were kids during the war.  This provided rich first hand perspective, and in time, some of our family and others who have now left us, did not do so before saying they wanted me to carry on the true message of their sacrifices to future generations so we would honor them by maintaining the traditions and disciplines needed to maintain a free society.

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the U.S. and its World War II allies landing on Normandy beaches in 1944. It was a day of great sacrifice and patriotism by our soldiers and the allies.

The invasion - code named "Operation Overlord" at the time - is better known as "D-Day".  Many think the D in D-Day refers to "Decision" or "Deliverance" or even "Designated" - but the truth is actually a bit more mundane.

Over the years, the use of the term "D-Day" has been applied to many different combat operations. In reality, the D exists as a stand-in or placeholder variable for the actual date of the operation. This is valuable in planning for a campaign where the actual date is not finalized. For instance, you could state in the plan that on date "D-1" or "D+7" such and such a thing would happen.

That's the real story of the D in D-Day.

Happy Memorial Day 2016 (originally called “Decoration Day” from the Civil War)

Coffee is quite a substance.  We know that a majority of adults consume coffee regularly and that the majority of this population prefers specialty coffee (in recent years). Coffee is said to be the second largest commodity in the world, second only to oil!

What would happen if we had an interruption in our supply of expected coffee?

During WWII there was an interruption of coffee in the U.S.  Rationing began on Nov 29, 1942       (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/coffee-rationing-begins)

During the war, Germany had “ersatz coffee”, or “fake” coffee and many in Europe had “faux” coffee.

Erzatz Coffee and Sophie Scholl, a German Resister of The War.

   Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426578/  (more details on her life and mission:  http://spartacus-educational.com/GERschollS.htm)

   We can see in the movie of this (you can see at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXtC08tWxqA) at 51:30 the scene starts with Sophie Scholl’s interrogation, and then at 1:02:02 coffee starts pouring (from the interrogator of Sophie, a cup of coffee) and at 1:02:30 we see in the subscripts, Sophie says: “This is real coffee?!”

Back to today – 2016 and beyond – great quality coffee is a “given”, for most people.  I remember a few decades and more ago that coffee was rising in price and people were “re-using their grounds” (I remember the very bad taste…) 

Now, in the past couple of decades we have enjoyed overwhelming popularity of specialty quality coffee. Hopefully we’ll never have shortages of coffee in the future.  For now, appreciate Memorial Day, appreciate what we have today, and appreciate excellent quality coffee!

Was coffee ever an "adults only" beverage?  In other words, was their ever a "coffee drinking age" (even if only "societal enforced")?

I"m not sure for certain, but it seems that was the case many, many years ago, at least in the main.

I was having a conversation recently with someone about how many things in our society today are quite different from when we were "kids" (the late 50's through mid 70's era to be specific).  It seems many things that were "taboo" then are "ok" now, and vice versa, as well as the age at which one could "acceptably" engage in certain things then and now.

I remember in the 60's and early 70's, never witnessing "kids" drink coffee.  It was just assumed it was an "adult" beverage.  That does not mean some kids did not enjoy coffee, but almost everyone I know from my era agrees, that in our day (as kids), kids did not drink coffee; it was considered an adult beverage.  In fact, as some recall to me now, that in those days, to drink coffee (as a kid), was to assume an air of sophistication and age far beyond which we had yet to attain.

I sipped my parents coffee at times as someone in the single digits or early double digits age-wise. Yuk!  Then, in high school, there were a couple kids as junior or senior grade students, would stop in the teachers lounge in the morning and come out to class with a cup of coffee.  Who did these kids think they were?!!  A kid walking the halls of high school in the mid 70's with coffee was very odd, at least in our region of the country.  Then, people would say about those fellow students drinking coffee (at least publicly) in high school: "oh, they think they're in college already!" (with some accusation)  It was assumed that in college - then - drinking coffee was part of the "rite" of passage into adulthood, even though we were not yet in college.

Fast forward 20 years (in the late 90's) and I was talking with a business consultant about kids drinking coffee and he expressed that he had chaperoned his daughters team out of state and they stopped at a coffee shop.  All the girls went up to the counter and said  "I'll take a latte schmatte ocha mocha this and that..." and he said to me that he was "bowled over" at the acumen and acclimation these high school girls had for coffee!  And, this now, really took him for a "loop", that the girls would be so into an "adult beverage" (coffee drinks in a coffee shop)!

In the mid 90's I tested coffee as a fundraiser.  By the early 2000's we were underway and at one point I had asked high school kids in a kick off assembly, how many drank coffee regularly.  About 20% raised their hands.  At the same time 10% in middle school and this seemed to surprise the teachers (at how many).  By the mid 2000's and beyond (2005-2010's) the number in high school who raised their hands to enjoying coffee regularly went way up to well over half and at least 1/3rd of middle school kids.  It is even higher today.

Coffee (tea and related beverages) are now the norm across such an age span, that it is nearly limitless to age (reasonably speaking - I do not think we are ready to put coffee in baby bottles...just yet).

If coffee ever was an "adults only" beverage, that day has long, long ago expired.

Enjoy!

Over the years I have read many sources suggesting more and more discovered health benefits of regular coffee consumption.  It intrigues me how information by both the public and "experts" (such as the medical field, etc.) has "evolved".

A doctor had once told me (about 20 years ago or so) that he was advising all of his patients to do what they can to get rid of that "nasty habit" of drinking coffee, and, he declared, decaf was "just as bad"!  Yikes!  Then, at a middle school fundraiser about 15 years ago a student was really pressing me about how I felt about "pushing drugs on kids" (via coffee).  This student's teacher intervened and was telling the kid to "move on", while apologizing to me.  I said I understand, and was not offended at the student's stand.  I was young once and remember some positions I had in my youth and young adulthood that are now different or refined with continual learning and new information.

Now, according to "Coffee May Protect Against Colorectal Cancer", MSN Health & Fitness:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/coffee-may-protect-against-colorectal-cancer/ar-BBrcXIK?ocid=ansmsnhealth11   "A study out of the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of Leck Medicine says drink up: coffee consumption decreases the risk of colorectal cancer."

This article also suggests that moderate consumption (just 2 to 2.5 cups a day) was associated with a 26 percent reduction in the odds of developing colorectal cancer.  It further suggests the benefit is even better with heavy coffee drinkers, and that caffeine did not matter, rather both regular and decaf were associated with decreased risk!  There is much more interesting information in this article.  Again, that link is:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/coffee-may-protect-against-colorectal-cancer/ar-BBrcXIK?ocid=ansmsnhealth11

The vast majority of adults around the world are regular coffee and tea consumers.  Thankfully, over the years, more and more research from around the world has continued to prove the health and wellness benefits of coffee, tea, and yes even chocolate! (more on that another time)

It is a frequent question:  Do you have K-Cups?

We do not, however it is easy to use a Keurig machine with your own coffee.  Simply get a "My K-Cup" or other personal filter for the Keurig and use your own grounds!

I have personally discovered that filling a "My K-Cup" filter with 2/3rd fine ground fresh coffee, then brewing the smallest size cup provides bursting flavor and aroma.  The key is trial and error with the fineness of the grounds. 

For example, taking Annick's Classic Blend (which I enjoy daily, and never tire of) in a bag that comes ground from the roaster, then put that in my grinder and grind for another 5 seconds to reduce it even a bit finer, provides for me, the best flavor in a My K-Cup.

On another note, if you like to press your coffee, which I also enjoy, order whole bean coffee, then grind to a consistency that is a bit more coarse than you'd use in a filter basket.  Some experts suggest that you should grind your coffee to the consistency of fine bread crumbs if you are going to press.

Therefore, take a bag of our pre-ground coffee, then grind a bit finer for My K-Cup, or use whole bean and grind a bit coarser than for a drip brewer if you'd like to press your coffee (French Press).

You may find your liking different and it is always up to your taste and preferences.

http://www.survivopedia.com/survival-homesteading-uses-for-coffee/?source=newsletter    Someone recently referred me to this URL

It is an article posted by Theresa Crouse who writes for this website, and while many consider "survival" type info resources to be "far out" wackos, actually FEMA recommends families prepare for long term outages in cases of storms or other events that catch most families off guard.

So this article (referred to in the URL above) is excellent for everyday uses beyond the main, for coffee, as well as long term planning such as we have in the winter when ice causes power outages, sometimes for days at a time.  And if you think this is just a "northern tier" issue, I was once stuck for 4 days in Atlanta, GA at a friends house when an ice storm shut down power and mobility for 3 plus days.

The author discusses such uses for coffee as compost, fertilizer, growing worms (yes, this could be very important), getting rid of odors, scrubbing dishes, saving plants, making soap, and more.  It is a very interesting article when you view it for it's practicality!

So read this article online and when you're done brewing your coffee, don't throw the grounds out...just yet!