The surf on Lake Michigan was not happening but I visit the lake everyday to check the surf which is really unrealistic in the first place. One can get lucky and arrive at the shore to surf but not on this trip. I did manage to find a circa 1986 Sailboard Master Class 335 with a 6.5 Neil Pryde sail (and I’m not just making this up to spark search engines) in the basement of the Crystal Lake cottage and was on the water with a breeze picking up less then 30 minutes of finding the board. What fun to relive my windsurfer youth. Pretty good? Stay tuned for this site to include a Pro Stores Shopping Cart.
The roast is happening, car sales are happening and I’m happy to announce Greenpeace’s Project Hot Seat Kick Off Party! Happening at Roos Roast Barn on Sunday July 1st 2-6. We’re going to be doing a ton of good stuff including stopping Global Warming in its tracks. Photo credit goes to the lovely and talented Elise Editor Hagy

John on 06.26.07 @ 01:50 PM EST [Permalink]

Mornings are my favorite time of day. So favorite are the mornings that in the summer I have a hard time going to bed. I want to stay awake/alive with Roospresso, sake and sushi, but eventually I have to go to bed, till morning comes again.

Please note that all on-line orders made after 6:00 PM today will be roast and shipped on Monday the 25th of June as I will be taking my first days off in over year.

Pray for wind to make waves on the great lakes because your roaster is taking his e-bay surf board out to prove you can surf on the great lakes! Next stop the break wall on lake Michigan in Frankfort. Hopefully there will be something similar to what I miss from the Oregon coast or Hawaii, hee hee even some small Cape Cod Style summer waves would work for this long boarding, coffee roastin, fool.

Not to worry about your coffee fix. If you need coffee and you live in the Ann Arbor area go to the “Buy Coffee” Page and scroll down and there you will find a list of great business which carry Roos Roast. If that still doesn’t work call me 734-709-9565 and we’ll work it out.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the break in the heat.

John on 06.20.07 @ 12:54 PM EST [Permalink]

Notes from the desk of the renegade coffee roaster:

I met the truck yesterday and loaded the 1991 Subaru Loyale with roughly 780 pounds of green coffee. The car was loaded down to say the least; it still jammed down to the barn to for the drop.

This morning I was roast a batch of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. It’s really fresh and cracked quickly with a deep nutty nose and sweet fruit aroma. I could hear the base tones of Africa. Hear the drums? Also in the new Ethiopian Harrar both are from the Oromia Fair trade and Organic Cooperative.

For all the people interested in a coffee tasting/ class ( I collected some names at the Don Con Show) I’m thinking the end of July. I’m busy getting ready for the Shadow Art Fair and the Ann Arbor Art Fair which take place in July.

Summer’s here and it’s hot. These are the days of Espresso Mornings or the Melitta single cups at Chris Donnelley’s house. Get on your bike, or walk. And order some Roos Roast and stay cool and talk to you soon.

John on 06.14.07 @ 11:58 AM EST [Permalink]

The Don Conoscenti Show was really a great evening. Like I said, great night, great weather, great people, and Jake and Don rocked the Barn!

Thanks to all the people who came out and supported Growing Hope. Growing Hope is a good example of building community one person at a time. Special thanks to Trader Joes who provided the Snacks.

Don Conoscenti is a good example for how to be human in the world today. Polite, gracious, poetic, people of the man, man of the people. Thanks for coming Don! Thank you Tarek for arranging for Don and Jake to play at the Barn!

Becca Sobel, of Greenpeace, who is in Ann Arbor working for thru the end of the year, was in action getting people to write letters to John Dingell on the issue of global warming .

A very helpful person, Eileen Quintero, pointed out a comment someone had made on a list serve about the Growing Hope Event and Roos Roast was mentioned because I was giving out free espresso drinks and the question was raised about Fair Trade, or Free Trade, Free Speech or Roos Roast being authentic with it’s Organic and Fair Trade claims. I’d like to take this opportunity to point out:

"Free Speech Coffee" is my tag line and refers to the effect my coffee has on the those who drink it. (Supposed to be funny) Coffee rather then Alcohol raises the consciousness and gets ideas out in the world by talking about them. And because it’s from Ann Arbor and as a person who grew up here I remember Ann Arbor as liberal and free speech was the curriculum. (Seems to have back-fired.)

My coffee is Organic and Fair trade. I sometimes purchase a bag of Single High Grown Arabica from a transitional Farm as they get the required certification.

Please let it be known that I'm a member of the Alaska Coalition and working with Green Peace locally on issues such as global warming.

I currently building a new shopping cart page that will show all the types of coffee I have in stock

If anyone would like to purchase Roos Roast Organic and Fair trade Coffee currently I have
Available:

Ethiopian Harrar
Ethoipian Yirgacheff
Sumatra
Guatemalan
Water Processed Decaf Peru

In addition to all the coffee’s listed on the buy coffee page.

John on 06.11.07 @ 02:20 PM EST [Permalink]

Join Roos Roast Free Speech Coffee for a Growing Hope pre-summer Benefit Concert on the magic evening of Friday June 8, 2007 (7pm open house, 8pm concert) at the Last Bohemian Adventure (aka) Head Quarters of Roos Roast Free Speech Coffee (aaka The Art Barn, 416 West Huron Street, A2) (see map)


This will be a night of amazing music with special guest singer/songwriter Don Conoscenti (of Taos, New Mexico - www.donconoscenti.com ) and Jake Reichbart, in a setting that is unrivaled in character and location in the heart of old world Ann Arbor. Local guitarist Jake Reichbart (well known for his Thursday performances at Eve) will playing during the open house portion to warm up for Don. You may know Don from his performances at the Ark in Ann Arbor or Schuba's in Chicago or the Makor in New York City. Don has worked and recorded with the likes of the Indigo Girls and Ellis Paul.

John on 06.06.07 @ 03:54 PM EST [Permalink]

What’s going on out there in the retail world? (And it just happened over the last two weeks) but has anyone noticed that every where you look there is another color of liquid for sale in another shaped bottle making another claim? What I’m talking about is a thousand different types of water now available! And people are all over it. (I like the fresh squeezed lemonade for .99 on ice that you can grab wrapped with a napkin while you shop at Whole Foods) Just remember that cold extract coffee is best when made with freshly roast coffee and on these hot globally warmed days you’ll appreciate the smooth cold hype but don’t over do it. Keep on drinking. Stay tuned for more blog posts.

Next time I’ll tell you about my Down town Ann Arbor Parking Solution where each space includes a cup of Roos Roast on arrival of your commute.

btw Next Friday at The Art Barn 7:00 pm the Don Conoscenti Show. I’m promoting this event for Growing Hope so please come out and show me your face. I am hoping to see all of you at this event. Please help us out by buying advanced tickets on line at www.growinghope.net (Scroll don't to previous posts and see a link to Growing Hope and Don Con's site) Even if you are an out of town friend or are in town but can't make the show, we would really appreciate your $15.00 donation. Yes, tickets will be available at the door, but buying them in advance will give us a better idea of how many people to expect and this will help keep our costs in line. Thank you so much for reading my blog and don't forget this is going to be a really great night with really great people. See you there!

John Roos

John on 06.01.07 @ 02:14 PM EST [Permalink]