Costa Rica Coffee

Earlier this year, Alex, Muggswigz President and Founder, traveled to Costa Rica and engulfed himself in the coffee culture of the Central American country. He visited family owned farms, cupping coffee and finding outstanding coffee that caught the attention of his palette, that you will see on the shelves later this year. He stated that " it was good to see micro-mills and co-ops that are economically viable." In the this day and age, that is essential. He also noted that many coffee farmers are distancing themselves from washed coffee processes and using more honey and natural processes, which instead of a clean coffee note, you may find more berry and earthy flavor notes. Payment programs for coffee pickers were usually based on volume rather than weight. This seemed to improve more selective picking and harvest quality. In his experience, Alex observed more experimentation by the farmers than any other origin trip that he has taken. Many of the family owned farms he visited had cupping rooms, where he was able to taste the coffee that they offered all while enjoying beautiful views of the landscape.

COVID-19 Response

Our Coffee & Tea Bars are staying open for carry-out and delivery orders. Our online store for wholesale and retail orders remains open. We have added additional cleaning, hygiene, and sanitizing protocols. We are asking guests in our coffee & tea bars to please wear a facemask and pay with a credit card, and instead of handing your card to your barista, please insert your card into the chip reader. If you are paying with cash, please do not hand it to your barista. We've designed a crude cash sanitizer to sanitize all incoming cash. Please put your cash though the sanitizer and the barista will retrieve it. We are 3D printing the sanitizers for the stores now. We've made the design publicly available ( here ) for any other businesses that would like to print their own. Just keep filled with 70% or higher alcohol.  If you don't have a 3D printer and would like a sanitizer, contact Alex via the contact page and we'll print you one and fast as our little Monoprice 3D printer can do it (which is like 20 hours) .

Muggswigz Employees Make Another Generous Donation

Working as a team, Muggswigz employees have generously chosen to donate upwards of $3,750.00 to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a foundation fighting childhood cancer. 

Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a program that enriches the lives of children diagnosed with cancer, as well as funding research and funding for travel and treatment for families and children affected by cancer. This is the 3rd year in a row that Muggswigz employees have participating in their Charitable Donation Program. Last year, participating Muggswigz employees donated about $3,000 to the National Parents Organization. Participating employees contribute their choice of dollar amount every pay period, matched 5% by Muggswigz, to a pool to be donated to an organization or program. The top donors pitch ideas of charitable programs or organizations to be voted on at the end of the year. It is optional for the employees to participate and contribute. You can learn more about Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, or make your own donation, by visiting https://www.alexslemonade.org/. 

 

New Columbia Coffee

A new Columbian coffee has been made available in our stores called Columbia Finca La Esperanza. Grown in a sub-municipality San Antonio within the state of Cauca. Anibal Pillimue is the owner of Finca La Esperanza, whose coffee farm has 4,000 trees  and spans about 1.5 hectares. The plant species of the coffee is Arabica and is grown at an altitude of 2010-2100m. The coffee is sun-dried on a patio in the Subregion of Cauca, undergoing fermentation for 36 hours.

 

New Ethiopia Kochere Debo Natural

We have a new Ethiopian natural prepped coffee, the Ethiopia Kochere Debo Natural. This coffee has notes of wild strawberry pie with cardamom sprinkle and lemon-lime soda. This coffee is grown at an altitude of 1900-2100m and is a Grade 1 coffee grade. The Kochere district has attained a reputation for growing highly sought after coffees, in part because of the 'heirloom' varietal that are to blame for the creative and distinct flavor notes from Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a great set up with their land consisting of high altitudes, great rainfall, fertile soil, and insights from locals' knowledge The natural process (using a sun-drying method) gives the coffee a more stone fruit, creamy, and  chocolaty flavor profile. Find out more - here