LivingSocial

By now, we have all dug ourselves deep in the “social networking” world. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, GoWalla, UrbanSpoon, and other chatty websites keep us connected with our world.

Well, today I am adding more thing to the social networking world – LivingSocial. But, unlike the others, LivingSocial helps you connect with great businesses in your community – all for 50% off or more!

Check our Roots Coffeehouse’s deal of the day on LivingSocial today! Get $20 “Roots Bucks” for $10 today only! Visit:

www.livingsocial.com

Rate my Rosetta

Now we’ve seen it all, but this is actually cool. At www.ratemyrosetta.com – you can submit your latte art for viewing and rating. Hopefully you’ll see some of the Roots crew up here soon.

http://www.ratemyrosetta.com/

Stay Tuned…

Want to find some great fair trade items?

By now you probably know that we proudly sell fair trade items at our store…are you interested in where you can find more fair trade items?

Come by for a sampling of fair trade coffee, tea, and chocolate. We even use fair trade cane sugar.

For fair trade handmade goods,

www.serrv.org

For fair trade chocolate,

www.divinechocolate.com

Fair trade snacks,

www.equalexchange.com

Fair trade sports,

www.fairtradesports.com

Locally:

www.beloveds.net

Also, look for fair trade cane sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, honey, and molasses at your local Central Market, Whole Foods, or Market Street.

These are just a few ways you can alleviate poverty in developing nations through what you buy everyday. Try it.

Have you tried our African Coffees?

We are currently showcasing our African Coffees – the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Ethiopian Sidamo, and Uganda Peaberry. Each has a distinct flavor profile. Come to the store to learn more and buy your pound! These are some of the most flavorful coffees and also some of the best to French press.

Coming June 26th – Coffee Cupping and Tasting @ Roots. 7pm.

Do You Fair Trade?

Sometimes I get so caught up in what I am doing – running errands, ordering supplies, trying to market Roots and think of new ideas to keep it fresh – that I forget why I do what I do. All you small business owners out there – you feel my pain. You have a great idea to do something that you hope will change the world, at least in the smallest way. Usually the idea is based upon some heart-felt ideal or vision or goal that will make the world a better place. But all the sudden, you find yourself completely overwhelmed with the mundane thing we have to do just to maintain – you forget to be innovative, you forget to be philosophical, and you even sometimes forget the most important thing – the original idea, the original reason you got yourself into this in the first place.

The philosophy that launched my vision was fair trade. In college, I was so relieved to finally find an idea that could make the world a better place. Fair trade is based on the idea of using resources and systems already in place to build more sustainable work environments for the exploited and under-appreciated laborers in the developing world. It’s simple really: don’t exploit people; pay a fair price. But maybe its not simple. Is it possible that we have become so accustomed, and dare I say comfortable, with exploitation that we fail to take even the simplest steps to stop it? Virtually everything we buy in any clothing store or any gadget or anything from big boxes comes from over-worked and under-paid adults and children abroad. And what are we doing about it? I think we all know its happening, at least to an extent, and yet we continue to not change our buying patterns.

Roots Coffeehouse was birthed out of the idea that you can change the world through what you buy. By choosing fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and handmade goods, you are valuing the work and lives of farmers and producers abroad. You are helping lift them out of poverty and into a sustainable way of life.

I know its hard to change our habits and I am the worst at change. But consider the few ways below that we can change the world with our eating and buying choices:

1) buy fair trade products -

want to see what you can get fair trade? www.transfairusa.org / www.fairtradefederation.org

2) buy local

start with your food: www.localharvest.org

3) look at the tag

find out about the worker treatment and environmental practices of some popular companies: http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/learn_hub.cfm

Finals Week

All Ye Students!

This week is finals week for most everyone. Ah, finals. Those days when you try and recover all the information that was handed to you throughout the semester. Those late nights filled with junk food and energy drinks. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Students, come take advantage of the student discount here at Roots and get your studying on! Our Roots baristas (most students themselves) are here and ready to craft you a delicious beverage to take the finals edge off.

And just think, after this week, you can come to Roots to hang out, or listen to music, or chat with friends. No studying. No finals. Oh what a day it will be.

Tomorrow is Earth Day

Hey everyone!

Roots is committed to being not only socially responsible, but also environmentally responsible. Tomorrow, in honor of earth day, we are going to be offering $1 off if you bring your own cup.

Its a good thing to make a habit out of. Think about how many to-go items you get every week. Add those up. Now multiply it by four. Around 30 a month maybe? Now multiply that by 12….That’s 360 to-go cups or bags or containers a year. Now add that to a landfill. Not good numbers, by any means. And that’s getting only one to-go item a day. Every coffee cup comes with a sleeve, a cup, and a lid. If you go out to get fast food, that’s a styrofoam container, a bag, a cup, napkins, etc ,etc.

The Roots challenge is this. Think about our earth before you throw something is the trash. Can you recycle it? Think about the items you use every day – could one reusable item stand in their place?

Love your earth. Bring your own mug.

Happy Earth Day 2010.

The People You Meet

I have recently been quite amazed at the people we get to meet in the coffee business. Baristas are not  completely unlike a bartenders – the people behind the counter, hearing your stories.

There are many people I could write about – the man biking across America, the pastor planting a church, the businessman working two jobs to start his own business, the guy writing a book, the countless photographers, musicians, and artists who struggle to make their art work as a living. But instead, lets think about the people you meet.

When you meet people, connections grow. You realize you have things in common – perhaps you know some of the same people. Relationships are formed. That is our goal here at Roots Coffeehouse. To see relationships and authentic community grow. We get to watch as people make these connections. When someone recognizes a person they know and go to chat, when you see someone who you know you’ve met, but can place them, or even when one coffeehouse stranger strikes up conversation with another coffeehouse stranger – these are all part of building community.

We always want you to leave with more friends than you had when you came in.

I am going to do this more often…I promise

Much has happened in the world of Roots Coffeehouse, since over a year ago when I last updated (my bad). We have just celebrated our first birthday and we are pushing full-force into year 2. To be honest, there were times last year when I thought we’d never make it. People warn you that the first year of opening a coffeeshop is rough, but I didn’t have a clue. People say there are five big stressers people can add to their life – starting a new job, starting a new business, getting married, having a kid, and losing a loved one. Last year, I hit 3 out of 5. New job, New business, and New husband! Looking back, it was a great year (even though getting up at 5:00am most days gets old ).

We have been altogether amazed at how supportive the community has been of our endeavor. We have enjoyed getting to know each and every person that has come through. And just let me say, we SO appreciate the community’s support.

Last month marked one of our biggest promotions to date : Free Coffee Month. It was a raving success. We gave away free coffee every day in the month of March (not an easy thing for a business owner to give away their prime product for a month) – but it paid off. Roots had its first money-making month!

That’s a good way to leave this update. Stay tuned for more. Soon. I promise.

It has been a while since the last post. Things are moving along quite well with the building. We have moved past the excitement of walls and onto excitement of things like plumbing, electric, HVAC, and passing all our inspections. The guys are drywalling and texturing this weekend and we should be ready for paint by Monday.

For now (and I hope it won’t change again), the grand opening date is March 22nd!

Some exciting news is that I have hired seven employees! After much interviewing, I am excited to welcome Jessica, Michael, Kelly, Jonathan, Avery, Sandra, and Kaycie to Roots Coffeehouse. They will be the ones serving you up some delicious coffee, so be nice to them!

I will see you all for the Grand Opening on March 22nd! Don’t miss it -