It has been a little bit of a wait, and a very exciting one in deed, but the wait is over. The first of many Slayer installations in Calgary has finally happend at Caffe Beano.Their 3 gp Slayer was installed a few days ago and both Jay and Dan have been working to ensure that this machine is working perfectly…..and it is.We went by Caffe Beano yesterday (a Wednesday) to make a few additional tweaks, and they mentioned that they have been busier than normal since the installation took place. They are doing the volumes typically seen on a weekend, in fact, people that normally have 1 espressoo are having 2 or 3 because they taste so good. WOW, what a difference an amazing piece of machinery makes. Below image show Dan making some final calibrations.

Jason Prefontaine and I visited the Coffee Equipment Company in Seattle recently to see what’s behind their new Clover 1s brewer. Though this machine has been around for a couple of years, most people only know it from what can be seen on the outside. That is an automated by-the-cup brewer that allows the user to make a number of adjustments via a slick iPod-like control wheel. Seeing the machine in operation most people may also guess (correctly) that the Clover 1s uses a permanent micron-scale metallic filter–not disposable paper or cloth filters.Inside the Clover 1s, however, lies the heart and soul of this machine. There you find the meticulous design that makes the 1s such a beautiful device, as beautiful inside as it is outside. The Clover 1s mechanism is laid out logically and pleasingly. The workings of the 1s are crafted from well-conceived components, some of them expensive custom machined parts, meshed magnificently with a brilliant and inspired electronics package. The inside of the Clover exudes a sense of functional robustness and a high degree of engineering competence. I should also mention that the Clover 1s was articulately, passionately, and energetically represented by Coffee Equipment Company super-technician Jason Schroeder who toured us through the inner workings of the machine, and how to maintain it.  (Read the rest of this post)

Now that most of us have finally recovered from the 10 day festival known as the Calgary Stampede, we can think well enough to form a complete sentence. Fratello Coffee Co. has always been a big supporter of the community and this was no exception.  We offered coffee at several of the Stampede’s free breakfasts and gave away more than 8,000 cups of coffee.  This was done at 4 different events in about 2 hours each time.  An average of 1,000 cups of coffee per hour!!!

To give a bit of an idea what this entails, we start our day at 3:30AM. At this time we take the freshly gound coffee and begin brewing into the large thermal servers we use.  By 5:30AM we are about ready to start transporting the coffee to the location to begin fueling the other volunteers who are manning the grills and food stations.  Then the madness starts… Line ups of thousands of hungry Stampede goers, out for the free pancakes, sausages and most importantly the cup of coffee.  It’s a seemeingly never ending stream of poeple.

The “Rocket Man” in action 

On Parade day, we even took the “Rocket Man” out to where the floats were lining up to offer coffee.  This was very well received, but, we ran out of coffee in the 80 cup backpack very quickly (inside 5 minutes). So, we took a golf cart and created a mobile coffee station…All told, it was a great time and lots of fun was had. As are shown by the pictures.  (Read the rest of this post)

Fratello Coffee Co wins again!!!!

We participated in another Cup of Excellence (COE) auction and won our second FULL lot. This one is very small, only 12 bags.   I assume this is going to arrive late August.  This is a very exciting time.   Fratello Coffee Co has always been about quality and we have always wanted to push the limits on quality, and finally, our market is starting to desire the same quality that our family has been raised on.   To be able to source and supply our clients with the best coffees on the planet makes my job as a cupper/importer a lot more enjoyable.     We can’t wait for you to taste this coffee.

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Caffe Beano has spent a lot of time with us at our facilities over the last few weeks. Some in this group have been back 4 or more times to practice proper coffee-distribution, tamping & pulling shots w/ naked filters, plus getting used to heating and texturizing milk on the Slayer espresso machine. Their’s will be the first Slayer to hit Calgary, and owners Janice & Margie want to be sure that the espresso machine isn’t the only upgrade - which is why these staff have invested so much time with Jason & I to upgrade their skills.