Hello. My name’s Patsy and I ride herd over the Alabama branch of
Wilkinson’s of Norwich – USA. On this page I’ll share with you some of my thoughts and adventures as we get this branch of the best coffee company up and running. I’m hoping you’ll grow along with us.
Dec
16
2009
If you're down to the wire and fresh out of ideas for Christmas gifts, purchase a quick and easy "Fresh As It Gets!" Gift Certificate from Wilkinson's of Norwich – USA. Simply log onto our website at www.wilkinsonsusa.com and click on the "Buy Gift Certificate" button on the right hand side of the page. You can select any dollar amount you desire, from $5.00 to $1,000, and customize the certificate with a special holiday greeting you write yourself. Imagine the warm feeling the recipient will get when they receive a certificate for coffee that "Doesn't Get Much Fresher Than This!" It doesn't get much easier either! That special someone can visit our website and select from our growing selection of freshly roasted coffees and, very soon, English teas! It's truly a gift that keeps on giving.
Happy Holidays, and remember, Keep it fresh!
Patsy
Nov
30
2009
Wilkinson's of Norwich coffees are now on grocery store shelves! Southern Family Markets (aka Piggly Wiggly) are now carrying our Brewton Brew, Wilkinson's House Blend, and Costa Rica Tarrazu coffees. We are currently stocked in both the Brewton, Alabama and Atmore, Alabama locations, and hope to expand into more as word gets out about our attention to fresh coffees.
Two local Brewton area merchants are also stocking our coffees now, and they are selling very nicely as more and more folks become aware of our wonderful coffee and our mantra, "It doesn't get much fresher than this!" Rebecca's Antiques is located in historical downtown Brewton, 101 St. Joseph Ave., on the corner of highways 31 and 41 (it's the building with the wonderful Wes Hardin mural painted on the side). Rebecca Pentado has been carrying our coffees (and serving our Brewton Brew) for several months now, and is one of our favorite places to eat as well. Rebecca's husband has a small (in size only!) cajun restaurant named "YaYa's" in the rear of the store. Having moved to Brewton from New Orleans, you better believe the Pentados are offering authentic cajun dishes! Their Natchitoches Meat Pies are aiiiiiiieeeee good! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brewton-AL/Rebeccas-of-Brewton/154827377648
Another local merchant where you can find (and be served) Wilkinson's coffees is Antigone's Cottage, at 110 St. Joseph Avenue. Antigone's Cottage, a very quaint antiques store, is housed in an historical downtown Brewton building that was originally built as a bank in 1904. The original bank vaults are still intact. Antigone's Cottage carries many of Wilkinson's blends and single-origin coffees, as well as all six of our flavored coffees. Donna Brackin, the shoppe owner and avid antiques treasure hunter, is a beaming personality who truly enjoys showing off her latest finds. I dare you to visit without finding something you absolutely must have! www.antigonescottage.com
Just a few miles south of Brewton and across the state line, you can find Wilkinson's of Norwich coffees at Floridatown Station in Pace, Florida. Located at 4372 Floridatown Road, Floridatown Station is a wonderful indoor antiques/flea market, a virtual maze of booths where you can find an abundance of collectibles, antiques and a higher caliber of "flea market" type finds. Upon entering the market, you are greeted with a divine aroma from scented candle displays, and of course, Wilkinson's of Norwich coffees! You can be assured of finding something for everyone as you browse the many booths inside. www.floridatownstation.com.
We are certain to continue expanding to other locations, and we will keep you informed of those as Wilkinson's of Norwich Tea and Coffee continues to grow. Until then, remember to KEEP IT FRESH!
Nov
21
2009
Wilkinson's of Norwich USA is getting some awesome feedback about how great our Pumpkin Spice flavored coffee is! For all our flavored coffees, we use a chemical free flavoring called PowerGrind which has natural flavors infused into the actual ground coffee in high concentrations. Just a wee bit added to freshly roasted coffee gives it a natural, smooth tasting touch of flavor. Serve your guests a warm and creamy cup of Pumpkin Spice flavored coffee and they'll remember your hospitality long after the turkey has gobbled. Pumpkin Spice coffee is an obvious partner with pie, or perhaps a fresh slice of pumpkin bread, but simply served by itself this all-naturally-flavored Pumpkin Spice coffee will tickle your palate with all the seasonal tastes you expect. Add a dollop of freshly whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon or chocolate…you'll give thanks to your taste buds all season! Supply is limited, so order soon!
Happy Thanksgiving, and as always, keep it fresh!
Nov
21
2009
Today I convinced our coffee roaster JohnJuan to let me try my hand at a dark roast all by myself, and short of nearly starting our first roaster fire, I didn't do so bad! I started with 15 pounds of Guatemala Huehuetenango, a SHB (strictly hard bean) known for adapting well to dark roasts. I followed all the rules, charting and profiling the bean probe temperature, monitoring the bean color through the drum's view window, and listening for "first crack" (cool sound). I pulled bean samples every 2 minutes during the roast (note that the photos attached are from my 2nd roast). Unfortunately it seems I kept the roaster flame cranked too high (something about regulating the heat? sheesh!), so those beautiful Guatemala Huehuetenango beans quickly went from green to good to garbage. It's like broiling toast – beautiful, brown, and aromatic one second, charcoal the next! Well, I smoked up the factory and most of the countryside, and totally stomped on the Maillard Reaction in my first roast (I wound up pouring it on the burn pile – oiliest beans I've ever seen).
But I was determined, and reloaded the Probat with another 15 pounds of green beans. I lowered the starting temp and maintained a slower bake, and pulled a second roast that was not too light, not too dark, but one that was just right. The Guatemala Huehuetenango dark roast stands wonderfully by itself, but since I've been experimenting with developing a different type of dark roast blend I chose a more lightly roasted Central American bean and voila! We now have a Dark Roast Melange which has passed several taste tests from "those who like it dark!" Try it if you dare…come on over to the dark side!
I'm happy with the results…not bad for a first attempt. But I'm thinking in the future, I'll leave the roasting to JohnJuan. I like cupping instead.
Keep it fresh!
Patsy
www.wilkinsonsusa.com
Wow, what a good day. My favorite days have always been when we’re roasting the beans, but delivering them the same day to a client is especially fulfilling. “John Juan” rose to an emergency call yesterday (after working elsewhere since 4am!) and roasted up some beautiful batches of Brewton Brew and Blue Mountain Blend for our newest client, a popular bakery in town called BeeSweet Bakery. They had coffee for their clients this morning that was roasted just last night.
The folks at Bee Sweet Bakery truly appreciate specialty coffees and are excited about offering our coffees to their customers. What I (and their customers I’m sure) enjoy is how they actually talk with their customers rather than just handing them a cup of hot java. They truly want to know how you like it, and if you don’t like it they want to know. We are a great match in that respect…feedback, whether positive or negative, can only help you improve.
The only complaint I have with our new bakery partnership is that they’re trying to fatten me up! Every time I go in they hand me a white bag with surprises inside – yesterday it was not one, but three, melt-in-your-mouth Cream Cheese Danish, the day before it was a huge carrot/walnut muffin, and some of the most yummy lemon bars! Crikey! I normally don’t even eat sweets, but like I tell people who say they don’t drink coffee, “Maybe you never had it this fresh!” (BeeSweet is now serving lunch as well, and I must recommend the panini-style sandwiches and a most delightful Sunshine Salad, with cranberries, sunflower seeds, pecans, and a mouth-watering raspberry vinaigrette…a serious taste explosion, in the most welcome way.)
I’d also like to thank our other local merchants who have been carrying our product since the first roasted beans dropped into the Probat cooling tray.
NDI/Cracked Pot is a local reseller of the most beautiful floral reproductions you’ll ever lay eyes on. (NDI stands for Natural Decorations Inc.) The factory is located here in Brewton, and provides elegant arrangements that you must touch to realize they are not real (even that is a guess!) . They provide their arrangements for some of the most well-known showrooms in the country, and of course the finest homes. The Cracked Pot is Brewton’s own local outlet for purchasing NDI’s unique and classic reproductions. www.ndi.com Stop by their shop and let Jan and Joan show you around, and be sure to have a look at their photo gallery to see what’s driving the bees crazy!
The Hourglass Antique shop is a treasure well worth searching for, also located downtown Brewton. Situated in a building that is an antique in it’s own right (the old Luttrell Hardware Store), the shop still has an old freight elevator that is now loaded with oriental rugs, and two jam-packed floors that hold true nuggets of home-furnishing history (in addition to WoN coffees, and other local offerings such as hushpuppy mix!). I’ve got my eye on a bedroom suite upstairs, and an antique shoe-polishing kit. They also have a huge variety of gift items, like porcelain place settings, leather-bound diaries, and my favorite aroma beads (I especially like the mango/ginger variety). The Hourglass is currently working on their website, and when I have a link I will certainly provide it. A treasure map of sorts!
And the kudos portion of my blog entry today wouldn’t be complete without including the local Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce www.brewtonchamber.com. They have been hugely instrumental in getting the word out to chamber members about our company, and have procured our coffees for a “Coffee with the Candidates” political forum next week. They display our fliers prominently in their beautiful chamber offices where many visitors (and now WoN customers) have learned of our presence.
Brewton has been Berry good to us (we are the home of the Blueberry Festival ya know?). We look forward to adding to our merchant listing, as well as our home-use customers. Come grow with us, because as you should know by now, it doesn’t get much fresher than this!
I just got these little 2oz tasters together yesterday, and already sold a few of them today with a visitor who emailed (so I KNOW he saw our US web page! woo hoo! How do I know? Because that’s the only place that email addy is available). He and his wife then took a scenic Saturday-afternoon drive from Pensacola to the factory! That’s interest for you! (Not that the drive is a bad one, mind you…the cotton plants are coming into season and beginning to bloom, and the peanuts are poppin’…the sweet smell in the air makes it nearly impossible to drive without the windows down, despite the 104 heat index). The folks from Pensacola took home some of the 2oz tasters (5 of them, all different varieties), so I’m thinking I’ll put together a “taster pack” of 4 varieties or so.
I’m also packing up 38 bags (or perhaps 36, or 40, or 117 1/2, who knows what I’ll do!) of 1.75oz office-size (coffee break room) for cases to hopefully supply the local offices, etc… I haven’t finalized pricing on this just yet, but want to work with local interests to make this work. Roaster “John Juan” and I are just playing around with the different packaging options, trying to find where the demand is. This is just in infancy stage, and I’m sounding out my colleagues for their input about it now.
Brewton Brewings – wow, how could we not play off a name like “Brewton” when the end result of the product we supply is a marvelous coffee brew. I’m hoping these 2oz tasters will give everyone the variety they seek, and get everyone in Brewton brewing WoN! (Note: Folks from cities other than Brewton can enjoy our coffees, too! We’ll share!)
