Sitting at the machinery booth down isle 4, are the two “new to the work world” 22 year olds dressed in oversized suits that were borrowed from their football star brothers; both looking afraid to speak to anyone. Across the hall are people with warm smiles representing the big hearted non-profits doing extreme good for health, education, and quality of life in coffee growing communities. Sprinkled in between are coffee growers from around the world, gadget inventors, and packaging companies. So much to see and do, and that damn “all you can drink” espresso bar keeps calling my name.

The trip to the show is one that I looked forward to for months…kind of like my son starts looking forward to Christmas in July. Not only was I looking forward to seeing everything the industry offers, but I’d signed up for multiple educational courses to learn more about coffee roasting, coffee brewing, and even steaming milk for the ever elusive perfect Rosetta. There’s always room to learn something new.

Roaster's Choice Coffee of the Year Competition -

One of my favorites....

When talking about my coffee business, I couldn’t help but recognize their reactions to our different approach to selling the “best”….the inclusive approach to our packaging, and the “just enjoy” or “learn if you want” mentality. They didn’t get it, and it was clear that some even thought we were destined to fail miserably. It made me feel kind of competitive, actually. (Let’s not talk about how I get when I start to compete, please. I was starting to taste the temptation to pay money, put a race bib on, and get ready for the takedown on the last turn before the finish line where you might “accidentally” get tangled up in my bike pedals and go down hard…oops).

Whoa there! When I started my coffee biz, the most important thing was to be different than the “perfect” ones, in that I wasn’t a snob about coffee, and my company wasn’t going to be snobby. Yes, we buy amazing coffee, we roast amazing coffee, and yes, 72.6% of the time I even pour amazing latte art. Everything we do is for the sake of bringing the best experience to our customers. Should we start down a new path of uber-perfection and let everyone know it?

It didn’t take me long to come to a conclusion. No way. From the beginning, the most important thing to me was that our coffee business would invite people in. They could ask questions, be included, and never ever feel like they’re being judged (except for those who still insist that their freeze dried coffee is “pretty good”- I will judge you, but it’s really ok because you lost your taste buds in that tricycle accident when you were four).

Coffee is about the experience….the look, the taste, the texture….and the conversation around the table that goes along with it. The whole experience is passionate, joyful, simple…..and well, just life. I have deep respect for everyone in this business that brings passion to their work, as it makes us all better at what we’re doing. I also have amazing respect for those who are willing to share what they’ve learned on their coffee journeys.

I guess what I realized too, as I looked to the triple-nose pierced barista making my 4th coffee of the day, is that it’s totally ok to be different. In fact, in this business, it’s sort of expected. I realized we don’t have to be like everybody else, and that yes, we can go down our own path. It might not make sense to some, but at the end of the day, my customers are the reason we’re here. We want to keep teaching you, keep learning from you, and we want your day to be amazing because you sipped a cup of our coffee, alone or with friends, and it just plain brought a smile to your face.

There’s no prerequisite here to know what “acidity” or “mouth feel” descriptors you’ll use when taking that first sip. If our customers want to know more about why we select special relationship coffees, you can, or if you feel good knowing that we’re committed to an organic certification, great. And yes, if you want to perfect your own cappuccino at home we’ll help you get there. You get to jump in as far as you’d like, but we’re completely happy doing all the hard work in the background, and allowing you the pleasure of one thing: Simply enjoying your coffee because kicks ass here.

Anyway, being more or less kicked out of the culinary action of a dinner party has left me in charge of what I call the three Ds: That�s drinks, decorations, and dessert. Today I got to indulge in drink making to my heart�s content, because my coffee roasting shop was filled with a giggling, talkative crowd, gabbing about everything from hair products, to the vice-presidential debate last night. I was on the espresso machine making one cappuccino after another (which I might say had about a 90% �good foam� success rate, which is not a bad rate for simulteaneous talking and foaming). I informed everyone that if they talked to me while I made their drink that it would take twice as long to get their beverage. I think this may be due to my uncontrollable need to flap my hands around as I talk. It�s genetic, I�m sure of it. People didn�t seem to care much about the speed, though, so I had some wonderful chats with some people I�d never met before.

This group happened to know each other pretty well, as they are the local masters swim club that swims together 5 days a week. Many of them regularly spend a few minutes after practice sharing a cup of coffee at the clubhouse. Today, I invited them over here, although I�m not myself a swimmer (something about staring at a tiled blue line while going back and forth trying not to suck water into my lungs every time I gasp for air just doesn�t work for me. It could also be related to my flapping hands issue�I�ll have to research that). I can see how much fun they have together, though, and loved being in the midst of this joyous crowd who seemed to relish in the simple pleasure of hanging out and sharing laughs.

It must be the slightly rainy day today, or this morning�s unexpected phone calls from a couple of missed friends that got me thinking about this, but I find that so many people just don�t make the effort to visit, call or make simple connections with others. We get so busy that we delay the phone call or email invitation. People make the lamest excuses, like thinking their home is too messy to have visitors, or they feel weird about inviting someone over who they don�t know very well. I think that�s crap, honestly. You�re really not that busy, and no one cares if your house is messy, and you don�t have to make a Food Network masterpiece. If you have friends who care about the mess in your house, or the quality of your meal, they suck. Find new friends.

I wouldn�t be honest if I didn�t say I realized today that this is the biggest joy of the business I�m in. I love that a simple invitation, with a simple little drink of coffee and milk can bring people together and fill us up more than anything else we may choose to do, this week or any other. I�m one lucky girl.
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It’s not a mocking or belittling kind of joke, but rather just a little observational giggle about everything that we all do in our daily lives that’s just plain silly and if angled in just the right way, really is funny. I’ve informed my husband that should this laughter ever come out in a way that doesn’t fit with the surrounding scene (like I’m in the grocery isle and I just start laughing out loud, making all shoppers in my isle want to move to isle 6 where there are only pickles and olives instead of whackos) that he has full permission to tell me it’s time for the “pills”. Hopefully that day never comes.

A few months back while I was still working on the business plan, I was festering over how I might bring my vision of a sense of fun and laughter for the brand to reality. It just seemed so lame to make the logo, make an image, and then sell that for the next umpteen years. Here it is. Here is my stuff. Buy my stuff. It’s fun. Well, really, that’s not fun at all. That’s boring as hell and I don’t want it to be boring. I want it to be fun. This is Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee, after all, and yes, by fresh I mean just that: Fresh, cheeky, funny, fun, and new.

As I imaged the elaborate photography shoots that I’d set up to create these images to grace the front of the coffees, I got stuck on one thing. This is going to cost a truckload of money, which I don’t have. Plus, even if I get the fun shots and the coffee labels look great, my customers and I will be bored with them within months, and then we’d just be un-fun again. This is when it hit me. I need new labels all the time. Like every month all the time. That’s just insane, though, that will cost more money than peddling coffee beans can possible bring in. What if these pictures existed out there somewhere? What if I could get them for the cost of a few bags of coffee? What if just regular people–the amateur photographers of the world–were sending me their snapshots for only the simple joy of some free coffee and sharing them with other coffee drinkers? Could it work?

Sometime in July I started scanning the internet sites where everyday photos are posted to share with others. I was laughing so hard on my first time out. I was like that annoying person at your office who just got an email joke and is howling in his cubicle, and you’re the guy in the next cubicle over telling me to simmer down.

I started emailing the snapshot owners to request permission to use their images, and had an overwhelmingly great response. I did come across a few pros, and some were even willing to jump in and play along. People were into sharing their funny, quirky, “this is my life” pictures, and my inner self-cracker-upper felt so at home laughing along with their snaps and comments. I can’t wait to share these pictures with everyone each month (yes all 5 coffee labels will change every month with YOUR pictures on them)! I’ll share a few of my favorites with you right now, my blog readers, because it would be rude not to. Once the Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee website is up in September, there will be a place that anyone can go to submit a photo to be considered for one of the coffees (it’s ok if you can’t wait, I’d love to get your pictures now at snaps@lizzysfreshcoffee.com). Hope you get just a tiny giggle

Bad Dog...photographer says this is how his bad dog gets off the hook

Nothing like an unplanned spill into a mountain lake to wake you up!

Bad Dog...bummer about the frosting

Easy Tiger...some of us just don't need more energy

The Swingers for Swinger Coffee