PJP: Smoothie Sailing

Hey, there, summer readers!

Need a chance to beat the heat? Well, move to Canada!

If we made a smoothie with this, we'd
have to call it a "roughie".

As a cheaper alternative, try grabbing one of our new smoothies at Pour Jons. Name a fruit and we've probably got it in stock! I mean, we don't have durian. But I would be disturbed if someone actually ordered a durian smoothie.

Other exciting news in the store: We have a couple of new teas in stock. Blueberry hibiscus is currently our Iced Tea of the week, but it's also great hot. There's also organic flowering fruit, a great combo of hibiscus, rosehips, and lemongrass. Herbal and flavorful.

In coffee news, we just opened a fresh bag of Nicaragua Dipitto beans. With a light roast, a caramel smooth body and a lemon finish, this bean is delicious as a pour over or even a french press.

For all your hot and cold beverage needs, come see us.

~P.J.

PJP: What is Single Origin?

So, if you've been reading along with me, you've probably learned that coffee is complicated.

Back in my young, rash, impertinent days (which, I assure you, I have fully grown out of) I confused many a customer with my rants about the true nature of coffee. Mass-produced coffees like Folger's and Eight O'Clock use a different species of bean from specialty coffees like what we serve. But, within that species of Coffea Arabica, there are several varieties that greatly affect that flavors present in the cup.

I briefly mentioned this in the post about the Giant Beans and the Peaberries. Those are mutants, however. These are just variations. You see, each variation, such as Bourbon or Blue Mountain or Typica, has certain characteristics of flavor. Farmers who are smart about coffee will determine which varieties match up best with the nutrients that are present in their region's soil. This combines to form a unique flavor profile.

So, whenever you come in to Pour Jons and ask about our coffee selection, we will tell you the country and the region that the bean came from, rather than the name of the variety of bean. For instance, our house blend is a Guatemala Quiche. El Quiche is a region in Guatemala northwest of the capital city.

Coffees are often identified by country because that country's soil has a fairly unified flavor profile that comes out in the coffee. However, this is not always true, as using a different variety of coffee bean in conjunction with that particular soil will make a completely different flavor coffee. So, a Brazil coffee is not always just a Brazil coffee. At the same time, most Brazil growers grow Bourbon variety coffee, so almost all Brazil Bourbons are similar.

A Single Origin coffee, then, is a coffee that seeks to create a unique flavor of coffee. It's the reason you like either Pepsi or Coke, and not both equally. They're similar, but something unique about one appeals to you.

Single Origin coffees have a remarkable amount of meditation and preparation put into their flavor. After determining the soil's characteristics and picking a variety of coffee, the roaster of the coffee beans adjusts the level of the roast to suit the flavor. A darker roast is usually to highlight earthy or nutty flavors, and a lighter roast highlights fruity or floral flavors.

So, the next time you order a pour over or a single-origin americano, feel free to ask your barista about the characteristics of the bean you're getting. It's actually a pretty cool story behind each one. If you don't believe me that the flavors are that different, try two side-by-side as an espresso. In fact, if you do so, get 2 double shots of espresso for the price of one this week.

We currently have 5 single origins in stock. Guatemala Quiche, Brazil Mogiana Cocapec, Sumatra Mandhling, Kenya Karimikui, and Ethiopia Ygracheffe. Our decaf blend is the same as the Brazil. Don't ask me how to pronounce all of those. But do ask me which has the flavors you're looking for!

Thanks for reading this whole thing. It's a lot of info.

~P.J.

What's In The Water: Brewmance

Coffee hooks you young.

As simple as it might seem to just brew a cup of coffee since the invention of automatic drip brewers, the amount of ways that you can brew a black cup o' coffee is staggering. At Pour Jons, we like toys, and we also like coffee. Thus, when we spend our free money, it usually goes to new, fun ways to make coffee.

Originally, the only way to brew coffee was by smashing it into powder, boiling it, and hoping all the chunky bits fall out. With the invention of paper, metal, and cloth filters, as well as plastics and molded glassware, the ways to combine water and bean are greatly diversified. Let's just look at a rundown of a few.

Pour Over:
This is the handmade version of a drip coffee brewer. It uses a cone-shaped paper filter in a spiraled ceramic bowl with a hole in the bottom. Because paper absorbs a lot of oil, pour overs have lighter mouthfeel, and really highlight the sweetness and acidity of a coffee.

French Press:
This is a great way to get all of the characteristics, and is kind of a "raw" brewing technique. Coarsely chopped coffee is fully immersed in hot water, then a metal plunger with a metal filter is pressed down, removing the grinds.

Espresso:
Completely lacking the letter "x", espresso is coffee brewed with water pressure, attempting to maximize the amount of coffee squeezed into less water. There is a higher coffee to water ratio than in other brews, but contrary to popular belief a double shot of espresso does not have as much caffeine as a larger cup of coffee does. It emphasizes the high, sharp notes of coffee.

Siphon Pot:
This is the one that looks like a chemistry experiment. It uses a cloth filter and suction to brew a very even cup of coffee, balancing both highs and lows. It costs a little more because we use butane to heat the water, but it's worth the effort.

Chemex:
Chemex is very similar to a Pour over, except that it uses a much thicker filter.

Turkish Coffee:
This is one of the oldest ways to make coffee, brewed by boiling powdered coffee with cardamom pods, making a thick, rich draught. Don't drink the sludge in the bottom of the cup. The rest is delicious, though.

This is far from all the ways there are to make coffee, but they highlight some of the main methods used today. More importantly, all of them are available from Pour Jons! Come in and try something new. "Plain" coffee just doesn't exist.

~P.J.

PJP: One Small Swallow for Man, One Giant Gulp for Mankind

I feel quite technologically advanced right now since I'm typing this blog up on the iPad. It's murdering my wpm, but at least it's not a typewriter. I feel compelled to stop using contractions though because the apostrophe is on the second page of the keyboard.

Anyways, in the world of coffee, we're trying to branch out. Many traditional Italian drinks are intended to be made in only 5 or 7 oz. sizes. While our house size for most drinks is between 10 and 12 oz., this is in large part to meet demand. Espresso is intended to be consumed in small quantities. Did you know that certain fast-food chains now sell soda (or pop, for weirdos) by the BUCKET? 128 ounces at the drive through. That's 13 of our lattes.

Well, we're moving somewhat in the opposite directon. In case you haven't noticed it, we now have a Tiny Drinks Menu up on the counter. Not only is the menu tiny, the drinks are as well.

If you have already had a latte or a larger drink and you still want a little something to get you through your project, check it out. Or if you want a more artisan, complex drink as a treat, ask your barista for a tiny recommendation. Options on the small menu range from the cortado, a mini latte with lots of espresso punch, to the mocha Valencia, famous for the orange peel we flame over the top of the chocolate.

To encourage you to check it out, mention the blog this week through Friday and get 50 cents off a tiny drink. Come see us! Now excuse me while I check for typos. iPad is not my favorite typer.

 ~P.J.

PJP: Summer's Coming, not Winter.

If you get the Game of Thrones reference in the title, good for you.

This is just a small, mid-weekly update. There's a lot of change at the shop right now. College students are gone, which means that at night you might actually be able to find a seat at Pour Jons! We're planning on spicing things up with some events this summer, so keep posted here to make sure you know when they're coming.

Our hours have changed to reflect students leaving. We now close at 10 p.m. all week long, but we open at the same times.

Recently, we've added a new way to brew black coffee, called chemex. It sounds funky, but we promise we're not experimenting on you. Friday's blog will be about all of our different varieties of black coffee, just to let you learn about some of the cool options we have. In honor of that, today through Sunday, take $1 off the purchase of a chemex.

As always, remember our happy hours specials!

~P.J.

What's in the Water: The Boston Tea Party

Since I take great pleasure in researching beverage crimes over the centuries, I must continue my articles to include that most famous of patriotic American beverage crimes: The Boston Tea Party.

I have always wondered what kind of tea was ditched off the harbor at the Boston Tea Party. What would the harbor have tasted like for the people at their beach houses? There is nothing quite so invigorating as swimming in something delicious.

You see, by 1773, the British had popularized tea to the extent that the government taxed for some serious income. Tax on commodities usually went straight to the corporations who traded the items, rather than the consumer like you'd see in modern days. To make sure it was not crippling businesses with heavy taxes, the British decided to tax consumers on the American end of things.

New Opposite Day Specials

Naturally, Americans are agreeable people with a great respect for authority. So, the Americans instead offered to pay a higher portion of the taxes just for the sake of fun and the growth of British businesses. Also, it's opposite day.

The Americans reacted by dressing up as Indians and throwing the tea into the harbor. Apparently they used their tomahawks to open the crates and make a dramatic scene.

One figure who is commonly left out of the story is the man who, when given free access to hundreds of pounds of high-quality East India Company tea, did the natural thing and stuffed his coat pockets full of the leaves. Once the band noticed, they lightened him of his spiced load and proceeded to tar and feather him. Note to self: Don't try to get sly with crazed, caffeine-deprived white men dressed as Native Americans.

The Americans in Boston had actually been boycotting British tea since 1770, but we at Pour Jons advocate drinking as much British and Indian tea as possible. Sometimes to the point of excess.

In honor of our addiction, this weekend (April 27-29), get a large pot for the price of a small pot if you mention the blog! Come do it! By the way, the tea dumped into the harbor was neither British nor Indian, it was likely a Chinese green tea.

Thanks for tuning in.

~P.J.

PJP: Back to the Grind

As the school year winds down, things are picking up here at Pour Jon's. We've had several new developments in the last few weeks that you should really come check out if you haven't already.

First of all, we'd like to celebrate the success of our birthday party event. You may have noticed that we painted over the walls to start fresh, but we preserved some of our favorite drawings. Use this as incentive to put something really remarkable up there! We also had tons of great music all day. It's much nicer to make coffee in a crowded, happy store.

We will not be serving milk at the wake.
All are welcome to attend.

Next, we've expanded our drinks menu. Milkshakes, though they have served us as faithful companions, are a dying trend. 
The replacements are both healthier and a bit more interesting in flavor. Tealights are basically tea smoothies, combining tea, cream, and fresh fruit in a delicious iced combo. A Coffee Blitz resembles its name: lots of coffee, chocolate, ice, and flavor, right in the mouth hole.
I suppose it's time to officially let the Indian cat out of the bag about our Chai Lattes, as well. It's not as super sweet anymore because we're making it with real Chai tea instead of concentrate. It's less sugar, more spice and flavor, and way classy.

As for other news, we have a NEW GRINDER! Aside from improving the speed at which we're able to make drinks, this awesome improvement makes our espresso tastier, too.

We'd like to thank Barbara Taylor for mentioning us in her appraisal of downtown Siloam. Check her blog out right here. She starts and co-runs Synergy Business Services, a NWA business brokerage service.

To keep things fresh, take 50 cents off one of the three new drinks we've mentioned in the blog today through Friday. Come in and enjoy a hot or cold cup of joy!

~P.J.

What's in the Water: Penny for your Thoughts?

"But, mister, if mass-produced coffee
tastes so bad, why do people still
drink it?"
No one knows, Timmy.

If you've ever wondered, "why are coffee and tea British drinks even though they have a climate perfectly unfit for growing tea which is a pine evergreen or coffee which is a tropical cherry tree?" seek help. Or a degree in botany. But, as part of your course training, read this article!

Coffee and tea became popular in Britain entirely from the Imperial expansionism in the 17th century. They did not need to produce what modern trade routes allowed them to import.

So, what happens when you have a bunch of wealthy traders who have too much free time and don't have to grow their own gourmet beverages? They drink those beverages in snooty clothes and talk about snooty things.

In all seriousness, though, this was the reason for the rise of the coffee shop as the center of intellectual debate during the Enlightenment. Coffee shops were nicknamed "Penny Universities", where men could pay a penny to get in to the shop and get a cup of black murk. All men were equal here, status was disregarded within shops and men of different status could debate intellectual issues as well as discuss politics. Thus started the trend where everybody has an opinion about everything, still present today.

These coffee shops even became popular in the colonies. Pilgrims were famous for bringing coffee over with them at first. Their bread was so stale and full of bugs that they dipped the bread in coffee to soften it and wash the bugs out. Plus, it put some bonus protein in the coffee.

There are debates about this, but apparently women hated coffee during this point in history. They were not welcome in the debate over politics, and some women even began coalitions to stop the consumption of coffee, blaming it on the declining birthrate. Yes, that's right, women thought coffee makes you sterile. On the contrary, men thought it makes you sound smarter. They were both wrong.

Either way, eventually the Penny Universities declined, owing mostly to the rise of tea, which is simpler to make and drink, and to the unstoppable desire of men to feel more important than one another. the higher class, it seems, did not enjoy sharing ideas with those of lower status, or respecting theirs in return. The coffee shop would not see equal popularity until the rise of the middle class, I suppose.

Oh well. The 19th century just missed out, I guess.

News update:
We now offer daily barista specials. These are on the chalkboard by the tea. All barista specials are discounted, so enjoy! And don't forget the birthday party next Saturday. Come perform!

~P.J.

PJP: Birthday ParTAY

So, one year ago (or something like that) we opened our doors with an espresso machine, a couple of chairs, and a lot of hopes and dreams. And, a year later, it's all pretty much still there. I mean, we got a blender, and we have this awesome community that supports us, but the appearance hasn't changed all that much.

It's been fun. We've been absorbed into Siloam. People from all over have signed our walls, drank out coffee, shared our joy, and been enriched. To celebrate the great gift it has been to be a part of the Siloam Springs community, we're throwing a birthday party for ourselves, like any spoiled rich kid.

March 31, show up any time of day for fun, games, discounts, prizes, and performances. We are really trying to fill the stage almost all day long, especially after noon. Please, get people to come share poetry, music, prose, or whatever. We want to express the great tapestry of people that are Pour Jons' customers.

More specific details will be emerging later, but until then, set your calendar for that Saturday, swing by, and hang out. Here's to another year of coffee and fellowship!

What's In The Water: Famous Beverage Crimes 1

Technical difficulties have caused this to post on the wrong day two separate times now. The next post will be this Friday, as is within my power.

We are well aware of the fact that the first thing people think when they walk in Pour Jons is, "How can I use my drink to take over the world?" Unfortunately, the track record for crimes using tea and coffee is not in your favor. Pour Jons employees are highly trained in beverage counter-espionage, but we're going to share with you some of our course materials today. Let's look at a famous case of scalding drink scandals.

McDonald's Black Brew


I'm sure you've all heard this hackneyed example of everything wrong with the justice system:

A woman gets a cup of coffee to go, and while she is driving she spills it and burns herself. She then sues McDonald's for everything they're worth because their coffee shouldn't be so hot. In the process, she walks away with millions in damages all because the upholstery on her snazzy Lexus got stained.

If that were true, it would indeed be a lame story about America. The truth is a little more palatable, however. In reality, the woman suffered third-degree burns over a fifth of her body, she was not driving the car at the time, and had to be hospitalized for a week. She sued to cover her medical costs and was awarded a grand total of $640,000. To put it even more in perspective, the court only awarded her this much to compensate for the fact that over 250,000 other similar complaints had been filed, including numerous reports of third-degree burns, and ignored by McDonald's corporate.

They were brewing and serving their coffee at 190 degrees because an "expert" had told them that it would preserve the taste better to keep it at that temperature. 190 degrees will give you a nasty burn.

Here's the problem.

Bad Coffee: Inspiration for Pirate Flags

Coffee is indeed best when brewed between 190-200 degrees. But if you then continue to cook it at that temperature after it is brewed, you sizzle and fry and murder all the lovely little flavors in it. This is why coffee you've left in the pot on the burner all morning never tastes good with lunch. Admit it, you've all done that at some point. McDonald's was facing lawsuits out of a misguided and desperate attempt to make their coffee taste better.

We do admit, they need all the help they can get. This is also why Pour Jons will always brew coffee when it is ordered. If we don't take the time, it just tastes bad. And then we end up burning women.


I was going to discuss another famous beverage crime today, but this one took up a bunch of space, so I'll save it for next week.

In other news, This week get a dollar off a pour over if you make a snooty comment about how you prefer your coffee brewed at exactly 193.7 degrees.


Drink up, me hearties!

~P.J.

PJP: Teas on High Altitude Horizontal Shelf-like Receptacles

So, we have recently expanded our tea selection, as you may have noticed.

We have 5 new teas in stock, of which I have tried 3. This also allows us to now offer rare luxury teas. These 2 teas, appropriately named Top Shelf Teas, cost a little more than you'd usually invest in a cup of tea. However, we think it's worth the extra stretch.

The new Top Shelf Teas:

Silver rain white tea:
I'm currently sipping on an iced white tea and enjoying it thoroughly. It has very mild tones, so don't drink it with food. Its flavor is nutty with a warm honey tone in the back of your mouth.

Imperial Jasmine Pearls:
This tea has everything you love about jasmine with no regrets. Extremely rosy and delicate.

The rest of the new teas:

Sencha Kyoto green tea:
I requested this particular leaf. After spending a fair deal of time in Japan, I came to love the tangy, dry green tea they drink at ALL times.

Cedarburg Organic:
This tea is an unadulterated rooibos tea. It has an earthy honey flavor. Great as a tea latte, an iced tea, or a hot cup.

Lapsang Souchong Black tea:
Having already acquired a fair amount of fame, this tea is famously known as the "hickory campfire" tea. Close your eyes, take a sip, and imagine you're drinking a campfire. In a good way. As the label says, ask for some lemon with this tea for a superb, complex taste.

Now that you know more about our new teas than you ever needed to, come try some! Enjoy a hot drink while the cool season is still with us.

~B.L. @ Pour Jons

Fridays: Big Beans

Big Ones, Small Ones, Some as Big as your Head!


I bet you have that song stuck in your head now.

Obviously, all coffee plants are not the same. The only mass-produced plant that is genetically identical is actually bananas.

Coffee beans vary in a lot of ways, some relating to flavor, but a lot just relating to appearance. Let's take a look at some of the common varietals (different breeds, basically) of Coffea Arabica, the standard bean for all gourmet coffees.

Regular ol' Arabica

This is the standard varietal of Arabica. Beans such as Blue Mountain, Bourbon, or Typica all look like this. Pour Jons has beans that look like this, but we have 4 different varieties of bean based on the region they are from.

Elephant Beans

Known as "Maragogype", these are just big. These beans are known for their smooth flavor, but the trees they grow on produce a small annual yield, so they are more expensive.

Peaberries

It's hard to tell the difference between these and typica beans, but these beans are known as Peaberries. Most coffee cherries have 2 coffee beans in them, but peaberries occur when only one bean grows in the cherry. They look lumpy and stunted, and usually possess spicy and complex flavors. Our Ethiopian and Tanzanian beans are occasionally peaberries.




This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are 20 or 30 major varieties of one plant, Coffea Arabica, in addition to another 5 or 10 varieties of a plant that we haven't talked about, Coffea Canephora. If you want to be blown away by the vast amount of ways to grow coffee, just look at the Wikipedia article.

This weekend at Pour Jons, buy a house Americano and get a free refill of a different bean. Try something new!

~P.J.

PJP: Direct Trade vs. Fair Trade

The World of Coffee is The World

Surprise! Today's world is global in a way that it never has been before. And no, not just because of the internet.

Do you realize how spoiled we are that, for a couple of bucks, we can brew a cup of coffee from beans that were grown in any of the four corners of the planet? Our house blend, the Guatemalan Quiche, comes from a farm approximately 2110 miles away, as the car drives.  (Props to Google Maps for that one). And that's the closest one. Yet, we get the coffee within the season it's grown and within 2 days of it being roasted.

See? Spoiled.

But, the location of the plant is rarely a concern of the consumer, which makes sense. I'm not saying you should go thank the plant that birthed your lovely liquid. That would be weird. But, if we appreciate the quality and time put into the cup before us, it is certainly appropriate that the people who worked for its production are also appreciated.

money + work + shipping = drinks + money

New tutoring program at Pour Jons...

You'd think that coffee growing would be lucrative. I mean, the land required for it is pretty pricey. It has to be at high altitude, in a specific climate, with tons of rainfall that can potentially fail from year-to-year, pest free. Coffee farms with modern technology have massive startup cost.

Unfortunately, some coffee farmers are in poverty.

Coffee buyers exploit them. See, even though coffee is a global drink, coffee farmers are not always globally connected. They sell their coffee to whoever comes to get it because they don't have the money to mill and ship it. Buyers will go to farms who have few connections to other buyers and rip them off, then sell the coffee at a marked-up price.

Two recent trends have attempted to fight this injustice: Fair Trade and Direct Trade.

Fair Trade


Starting in Brazil, the Fair Trade Labeling Organization has sought to ensure fair profits for growers of various products including coffee. Fair trade will buy coffee from farmers, and every few years sign a contract ensuring a certain minimum price for their product. This gives them a guaranteed fair profit even during years with a weak market.

This flipside is, fair trade installs a maximum price for the product as well to ensure they keep enough money to guarantee the minimum price.

So, a cooperative of farms sign a joint contract for a minimum price, and fair trade inspectors regularly visit to make sure certain standards of ethics and production value are being met, and the farms are guaranteed not to be ripped off.


Direct Trade

Direct trade is a more recent phenomenon that has slightly different values than fair trade. Direct trade is led by individual coffee groups, such as Intelligentsia or Counter Culture Coffee. These groups have personal one-to-one relationships with their growers, and often offer prices around 25% higher than Fair Trade's minimum. The goal is to eliminate as many middlemen as possible between growers and coffee shops.

While Direct Trade often is more lucrative for farmers, there is less assurance of quality product on the consumer's side. Fair trade has a large network of inspections and contracts, while direct trade can only offer consumers their guarantee that the product is grown and roasted well. This is usually not an issue because roasters like Intelligentsia have been setting standards for quality coffee.

What is Pour Jons?


Pour Jons is a direct trade buyer through Airship Coffee in Bentonville. Airship has personal relationships with all of their growers in Guatemala, Brazil, and even Ethiopia.

While Fair Trade does provide a safe haven for exploited growers, Pour Jons supports the Direct Trade policies of Airship that seek quality farmers and reward them for their ethical dedication to quality coffee. We also are guaranteed of their quality because their coffee tastes darn good.

Know that every cup of coffee you drink at Pour Jons supports some awesome growers who get the value of their efforts fairly given back to them.

Mention the blog and get 10% off whole bean coffee through Friday!

Friday: Teas Tease T's Tees

The two spectrums of drinks we deal with here are coffee and tea. They're kind of the standards for any sort of gourmet drinks place. Fact of the day: even though we live in a dry country, both coffee and tea are fermented drinks.

But really, coffee and tea are separate monsters.

Hide your children.

While coffee is technically the more "complicated" drink, including the diversity of brew processes and drink mixtures, tea has a much older history, a wider diversity of drinkers, and a larger number of species.

In fact, the number of things that can be referred to as "Tea" is staggering. Herbs, rooibos, matcha, oolong, pu-erh, and all sorts of foreign names fall into the category. The real similarity between them is that they all are brewed in a teapot.

Here are some fun facts about tea:

- Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world aside from water

- On any given day, 1 in 2 people in America drink tea

- Loose leaf tea (like we use here at PJs) accounts for only about 5% of the total consumption of tea in USA. The rest of it is majority tea bags and premade stuff (like those diet citrus green tea bottles and Arizona tea)

- Green, Black, Oolong, and white teas come from an evergreen named Camellia sinensis

But, what's the real difference between different types? I'm not going to list all the characteristics of every kind because I want YOU to figure it out with your greatest weapon against the diversity of teas: your taste buds. Come in and try the black Ginger Peach tea, then try the Red Ginger Peach and see the difference.

One thing you might notice is that different teas take different brewing times. This is because with certain levels of development, tea leaves take longer to give off their flavor into the water. Herbal teas, which don't have tea leaves, take even longer.  There are also different temperatures that are ideal for teas to be brewed at, based on the type of leaves. Green and white leaves, which are younger when plucked, are more sensitive and will fry (i.e. taste bad) at high temperatures.

Now, I have just made what seems like a simple process - hot water and leaves - extremely complicated. But fear not. One of the best things about tea (that is not true about coffee) is that the best way to brew it is the way you like to drink it. Want it strong? Leave it in longer.

There are so many ways to try tea, I would bet someone else's money that there is nobody who can't find a tea they don't like. Another reason that coffee/tea culture has grown so well is that it appeals to such a wide audience.

The Tea Association of the USA published a report showing that nearly 3 billion gallons of tea were consumed in 2010. This is a good sign, since tea is beneficial for hydration and overall health.

Let's see if Pour Jons can boost that total! We offer over 50 kinds of tea. For the rest of the weekend, mention the blog and get $1 off a pot of tea if it's a type of tea you've never tried before.

Drink up, me hearties!

PJP: Pour Jons and the Caper of the Green Sea Witch

How does Pour Jons feel about Starbucks? This is a question we get asked quite a bit. Let me illustrate with a personal story.


The Two Falls

My wife and I took our honeymooner trip to Kauai, HI. It's a small island in the northwest of the archipelago. One of the best things about the trip was the amount of free time combined with the unrestricted access to miles of wild nature.

One day, we decided to visit a beach a bit off the beaten track that required a 2-mile hike to reach. Counting the 2 miles back, that's 4 miles. Not too bad. Once we arrived at said beach, we noticed a sign guiding us inland that led to a 300-foot waterfall. This sounded enticing. It was, after all, only another 2 miles.

About a mile towards this hidden waterfall, we realized that we were dramatically understocked on water for what was now an 8-mile hike. But, stubborn as I was, we pressed on. This ended quite painfully; I had to beg water off a couple of strangers we ran into, the water at the falls was undrinkable, there were no bathrooms, and we got soaked walking upriver.

Despite all this, the waterfall was breathtaking. See for yourself.

The picture doesn't give the full sense of it, though. The sounds of water crashing, the freezing water at the foot, the smell of the land around us during the walk, and the people we encountered made the trip to the waterfall a powerful experience, despite the strain it put on my new marriage.

Now, at the same time, we had a little waterfall in our hotel complex. It was nice to watch and listen to while we sat in the hot tub.

The Two Brews

I'm not saying the comparison between us and Starbucks is as stark as the two waterfalls. I am saying that our approach to coffee is. As one Pour Jons employee puts it, Starbucks, although it has dramatically increased the popularity of gourmet coffee in America, has lost the sense of the beauty of coffee.

I could list all the differences between us and them, but the biggest one is this:
Their goal is to give a consistent menu of the same drinks in every location.
Our goal is to give consistently good value in the time and personal attention we give to each drink and each person.

It's going to take us a couple minutes more to make your drink. Ours is not going to have as many pumps of syrup in it. You probably won't have a name on your paper cup, unless you ask for it. But golly gee willakers, at Pour Jons your drink is made by a barista and not by an espresso machine.

The way our menu is designed reflects what has historically been considered the ideal way to brew coffee: taking a little extra time to do things precisely and intentionally. We won't use sugar to cover up bad flavor. The coffee bean has all the good stuff and we just try not to get in the way.

Sure, the way we do coffee introduces some challenging flavors if you've stuck with that Caramel Macchiato all these years. But I guarantee that if you go out of your way to try something that challenges you a little bit, you'll rise to the occasion. Pretty soon you'll be looking in a cup filled with straight espresso and wonder how you got there. Or you'll have that new tea and ask why you hadn't tried it before. Or maybe you'll stick with your old favorite. We just hope you go out of your way to come to Pour Jons for a drink worth the extra effort.

And, if you're lucky like me, you'll have a companion bold enough to go with you on the trip.

~B.L. @ Pour Jons

What's In The Water: Coffee

The Fabulous and Mysterious History of Coffee: Part I

Now, we all know that coffee hasn't been around forever. There can't have been coffee in the Dark Ages because, if there were, what would people have been so depressed about? Coffee shops are common things now, but in America they're fairly recent.

 Coffee beans are cherry pits. No, really.

Coffee is an OLD plant. There are even some theories that certain passages in the Bible refer to people drinking coffee. All the average joe really seems to know is that coffee comes from somewhere around the Garden of Eden. But, when did people really start drinking it?

One of the kooky legends that seems to stick around is that of Kaldi and his goats.

Kaldi


Kaldi was a goatherd. Like a shepherd, but with better facial hair. He'd let his goats out to pasture, let them graze, and then bring them back at the end of the day.

Boogie down

One day, Kaldi let his goats out, as usual. However, when he went to bring them back to the stable, he couldn't find them. He searched and searched, and eventually found them among some bushes. Oddly enough, they were not just grazing, they were dancing. Dubstep, swing, you name it.

He noticed that the crazed goats were eating the red fruits of a dark bush. He was so tired and hungry that he decided to join them in their feast, which perked him up quite a bit, and he started dancing with them.

There are several variations on the story. In one, the goats kick the berries into a fire, which roasts them with a delicious smell. In another, a monk comes upon the dancers and decides to take some coffee with him. Either way, I know the question you're all thinking: Why isn't there more dancing in coffee shops? I don't have an answer for you.

The Real Origin of Coffee


As for the reality, no one is quite sure. The coffee plant itself was first widely consumed in what is now Yemen. It's the country on the end of the same peninsula that Saudi Arabia is on. There was widespread consumption there by the 5th century A.D. (or C.E. for you history purists), but coffee was consumed all over the place by the 15th century.

The interesting thing is, the Yemenites (Yemenis, Yemenos, Yemens,  you pick) didn't want other people to grow coffee. They wanted all coffee to come from them. Coffee beans are seeds of the coffee plant, and you can see them growing in the photo at the top. But they become infertile if you remove the cherry from around them. So, the Yemenites would remove the beans from the cherries and ship them that way, so that no one could steal the plant.

The next stage in the history of coffee is about how the rest of the world stole coffee from Arabia, because they needed their caffeine fix THAT badly.

Pour Jons regularly carries coffee from Ethiopia, which is right across the Red Sea from Yemen. Come in and try a cup this weekend!

Pour Jons Q&A


Make up a myth or story about the origin of coffee and post it in the comments section. The most creative gets a buy one-get one free coupon! Entries will be accepted until Sunday at midnight.

~Pour Jons

Welcome to the Pour Jons Blog

Well, we've carved out our stake in Internet Land, and we're placing down our flag.
This is the blog for the store Pour Jons Coffee and Tea in Northwest Arkansas.

We let people walk all over us.

We don't just want to make you drink coffee in Siloam Springs. We want to foster a community that is excited about coffee culture. For the last four to five centuries, coffee, tea, and other gourmet drinks have been the source of more conversation than hydration. When you get that warm cup in your hand, you're engaged, cozy, and ready to throw around some ideas.

We don't want to be Wikipedia. You don't need to know all the latest coffee facts to participate here. We believe that drinks in a comfortable environment bring people together. And if understanding coffee helps us engage people better, we want to understand coffee.

So, join us. Ask questions. Look at coffee over the years. Try something new when you come in. Make up a drink. Make a new acquaintance. And be enriched for the experience.

The Pour Jons blog will be updated 2 times a week, Mondays and Fridays.

Mondays are the "Pour Jons Press", or PJP for short. This will include special events, music, new drinks, and all about the excitement in the store. This post is the first PJP. Sometimes we might be giving away discounts. For instance, today through Thursday, we will give you a 15% discount on any drink you try as long as it's something you've never tried before. You have to mention the blog to get the discount, though.

Fridays are the "What's in the Water?" segment. This part will be all about coffee, tea, and any other drinks. Where do these drinks come from? Who makes them? How do we get them? We'll discuss brewing methods and the history of coffee (it's a pretty crazy story). This is especially the part where we want you to contribute!

We hope this blog is a useful resource for the community of Siloam Springs.

See you in the store!

~Pour Jons