First off, a new t shirt designed by artist Kris Chau.  They are American Apparel and are priced at $14

We have also made a onesie to celebrate the many new babies out there who come by the shop.  We have these in 6 – 12 months and 12 – 24 months.  They are american apparel and are priced at $12.

Lastly we have some exciting new chocolate bars from renown “bean to bar” producer Askinosie.  I’ll dedicate a post to this chocolate later, but be assured it’s delicious and totally transparent and sustainable.  These guys are the real deal in chocolate.  We are currently carrying a dark chocolate bar from Tanzania and a dark chocolate Fluer de Sel bar from the Philippines.  Bars are $8

Happy Holidays!

We look forward to starting up with the CSA again in late spring, and in the meantime, you can sign up for a Winter CSA Share to pick up at the home of our friend and neighbor around the corner.  This year for the first time, Lancaster Farm Fresh is continuing their CSA program through the winter months, and though Ultimo Coffee will not be participating as a pick-up site, you can keep the program in your neighborhood by signing up to pick up your share from our neighbor right around the corner on Hicks Street – you don’t even have to cross a street between here and there!

Click here to sign up (select Newbold – S. Hicks Street as your pickup site), and check out details about what is included on LFFC’s blog.  Note the deadline for signing up is JANUARY 6, so do it soon!

Note we will continue to be a pickup site for LFFC’s 4 Season Harvest buying club; through this amazing program, you can order fresh, local eggs, meat, milk, and many other pantry items and they will be delivered to Ultimo Coffee every Tuesday.  If you’re already a member, you can continue placing orders, and if you’re not, you can join!  The first delivery of 2012 will be on Tuesday, January 10 (orders for that day would be due on the previous Friday).  Check out details here.

• Saturday, December 24: 8am – 4pm
• Sunday, December 25: CLOSED
• Monday, December 26: CLOSED

So be sure to get your bags of coffee, mugs, t-shirts (check out the awesome new design!), chocolates, Chemexes, french presses, drippers, filters, gift cards, grinders, teapots before 4pm on Saturday!

*Note this refers just to the coffee portion of Brew/Ultimo Coffee – check with Brew to find out when you can buy beer over their holiday hours.

We will reopen on Tuesday at 7am with normal hours throughout the week and through the weekend of New Year celebrations.  We wish you all a wonderful and joyous holiday season; we are most grateful to know all of you and to be able to be serving coffee in Newbold!

In the early days of espresso preparation a barista “pulled” an espresso.  This meant that they actually pulled on a lever arm on an espresso machine activating a spring that forced a column of water down through the coffee bed producing an espresso.  It operated like a giant plunger and the barista had the opportunity to control the descent of the plunger as it forced the water through the cake of coffee.  This barista was controlling the level of pressure exerted on the coffee and ultimately effecting the extraction (and the final taste) of the beverage.  The story goes that the best baristas knew the secrets of manipulating pressure to get the best flavors.  Some coffee people still believe that the best espresso comes from these early lever espresso machines in the hands of a skilled barista.

As of today and for the next few weeks Ultimo Coffee is in possession of the worlds first programable pressure profiling espresso machine.  For over a year now La Marzocco has had a manual version of this machine on the market, dubbed the Strada MP (manual paddle).  A marvel in its own right, it allows a barista to modulate brewing pressure with the manipulation of an activation paddle just like those early baristas did but with the benefit of modern engineering.  Like opening and closing a faucet, a barista can control the degree to which the machine allows water to flow through the coffee. This can be both the most amazing and most challenging thing in a busy espresso bar.  Though it grants a barista minute and complete control over brewing pressure it also requires complete attention and constant manipulation in order to create pressure profiles.  It is also very difficult to create the same exact profile twice.  The Strada EP (electric paddle), however, is a game changer:  This beauty allows for the programing of pressure cycles into the brewing process of an espresso.  It allows a barista to manipulate the espresso into giving up its most pleasant nuances by regulating and changing the pressure throughout the brewing process.  And its computerized brain allows you to repeat the same cycle again and again for consistency of profile and taste.  The unofficial word on the street is that there are currently four Strada EPs in existence in the world — two are in labs and two are in cafes.  As part of an east coast tour arranged by our friends at La Marzocco and Counter Culture Coffee Ultimo Coffee is proud to be one of those cafes.

Take the time in the next few weeks to come visit, check it out and join us in exploring this new frontier of espresso.  You’ll be glad you did.

Apollo 5.0 is a single-origin washed coffee from Sidama, Ethiopia: 100% organic Shilicho.

Another thing worth checking out is this comic about the current state of global coffee prices.  Its both informative and fun if not a little troubling.  If it looks familiar its because we posted it a couple months back, but figured it fit aptly with this post and piggy backs off of all of the news reports lately about rising coffee prices.

On the horizon is the return of the Kiryama Spritzer for this years Wheat Beer Festival (May 21) as well as the coming of some old favorites to the coffee menu including Finca Nueva Armenia and Finca El Puente!