I learned from my dad, you can never have enough tools. "there's a right tool for every job" he would say. My dad was a "jack of all trades" so I'm pretty sure he had ever tool known to man. You may know that guy, the person who has so many tools that there's no room in the garage for a car kind of guy. Tim "the tool man" Taylor comes to mind. You know, because tools! And there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to ALS. But I digress. I am excited to share SimpliHere with you because they're like another tool in the box! And when it comes to the fight against ALS, you can never have enough tools.

SimpliHere has created a mobile app that simplifies caregiving for those impacted by ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. And their mission of helping patients and families face the overwhelming nature of ALS, is so closely aligned with that of Joe's Brother Coffee, how could I say no? Supporting the fight against ALS is a key element in the mission of Joe's Brother Coffee. And as such, I am proud to share my recent connection and collaboration with SimpliHere. 
​
I had the honor of sharing my family's story of ALS, also known as Motor Neuron Disease, and how it gave birth to my little specialty coffee roasting business.

Discovering something new is always exciting! We're always on the lookout for unique and exciting single origin coffees and this Sumatra Gayo G1 is a unique single origin coffee. It's superb and captivating, and one of the world's most complex single-origin coffees. So when we discovered this amazing coffee we knew it had to be part of JBC. Usually it's spring time when our minds turn to the start of something new, new beginnings, progress, blossoming of new things, birth, and new life. But hey, this is Joe's Brother Coffee and we march to the beat of a different drum most of the time anyway. 

​The fall is equally full of adventure, new sights and sounds and smells, especially the aroma of a freshly brewed cup Sumatra coffee. Wrap yourself in a blanket or bulky sweater on a crisp fall day and sip a freshly brewed cup. Our Sumatra Gayo coffee is perfect for those days. It's earthy and smooth with a robust body. Inherent subtle flavors reminiscent of sweet pipe tobacco, woody-cedar undertones and warm maple sweetness in the finish and the boldness holds true even with a dash of cream.

Sticker shock is not uncommon when you first dip your toes into the world of specialty coffee, but fear not! Take a deep breath and relax a minute, you're just getting started. Not all specialty coffees are $27 a bag.

My mother always said "It never hurts to ask". So take my mother's advise and see how painless it really is.

Pretty exciting times here at Joe's Brother Coffee! 

In the continuing effort to bring cohesiveness and clarity to our brand, Joe's Brother Coffee is pleased to announce that we are introducing a new packaging label design for our Single Origin coffees, starting in March 2020. The new look will apply to all our single origin coffee varieties, so approximately 8 products within the Joe's Brother Coffee line of specialty coffees.

Being the owner of a small business requires a person to wear like 27 hats. A couple of those hats are marketing and social media manager. So in the spirit of "do it yourself or it won't get done", I've been learning how to use the video editor on my computer.

And, as always, when you buy Joe's Brother Coffee you are supporting the fight to find a treatment and a cure for ALS. Don't dawdle, get this deal before it's gone!

I've always loved cats since I was a kid. As an adult, I fell in love with coffee and coffee roasting. So, when I discovered this coffee felt like the heavens opened up and the angels sang the hallelujah chorus. Usually I'm not a fan of light roasts, but this one doe not disappoint! The light body is easy on the pallet, and the sweet nutty notes shine in the cup.

About the Honey Process
In the Honey process the mucilage of the coffee cherry, or coffee honey, that coats the parchment is left on during the drying stage. The coffee is picked, depulped and moved to patios (or african beds) where it stays at least one week. It remains on the patios to dry until it has reached the desired humidity. The Honey Process yields sweeter tasting coffees that are reminiscent of natural processed coffees. And, because of the shorter fermentation period the coffee acquires an acidity halfway between natural and washed coffees. In other words, the Honey process enables the production of coffees with some of the unique characteristics of natural processed coffee in less time and with lower risks of unexpected effects such as over-fermentation.

​The Beneficio San Diego Mill
Established in 1888 the Beneficio San Diego Mill is the oldest operating wet mill in Costa Rica. In addition to its rich history and experience San Diego maintains its position as one of the top three mills in Costa Rica. It is constantly innovating and introducing state of the art technology to help it produce better coffees. Beneficio San Diego takes pride in striving for ever increasing efficiency and quality standards, while working with producers to ensure good community relations and sustainable production for years to come. 

​I am thrilled to introduce a new coffee to Joe's Brother offerings. This amazing coffee comes from one of the largest coffee-growing regions of the world. 

Brazil Salmo has is sweet and complex, with notes of cocoa, raisin and strawberry. The expected bold body from the Cerrado region benefits from the addition of playful fruit notes from Sul de Minas.

ABOUT THIS MICRO-LOT OF COFFEE 
Salmo is a combination of coffees from five farms (fazendas) in two top-quality regions: Fazendas Lenheiros, Alcaan, Santa Barbara and Queixadas from Cerrado and Fazenda do Lobo from Sul de Minas.

Shopping online shouldn't be a hassle!

​That's why we redesigned our online store! We've added beautiful clean product images and full descriptions to make decision making easier. 

Best of all, there's no more leaving our website to view products and make a purchase. It is all integrated into our website, including shopping cart and safe-secure checkout! Please take a moment to check it out and let us know your thoughts!

​Visit our online store at http://www.joesbrothercoffee.com/shop

Visit our Causes we support page to learn about where Joe's Brother Coffee donates to help end ALS.

You can help spread awareness of ALS by sharing these pictures on your favorite social media platform, emailing them to a freind or post them in your own blog or website.

Try using these ALS awareness hashtags when you post or comment in news stories, blogs, and social media websites. They help bring attention to the disease and also make searching online easier to find information and events involving ALS research.

#ALS #every90minutes #KissMyALS #RideForLife #StrikeOutALS #ALSIceBucketChallenge #EndALS #FightALS #IceBucketChallenge
#DefeattheBeast #ALSsucks

Also, please take a few moments to check out who Joe's Brother Coffee supports by visiting our Causes We Support page. Then visit their websites to make a donation that will show you care, and want to see this disease come to an end.

Share some hashtags you use to spread awareness of ALS in the comments below.

It's finally here! Our latest design for coffee lovers and lovers in general. Peace Love & Coffee graphic Tee designed by Joe's Brother himself. It's on Pre-order sale for the next 2 weeks. Sale ends Oct 12th, 2015. Currently available in Dark Chocolate and Heather Purple with complimentary ink colors. Get yours before the sale is over! Save 18%! Use Discount code: PREORDER when you check out.

Ok, so "Royalty" was a bit of a stretch, but it sounds good doesn't it? But seriously, in my continued effort to be as transparent as I can, I'd like to introduce you to our coffee importer. We could get our coffee beans from any number of the hundreds of importers and re-sellers in the US, but Joe's Brother Coffee is proud to say we import our coffee through Royal Coffee.

If I could make the trips to all the different coffee growing countries I would, but since I can't I need an importer I can trust to bring back the best beans available. I won't put my name on a anything unless I know I'm giving you the best quality and value possible. Because of Royal Coffee, I can guarantee you are getting the best. 

Even though it will likely be about a week or so before we get our new roaster, like a kid at Christmas time, I couldn't wait to try out my new bag stamps! I guess even with a simple thing like a rubber stamp, there is a learning curve. My hands were a little shakey when applying the red Colombian stamp. Too much coffee maybe? Nah, couldn't be!

I like the idea of using stamps, as apposed to pre-printed labels or the hugely expensive pre-printed bags, because they are much more Eco-friendly and they go great with our biodegradable & compost-able coffee bags perfectly. Plus, they just look cool!

Notice your Roast Date is prominently printed right below the coffee variety name? This insures you always know exactly when your coffee was roasted, so you know it's truly fresh. No guesswork!

I would love to hear your thoughts on our bag and stamp choice!

Close your eyes and imagine, can you smell the fresh roasted coffee? 

Woot Woot! Yes, I'm very excited. It's been many months in planning and planning and more planning. But all the planning in the world doesn't do much good without the money to back it up. Now we have that taken care of, so if things continue to go according to plan, we should be roasting our own coffee by the end of this month!

Roasting our own coffee is very exciting but we also have many other plans in the works for the future. I wish I could tell you about them now, but I haven't had good luck with that sort of thing. So I'll keep it to myself until it's sure thing, that way I don't have to explain why it didn't happen. But just know it's going to be great!


So for now, I'll say THANK YOU to all my friends and family who have bee so encouraging and helping me keep the dream alive!

Genervon will be meeting with the FDA in February to make a potentially life-changing request on behalf of the ALS community; they plan to ask the FDA to promote GM604 to the Accelerated Approval Program with Post-Marketing Phase 4 Requirements, so all ALS patients can have legal access to GM604 now.

I believe coffee should do more than just taste good. It should DO good!

Just a few of my driving principles are as follows:

• Source high quality green coffee and deliver it fresh roasted to customers in Grand Rapids and throughout the U.S..

• Build, support and foster sustainable relationships with our suppliers, customers, communities and the environment.
  
• Develop relationships with community organizations who care support services for the needy and the suffering in our community, like the ALS Michigan Chapter and others.

My brother Joe was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in March of 2012 and passed away less than 6 months later, leaving behind his wife and 3 young girls. We also lost our father to ALS 15 years before that in 1997. ALS is a vicious disease that not only devastates your body, it can also be economically devastating, leaving a family without a provider, mounting medical bills, mortgages unpaid and more. Through Joe's Brother Coffee you can make a real difference in people's lives right here in Michigan. Make coffee do good.

Sourcing the finest quality coffee beans and paying coffee farmers the best prices for their coffee is noble, responsible, and respectable, but it's not enough, I needed to do more! This is why I started Joe's Brother Coffee, we can do more together! We can do right by the coffee farmer and do right by our families, friends and neighbors right here in our own backyard.

When you buy any Joe's Brother Coffee product, you are getting more than just the finest and freshest coffee around, you are supporting the important work done by ALS Michigan Chapter who provides care services to people living with ALS.

A cup isn't much by it's self, but it can go a long way when you put it together with many others. Time and again, we have seen people do extraordinary things with few resources. Joe's Brother Coffee means to do the same by touching as many people as possible, one cup at a time. So when you drink Joe's Brother Coffee, you're helping every day.

Make coffee. Do good!
Joe's Brother, Steven

Think your coffee tastes extra bitter today? You may want to switch mugs.

The color of your cup may be affecting the taste of your morning brew, says a new study released in the online journal Flavour.

The idea for the study was inspired by a barista who overheard customers claiming they thought coffee drunk from a white mug tasted more bitter than drinking from a clear glass container. Researchers conducted a series of experiments where participants drank coffee from white, clear and blue mugs and were then asked to analyze taste.

The study found that coffee drunk from a white cup tastes “significantly more intense”—aka less sweet and more bitter—than drinking from a clear or blue mug.

The reason?

Humans tend to associate color with flavor and white is associated with bitterness. The brown color of the coffee “contrasts” significantly with a white drinking apparatus. Conversely, drinking from a clear cup enhances a drink’s “perceived sweetness.” Blue mugs apparently amplify both sweetness and bitterness, so the brew just tastes stronger overall.

The researchers claim their findings on mug color should “be considered by those serving coffee as it can influence the consumer’s multisensory coffee drinking experience.



The original article can be found here: http://www.flavourjournal.com/content/3/1/10

Had to share this great graphic. Found at Coaltown Coffee Roasters in the UK

Make your own Peanut Butter Honey Latte If you want a coffee with all the warmth and cuddliness of a teddy bear, then this one's for you my friend.

This recipe has my favorite ingredients, peanut butter, honey and coffee, so I just had to share it.