Woke up early and did some hard core plating! Saw daddy off to work then some breakfast. No coffee in this house. So sad!

While Aidan napped I got some cleaning done....not much but some. Dishes, laundey and swept the patio (so much mud)

Headed to the bank after Aidan's morning nap....only to discover that all the paperwork was in. It was affle nice of them to not email me back and let me waste a trio into town. Not that town is that far off....

Since that was a bust we dropped off a soda to daddy then went to visit the new cafe in town.

Ciao Cafe. Interesting name to start. Hi cafe....anywho, interior decor is no different from the previous few cafes to rent this space. I'd almost go as far as to say all the seating came with it. I don't get why the decor around here is lacking.

Plus, it was dirty. When we walked in there was only 1 couple seated and the single employee was doing nothing. After getting our order and going to sit I noticed hair on 1 table & food stuck to another. So hard to find good help!

They specialize in gelato which is cool. We have lots of ice cream around here but with my sensitive stomach I can't do a lot of it. Plus, affogato! However they are pricy. I considered offering affogatos in my cafe but wouldn't have come close to $6.50 a drink. Looking at their menu it's the full cost of their small gelato plus their dopio. You'd think they'd have a small discount. Like an al la cart menu. *shrug* One more rhing I'll have over the others.

Cafe note:  all tables will have a pitcher of ice water!

Now that we are back home it's time to play some then a nap so mommy can brush the dog and de-poop the yard!

Progress. Now some hand stitching.

Update:

All done with 2. Not sure how many I should make for market. Also, wee Aidan has been kicking and moving about the whole day. So incredibly nauseous.

So with all the nice hot sun I decided to brew some sun tea! I have here a traditional black tea and a raspberry green tea. Both can be purchased from Iron Shot Cafe. They will come loose in baggies or tins.

Aside from the awesome sun tea I went around the house and took down some of the closet doors. The one by the front door just blocks our tiny entry way. I really wish to blow out the wall but Dan doesn't even want to know what's in it! The one in the kids room is just pointless so it came down too. All their hardware is bagged up and put away and the doors themselves stored in the basement.

No gardening news since I didn't play outside. Though my cucumbers broke ground yesterday and the rest today! So Lots of cucumbers to go around. I might give them to coworkers or Heidi to sell at under Middle Earth Plants.

I've a few things to get ready for the farmers market this year. I'm crossing my fingers. A few signs and some packaging requirements. I want it to look presentable as well as be delicious. I would love to start selling my coffee soon but sadly that can't happen until I get a trailer. Anyone wish to donate?!!!!

Oh! I'll be making personalized cups soon! & cute cards that are all coffee/baking related for the market and online!

Sun teas in the making

This does happen. Now to make it easier to get on my cards.

Did some experimenting last night with my favorite chocolate cookie! Turned out great the first time!

Then this morning after rushing out of the house thinking I was late, only to turn around about 5 miles out once I realized I was an hr and a half early;  I baked orange cinnamon rolls and made myself a well deserved coconut milk latte!

Orange Cinnamon Rolls with Coconut Milk Latte 

Oreo truffles

Iron Shot Cafe: Campaigns 2017

I thought I'd try a new tactic with the new year. Two really.

The first is rewards for writing reviews.

Phase one I've started and is for all my coworkers who I know have tried/sampled most of my treats to date. If I can get 75% of them to write a review I will bake what they desire and bring it in for them to enjoy.

Phase two is to offer this to all my customers. I'm thinking a 20% coupon, good for my online store and/or the market booth.

The second campaign shall be "Refer a Friend". This is requiring a bit of research as to how I track the referrals. There are programs out there, all for a price, but just how effective are they? I could record it the old fashioned way [in excel].

Food for thought.

What do you do when you get a bad grind from your favorite coffee house? A whole bag mind you. Do you toss it? Use it some other way? Take it back?

Well this is the second time it's happened (so sad) so I felt wrong about taking it back. I did so some experimentation! Those who follow my Iron Shot Cafe know that espresso is amazing in my shortbread! However a fine grind make a surprisingly weak french press. So I took some of my courser ground beans & mixed it in a bowl one filter size at a time until I found a ration that extracted perfectly! Thankfully it only took 3 tries!

My ratio on my breville is 2 scoops (tbls) commercially ground espresso grind to 1 scoop drip grinds. Leaves just enough space for no pressure overload!

Sewing with salvaged espresso!

Georgia is loving this time of year! 

Follow Georgia on facebook

Follow Iron Shot Cafe on facebook & Instagram

I've had a busy couple of weeks! Firstly, let me just say that I finished the cbus 

coffee experience. At least the ones I was intetested in. I may eventually try the rest that aren't chains. I sent Dan off to get my shirt since he was close by. It's awesome! There are 2 I'll be visiting again.

I researched an old metal pot that was passed down to Dan and me. We thought it was a small foundry but it appears more like a glue pot. So no high heats!

Made a cold brew system for my business!

Some long over due mending.

More mending

My bike all taken apart to clean for our trip

Georgia chewing on shed

More adventures with coffee!

Starting the morning right!

 We started our adventure with one of my people bailing last minute, (grr) then the other showed up early with me still in my jammies (late start for me). Either way the plan was for Richie to ride one of our bikes to the meet up, which I totally thought was Mission Coffee but turns out I told Katay was Impero. >.> I'm getting old! In the end we were only a few min. late with Richie driving his car and Dan & I racing down 315! Chilly but fun and my bike didn't even register it's little spill with Richie!

(I guess once you fall on the Dragon nothing compares!)

Mission Co.  Richie's Latte

Mission Coffee:  I must say I liked this place a lot. They were normal people, if a wee bit hip, who clearly loved their trade and making people happy. The barista making my drink was willing to tell me all about his machine & let me watch his latte art. Though I think there was some teasing going on! He started on one side which I sidled over to, then he switched to the other side which I then sidled over to and teased him about trying to hide from me. Pouring my drink he asked I don't judge to harshly his soy art!

Anywho, rant over! Dan got the cold brew which sadly doesn't compare to our homemade version. I'm thinking they cut it with water. Katya got a scone! Seeing as her and Ben beat us they had lattes at Impero before walking over to Mission! Sadly I can't remember what Bennie boy got since I was just excited to have a posse around me again! ;3

Clearly my rant wasn't over! Ok so impression! I will come back! It's got the atmosphere of Fox in the Snow, a garage converted to cafe. Could use more seating but I'm loving the couch and windows. The double wide garage door was wide open letting in loads of sunshine (if it was mostly cloudy I don't care). Nifty concrete counter tops (must find out who made them) and clean feeling and looking! Plus busy but not to the point of not being able to move or find seats (only because Dan was watching out for us and as soon as 2 chicas got up he plopped down!)

Mission Coffee:  Cold Brew & the Sunday funnies!

Mission Co. Soy Macchiato, Bacon scone and lemon sparklie!  

Impero:  They had their glass jars of beans right out in front for me to inspect which lowered my expectations of my drink.... the beans mostly all had dark spots which indicates an uneven roast. Like wee burn spots. However, my macchiato from here was awesome! The espresso had a very distinct nutty taste that was quite pleasing. The latte that Dan got ... not so much. It was watery tasting nor could you really taste the espresso.

The inside of the cafe had minimal seating though it was a small space. Some bar seating up front was pretty cool. With the walls and flooring I compared it to Lawshea's which ... is kinda dirty feeling. Old and run down! I'll probably only come back if I'm in the mood for a nutty espresso.

Impero:  Latte

Impero:  & my butt shaped nutty macchiato .... in Gothie's cup!

One-Line:  Again super friendly staff willing to let me pick their brains! hm that makes me feel zombie-ish... Here I tried something new ... & strange. Espresso and tonic! o.O The bitter taste of espresso with the ... well sour taste of a citrus tonic. Each ok on their own but added together tasted kinda like Kombucha (thanks to Ben for translating my taste buds). Started out not bad but became increasingly hard to drink.

Dan got an Iced mocha this time. Again not impressed. Kinda chalky. Katya's honey latte ... now that was amazing! Orange blossom local honey with brown sugar and sage! Had to get that written down so I wouldn't forget. Gotta try making this bad drink at home! That would probably be the only reason I come back to this place.

One-Line:  Waiting on our order!

Stalker photo!

One-Line:  Espresso and Tonic

One-Line:  Iced Mocha

The Glorified Honey Latte!

One-Line:  I really gotta subscribe to some of these barista magazines! 

Stag by Calvin Ma

Ok so I've been trekking the Columbus Coffee Trail with a few friends. It's pretty fun! So far however, my favorite cafe's are one's I've already been to.

My first trip was with Katya and Dan on June 12th. We picked up Katya and rode to Fox in the Snow for breakfast as we'd all be to Luck Bros many times. Then we headed to Luck Bros to say hi to my girl Heidi!

Fox in the Snow:  Saw these babies in the 614 magazine. The atmosphere is pretty cool but way to busy for my tastes. The food .... omg if only I could make scones like that! Moist and so tender inside with a wicked crunchie outside! *sigh* The espresso's not bad here either so I've frequented a number of times before I realized they were one of the stops. Then I made them sign my card!

Their logo has to be my favorite as I love foxes! >.< & the garage! So cool I knew my man would like it ... though he prefers the atmosphere of Luck Bros as well.

Luck Bros:  Andy is his own roaster and had it in the back of his store so one could watch him at work. It was fascinating. Now he has a warehouse with a new roaster and it's absence has made for new seating. The Kyoto style iced coffee is still on display!

His espresso changes with his experimentation but is always good. I drive out of my way just to buy his beans for my machine!

Luck Bros & Destination Donuts' Lavender Donut holes & Ethiopian Lattes!

After our little cafe hop we met the Russians at the river and did some wake skiing! My first time! It was great!

Finding some except-able music for the ride

June 18th's Breakfast @ Luck Bros before riding with the guys.

Cafe Brioso:  First impressions ... not the best. It was hot, we had ridden a ways in the sun, I wanted iced ... & I got told no! WTF! Her exact words were "do don't do that here" I gave her a blank face. Her "it changes the taste of or coffee" me "yes it makes it a bit bitter" her turn to give me a look. Next step as the guys are still trying to figure out what they want "ok, do you have soy or almond?" Her "we have almond ... but we just ran out" At this point I was really frustrated .... if not for the guys with me I would have walked out at "we don't do that here!" What customer service! *rolls eyes* So since they are so proud of their roast I decided on a dopio. I expected greatness! & the first sip didn't disappoint. It was thick, creamy and sweet .... the next ... sour as all get out.

Now the anatomy of a shot:  as soon as it's poured it begins to separate into these lovely layers with creme on top then the sweet then the bitter. So when one drinks it give it a swirl so they mix back up before sipping ..... That did not work for Cafe Brioso's shot.

That's all for now. The conclution so far .... I prefer the ones I found on my own to the 'new' ones from the Cbuscoffee.com!

I'll be hitting up 3 more this Sunday with my friends. Mission Coffee, Impero and One Line which I'm super excited about since Brother's Drakke uses their beans in their mead which is great!

Fox in the Snow June 12th. ICED dopio w/almond & cheddar scone. Cappuccino w/cream cheese & chives & a cinnamon roll that puts mine to shame! 

Espresso con panna & Luck Bros June 12th