“On the brink” is a place I’m not much good at. I cannot stand limbo and would prefer to just get on with things. Most often this has served me well, but occasionally it can get me into trouble.

The opening event for our Venice coffeebar was this past Friday and we are (ahem) on the brink of opening the store. The party overwhelmed all of us as the line to get in stretched to a block long. (I must say I am thrilled that this many people were curious enough to check things out.) In order to open, we need to pass our final inspections and the Department of Water and Power (it is ominous-sounding for good reason) needs to provide the necessary power. Exactly when this will be, no one can quite say. It’s soon, that’s for sure, but not soon enough. The last week or so has been absolutely infuriating for reasons that I will not disclose here. (Please ask me privately. If I have seemed a bit gruff, you now know why.) The crew for Venice looks to be spectacular and they appear ready to go. Check ‘em out at intelli.la.

There are a few other things on the brink. Stay tuned. It may be a bit. I think I can wait.

Our new crop Direct Trade coffees are now no longer on the brink. With El Machete, Panama and La Tortuga, Honduras both released and many more to shortly follow, they are off to an absolutely flying start, landing sooner and fresher than ever. We have begun importing our coffee ourselves and thus far it has gone swimmingly well. Not only are we guaranteeing our growers great prices for great coffees through our pioneering Direct Trade program, but importing and financing our coffee ourselves provides an even greater degree of transparency and logistical control that allows us to land carefully selected Direct Trade coffees months sooner than if we were using outside importers. This work ultimately delivers real seasonality to as reflected in our Intelligentsia In Season program.

What does this mean to you? You will see our new crop Direct Trade coffees landing months sooner than before. Roasters that are still reliant upon importers are in many cases still offering last year’s Centrals.

Intelligentsia Imports is another decisive step in the right direction.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Chicago, Coffee, Direct Trade, Los Angeles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.