Welcome to the lane that leads to the home of The Alpaca Bean Coffee Company. Looks relaxing doesn't it? There is a reason for that...it is! Especially, when you have an opportunity to walk around on a very pretty summer morning, sipping on a great mug of The Alpaca Bean Coffee! Enough of that...now to tell you why we are providing this "news" service.
We did not know how to tell you the straight up story concerning The Alpaca Bean any other way. We will give you a run down on how we got here, why we are driven to providing great coffee with great service, and with a smile to boot! We will then attempt to keep you up to date on differing topics revolving around the coffee world today...but first let's get started with the "how" of our existence...
My wife, Judy, and I got into the Alpaca Lifestyle back in 2002 (just in time for our first experience with tax adjustments), on December 30th...bought two alpacas, a female and a male. Now if we were doing the same thing today, we probably would have bought two pregnant females. In our case, that would have been a BIG MISTAKE! It turns out our guy is a maroon beauty and quite a stud muffin! His off spring are also turning out to be beautiful...so I guess I am saying, "You never know!"
After about a year and half, while riding around on my job at The University of Georgia, I had a great idea! As it turns out, when I got home Judy had come up with the same idea...start a coffee company called, The Alpaca Bean!!! Talk about spooky! Well, we decided to move ahead with the idea and to make sure we had a good roaster so that the coffees we chose would always be top notch..we chose Jittery Joes Roasting Company for a number of reasons (will cover them at a later time).
We then conducted a very indepth taste testing with testers from all over the U.S., Canada, and one Aussie! From this we narrowed the roasts and blends to a small number utilizing coffees imported from Peru and Bolivia. We specified that the coffee had to be free trade coffees, and naturally grown. With all the bases covered we held our first demo booth at the Palmetto Classic Alpaca Show in Clemson, S.C. What a Hit!!!
We have since expanded our offerings to include the Peruvian coffee bean being roasted to an espresso level and then covered with either milk or dark chocolate. We again did numerous taste tests to determine which chocolate would be used on this candy, since we really want everything we offer to be outstanding! We have a fantastic individual that hand coats the coffee beans and prepares them for market.
Soon we will be offering caps, shirts and other items with beautiful embroidery of one of our fantastic herdsires proudly displayed. Look for the offerings as they come out. You will be able to see them on our coffee shop site and at the many shows we attend.
Well, that is a quick and dirty version of the how...next we will cover the why...so, come back for more!
The Alpaca Coffee Man
PS: Soon we will add the wonderful voice of an up and coming country vocalist...just happens to be the daughter of two coffee bean pushers!
