KORALEE COFFEE

NEW HOME FOR KORALEE COFFEE

2011-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

Koralee Coffee can now be found year round at Chesterfield Farmers Market located in the Chesterfield Towne Center, across from Coldwater Creek. We have our great Indonesian Coffee fresh brewed by the cup, hot or iced; hot or iced tea; hot chocolate; cold soda and water, juice boxes and of course our bags of coffee and cans of tea. Stop by before you begin your shopping and get a drink to take with you or stay and visit awhile.

Christmas 2011 - Birth of a New Tradition

2011-11-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

Check out the Birth of a New Tradition on our sister blog at www.chesterfieldfarmersmarket.blogspot.com and come visit us at the new indoor producer only Farmers Market located in the Chesterfield Towne Center across from Coldwater Creek. We open on Thursday, December 1. We are open from 10 to 6 Tuesday through Saturday. This is a new adventure that we are all very excited about. You can now get your baked goods, donuts, meat, eggs, cheese, fresh produce (in season), plants, wine, coffee and so much more in a climate controlled area five days a week.
Bring your market bags, walk around and visit with the vendors, have a glass of wine at the wine bar or a cup of coffee or tea with us, sit a while at the book swap and enjoy this concept of buying local and supporting the farmers and local artists.
See you soon.

Alan's Corner

2011-11-17T13:35:00.000-05:00

After two very wet days tomorrow is forecast to be dry and sunny but cold, so wrap up warm and come along to the Chesterfield Farmer's Market for the Christmas event, 9 am until 2 pm. Fresh brewed coffee and hot chocolate will be available. Tomorrow we are brewing two coffees, one medium roast and one dark roast, they are:

Medium Roast: this will be from the Indonesian Island of Flores located to the East of Bali. The coffee is very low in acid and clean on the palette. The coffee trees were originally brought there by the Portuguese Over time the villagers have grafted stock from Java to produce a hybrid Arabica. The Flores Arabica shares both body and cupping characteristics from Java and East Timor. It is 100% organic.

Dark roast: This is Java Estate which comes from an estate near Semerang in central Java. The estate is privately owned and the quality program employed results in the cleanest bean Merdeka have ever seen. Perfection pre-roast often does not translate into the perfect cup, but in this case the results are indeed excellent.

The Chesterfield Market will hold it's last outdoor market on Friday 25th November. However the Market will continue at an indoor site in the the Chesterfield Towne Center Mall. The location is opposite the Coldwater Creek store and will open on Thursday 1st December. The Market will then continue every Thurs/Fri/Sat year round.The opening hours are 10 am to 6 pm.

The soccer scene has been relatively quiet the past two weeks as all league programs were closed due to most countries being involved in International friendly matches. This coming Saturday business resumes as normal with some interesting matches in the schedule. More next week.

We look forward to seeing you at the Christmas market tomorrow.

Farmers Market becomes year round Indoor Market

2011-11-05T17:55:00.000-04:00

The Chesterfield Farmer's Market currently located in the parking lot of the Chesterfield Towne Center is moving. On Dec 1, they will move into the mall as the first permanent, year round indoor Farmer's Market. Koralee will be there with our great Indonesian Coffee. Stop by any time Tues-Saturday for a great cup of coffee while you are shopping. Take home a dozen free range fresh farm eggs, meat, baked goods, cheese and all the wonderful locally grown/produced/made items that you usually pick up at a Farmer's Market.

Don't forget the Chesterfield Farmers Market Christmas Market on Nov 18th. A great day to pick up some great Christmas gifts and a chance to win several nice items donated by local businesses in the area. See the complete details on www.chesterfieldfarmersmarket.blogspot.com

Thank you for shopping locally.

Alan's Corner

2011-10-27T15:36:00.000-04:00

It is a beautiful day today, temperature in the high 70's, but overnight the temperature will plummet and we have cold days forecast for Friday and Saturday. What better way to keep warm than to drink a nice cup(or two) of Koralee/Merdeka coffee. This week we are brewing a Breakfast Blend and a dark roast from the Mandehling region of Sumatra.

Breakfast Blend--This coffee is a blend of 3 different Indonesian origins. Hugely popular in the Hotel Industry whose buyers claim that consumer demand for this coffee is increasing all the time. The coffee has a lighter body, yet quite distinctive cupping characteristics. It would be no secret to most to know that Java is the backbone of this blend, however the other two coffees must remain a well guarded secret.

Mandehling Village--Common wisdom in specialty roasting is to avoid the beans grown by the small holder--too much risk and unpredictable quality. Merdeka disagree--some of the most interesting and flavorsome beans they roast are smallholder or "Village" grown. Merdeka can also buy directly from the villagers making sure that they and not some middleman gain the profit. The Sumatra village comes from a small town about 5 hours from Padang. The bean is roasted to a darker roast allowing the flavors of wet earth, soft bark and a slight current after taste to emerge. The bean is organic and cups well.

The cold weather will enable me to stay indoors after the market to enjoy the English soccer matches. All sorts of crazy stuff has happened in the past week and we are only 2 1/2 months in to a 9 month season. Some of the more notable events are:

1. The Chelsea and England Captain has been accused of racially abusing an opponent during last Saturdays match. An accusation he strenuously denies but nevertheless the governing body of Soccer has launched an investigation.

2. The Chelsea manager has accused the referee of last weeks match of incompetence and bias following their loss to Queens Park Rangers.

3. Manchester United were beaten at home by Manchester City, 6--1.The biggest defeat for over 70 years. Watching the match were United's owners, the Glazer
Family(Tampa Bay ) who after the match flew to London to watch Tampa Bay lose to the Bears in Wembley Stadium. Perhaps they should have stayed at home.

4. Rumors are circulating in the press that some foreign owners of the Premier League teams are trying to abolish relegation from the top division. Mr Henry (Liverpool and Boston Red Sox) as well as Mt Loerner (Aston Villa ) have quickly denied that they are in favor of any such move. The financial cost of relegation is huge and is to be avoided at all cost. We will watch developments with interest.

5. Finally Manchester City have suspended last seasons top goal scorer (Tevez) for 4 weeks and fined him the equivalent of 1 million dollars for refusing to play against their opponents in a European Champions League match. Another accusation strenuously denied by the Player but the likely hood of a successful appeal is remote.

All in all an interesting week.I wonder what will happen this week.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday and Saturday.

Alan's Corner

2011-10-13T15:34:00.000-04:00

Another Market day has come around and although the weather forecast is for a wet Thursday evening and night the rain is supposed to clear away during the rush hour, so hopefully we will be okay.

Apologies for missing last week. There is no truth to the rumor that I was in deep depression because Tottenham beat Arsenal. Actually I was but we live to fight another day.

This week during our Coffee Tasting, we will be tasting four coffees. They are:

1. Breakfast Blend--This coffee is a blend of 3 different origins. It has a light body yet has quite distinctive cupping characteristics. It would be no secret to most to know that Java is the background of this blend however the other two coffees must remain a well kept secret.

2. West Sumatra-- A medium roast. Merdeka Coffee hunted for several days to locate this small Estate which is located high on the slopes of an active volcano. It has hints of almond and an after taste of grapes and port.

3. Bali--A medium roast. Grown at a reasonable altitude on the slopes of the mountains that straddle northern Bali. The height this coffee is grown determines that it is not going to produce some of the clarity and flavors seen in our other Indonesian offerings. However this is still a decent cup. It exhibits traces of Cedar and Oak in the cup with a soft wine finish underscored by tangerine and light chocolates.

4.Old Sumatra Dark--a dark roast. Blended from some of the finest Sumatra coffees that Merdeka have been able to source. The beans are roasted to a stage where the oils from the inside have been forced out and begun to bead on the surface. This coffee is one of our best sellers and with its lower caffeine levels can be drunk at anytime of the day.

So there we are, 4 coffees to taste on Friday( no charge),we look forward to seeing you at the market.

Now for this weeks soccer news:

Forbes magazine have recently published their annual top 50 list of the World's most valuable sports team. Included in the top 10 are 3 soccer teams, 1 baseball team and 6 NFL teams. Claiming the spot is Manchester United (owned by the Glazer Family) valued at $2.75 Billion. Arsenal are in 7th position at 1.5 billion and the other soccer team is Real Madrid from Spain in 5th position at 1.5 billion. The other teams making up the top ten are the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Houston Texans and the New York Jets. English soccer is awash with cash due mainly to TV money and sponsorship. So do the foreign investors buy the teams for the love of sport or are they looking for a financial return. More on this subject next week.

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather, see you tomorrow.

COFFEE TASTING

2011-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

October 14th is the date for the coffee tasting at the Chesterfield Farmers Market from 9 to 1. Stop by and taste some of the best coffee and start your bamboo angel collection.

Alan's Corner

2011-09-29T15:55:00.000-04:00

Here we are again after last week's washout. The forecast for tomorrow is dry with abundant sunshine so come along to the Friday Market.

Having missed out last week I will again be brewing the same coffees, a medium and a dark roast. The medium roast is West Sumatra Highland harvested from a small Estate high on the slopes of an active volcano. The dark roast is a blend of some of the finest coffees that Mederka Coffee have managed to source. With it's lower caffeine level it can be drunk at any time of the day. Incidentally did you know that there are over 1000, yes one thousand, volcanos in Indonesia. Fortunately not all of them are active but some that have been dormant for many years often start up again.

There have been two articles worth comment in the press recently. The first one relates to women's health and says that those who drink two cups of coffee per day stand a 20 percent less chance of developing depression. Those who drink 2 to 4 cups per day stand a 30 percent less chance. So Ladies keep the coffee pot brewing. The second article, which effects all of us who love coffee, says that financial speculators are responsible for the large increase in coffee bean prices during the past year. The retail price of coffee in July was up 20.7 percent over the same month last year. The price of a futures contract for 37500 pounds of coffee rose by more that 40 per cent last year and has gone up by 57 per cent this year through August 19.

Now for my Soccer tidbits. There is, at the moment, one more US investor in UK soccer. Mr Randy Lerner, the Owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL team purchased shares of Aston Villa, located in Birmingham.

For those of you who can drag yourself away from the NFL Broadcast on Sunday you can watch an English Premier League game between Tottenham and Arsenal. This will be shown on Fox, after the NFL game and starts at 4.30 pm. The Tottenham and Arsenal teams are great rivals from the same part of London. Their grounds are only 1 mile apart so the atmosphere will be electric. May the best team win, as long as it is Arsenal.

Checkout http://www.chesterfieldfarmersmarket.blogspot.com for more information about Koralee Coffee and what is being offered at the market this week.

Alan's Corner

2011-09-22T16:00:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone. As I sit at my desk looking out the window at the gray skies I am hoping that the weather forecast for tomorrow is as accurate as today's. At the moment Koralee will be at the Chesterfield Farmer's Market tomorrow and South of the James on Saturday. Each day we will be brewing two coffees, as usual, they are:

West Sumatra Highland-- a medium roast from a small Estate located high on the slopes of an active Volcano in Western Sumatra. Alun, Merdeka's Owner, hunted for this Estate over several days as it does not actively sell its green beans to local roasters. The hunt was worth-while,resulting in a coffee bean that gives hints of Almond during roasting and an after taste of ripe grapes and port.

Olde Sumatra Dark--Merdeka have blended some of the finest coffees that they have managed to source. The resulting blend is a fine testament to the most famous coffees of the world. This coffee is one of our best sellers and with it's lower caffeine levels can be drunk at any time of the day.

Sumatra coffees are world famous but how many times do you go into a coffee shop and see on the menu board "brewing today--Sumatra" The question should be, Sumatra what? In almost all instances they have no idea. We usually carry 6 coffees from different regions of Sumatra, all with a different taste. So next time you see Sumatra on the board ask the question and see what answer you get.

Turning now to my favorite sport, football(soccer). In my last blog I was talking about the US investment in Liverpool (John Henry) and Manchester United,(the Glazer Family). The US involvement in English soccer is growing all the time. The team I support, Arsenal, has a US General Manager, Ivan Gazidis, appointed 18 months ago having previously been the General Manager of Major League Soccer in the States. The largest investor is Stan Kroenke the owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises which includes in its portfolio the St Louis Rams (NFL),Colorado Avalanche(NHL), Colorado Rapids(MLS) and the Denver Nuggets(NBA). Mr Kroenke currently owns 66.27% of Arsenal's shares. If he can reach 69% then under the stock exchange rules he must automatically make a bid for the outstanding balance. Unfortunately 29.25% is owned by a Russian billionaire, Alisker Asmanov, who would like to buy Mr Kroenke's shares, so we are at a stalemate with neither party willing to sell to the other.

English soccer club ownership is dominated by overseas investors some of which I will talk about in coming weeks.

Hopefully we will see you tomorrow. At the moment it is still dry and I can almost see the sun.

Alan's Corner

2011-09-15T16:42:00.002-04:00

Hi, are you ready for some good fresh brewed coffee weather.This weekend the temperature plummets and the Iced Coffee demand is replaced with fresh brewed hot coffee. Nevertheless the Iced Coffee lovers will still call for it even when snow is falling.

This week I am brewing West Timor as the medium roast and Java Estate as the dark roast. The West Timor is an Arabica bean descended from the original Tim-Tim Coffees planted by the Portuguese in East Timor. Java Estate we have roasted before and is back by popular request.

Do you know what is the most expensive coffee in the World? It comes from Indonesia (Eastern Sumatra) and is called-Kopi Luwak-.The retail price is around $300 per pound. The beans are eaten by an animal known as a palm civet also known as a civet cat. The beans pass through the gut of the animal and are harvested from the ground. We had an order a few years ago from a politician in Washington but before Mederka could ship it to us the Indonesian Government put a ban on the exports.

My blog was missing last week for which I apologize. There is no truth in the rumor that I was so depressed after my soccer team, Arsenal was beaten 8 - 2 by Manchester United. You may recall that last time I told you that John Henry(Boston Red Sox) had bought Liverpool. Well Manchester United are owned by the Glazer Family , the owners of NFL's Tampa Bay. Unfortunately their Ownership has resulted in lots of controversy and opposition from some sections of the fans who have formed an Organization specifically aimed at trying to remove them. The feeling, right or wrong, is that the Glazers are more interested in making money than they are in promoting the soccer club. Nevertheless, Manchester United are one of the top soccer teams in the World.

So that's it for another week. Enjoy your visit to the Farmer's Markets and don't let the sudden burst of cold weather keep you away.

Alan's Corner

2011-08-25T15:23:00.001-04:00

Hi, welcome to week three of my Blog.

This week we are brewing two coffees as usual.A Medium from Sumatra, Lintong, and a dark roast from Java, Java Estate.
Lintong is from Northern Sumatra and is one of the favorites of Alun Evans, Merdeka's Owner. The current crop of beans cups with a wonderful abundance of fruit and more than a hint of Elderberry flower, apple and lemon.

Java Estate, which we also brewed last week, is very popular with our regular Customers. The Estate is privately owned and the quality program employed results in in the cleanest bean ever seen by Alun.

Many of our Customers have asked which coffee we use for the Iced coffee. This is the Sumatra Olde Dark and we will probably be brewing this as our hot coffee shortly.

The English Soccer season is under way and unfortunately my Team, Arsenal, were beaten by Liverpool,2--0. Liverpool were recently purchased by Mr John Henry, the Owner of the Boston Red Socks, and he has been providing plenty of cash to buy new players.

Guess who was going to Virginia Beach after Saturday's Market? Hurricane Irene will probably mean a delayed departure so it will be Soccer TV on Sunday morning. The game starts at 8.30am so I will be in my seat with a large cup of Merdeka Coffee and a Blueberry Muffin from Countryside Bakery. At half time, another cup of coffee with one of Mrs Yoders Donuts. What could be better.

Alan's Corner

2011-08-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody,welcome to week two of Alan's Corner. I hope you all had a good week and are ready for another Market.The weather forecast is good and all your favorite Vendors will be at The Chesterfield Town Center Market tomorrow (Friday)

This week I will be brewing two coffees, a medium roast from the Island of Irian Jaya and a dark roast from Java. The Medium roast is called Wamena and if you go to our Supplier's web site at www.MerdekaCoffee.com you will find a very interesting article, written by Alun Evans,the owner of Merdeka about his trip to Irian Jaya in 2009. Alun sources all of his coffee beans direct from the Grower. There are no Brokers or MiddleMen involved. Alun travels all over Indonesia in his Land Rover carrying a coffee grinder and tasting cup. He visits the Villages and samples the latest crop. If the Beans are good he will purchase, if not to his standard then it is a case of see you next time. We carry 13 different Merdeka Coffees, mainly sourced from Java and Sumatra, but we have one each from Bali, Irian Jaya and Timor.

To all you Football (sorry Soccer) fans you will know that the English Premier League started last Saturday. My favorite team is Arsenal, from north London, and already I am filled with trepidation. We have just sold our best player to Barcelona and seem to be about to sell another Star player to Manchester City. In addition we have picked up 3 long term injuries in key positions. All in all not a very promising start. Still we live in hope.

Coffee Trivia for this week:

Did you know that the expansion of coffee supply was based on the Slave Trade. In the mid 1800's Brazil, still the World's largest grower of coffee beans, imported
African Slaves at the rate of 50,000 per month until the business was banned in
1850. Still, some two million Slaves already in the Country remained in Bondage.

Alan's Corner

2011-08-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

Hi my name is Alan and I am one of the Owners of Koralee Coffee.You will find me

behind the Coffee (and Tea ) booth at the Market every Friday. For over 40 years I

was Employed in the International Division of a Fortune 500 Company and traveled to

102 Countries,some for a day or 2 and others for a week(s) at a time. My last trip

was a permanent posting to Indonesia where Judi and I lived in Jakarta for

8 1/2 years. During all my travels I had tasted some very bad, bad, fairly good and

a few acceptable coffees.It was not until we arrived in Jakarta however that we

found some of the very best coffees I had ever tasted. It is some of these that we

serve and sell at the Market every week.

During the coming weeks I will tell you about the location and origin of these

coffees and also how our Supplier goes about finding the very best Indonesian

coffees available.

There are two types of coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta. The Arabica coffee grows

best between 3000 and 6000 feet in areas with a mean annual temperature around 70

degrees. The high-grown coffee, developing slowly,is generally more dense and

flavorful than lower growths. Indonesia is idealy suited to grow Arabica coffee

having many Volcanos (not all active) which provide some of the best soil for

coffee trees. The Robusta coffee beans are much cheaper than the Arabica beans .

They are also very high in Caffeine and generally have a much stronger/bitter

flavor. We only brew and sell Arabica beans.

This week I am brewing two coffees,one medium, from the Island of Flores, not too

far from Bali and one dark roast from the Island of Java. The iced coffee will be

made from a Sumatra dark roast.

So thats about all for this week, I will leave you with a few facts which I hope

you will find interesting:

1.Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the World,Oil being number one.

2.The Skandinavian Countries consume the most coffee per head of population,with

Finland holding the number one spot at 25 pounds per person per year.The USA is

estimated at an average of 10 pounds per person.

3.The USA is the largest consumer of coffee at over 3 million tons per year

If you have any comments, questions etc please contact me via the Blogsite.

See you next week.

NEW PRODUCT AT CHESTERFIELD FARMERS MARKET

2011-06-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

Mrs Yoder's Kitchen now is making and serving great tasting donuts every Friday morning at the Chesterfield Farmers Market, a great way to start your morning with a cup of coffee from Koralee.

The cold weather in April is behind us and now is the time for our delicious iced coffee and our Indonesian iced tea. Both available every Friday at the newest Farmers Market in Chesterfield County.

This is a great little market with some new vendors to the area. The Basket Case has the most beautiful handcrafted baskets of all shapes and sizes. Amelia Soap has a new product introduced a couple of weeks ago so stop by and ask her what she has new.

Jolly J's Kettle Korn is now selling some beautiful pieces of jewelry that Kristie has made. Of course they still have their popular kettle korn. Country Side Bakery is the market baker with his breads, dinner rolls, pizza crusts, cookies, loaf cakes and much more.

Deer Run Farm, Walnut Hill Farms and Westmoreland Produce are there every Friday with produce of all kinds, plants and berries. Everything is seasonal so check out the chesterfieldfarmersmarket.blogspot.com every Thursday evening to see what is going on at the market on Friday.

One of the most popular spots in the market is the book swap table. Great place to find a good read for free.

Vendors are always bringing new items to the market so be sure and check them out.

Don't forget your coffee club cards are good at this market. Parking is easy and you can get in and out quickly to do your shopping.

Be sure and stop by the Koralee Booth and say hello to Alan.

FOOL FOR ART

2011-04-05T16:56:00.000-04:00

We will be at Fool For Art at John Tyler Community College on Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. The campus is located at 800 Charter Colony Parkway, Midlothian, VA 23114 For further information go to www.jtcc.edu/foolforart
It is a fun day with a unique blend of art and science plus food, drinks and crafts.
See you there.

PRODUCTS AT THE CHESTERFIELD FARMERS MARKET

2011-03-29T12:33:00.000-04:00

The Chesterfield Farmers Market opening on Friday, April 1, 2011 in the Huguenot Rd entrance parking lot of the Chesterfield Towne Center will have a large range of products from the vendors. Products will include, but not limited to, vegetables, meats, eggs, cheese, butter, pies, breads, muffins, pizza crusts,granola, cinnamon rolls, fruit rolls, apple butter, kettle korn,fudge, plants, honey, soaps, hand balm, lotions, salves, theraputic items, rain barrels, metal garden sculpture, coffee, tea, dog treats, wooden bowls and other items, jewelry,candles, felted hats, knit scarves and other alpaca products, garden artifacts, hand woven baskets,and oil paintings.

Come on out to the Market, use your coupons, meet the vendors, visit the Community Circle and take a book to read.

Stop by Koralee Coffee for your fresh brewed coffee or tea and to pick up your weekly bag of coffee. The coffee club will be continued at this market. We look forward to seeing you.

Dreams Do Come True

2011-03-16T14:46:00.000-04:00

Judi and Alan, along with a wonderful advisory board have spent the winter months setting up a new market in Chesterfield County, located in the parking lot of the Chesterfield Towne Center. Opening day is Friday, April 1 from 9 to 1.

We started by selecting products we felt would be of interest to the community and then we began our search for vendors to supply those products. Each vendor has been selected because of the quality of their product. This is a producer/home based only
market. We hope you will support the vendors as you have supported us since we started vending in 2005.

We want this market to be community based and consequently we have set up a Community Circle where the community can learn of topics of interest to them. The range of topics is limitless and the community has responded to our requests with a great deal of excitement. We have already booked The Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center for opening day, followed by a pediatric dentist on April 8th. Many things are in the works, from fingerprinting the children, free blood pressure readings, talented groups from the local schools and more. We are so looking forward to providing this service to the community.

Also in the Community Circle there will be a Book Swap tent....please stop by and take a book. If you have any to donate, thank you for your contribution.

As soon as we can locate some volunteers we will set up an activity tent for children where they can finger paint, draw, make crafts and have story time. Our goal for this is May.

Check out the list of vendors on the blog at chesterfieldfarmersmarket.blogspot.com and like us on Facebook.

Up Date

2010-12-31T17:54:00.001-05:00

Alan and I will be taking the winter season off to rest and get ready for the 2011 season. We will post upcoming events as they are finalized. As always we are available by phone or email to meet your coffee needs. We wish you all a very Happy New Year. Thank you for your past support.

COFFEE TASTING TIME AGAIN

2010-06-08T13:51:00.000-04:00

THURSDAY, JUNE 10TH..3 TO 6 PM..COME ON OVER TO THE GREEN MARKET IN BRANDERMILL FOR ANOTHER FUN COFFEE TASTING. IT IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN ABOUT INDONESIAN COFFEE. EACH COFFEE IS FROM A DIFFERENT REGION AND OFFERS A DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE TASTE. SAMPLE THEM ALL DURING THE GREEN MARKET SEASON AND PICK YOUR FAVORITE.

IN ADDITION TO COFFEE AND TEA, COME BY AND TASTE THE WINE, SAMPLE THE OILS AND DO YOUR WEEKLY SHOPPING FOR VEGGIES, BAKED GOODS, PASTA AND MORE. VENDORS ARE LISTED IN THE MAY 25TH POSTING. I HAVE HEARD FROM COUNTRY SIDE BAKERY TO SAY THEY WILL HAVE APPLE BUTTER, AMISH PEANUT BUTTER, THEIR FAMOUS PIZZA CRUSTS, AS WELL AS THEIR DELICIOUS BREADS, PIES AND COOKIES. IF YOU HAVEN'T SHOPPED AT THE COUNTRY SIDE BAKERY, THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.

PARKING IS EASY! A GREAT WAY TO GET YOUR WEEKLY LOCAL FOODS AND FREE UP YOUR WEEKEND.

COFFEE TASTING

2010-05-25T12:51:00.000-04:00

Koralee Coffee invites you to a coffee tasting at the Green Market in Brandermill on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. From 3 to 6 pm, you can also taste our delicious teas and wine offered by Grayhaven Winery; pick up pasta and sauce or pizza crusts for a quick dinner at home; shop for veggies, meat, eggs, breads and more.

VENDORS

BETHEL FAMILY FARMS: Eggs, Lamb, Cookies

BIRD WATCHERS: Bird Seed and Feeders

BOMBOLINI PASTA: Fresh pasta and sauce

BREEZE HILL FARMS: Goat Milk Products

CANIS FIDELIS: Homemade Organic Pet Food

COUNTRY SIDE BAKERY: Breads, Pizza Crusts, Eggs, Pies and more

GRAYHAVEN WINERY: Wine

GREENWAY BEEF: Grassfed Beef

KORALEE COFFEE: Indonesian Organic Coffee Beans; Black and Green Tea; Cold Drinks;
Coffee and Tea Tasting

WALNUT HILL FARMS: Produce, Jams and Plants

WILDTREE: Spices and mixes; grape seed oils

UPCOMING EVENT AT MOODY MIDDLE SCHOOL

2010-04-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

The Moody Middle School 3rd annual Spring Fling is this Saturday, April 24 from 11 AM to 3PM. There will be games, crafts, food and more for all ages. The Moody School is located at 7800 Woodman Road, Henrico. Stop by the Koralee Coffee booth for hot coffee and tea, iced coffee and iced tea, soda, juice boxes, cold water and snacks. It is fun day for kids of all ages.

FOOL FOR ART FESTIVAL

2010-04-13T19:27:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to stop by the Midlothian Campus of John Tyler Community College at 800 Charter Colony Parkway on Saturday, April 17th for their annual Fool For Art Festival. The Festival runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Enjoy the special events planned all day, visit the craft vendors and enjoy the music. Don't forget to stop by the Koralee Coffee booth for a fresh brewed cup of coffee, a refreshing iced coffee or iced coffee, soda, water and snacks. As in previous years, a portion of the profits goes to the college, including a $1.00 of every bag of coffee sold. Now is the time to stock up on your coffee and help a student get an education.

THE GREAT BIG GREENHOUSE

2010-03-25T15:16:00.001-04:00

This article featuring The Great Big Green House was in a special section of the Richmond Times Dispatch today.
We hope you will visit the Farmer's Market, meet the vendors and buy local products. Stop by the Koralee Coffee booth and enjoy some great Indonesian Coffee or tea, either hot or iced.

MARKET SEASON OPENING

2010-03-25T15:05:00.000-04:00

Outdoor market season begins on Thursday, April 1, 2010 at The Great Big Green House. Come on down and meet all the vendors and enjoy a great cup of coffee.

During the month of April, Koralee Coffee will be at the Great Big Green House Farmer's Market every Thursday, except the 8th. In addition to the Great Big Green House we will be at Fool For Art at John Tyler Community College on Saturday, April 17th and the Moody School Spring Fling on Saturday, April 24th. Look for further details on this blog.

Kid's Day in the Garden

2010-01-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

SPECIAL SATURDAY AT THE GREAT BIG GREEN HOUSE. JANUARY 23RD. 10:00 TO 4:00

AT 10:00 A.M MEET PBS'S CLIFFORD THE DOG.
BRING THE KIDS TO THE PETTING FARM AND OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS.
CHECK OUT www.greatbiggreenhouse.com for complete details.

KORALEE COFFEE WILL BE THERE ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE FARMER'S MARKET VENDORS.

Indoor Market opens January 14, 2010

2010-01-13T13:41:00.001-05:00

The Great Big Green House Farmers' Market is moving indoors for the winter. This is not a "pick-up" market but a full market with 19 vendors offering many different products. The market will be held every Thursday from 10:00 to 3:00 until mid March. The market will resume outdoors in April. There will be two Saturday markets on January 23rd and February 13th from 10 to 3. See you at the Great Big Green House (Huguenot Village Shopping Center)

Huguenot-Robious Farmer's Market

2009-07-12T15:51:00.001-04:00

Koralee Coffee is now being served every Thursday at the Huguenot-Robious Farmers' Market from 10:00 to 3:00. Stop by and get your cup of morning coffee or afternoon iced coffee. We still have the great Indonesian iced tea that is a popular favorite. Select from our array of Indonsian organic coffee beans for your enjoyment at home or as a gift for that coffee loving friend of yours.
See you at the Great Big Green House every Thursday.

FOOL FOR ART AT JOHN TYLER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

2009-04-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

John Tyler Community College with Chesterfield County presents FOOL FOR ART on Saturday, April 18 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. 800 Charter Colony Parkway, Midlothian,23114.

Take part in free class sessions, enjoy hands on activities for all ages, find information on community resources, enjoy food, games and more. Shop from more than 85 artists.

Stop by and see us at the Koralee Coffee tent and enjoy a fresh brewed hot cup of coffee or a refreshing iced coffee or iced tea. We also have soda, water and juice for the little ones.

For more information visit www.jtcc.edu/foolforart

Indoor Market In Richmond

2009-04-06T15:14:00.000-04:00

Alan and I are pleased to be affiliated with the first indoor market in Richmond. The market is located in the Crossroads Art Center. Check out their blog at www.themarketumbrella.blogspot.com to find out what vendors will be there each week.
No need to wait for our other markets to open as you can get your veggies, plants, meats, eggs, etc all in one climate controlled room. We have music for your entertainment and plan to start activities for children in the weeks and months to come. We look forward to seeing you there.

Local Farmer in Running for White House Farmer

2009-01-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Charlie Collins of Victory Farms is in the running for the White House Farmer. Charlie and Gina are well known around the Richmond markets. Please go to www.whitehousefarmer.com and cast your vote for Charlie. He is currently in 4th place...only the top three will be considered for the position, so please vote and ask all your friends and family to do the same. Voting closes on January 31.

Change In Crossroads Market

2009-01-15T17:04:00.000-05:00

The Market Umbrella has decided that Crossroads Market will start on March 5th. It appears this cold weather is going to last more than an week, so to be on the safe side we will wait until after the usual cold of February. If anything changes we will let you know. Again, if you need coffee just send us an email or call us and we will be happy to make arrangements to meet you.

Contact info

2009-01-13T12:31:00.000-05:00

We can be reached at koraleecoffee@gmail.com or 804 276 5752 to order coffee, add your email list for free coffee drawing or to ask any other questions.

Change In Market Venue

2009-01-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

Due to the extreme cold weather predicted for Thursday, January 14th we will not be holding the market at Crossroads as scheduled. If you would like to pick up bags of coffee please contact us and we will be happy to arrange it.

Market Dates to Remember

2008-12-30T16:49:00.001-05:00

Alan and I have returned from our holiday trips and will be at the Market Umbrella at Crossroads on Thursday, January 8th from 12 to 6 and First Friday at Quirk Gallery on Broad Street on Friday, January 9th. Please note the change of dates for First Friday in January. We hope you all had a great holiday and look forward to seeing you at these two dates.

ORDER YOUR OBAMA BLEND COFFEE

2008-11-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

If you would like a bag of Obama Blend Coffee, please email us or stop by our booth at one of the markets to add your name to the list. When we have enough orders we will contact Merdeka Coffee who will roast a batch and send to us. This will make a great gift or a great collector's item. Remember this coffee was only offered at Kemang Club Villas, Merdeka Cafe in Jakarta one day only. As the exclusive Merdeka distributor in the United States, it can only be purchased from us at Koralee Coffee.

Obama Blend Coffee

2008-11-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

The following email was received from Alun Evans of Merdeka Coffee on November 5, 2008:

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the Presidential election coverage yesterday at Kemang Club Villas. We had around 65 in the Cafe at peak yesterday morning.

By now everyone knows Obama won fairly comfortably. Our own results of "Obama Blend" vs "McCain Blend" were also conclusive. For cafe drinks 76% voted by drinking "Obama", 23% went for "McCain" and we had one determined drinker hammering for the "Nader" Blend (which sadly I forgot to roast). On the retail pack side "McCain" remains on the shelf today while I had to roast "Obama Blend" again last night. For those who back ordered "Obama Blend", it is available here today.

We also made the Reuters News Wires which was a great achievement for such a small Cafe!

HOLIDAY MARKETS

2008-10-30T13:08:00.000-04:00

We will be participating in several Holiday Markets during the months of November and December. The first one will be at South of the James on November 22nd. On November 25th we will be at Bryan Park from 2:00 to 6:00. Bryan Park is located on Lakeside Ave & 195, exit 80. Don't forget your coffee for Thanksgiving.

Black Friday: Don't fight the crowds at the malls, come on down to Art Works located at 320 Hull St., Richmond, 23224. We will be there from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. along with a number of other vendors. A great place to do some Holiday shopping for unique and wonderful gifts. Food and door prizes.

In December we will have a final holiday market at Bryan Park on the 2nd from 2 to 6 and at South of the James on the 6th from 8 to noon.

If you want to place an order for your holiday coffee you can do so at any of our regular markets in November. Your order will be ready for pick up at the Holday Market of your choice.

Koralee Coffee Offers Great Teas

2008-10-14T20:49:00.000-04:00

Koralee Coffee is now offering a wonderful tea from the Kertasarie Estate in Indonesia. Indonesia's high altitudes, volcanic soil and tropical climate produce a dark and rich tasting tea that is truly unique. This tea has a strong and stimulating flavor and is a favorite of our tea customers.

We will soon be adding another tea to our offerings. This one has a real history known to all of us. Boston Harbour Tea is a fine blend of select Ceylon and Darjeeling teas. It has a sweet aroma and brisk flavor. We offer it in tea bags or as a loose tea. Britain's oldest tea merchant Davison, Newman & Co., whose tea chests were destroyed in the 1774 tea party, still operates today and has developed this famous tea blend, now available exclusively from the Mark T Wendell Tea Company.

Our teas from Mark T. Wendell Tea Company and accessories are available for your holiday gift giving.

Merdeka Coffee Photo Competition

2008-06-13T12:41:00.000-04:00

Merdeka Coffee is running a photo competition from June 1, 2008 through October 1, 2008. We are looking for photographs of Merdeka Coffee black retail bags (sold at Koralee Coffee in the U.S.) taken with a famous Indonesian or World landmark clearly visible in the background. The photo may be taken either in landscape or profile format. Photos will be judged on the clarity of the image of the Merdeka Coffee bag as well as how the image displays the locality of where the photographer took the photo.

An example of locations and setups of where a photo may be taken include(but not limited to): on a window sill or table of a hotel with a view over a city, on a cafe table with a view of a cityscape in the background, resting on the top of a backpack with a view in the background, etc.

The competition photographs must be received in digital format (JPEG, GIF etc) and sent either via email to competition@merdekacoffee.com or on a disc to Merdeka Coffee, Plaza Niaga 2/88 G, Jl M.H. Thamrin, Bukit Sentul, Java 16810, Indonesia. If emailing the maximum resolution should not be more than 1mb (and a minimum 500kb).

The competition will be judged by a professional photographer along with Merdeka Coffee staff who will pick the top 30 photographs. These will then go into a draw to win a CKXE professional Espresso machine, valued at US $ 2500. The draw will be made at the opening of Merdeka Coffee's new Kemang store first week of October, 2008.

RULES:

1. All photos color, contrast, size, etc can be adjusted using photoshop or similar editing program. However, the use of cut and paste functions to alter photos is not allowed.

2. A maximum of 3 photos per entrant.

3. All photos entered into the competition become the property of Merdeka Coffee and may be used later in advertising and promotional activities.

4. The CKXE machine is covered by a 1 year guarantee and freight/setup anywhere in Indonesia is part of the prize. If the winner is overseas based, the warranty is still valid, however, the winner will need to pay freight and any duties.

5. The competition is not open to any Merdeka Coffee employees, past or present.

6. Retail packs must be black, 250gm bags. The Logo must be clearly visable. Retail packs are available from Merdeka Coffee (@ Kemang Club Villa), the roastery, Bali Deli (Bali and Jakarta), ANSA House Kemang, BIS Beanery and overseas distributors (Koralee Coffee, Richmond, VA).

A Visit To Java Village

2008-06-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

Alun Evans, owner of Merdeka Coffee has written the following article about one of the little villages where we obtain one of our favorite coffees.

A Visit To Java Village

Recently we had the privilege of being able to share some of our Java experience with a group of coffee experts from the Philippines. Java is essentially Indonesian Coffee 101 -- as it is logistically not difficult to get to or to navigate around the coffee areas on this island. Part of the visit was to show our visitors a range of both plantation and small-hold, or village grown coffees.

One of our earliest, and ongoing projects is with a village located in Central Jave. In 2002, when we first visited the place, we were taken back by the great Arabica being grown there, as well as the genuine friendships we made with the villagers. The Javanese living outside the cities and big towns are still very much the Javanese of yesteryear. They follow the rituals of the culture - politeness, etiquette and dedication to the way of life that has existed in the island for over 1000 years.

The first time we visited the village we spent time with the village head and some of his koperasi leaders and workers. We also spent time with the women of the village - working with them through their daily routines, from early morning prayers, working with the crops, preparing meals, etc. In 2002 the village was a happy place, but economically they were struggling as a result of the prolonged economic crisis.

One of our key observations back in 2002 was the need to improve processing techniques as well as pruning the trees after the crops had been harvested. Typically Arabica grown organically does not have the same high yields year-after-year. There is normally a low yield year after at the most two higher yielding crop seasons. This often leads to problems as the revenue stream from coffee will not be enough to sustain the village in a poorer yielding season. Fortunately, the Javanese soils and climate give some options to small-hold farmers to be able to diversify. Often this means they will grow other crops, for example Papaya, to at least give them other marketable goods that can be sold in the local markets.

In 2002 the Arabica from the village was dry processed. The village as a whole was harvesting coffee over quite a large area - mixing several sub-types of Arabica during processing, as well as often inadvertently adding Robusta into the mix. We helped identify areas of the village that we thought had well managed Arabica trees, producing good quality cherries. We also identified some areas where the trees were non productive, damaged by disease or simply not cared for by the sub-level cooperative. These areas were removed from production and moved into other crops. The areas that remained were then mapped and responsibility was given to a team to oversee the management of the coffee all year round. The Kepala Dusun (head of the village) spent some time studying coffee production and growing techniques at a government school in East Java. What he learnt in terms of pruning and crop management techniques made a huge difference to the quality of the trees - from planting distances, thinned out shading systems (too much shade, at altitude, is not great for Arabica), planting new Nitrogen fixing trees, to moving processing to a semi-wet system.

In 2003 we took our first commercially viable lots of coffee from the village. Both 2003 and 2004 proved to be exceptional years for production. The yields were very good, and the cupping quality was superb. Despite the fact that globally coffee prices were suppressed, we were paying the village a good return for the green coffee. A premium payment for good green bean is a very visible return after decades of being paid very little by brokers. Our philosophy has always been to try and manage returns to our growers on two levels - one for green (based on pre-agreed standards-management of coffee trees - through the harvesting, drying, processing and ultimate packing of the green coffee), the other based on a return on profit of the roasted sales. While we are not insistent on controlling how the money is spent from green purchases (we do have a transparent way of distributing the payment though), we do have a very strict method of funneling the share of the profit from roasted sales back into the village.

In 2003 we were asked to help the village with some ideas on how they could spend the money they got from green beans sales. We mooted some thoughts, but really the village itself should take credit for how the money was ultimately spent. A small herd of dairy cows was purchased - with the aim being to be able to provide the village with milk as well as giving them the option of being able to sell the excess milk in the market. With the village being located at a good altitude, milk production from the herd was at an acceptable 10 litres/cow/day. The herd was initially housed in a small barn, which was plugged into the coffee eco-system. The manure from the cows was collected and used as fertilizer for the coffee. At the other end the outer skin from the coffee being processed was mixed with grass and given to the cows as feed.

This year the coffee yields have been less, as expected. Java has had some climatic factors effecting production, as well as the cyclical nature of the crop. The village has still done well though. The head size is now up to 56 dairy cows - producing enough milk for our village, as well as most of the surrounding villages. The spin off of the coffee project to date has been the fact that we have managed to work with the whole village to provide an economically sustainable, balance system that has its roots in coffee. We have been able to demonstrate with this model that coffee can not only earn the growers a good return, but with responsible management of the returns from quality coffee, further economic development is a certainty.

From an environmental point of view, organic practices make sense throughout this system. Using manure from the cows as fertilizer and feeding back organic wastes as feed from the dairy herd means that there is a closed system at work that benefits the villages as well as local consumers, and of course our coffee buyers all around the world.

From now through to the harvest of the crop in 2006 we have plenty of work planned at the village. We also have some further plans for developing new markets for the village and their produce. We would like to take the model we have worked on here and also implement it in some of the other small-hold localities we get coffee from. There are 4 other projects that are in different stages of progression - even this village still has a long way to go until we reach the goals - both coffee related, as well as social and economic.