2019 in Review
We're still catching our breath after the holidays, but we want to look back on 2019 before it fades too far into the rearview... it was a big year for us!
We're proud to have received accolades from the Good Food Foundation, Food & Wine magazine, Coffee Review, and others for the quality of our coffee. Meanwhile, various upcoming projects have us very excited for the coming year.
Most important, harvests from our Direct Trade partners Finca El Socorro (Guatemala), La Palma y El Tucán (Colombia), Finca Los Planes (El Salvador), Café Granja La Esperanza (Colombia), Finca Santa Maria (Colombia), Finca Las Mercedes (El Salvador), Finca Villa Loyola (Colombia), and Hacienda La Esmeralda (Panama) blew us away in 2019. We can't wait to see what these producers have in store for us in 2020!
Here's a look back on some highlights of the year:
- Our roast of Hacienda La Esmeralda Mario Natural is a finalist for the 2020 Good Food Awards, recognizing quality as well as social and environmental sustainability. Winners in each category will be announced this month.
- Coffee Review awarded 95 Points to Sudan Rume Natural from Café Granja La Esperanza and named it the #3 Coffee of 2019. It was also featured on Uncrate following Coffee Review's high score. If you missed out on Sudan Rume this year, don't worry: we expect the new harvest to arrive next month!
- Coffee Review awarded 93 Points to Finca Las Mercedes La Avila SL28. This was one of the first viable harvests of the lot, so we're very excited to see how it develops over the coming years.
- Food & Wine called us "one of the country's most influential coffee roasters" in their roundup of the Best Coffee in Every State 2019.
- Gear Patrol named PT's one of the 25 Best Coffee Roasters in America, calling us "a craft coffee stalwart with a stacked trophy case." (Their photo of our bag of Maracaturra is at the top of this page.)
- We opened two new cafes: a sleek espresso bar in downtown Kansas City (pictured above) and a full-service cafe and restaurant, complete with a drive-thru, in Topeka's Wheatfield Village. Both are open 7 days a week.
- Meanwhile, plans are coming together for our next cafe, in a mid-century former gas station in Overland Park, KS.
- It was a great year for collaborations with other local businesses! We worked with the Topeka Whiskey Society on a delicious bourbon barrel-aged coffee, which is available now in limited quantities at our cafes. Back in the springtime local brewery Happy Bassett Brewing used our Cold Front Signature Blend for their popular Barista Blonde Ale. Coffee-infused chocolate bars produced in collaboration with Topeka-based Hazel Hill Chocolate are in the works!
- Our cafe in downtown KC began a composting program with KC Can Compost, an organization that employs formerly homeless people in a supportive work environment and reduces waste produced by KC's cafes, bars, and restaurants.
- We reached more customers than ever online. Thank you for choosing PT's!
What do you want to see from PT's in 2020? Leave a comment below to let us know! Or, as always, feel free to shoot us an email: info@ptscoffee.com.