Greetings, Coffee Lover!

You knew we wouldn’t forget you. It just got crazy around the holiday, and now we’re relaxing a bit. Still, yesterday was a record day for the cafe. Go figure. Meanwhile, the Fourth of July was splendid, and both the Glen Arbor parade and the Glen Lake boat parade were well attended, despite 93°. We’re a tad cooler today in the 80s, but the humidity is almost that high.

This year’s Grand Marshals in the parade were Lou and Judith Batori. Some of you may know that Lou rides his bike around Glen Lake almost daily in the summer, and skis daily in the winter. He will turn 100 this month. You can read about Lou and Judith in the Glen Arbor Sun.

Our supply of Organic Sumatran coffee beans were not always Fair Trade, but we’re pleased to inform you that they now are Fair Trade, and that is reflected on the website. Surely that will make several of you very happy!

Over the winter I was invited to be a guest lecturer for an e-commerce class at Lorain (Ohio) County Community College, and the students’ charge from their professor was to analyze our website. Overall they liked it, but there were several great suggestions for improvement. A few tweaks have been made, and a couple additions that I had been waiting on have also been implemented, with more on the way. Testers, I may be in touch soon for some new experiments. (If you’d like to be a tester, just email me.)

Two of the changes you’ll really like. The first is the addition of a visual flavor scale with each coffee, showing the Body and Roast. The second is the addition of a Location Finder. Type in your zip code and choose the type of venue, and see if Leelanau Coffee is available near you. And, if your local grocer does not carry our coffee, be assured that I will pay you a bounty if you get us in! Finally, if you have other suggestions, please let me know. We want to make the website as informative, fun, and easy-to-use as possible.

Ahhh, contest time. I have three that will run through Labor day, and the prize for each one is a $25 online gift certificate.
#1—Photo Contest. Post your best Coffee photo on the blog, our Facebook page, or email it to me, and the best one wins.
#2—Best Coffee. Again, on the blog or Facebook (in the Discussions section) describe what YOU think is the best Leelanau Coffee and why. We’re always asked that question and stumped for a great answer, so here’s your chance to come through.
#3—Best Tweet. On Twitter, or our Facebook page, give us your most clever tweet.

These will be judged by our staff, and by re-tweets, likes, and blog comments. Hey, if you’re lucky, you’ll be the only entrant, but I’m thinking we’ll hear from a number of you. And, along the way, we hope to increase our Facebook membership.  By the way, that’s where you learn about special one-day sales and receive online discount coupons.

Check out the Coffee Gear online for this summer’s stylish mugs. We also have some great t-shirts, but they sell so quickly in the cafe I can’t list them online.

We are roasting up here, both coffee and with the heat. And I might add, bring your bug spray with you as this is the first summer in a long time that the mosquitos (so far) have the upper hand.