Last week, after a couple of false starts, we made it out of town for Spring Break. After viewing the wildflowers at Pinnacles National Park, we drove over to the coast and camped for a couple of nights at Sunset State Beach. The kids played in the ocean for hours (they're crazy--it's cold!), and Trace and I relaxed watching them. It truly was relaxing: the rhythmic sound of the waves, the fields of crops--fresh picked strawberries, mmm--, the California Trasher singing nonstop in a nearby tree: it was all soothing to my soul.

We had a little trouble heading home, with two blown tires (Les Schwab in Vallejo has my undying love), but we made it home late Saturday night. Sunday we threw together an Easter celebration. The highlight of the day was Archie and Lucy hunting for eggs. Archie was excited to find them, but Lucy thought they were a musical instrument, and danced around shaking them. Too cute!

On Wednesday of this week we got a green coffee order, so we're excited to share a new coffee with you. This is our Organic Rainforest Alliance Flores Wongawali Ngura Red Cherry. How is that for a name? I can't actually fit all of that on a label, so we settled on Organic RFA Flores. That's a bit more manageable. Each word of the name is significant. You can read about the Rainforest Alliance here, and Wongawali is a cooperative of farmers. Ngura is the name of a unique Indonesian tradition of coffee processing, often called wet-hulled, and the Red Cherry Project coffees "provide dividends to farmers who deliver ripe coffee to collection centers" (see here).

All together this makes a unique coffee from a unique place. Flores is located to the east of Bali, and near the island of Komodo. It is the only place other than Komodo where you can find Komodo dragons, and it is part of the Indonesian archipelago. It's an island of volcanoes, and this coffee is grown on the eastern slopes of Wolo Ngadha and Wolo Atagae. Coffee grows well in this soil, and you'll taste the terroir in the cup: notes of chocolate and dried berries, and an earthy tang.

Keep reading for a snapshot of one of our newer employees, Glory. She is a sweetheart and a hard worker, and we love having her around. Tomorrow also kicks off the The Market at the Northstar House, and we're excited to say that Family Friendly Farms will be selling our coffee this year. Then next week The Market continues, and downtown we will have our Car Show. Wherever your weekend plans take you, drink good coffee. Cheers!

--Holly Fike