The only constant..is change.
If you have entered the shop in the last two weeks, you have undoubtedly notice changes happening to Avenue Coffee. Before panic, fear, and doubt set in as they inevitably do during these tumultuous times of economic, social, and moral woes, we felt it necessary to address these changes publicly before rumor and speculation run rampant with stories of scandal and fraud within the sordid coffee industry of Arizona. The coffee shop we have all grown to know and love, either as a barista, owner, or customer, remains largely the same. Here are some of the changes, and the reasoning behind them.
Menu
Our menu is now shorter, simplistic, and possibly lacking in your favorite beverage. While we sympathize if your favorite drink did not make the cut to our new menu, we stand by our decision to only have items that allow our coffee to be express by our baristas, and experienced by our customers in a way that does justice to all the hard working individuals involving in making that one cup of coffee. We work very hard, in our constant study and training, to find the best ways to serve coffee, and to change a lot of ideology surrounding coffee by bringing a huge knowledge base, professionalism, and passion to our craft. For this reason, we may in some cases have to refuse a request by a customer to tamper with a drink. This has much more to do with the quality of our products and the idea of promoting coffee rather than syrup/sugar/ice cream, and much less to do with denying customers what they desire. We do not make decisions arbitrarily, or maliciously. If you find yourself unsure of what to order because your usual drink has fallen by the wayside, please ask your barista to find a suitable replacement. We are more than happen to share what we know about our coffees, and the best ways to drink them.
Price
Our prices have gone up. We have gone through several coffee roasters within the lifespan of the shop, with our prices remaining exactly the same. The Intelligentsia coffees were a pivotal point in our progression as a shop, as the quality was dramatically higher than anything else offered in Tucson at the time. Our plans to change the pricing structure existed before this more recent change to Cartel coffees, and just happen to coincide with these changes. We have already blogged on the topic of coffee prices, so we won’t repeat our reasoning behind higher coffee prices in general.
In a similar vein, all of our milk will now be organic. We have made this decision in light of the large majority of our coffee also being paired with milk, and, again, a dedication to quality. Another reason for higher prices is our new commitment to having a greener business. We find it nearly impossible to talk about sustainable sources of coffee while our own business is the source of avoidable waste. Our cups are now supplied by Eco Products, a company dedicated to creating products that are compostable and environmentally sound.
Coffee
Our coffee is now coming from a roaster based in Phoenix. Cartel Coffee Labs has a dedication to quality and transparency, which includes offering coffees that are traceable to individual farms, many of which have been visited by Cartel staff to ensure quality and suitable working conditions for workers. We have switched back to a “local” roaster for our coffee, but not for that reason alone. Coffee is intrinsically a non-local commodity, farmed in largely the third world, and shipped to the first world. With these power dynamics and relations, we believe it is more important to find people that are socially aware and responsible, rather than just a local business to align with. The shop will always support local business, but we will never compromise our dedication to quality and social awareness when it comes to our coffee. As long as the quality and traceability of coffee roasted in the Tucson remains static, we will look elsewhere for the quality we want, and the socially just practices we believe should be the rule in this industry rather than the exception.
Even with this lengthy explanation of our intentions and direction of our shop, we are sure some of you will still be unhappy, confused, or just flat out disagree with our decisions. That is to be expected, and your sentiments are noted, but we firmly and strongly believe these changes are necessary to elevate the state of coffee in Tucson, in Arizona, and across the country. The direction we are going is not new, and we are not the first to jump in this movement people are calling “third wave.” We do, however, believe we are filling a much needed hole in the coffee culture of Tucson by providing quality, traceable coffee, high skilled baristas, and passionate staff that are constantly refining the craft of making coffee. As we learn more, and digest more information about coffee, there will always be more changes in the future. We hope that you would trust us with our profession, and trust that we make decisions based on the good of all of those involved in the coffee industry, including farmers, baristas, shop owners, and customers. As always, our customer service will always be a priority. We just ask that in return, customers respect our authority on a subject we dedicate a large portion of our lives to master, and our decisions when it comes to the business that we would like to conduct.
And now, for a final big announcement…(to be continued..)
