True Blue Coffee Roasters: Roastmaster Rob's Corner

ROASTMASTER ROB'S CORNER
May 2008

Howdy everyone, Roastmaster Rob here. Boy has it been a busy and exciting time for all
of us here at True Blue Coffee Roasters. We have started the process to become USDA
Certified organic handlers. It takes a lot of work and attention to details, but we feel it is
worth it. We’ve been working on some delicious new coffee blends as well. We created
a Limited Edition blend for the Connecticut Earthstock last month. The blend was
received really well, and we had the chance to meet some of the nicest folks. Brother
Juniper’s in Memphis also contracted for a “signature blend.” We created “Brother Juniper’s
Supreme Dark Roast House Blend” for them, and the customers have been
drinking it up. After a lot of work and effort, we have also finally created our very own
espresso blend. “True Blue Espresso: Rich & Bold” became available last week. It was
pretty hard at times, as Roastmaster Rob is a country boy (born and raised in WV) and
didn’t have a whole lot of exposure to espresso. But, the final espresso blend is one that
we can all be proud of. If you are into espressos, I highly recommend that you try some.

Finally, our great friends at I-Plus Internet Café in Parsons, WV had a custom blend
created for their customers. They held a contest to name the blend, and the winner was
“The Old Appalachian Trail Blend”. Congratulations to I-Plus. We are really happy that
your customers love the new blend.

Last month our Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Murphy, his charming wife Phyliss, and
his lovely daughter Meghan drove down to West Virginia for a visit. Mark and I got to
spend some time at the shop strategizing for True Blue’s future. We discussed some
wonderful ideas and can’t wait to share them with you all in the future. After the visit, I
think we were both re-energized and looking forward to the future.

Finally, I want to apologize for not getting something written for you all last month. As I
said, it was a very busy time. But that is no excuse for not taking the time to write
something for you all. I promise to do better in the future. I appreciate all of you who
take the time to read these, and want to thank all of you. I have had a chance to speak
with a good number of you, and I have realized that our customers are truly some of the
most wonderful and brightest people around. To all of you from me and Mark, and all
the people who work at True Blue: “Thank you for helping us make True Blue Coffee
Roasters what is today. We couldn’t do this without you. Continue to contact us and
give us your feedback, suggestions, comments, even complaints. We want to hear what
you have to say.” I mean it.
-Roastmaster Rob

Roastmaster Rob's Corner is a monthly column by Rob Luzader, chief operations officer of
True Blue Coffee Roasters. If you want to send Rob a question or comment, please use our
main contact form. Just choose Roastmaster Rob on the pull down menu, and it will go
directly to him. You can also see past colums here.