What's up with the lights?, and other updates at MGC.

Well, we've now been in the new cafe about 2 months. Time is flying by. We're continually working out some kinks, working to bring even better coffee and training our staff in order to brew our coffees to yield the best flavors via a variety of brewing methods. French press pots are now available for any of our coffees starting at $4.75 for 28 oz.

On the structural side, it's been an electrical experiment at the new cafe this month. Our contractor, Snider Electric, has been converting the industrial lights in the roasting area from metal halide to energy saving compact fluorescent fixtures. And while it's gone well in terms of energy usage and better lighting, there seems to have been a bad batch of commercial bulbs on the market which have been burning out in an untimely fashion making the cafe darker than any of us would like. The good news is that George Snider's crew was here today working on the issue and light has been restored. AT&T has also been working on internet connectivity issues. The entire block is losing connection in short blips here and there. And while we bought a license for commercial usage for satellite radio, getting the stars to align and a signal to reach our antenna has proven difficult. Perhaps we'll have a day when everyone comes into the cafe wearing tin-foil hats and see what happens.

Thanks to the Scudder family for requesting a baby changing station in the restroom. I'm happy to report that we have one on order and it should be installed in the next few days. I told them today that before you know it, their baby will be asking for a summer job here. They've been customers from the days when all we provided was home delivery of coffee and have been with us every step of the way. I'm happy to have customers that take the time to get to know us and work to make the environment better. Relationships. That's what building a local community business is about.

We now have self-service ice water in the counter across from the wood bar. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to make your time here more enjoyable.

Did you know that we have 22 seats at the new location and are planning to add more? Seems like a long time ago that we started with just a coffee bar and three window seats. Whew! Time flies.

Angela Arnold, our cafe manager, recently returned from Camp Pull-a-Shot which was a 4-day training seminar held in a camp about 2 hours north of Los Angeles. It was coffee from 6 am to midnight (and beyond for many) every day. She came back with a lot of new knowledge, enthusiasm, and, of course, her Specialty Coffee Association of America Barista Certification for passing the rigorous exam held on the first day. Angela's biggest challenge in preparation was making latte art using soy milk, which was a requirement at camp. Don't like our Calder Dairy milk? Then stop by some morning and ask her to make you a soy latte.

Speaking of Calder Dairy, it's one of the most respected family owned farms in the state. All of their products are produced from hormone free milk from cows that have names, not numbers. We're proud to support another local business that's so close to ours, both geographically and spiritually. You can even get Calder milk delivered to your home in Ann Arbor every week.

We'll continue to make updates at the cafe as we evolve our business and become even more a part of the Ann Arbor community fabric.

Thanks for drinking Mighty Good Coffee-

David