Arabica, or There and Back Again, a Coffee Shop's Tale

Picture Maine in the nineties: boy bands on the radio, mood rings and scunchies everywhere, families watching Full House around fat TVs with rabbit ear antennae. You get out of bed in the morning and you have a cup of Green Mountain blueberry flavored coffee (and that’s if you’re being fancy). Craft coffee does not exist, most people don’t even know that Starbucks is a thing, or even realize that Starbucks could be a thing. This was what John and Cathy walked into as they were moving to Portland, ME to open a coffee shop.

Obligatory Dateline-style Photo

They were from the Northeast themselves, met in college in Massachusetts, and after graduating they decided to see the world a little and moved out to Seattle. It happened that the world in Seattle included a lot of coffee, and that coffee came in interesting forms like lattes and shots of espresso. After developing a love of coffee and the coffee shop atmosphere (with no little thanks being paid to the fact that Espresso Vivace was just around the corner from their apartment), John and Cathy decided to open a business together, and realized their caffeination infatuation had potential as their business venture. They chose to move back to the Northeast to be close to home, and after a few years of research and countless hours of work, Arabica was born in August 1995.

Pictured: Their first and possibly most demanding child. 

At first everyone thought they were destined to fail: they didn’t have flavored coffee, they had this weird thing (called an espresso machine) to make even weirder coffee, and, most importantly, they weren’t Green Mountain or Dunkin’ Donuts. Closing in on the 20th anniversary, we’re happy to say that Arabica is still here and strong, but it’s certainly not the same creature it once was.

"Wait... what is that thing? I don't like it." – Maine, circa 1995

At the start, Arabica sourced beans from Vivace Espresso and Scott Rao. Scott was kind enough to teach John how to roast and he’s been doing that since 2009. We’ve shifted a few doors down and the ‘original’ store is now at 2 Free St. instead of 16 (we appreciate the windows: we hope you do too!).

We might not miss the dark 16 Free St. location, but we do miss the days of yore, back when $2 could get you a cappuccino, or a three course meal, or a new car. We might not remember those days too well.

We have a second location opened in 2012 that, in addition to housing the roaster, is a full fledged bakery. Some of you might recall that this location, until recently, was called Crema. Initially there was a partner involved and it had to be a separate business, but not long after opening there were some hints that maybe there shouldn’t be partner. A year after opening it was clear that all parties would be happier if there wasn’t, and John and Cathy bought the partner out. 

There was some debate about whether or not to change the name of Crema to Arabica for awhile, but in the end it made more sense the business to have a little more continuity. Many of our customers had no idea that the two businesses were connected in any way, and we wanted to let people know that when they were enjoying coffee at Crema, it was Arabica coffee they were enjoying!

Not to mention everything is more fun when it's called Arabica. Pro tip: This works with everything. Businesses, unruly pets, rusty bicycles, even the occasional old computer are all much better when named Arabica. Try it out!

It’s been a long adventure for Arabica to become what it is, and we’re happy that you’ve joined us along the way. Keep an eye out for our 20 year celebration coming up in August!

Cold Brew, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Iced

Forget the beach. Don’t think about the pool, drinks on the porch or games in the lawn. Leave the grill untouched. We all the know the best part about summer is iced coffee.

But let's be honest: not all iced coffees are equal. I have a memory from when I was young. I was at the house of a family friend, being watched during the day. It was a warm summer day and after running around outside I wanted a cold drink. Knowing that there was some sweetened iced tea in the fridge, I grabbed a pitcher that I assumed contained just that. Imagine the disgust of a boy, a picky eater at that, taking a sip of iced coffee when he was expecting some nice sweet iced tea. All I remember is a muddy, bitter, and burnt flavor before my whole world crashed down before me.

This is how me as a kid would have drawn the experience.
Picture by Joamm Tall is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Okay, slight exaggeration.

But it was pretty awful: perhaps a pitcher of Maxwell’s brewed then set in the fridge to become a murky lagoon of bitter, sharp caffeination. There’s a lot of coffee out in the world like that, and some may know that there is a better way. For those of you who don’t, I’m afraid I might become a little preachy, for there is another way.

I tried doing it on coffee bags, ya know, for continuity sake,
but the effect was less than stunning and the footing less than stable.
Picture by MonsieurLui is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Enter cold brew coffee: a coffee that can sit for a few days and still taste amazing, a coffee that won’t punish your taste buds with punches of repulsion, a coffee that will taste like ice cream once you add a little cream and gives you a caffeine kick you’d expect only from cartoon mules in old timey commercials. Cold brew is coffee brewed for awhile, ideally 12 hours, at room temperature then filtered. To make iced coffee out of cold brew, you usually water it down to taste, as the cold brew itself is pretty potent.

This is Todd. He once drank a pint of straight cold brew. He hasn’t been the same since.
Picture by bark is licensed under CC BY 2.0

You might wonder what magic happens when you let your coffee sit over night. Surprisingly, it has very little to do with elves. Let’s just say that when coffee grounds and water get to hang out with each other in a nice environment for awhile they become fast friends, making inside jokes, finishing each other’s sentences and whatnot. As a result, there’s no bite, a velvety smoothness, and loads of joyous caffeine. Cold brew keeps very well, making large batches ideal for us coffee shops, but you can make small batches at home. 

Or stockpile for the end of the world. Your choice.
Picture by mikelen is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The process is easy: take one part coarse ground coffee, 4.5 parts cold water, let sit for 12 hours then filter with a sieve (you can also find more detailed instructions here). You’re now ready for a summer of delicious coffee. Although any bean will work, we favor our Brazil, or a blend that's Brazil heavy. Cold brew has a wonderful mouthfeel, but it does tend to mute some of the more delicate flavors, so using a coffee that already produces a sweeter, creamier brew will be extra fantastic.  In other words, don't break out the Ethiopian for it. If you absolutely must have some iced Ethiopian coffee, I recommend starting here for a list of other great ways to make iced coffee. Whichever method you choose, make sure it's good. The Maine summer is short, and there's no point wasting it on bad iced coffee.