Feaster

The new Top Pot will be located at the Southwest corner of 35th Ave NE and NE 70th St. I think it will add an interesting element to the neighborhood. I do not see Top Pot as a competitor to Grateful Bread or the furure Starbuck's. Different people like different places. Should I add the Safeway bakery to the list? What type of clientellle should we target with advertising and decore when we build in these pocket neighborhoods? A place to buy a dozen doughnuts on the way to work? A couple three soccer moms getting together with their kids? Lonely singles looking for a place to hang out? You tell me.

The next Top Pot outlet will be located in the Wedgewood neighborhood. Feaster

San Cristobal is our supplier. There's a great article on the work Jim kosalos is doing with the Mexican coffee growers at http://teaandcoffee.net/0803/coffee.htm

Coffee that is grown at lower elevations, where they slash, burn and fertilize is termed robusta coffee. That's the stuff that goes into Folger's Maxwell House. etc. Vietnam has flooded the coffee market with this junk and that is why the price is so low. Workers in Vietnam make about one dollar a day. Coffee grown at higher elevationns, usually below the rain forest canopy is Arabica coffee. It is shade grown and bird friendly. The farms are smaller and the yield per hector is a lot less. The farmers cannot afford pesticides or fertilizers. It is organic by default. If the farmer can shell out a few thousand dollars they can get it certified as organic. If the farmer works his tail off and keeps his plants healthy he is rewarded with the best grade of coffee. #1 Arabica. These are the guys who supply the Malinal for Top Pot. They get the premium price for producing a premium product. The coffee is also termed substainale. If you reward the farmer by paying him well, he will be back next year and the year after that. Moving into the political arena: When a group signs up with fairtrade, they get premium price no matter what the grade of coffee. They can do it because they have a guaranteed market. The last I heard, the FTO collected 20 cents a pound for buyers to put their sticker on their bags. That's 20 cents the farmer didn't get. The most informative and easiest coffee site I've found is at http://www.coffeeresearch.org/sitemap.htm Cheers Silent partner

I know that the percentage of certified coffee is high enough that Top Pot can say “Made with organic coffee.” Each month Top Pot uses more than a ton of Malinal coffee. The growers are paid more than they would get if they were fair trade. The story behind that is at http://teaandcoffee.net/0803/coffee.htm and http://www.malinal.com/background.htm Top Pot also sends a monthly check to Bob Howell and Vicky Flores to support their charitable efforts in Nayarit Mexico. Some of their story can be found at http://community.webshots.com/user/robertohowell Don’t look too hard or you’ll see a picture of me. It is interesting that with all the media hype about fair trade and organic, very few people ask if our coffee is certified. But then again, with all the media hype about eating healthy, people are still eating doughnuts.

I am sorry I have nothing to report on the location of the next Top Pot cuz the property owner hasen't sent the lease back yet Almost every day Top Pot gets phone calls from property owners wanting us to rent their space. If I won the lottery I would finance the building of a Top Pot at each and every place you guys suggested. It takes a lot of doughnuts to pay for a store. Stay tuned Silent partner

What great responses! Getting closer to securing a location for another store. The prospective landlord's attorney returned the lease agreement and asked Top Pot to approve some minor changes. Still no signature from them so it ain't official yet. I hear Krappy Kreme is opening their South Seattle store any day now.

The active Top Pot partners Mark, Joel and Mike The counter area of the 5th avenue store. Mark and Mike built all the cabinets and installed the terazzo floor Top Pot hopes to open another 5 to 8 stores during the next 3 years. August is the target date for the next one. I might know later this week where it's gunna be.

Hmmm. what about Wedgewood? Charbuck's is going in at the old Godfather's building. Think Top Pot could compete? As a sidenote: Has anyone noticed that the doughnuts are less oily? Another sidenote: Udub and Swedish medical centers will soon be selling Top Pot doughnuts somewhere in their facilities. Be sure to have a couple before you go upstairs to have your stomach stapled. Feaster

What area of town should the next Top Pot be located? How should they spend their money? Comfortable chairs? Books? A wider menu? Terazzo floors? Cool display cases? The list goes on. What would cause you to walk the extra bloc or drive the extra mile?

Many thanks for the feedback on Top Pot. The demand for product continues to challange the managing partners. A steep learning curve for sure. But progress is being made and every week the volume increases. The business got some notice in the press: http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0342...f_turf_bros.php I love the concept of neighborhood coffee houses. Places where people can escape to to read a book, meditate with their laptop. meet with friends and neighbor (there's a difference?) or meet someone new to share ideas. Where should the next Top Pot be located? Grease for peace

Behold the beautiful woman underneath the sushi! What a wonderful life story she must have to share. To the right person. Unfortunately it is not me. Guess I'l have to settle for the yellowfin tuna. I am happy that my patronage has provided her with a means to express hrself and to provide the income her lifestyle demands.

I apologize Mamster. You are correct.

The 3 voting partners of Top Pot own Top Pot on 5th Avenue, Zeitgeist at 609 Summit Ave E; Elliott Bay Cafe below Elliott Bay Books, Bauhaus on Capitol Hill, and Gold Cup espresso in University Book store. They did own Zeitgeist in Pioneer Square along with Brian. Brian wanted to go in another direction so the 3 voting partners of Top Pot gave him their interest in Zeitgeist in exchange for his interest in the other places. All of the above use coffee roasted at 5th Avenue. All of the above use pastries baked at Elliott Bay Cafe. All of the above use doughnuts made at 5th Avenue. There are other places that use the coffee and doughnuts and coffee from 5th Avenue but I don't have the list of who they are. I do know the list is growing. Does this help explain things? Are there other details in particular you are interested in?