The following letter from JJ was posted June 1, 2009, and explains JJ Bean's "new direction":
To my fellow coffee lover and faithful customer,
As of June 1, 2009, JJ Bean has embarked on a New Direction in our mutual journey with coffee. Since Dec 1996, when JJ Bean was founded, we have been dedicated to finding the best coffees and roasting them as often as possible to maximize freshness at our Vancouver roastery, located at Victoria and Powell.
Our New Direction
• Six Organic blends of coffee: House Medium, Eastside, Doppio, Caffè Inferno, Espresso Nero, and Decaf House.
• Two or three of the best single origin coffees available (called our Special Reserves).
• Coffee roasted five days a week rather than three.
• New graphics and labeling that will tell you all about the coffees.
You might say, "but why? We love JJ Bean just the way it is! Don't change a thing!" We have come to know that the love of coffee is a journey and our New Direction is all about improving what we are currently doing. It's about going to the next level of both quality and freshness. In the last 9 months we have been preparing for the following changes that encompass our New Direction.
Coffee Changes
Blends are all about a flavour profile staying consistent month after month. In the past we have tried to do something for everyone, but having 28 different coffees (14 on our retail side) taste consistently great is a monumental task for a small roaster.
We have chosen to focus on fewer coffees that will meet every flavour profile. We previously carried conventional blends, Fair Trade Organic blends, some Single Origin coffees and our Special Reserve coffees.
Our new Organic Blends will be the best tasting organics available to us and often will include Fair Trade certified coffees, but we can no longer promise that they will always be FTO. Our focus will be on best taste. What we can promise is that we will always pay farmers at least Fair Trade minimum prices and that we will be starting our own initiative called "Over & Above" (more on that next month).
Our Special Reserve program is all about bringing the very best single origin coffees to you on a seasonal basis. We will have a changing list of two or three coffees that are so good they deserve to be tasted on a stand-alone basis.
Freshness
Many companies are moving to new-fangled packaging to improve freshness. Using valve bags and flushing coffee with gas are two examples. Our research tells us that the best way to keep coffee fresh is to roast it often, and use it within 10 days of the roast date. Even though we roast more and more coffee each year, we have reduced the size of our roasters so that we will need to roast more often. Freshness = fewer coffees, roasted more frequently.
Coffee information
Our new packaging will tell you so much more than before. Each blend will have its components listed, and each 5lb bag delivered to our stores will be dated. Our Special Reserve bags will give you even more info about where the coffee was grown, how the coffee was processed, and our cupping team's tasting notes.
"JJ Bean, Coffee Roasters"
Our ownership has not changed, but we are changing our operating name to JJ Bean, Coffee Roasters because that's who we are.
JJ Bean has become something very special because of your loyalty to us. We appreciate that, and sincerely hope that you will join us in this New Direction. For more information, Grady Buhler, our cupping team leader has created a pamphlet called "A Fresh Outlook"; please watch for it in our retail stores.
Kindest Regards
John Neate (JJ) and the rest of the JJ crew
