Giving Thanks

Mocha Mutt and Coffee Cat sing, bark and meow the praises of local coffee shops all the time, but at Thanksgiving, we can't help but think of all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for. For the majority of Americans, life is relatively luxurious compared to the rest of the world. Sure, we have our rough moments, our bad days, and our personal (and national) budget shortfalls. We deal with an illness or death of friends, family, or other loved ones. However, compared to how people in other parts of the world struggle daily just to survive, we have it so easy. So this Thanksgiving, consider the things you are thankful for - - and thank the people and/or the deity who make it possible for you. I've started a list - - what can you add to it?

Coffee - - an expensive luxury to many, but an obtainable, affordable part of our daily routine

Time - - Leisure time to spend with a friend at a coffee shop, or even the time to drive-thru for a custom-created drink; time to enjoy a musical or poetic performance at a local coffee shop or theater venue

Food - - while some go hungry, we have such an abundance we can eat for pleasure and special occasions, not just for basic nutrition

Service professionals - - while we can make our own food and drinks at home, it is such a luxury to have professionals who make it a pleasure to eat and drink without the drudgery of assembling ingredients, making the items, washing dishes, and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. To food service pros everywhere - - THANK YOU!

Freedom - - of the many kinds of freedom we enjoy in this nation (including blogging) - - one of my favorites is the freedom to travel. And when I travel, of course, I find Coffee, Food, and Service Professionals to make the trip delicious. I have over 200 years' worth of free-thinkers, rebels, soldiers and outspoken patriots to thank for this freedom, so THANK YOU!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! What are you thankful for?

CoffeeCat Resolves: Drink More Coffee

Last year, I did the best I’d ever done at keeping my New Year’s resolution. I wasn’t perfect, but I made some improvements. The trick was, choosing something that was more important to me than the usual things of losing weight, saving money, or exercising more. Those resolutions aren’t successful at the start of a new year. They’re successful when you’re ready to take them on, and Jan. 1 just isn’t the optimal time for many resolutions.


So, earlier this week, I flippantly posted on Facebook that I resolve to drink more coffee. But this statement is one of those things said in jest that is only half a joke. Resolving to drink more coffee will help me build on last year’s resolution, so I think I can keep it.

My first coffee shop visit of the New Year:
The Coffee Break in Greensboro. Beautiful setting,
great coffee, friendly people. Happy New Year to me!

When I say I’ll drink more coffee, I’m thinking of more than just caffeine. Here’s what my resolution means to me:

1) I resolve to enjoy the things I love. I work hard at my day job, volunteer jobs, and helping family & friends. I put a lot of effort into helping others and doing my part to make the world a better place. I don’t do as much as many others do, but I do as much as I can. So, if I want to spend a little extra to buy coffee shop coffee to brew at home, I think I will!

2) I resolve to enjoy Triad Coffee Shops. As I’ve said before on this blog, it is a luxury to pay someone to make coffee for me and a luxury to sit in a well-furnished, warm, inviting coffee shop. But I’ve also written about the great things that coffee shops do in our communities and in the communities around the equator that grow coffee. Our little luxuries support farmers, college students, small business owners, and nonprofit organizations. Enjoy!

3) I resolve to make a resolution I can keep. I never resolve to start something new on Jan. 1. Rather, I look back over the past year and think about what I’ve enjoyed, what has gone well, and what I need to improve. If you read this blog and my Facebook page, you know that CoffeeCat enjoys animal rescue, writing, and working hard in general. Embarking upon 2011, I can say that I’ve enjoyed getting involved in animal rescue, but I can’t do it 24/7 like the true, heart-and soul rescuers. So I’ll continue the other things that worked well for me, too – writing, blogging, and supporting local businesses. Doing all of this requires energy, so for that, I will need coffee!

4) I resolve to be cheerful. I’m not a naturally cheerful person, as those who encounter me before my first coffee know. But over the years, I’ve learned something that is backed up by research: coffee is a mood elevator. When I’m blue, just a few sips of coffee get me in good spirits. When I run out of steam, coffee gets me going. So, for the sake of world peace (at least my corner of the world), I resolve to drink more coffee.

So, coffee shop fans, what do you think? Will coffee help you achieve your resolutions in 2011? Best wishes for a great New Year, friends!

World Peace at your local coffee shop?

NASA photo uploaded from about.com

A coffee shop is its neighborhood.

To be successful, a coffee shop has to have something in common with its neighbors, something that attracts them to come in, come back, and spend money. My neighborhood doesn't have a locally- owned coffee shop, so I enjoy trying out other people's neighborhoods.

For example, I enjoy The Coffee Break, Tate Street, and Coffeeology, all located in the UNC-G neighborhood. All of these appeal to students, professors, and the professionals who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. Even so, each shop has a different look & different energy.

iCoffee in Summerfield is in the neighborhood of Lake Brandt, so it appeals to people on their way to the lake. It's also a hub for the Northern Guilford community and reaches out to the students and families through student art displays, concerts, and gatherings for sports teams.

Sitting on the patio of Krankie's in Winston-Salem, I noticed that the county detention center and one building of the Piedmont Triad Research Park rise over the old industrial city block on which Krankie's is situated. What kind of neighborhood is made up of a jail, a biomedical research building, railroad tracks, and a coffee shop in an old warehouse?

Spend some time listening to the poets and musicians who perform at Krankie's, and you'll feel the neighborhood. It's the neighborhood of innovation, energy, and creativity. It's a crossroads of artistic, scientific, and ordinary people. Some poets rhyme about life on the streets and how it landed them in that jail across Chestnut Street. They're using their energy and creativity to innovate new, better lives for themselves, and they're not afraid to get on stage and let people know.

Other poets rhyme about diseases and human conditions that are being confronted head-on at the research park. While scientists in those labs develop new, life-saving drugs and grow human organs to replace diseased organs, a poet named Eurycide White shouts a poem called, "**** you, cancer."  The disease took people she loved, and across the street, strangers are taking on disease. Does it get any more real than this?

Coffee shops don't rate the same coverage on front pages and newscasts as health care reform, Middle Eastern peace talks, or the war in Afghanistan. You and I know that. But real life is happening in and around Triad Coffee Shops. Take some time to explore your neighborhood coffee shop, or someone else's. You never know - you just might be within arm's reach of world peace or a cure for cancer.

UPDATE: See Life in Forsyth's wonderful photo

Discovering the coffee shop

I first discovered coffee shops when I moved to Winston-Salem in 1993. Suddenly, I learned that coffee wasn’t just for mornings. My sister, friends and I enjoyed poetry slams at the Horse’s Mouth in the heart of downtown and listened to up-and-coming bands at Morning Dew on Burke Street in the West End. Tate Street Coffee in Greensboro was an attraction where we took our out-of-town friends. In coffee houses we found the opposite of the smoke-filled, strobe-lighted, eardrum-bursting nightclubs that were “the” night life for college students. At the coffee house, everyone could get a grown-up yet non-alcoholic drink, stick to a tight budget, and hear the conversation.


More than a decade later, as a graduate student, I rediscovered coffee houses in the Triad. I appreciated calm but busy coffee houses like Café Roché in Winston-Salem and The Coffee Break in Greensboro. They provide a great place for coffee and reading by day, and conversation with friends by night. I’ve also discovered that coffee shops are much more than a place to gather for lattes and chai. New shops such as Krankie’s, Brew Nerds, and Chelsee’s, all in Winston-Salem, are putting a new spin on coffee shops and welcoming new concepts and new customers of all ages.

Winston-Salem’s Brew Nerds on Hanes Mall Blvd. is a glass, brightly-lit, ultra modern hot spot for Wii tournaments and trivia contests. The owners of Krankie’s transformed an old warehouse into an arts and entertainment destination where customers can watch documentary films, shop at a weekly farmers market, and visit nearby galleries and shops also housed in what they now call “The Wherehouse.” Krankie’s customers give it props as a good place to drink a glass of wine on Saturday night and read the newspaper over coffee on a Sunday morning. Some Saturday nights you can find gospel concerts at Juicy Java in Kernersville. iCoffee in Summerfield offers bluegrass music some nights and a gathering spot after Friday night football games.

The desire for good coffee and a place to enjoy it is universal. Coffee shops are great places to drink tea, smoothies, and even beer. And since people come to coffee shops for different reasons, you can be sure there’s a place and a time for any of them. To write your great novel, most coffee shops would be the perfect place on a Sunday morning or a Saturday afternoon. To meet new people, try Friday night art openings, concerts almost any night of the week, or Saturday mornings while walking your dog. To enjoy the literary arts, there are poetry slams, book signings, and scrabble tournaments.

In this blog, I’ll tell you about upcoming events at Triad coffee shops. Want me to visit your favorite coffee shop? Want to promote an event? Let me know about it.