Today is our 11th birthday! On March 30th, 2007, we first opened our doors at the Calgary Farmer’s Market. We’re definitely nostalgic today, reflecting on the years since. We’re still chasing that perfect cup! Thank you all so much for coming out in those early days to support us, and for your love since. We have grown from just a few into an amazing team, and we are excited for what the future holds!
In celebration of our birthday, we have some exciting news! If you have been in our cafes lately, or on our website, you may have noticed that we have new bags and labels. We laboured over this design for many months, along with Daughter Creative, and we are very happy with where we landed. These bags introduce a new way of organizing coffees in three series: R1, R2 and R3, and from the call-out at the top of the front label and via the back graphic:
R1 = Comfortable & Chocolatey
R2 = Approachable & Nuanced
R3 = Exotic & Fruity
You can think of the R1, R2 and R3 as names, perhaps like model numbers of a car, however they also have an underlying meaning. The ‘R’ stands for Radius, and as is shown on a diagram on the back of the bag, each one represents a radius progressively further from a “Classic Flavour Profile”. You will also notice a colour coding system. The top band of colour correlates to the series:
R1 = Green
R2 = Purple
R3 = Red
The bottom colour denotes the type of coffee:
Espresso = Orange
Filter = Blue
Yellow = Decaf
There are also different icons for each coffee type. You will see that the coffee facts are there with tasting notes at the top, but we’ve dispensed with the story. We found it increasingly difficult to write these stories and say something meaningful with so few words. Our webpage does a much better job of telling the story!
“The Standard” is the name you’ll see on all R1 coffees, while the facts below will change with the coffee in the bag. These are delicious coffees, bought through our direct trade model that we fully stand behind, while being ultra-accessible and a great segue for dark roast coffee drinkers into the sweeter world of specialty. Our R1 series will be up on the web soon - bear with us as we launch this portion of our business. Note that the “Exotic” series coffees will now be called “Limited Release”, and have their own special label, as seen in the Maragogype in the photo above.
