Coffee Plantation Update

We're still in business at the Coffee Plantation, but there's been precious little time to blog here lately. The shop is busy, much busier than it was on Whitehead Street. Theo and I have been working seven days a week, with only a little time off for each of us. We hired Tracy to work with us a couple of days a week. That gives us an opportunity to have little time off together.

We've added some things to our menu -- fresh baked muffins and scones, soups at lunchtime. We've become used to the layout here and can move around behind the coffee bar, three of us some times, doing the dance of customer service. Still, on some mornings, we have a line back to the door, people waiting for a con leche, a latte (same thing, really), an Americano, or one of our other specialty coffees. We toast bagels, 20 of them in a day, and go through a variety of other pastries.

Someone said, "be careful what you wish for, you might get it." We wished for an even more successful business. We think we found it!

What a party!

We threw a party and lots of people came. Out grand opening celebration yesterday was, from our perspective, a grand success. Our guests began to arrive right at the 4 PM start, and continued arriving and departing right until 7 PM. We cleaned up for today's 7:30 AM opening and went time, tired, footsore, and happy. There are pictures at the Flickr web site of our Chief Scribe, Bob Kelly. Here's one.

Grand Opening Party

We're throwing a party later today to celebrate the opening of our shop at its new location on Caroline Street. We've been open here for a little more than a month now. Things are going well. We're busier now than we could have imagined.

We've invited our friends and the community at large to help us to celebrate. There'll be music, food, drink, contests, prizes -- and of course the "best coffee on the island".

Secret of Salt

The unveiling of a new literary journal in Key West, photographer and gallery owner Kimberly Narenkivicius' secret of salt: an indigenous journal, was the cause for celebration last night on White Street.

For all intents and purposes, most every fine artist and gallery on the island was represented, at the event, either in person or in spirit. (And Coffee Plantation was well-represented with an enormous bowl of a particularly tantalizing hummus - made by Diane - set amongst a veritable smorgasbord of other delicious dishes drinks and desserts, all supplied by other artists and supporters of the arts of Key West. And, as the it was the first genuinely cold evening of the winter, a beautiful fire pit lit the back corner. But the warmth generated by the overflow turnout, and music by Island mainstay Mustapha and Gainesville folk musician Amanda Garrigues kept the temperature simmeringly lovely all evening long.

Special thanks to loyal CP Cricket Desmarais for all her work in spreading the word of this evening. And for further information still, the secret of salt weblog is here.

BTW, as an event, the journal's debut was an amazing success, with all copies of the first printing of salt selling out well before the evening was even half over!

Grand Opening and Contest

Coffee Plantation's Grand Opening Party is on January 29th. Music, food, coffee drinks, and neighborly good times are to be expected.

It is the smoothie maker "Cone Of Silence" (COS) contest that may well be the highlight, however.

For everyone who is a regular at Coffee Plantation, as well as guests and visitors, the roar of the machine that blends the (actually quite) delicious smoothie drinks is a hysterically funny break in the routine, like an airplane starting up or the roar of a friendly Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur who happens to drop in to bellow out a kind but uproarious "HELLO!"

In order to amend this noisy, moment-jarring suspension of reason, Diane and Theo (and regulars Rick and Mongo) have come up with a unique opportunity.

Build the best smoothie maker "Cone of Silence," and win a cup of java a day for a year!

Each COS will be graded on practicality, space efficiency, and aesthetics' value (after all, it is Key West).

Here are the space dimensions for construction:

8" deep
7" wide
16" tall


On behalf of the mental health and peace of mind of the clients, customers, and caretakers and neighbors within a 100 yd radius of Coffee Plantation, very very good luck! ;)

See you on the 29th!

This is us, today, in front of our new location on Caroline Street in Key West.

For such a short distance on such a small island it was a long journey and a big move . . . but worth it! We love our new home, and all the friends - old and new alike - who have made our move the success it is.

SO . . . this is our 'blog. Our friends suggested we put one up to showcase some of the highlights of our goodtimes. Feel free to send letters and photos. And whenever your around Caroline Street, do check in with us here to see what's shakin' at Coffee Plantation.