Last night, I stayed up watching another late Yankee game in Seattle. Major League Baseball put in a lot of changes this season, including an innovative pitch clock, but the Yankee games still plod along at a pedestrian pace. This one finished in just under 3 hours (2:54). The good news is that we won 10-2 and Aaron Judge hit another one into the seats. He’s played in fewer games this year (he missed 10 due to injury) but is on the same pace he was last year (18 home runs through 46 team games) when he hit an America League record 62 on his way to earring in MVP honors. But, surely you didn’t tune in for the baseball beat, so on to my adventure for today.
This fine morning, I found myself in St. Augustine on Anastasia Island, at Growers Alliance Cafe and Gift Shop. Growers Alliance was founded by Martin Kabaki and Purity Giknju who few up on coffee growers in Kenya. Their vision and mission is to eliminate the several unnecessary middlemen who take the biggest cut from growers. Their coffee is roasted in small batches to ensure quality and consistency. For every bag of single coffee that they sell, 10% of the proceeds go back to help the poor coffee growers.
I highly recommend that you read up on the plight that mean coffee growers go through in order to support this tasty commodity. My coffee of choice today is a Kenyan dark roast. It has a very smooth and velvety flavor. My hope was to be able to try their Mandazi (Kenyan donut). Mandazi is a Kenyan food that is made from simple dough that is deep fried until puffy and light. From what the owner tells me, they are not as sweet as an American donut but she assures me they are tasty. Unfortunately their Kenyan baker is on a trip back home, so they were out of mandazi. Oh well, better luck next time. The cafe also has an assortment of muffins and scones if you don’t want typical pastry fare. I will definitely return to Growers Alliance again.
