In News // on September 24th, 2009 // by Heine Brothers // No comment
The results for the LEO Readers’ Choice Awards are in… and Heine Brothers’ is a winner!
In this year’s LEO Readers’ Choice Awards, we took home 3 award in the following categories:
- Best Coffeeshop- 1st place
- Best Place to Pick up a LEO- 1st place
- Best Facebook friend- 2nd place
Thank you Louisville for voting for us. We are glad to have friends like you!
Click here to see the complete list of the LEO’s Awards!
In News // on September 21st, 2009 // by Heine Brothers // No comment
Walter Brock’s recently-completed short documentary “Breaking New Grounds” tells the story of this unique Louisville, Kentucky-based economic development engine from its birth as a coffee composting project conceived by Gary Heine and Mike Mays, to its growth over the past few years as a successful vermicompost producer and a budding urban farm operation in the California neighborhood of West Louisville.
Check out this and other videos about this amazing organization at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/user/BNGLouisville
In News // on September 14th, 2009 // by Heine Brothers // No comment
One of our most popular teas, the Yerba Mate craze is sweeping the city… and there are good reasons why.
Yerba Mate, is a tea made from the leaves and stems of a tree found in Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil. The yellow-green infusion has an earthy quality to it and is much bolder than green tea, to which it should be compared in colorcoffee beans only. Yerba mate is consumed by millions of South Americans each year, as it is a healthy and tasty alternative to coffee. In studies, mate has been shown to help aid in weight loss, increase energy levels, and fight bad breath, among its many other health benefits!
Just like fine coffees, high quality yerba mate is grown in the shade of taller trees, in a rainforest-like setting. This type of agriculture preserves the natural ecosystems of coffee and tea growing countries, and is normally coupled with organic and other sustainable farming practices. Our yerba mate is completely Fair Trade and Organically grown.
One misconception about mate is that it is caffeine-free. In fact it does contain caffeine- about 45 mg per 8 ounce serving. In comparison, the same amount of coffee contains about 135 mg of caffeine. If you are trying to cut back on caffeine, mate would be a great choice. For more information on yerba mate, check out www.guayaki.com
In News // on September 3rd, 2009 // by Heine Brothers // No comment
Did you know that honey is the only food product that will NEVER go bad?
Allergies got you down this summer? Honey from local bee keepers has long been praised for its medicinal qualities, especially when it comes to easing the symptoms of seasonal allergies. The idea is that ingesting honey that’s produced with pollens from your region can help you build up your tolerance, much like regular allergy shots do.
All of our stores have raw local honey both for sale and for use in coffee and tea. This amazing natural sweetener is harvested in the Kentuckiana region and is a great alternative to processed sugar! Sweeten your day with a little local honey, and ease those Ohio valley allergies at the same time!
In News // on August 24th, 2009 // by Heine Brothers // No comment
A barista shares her thoughts on Guatemala and her travels there while working with Habitat for Humanity.
The air smelled the same as I remembered. There has always been something oddly comforting to me about the diesel-exhaust-scented air in some of the poorer countries I’ve visited. Unlike other places, the Guatemalan breeze has a deliciously spicy quality added to it, which must come from the kind of wood that’s burned in the old fashioned wood stoves used there. When our group of 16 Heine Brothers’ customers and baristas arrived in Guatemala City’s airport on July 4, I had been patiently waiting for a wiff that busy, dirty underdeveloped-country-air for over 2 years. It was well worth the wait.
I find myself intoxicated by sensory overload each time I visit Guatemala. Upon arrival, I am first overwhelmed by the over-crowded, ever-noisy streets of the capital. A few hours later, I find myself gripping the van seat in front of me as our driver plays chicken with an oncoming vehicle (this is very common and very “safe” in Guate). Soon, the air is saturated with that sweet, wood-smoke and diesel mixture. The further from the city we drive, the bluer the sky becomes- a blue so deep and bright that I’m certain I will never experience anything like it through the veil of pollution in the Ohio valley. As we drive roads bordered by coffee and banana farms, volcanoes rise above us on either side- some asleep and some still spitting smoke and lava. And then, when I am certain that not an ounce more beauty could possibly be packed into this magical place, I remember the Guatemalan people. The Mayan women, adorned with braids or hair wraps and their brightly colored traditional outfits, intrigue me the most. They are holding on to their traditions, their heritage in a way I seldom experience at home. In all my travels, I have yet to find places more intriguingly beautiful, or a people more kind and welcoming than those of the highlands of Guatemala.
Its amazing to me that a country with such a lush landscape and the kindest of people can also be overrun with poverty to the degree that it is. According to the CIA Factbook, more than 50% of the Guatemalan population lives below the poverty line. A 36-year civil war that finally ended in 1996 and regular destruction by hurricanes and earthquakes have certainly not helped the economic situation. Community supported organizations like Habitat for Humanity are reaching out to the people of Guatemala, with both hope and practical solutions to combat the stronghold of poverty. Habitat for Humanity has been building homes in Guatemala since 1980 and has completed more than 25,000 houses to date. The work that Habitat does is community based and facilitated entirely by staff and volunteers from within Guatemala. They offer low and no-interest home loans to folks who would normally be denied financing. Heine Brothers’ Coffee’s trip to Guatemala last month marked my fifth visit there. Volunteerism is the reason I first traveled to Guatemala, and its the reason I keep going back. I know that my contribution is small, but its sometimes the small things in life that make the most difference. Besides, I feel like its the least I can do, for a country and a people who have given me so much joy…. and the best tasting coffee in the world.
