To welcome our newest addition, we’re inviting you to get involved. You can get a FREE sample, a FREE bottle, and a chance to win a $100 Sweetwaters card.

Within the next two weeks, start looking around town for lemons that look like this hanging from trees.

How to get a FREE sample of Ginger Lemon Tea:

Bring your lemon to any of the Sweetwaters locations. Also fill out your information on the back for a chance to receive a $100 Sweetwaters card.

How to get a FREE BOTTLE of Ginger Lemon Tea:

Post a picture of you with the lemon on Facebook, and tag “Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea” (you need to like us first). We’ll send you a coupon for your free bottle!

Don’t miss out and keep checking our Facebook page for some fun Ginger Lemon t-shirt giveaways too!

Some background on the bottling process…

This project has been in the works for some time now, and we’re very pleased to finally unveil the bottles. Past customers who moved away have been calling in to see when bottles of Ginger Lemon deliciousness can be sent their way. We’re excited that one of our favorite drinks can now be shared with locals and globals alike

Check out some photos from our local Michigan bottler:

While attending Chicago’s CoffeeFest we tasted so many coffees.  The stand out by far was Burundi.  So much so, that although we had originally scheduled a different coffee to be featured in March and April, I immediately emailed all the stores to put a halt to the original plan and order Burundi instead!

When Wei tasted the Burundi his immediate reaction was, “Wow, this coffee has no bitterness. It’s velvety and refreshing with a very clean finish.”  We had to bring this ultra-smooth coffee to our Sweetwaters customers to brighten the dreary, gray days of March.

One of my favorite first comments from a downtown customer:  “I love the Burundi.  As a student, any old coffee would do.  But now, I’m more selective.  I only want to drink really good coffee and this one is it – I can taste the difference and it makes me feel good.”  – Andrea, a longtime downtown customer.

Come in and have a taste. It’s what “grown-up” coffee should be.

]]> http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/a-great-find-for-grown-ups/feed/ 0 http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/sweetwaters-dessert-tasting/ http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/sweetwaters-dessert-tasting/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:32:51 +0000 Katie Chang http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/?p=1102 Sweetwaters Dessert Tasting Video

Check out this dessert tasting we filmed! You’re bound to laugh and drool over our Year of the Rabbit Passion Cupcake & OMG Chocolate Cake.

These desserts are perfect for a Valentine’s Day treat <3

For all of you Plum Market shoppers, we have great news! Sweetwaters coffee which has been sold at the Ann Arbor Plum, is now also available at the West Bloomfield and Bloomfield locations! Enjoy Sweetwaters’ finest in the comfort of your own home!

For a map of Plum Market Ann Arbor.

For a map of Plum Market West Bloomfield.

For a map of Plum Market Bloomfield.

Sweetwaters has branched out into your local Busch’s Fresh Food Markets. Our coffee is now available at both Ann Arbor locations of Busch’s . Whether you’re on the north side or south side of Ann Arbor, picking up Sweetwaters’ Coffee is even more convenient!

Click here for both locations of Busch’s Stores.

For a listing of more restaurants and grocers carrying Sweetwaters’ Coffee, please click here.

We’re thrilled to receive this honor and we will continue to procure and serve the finest teas for your enjoyment.

Coffee has often been either vilified or lauded.  Since many of us cannot go without our daily brew we decided to focus on the positive.

Here are some studies that you can feel good about:

A Japanese study finds that smelling coffee may have an effect  on the body that is similar to drinking it.  The research, conducted on sleep-deprived rats, indicates that the aroma of coffee restored levels of mRNA for genes important to brain function to near-normal levels.  Although the study has not been conducted on humans, many of the genes in question do have human equivalents, so there could be similar perks in human bodies.

Findings published in the European Society for Human Reproduction & Embryology in Barcelona indicate that consuming large amounts of coffee (4 cups a day) can lower a woman’s chances of getting pregnant by 25%.

A strong cup of coffee has a greater effect on men than women, according to a study from the University of Barcelona.  When 668 subjects consumed coffee, men and women became more alert 10 minutes after finishing their drink, but the effect on men was more exaggerated.

Coffee consumption linked to lowered risk of dementia. Researchers from Sweden and Denmark tracked coffee consumption in 1,409 middle aged women and men for an average of 20 years, finding those who drank 3-5 cups daily were 65% less likely to develop dementia than those who consumed 2 cups or less.

A study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology indicates that caffeine helps kill human cells that have been damaged by UV light, one of the leading causes of skin cancer.  Several other studies have found that people who regularly drink coffee or tea have lower instance of non-melanoma skin cancers.

A cup of coffee before exercise may give you a healthy boost; a University of Illinois study finds that the practice can result in less muscle soreness.

So, drink or smell a cup of coffee and you will lower your risks of getting pregnant, getting skin cancer, going crazy, and you’ll be able to run a mile without feeling sore – what a miracle!   Take these stories with a grain of salt… or a grind of coffee.

Ginger Ale Without the Can

GINGER ALE is an age-old remedy for sick children and grown-ups alike. Now, homemade ginger ale is appearing on drink menus across the country under happier circumstances.

In Atlanta, it is a mixer for cocktails at Drinkshop, the newly opened bar in the W Hotel Downtown developed in collaboration with Sasha Petraske, the New York-based drinks master.

Homemade ginger ale is featured at Wow Bao, a small Chicago fast-food chain that serves up Asian specialties like steamed buns and dumplings.

At Stand, a New York bar and cafe that offers a variety of traditional beverages, ginger ale is prepared to order using seltzer from old-style bottles.

Homemade sodas seem in step with the growing menu trend toward simpler, more natural foods, as well as a rising interest in locally made artisanal products, said Annika Stensson, a spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association.

“Nothing’s more local than things being made from scratch,” Ms. Stensson said.

Making things from scratch is a hallmark of a new breed of cocktail bars, too, where bartenders eschew commercial mixers in favor of those made on the spot.

Christine Sismondo of Toronto, the author of “Mondo Cocktail,” said the revived popularity of ginger ale was a sharp contrast to its previous reputation as a sweetener to make strong drinks more palatable. “Rye and ginger, in Canada, was the joke drink,” Ms. Sismondo said.

But beyond current fashions, homemade ginger ale has a lively bite that is especially appealing as summer nears.

“It’s a very refreshing, vibrant feeling,” said Geoff Alexander, the managing partner of Wow Bao, part of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, the Chicago restaurant company.

Typically less sweet than store-bought sodas, the handmade ales get an added zing from fresh ginger. At Stand, it is peeled and put through a strainer to make juice, said P. J. Bodoy, the general manager. The juice is steeped with lemon juice and simple syrup. When a customer orders a ginger ale, this base is topped off with seltzer delivered by Walter Backerman, a third-generation seltzer seller.

A glass of plain ginger ale costs $6. The soda also serves as an ingredient in mixed drinks, at $9 each, like the Mr. Sunshine, made with rye, and the Dark and Stormy, made with dark rum.

Mr. Petraske’s ginger ale base at Drinkshop calls for lime juice instead of lemon. It is an ingredient in the slyly named Presbyterian, which includes bourbon or rum blended with ale and club soda, and topped with a twist of lemon.

Drinkshop also offers the London Buck, which has gin, ale, lemon and, in a nod to Atlanta’s local fruit, peach juice. The cocktails run $13 each.

A less expensive ginger ale is sold at Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea in Ann Arbor, Mich., where a nonalcoholic drink called the Ginger Fizz costs $2.95 a serving.

The Fizz is the latest variation on the ginger-lemon tea, available hot or cold, that Sweetwaters has sold since its original branch in downtown Ann Arbor opened 15 years ago, said Lisa Bee, a co-owner. Both the tea and the ale start with a base of ginger, honey, lemon, water and an ingredient that Ms. Bee declined to identify. To make a Fizz, the concentrate is mixed with sparkling water.

Although Sweetwaters offers a variety of stronger, sweeter drinks, the Fizz’s lack of sugar and caffeine are selling points. “If we have all-natural alternatives,” Ms. Bee said, “people will consider them.”

Homemade ginger ale is selling well in Chicago, where the three Wow Bao shops serve 1,000 cups a week, at $2.29 apiece. The ale, made from a concentrate produced in the same kettles used to steam buns and dumplings, comes in plain, green tea and pomegranate flavors.

Wow Bao also offers the ginger concentrate at its Jackson Boulevard shop as a topping for plain frozen yogurt.

The ale fits with the restaurants’ Asian theme, Mr. Alexander said. “Ginger is a very important part of Chinese cooking,” he said. “It became a natural part of our menu.”

Though customers have suggested that Wow Bao expand its ginger ale flavorings, Mr. Alexander is reluctant to experiment too much. (A cranberry version failed to catch on.) “We could go the full spectrum,” he said, “but people who want ginger ale really want ginger ale.”

Sweetwaters in the NYtimes.com

They learned that the wonderful consistency of Kauai coffee’s is due to all the beans being grown on a single estate. To keep the estate pristine and productive for future generations the plantation uses many environmentally friendly processes to reduce its impact on the estate and this beautiful island;  water used for processing the beans is filtered and reused for irrigation, 100% renewable energy is used via the city’s hydro electricity plant, water and fertilizer is applied directly to the roots making them the largest drip irrigation coffee estate in the world!

We are featuring Kauai coffee during the months of March and April. Try a cup and taste why we love this tropical and well balanced coffee.