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:

More on Myra!
Website: http://myraklarman.com/
Blog: http://relish.myraklarman.com/
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/MyraKlarmanPhotography

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/introducing-our-new-in-house-espresso/ http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/introducing-our-new-in-house-espresso/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:30:19 +0000 Katie Chang http://sweetwaterscafe.com/blog/?p=1034

Sweetwaters brings you our NEW in-house espresso and drip brew: 4|12 Blend.  Featuring beans from India, Brazil and Sumatra with European inspiration.  A sweet & lively yet rich roast.  We’re thrilled to introduce this new blend to you!  There are a couple ways for you to help us welcome it in – and get some good deals along the way:

• Sign up for a complimentary taste-testing
  • The first 5 to participate get a FREE 4|12 Blend T-shirt
  • At Sweetwaters downtown only
  • Contact kt_swc@yahoo.com to sign up
• Bring in a photo of yourself in India, Brazil or Sumatra and get 30% off a cup or whole bean package of 4|12 blend

On your next visit, be sure to give it a try!  We’d love to hear what you think.

For more information click here.

Check out the full listing to see Sweetwaters as well as the other winners: http://www.annarbor.com/about/annarborcom-announces-the-winners-of-its-community-choice-awards-contest/

At Sweetwaters we appreciate the importance of career and technical education and are proud to support and mentor our local students.

Blue Tractor in Ann Arbor has created a stout using our coffee!  Sweetwaters Java Stout, is brewed with pale, caramel, chocolate, and roasted malts with a wee bit o’ oats and a coffee malt made from our House coffee. Head over to the Blue Tractor or Cafe Habana on Washington St. just past 4th Ave. and try a pint.  Reviews are in and from customers to staff they’re all lovin’ it!

To see a fun taste-testing video, click here.

Executive Profile: Lisa Bee, co-owner, Sweetwaters Cafe

People— they’re the best part of the job and the most challenging part of the job for Lisa Bee, co-owner of Sweetwaters

Café in downtown Ann Arbor.

“I get to meet so many different people,” Bee said. “Not just the customers, but also the staff.” Bee said that  former Sweetwaters employees move away after college, but often come back to let her and her husband, Wei, know how they area doing.

Bee said that while customers are loyal and have made many useful suggestions, they’re also the first to let her know when they don’t like something or want something to be changed, from adding new beverage selections to repairs or remodeling work on the shop.

“I’m really thankful for those people, though,” Bee said. “Our customers set a very high bar for us. They make us who we are.”

Sweetwaters encourages feedback from customers in a variety of forms, including the ability to post “SweetStories” about customers’ personal experiences to the coffee house’s Web site.

“Those are so much fun,” Bee said. “I’m always surprised by the stories people tell.”

Bee and her husband both grew up in the restaurant business— each came from a family that ran a Chinese restaurant. Bee said that after college she and her husband knew they wanted to start their own business, but didn’t want to run a full-scale restaurant. Coffee houses were just catching on, and that kind of business seemed “manageable.”

Bee said finding the space for Sweetwaters’ first location was easy. At one time, she worked in the stained glass studio that used to occupy the space now filled by her coffee and tea business. Over the years, two new Sweetwaters locations have been added: one in Kerrytown and another in a shopping center on Plymouth Road.

Coffee houses are more common now than when Sweetwaters was established, but Bee said the “warmth of the atmosphere” is what makes her business unique. It’s large enough to host big business meetings but also feels friendly enough that people want to stop and linger over their coffee or tea rather than making a “grab-and-go” visit on the way in to work in the morning, Bee said.

Bee said perhaps the biggest surprise about running Sweetwaters is how much of a role creativity plays in running the coffee house.

“I didn’t necessarily expect to have as many creative opportunities, from product development to marketing,” Bee said. “I have a lot of fun with this business.”

Background

Education: University of Michigan.

Family: Husband: Wei. Children: James, Tyler, Connor.

Residence: Ann Arbor.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Opening Sweetwaters. I’ve met so many great people.

Worst business decision: Any time I haven’t made my objectives clearly known.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Listening to our customers. They always have so many great ideas.

Personal hero: My Dad.

How do you motivate people? Being fair and honest go a long way.

What advice would you give to yourself in college? Participate in activities that you’ve never tried before.

Word that best describes you: Reserved.

First Web site you check in the morning: My e-mail.

Confessions

What keeps you up at night? My kids.

Pet peeve: Dishonesty.

Guilty pleasure: Fresh figs and muscat grapes.

First job: Hostess at my parents’ restaurant.

First choice for a new career: Something in art or design.

Treasures

Favorite cause: Ones that help those that can’t help themselves.

Favorite book: “Who’s Behind the Fairy Doors” by Jonathan Wright.

Favorite movie: “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Big Fish.”

Favorite hobby: Spending time with my boys uninterrupted and distraction-free.

Favorite restaurant: Any restaurant that serves Hong Kong style dim sum.

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Facebook.

Typical Saturday: Sleeping in, making a wonderful breakfast for my family, and driving kids to their activities.

What team do you root for? To the great dismay of my husband, I don’t follow any sports team.

Wheels: I’m a mom of three boys, so a minivan.

Who would play you in a movie? Julia Louis Dreyfus— she’s funny and wacky.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.

View the original article here : http://bit.ly/azPbtz

It’s easy to boast on and on about the great benefits of drinking green tea. So, that’s exactly what we’re going to do! The Chinese have been using green tea for its medicinal benefits for over 4,000 years. Green teas are said to fight cancer and heart diseases. They are also thought to lower cholesterol, burn fats, prevent diabetes and even strokes.

Why is green thought to be so healthy? Green tea has powerful antioxidants that swarm the free radicals in your body looking for problematic things like blood clots and diseases. Because green tea is so minimally processed, its antioxidants are more powerful than most other teas which are fermented.

There are even studies to show that drinking green tea regularly may help prevent tooth decay by killing the bacteria which causes the dental plaque. Research has shown that drinking green tea, is more effective than taking supplements.

Learn more about green tea:

WebMD

Wikipedia

University of Maryland Medical Center

“Happy New Year” in Chinese:

In Mandarin – Xin Nian Kuei Le – phonetically [shin-nian-kwie-le]

In Cantonese - Gung Hai Fat Choi – phonetically [gong-hey-faat-choy]

Celebrate the Year of the Tiger on Feb 14th at Sweetwaters with an Imperial Milk Tea or a Dragon Eye!

Sweeten the day for someone special with our Chinese New Year inspired Red Pockets! Fill with the traditional Asian gift of money or sweeter yet…a Sweetwaters Gift Card!