Monday, September 27, 2004

Chai Day

People are going crazy for our Chai Latte at the caffe today. The weather has been a bit weird recently. One day the sky will be as blue as the sea, and the other it will be pale and cloudy. We have noticed people's appetite for drinks change from more bubble tea drinks to espresso drinks. Today is definitely a Chai Latte day. Other than that we use the best ever chai, I think the windy day helps as well.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Local Artists

Keltin has been doing a mural painting for us on the wall in our "loungy area" at the caffe. He is so talented! People ask about him and his work all the time! We are also "giving" him a wall to put his other art work on. Several local artists have talked to us about displaying their paintings at the caffe, and possibly selling them. Two of them came by today to show us more of their paintings and they are going to frame the ones they want to display at the caffe and bring them over to hang on our walls.

We have noticed how lively the caffe is after Keltin started painting the mural and we brought the plants. That's why we really want to have local artists' works around the caffe so the caffe will have its very own strong personality!

Keltin is a few hours away from finishing the mural. It's going to be so cool! We can't wait to see it!

Monday, September 20, 2004

Weather Change

It got pretty chilly last night and it also started raining a bit. The weather changed completely this morning. The sky was cloudy and the temperature dropped significantly. We have noticed that as the temperature drops, more people choose coffee over tea. Hot coffee that is. A lot of people ordered mocha this morning... I guess everyone needed some sweetness to lighten up their days! We made a couple of mochas for ourselves as well. Hot and rich mocha is just so good for a cold and rainy day.

The sun started to shine in the afternoon, and people started coming in for bubble teas. I'm so glad that we have both really good hot and iced drinks to offer our customers so everyone can find something that suits the weather, their taste, and their mood!

I wonder how the weather will be later tonight.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

New Goals!

We have been slowly picking up at the caffe. We see new people every day and almost everyone has been super nice and compliment on our drinks and they keep coming back!

Nate came by the other day and told me that he used to only let one of his friends who works at Starbucks to make coffee for him, but now he's happy to let me make it for him because my coffee is so good! :) He also told me that the friend (and we know by now that his name is Joe) also thinks we have great coffee! Joe came by a couple of times and wanted soy latte. I didn't know he was Nate's friend then, but just thought he was weird because he stared at me while I steamed the soy... and he would comment, "Wow, that looks great!" Thanks Nate, and thanks Joe.

I think it's little things people say to me that keep me going. Many times it's frustrating for us because it's either slow or dead at the caffe, but I always remember the encouraging words our customers tell us and that makes me want to work harder and make them proud!

We have a new goal, a new number, that we want to reach by the end of the month. It's not a super gigantic number, but it's our short-term goal. John has some "strategies" that he's using to help us reach the goal, and we are all going to work hard for our customers, our caffe, and ourselves! We will make it!

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Great Afternoon

Usually things slow down quite a bit during the afternoon hours at the caffe, but we were busy this afternoon! I had to cook the chewy pearls three times before 4 p.m.! We cook our chewy pearls in small batches but frequently throughout the day, so each batch of chewy pearls will be fresh, chewy, and tasty. A lot of people used their BOGO bubble tea coupons this afternoon so we made a lot of bubble teas!

Being busy is a good thing, and that keeps us productive. Even though my arms and feet were hurting after the big rush in the afternoon, I love being busy at the caffe!

Monday, September 06, 2004

Labor Day

It's Labor Day today. A lot of businesses are closed for the holiday. We thought of taking the day off and spend time with our dogs and cats at home, but we realized that we are a new business and we need to let people know that we are open for the holidays and that they can count on having us as a fun and great place to go to on the holidays.

So we are open today. We thought there might not be many people who would come today, since even the TRAX system is closed for the day. We were surprised to have a lot of new customers today! Some people came by to study, others came to have small meetings, and still others came by just to enjoy some espresso drinks or teas.

We've been steady to busy throughout the day. The afternoon was suprisingly great. A couple of customers who came from San Francisco loved the caffe latte and Americano I made them and they kept praising me and that made me feel so flattered. That reminded me when a lady came yesterday and praised me because not only because the caffe latte was "the best" but also because I fresh ground the espresso beans to order. Isn't fresh griding for each order a must in coffee shops? Well I was still very happy they loved their drinks.

Many people also called to see if we were open today. They all sounded excited when we told them we were! Staying open on holidays can be rewarding! Since it's pretty much just John and I who run the caffe now, we feel tired once in a while (from being at the caffe 16 hours on weekdays and 12-13 hours on weekends!) but we are definitely having a great time in our lives.

Saturday, September 04, 2004

SLUG magazine things

We got some new copies of SLUG (Salt Lake Under Ground) magazine today and we were mentioned in it. Camilla Taylor from SLUG interviewed Less People More Robots at the caffe a couple of weeks ago. The caffe's name was spelled wrong we were "CafE De Bolla" in the magazine. But it's all good. We are happy the name is in there.

The bass player Rusty from Less People More Robots has been in a few times. I specifically remember him because he usually wants 3 or 4 shots in his 16 oz. iced latte, and I usually ask him if he's sure. Rusty came in tonight and asked if I knew the caffe is mentioned in SLUG. I said, "Yeah, but they spelled our name wrong, and that's fine because it was nice of them to mention us." He was surprised to hear that and went to check our banner and remember exactly how "caffe d'bolla" was supposed to be spelled. Thanks Rusty!

We had a steady day today. We were actually wondering if we would get any business because many people go out of town for the long Labor Day weekend. We were glad to see that people still come in and have tasty drinks!

Friday, September 03, 2004

No More Homeless Pets in Utah Newsletter


John was checking the No More Homelss Pets in Utah web site and found that he and Mocha was in the September 1st newsletter ! There are always wonderful rescue and adoption stories, or fundraising and special events featured in the newsletters and we really enjoy reading about them.

Here's a copy of the story about the caffe and Mocha:

Drink a Cup, Help a Homeless Pup

Something was brewing recently at the Grand Opening of caffé d'bolla, in Salt Lake City. All proceeds from the weekend, more than $500, were donated to No More Homeless Pets in Utah. Employees and management of caffé d'bolla donated their time for the event.

To kick off the fundraiser and to draw out the media, homeless dogs Earl Grey and Mocha threw their very own doggy tea party. The two pups of honor took seats at a table outside the café, lapped up some dog-friendly brew, tried out some delicious pawnini sandwiches, and feasted on giant, drool-worthy dog biscuits baked just for them. The tea party drew much attention, and Mocha was adopted by a fellow patron of the café.

Posted by Hello

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Punch Cards

Our punch cards finally arrived! We made a little mistake on the cards-- the cards say "Receive a Free drink of choice when all 10 cups and teapots are properly punched" even though our customers only need to have 9 punched and they can get the 10th one completely free. Well we'll see if anyone noticed the little mistake. :D

Tyler was here at the caffe when the punch cards arrived. He got his favorite Taro bubble milk tea and we gave him our very first punch card with a cool cup punch on it! We hope people will use their punch cards often!