Tropical Storm Barry - A Hurricane Blog

Tropical Storm Barry didn’t turn out to be the big hurricane the news and media were making it out to be, but I’m not going to complain. No damage and no flood here in Denham Springs, Louisiana, we will take it.

Needless to say though we prepared the best we could. I needed to make sure that the Cedar Ota Shack was ready for the storm in case large amounts of rain decided to come. We stocked up on some sender blocks from my brothers old place and moved the vehicles to safety.

My wife’s younger brother is in town and as you can see from the video he was nice enough to put up with me and lend a helping hand during the hurricane prep. Thanks, buddy! All in all the Cedar Ota Shack is safe and now with the storm out of the way we can get back to focusing on the build out and moving the roaster. (That Video Here).

And I killed the wasp at the Cedar Ota shack!!!!

Coffee Bag Stamping Tutorial - StazOn Ink

Today I wanted to make a video on something that in the beginning felt almost impossible to do. Ink stamp matte coffee bags. I never could figure out how to get the ink to dry and all the ink I ever tried would smear and not perform well at all. Then I cam across StazOn Ink. This ink was exactly what I was looking for to stamp my matte black coffee bags from PBFY with white ink. In this tutorial I go over how much ink to use and how to ink the stamp. I also give tips on what rubber stamps you may want to use and also the bags that I will be using in this video. Check out Rubber Stamp Champ if interested. Also check out the StazOn Ink Cleaner to remove the excess StazOn Ink from the stamps before storing away.

Please note for coffee roasters that this method is a good way to start and get your product moving in the beginning but it is not scalable at all. This method can be very time consuming and when adding in the price for labor hours it will not make sense to do it as your business grows. Eventually switching to pre-stamped bags during purchase is the way to go. But in the beginning we all need to see how the market is and this is very easy and cheap, yet laborious, process to test the waters with.

I truly hope this video can help you save time and money when it comes to stamping bags.

The Building is on the Pad - Cedar Ota's New Home

Things have been going a little slow here as of late. My father passed away a couple weeks ago and we have been struggling with the change. Pops was a pillar we all leaned on and his wisdom was always sought after. I truly miss the old man more than I can summon up in any words. He taught me much of what I know and he was always willing to help me with any crazy idea I had. He was there financially when I hit some rough spots in the military and he was there emotionally anytime I needed someone to vent too. He admired my coffee adventures and was looking forward to seeing my building set up and running. Thanks for everything pops. You molded me into who I am today and for that I will always be greatful!

Despite the struggles we have been facing we got the pad complete (thanks Uncle Alec and Thomas Pirie) and the building is now set. Looking forward to getting all the electrical work complete and moving the roaster in for the install. The real work is just beginning. We have a ton of stuff to complete before we can officially have it running and operating the way I plan.

If you get time check the update out here!