Scenes from the shop

Expanded Family

Meet our new nephew, Billy. He's standing with Mark's brother Bobby, whose family just adopted him. He is now officially Billy Ray Sobhani. And now our grand total of nieces and nephews on both sides of our family totals: 13!! WOW!!!! Big families are fun. (in the background is Grace who wishes she'd never set foot in our store because she was immediatly harassed by James, another of Mark's brothers.)

Busted!


Rey. On the phone. During his shift. tsk tsk tsk. But I let it slide, since it was his dad calling from who knows where. He drives an 18 wheeler across the country to make deliveries here and there.

ICK!


Sarah tests out some frozen drink samples sent to us recently from a supplier. Ew. It's a good thing we make our own frozen drink mix. These tasted very "chemically" and fake. As Sarah put it "I'd feel ripped off if I paid money for this frozen drink!" So we won't be using any pre-made mixes. Ever.

Spell check! Where are you?
Sarah shows us the shoes she decorated for kickball. Classic!

Nice parking job.
Rey invades my space.

-Tricia

Wildfire Athletic t-shirt

$10

Just like the kickball team wears.

Limited quantity.

You know you want one!

A night at the races

What a night!

Mark and I took our employees to Retama Park for an appreciation dinner for our Critic's Choice win in the San Antonio Express-News. We got a nice ad in the program, and a congratulatory announcement during a race named after Wildfire!

Thank you to Lisa Medrano, one of our beloved customers, for organizing this for us!

The night started rather chill with a view from the air conditioned clubhouse and a prime rib feast.
We were then escorted to the track for a view of the "Wildfire Classic" race from the winner's circle.


We even presented a trophy to the winners!
Then back to the clubhouse for some betting. Some winning. Some losing. Rey was the big winner of the night. Winning more than 40 bucks on one race! Go Rey!
If you want to see more pics, go here. We had so much fun, we hope to do it again next year.

There are still a few more weeks of live racing left at Retama Park. We recommend spending the couple of extra dollars and heading up to the Terrace Dining room on the Clubhouse level. It's cool and comfortable, everyone who works there was super nice, and you get an excellent view of the races!

-Tricia

Tanzania Peaberry is back

After a short hiatus, Tanzania Peaberry, a Wildfire favorite grown on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, is back on the shelf.

Mark just roasted a small batch last night.

Tanzania is on the Eastern part of Africa, but this coffee is quite different from its other counterparts grown there. If you look at the photo below, you'll see a sampling of two beans from Africa. Tanzania Peaberry is on the top, and Kenya AA is at the bottom. The Tanzania beans are smaller and rounder.
Usually, a coffee cherry consists of two flat beans, but sometimes only one develops. These singles are separated from the rest of the crop and given the name "Peaberry."

How does it taste? Rich floral body, with a bright and vibrant cup profile. Kinda snappy!

Tanzania factoids:

• Language: Swahili or Kiswahili, but English is spoken for commerce and higher education.
• Coffee Production: 102,036,000 lbs
• Altitude: 950-1900 meters

Pick up a bag today!

-Tricia

The breakfast of champions, i.e. we were doomed from the start.

It all started after getting 3 hours of sleep Sunday morning following a 2 hour drive from Grainger (north of Austin.) We called in a 2 taco order that took 20 min too long. Mark and I got to the park to find only 4 other people there. Drats. Forfeit. We played a scrimmage, then waited for our next game to begin.

Sammy spied someone with some delectable-looking nachos. Ricos Cheese. Round tortilla chips. Canned jalapenos. It's a concession stand staple that Sammy couldn't resist. Mark followed.

Lucas lamented that next week we should have a meeting to talk about pre-game nutrition, because apparently, it didn't sit too well in Mark's stomach. You know it's bad if Mark can't eat it. He usually has a stomach of steel.
We started the game strong.

Laura played a mean third base. She was awesome! She even fell twice. She was on the ground, her face in the dirt, and she still made an out. She stretched her leg and pointed her toe as far as it would go and reached the base while lying on the ground. Now that's dedication.
We held them off during the first inning. Then we scored 2 runs. We were winning!!! Then the moneymakers had a strong 3 run inning. Then we were losing again.

Suddenly Mark wasn't feeling too well. First, he pulled a quad muscle, then the nachos began fighting with the chilequiles taco in his stomach. Not good. He sat out the rest of the game while Sammy stepped in to pitch for Mark.

In the end, we were only able to get a total of 6 runs to their 8. But we did our best, and even with two men down, were still able to score some runs! We rocked that field.

There are no games next weekend because of Father's Day, but we will be back the week after and we may even have a full team of 10!

Tricia

Cheesecake Frozen Latte disaster

Some multi-billion dollar companies have marketing departments that take up entire skyscraper floors. They hire focus groups who sit around a table all day and brainstorm drink ideas. They hire food scientists, recipe developers, flavor specialists who spend a year testing drinks to judge public reaction.

Here at Wildfire, we ARE the marketing department. We come up with a wild hair and run with it. If we like it, we put it on the menu that day. If the customers like it, then it might go on our permanent menu.

Today, our wild hair idea came from Meredith, from Oak Haven Massage. She suggested a cheesecake frozen latte made with no-bake cheesecake mix.


It SOUNDED a lot better than it turned out. We had high hopes for this concoction: Two shots of espresso. No bake mix. Milk. Ice. blend. The consistency was okay.. a little icy, but not bad.

Then the taste test.

It started out sweet, then ended with a sour milk flavor that stuck to the sides of your throat and burned the nostrils. If you ever need to induce vomiting after accidentally drinking poison.. then this is the drink for you!

So Cheesecake frozen latte made with no bake cheesecake mix will not make it on Wildfire's menu this time. And it only cost us $1.72 to find this out.

I shudder to think what the big guys spend on failed recipes.

-Tricia

Check out our nifty plaque

Last week the San Antonio Express-News picked Wildfire Coffee as their critic's choice for Best Local Coffee Shop. We tied with another great cafe, called Timo's.

Well, much to our surprise, they delivered a spiffy plaque to hang up in the shop. Now.. where to hang it? It's even biligual. It says Numero Uno. That means Number one!

-Tricia

Hemp and seeds

I confess.

I have another love besides Mark. It's chocolate. Dark, smooth, rich, real chocolate. So it's no surprise that my heart skipped when the Fedex guy walked in with our newest arrival of Dagoba Organic Chocolate bars.

We got three varieties. 100%, 59%, and seeds.

The 100% is not for sissies. It's pure unadulterated unsweetened 100% dark chocolate. The only ingredient is cacao. No milk. No sugar. No nothing else. It's called Prima Materia and comes from Madagascar. If you're a serious cacao connoiseur, then this is the bar to try, apparently. I am not quite brave enough to crack one open, but I imagine it's amazing.

The 59% bar is exactly what it is. 59% cacao. It's not too milky. Not too dark. Perfect for a summer breezy morning, lying by the pool with a book. Melt a piece in your mouth, and you have the perfect day in my world.

The seeds bar is packed with hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds. DUDE! Just enough to know they're there, but not too many to get annoyed, or high.

-Tricia

New Coffee shop on Padre Island

Planning a road trip to Corpus Christi this summer? Then make sure you stop by our newest account, Grounded Coffee Cafe.

Dawn Michelson is the bubbly owner of this quirky little coffee shop on Padre Island. She is usually there to share her passion for the bean.

So stop by, hang out a bit, and enjoy some delicious drinks!

It's located just over the bridge on Padre Island.

Grounded Coffee Cafe
14254 S Padre Island Dr
Corpus Christi, TX 78418
(361) 949-1944

Kickball!

It all started with a hair-brained idea after seeing a story in the San Antonio Express-News. Let's form a kickball team! A sign up sheet got filled. People paid their fees, and we suddenly had a team. Okay, now what? I guess play.

Our first double header was Sunday, June 1.

We didn't practice. We barely got there on time. We had no idea what positions people would play. But we took the field... and got hammered.

Team Wildfire got KILLED by the competition: The Undertakers (from a local funeral home.)

I think there is a mercy rule regarding keeping score after 14 runs to nothing. We were the nothing. :)

Natalie kicks the ball in the game against the Undertakers.

Is it sad that we cheered when an official came up to us and said game two was a forfeit?

So we are 1-1.

We did practice after our loss, and we'll be ready to take on Team Fury Sunday June 8 at 11am.

-Tricia

Critic's Choice- Best Coffee shop!

Well.. the readers apparently don't get it. But the critics do!

Thank you for voting, but the majority of San Antonio decided to vote once again for a National Coffee chain for best local coffee shop. Oh, San Antonio.. when will you learn?

But fear not.

The Critics of the San Antonio Express-News DO know better! They picked us as their choice for best local coffee shop. We're in good company, tying with another great place called Timo's.

Check out the entire list, and read the story they published about Wildfire!

Critic's Choice- Coffeehouse

Reader's Choice 2008- Complete List