#pikesperk

Unless you have been living under a rock somewhere other than the Springs , you probably know about the Colorado Springs Independent Best Of awards.  Well, in case you did not know, voting for the 2013 Best Of awards is going on RIGHT NOW!  What else is important to know about it?  The polls close on August 31st, Saturday.

What does this mean for you?  It means you NEED to go to their website csindy.com and vote for your favorite businesses in the Springs.  Help us support local businesses and try to get the best of the best known, regardless of how big or small they currently are.

Also, while you are at it, make sure to vote Pikes Perk Coffee & Tea House for your 2013 Best Of Local Coffee House & Local Coffee Roaster!  We really need your support and votes to achieve this recognition, so please take the time to vote for us and to create fake email accounts get all your friends to vote for us!

We were established back in 1996!!! However, we would not still be around if it was not for your help and loyalty!  Help us make it to our 20-year anniversary, as well as come by and take part in helping guide our many new projects we our working on to show our appreciate to our customers!

Thank you, the fans of Pikes Perk are as epic as sharks with lasers on their heads skydive fighting with grizzly bears with chainsaw arms the best.

~Michael Hylands

With the introduction of a new logo, we have been able to push a few projects through the mill and have them finally reach fruition.  To start the series off, we our glad to be able to unveil the new website for the Pikes Perk Coffee & Tea franchise!

PikesPerkColorado.com

On the website, customers will be able to access a full-detailed menu, a list of our coffees which they can order for delivery (although, we suggest stopping in if you can as shipping is always a killer), a listing of our events, and more.  As the features of Website Builder v7 are updated and expanded upon, we will continue updating the website to take advantage of the new features and functionality.

We look forward to hearing from all our customers and visitors, as well as any others, for feedback, ideas, and thoughts on the new website.  We plan on tailoring it to best suit those who use it, so email us, chat up with us, comments, flying pigs carrying letters, however it takes, get us your feedback!

In October of last year, John and Hiroko Stanhope bid their adieus.  Having moved out to California for other employment opportunities a year before, it was no longer feasible for them to continue running the shop.  After much time, they were able to find a fellow-minded person to take over the business for them.

Ruth Hoerner is now the current owner of the Pikes Perk on North Academy.  As such, she plans on bringing great change to the beloved Perk.  With focuses on Locals First programs and GoGreen, Pikes Perk strives now to be a fully local and sustainable café.

​With much work and luck, Ruth even plans to open new stores for the franchise in the future.

A familiar enemy of coffee farmers has struck Central America on a scale of epidemic proportions.  Hemileia vasatrix, better known as “coffee rust,” attacks coffee plants with a rust (or rot) preventing them from yielding berries and leaving those which do grow from properly ripening.  Typically notorious for plaguing farms in lower elevations, coffee rust has even reached those in higher regions; Guatemala’s coffee-production industry has even declared a state of emergency.  This outbreak threatens the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers, and even the quality of specialty coffee enjoyed the world over.

Disease resistant trees have been cultured over the years, however, many farmers refrain from using them on account they were long considered to bear lower quality coffee.  Research has led to a higher quality product, but many organizations, such as Coffee Kids, have put their efforts into helping these farmers develop new practices to keep the rust at bay.

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The coffee rust epidemic has become the main discussion at many coffee conventions in the past year.  These talks plan to bring about strategies for present and long-term solutions.  With much help and support, it may be possible still to bring an end to this coffee assault and salvage the farms of countless families.