Latte Love: Welcome, Kettle Coffee & Tea!

When I said goodbye to my co-worker, Tricia a few weeks ago, it was for bigger and much better things. I'm excited to announce that this morning Kettle Coffee & Tea opened on 119 E. Grand Avenue in Escondido!

Watching Trish and her husband Phillip the past few weeks has been inspiring, exhausting, and enormously revealing about life as a small business owner. They have spent 20 hours a day menu-planning, recipe testing, employment law training, wall painting, and floor scrubbing. (I think I can speak for them when I say it has not been all glamorous). E and I have also been impressed by how well they've worked together after less than a year of marriage, and definitively decided that we would either kill or divorce each other if we tried to open a business together.

This is a shameless plug but I do hope that if any of you guys live in the North County of San Diego, you'll swing by and check it out! Here are some of the details:

Kettle Coffee & Tea will be located on Grand Ave in the historic district of downtown Escondido, CA. Our shop will feature:

A local award-winning roaster who offers hand-crafted, direct trade, single origin coffees as well as custom blends
A variety of brewing methods, including a pour-over bar, french press, and Chemex! Loose-leaf teas by the ounce and by the cup.
A delightful selection of sweet and savory treats from local bakeries and our own kitchen.
A seasonal menu for breakfast and lunch, including pastries, paninis, sandwiches, melts, and salads.

Kettle has a Kickstarter account to help them raise money for all the extras that go along with a new business, including a new sign to go on the storefront. There are some great rewards to be had (especially for locals) that are perfect as Christmas gifts!

If you haven't heard of Kickstarter (I hadn't), here's some more information on how it works: http://kettlecoffeeandtea.com/2012/11/19/fund-and-support-us-through-kickstarter/

Beyond the excitement of having a friend start a business, it's also exciting to see a great coffee shop open up in the area (10 minutes away from work). They're serving Klatch Coffee - which is a nationally recognized award-winning coffee roaster in Riverside County that does direct trade with coffee bean growers all over the world.

The couple are also seriously crafty, and made their own pour-over coffee stand, which I enjoyed use of this morning.