Weird Chicken (with a cup of coffee) It is one weird chicken indeed! But we didn't do anything to make it that way. This is another t-shirt from coffeelands; in this case it was inspired from a painting on a restaurant in Chiapas, Mexico. The area around this small town is surrounded with coffee, and on Saturday and Sunday the town is packed with the coffee farmers. I can't attest to the popularity of this particular restaurant, and whether their "wierd chicken," pockets and all, actually helps business. The shirt is a nice yellow-orange Hanes cotton, so this is an orange-on-orange theme. Our cup logo (also from a local painting) is in orange on the back, lower corner: very "low-key." so you won't feel like a walking billboard. Kids love this shirt- it's silly. We are thinking of making some child and even baby size versions.
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Sizing on Hanes Authentic Cotton Shirts: |
Men's Sizes Only |
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We have more than a few requests for kid's shirts, and since Maria and I (Tom) now have a baby, it makes even more sense to print some baby-sized clothes! Ben (left) really liked my Chicken shirt when I wore it, so why not make him his own Baby Chicken shirt. Maybe you know a baby that would like it too. These shirts are paler in color than the adult ones, more like a custard yellow. The logo on the rear (the cup, like the adult) is in black ink. We have 3 sizes: 12 month, 2T and 4T. They are all "Hanes Playwear" brand cotton, but the 12 Month is a stretchy light cotton with lap shoulders, while the 2T and 4T are a more typical t-shirt make. As I write this, Ben is 8 months and could wear either the 12 month or even the 2T shirt, although it would a bit long. If you have bought kid's clothes, you know how it is; buy big! Here's a picture of all 3 shirts together, so you can see the size difference. |
![]() Ben Otto Owen in his 12 month Baby Chicken Shirt |
Baby Chicken Shirt |
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It's a no-tech painting of a lo-tech computer. What's your guess? A 286 circa 1988? Well, if you go to David, Panama, an agricultural center in the lowlands of the Chirqui province, and you are looking for an "internet cabana", that is, a place to check email at speeds around ...oh 56kb ... you just might see this exact painting on the wall outside the datacenter of your dreams. Okay, I admit it's a fake: I added the coffee cup from a place a few blocks away. It had to have something to do with coffee, right? Well, like most of our shirts it barely has anything to do with coffee, but it's great "art brut," printed in black and blue duotone. This is on a lightweight white cotton shirt of decent quality, and it will shrink a bit. On the back, down at the wasteline, our simple cup logo in blue.
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Sizing on Hanes Authentic Cotton
Shirts: |
Men's Sizes Only |
| The The The Sweet Maria's T-Shirts of the Past... |
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![]() Our first shirt from around 2000 |
![]() Safety Orange - hey, I Iiked it. It fades well... |
![]() The safe color, beige. It matched my '70 VW Bus. |
![]() The remade Brave the Smoke Shirt 04/05 |
![]() "Good Greens" from '04 |
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![]() the skunk shirt - some loved it, some didn't. "skunky" is a cupping term for a bad roast flavor |
![]() The "falling dog shirt" of 2006-7 was actually very popular. go figure. |
![]() if you see someone with this shirt, they must be a friend or employee because we never sold them. that's one fat-headed cat. |
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Espresso
monkey shirt on white |
The Cupping Spoon shirt- nobody seemed to like this shirt. Maybe the fact that is said "slurping, sucking and spitting since 1997" had something to do with it. |
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I was really impressed with the great design of the
Bodum Ibis, a cordless electric kettle, when we used them in
the Roasting Basics seminar at the SCAA coffee convention. They were
remarkably fast bringing the water to near boil temperature ...perfect
for French Press brewing (which we were using) or pour-over type brewing.
Their speed is due to an oversized Stainless Steel heating coil in the
carafe. Once the water was ready to go we had the convenience of the
cordless feature: well ...there is a cord but the carafe separates from
the base for service. The capacity is 50 ounces or 1.7 liters. |
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This is the standard coffee measure scoop used in all the Specialty Coffee Association cupping seminars. This is useful for cupping or home brewing, and while it is a little bit larger than others, the size guarantees adequate strength: 1 Level scoop approximates 7.25 grams coffee. Use 1 Scoop per 6-8 oz water (195-203 degrees fahrenheit) in all drip-infusion brewing methods (electric or manula, stovetop or automatic, even espresso!) as well as cupping. |
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Sweet Maria's SS Cupping Spoon --- Impress everyone ...or make them think you have gone completely over-the-edge! Yes, the process of coffee tasting involves a special spoon, and coffee cuppers get very, very particular about the shape and make of theirs. I am one of those people, and have a collection of some 30 different models. But this is the one I chose to have made for us, my favorite. This has a deep round bowl, moderate size overall, that special curvature of the handle to permit skimming the coffee from the top of the cup. And, following a new form of thought in spoons, we are turning our back on silver-plating. Silver plate is soft, scratches and dings, and degrades quickly. A deplated spoon has a detectable metallic aroma. Stainless steel resists surface scratching, and is much more durable in general. Note that I think this image gives you a better idea of the true proportions of the spoon, and here is a close-up of the etched logo on the handle. I think this is an ideal gift for a coffee roasting person ... necessary, no! But enjoyable, yes. |
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We offered stoneware crocks for quite a while but I realized that there are 2 low-cost alternatives that are better for the life of your roasted coffee: Zip-seal Valve Bags:These bags do wonders to preserve coffee aromatics! Essentially, they are better coffee storage than airtight glass since the CO2 from fresh coffee flushes the oxygen out the one way valve (which is made by the German firm Bosch), and when you open the bag you can squeeze it while resealing and help force the oxygen out. The CO2 will do the rest. Mason (Canning) Jars, Jelly-sized: You don't have as much oxygen trapped in the jar with the roast, and the quality of the airtight seal cant be beat. These are available at most supermarkets or discount stores. Jelly sized is perfect for 3 oz. batches from air roasters, quart-size can be used for 1/2 lb batches.
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![]() Sweet Maria's offers Roasted Coffee! Small-Batch Coffees-of-the-Week, roasted the day it ships... More Info... |
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