Profile: Seven Stars Bakery

It's safe to assume that if you're a local and you're reading the New Harvest blog that you've heard of Seven Stars Bakery. Heck, you've probably stopped into one of their three locations a few times this week. Since 2001, Jim & Lynn William's bakeries have become staples in Providence, churning out some of the finest baked goods around as well as a few hundred thousand cups of coffee.

You read that right, they sold over three hundred thousand cups of hot and iced coffee in 2012 and that's not even counting espresso based drinks. Considering that Seven Stars is first and foremost an artisan bakery they sure go through a LOT of coffee. Over 40 thousand lbs of coffee to be exact and they hold their coffee program to the same high standards as their award winning baked goods.

All Seven Stars baristas must go through a certification program before they can make you that delicious cappuccino you love so well. 3 weeks of classes on properly extracting espresso and milk science, coupled with 10-15 hours hours of bar practice, leads into in-store training with that locations head barista (each store has one). After their training program each barista is tested on every drink that Seven Stars offers and once they can hit 5 stars on each drink they become an official Seven Stars Certified barista. So next time you're in there and you see that phrase on the back of your barista's shirt, get stoked, because you're about be served a certified top-notch drink.

 

These outstanding baristas fall under the watchful eye of coffee director Mark Hundley, who stresses that across the board, consistency is key for 7 Stars. "We have customers that will visit all 3 locations on a regular basis and their drink needs to be the same in Rumford as it was at Hope St." says Hundley as we chat at the Broadway location. "We're committed to serving the best whether it's coffee or food."

Seven Stars is also committed to serving the local community. Each year on their anniversary, January 2nd, they donate 100% of their sales from all three locations to the Rhode Island Food Bank. Since starting in 2006, this tradition has raised over $60,000 for the food bank. In the fall of 2012 they introduced a new program called Community Giving Days. On the first Tuesday of every month a portion of sales from all locations is donated to that months charity.

You can read more about Seven Stars on their website or better yet, stop into one of their locations and chat with the friendly staff. While you're there, grab a tasty treat and pair it with a fresh cup of coffee or a perfectly extracted shot of Whisper Espresso, you won't regret it.

Providence Cycledrome

As many of you probably know, Providence is a super bike-y city. People love their bicycles here. It's awesome to see. Kids making custom bikes, Recycle-a-Bike, monster bikes at the Steelyard, Circle A Cycles, Dash, Legend, Providence Bicycle...am I forgetting anybody? I heard a rumor also that more bike lanes are happening soon, on Broadway and maybe some other places.

Full disclosure, I know how to ride a bike. But I know nothing about them. I've tried to learn all the parts and how to fix them and everything but that information does not stay in my brain. I truly admire people who know how to do all that stuff though. I've had lots of friends who can talk for hours in front of me about bike parts and it's like they're speaking another language. It's amazing. (It's kind of like when our tech guys, especially you, Todd Mackey, talk about espresso machines and parts in front of me. They know so much. I know how to drink it and sort of how to make it, but they could write a book. Seriously guys, maybe you should write a book.)

Anyway, what does this have to do with coffee? Welllll you may have seen, or even sipped, one of our newest blends, Cycledrome. You may know that Providence loves bikes, but did you know that in the late 1920s we had one of the largest bicycle-racing stadiums, or velodromes, in the U.S.? According to this (really great) article from Art in Ruins, the Cycledrome housed a wooden 5-lap track, and the races attracted thousands of fans. The Cycledrome was also where the Providence Steam Roller played football, which another one of our blends is named after.

I'd love to find out more about Vincent Madonna, an Italian-American Providence track-cycling star, made famous locally for his success at the Cycledrome, according to Art in Ruins.

Inspired by some photos of old-timey bicycle racers, I designed this label for Cycledrome Blend.

You can buy it here!

The connection between coffee and bicycles makes a lot of sense to me. Especially with small-batch roasters like us who think about things like Source Direct and Fair Trade and sustainability. Many roasters choose to deliver their coffee by bicycle, and maybe someday we'll be joining them. New Harvest Coffee Cycledrome Bike Team, anybody?

Steam Roller Blend

"A solid blend for all: bittersweet chocolate from the aroma to the finish, complimented by toasted nuts, subtle lemon and creamy cocoa at the end. A Source Direct blend of coffees from our friends at COOPRONARANJO in Costa Rica."

It's also a tribute to the rich history right on our doorstep. You can read more about the fascinating story behind the Providence Steam Roller here, and more about the stadium they played in, the now non-existent Cycledrome, on one of our favorite websites: Art in Ruins. Look for another new blend in tribute to the Cycledrome soon!

The above logo is actually based on the Providence basketball team of the same name. The NFL team had this weird wolf-man logo, which none of us can explain, and apparently neither can the internet. Do you know why there's a wolf-man?