12

This has been another one of those weeks that has been packed with so many things I have difficulty trying to decide what to refine down to bits and pixels on the blog. July 4th saw our CR group host it’s largest event ever! (Thanks to the folks in Frisbee Knife for bringing the thunder!) You can check that out here Frisbee Knife at CR Bash. I had some exciting news about some possible expansion for CR, but that’s for a future blog. Today I’m going to talk about the number 12, some great coffee, and green beans. Read on and hopefully it will become clear….

CR is a 12 Step program, with the 12th Step being give back. I love being able to find new opportunities to give back and sow into the next generation. Here’s where those green beans come into play. But first, a quick step back for understanding. Unroasted coffee beans are often referred to as “green coffee”. Because of that, we tend to call new Starbucks partners “Green Beans” because they are fresh and have not been roasted yet. I had the chance to sit with two such green beans this Friday and be a coffee geek again. Mind you, it’s been almost three years since I left Starbucks, but I’ll always be a partner at heart. So I went down to my old store and met two friends who have joined the company recently so that I could share my experience and knowledge with them.

We tasted several standard SBux offerings and worked our way through the different growing regions and processing varieties. Then I pulled out a bag of Reserve coffee for the finale. It was a sun-dried Ethiopian Shakisa and it was exquisite! When they tasted it I could see that those rookie palates were beginning to connect the dots. When I asked Abby if the coffee made her want to drink more black coffee she wasn’t really sure, but she was getting closer. When I asked Kayla she went a step further and said it made her want to pursue becoming a Coffee Master. I couldn’t have been more proud!

We should always be looking to inspire the next generation. If everything I do ends with me, what’s the point? So as you sit right there I want to challenge each of you to think of the person that you will inspire to greater things. Put their name (first names only) in the comments. Let’s watch it grow. We can all help them to

-Rise Up!!!