We are OPEN Thanksgiving Day!

Here is our plan for the coming days:

Thanksgiving Day:  8am-1pm

Friday:  8am-9pm

Saturday:  7am-9pm  (back to normal)

Sunday:  8am-8pm

Come support your local retailers this weekend and always.  See you soon.

The HILLY Awards

Last Friday night was the 1st Annual HILLY Awards held in the North Hall of Eastern Market.  All the neighborhood movers and shakers came out to celebrate life and business on Capitol Hill and see who would come home with the awards.

We were thrilled to be nominated in the Best Restaurant/Cafe category and were honored to have our name on a ballot alongside some of our favorite neighborhood restaurants:  Montmartre, Belga, Matchbox and Cava.  In the end, we were excited to learn that we had wound up in a tie for runner-up in our category with Matchbox, behind winner Cava.

It was a great night to enjoy with some of our neighbors, customers and friends and it was fun to see awards also won by Fragers Hardware, Hills Kitchen and DC Access.  Thanks, CHAMPS, for a great party and we can’t wait for the 2nd Annual HILLY Awards.

Finca Mauritania Project

We are proud to announce today a project that we’ve cooked up with our friends at Counter Culture Coffee and Finca Mauritania.  Here is a complete rundown of the program:

Peregrine Espresso’s sustainable coffees are artfully roasted by Counter Culture Coffee, which sources directly from skilled farmers who share our commitments to quality, ecological diversity, and the environment.

Aida Batlle, owner-operator of Santa Ana, El Salvador-based Finca Mauritania, stands out as one of the most innovative and passionate of these farmer-partners, and coffee lovers in the U.S. have celebrated her dedication to growing the heirloom Bourbon coffee variety since Counter Culture began buying her coffee in 2004. In 2008, Aida successfully obtained organic certification after three challenging years of transition. As Aida often remarks, her ability to produce great-tasting coffee depends on the health of her coffee plants, which in turn depend on the health of the natural environment that surrounds and nurtures their growth.

In order to support that natural environment, we’ve joined with Aida and Counter Culture Coffee in a reforestation initiative aimed at protecting the soil, water, and biodiversity of Finca Mauritania. Tree planting offers myriad ecological benefits:
• Shaded coffee plants mature more slowly, increasing sweetness and complexity.
• Trees help restore nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers.
• Root systems help prevent topsoil erosion.
• Tree trunks, branches, and canopies provide habitats for birds and other wildlife.
• A tree can sequester 50 pounds of carbon per year, counteracting deforestation.

Peregrine Espresso is proud of our role in this project and invite you, our customers, to join us in this initiative to fight global climate change and create a more sustainable coffee trade. Beginning November 1, 2009, we began contributing $0.25 per cup and $1.00 per pound of Finca Mauritania coffee sold to planting trees on the farm this year.

Exclusive to Peregrine Espresso, this pilot sustainability project seeks not only to make a positive impact today, but also to explore the possibility of scaling up similar efforts to involve more partners, as well as additional areas of focus including water, soil, biodiversity, or a combination thereof.

Espresso Toscano

This past weekend, we ran through the remaining supply of the delicious and fruity Finca Mauritania Triple Process Espresso.  Taking its place is the Espresso Toscano blend.  Toscano is a longtime favorite of a number of our baristas and features delicious caramel and bittersweet chocolate notes and a great creamy body.

This blend is a bit of a departure from the last few espressos we’ve been using and, while we have enjoyed a lot of fruit and brightness this summer and fall, we thought we’d try something a little more earthy and chocolate-y for a little while to match the coming cool weather.  Let us know what you think–we’re excited to be able to switch up the coffees we use for our espresso and want to make sure that the quality is always consistent no matter what goes in the hopper.

New Travel Mugs

Earlier this week, we got a new batch of travel mugs in.  We really love the combination of ceramic and stainless to provide good insulation but still a great drinking experience.

This mug is available for $18.  Come get yours today.

See you soon.

Hilloween/Halloween

Exciting stuff for Hilloween and Halloween this weekend.

Tomorrow, October 30, Hilloween comes to 7th St SE near Eastern Market and Saturday, of course, is Halloween.  We will have some special Halloween cupcakes from Buzz both Friday and Saturday and some other treats as well.

Some costumed customers will walk away with free Peregrine tshirts, particularly our 12-18 month onesies and 4T kids shirts for the cutest youngins.  Also, we’ll have a bunch of dog biscuits for the furry trick-or-treaters this weekend.

Let’s hope that the weather holds off for a great weekend.

Today’s Post Food Section

There were a couple of things of note in today’s Washington Post Food section:

1.  An article on Rwandan coffee and a new cafe in NW called Bourbon.  We are excited for Bosco and his crew to be open and serving delicious Rwandan coffee here in DC.  The story of Rwandan coffee is amazing and the taste is, too.  I got to speak with the reporter on my experiences with Rwandan coffee over the years and have a quote in the article.  In case you are wondering, we currently do not have any offerings from Rwanda–this year’s crop won’t be until later this fall.

2.  Tom Sietsema has a First Bite column on our neighbors at Seventh Hill Pizza.  He really likes it and we do, too.  If you haven’t tried it yet, come on by.  They are just a few doors down on 7th St SE between Pennsylvania Ave and C St SE.

Also, check out the brunch ideas including delicious coddled eggs.  Jill and I fell in love with coddled eggs when we were on our honeymoon in Ecuador–we might have to try these recipes.  Pick up some jars like the ones used in the article at Hills Kitchen.

What a great day for food.  Take care.

Washington Times on TNT

Click here to see this Wednesday’s article in the Washington Times on DC’s Thursday Night Throwdown.  Also, congrats to Peregrine’s own Jeremy Sterner for winning the October TNT (I think that makes eight times in 13 months!).  These monthly throwdowns have been a great opportunity for baristas across the city to gather, have a couple of drinks and talk about our uncommon passion for coffee.

In other news, we’ve been nominated for Best Restaurant/Cafe/Eatery/Coffee Shop on Capitol Hill in the first annual HILLY awards.  Click here to go to the CHAMPS website and vote for us.  Thanks.

Cupcakes! New Espresso!

Last weekend, we kicked off our cupcake campaign.  Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we will be offering delicious Buzz Bakery cupcakes to our lineup of afternoon sweets.  Each day will bring two different flavors so stop in often to catch the various options.  Follow us on Twitter (@peregrinedc) for the daily update but here is what we have this weekend:

Friday:  Red Velvet and Vanilla/Vanilla

Saturday:  Caramel Apple and Buzz (chocolate with mocha buttercream)

Sunday:  Pumpkin and Chocolate/Chocolate

Also, we are excited to be debuting a new espresso in the next few days.  We will be switching from the delicious Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza from Brazil to the equally delicious Finca Mauritania from El Salvador.  This will be a blend of three different processes of coffee from one farm–Sun Dried, Pulped Natural and Washed.  We are very excited to feature this coffee and, in case you are keeping score, that puts five different coffees from El Salvador on our menu–Finca Mauritania Washed, Finca Mauritania Sun Dried, Los Luchadores, Finca Kilaminjaro and the Finca Mauritania Espresso.  Taste the variety and see how distinct coffees all hailing from the same country can be.

Have a great Friday.

Specials, Tarts, Cookies

Well, it’s October.

We have new drink specials:

Bela Lugosi- Pumpkin puree topped with espresso and served with a spoonful of graham cracker whipped cream.

Marco Polo- Curry hot chocolate made with creamy soy milk and garnished with dried mango.

Also, beginning on Friday, we will begin our tart of the week program with Buzz.  We will start with their Chocolate Cashew Maple Tart and switch it up weekly.  In addition, we’ve swapped out our Chocolate Chip cookie for a delicious Ginger-Molasses cookie from Pollystyle.