Tragedy

We at murky coffee are absolutely heartbroken at this morning's tragic fire at Eastern Market. To us, as to many in our community, Eastern Market is more than a building with shops, more than historic architecture... Eastern Market is our neighbor and friend, and within its walls have been many more neighbors and many more friends.

We are committed to helping our neighbors in any way that we can, up until the moment that the doors of Eastern Market reopen for business. After that? Those dudes are on their own! (just kidding... but we only dare to joke because it WILL be back!)

(photos by Trey Hicks)

Cupcake Alert!

We're psyched to announce that starting today, we're serving cupcakes along side our coffee and other pastry offerings.

These moist and delectable cupcakes are from "Bakeshop DC" by Justin Stegall. Justin moved back to the area after baking in the NYC area, and he's looking to bring some new sweetness to DC. While he looks for a retail location in DC or Arlington, he'll be delivering his cupcakes fresh to both locations.

In addition to the cupcakes, these next few weeks are big ones for murky. We're proud to be featured in this month's Imbibe Magazine, in an article about up-and-coming coffee cities, where there is mention of another big deal: The Liberty Tavern has opened, just a block up the hill from our Arlington/Clarendon shop. We're honored to collaborate with the folks at The Liberty Tavern on their coffee menu, where they will be offering exclusively french press coffees, from a specially selected seasonal menu of our single origin coffees, ground fresh and prepared properly: the perfect end to a perfect meal. Great food... great beer (they have a GREAT selection)... great coffee... what more could you ask for?

The first weekend of May is important for us: Katie and Nick travel to Long Beach, California to represent the east coast in the 2007 US Barista Championships, held in conjunction with the Specialty Coffee Association of America's Conference and Exhibition. We're both practicing hard, and will compete in the semi-finals on Sunday the 6th (semi's because we've won the South East and Mid Atlantic regional competitions). Wish us luck!

There are other little changes and tweaks to the murky shops and menu that are coming soon... Spring is a new season, and usually brings new things! Stay tuned.

Thanks as always for your continued love and support. We do work hard to give you the best coffee experience that we can, and folks have taken much time to show us how much that's appreciated... and we can't thank you enough for that. Now, log off the dang Interweb and go get yourself a nice cupcake!

An article to read if you haven't already...

This article arouses interesting emotions and thoughts. Check it out.

Pearls Before Breakfast
Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.
By Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 8, 2007; Page W10

Easter

Holy moly, Holy Week is upon us!

Both murky coffee locations will be closed for Easter Sunday. We might look like a bunch of h*ll-bound heathens, but this Sunday (if you can find us) we'll be in our best floral-print and seersucker from head to toe.

So to everyone, Happy Easter! (a.k.a. Happy Passover! a.k.a. Happy 265-days until Kwanzaa! a.k.a. Happy "Pact of Delhi" Day! a.k.a. Happy Birthday Izzy Stradlin!)

Big announcement

(EDIT APRIL 14, 2007: BEFORE YOU READ ON... THIS WAS AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE, AND WAS FRANKLY AN "ENCORE APPEARANCE" OF AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE FROM 2004. I'LL KEEP IT ONLINE FOR POSTERITY, BUT PLEASE STOP EMAILING OR CALLING ABOUT CONGRATULATIONS OR EXPRESSING YOUR OUTRAGE. Thank you. Carry on....)

The rumors have been floating around, and now we can announce it formally... Starbucks Coffee is purchasing Murky Coffee, LLC. If all of the legal stuff works out (and we have no reason to think that it won't), on June 1, 2007, the deal will be done.

What does this mean?

As part of a new initiative spearheaded by CEO Jim Donald and Howard Schultz, Starbucks is trying a new concept of a more "high-concept espresso" neighborhood coffeeshop, recognizing that their traditional shops that have made them famous have also given them a mixed reputation in neighborhoods like Eastern Market and Clarendon. With this joint partnership, Starbucks will be able to offer customers their world-famous dark-roast coffee and espresso drinks, but prepared by baristas with competition-level training, and in a more neighborhood-friendly, less "chain-y" package.

They're trying this in various major markets around the country, and Murky Coffee has the honor of being the first in the U.S. In subsequent months, the new Starbucks "Sirensong Cafe" concept will be rolled out in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston, to name a few.

Our agreement allows us to make this announcement known to our customers first, with the press release coming from Starbucks (SBUX) Corporation on Monday.

Stay tuned here on murkycoffee.com for more updates to this exciting development!

We understand that for many, this will come as a bit of a shock. Please understand that we'd never make such a significant change without a good reason. Thanks for your continued support!

Nick Cho
President, Murky Coffee, LLC

EDIT (APRIL 2, 2007): Happy Day After April Fools Day!!!