Arrow Coffee Co.

Thanks for a wild 13 years on Clalfin. We're excited for what 418 Poyntz holds for us.

We're still wrapping our minds around how to express our sincere gratitude to all who showed up for us this week.

SEE YOU DOWNTOWN! 🤠

Good Coffee, Bad Bunny

I, personally, am a Valentine's skeptic. I do think of myself as a romantic, but the whole Valentine's Industrial Complex never made sense to me, even as a kid. Such an obvious attempt by the candy, greeting card and teddy bear business to boost sales, that the whole idea of celebrating love becomes merely a capitalist ritual. I guess I think that if we really do love each other, why do we need all the stuff to show it? We don't, right?

If you watched the Super Bowl Halftime Show, or have seen clips or images, you have probably already seen this, but at the end of his performance, Bad Bunny had the phrase "The only thing more powerful than hate is Love" emblazoned on the Jumbotron at Levi's Stadium as he marched with a joyful group proudly displaying the flags of every country in North, Central & South America and held out a football with the words "Together, we are America". A beautiful celebration of unity and love that really resonated with me (and it seems like several million others). Upon reflection, I think the moment was so poignant because the whole performance was all about love (I mean, there was literally a real life wedding happening on stage). For 14 minutes, love was the star of the show that hundreds of millions of people were watching, which is such a rare occurrence for us. We all live in our own little worlds, consume the content fed to us by the algorithms. We read the same terrifying headlines about the world, see the same comment sections spewing the same hateful things. The leaders of our government do and say divisive and hurtful things, but for those 14 minutes, we were together and it was beautiful!

It has me thinking, isn't this what Valentine's Day should be like? Yes, it's commercialized and artificial, but literally nothing is more commercialized than the Super Bowl! If we can find deep meaning and connection smack dab in the middle of the biggest celebration of Capitalism, why can't we do that while surrounded by hearts and flowers and chocolates? Let's take the good and leave the rest. Candy is delicious! Flowers are Beautiful! If these things are a reflection of the love you feel for someone, than by all means use them (but please buy local! Kistner's Flowers (https://www.kistnersflowers.com) is top notch!) Love is powerful enough to overshadow my skepticism and to put capitalism in its place if we let it. What else might it do for us? We are gonna try and push my skepticism aside this year and celebrate love in all its forms, and I hope you'll join us!

Side note/ Shameless Plug! If you want to literally join us for Valentine's Day at the Lounge, reservations are filling up! Book yourself a reservation below!

What Else is New?

Bodega Wine Tasting Tonight! 4-7
We'll be sampling some wine from Pizzolato (https://lacantinapizzolato.com/en/) that I haven't even tried yet! their reputation certainly proceeds them, so I'm excited to get to experience them with you!

We won't have the bottles for sale just yet, but we will be doing a discounted preorder for them!

Piccalilli Farm Brew Deck Series is Next Tuesday!
If you're looking for a late Valentine's Day Gift or experience to share, this is a fantastic option! Rachel and I had the privilege of attending the most recent iteration of this series and it was wonderful! Grab your tickets below!

Upcoming Events!

Music to Dance/ Cry to!

As a kid, Super Bowl Sunday always meant a party at our house. My friends and their parents would come over with a huge assortment of snacks and sugary beverages. The parents would watch the game, and the kids would play hide and seek, or run around outside, or whatever else we decided to do- It was the 90's after all. But during the halftime show, everyone was glued to the television. (Especially the years following the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake debacle, but I'm getting off track here.) Not much has changed for me over the last 30 years. During the game I eat snacks, pet my friends' dogs, and yap. Occasionally I'll check out the TV to ask which sports costumes I'm supposed to cheer for, and see if I can figure out how the fabric is all stitched together. But the halftime show is for watching. Like many of you, I'm sure, I thought Bad Bunny's performance was incredible. He displayed so much pride for America and Puerto Rico, and the set design was absolutely stunning. When Ricky Martin popped on screen in front of those plantain trees, I literally squealed. I suppose it won't be a surprise to you that this week's album to dance or cry to is Ricky Martin's 1999 self titled album. Go shake your bon bons, baby!

Recipe of the week!

Spring is creeping in and spring is synonymous with one very specific flavor for us at Arrow....

Lavender!

What was once just an occasional seasonal flavoring has found its way onto our permanent selection of coffee & tea flavorings and has even laid claim to our cocktail and mocktail selection! It all starts with this dead easy lavender simple syrup.

12 grams dried lavender buds (available locally at Mama Fang's!)
12 oz boiling hot water
~11 oz white granulated sugar (or local honey!)

Mix the lavender buds with the boiling water and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain the lavender and weigh the resulting liquid and add equal weight in sweetener. If you don't have a scale/ don't want to use one, it will be roughly 10-11oz by weight. You can also adjust this to taste! like it sweeter, add more sugar! want a stronger floral flavor? add more lavender or even a couple drops of rose extract! Looking for more balance? try adding a lemon or an orange peel during the steep!

Once you have your syrup, you can use it in pretty much anything! We love it in a London fog!

Thanks for Reading!

-R&B

The only thing more powerful than hate... Click here for an update from Arrow Hospitality!