Our Saturday ritual starts at 5:45am switching on 2x large 4 gallon percolators to start heating up the water to begin boiling with a clank and pop of hot water showering over freshly roasted and ground coffee in preparation to sell the best outdoor hot coffee and coldbrew in Las Vegas at the local farmer’s market in Summerlin.
The mornings are bright and beautiful at the Downtown Summerlin farmer’s market every Saturday morning around 7:30am when the vendor’s roll into the covered street between brick and mortar retail shops that haven’t opened their doors yet. In the winter these days you can see your breathe hanging in the air as vendors rush to unload their vehicles before tables are setup and the street is closed down to regular traffic.
We pull in with our Subaru Outback doned with ECOMRCE custom license plates packed full with 30 lbs of retail coffee bags and up to 10 gallons of liquid coffee, 3 large tables, and all the cups, ice and equipment to sell hot coffee, coldbrew concentrate over ice, and a plethora of take-home coffee bags.
We get everything setup and ready for visitors and finish around 8:30am with time for fellow vendors to grab their cups of hot coffee functioning as early morning hand warmers as much as belly warmers.
Early bird patrons often stroll in and buy a few things before the official horn blows, literally. A hand carved and polished African Gazelle horn is blown at the open and close of each market day with two long billowing blows each riding the same 2 notes as made customary by the bearded market coordinator Jeff.
Over 60 vendors are usually appearing up and down each side of the main walkways along the road and up the phase towards the grass and ice skating rink. Crowds of locals and many first time visiting out-of-towners pass by, glancing at tables and letting their eyes and noses lead them to the jewelry, hand-made goods, body butters, spices, salsas, and baked goods that call to them.
Coffee being a centerpiece for many a market goer our table has it’s fair share of non-stop moments when we see customer after customer visiting for something hot or something caffeinated or simply attracted by the smell and wanting to know what makes us special.
“Our coldbrew is amazing!” I often exclaim proudly, “here try a free sample and you’ll see…” I say while pouring an ounce of the thick cool concentrated beverage into a small dixie cup. I go on, “This is our Brazil Organic Coffee, from my friend’s farm in Brazil, I imported it myself directly. It has a strong dark chocolate flavor, and if you mix it with this French Vanilla creamer it’ll turn into coffee ice cream!”
Recently we started making hot cocoa too, which has helped boost sales and also created a way for us to have something for everyone since only 65% of adults in the us drink coffee and we don’t get any children drinking our coldbrew but now we have something for the kids too! Our hot cocoa is a strong chocolatey blend that we make to order in front of you with liquid chocolate syrup, hot water, and marshmallows.
Having only started selling our Cafe do Paraiso (CdP) coffee at the local Las Vegas farmer’s market in July 2019, we’re relatively new to the scene yet extremely excited about the reception we’ve had! Many first time visitors to our table try our coffee, especially our cold-brew and say it’s the best they’ve ever had. We’ve also had business owners try our coffee and then sign-up to buy coffee from us for their office.
At each market give out flyers with a recipe for how to make our coldbrew at home along with a list of the different coffee shops that brew and serve our coffee.
Even though we do well selling liquid brewed coffee and bags of our beans at the market, the majority of our total revenue does come from the local coffee shops and restaurants in Las Vegas and outside of Nevada that we sell our coffees to regularly.
We’re very excited about the future and are proud of our commitment to donate $1 to education charities for every lb of coffee we sell retail. We are committed to being as sustainable as possible and sourcing our beans responsibly and creating more direct to origin relationships as we continue to grow.
If you haven’t already please come visit us at the Downtown Summerlin farmer’s market in Las Vegas every Saturday from 9am-2pm next to Baby Gap, and also now at the Henderson Pavilion farmer’s market every Friday from 9am-2pm on Green Valley Pkwy just 2 blocks south of The District in the Paseo Verde Library parking lot, just look for the white tents next to the road.
If you come to the market, mentionthis blog post and we’ll give you $1 off any drink or $2 off any 1lb bag of coffee at the market! Or bring a friend who has never tried our coffee and get any 2 drinks for the price of 1!
See you soon! And Happy Holidays from the CdP Coffee Roasters Team.