Okay, I think it’s official: radio silence here = big plans afoot! Colin has mentioned a few of them briefly on twitter, but we’ll wait to release all the juicy details until everything is finalized. One thing is for sure, though: the next two months are going to be awesome for us AND for Dublin coffee lovers. Bring it on!

So, what’s going on? This weekend marks the third birthday of our original home, Bodytonic Music’s Twisted Pepper. Those of you who have been visiting us there recently will most likely have noticed that there’s some super exciting stuff going on there now that the Pepper is home to Elastic Witch records, The Loft Bookshop, and The Boxcutter. Every time I make it in to the Pepper from the office over on Lower Grand Canal Street (my new home), there’s an absolutely immense buzz, even at 5 PM on a Monday night.  It’s ridiculously exciting to be a part of that, and we couldn’t be happier for the lads at Bodytonic!

I think it’s pretty obvious that 3FE wouldn’t be where it is today (in many ways) without the Twisted Pepper building.  From the small lobby shop that Col opened nearly two years ago to the larger set-up in the main bar, the building (and Bodytonic) have provided us with a great space in which to explore all that geeky stuff we do with specialty coffee and share the results with you. Twisted Pepper has seen the first Uber Boiler in Ireland, the 2010 Irish Barista Championship, and Ireland’s first coffee convention in the form of Tamper Tantrum Live in May 2011, so we feel it’s only fitting that we celebrate its birthday nearly as much as we plan on celebrating our own on December 3^rd.

Since it’s the Twisted Pepper’s third birthday (and I like symmetry in numbers), we’ll be doing three different things to celebrate alongside Bodytonic, Elastic Witch, The Loft Bookshop, and The Boxcutters:

Coffee on Cask

When Col first told me that he wanted to install one of Marco’s Filter Shuttles in the Twisted Pepper, I was a bit skeptical. When he told me it was the best cup of filter coffee he’d had all year, I was… well, to be honest, I was a bit hurt. But that’s irrelevant to where this is going, and besides, when he set it up in the office to prove it, I not only got why he felt that way, I agreed that it was definitely VERY tasty.

For the Pepper’s third birthday, we’re introducing ‘Coffee on Cask’ from the Filtro Shuttle. We’ll be giving away a cup free with every bag of beans purchased this weekend and offering samples to anyone who’d like to give it a go. It’s free AND it’s tasty. What’s not to love?

Hot Chocolate-y Goodness

It’s that time of the year again where we bring out the chocolate ganache and have a bit of fun! This year, we’ve gotten our amazing in-house pastry chef Dave to whip up something extra-special tasty, and he’s come up with a spiced-orange dark chocolate ganache that will be the base of our hot chocolate this winter. Nearly everyone who’s had a taste-test of the end result has made the same facial expression of awe and delight (myself included), so we’re super excited to unveil this as a part of the birthday bash.

Hashtag Shenanigans

As I mentioned before, we’ll be celebrating our second birthday soon. We’ve got some pretty cool stuff coming up for that, but we’d like to get a jump on it with all the feel-good birthday awesomeness in the air. We’re going to test a hashtag give-away (a la SkinFlint): take a picture of your 3FE takeaway cup somewhere fun or unusual and then tweet it to us with the hashtags #TPis3 and #3FE. On Monday, after the Twisted Pepper’s birthday celebrations are all finished, we’ll pick the best photograph to receive a bag of coffee and an aeropress. If it kicks off, we’ll include a hash-tag give away (but this time for a two-hour-long, private latte art course for the winner and two friends) as a part of our own birthday celebration. Everybody wins! Well… metaphorically speaking, that is. ;)

This weekend is going to be loads of fun, so pop in, say hello, and grab a sample of ‘coffee on cask.’ I know Col said it in his last post, but I’d like to reiterate it: thanks so much for all of the support and trust you have given us over the past two years. We really couldn’t have done it without you!

jenn