Split Bean Coffee - Nov 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Split Bean Coffee Newsletter
November 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue
Flavor of The Month
Mantecados & Polvorones
Help us help others

Dear Friends, The Holiday Season is upon us and we are busy helping Santa get all those Alfajores, Mantecados, Polvorones, Marshmallows, Brittles and specially Coffee ready for those who have been nice. Our Holiday Selections are now available on our website - Holiday Selections. We would highly advise all of you to order early. You can always order in advance by calling us at 877-448-5185.

As always we use USPS Priority Mail to ship all orders, and this service normally takes 2-3 business days from the time we ship. Please do keep in mind all of our offerings are made to order.

HOLIDAY ORDERING DEADLINES: Thanksgiving 2008 - Please order by Nov 18th Christmas 2008 - Please order by Dec 15th If you need an order to arrive by a specific date, please give us a call.

We wish you all a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving, as well as give you thanks for your wonderful support in 2008. The Split Bean Coffee Family
Flavor of The Month - Nov 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Flavor of The Month is our Fall Variety Pack!

Our Alfajores Fall Variety Pack is composed of Pumpkin, Cranberry, and Sweet Potato flavors. They make a great gift for the Holiday Host. Be sure and get a box for your home.

Our Marshmallows Fall Variety Pack contains our Spicy, Eggnog, Rum, and Chocolate Mallows. If you wish to order any of these in a single flavor bag, feel free to give us a call at (818) 448-5185

Mantecados and Polvorones - A Brief History

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September is when Christmas begins in the small town of Estepa, Spain. This quaint town located in the province of Seville, jump starts into full production of Mantecados, a humble shortbread-like cookie native to the area. Mantecados bring much happiness to the millions of people who over the years have made of these delicious cookies a treasured Christmas tradition. Over the centuries, Estepa has become famous for their Christmas sweets, but Mantecados and their sister cookies Polvorones and Alfajores are more than just an ancient tradition. The industrialization of these cookies has provided much needed development and economic growth to the town's people and surrounding areas.It is a very sweet reward to the people of Estepa that such a traditional and artisan product has become much appreciated in the entire Iberian Peninsula and abroad. Today, Mantecados, Polvorones and Alfajores are as much a Christmas tradition where ever Spanish is spoken, as turkey is the USA for Thanksgiving. As in the case of Alfajores, both Mantecados and Polvorones are also quite popular in Latin America where as with all other gastronomic traditions of Spanish origin, they have been adapted and infused with local flavors and ingredients, and are now consumed year-round. The origin of the Spanish Mantecado dates back to the XVI century, a time when the region of Andalusia experienced a surplus of grains and pork products. Around this time, a certain type of biscuit commonly known as "lard cakes" were popular in every house and specially in the religious convents like the famous Convent of Santa Clara, where the historical archives reference the kind of dishes and ingredients used to make these biscuits. However, the first direct reference to Mantecados dates to the end of the XIX century, and is tied to the life of a woman named Filomena Micaela Ruiz Tellez. The beginning of the mass production of Mantecados is credited to Micaela, as she was popularly known. Her husband was a peddler between the town of Estepa and the city of Cordoba, and she gave him a few of her cakes to sell on the way. The biscuits where a hit and soon they turned into a full time enterprise. Micaela's success was primarily due to her baking method, which consisted of completely drying the cookies to produce a shortbread bread like biscuit which was crispy in the outside, yet tendered in the inside. By 1934 there were over 15 homes in Estepa where families where fully devoted to the production of Mantecados for the Andalusia market. Today there are over 30 artisan factories in Estepa which are dedicated to the production of Mantecados and Polvorones for the domestic and international markets. These artisan workshops continue to use the closely guarded original recipes and are organized into the Estepa Association of Manufacturers of Mantecados. Although Mantecados, Polvorones, and Alfajores are produced throughout Latin America and where ever Spanish is spoken, only a very selected few follow the Spanish recipe for Mantecados and Polvorones from Estepa. We at Split Bean Coffee have developed and tested our own recipe using as reference a recipe book dating to the XVII century found in a friend's personal library. After many trials and taste tests we have reproduced a product that can proudly say is truly inspired in the Mantecados first made by Filomena Micaela Ruiz Tellez from Estepa, and still produced in Estepa, Spain. We are very proud to have discovered this old recipe and to pay tribute to many centuries of tradition by making our Mantecados and Polvorones using only natural ingredients. You can order your own Spanish Style Mantecados, Polvorones and Latin American Style Alfajores on our website at www.splitbeancoffee.com .

HELP US HELP OTHERS We are happy to inform you all that this Holiday Season, we are donating one dollar from each sale to needy children in Leon, Nicaragua.

Last year we donated a portion of our sales to an orphanage in Lima, Peru and the nuns were very thankful for the donation. We hope we can count on you to make this campaign a success. Giving a little back to less fortunate children is very important to us at Split Bean Coffee.