Featured Shop; State of Bean and IbuTrade

My parents are not only professionals (one part time, one full time)but they also run 2 businesses.

Dad runs a coffee-roasting business that allows him to occasionally joke about being a [caffeine] dealer. Ages and ages ago, at the sepia effect-ed brink of my memory, he started supplementing his coffee addiction by buying beans and roasting them in a contraption he developed with a saucepan (sounds very enterprising and creative; should go in interviews when he starts his global coffee empire). Then he used a popcorn machine. His friends and my family realise that the coffee was actually pretty damn good, and thus State of Bean (get it!) was born. Nowadays we have a 2kg roaster (if only it was larger) that looks a little like a steam train. In it, we roast ethically produced (Fairtrade) and sustainable coffee beans

I myself have morphed into an unbearable espresso (espresso, ok? Never, ever this "expresso" situation) sipping snob, complete with recital of the meaning of ristretto. I can now tell prospective customers the flavours they will observe in the Ethiopian (in case you were wondering it's earthy, chocolate and contains fruitiness reminiscent of blueberries).

If you, like me, hold pretentious dreams of being a coffee aficionado, or if you are just interested in SoB, take a look at the [badly designed - I promise you dad is updating it] State of Bean website or like it of Facebook, where my father will scatter news feed with coffee related wittiness.

My mum owns IbuTrade, an ethical gift shop. She's actually beginning to close it down and change it into her new blog Live Gently (have a look if you like musings on society and the environment, one of her posts might feature here eventually). Hence you will find great sales and great gifts at: http://ibutrade.com.au/shop/

Have a look please,

Ellie :)