• ONGOING -- MOVIE NIGHT! Each Saturday night, we make popcorn and show old movies at 8pm. FREE! This week, 07/26/08, Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder & William Lundigan in Dishonored Lady.
• 28 Jun 08 -- If you've never been here in person, click HERE to see the shop in Google Maps Streetview!
• 24 Jun 08 -- All the Ethiopian Sidamo Shanta Golba is GONE. Many thanks to those who enjoyed it as much as we did! It was a great coffee. Now the search begins for another fantastic taste...
• 15 Jun 08 -- Happy Fathers' Day!
• 06 Jun 08 -- D-Day. The Longest Day. A bit milder than Saving Private Ryan, and it was filmed on location in Normandy.
• 03 Jun 08 -- We've got more coffee berries ripening on the trees!
• 30 May 08 -- The last roast of the Ethiopian Sidamo Shanta Golba is now in the roaster! That means only SEVEN pounds will be available. If you want some of it, this is your last chance!
• 28 May 08 -- We have coffee trees! Yep, two coffee trees have appeared in the store, complete with ripening berries.
• 07 May 08 -- Between helping with educational labs, administering tests, judging at the USBC, and having dozens of impromptu meetings on USBC and BGA issues, there wasn't a whole lot of time for other things at the SCAA Conference, although Barry was able to run around the show floor for an hour or so with Greg Scace, causing as much havoc as we could.
• 05 May 08 -- The finals for the 2008 US Barista Championship begin today at NOON. Watch Barry be a Technical Judge on the competition live feed HERE.
• 05 May 08 -- Barry has been at the 20th Annual Conference of the Specialty Coffee Association of America in Minneapolis. Have a look at the SCAA Live Blog. Barry is mentioned here in reference to his work on the Barista Skills Assessment.
• 29 Apr 08 --

ROGER CORMAN FILM FESTIVAL

for the month of May! B-Movie classics such as Little Shop of Horrors, The Last Woman on Earth, Shame, or whatever else we decide on having.
• 22 Apr 08 -- Happy Birthday to Dewey Nicks. We were born one month apart and lived three doors apart in Kirkwood, until Dewey moved to Webster Groves when we were about seven or eight. Dewey was Director of those fun Ameritrade commercials.
• 22 Apr 08 -- We're getting down to the last few pounds of Ethiopian Shanta Golba. This is a truly excellent coffee, and when it is gone that's it. No more. Ever. Grab some while you still can!
• 24 Mar 08 -- Angry Bunny is back! He'd been missing since the move from the mall, but he has been found and has returned to Riley's!
• 14 Mar 08 -- Barry is in Milwaukee judging the Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition. Tonight he is over-caffeinated after judging all 15 of the competitors on the first day. There are 16 more competitors as the 1st round continues on Saturday.
• 08 Mar 08 -- EASTER! It's just around the corner (March 23). June has been busy making solid chocolate Easter Bunnies, as well as the always favorite Bunny Ears. Don't wait until the last minute!
• 08 Mar 08 -- The coffee market has been quite active for the past month or so and, when combined with the ongoing rising fuel costs, it has come time to raise the price on some of our bulk coffees.
• 05 Feb 08 -- The Midwest Regional Barista Competition is this coming weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) at Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis! Come watch Barry judge the competitors!
• 28 Jan 08 -- It's time for Chocolate Covered Strawberries! Available on Friday & Saturdays, $18.95/lb. Order early for Valentine's Day!
• 14 Jan 08 -- Maddie gets published! The advertisement up above, for the Barista Guild of America, will appear in the next issue of Barista Magazine!
• 04 Jan 08 -- Tonight we're testing a Nintendo Wii on the big screen! There has been a proposal that we make Friday nights "Wii Night". It works great, but we'll have to work out some details.
• 04 Jan 08 -- We will be closed next Saturday evening, January 12, at 6pm for a private party. No movie night on the 12th.
• 15 Dec 07 -- Coffee & fudge make great last minute gifts! No dusting required! No need to display it year 'round or worry about breaking it! Drink all you want, we'll roast more!
• 10 Dec 07 -- HOLIDAY SPICE coffee now available! Cinnamon & nutty goodness for $10.95/lb. WHILE SUPPLY LASTS!
• 05 Dec 07 -- Gift Ideas! Click on the 2007 Gift Idea booklet above for a PDF file listing our gift baskets. Please order by phone or email, and allow enough time for shipping!
• 23 Nov 07 -- HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Yep, the Friday after Thanksgiving, 2006, was our first official day at our new store!
• 12 Nov 07 -- Veterans' Day is also the annual beginning of the Let's Bring 'Em Home program. In short, LBEH buys plane tickets for overseas military personnel so they can join their families at home for Christmas. A number to keep in mind: 96%. Ninety-six cents out of every dollar donated goes to bringing soldiers home for the holidays.
• 12 Nov 07 -- Veterans' Day (observed). Originally Armistice Day, to celebrate the cessation of hostilities between the Allies and Germany in World War I, effective on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." In the US, it was changed to Veterans' Day after World War II. If you ever need a reminder of the devastation of The Great War, use GoogleEarth to tour around France, and note the unfortunately amazing quantity of military cemetaries scattered across the country.
• 09 Nov 07 -- KONA is here! The '07 crop has arrived, direct from the farm in Hawaii (thanks Bob & Cea!). This excellent coffee is $22 per 1/2lb.
• 01 Nov 07 -- It's National Novel Writing Month! If you have a 50,000 word story crammed inside your head, come join others in their attempt to let the words flow on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. For more information, visit the NaNoWriMo website.
• 25 Oct 07 -- Wet & cold today. How apt, as so it was as Harry led his men through the muck on St. Crispin's Day: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now abed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day." -- Wm. Shakespeare
• 09 Oct 07 -- We now have a new cooler out front, with Red Bull, Jones Soda, and various juices & teas.
• 09 Oct 07 -- Holy cow! It's been ages since I've updated the website. My apologies all around. So what have I been doing instead of working on the site? I spent most of my summer evenings working on two espresso machine rebuilds. There were two commercial customers who just had to have a machine rebuilt NOW, so I spent about 45 to 50 hours on each machine. In the end, however, both customers pulled out of their respective deals at the last minute, so now I have two completely refurbished La Marzocco 2-group Lineas on my hands. If you know anyone who's thinking of opening a coffee shop, please let them know I have machines available. They're sweet, too.
• 06 Jun 07 -- D-Day. If you don't know what that means, learn, although I'm astounded that the Wikipedia entry is so short. Read Stephen Ambrose's "Citizen Soldiers" and "D-Day". Seriously. If you're under 30 yrs old and wonder why Old Guys get to do whatever the hell they want, read those books, or if reading a book is too much to ask, watch "Saving Private Ryan". Again. If you're an Old Guy who went ashore in Normandy, thank you. If you're an Old Guy who served in the US military anywhere during WWII, thank you. For that matter, I don't care how old you are, if you've served in the US Military at all, thank you. I never got around to thanking my Uncle Harry, who treaded water in the dark at Slapton Sands as the E-Boats machine-gunned men in the water around him, who went ashore before dawn at Normandy to clear mines from the beaches for the invasion, and who endured the bitter cold during the seige at Bastogne. Thank you, Uncle Harry. He came home; many didn't. I could go on and on, but if the words Omaha Beach, Bastogne, Bataan, Ploesti, Argonne, Frozen Chosin, Khe Sahn, Ia Drang, Kasserine, don't mean anything to you, it's time to learn.
• 24 May 07 -- And don't forget to meet Cap'n Jack at world's end! Yarrrrrrrrr!

• 24 May 07 -- Towel Day :: A tribute to Douglas Adams (1952-2001) Don't forget your towels tomorrow!
• 23 May 07 -- This video is just a trailer for a training DVD, but it's a quick look at the work of some of the finest baristas in the world. Barry has had the honor, at one time or other, of judging all of the baristas featured in the video (except Klaus) and they all are truly talented folks.
• 23 May 07 -- Sundays are gone. We were going to try to hold out through Memorial Day weekend, but it's pretty clear that being open on Sundays during warm weather is rather pointless. Our apologies to JG, a long-time Sunday presence. We'll re-evaluate the situation in the fall, when the weather starts to change.
• 09 May 07 -- We're back! June & Barry attended the 19th Annual Conference of the Specialty Coffee Association of America in Long Beach, CA. It was a long weekend of serious coffee stuff, and only a few parties!
• 09 May 07 -- More judging! Barry served as a Technical Judge at the United States Barista Championship, which took place during the SCAA Conference. As Tech Judge, he gets to watch the barista's every move, up close and personal.
• 09 May 07 -- Beginning in June, we will be closed on Sundays. Y'all are apparently doing all sorts of things other than drinking coffee on Sundays. If you want us to stay open on Sundays, then DRINK MORE COFFEE ON SUNDAYS!
• 26 Apr 07 -- Barry was elected to the Executive Council of the Barista Guild of America. The purpose of the Guild is to advance the art & craft of being a Barista, as well as promote coffee quality.
• 18 Apr 07 -- Roast coffee; fly kites. A great day to take advantage of our new location!
• 17 Apr 07 -- Virgina Tech Memorial Fund.
• 17 Apr 07 -- We wholesale! If you'd like to see our coffee in other shops & restaurants in the area, please mention us to the owner/manager.
• 15 Apr 07 -- Welcome to the latest version of the Riley's homepage. Please see the "Under Construction" section below for more details.
• 15 Apr 07 -- Barry was recently a Judge at the combined Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regional Barista Competitions, held at the end of March at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, PA.
• 15 Apr 07 -- While at the MA/NERBC, Barry was a guest on the Portafilter.net Podcast 62, recorded during a party for baristas, volunteers, and judges, with music provided by The Cassettes. His bit is about 1 hour & 18 minutes into the podcast.