Snow Cricket represents my loved ones.
In my dictionary, coffee, faith, family, and love are synonymous. My Mamie Snow, Papi Snow, and Grandma Cricket are three of the most important people in my life. These three are responsible for instilling my love of coffee and my love of pursuing a relationship with God. These three are responsible for making who I am today, and aside from my wife, Tori, daughter, Quinn, and son, Theo are my inspiration for all that I do.
My grandparents are incredibly special to me. It fills me with so much joy knowing that I am carrying on their legacy, and it is my hope that my family traditions inspire you or become a part of your families morning coffee.
From my family to yours,
Tray Blaylock
Pray
Grandma Cricket's house was where my siblings, cousins, and I looked forward to having a big country style breakfast served with - you guessed it- coffee. I can remember her giving all of us our coffee in a sippy cup that eventually led to being served in a mug as we all grew older. Grandma's was a place of peace: out in the country where there was no outside noise from the city. There were four wheelers, guns, fishing poles, and all the nature to explore. The sound of Grandma saying, "In or out, you're letting the flies in," or "You're letting the cold air out," is still so clear in my head.
Grandma was a great life teacher; learning from her was best done by observing and listening. Observing her in the kitchen, her happy place, where she would serve us breakfast to our liking. Reading her bible for hours on end. Quietly and intently listening through the door of her bedroom while she prayed.
She taught me many things in life: how to make proper pancakes, how Pepsi tastes better with a few peanuts in it, and how to treat people around you. You would never hear her speak ill of anyone. Everything about her was composed of grace and compassion, and this is something that I can see she passed down to my dad.
Sunday was the Lord's day. She would wake me with a smile, some warm coffee and a breakfast cooked with love before church. She was also one to always make sure to talk about the Sunday school lesson on the way back home.
So, this, is my remembrance to the woman who started me on coffee and taught me about life: Snow Cricket’s Colombian Roast, Pray. The flavor notes of this Colombian coffee are vanilla, cream and a caramel or toffee-like flavor, due to the added molasses with a slight nutty undertone. The Colombian coffee is most known for its flavor and unmistakably mild, but rich, aroma served with a hearty breakfast.
A good cup of coffee, especially Snow Cricket, is a divine cordial before morning prayer and something I know my Grandma Cricket would be proud of. "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." Mark 1:35.
Fruits of the Spirit
My Mamie. She was wonderful. She had the biggest heart for all of her grandbabies and great grandbabies; all whom she called “Precious.”
One of my most prominent memories of her and I is when I was very young. One day I was following my Mamie around in the drive way. I was on her tail, yanking on her pant leg I was so close. We were making our way between her vehicles when she made a quick and sudden turn- running right over me. I remember her expression so clearly. It broke her heart. I don’t exactly remember what it felt like, but I can vaguely remember sitting on the cabinet near the kitchen sink as they cleaned me up. While I don’t remember who all was there aside from Mamie, I do recall a lot of family cleaning me up. I was scared, hurting, overwhelmed, and naturally, bawling. My Mamie was there to let me know she loved me. She never let go of my hand or left my side. She was there to support me in that small trivial moment; and every moment, big or small, for her whole life. My Mamie would never forget about running me over. Without pause, every time we saw each other, the first thing she would say is, “I will never forget the day Mamie ran my precious baby over.” She would never let her self forget and I never want to forget it either. That memory was always at the center of our relationship. It will always be my memory.
My Mamie was always showing her fruits of the Spirit. She thought it was the most important thing. Each of my grandparents served all of my siblings and I coffee from when we were still in our diapers, and at Mamie’s house it was coffee, oatmeal, and Franklin. That’s what we looked forward to.
Dedicated to my Mamie, Fruits of the Spirit is an Ethiopian roast that can be roasted either to a light or to a medium roast; depending on your preference. Fruits of the Spirit has a slight blackberry taste to it; the lighter roast will have more fruit notes, while the medium roast begins to cook those fruitier notes out.
In honor of my Mamie, please enjoy this cup of coffee that pairs will with one of her favorite verses: Galatians 5:22
I Shall Not Be Moved
My Papi was a man who couldn’t be moved from his faith. He was disciplined through his years of learning the Word and then sharing it with others. I remember many occasions where he would be up at 3 a.m. praying and delving into the Word just because the sheer enjoyment it brought him. Not only was he unmovable in his faith, but uncoincidentally the song “I Shall Not Be Moved” was his favorite song. This song was his song of choice at every bible study to sing acapella. I typically withdraw from singing in front of others, but the enjoyment I received listening to him sing that song will never leave me.
Papi was a man of few words and only spoke when necessary. Most would find our visits funny, because I, too, am an introvert. A typical visit between Papi and myself would look something like this: Papi turning off the show he was watching, which was usually Gun Smoke. From there, it would not be unusual for the two of us to sit for over an hour and not say a word. We were just happy to be close to one another and enjoy our favorite resource together: time. Papi was the one who taught me discipline, persistence, courage, and rites of passage (baptism and marriage.)
Dedicated to my Papi Snow, I Shall Not Be Moved is an espresso blend that can be used for typical home brew too such as a pour-over method, Aero-Press, or a French Press. I searched for two different coffees but from the same region to get more of a single origin so both coffees are from Nicaragua but have different characteristics. One of the coffees has cherry, brown spices, and hazelnut notes while the other is rich with brown sugar, anise, jasmine, and nutmeg spice. My hope is that this coffee will satisfy all crowds and that when you drink this you will become unmovable like my Papi.
Darkness
Darkness is a dark roast coffee that represents sin. It’s something we all have in common and I believe it’s something we have to accept. Not that we should deliberately sin, but we should accept that it abides within us. Adam’s one sin led to condemnation for all of us but through Jesus’ one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. We all have sinned and fall short. Notice the present tense in “fall”. It does not say “fallen” short but we do all fall short daily. Whether we have the law of Moses or of our conscience, we have all violated that and so to be righteous as a system of justification is impossible. This is where grace comes in. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. On judgement day we either have our law or our faith in Christ Jesus.
We have no room to boast in either. We fall short of the law and by faith we have to trust God is doing something for us that we can’t do on our own. In Romans there is a good example of Abraham living by faith. It shows he was credited by faith, not of works. We have to try to obey Jesus and the words his Apostles have set before us the best we can but we must also realize we can’t do it perfectly so we have to trust God. The righteous will live by faith and not of works. This is an attitude of humility. One fact of reality is that we are all going to die and if we don’t have grace which is given freely by God then we have the law and we know that we fall short of the law so there’s only one way. I think this is common sense of why Jesus had to die for us so that we could have a chance. No one dies for a righteous person. The kindness and patience he has showed us is proof that God loves us. He is a just God and his ways show proof of that. He is our master and we should be his obedient servants. The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. As you drink this dark roast I hope it’s a reflection of our sinfulness and a realization to lean on Christ.
Sources: Romans, 1 John
Exercise Your Faith
Once you understand something it’s yours to use. It’s easier to see it, point it out in others, and hopefully apply it (2 Peter 1:8). Although, just because you understand something doesn’t make you exempt. You have to exercise it. As you exercise it, though, it should become a habit and more on the side of spinal cord level (2 Peter 1:5-7). At first it’s easier to be swayed in the opposite direction from outside influences so it’s important to be diligent so that you don’t fall away (2 Peter1:10). Examples of exercise are praying, Fruits of the Spirit, and standing firm in the Obedience of faith (I shall not be moved). Other examples may be fitness, studies (The Word), and family. Praying is something that has to be exercised. You will get better the more you exercise it and it will also, more than likely, become a habit. If you replace a bad habit with prayer you now have eliminated that bad habit and filled that time with a good habit. You can use the Word to look at peoples examples of prayer and notice their growth as well. Moses’ prayers are good examples to see growth. The other examples of faith mentioned can be handled in the same way, as I have described with prayer.
Exercise your faith is a light roasted coffee that will have more caffeine than medium roast and darker roast and is intended as a pre workout. Whether it be before you read the Word, exercise outside or in the gym, before church, before a family get together, Bible study, fishing trip, hunting trip, etc. This coffee is intended to give you energy so that you can be diligent in what it is that you are about to do and also a reminder to exercise your faith (2 Peter 3:1), so that you cannot be moved. The Greek word used in 2 Peter “spoudazó” means to be diligent or to work really hard. So, exercise your faith with intent and focus and use this pre workout as a reminder to work hard for the good so that you don’t fall away.
Sources: 2 Peter