Sunday, September 9, 2012

A great free cup of joe every Sunday? (Columbia Pike Farmer's Market)

So, every sunday I frequent the Columbia Pike farmer's market which is right in front of the Rite Aid Pharmacy at the corner of Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive. It is a wonderful place to get your grass-fed/pasture-raised meats (Smith Meadows), get some amazing raw cheeses (two vendors), and of course, grab your locally grown veggies! One of my favorite booths is from a local outfit called "Oh! Pickles" which offers a variety of fermented vegetables for sale. They have Sauerkraut, pickles of all different types, pickled tomatoes, fermented hot peppers, kimchi, pickled okra... Almost everything they have is wonderful there, and of course, you get your probiotics from fermented foods so it's great for you as well! But "Oh! Pickles" is not it's own company as far as I can tell. It is owned by the Hondo Coffee company. Seems odd that a coffee company would own a local purveyor of fermented vegetables, yes? Well I'm not complaining because there's a wonderful perk to this "partnership." They always have a display of their various coffee roasts which range from the very light (they have a blonde-esque roast), to a medium roast (Full City), all the way down to their darkest offerings (French and Italian Raosts). Every week they have two or so flavors of coffee in big airpots with cups, sugar, and cream available. I remember the first time I purchased some fermented veggies from them and noticed the coffee. The guy working there saw me eying it and said "why don't you have a cup of one of our roasts to see if you like it?" I asked him if it would cost me anything. He said no. I figured that he was trying to sell me on some of their coffee beans so I got lucky that time in scoring a free cup of java. But no, they have a cup for collecting tips over by the airpots, and every week I go and whoever is working the booth says to me that the coffee is free and just that I can tip if I like it. I usually do just that. But it's nice to know that every Sunday I can go over to their booth and get a free cup. Skip the lines at a local coffee shop? Yes please. Skip the cost? Even better! Still get a great cup? Sure! This is a wonderful feature of their little "outfit." If you have an "Oh! Pickles" vendor at your local farmer's market (they go to several in the DC area), then I am sure you will have access to the same free cuppa. I recomend you go and give them a try at least once. You've got nothing to lose on a free cup!

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