The weather is heating up and that means that it’s time once again for Musica del Lago, Alterra’s annual free summer concert series!

Join us Thursday evenings at 7pm at Alterra at the Lake, located at 1701 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive across from McKinley Marina (map) for free, live, outdoor performances featuring a fantastic lineup of local Latin music groups. We hope to see you down by the lake!

June 11th: Spanglish Band
June 25th: Naborí
July 16th: Rumbrava
July 30th: De La Buena
Aug 13th: Orquesta Veneno
Aug 27th: Caché
Rain date: September 3rd

Concert cancellations due to inclement weather will be announced on the Alterra blog no later than 5pm the same day of the show. 

Special thanks to our co-sponsors 88.9 Radio Milwaukee and the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at UW-Milwaukee!

Just a quick reminder that most of our cafes will have shortened hours this Saturday July 4th.

Alterra Tosa: 6am: 8pm
Alterra Lakefront: No Change (10pm close)
Alterra Mayfair: 9am - 6pm
Alterra US Bank: Closed
Alterra Prospect: July 3rd - close @9pm, July 4th - close @ 6pm
Alterra Foundry: Close at 6pm
Alterra Grafton: Close at 5pm
Alterra Bayshore: 8am - 6pm
Alterra Humboldt: Close at 8pm

The Riverwest Currents is a monthly newspaper appearing in print and online. It is produced by local residents for local residents in Riverwest and surrounding neighborhoods. The Currents recently published the first two articles in a series about founding member businesses of Our Milwaukee, a local business alliance advocating for a stronger local economy and preservation of Milwaukee’s unique character. Check out these features on Alterra Coffee and Brewery Credit Union:

“Even if you shift a percentage of your spending from big-box to local, it will make an impact on the community. It’s not an issue of all-or-none, and I think that is an important distinction to make - where you choose to spend your dollars is one of the easiest ways to make a difference...” To read the full article about Alterra Coffee and Our Milwaukee click here.

“In order to make Milwaukee a more sustainable community, our goal is to build market share for locally-owned, independent businesses by increasing awareness about the personal and community benefits of choosing local...” Read the full article about Brewery Credit Union and Our Milwaukee by clicking here.

If you’d like to learn more about Our Milwaukee, please visit www.ourmilwaukee.net for information on becoming a member, the benefits of buying local and a list of member businesses.

Sometimes we need a little help waking up, and that’s where our Breakfast Blend comes in. The combination of light and medium-roasted coffees creates a dynamic cup with the sweet, pronounced acidity to pry open our eyes, and just enough full, smooth body to prop us up. Whether enjoyed with breakfast or while running out the door, you can always count on our Breakfast Blend to start your day off right.

Breakfast Blend is $1.00 off at AlterraCoffee.com through July 2nd and will be the special in our cafes from June 29th through July 5th.

Alterra is proud to support the East Side Market, happening Saturdays this summer in the Beans & Barley parking lot.

“Featuring locally grown produce from right here in Milwaukee, local artists, designers & craftspeople, sustainable living/growing demonstrations, delicious local food & drinks and great local entertainment the new East Side Green Market will be running in the Beans & Barley parking lot on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm.  Located on North Avenue, the market will run from June 27th through October 10th.”

Check out more details at: www.theeastside.org

The market is just around the corner from our Prospect Avenue café, so after you’ve loaded up on some of the best local goods around you can grab a latte from Kate and the gang!

Every day we hear new stories about how Alterra customers are finding out about AlterraCoffee.com, where you can order strong coffee and have it shipped right to your door. These stories range from “My cousin’s cat-sitter offered me a cup of Blue Heeler so I Googled it,” to “My kid attends UW-Milwaukee and we always head to Alterra at the Lake when we come to visit.” These stories make us happy and very grateful to all of the loyal customers who have helped spread the word throughout the years and will continue to do so (we hope!) in the years to come.

This is why we would like to offer a token of thanks to all you vocal Alterra fans. To take part in our referral program, simply follow the steps below. We’ll thank you for it!

1. Tell your friends and family - heck, tell everyone - about Alterra’s online store. This offer is available for online purchases only thorough the end of July, 2009.
2. Make sure that when your friend is placing an order that he or she enters “Referred by: your name here” in the Special Instructions area of the web store check out.
3. For each new customer placing a first-time order online we will issue you and them a coupon code good for 10% off a future purchase. Please allow up to 4 days to receive this discount code via email.