November 2018

It’s the holiday season, and that means one thing: the acquisition of goods and services for the express purpose of gift giving. Luckily for you, it appears that these days, nearly every need can be satisfied simply by shopping with Sprudge, and yes—we’re proudly shipping worldwide. To get you started we’ve assembled this cheeky guide, featuring the best bits from the Sprudge Shop experience. Be sure to tag us upon receipt of the goods—we’ll be sharing Sprudge shop experiences across social media all season long.

And now, the goods!

Buy My Book

Buy my book! Buy my book! Yes, while you can buy New Rules of Coffee: A Modern Guide For Everyone from fine booksellers worldwide, by shopping with Sprudge you’ll receive a hand-autographed (never stamped) copy, direct from the brains that which birthed it. Across 160 full-color pages, and featuring eye-catching illustrations from comics artist Kelsey Wroten, we’re dishing to you on the rules, mores and peccadillos of coffee as we see it around the world, co-authored by Sprudge founders Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen. We pack each order by hand with plenty of surprises and we love to see folks reading this book around the world, so be sure to tag us and use the #newrulesofcoffee hash when your copy arrives. We will also note that this handsome gift book is precisely stocking stuffer sized, so…it makes a great gift, just saying.

Bumper Sticker Boogaloo 

Show you’re proud of the coffee professional in your life by picking up a couple of Proud Parent bumper stickers from Sprudge. Available in the following phrases:

Also:

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Told my dad he could have this bumper sticker only if he promised to put it on his 1997 Mazda Miata M-edition and he demurred smdh wish I meant more 2 u Dad

A post shared by Katie Carguilo (@katiecarguilo) on Oct 25, 2018 at 6:12pm PDT

Please note: these stickers are also applicable to any and all colloquial/social issues of the term “mom”, “dad” etc. You can be someone’s “coffee mom” without being their biological mother, and that is totally cool—indeed, we have made these stickers with exactly this scenario in mind.

Totes? Totes. 

We totes have totes and they’re totes adorbs. Pick up yours today, available in Linea Cat, Chemex Cat and Wine Bottle Monster designs. These are fancy cotton canvas tote bags, not that cheap non-woven polypropylene you sometimes see walking around. They’re big and sturdy enough to use as a daily tote, with eye-catching comic design that’s sure to draw curious questions. We think they’re an especially sharp bet as an accessory option for your next coffee or wine festival appearance.

Cat Shirts

Our most requested designs are back in time for the holidays! We’ve restocked a series of these classic works by designer Thomas Putman, each one featuring a real-life Sprudge cat. They include…

The Chemex Cat

Look at li’l Chemex Cat there! He thinks he’s people! Brewing up a nice Chemex for himself. We ought to call you Dr. Peter Schlumpaw!

The Cupping Cats

Grab your lucky cat spoon, the cupping table starts over there! These puddies are detecting notes of cute, with a pronounced coating meowthfeel reminiscent of delicate tuna paté. But what will Oyster score?

The Stamping Cats

A staff favorite, these stamping kitties are finishing up a long day working at the cat cafe. There’s just this last task to complete, and then they can clock off on their tiny cat-sized punch cards, collect the day’s kitty in tips, and blow it all at the milk bar down the street.

The Linea Cat

Our most beloved cat tee. Just look at this big sweet Keekee! She’s found a warm snuggly spot to sprawl out, and it just happens to be atop a working La Marzocco Linea espresso machine. If only my life were as easy as a cat’s.

The Aeropress Cat

Engh! Engh! Keep on pushin’, kitty, and you’ll plunge your way to a delicious cup. The Aeropress Cat shirt is a favorite of the Adler family, and we just know you’ll love having one of your own.

Readers

Why stop with our book? You can also pick up tasteful reading material of a different sort from the Sprudge Shop, including our Year One Wine Zine published by our sibling site, Sprudge Wine, as well as Birds of Unusual Vitality, Sprudge staff writer Eileen Kenny’s interview compilation published by Sprudge in 2014.

Metal Coffee Shirts

The post The Indispensable Sprudge Shop 2018 Holiday Guide appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Today is Thanksgiving and you are by now already sick of your family, because they’re great and all and you love them, but enough already! But even if you aren’t, you saint you, Go Get Em Tiger in Los Angeles is still giving you a reason to get out of the house with their Thanksgiving Day-only specialty drinks. And this year, there are even some you can take home.

Between 8:00am and 2:00pm today at their Highland Park location, GGET continues their yearly tradition of serving “the most ambitious versions possible of that staple holiday coffee drink menu,” a premise they describe as “absurd” in an email detailing this year’s tasty treats. And this year may just be the ambitiously absurd yet.

There is of course the Pumpkin Spice Latte, consisting of “pumpkin spice syrup, milk, nutmeg caramel, espresso, boba, pumpkin cream cheese topping and big hunk of housemade pumpkin seed brittle.” The Peppermint Mocha—made with starlight whipped cream, peppermint chocolate sauce, espresso, and a peppermint sugar cookie—comes in a chocolate cup. A FREAKING CHOCOLATE CUP! And there is a Gingerbread latte soft serve, with a “chocolate molasses magic shell, ginger molasses cookie crumbles, and crystallized ginger, on a classic cake cone.”

But the best drink this year—at least in terms of “good excuses to get you out of the house for just like, 10 minutes please”—is the Eggnog Latte. Housemade eggnog, espresso, and ready to drink, you can grab a couple of roadies to bring back for the fam while needed some much-needed not family time. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

It truly is the most wonderful time of year.

For more information, visit the Go Get Em Tiger Holiday Drinks event page.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

All photos via Go Get Em Tiger

The post Happy Go Get Em Tiger Special Holiday Drinks Day! appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Everyone has their favorite coffee cup. Maybe it’s a hand-thrown ceramic vessel, maybe it’s a Cathy mug you stole from your mom’s cabinet without her knowing. Whatever it is, it holds a special place in your heart. Well make room in that heart of yours for one more. Kruve is crowdfunding the EQ line, designed to give drinkers the ability to pick the cup that best suits the coffee they are drinking, and look pretty damn good doing it.

Currently in crowdfunding on Indiegogo, the Kruve EQ series features two differently shaped glasses as well as a serving carafe. As the name suggests, the idea behind the new glassware is to allow users to adjust what flavors and aromas are expressed in their coffee much in the same way they would adjust an equalizer to accentuate music: increase the bass, scoop out the mids (which is a terrible way of listening to music btw, you hear me, metalheads?), etc.

The double-walled glass receptacles are designed to pair generally with two different flavor profiles: chocolatey, darker roasts and more acid-forward light roasts. The Excite—the wide mouth glass meant to work well with more developed coffees—features a larger liquid surface area for more rapid oxidation and is designed to soften the acidity and bring out the sweetness. The Inspire—the narrow mouth glass for light roasts—is shaped to “focus and funnel” the aroma while enhancing the acidity.

As of writing this, the Kruve EQ has nearly doubled its $15,000 goal, so at this point, backing the campaign is just a way of getting new gear at a discount. With only 15 days remaining, the campaign still has a handful of early bird deal left to be scooped up, including a set of two glasses for $33 and two sets of two glasses as well as a carafe for $97, bother over a third off the MSRP. But if you aren’t quick enough to grab any of those, the Kruve EQ glasses and carafe can still be ordered for 22 to 25% off through the campaign.

Sexy, drink-specific glassware: it’s not just for wine and beer anymore.



For more information on the Kruve EQ or to order your own, visit their Indiegogo page.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

All media via Kruve

The post Kruve Wants To Give You The Right Tool For The Job Of Drinking Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

“This is not a coffee shop,” says the sign written on the counter wall where the coffees are prepared at Café Magrí in Belo Horizonte, a Brazilian city that boasts a deep tradition in coffee—Minas Gerais, where the city is located, is one of the biggest Arabica-producing states in the nation.

The message on the wall is not arbitrary. Café Magrí has taken this name in homage to the surrealist artist René Magritte, known for his juxtaposition of textual and visual signs. The cafe’s owners—a couple consisting of a barista and a chef—decided to open the doors of this venue to question their own business model, which they have been running since February: is this more a coffee shop or more a restaurant?

Marília Balzani and Rafael Brito found a gap in Belo Horizonte’s food scene when they were thinking about what their business would look like. “When there is great coffee, the food is never good enough and vice versa,” says Balzani. “It has always been a hard task to find a place with really good food and also great coffee, so we decided to open a business that could have the best of both worlds.”

Balzani and Brito. Photo by Ton Nettos.

The couple joined their skills to create a new concept—indeed a missing one—in the city. From the union of their specialties, Magrí was born as a mixture of cafe and coffee shop, as she explains, serving from a variety of coffee methods (such as V60, AeroPress, and many others) and a broad diversity of food. Balzani used to work at coffee farms and also in some of the city’s coffee shops while Brito was part of the kitchen staff of some of the best restaurants in Minas Gerais’ capital.

At his small kitchen, Brito prepares some dishes that run away from the snack foods usually served in coffee shops. More than pão de queijo (cheese bread made from cassava) or pieces of cake, he has created sandwiches, salads, and other dishes with a chef’s approach so the customer can “go beyond in their choices,” as he says. In addition to brunch on weekends, Magrí offers lighter lunch options as well as bites that can be consumed all day.

Photo by Juliana Felix

It took the couple a year to open Magrí: during that time, Brito dedicated himself to creating and testing recipes, while Balzani went in search of their coffee. Drawing on her background, she zeroed in on the region of Mata de Minas, the home of coffees she’d fallen in love with when she participated in the Brazilian AeroPress Championship there last year and visited farms and producers. In partnership with a local roaster, Roast, she oversees the entire roasting process to ensure the best coffee comes to Magrí.

“At first I had thought of doing the roasting myself, but I didn’t think I could devote so much time to it with the opening—and also we would not have room for a roasting machine. So I’ve partnered with Roast and they’ve been great partners, since they let me follow up the whole roasting process, helping to create roast profiles, etc,” she explains.

In addition to the convenience of sourcing coffee from Mata de Minas, Balzani was drawn to the diversity of flavor profiles coming out of the region, allowing them to offer variety to their clientele. “We are serving beans from four completely different producers, which range from those with higher acidity to more balanced ones,” she explains.

What’s more, Magrí is close enough to its source farms that occasionally the producers come visit the coffee shop.

“They are near, so it’s been a great exchange when they come. Our goal is not only to work closely with our customers, but also with our producers. Everything we serve here is either homemade or bought from small local producers,” Balzani points out. “So we can transform a little what is around us, our environment,” she concludes. A coffee shop is never just a coffee shop, as Magritte would say.

Rafael Tonon is a freelance journalist based in Brazil. Read more Rafael Tonon on Sprudge.

Photos by Cadu Passos unless otherwise noted.

The post This Is Not A Coffee Shop: Belo Horizonte’s Café Magrí Is So Much More appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Some truths are self-evident: if you’re visiting Paris, you’d do well to choose a spot within walking distance of La Fontaine de Belleville. And I don’t mean Parisian walking distance, I mean “I live in Texas and drive anywhere that is over a half-mile away” walking distance. It’s where I start my morning and, time permitting, where I start my night before I’m off gallivanting hither and yon to whatever other natural wine spot I can find in a city full of them.

And now thanks to Belleville Brûlerie—the cafe’s roasting arm—I’ll be able to expand my list of chill zones, as the brand has announced the acquisition of Cafés Cuillier and its four outposts.

Cafés Cuillier and Belleville Brûlerie already have a long-established relationship; Belleville has been the primary roaster for Cuillier for many years now. But now with this acquisition, Belleville is looking to “radically change the image of coffee in France by [changing] the way France drinks coffee,” as per a press release.

David Flynn, Belleville’s President, Director of Marketing, and Director of Coffee tells Sprudge:

Coffee is, above all, about people and we’re very pleased to welcome 19 new members to our team. Beyond that, we’re excited to be able to participate in the life of some of Paris’ most iconic neighbourhoods, and share our vision for great coffee.

According to the press release, all Cafés Cuillier locations will operate under their same moniker until 2019, when they will begin being rebranded as Belleville shops, with Foundation Café in the Marais being the first to undergo the change. But unlike the original Fontaine de Belleville, these new locations won’t offer up the brand’s succinct but thoughtful natural wine list due to them lacking the appropriate licensing. However, this is Paris, so you can just go to the one of, what, maybe a million other fantastic natural wine bars within walking distance of wherever you currently are.

Go drink coffee in Paris. It’s one of the most fun scenes in the world, and it just got a littler funner.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

The post Belleville Brûlerie Acquires Cafés Cuillier, Adding Four Paris Cafes appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Welcome to the 2018 Sprudgie Awards season! This marks our tenth fabulous year awarding the most coveted honor in coffee: The Sprudgie. This year we’ve teamed up with our partners at Oatly to make the awards bigger and better than ever, while maintaining our commitment to a free nominations process for folks around the world. Oatly’s got your back—thank you Oatly!

Nominations are now open! Following the open nominations process, we’ll whittle down to a final list of finalists, and open that up again to a popular vote. Open nominations close Sunday, December 9th at 11:59 PM. Finalists will be announced on Monday, December 1oth.

View all past Sprudgie Award winners here. 

To protect our awards process from bots, we ask that you submit your email address with your nomination ballot. We will not use your e-mail for anything beyond verification. We won’t sell your email, spam you with membership requests, or demand that you sign you up for our weekly Sprudge Letter (although you really should).

Cast your ballot! Tell your friends! Nominate your heroes! A lot of really good stuff happened this year in coffee and it’s time to tell the world. Best of luck!

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Can’t see the form? Access it here.

Oatly is the presenting sponsor of the 10th Annual Sprudgie Awards. 

The post Nominate The Best In Coffee For The 10th Annual Sprudgie Awards—Presented By Oatly appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Life wouldn’t be as sweet without the bitter. It’s an adage for life, one that really seems to have been taken to heart by coffee drinker of the world who are pushing this fanciful turn of phrase to its logical conclusion: life’s potential for sweetness can only be increased by the addition of more bitter. Lots of it. A new study shows that those more sensitive to bitter tastes consume more coffee than those who aren’t.

As reported by NPR, researchers looked through collected data from the UK Biobank, a genetic repository where “more than 500,000 people have contributed blood, urine and saliva samples” as well as “filled out questionnaires asking a variety of health-related questions, including how much coffee they drink.”

For their analysis, researchers pored over the half million participants to find those who were more or less sensitive to one or more of three bitter compounds: caffeine, quinine, and propylthiouracil, a substance generally used in “genetic tests of people’s ability to taste bitter compounds.” When cross-referencing the participants with their self-reported coffee intake, the researchers found that people more sensitive to caffeine—meaning those who are more genetically adept at picking up on its bitter taste—consumed more coffee than those less sensitive to it, by two tablespoons on average. Interestingly enough, those sensitive to quinine or propylthiouracil—neither of which are in coffee—consumed less.

To explain the ostensibly counterintuitive findings, Marilyn Cornelis, an assistant professor of preventative medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and one of the study’s authors, postulates that it isn’t the taste that keeps people coming back but what they associate with it, namely the energy jolt. Folks may “learn to associate that bitter taste with the stimulation that coffee can provide,” as Cornelis states.

It just goes to show the alchemical calculus coffee drinkers perform on a daily, if not multiple times a day, basis: that if you are going to chase the dragon of sweet, sweet liquid mental acuity, you’re going to need equal parts bitter to catch it.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image © Vladimir Floyd/Adobe Stock

The post Bitter, Sweet Symphony: People Sensitive To Bitterness Drink More Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

In a town like Melbourne, where food and drink are the lifeblood of people’s professional and recreational day-to-day, places like the Queen Victoria Market are the beating heart of the city. It’s where families come to get their weekly groceries (and maybe some fancy delicatessen goods), it’s where chefs come to pick up seasonal vegetables and meat, and it’s where tourists flock to try the delicious dips and famed boreks (or to gather some delightfully kitschy Australiana souvenirs). It’s a delightful microcosm of all that Melbourne has to offer.

This diverse appeal, and the central location of the market, led founders Fleur Studd and Jason Scheltus to open an outpost of Market Lane Coffee at Queen Victoria Market over seven years ago on Therry Street, which runs alongside the market. (Disclosure: this writer worked for Market Lane between 2011–2014). In the years since, they’ve opened locations in Carlton, in the CBD, at South Melbourne market, and a satellite cafe within the deli area of Queen Vic Market. While their original Therry Street store absolutely flourished over the years, the building that housed the cafe was sold to the City of Melbourne four years ago, which meant they’d need to leave the space—prompting them to search for an alternative, more permanent location at the market to fill the gap. With this, they happily secured a new space on the corner of Victoria and Queen, in a beautiful terraced storefront—opening just in time for their Therry Street site to close its doors.

The design for the space was undertaken by Sarah Trotter of Hearth Studio, who’s designed the interiors of the last five Market Lane Coffee shops, while the build-out was done by Orio of Arteveneta, who’s also been behind the carpentry for nearly all the Market Lane venues over the years. The shop has one main bar where all the coffee brewing is undertaken, which creates a line and flow between the two entryways to the space—light wood frames the space through cabinetry, benches, and shelving, while brass handles, rich maroon tiles, and a patterned navy blue curtain punctuate the aesthetic and draw the eye.

The building itself is protected by a Heritage Overlay, which means that any new work needed to be undertaken with respect to historic aesthetic elements. As Trotter explained, “We aim to work in a way that is directly responsive to site and setting—and as such the historical and cultural context of the spaces within which Market Lane shops are located becomes very important to the way we design… Whilst our strategy revolved around the idea of minimal intervention, we were able to recognize and work with several opportunities the traditional Victorian shop front layout provided.”

Chatting to Scheltus about what they hope to achieve in the new space, he said, “One of the big goals is to create a space where our customers can sit and interact with our staff while they’re brewing coffee. I think bartenders are really lucky to be able to have many of their customers sitting comfortably in front of them as they work, giving them a great opportunity to create rapport, relationships, and a familiarity with their customers.”

While the team considered installing an under-the-counter espresso set-up to break down barriers, they eventually came to the conclusion that even the most subtle equipment can’t create an inviting and intimate environment for customers—instead, they set up dedicated bar seating that highlights the pour-over coffee station, allowing for extended interaction and engagement while staff are brewing filter coffee.

The offering here is relatively minimal—espresso coffee or filter coffee, along with a small selection of sweets from North Melbourne-based bakery Beatrix, and a retail offering with an emphasis on brewing at home.

As any enterprise matures over time, there’s the question of sustainability—not only in relation to finance and whether the business is viable, but also whether the company is growing in a way that promotes a healthy culture for the people that work in that business. It’s an evolution that is often key to a company’s success, and one that Market Lane has very much been paying attention to.

Co-Founders Jason Scheltus and Fleur Studd, and general manager Jenni Bryant

“From the outside it probably seems like the biggest change to the company has been the number of stores we have opened, but really the biggest change has been the structures around staff, their development, progression, and training.” Scheltus explained, “We made a conscious decision in 2013 to be the best place for coffee-focused hospitality staff to work—meaning since then we consider the engagement, well-being, progression, and training of staff.”

It’s this openness to evolution that has contributed to Market Lane Coffee’s growth from their original roastery and cafe in Prahran Market to a company that has six venues across Melbourne city. In a city like Melbourne that appears to have an insatiable thirst for high-quality coffee, Market Lane’s oft-appropriated tagline “We love to make coffee for the city that loves to drink it” definitely makes you feel like there’s no need for them to slow down any time soon.

Eileen P. Kenny is a coffee professional, winemaker, and Sprudge Media Network contributor based in Melbourne. Read more Eileen P. Kenny on Sprudge.

With photos courtesy of Armelle Habib for Market Lane Coffee.

The post Melbourne’s Market Lane Coffee Finds A New Home At The Queen Victoria Market appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Wildfires across California are officially the worst ever recorded. Let that sink in—so many lives lost and missing, so many people affected. It’s horrible and terrifying and time to step up with support. We’re supporting the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund in the form of a direct donation and we ask that you consider doing the same. If you live in the region please stay safe this weekend.

This week’s episode was kind of a weird one—a last minute re-tape, following our difficult decision this morning to postpone scheduled book tour stops across the Bay Area with Counter Culture, Equator Coffees, and Omnivore Books.  On the show we talk a bit about that choice and talk a little bit more about the work CalFund is doing to help support people in need across the state.

Check out The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes or download the episode here. The Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by  Oxo, Urnex Brands, Hario, and Swiss Water Decaf. 

A little later on the show we check back in on Black Coffee—did you listen to last week’s episodes yet? They are available wherever podcasts are clicked and wow, it is some crucial, essential listening. Funny, heartbreaking, raw, and rousing stuff. You just gotta go listen to it. And back on this week’s show, we talk a bit more about the panel experience with Victoria Smith of The Cup We All Race 4, a charming lobby coffee bar in the heart of The Line Hotel DC, our gracious event hosts for Black Coffee DC. We chat with Victoria about the challenges and glories of hotel coffee, her experience as a panelist at Black Coffee, and much more.

Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, and if you’re listening or reading this from California, please stay safe this weekend.

Sign up now as a subscriber to the Coffee Sprudgecast and never miss an episode. 

Listen, subscribe and review The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes.

Download the episode here.

The post The Coffee Sprudgecast: The One With Victoria Smith appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News