June 2018

Yesterday, Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala erupted, killing at least 25 people and injuring 20 others, according to CNN. Sitting just outside Antigua, the latest eruption by Volcán de Fuego has led to more than 3,100 people being evacuated and is expected to affect 1.7 million people in total—including many thousands of coffee growers.

While the eruption of one of Central America’s most active volcanoes has concluded, Guatemala’s National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology states that it created some 14.763 feet of ash that has spread throughout a 12-mile radius, with the potential for winds to expand that distance even further, per CNN. Already ash has traveled 25 miles northeast to Guatemala City, causing the closure of the country’s primary airport, La Aurora International Airport.

In a joint statement released (and translated to English here) by Anacafé—the National Coffee Association—and Funcafé—the Foundation of Coffee for Rural Development—the eruption affected coffee growing areas in the “departments of Escuintla, Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, El Progreso and part of the east of the country, specifically the coffee area towards the south-west.” The statement goes on to say that in the villages of “El Rodeo, Escuintla and Alotenango, it is estimated that the sand and ash affected between 15 and 20% of the coffee area.”

Anacafé and Funcafé have opened up their headquarters and regional offices throughout Guatemala to be used as collection centers. They are requesting for donations of non-perishable and canned food items, potable water, blankets, clothes, and medical supplies, including medications for burns and gauze. All donated items will be distributed in coordination with CONRED, Guatemala’s National Coordination for Disaster Reduction.

The total damage done by the eruption of Volcán de Fuego remains to be determined. Anacafé and Funcafé are helping lead relief efforts locally, but more aid will certainly be needed from outside Guatemala. We will update the story with ways for the international community to assist in the relief efforts as they are created.

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

Photo by Rainer Albiez/Adobe Stock

The post A Massive Volcano Just Erupted In Guatemala’s Coffee Lands appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Picture this: it’s early morning and you’re walking along Flinders Street at the edge of Melbourne’s city centre, the sun is just starting to peek over the trees on the southeast side of the city, and you think to yourself, “the only way this could be better is if I were drinking a delicious coffee right now…” then, lo and behold, you stumble across a pastel paradise with a sign declaring “Vacation.”

Opened in August 2017, Vacation is the brainchild of Julian Bedford, Jimmy Tjoeng, and brothers Kael and Matt Sahely—a group that collectively has a wealth of experience working in and owning cafes, including the likes of Dukes Coffee Roasters, Pillar of Salt, Caravan Coffee (London), Sensory Lab, and Bawa.

As has been mentioned numerous times before here on Sprudge, Melbourne isn’t lacking in coffee shops. In fact, you could say the city is somewhat awash—okay, flooded—with coffee options. The flipside of this, however, is that the population’s appetite for good coffee appears to be near insatiable, which allows gems like Vacation to carve out a neat little niche for themselves in the competitive city centre.

Sitting on the corner of Exhibition and Flinders Streets, Vacation is a beautifully light and airy space, with a 6.5-metre-high roof, floor-to-ceiling windows (to take in the surprisingly expansive view over Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens and MCG), 1950s-style pastels, and a plenitude of satisfyingly rounded corners. Architecture and interior design of the space was undertaken by Alex Lake of Therefore Studio, with branding by The Company You Keep—with the brief by the Vacation team to the tune of “peaceful, tranquil, holiday vibes.” It’s an aesthetic that immediately feels calm and acts as a point of difference from the white-tiled, brass and copper, light wood Scandinavian stylings of many of Melbourne’s cafes, and has even been referred to as “millennial-pink Tatooine” by some visitors (which feels strangely apt).

Chatting with Bedford, it’s clear that they set out to build a cafe that didn’t take itself too seriously, “We think that coffee quality doesn’t have to come at the expense of approachability and service—so we just tried to make it a bit fun and kooky,” he says. Whimsical illustrations personify the flavour notes on their packaging (including a googly-eyed pineapple), part of the fun and lighthearted approach of the Vacation brand.

Espresso is brewed here on a white powder-coated La Marzocco Linea with Victoria Arduino Mythos One grinders, while filter is exclusively brewed with FETCO—showcasing the coffee that the Vacation team roast themselves at Bureaux Collective, a coffee roasting collaborative space in Abbotsford. The food offering sits neatly alongside the coffee, with a simple cafe menu: think sandwiches (with Meatsmith cured meat), toast with fancy toppings (avocado, seeds and sprouts, or peanut butter, banana, black sesame), and mueslis—as well as pastries from Noisette and Cobb Lane, and some raw and refined-sugar-free treats from Sarah Sivaraman who bakes in-house.

The response from patrons and the local coffee industry alike to Vacation has been a positive one so far: it’s still a rarity to see a specialty coffee shop located in the city centre that has such a substantial food offering, and it’s even more unique for somewhere like that to open on the weekends as it does (which thoroughly pleases the multitudes of local customers who live in the city).

Looking towards the future, Bedford and the team hope to open more shops, and also have their own roasting space. Keeping in line with their aesthetic, however, they’re going to take it slowly and let it grow organically, always making sure not to take it too seriously because, after all, it’s a Vacation, right?

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

The post Taking It Easy At Melbourne’s Vacation Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

As professional brewers of coffee, many baristas dream of ascending the heights of competition, besting their foes to be crowned the… okayest barista? Sure, it may not sound as glamorous as being named the “best barista,” but it certainly sounds like more fun, at least when it comes to the Second Annual Colorado’s Okayest Barista Competition. Taking place next week at Huckleberry Roasters in Denver, the Okayest Barista Competition looks to find out once and for all (at least until next year) who is pretty, pretty, pretty okay at this whole coffee thing.

Corresponding with the start of Coffee Fest Denver, Colorado’s Okayest Barista Competition is a night of head-to-action, pitting two baristas against one another all for the deranged pleasure of judges Ryan Willbur (La Marzocco USA), Anna Gutierrez (Barista 22), and Omar Herrera (Cafe Imports). Competitors will have to be more okay than their adversary through five rounds consisting of latte art, triangulation, brew methods (random), and a mystery signature beverage, before the final round, a cortado evaluation.

And for those less okay, there will be “beer, fun, and mini-games,” with prizes and swag for the event being provided by Oatly, Department of Brewology, Cafe Imports, La Marzocco, Mahlkönig, Spirit Tea, AeroPress, Barista Magazine, Trade Coffee, and many, many more.

The competition will be capped at 32 entries, and those wishing to compete can reserve a spot by emailing pecos-cafe@huckleberryroasters.com. Total cost of entry is $5, but the event is free to attend. It all gets started promptly at 6:30pm on Thursday, June 7^th at Huckleberry Roasters’ Dairy Block location (which is easily their okayest location). For more information, visit the Second Annual Colorado’s Okayest Barista Competition Facebook page.

Do you have what it takes to be okay?

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 via Huckleberry Roasters

The post Well Okay Then: Colorado’s Okayest Barista Competition Hits Denver appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

It’s here! The 2018 Build-Outs of Summer is finally here. And it only seems fitting to start out our sixth season much in the same way that each of the cafes we will be featuring over the coming months begin their journey: with a blueprint. Blueprint Coffee, that is.

Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Blueprint is a well-known brand in the specialty coffee world, and we are pleased as punch to start this year’s series of Builds with their second location, opening in no time flat just off the famed Route 66; they are setting a high bar for all who follow. So let’s get this summer started right and check in with Blueprint Coffee, shall we?

As told to Sprudge by Mike Marquard.

For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?

Blueprint Coffee opened in September of 2013. It is a collective ownership group of six passionate friends, most of who worked together in the St. Louis coffee and restaurant space from 2006-2013. Our first location on St. Louis’ famous Delmar Loop houses both our roasting operation and first coffee bar. Out of this space we have grown both in local reputation and customer-base as well as established ourselves as a national wholesale roaster.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

The new location sits just a half block off of one of the Route 66 routes through St. Louis. It was this heavy traffic that established many of the storied St. Louis businesses that will be our neighbors, such as Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (it really is good, boys and girls) and Donut Drive-In. The building has served as an auto-repair shop for the last 70+ years, but with some love and vision will become a very interactive coffee space. We have preserved four of the original five garage openings and will keep those doors open when weather permits so that our space stretches outside. Our original location on Delmar is extremely limited when it comes to outdoor seating, so this new potential on Watson is very exciting for us.

What’s your approach to coffee?

We buy coffee seasonally and, as often as possible, from the same partners at origin year after year. In the last five years, we’ve established some amazing relationships and gotten to work at origin on both actively aerated compost tea and processing projects. We typically offer three single origin coffees, a filter blend called Tektōn, an espresso blend called Penrose, and a single origin decaf coffee. The single origin and blend ratios last two to four months before being rotated. Even within our blends, we’re focused on mutual beneficial partnerships at origin and sourcing seasonal coffees.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

For sure! We’re quite excited about our Marco SP9 single-cup brewer. We’re hoping it allows us to continue to offer a wide variety of black coffees every day like we’ve done at Delmar with our hand brew menu, but we feel it will only increase the consistency of these brews. We’ve also got a six tap system set up and plan to offer a wide-variety of cold beverages—from cold brew to nitro to our fruit shrubs… maybe even some sparkling and still iced teas. We feel like this will be a nice compliment to our menu in the hot summer months of St. Louis. Also the NA craft beverage industry is an market we feel like can only improve. Sugary soda’s and juice seem to dominate that market, but we’ve start tinkering with tea and coffee derivatives that are quite delightful and complex.

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

June 2018

Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?

Yes, we started with the direction of Allison Mendez and Jonathan Stitelman, two Blueprint Coffee regulars that teach in the architecture and urban planning realm. We then took some of their vision for the space to Mademan Designs (Nick Adams) and the Lloyd Brothers (Joe and Phil), who created many of our tables and fixtures at Delmar to bring some continuity to the Blueprint Coffee atmosphere.

Thank you!

You’re welcome!

The Build-Outs Of Summer is an annual series on Sprudge. Live the thrill of the build all summer long in our Build-Outs feature hub.

The post Build-Outs Of Summer: Blueprint Coffee In St. Louis, MO appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News