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New Evidence Shows Coffee May Help Prevent Parkinson’s & Lewy Body Dementia

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before (or heard me use that lead-in before to introduce an article about the health benefits of coffee, because honestly there are so many I can’t keep track anymore), but new research shows that coffee may in fact be good for you, your brain in particular. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a new study finds a link between two compounds in coffee that may work together to fight degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia.

This isn’t the first time we’ve reported on coffee’s effects vis-à-vis Parkinson’s. Last month, we looked at a study linking dark roast coffee with a reduced risk of contracting Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s thanks to “phenylindanes, a compound believed to prevent ‘two protein fragments’ commonly associated with the diseases.” For this new article, M. Maral Mouradian, director of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Institute for Neurological Therapeutics, and Professor of Neurology William Dow Lovett led a team of Rutgers scientists in researching two other compounds: caffeine and Eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamide (EHT).

While caffeine has “traditionally been credited as coffee’s special protective agent,” per Science Daily, EHT is a “fatty acid derivative of the neurotransmitter serotonin” found “in the bean’s waxy coating” that may also be doing some of the heavy lifting in protecting the brain. The study finds that “EHT protects the brains of mice against abnormal protein accumulation associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.”

Working in concert, though, the efficacy of EHT and caffeine appears to increase. From the article:

In the current research, Mouradian’s team asked whether EHT and caffeine could work together for even greater brain protection. They gave mice small doses of caffeine or EHT separately as well as together. Each compound alone was not effective, but when given together they boosted the activity of a catalyst that helps prevent the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain. This suggests the combination of EHT and caffeine may be able to slow or stop the progression of these diseases. Current treatments address only the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but do not protect against brain degeneration.

The article goes on to note that additional research needs to be done to determine the exact “amounts and ratios” of EHT and caffeine to have the same effect in humans.

Both Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia are currently incurable diseases. This new research provides further evidence that, while coffee may not act as any sort of cure for these degenerative brain diseases, it help diminish the chances of contracting either to begin with. And you don’t even have to drink dark roast.

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 Bello Propello/Adobe Stock

The post New Evidence Shows Coffee May Help Prevent Parkinson’s & Lewy Body Dementia appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Very Best Of The 2018 Milan Coffee Festival

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milan coffee festival italy

milan coffee festival italy

Italy is sometimes regarded as the final frontier for specialty coffee, and at the first Milan Coffee Festival all signs pointed to progress—and a promising way forward for coffee culture in the nation that helped create it. Italy’s decades-old espresso cultural laws and general unwillingness to change the flavor, preparation, and most restrictively the price of coffee are all directly under challenge by a new generation of entrepreneurs and globe-traveling coffee lovers. Contradicting this reputation, there is a rapidly growing group of coffee professionals of all ages and backgrounds dedicated to increasing quality and shaking up cultural coffee standards in Italy. It’s a really exciting time to be here to see it all unfold.

Change is in the air here, proliferating and circling throughout the industry for years, and now it’s been given a consumer-friendly platform in the form of this new festival. The consensus is that the Milan Coffee Festival was able to provide a capsule snapshot of today’s inspiring new movement and an opportunity for the public to explore the new Italian specialty coffee in an approachable format.

The event stayed busy across all three days, in a notably smaller space than, say, the juggernaut London Coffee Festival (also hosted by Allegra Events), yet there was plenty to explore and experience. Here are a few people and moments that left a strong impression.

Pasta, of course.

milan coffee festival italy

Mattia Angius and Martina Miccione of Milan’s slow food bistro and natural wine bar, Tipografia Alimentare, concocted one the most glorious surprises of the weekend with two of the greatest things on the planet: ravioli and broth. They were hand making delicious ravioli on the spot and cooking them in a bowl of salted water with an espresso machine steam wand. For the broth, Angius was dosing a tamping his dried vegetable mix into a portafilter, then pulling broth shots from the group. “It took a week to dial in the grind size particles of the vegetables for the perfect extraction,” he said. A splash of the wine they brought along to pair made it an ideal unexpected aperitivo.

Unique Brews

milan coffee festival italy

There were some funky and fruity beans in almost every booth at the festival. But one coffee that truly stood out was an Ugandan coffee roasted by World Roasting Champion, Rubens Gardelli of Gardelli Specialty Coffee in Emilia Romagna. The brew was crafted by Piemontese barista Serena Gentile.

Ugandans use the Bantu word “Mzungu” when referring to someone of European descent, and for whatever inspired reason—perhaps a bit of self-satire—Gardelli decided to name the coffee “Mzungu Project.” Besides the coffee being made with rare and indigenous coffee varieties, it is also processed in a proprietary “secret” fermentation technique called the “Gardelli Natural Process.” After some research, it’s not really clear what that actually implies, however one thing for sure: it made for a shocking and unusual cup! Think layers of freshly toasted cocoa nibs, tepache (fermented pineapple), marjoram, and cherry mostarda arriving one after the other in delirious deliberation.

Women In Coffee

milan coffee festival italy

A long overdue focus on the women in the Italian coffee industry as a major component of the Milan Coffee Festival. This came as some relief to the many festival participants that were actively raising awareness around the lack of diversity in the European Coffee Symposium.

On Saturday in “The Lab,” a full crowd was focused attentively on a panel of eight women, roles ranging from barista trainers to CEOs, who were speaking about their personal experiences and discussing the landscape, challenges, issues, and opportunities for women working in coffee in Italy. The panel was organized and led by Valentina Palange of Specialty Pal. “Times are changing in Italy,” Paling told the crowd. “The barista woman is no longer wanted at times for her physical appearance but rather for her professional skills.” She went onto explain that there are still huge obstacles in the workplace including not being trusted to handle technical aspects, employee training, and machine maintenance.  

A common discussion theme was dismissal of opinion or ability from customers or coworkers. Jessica Sartiani, panelist from Florence, emphasized this important point, “I have always felt that I had to fight for my place, unfortunately often having to be aggressive to avoid being walked on.” She concluded, “I would like to see skilled woman treated as they deserve and not forced into being some kind of warrior to prove your ability.”

Specialty Pal

milan coffee festival italy

Valentina Palange and Luca Rinaldi of Specialty Pal.

Being the first festival in Milan, it was especially important to involve the community in grassroots advertising and by involving social media influencers that are passionate about coffee. Two of the most active participants in the organization of the festival were the aforementioned Valentina Palange and Luca Rinaldi of the coffee culture blog, Specialty PalComing from a background of personal coffee research and passion to learn more, they were able to rally the whole community together for this event. They spent weeks before the event visiting almost every cafe and participant to deliver flyers and spread the word with a personal touch. Rinaldi was also the official photographer of the festival, and Palange hosted the Latte Art Live booth throughout the weekend.

Fusillo Lab

milan coffee festival italy

Another huge contributor and activator of the festival was Michael Gardenia of Fusillo LabDuring the month leading up to the festival, Gardenia hosted a series of coffee awareness events featuring previous coffee champions and current educators like Francesco Sanapo and Matteo Beluffi. As content creators, the Fusillo Lab events were a collaboration with the festival that were geared towards bloggers and journalists to offer a hands-on experience in the world of specialty coffee.

On Sunday, Gardenia was present at the festival in a pop up Fusillo Cafe. He collaborated with local coffee roaster, Peacocks Coffee, to make a private label Fusillo Coffee bag with a blank frame in which guests could create their own label design for the coffee bag and submit it to a contest to win a lot of splendid swag.

New(ish) Equipment in the Wild

milan coffee festival italy

Any Italian coffee festival worth its salt should be awash with exciting coffee gear, and Milan Coffee Festival did not disappoint. It was good to meet face to face with a couple of unfamiliar pieces of equipment!

One machine that was exciting to play with was the Dalla Corte XT. Simone Guidi, coffee roaster at La Sosta in Florence, walked me through some of the wild features that really allow the barista to dig into extraction parameters. Since the machine has independent boiler for each group, there is an easy interface that allows to maintain three groups at three different temperatures.

It also comes equipped with a patented flowmeter technology that provides extremely accurate results. You press a button on a screen above the grouphead when the first droplet of espresso arrives on the portafilter spout, and that is when the flowmeter starts to count rotations. We pulled 10 shots and weighed them afterwards and they were all spot on.

milan coffee festival italy

Guidi then started unscrewing a mini allen wrench key from the DC tamper that you can use as a dial to adjust each group heads flow rate live during extraction.

The machine can also communicate with the DC grinder to adjust coffee grind size automatically if the machine detects fluctuations in a profile that you can program into the machine.

No doubt it demonstrates stunning technology, but I wonder if it underwent Paolo Dalla Cortes crowbar test.

milan coffee festival italy

Meanwhile, the Bugan Coffee Lab from the nearby city of Bergamo went all out on their booth that was stationed directly across from the CMx stage. Portafilter and gasket ring toss, Panettone from their wholesale customers at Bologna’s cafe and artisan bakery Forno Brisa, daring cold brew in a flask, and latte art throwdowns with Dritan Alsela were just some of the highlights during their residency. They were also seen enthusiastically slinging spro on a Modbar AV (or Ah-Voo as they say here), and grinding coffee for filter with a Ceado E37Z Hero grinder (roughly $6,500 USD). Through the lab and field trials that Bugan Coffee Lab has been conducting with Ceado, head roaster Gian Andrea Sala described it as being very versatile and a unique grinder.

50’s Throwback

milan coffee festival italy

One showstopper on the show floor was FAEMA’s completely functional Saturno lever machine. Only a few units of the machine were originally manufactured in 1950, and this one was brought into working order for the festival by espresso machine collector and curator of the MUMAC museum, Enrico Maltoni.

This was the first FAEMA that used the design of the double boiler to lower the machine body and to give the coffee machine a better aesthetic, and was the first coffee machine with patent “pistol taps.”

milan coffee festival italy

“Everybody loved it!” Maltoni said. “The Saturno represents a piece of history not only for FAEMA but also in the coffee machine industry.”

CMx Italia

milan coffee festival italy

Carlos Alvarado (left).

The groundbreaking competition series Coffee Masters debuted the CMx Italia contest at the Milan Coffee Festival. After passing through 7 disciplines during the competition, Matteo Pavoni of Peacocks Coffee Roasters came in second place to CMx champion, Carlos Alvarado of Checchi Downtown in Brescia. Carlos is originally from El Salvador and has been working in coffee since he arrived in Italy. From high paced traffic at a highway side Autogrill, to working at boutique specialty coffee shops in the center of Milan, there’s not much he can’t handle behind the bar. Carlos will be moving on to compete in the Coffee Masters at the 2019 London Coffee Festival. Bravo Carlos!

Alexander Gable (@mrgable) is a freelance journalist based in Milan. A regular contributor to Sprudge Wine, this is Alexander Gable’s first article for Sprudge.

The post The Very Best Of The 2018 Milan Coffee Festival appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Tenth Annual Sprudgie Awards Finalists

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Welcome to finalist voting for the 10th Annual Sprudgie Awards, presented by Oatly! From our biggest-ever global field of nominees comes the biggest-ever final list of finalists: 8 choices per each category, including dozens of first-time nominees and some big name returning favorites, plus the opportunity to write-in the candidate of your choice for each category. Please vote using the ballot below, and share this post to encourage your communities to vote. Voting is absolutely free and open to all thanks to our sponsors at Oatly—thank you Oatly!

Because the Sprudgies are for everyone, we present the nominations and voting process completely free for all, supported by Oatly. And in that same spirit we’ve opened the awards up this year for write-in-candidates. In a coffee scene where write-in candidates can ascend to the SCA Board we absolutely want to make the same campaigning available for The Sprudgies. If there’s someone you think should be honored, well—in the words of America’s most recent competent president, don’t boo, vote!

Below the ballot we’ve presented links for each of the categories to help make up your mind, plus this year’s nominating criteria. Thank you and happy voting.

Voting for the 10th Annual Sprudgie Awards presented by Oatly closes at 11:59 PM PST on Friday, January 4th 2019.

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Notable Roaster

This award honors a roaster doing exemplary work in 2018. This may include roasted coffee quality, strength of e-commerce, cafe locations (if applicable) and all other facets of running a successful coffee roaster. This year’s nominees are:

Devoción (Brooklyn, NY),
Go Get Em Tiger (Los Angeles)
Black & White Coffee Roasters (Wake Forest, NC)
Square Mile Coffee (London, UK)
Red Bay Coffee (Oakland, CA)
Gardelli Coffee (Forlì, Italy)
Sey Coffee (Brooklyn, NY)
Coffee Manufactory (San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA)

Notable Coffee Producer

This awards honors outstanding work by a coffee producer at origin. This year’s nominees are:

Daterra Coffee (Brazil)
Benjamin Paz (Honduras)
Long Miles Coffee Project (Burundi)
Gesha Village (Ethiopia)
La Palma y El Tucan (Colombia)
Juan Peña (Ecuador)
Gilberto Baraona (El Salvador)
Aida Batlle (El Salvador)

Best New Product

This awards honors a new coffee product released for public use in the year 2018. This year’s nominees are:

Minor Figures Oat M*lk
Atmos Vacuum Canister by Fellow Products
Melodrip
Yes Plz Coffee Subscription
Modbar AV
DrinkTrade.com
Huskee Cup
Umeshiso Cupping Spoons

Best Coffee Video/Film

This award honors an original coffee video or film released in the year 2018. This can include feature films, short films, promotional videos or social media clips. The nominees are:

AeroPress Movie
Gender In Coffee
Chris Baca on YouTube
James Hoffmann on YouTube
Go Get Em Tiger on YouTube
Cafe Imports Roasting Concepts Series
Flower Of Flowers by Stumptown Coffee
Unpacking Coffee

Best Coffee Writing

This award celebrates the best coffee writing of the year. Please nominate an individual, or a specific feature. If you nominate a feature, please add a link for review. This year’s nominees are:

RJ Joseph for The Knockbox
Phyllis Johnson for Strong Black Coffee originally appearing in Roast Magazine
Sabine Parrish for She’s A Lady originally appearing in Standart Magazine
Dear Coffee Buyer by Ryan Brown
The Monk Of Mokha by Dave Eggars and Mokhtar Alkhanshali
Ashley Rodriguez for Barista Magazine Online
Jenn Chen for Newsletter and Collected Works
James Hoffmann for JimSeven.com

Best Coffee Magazine

This award honors an outstanding coffee magazine or print publication release. This year’s nominees are:

Drift Magazine (USA)
Solo Magazine (Brazil)
Caffeine (UK)
Coffee People Zine (USA)
Standart (Slovakia)
Roast Magazine (USA)
Barista Magazine (USA)
Pour Over by Califia Farms (USA)

Best Coffee Instagram/Twitter

This award honors outstanding work across social media platforms. This year’s nominees are:

@umeshiso_
@fellowproducts
@coffeefeedpdx
@dapperandwise
@catcloudcoffee
@symmetrybreakfast
@perfectdailygrind
@coffeetablemags

Best Coffee Podcast

This award honors outstanding work in the podcast medium. This year’s nominees are:

The Coffee Podcast
Cat & Cloud
Boss Barista
Keys To The Shop
Coffea
Coffee People MX
Coffee With April
SproCast

Best Design/Packaging

This work honors notable design or packaging work in coffee. Nominees may include coffee products, coffee bags, coffee logo or graphic design work, or any other example of outstanding coffee design. This year’s nominees are:

Coffee Manufactory (San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA)
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters (Lakewood, CO)
Brandywine Coffee Roasters (Wilmington, DE)
Kaffa (Oslo, Norway)
Fjord Coffee Roasters (Berlin, Germany)
Onyx Coffee Lab (Bentonville, AR)
Lüna Coffee (Vancouver, Canada)
Friedhats (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Best New Cafe

This award is presented to a cafe that has opened in 2018. Nominations for cafes that have opened before January 2018 will not be eligible for this category. This year’s nominees are:

Ladder Coffee (Spokane, WA)
Dayglow (Los Angeles, CA)
Mane Coffee (Boca Raton, FL)
Misión Café (Madrid, Spain)
Provider (Indianapolis, IN)
Stumptown Coffee Cobble Hill (Brooklyn, NY)
Center Coffee Myeongdong (Seoul, South Korea)
Rosslyn Coffee (London, UK)

Sustainable Cafe

This award is presented to a cafe for prioritizing sustainable environmental stewardship. This can include zero waste practices, pursuing a reduced carbon footprint, and highlighting sustainable coffees and products. This year’s nominees are:

Isla Cafe (Berlin, Germany)
Casa Quilha (Brasilia, Brazil)
Bar Nine (Los Angeles, CA)
Madcap Coffee (Grand Rapids, MI)
Houndstooth Coffee Walnut Hill (Dallas, TX)
Kokako Organic (Auckland, New Zealand)
Smith Canteen (Brooklyn, NY)
Miir Flagship (Seattle, WA)

Outstanding Achievement In The Field of Excellence

This award is presented each year to a remarkable coffee person, organization, cause, or entity that embodies coffee excellence. This is our most prestigious award. This year’s nominees are:

T. Ben Fischer
Phyllis Johnson
Coleen Anunu
Umeko Motoyoshi
Agnieszka Rojewska
Adam JacksonBey
Michelle Johnson
Erna Knutsen (posthumous)

Voting for the 10th Annual Sprudgie Awards presented by Oatly closes at 11:59 PM PST on Friday, January 4th 2019.

The post The Tenth Annual Sprudgie Awards Finalists appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Barn & Intelligentsia Announce New Cafes In Berlin & Austin

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I don’t know how you’ve been this year, but it’s safe to say the little coffee children in Austin and Berlin have been exceptionally good, because Santa Claus/Weihnachtsmann is bringing some new cafes down the chimney for them this year. Berlin stalwart The Barn is opening their fifth location while Chicago’s Intelligentsia is making a push into Austin with their first cafe in the south.

It’s a pretty hot day for big brands in the international coffee scene making cafe announcements. The first comes courtesy of The Barn, whose newest location sits in “the exact spot where East and West Berlin intersect.” Situated in the Weinhaus Huth, the new location for The Barn is an over 100-year-old “post-war symbol for the destruction and division of the city,” per the press release.

For decades, The Huth restaurant was the meeting place for society and wine-lovers alike on Berlin’s ‘Times Square’ of the 1920s. The building was the only one surviving the war at Potsdamer Platz.

And it will once again be a meeting place when The Barn opens its new space, bringing in design elements like a raw flame-finished granite bar, rough-plastered walls, untreated floors, and Eames chairs. The first official day for The Barn’s newest café is slated for Saturday, December 22nd, just in time for Jolly Ole Saint Nick.

Not to be outdone, Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee announced they will be making a push into Austin, adding to their outpost cities alongside Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. According to Austin360, the brand isn’t entirely new to the city, already having a fully functioning training lab connected to East Austin’s Revival Cycles. The cafe will be just south of downtown in the lobby of the soon-to-be-open Third + Shoal building.

But unlike its Berliner counterpart, this little gift won’t be ready in enough time to make it under the tree, with an expected open in late spring of 2019. It’s more like those coupons you used to give as gifts to your parents when you were a kid, the ones that can be redeemed at some future date. But instead of it saying “Good for one vacuuming of the house without complaining,” it’s “Good for one major US coffee brand making a move into one of the hottest coffee cities in the south.”

Good tidings of comfort and joe.

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

Disclosure: Intelligentsia is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network.

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Source: Coffee News

Superior Merchandise Company: A Design-Minded Incubator & Cafe In Upstate New York

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superior merchandise company troy new york

superior merchandise company troy new york

Though the New York State capital region is most known for its politics, in recent years, Troy (just eight miles from Albany) has blossomed into an experimental arts community filled with a pink church-turned-artist residency and the playful graphic designs of Yesfolk Tonics (supplying to NYC favorites like Dimes and Tørst). At the forefront of the scene right now is Superior Merchandise Company: a coffee spot, curated retail shop, event space, and soon-to-be coffee roastery.

superior merchandise company troy new york

Superior Merchandise Company is co-run by Felicity Jones and partner Mike Romig, who purchased the once-derelict building that houses the shop in 2015, setting up their personal residence in the floors upstairs. Jones, a graphic designer who specializes in brightly colored abstract designs, and a lifelong resident of the region, has guided the aesthetic of the unpretentious cafe, allowing local artisans to punctuate the space with color and whimsy. And that same creativity found in Superior’s branding and selection of goods is complemented by a lively, seasonally-inspired coffee program. Espresso drinks, pour-overs, and batch brews are supplied by Passenger Coffee. But beyond the classics, the clear crowd favorites are the shop’s more experimental drinks: the Blue Bouquet Latte (blueberries, lavender flowers, vanilla, a shot of espresso, and milk) and the Corn Silk Lassi have made specialty coffee approachable in an area where the scene is still nascent.

superior merchandise company troy new york

Overall, Superior hopes to provide a chance to bring people from all disciplines and ages in the Troy community under one roof.  While customers hang out and sip their coffee, they’ll also find a selection of textile designer Christin Ripley’s hand-marbled notebooks and shirts, and Good Thing pastel bowls and trays. Jones has also introduced diverse event programming—Latte Art Throwdowns to a Mom’s Night Out coloring event. They’ve even had taco night.

As for the food on the menu, it’s as local and charming as the inedible goods here. With their small, in-view toaster oven, Superior’s crew prepares toasts with lovage, shungiku flowers, sesame brittle, and daikon. They source from farmers and producers in the area like Flower Scout.

“There was clearly an opportunity in Troy for young entrepreneurs to pursue their risky, untested ideas and a welcoming community to offer support,” says Jones.

superior merchandise company troy new york
Yiyi Mendoza, another Troy resident, is a co-founder of Yesfolk Tonics (who collaborated on the menu’s “Yespresso,” combining tonic, fizzy water, and espresso) and a ceramicist who worked with Superior Merchandise on the unique wares for the space. Handmade ceramics are often too big of a financial undertaking for cafes, but Mendoza appreciates the way Superior Merchandise made the decision to prioritize the custom design detail. “We considered size, volume, form and color, thickness of walls, the transfer of heat, comfort, glaze texture, and the way each form would hold the aromas of coffee. It’s pretty wild for me to walk in there and see people holding those pieces and drinking out of them,” she says.

superior merchandise company troy new york

superior merchandise company troy new york

Later this year, a backyard carriage house will transform into a coffee roasting facility and learning lab, for their coffee brand Touchy Coffee. The couple looks forward to serving a continued range of out-of-town visitors throughout the year with their expanded offerings.

“Being about two hours from NYC, Troy is somewhat insulated from the tourism seasonality thant a lot of the more popular Hudson Valley towns experience,” says Romig, adding that he sees Superior Merchandise as a destination for locals and downstate folks alike, year-round. Indeed, the owners hope the cafe can be a draw on multiple fronts. “The values that persist throughout the coffee producing chain—dutiful stewardship of craft, conscientiousness, precise execution—are the same values that make art and design so exciting for us,”  says Romig.

When combined, it’s clear coffee is only the jumping off point. Superior Merchandise Company is an design-minded incubator for the Troy community that is worth a visit.

Superior Merchandise Company is located at 147 4th St, Troy. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Emma Orlow is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, writing for SaveurDazed Magazine, and MOLD. Read more Emma Orlow on Sprudge

Photos courtesy of Superior Merchandise Company.

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Source: Coffee News

Meet The Six Newest Members Of The SCA Board Of Directors

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The 2019-2020 Specialty Coffee Association Board of Directors have been announced. After a month-long voting cycle, the newest six members were announced by the SCA last Friday, December 7th; their terms begin January 1st, 2019.

Over the past year or so, the SCA has drawn criticism over the Board of Directors’ lack of diverse representation, but with this most recent election, the voters put a mandate on diversity. Starting in 2019, the Board will be majority female and will better reflect not just the countries in which coffee is consumed, but also where it originates. Including not one but two successful petition candidates, the newly elected members represent a wide swath of coffee cultures including: Turkey, Singapore, Mexico, South Korea, and Kenya (two members).

The new members are:

Asli Yaman of KiMMA Coffee Roasters
Pamela Chng of Bettr Barista
Vava Angwenyi of Vava Coffee
Vera Espindola Rafael of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food in Mexico (SAGARPA)
Mbula Musau of Utake Coffee Limited
Choi Seongil of Choi Coffee Company

According the announcement, they will be replacing the follow members currently sitting on the Board:

Paul Stack of Marco Beverage Systems, who most recently served as President
Mary Tellie of Electric City Coffee Roasting, who most recently served as Treasurer
Andrew Linnemann of Starbucks
Chad Trewick of Reciprocafé
Frank Neuhausen of BWT water+more
Chahan Yeretzian of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
Todd Mackey of Olam Specialty Coffee. Sarah Leslie of Leslie Coffee Co. will take the Barista Guild ex-officio seat.
Konrad Oleksak of Kofi Brand will step down on February 1, 2019. Emilio Lopez Diaz of Cuatro M Single Origin Coffees will take the Coffee Roasters Guild ex-officio seat.

Along with the addition of the new members, already existing Board members will be taking on news roles. Klatch’s Heather Perry will take over as president, Julius Meinl’s Christina Meinl will become vice president, S&D Coffee’s Tracy Ging becomes the 2nd vice president, and Wave Investments’ Nils Erichsen moves to treasurer.

For more information on the 2019-2020 Board of Directors, visit the SCA’s official website.

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 the SCA

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Source: Coffee News

Rotterdam With A Flair For Melbourne At Harvest Coffee Brewers

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harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

Spring 2018 was a season of harvest for Zjevaun Janga and Loes Beljaars. April 1st marked the official opening of their first business, a central Rotterdam cafe called Harvest Coffee Brewers. And April 3rd marked the birth of their first child, a good-humored girl called Mia. The bounty was particularly spectacular considering it was only nine months before that the couple had returned to the Netherlands after living and working in Melbourne.

Harvest is located in the Glashaven, a neighborhood named for its former glassworks but newly apropos considering all the high-rise apartment buildings being developed in the area. Walking into the venue, the eye immediately drifts to a placid harbor seen through the back wall of windows. If it weren’t for the three-group La Marzocco Linea PB, two Victoria Arduino Mythos One grinders, and Mahlkönig EK-43 grinder, it would seem you could run along the long black bar and dock-dive right into the water. Instead, a slender door controls traffic outside, to a pier set with bistro tables.

harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

The place is a 20-minute walk from where Janga and Beljaars first met, in 2001. It was early in their careers, while both working at Michelin-starred FG Restaurant (formerly known as Ivy), run by chef François Geurds. The self-proclaimed “coffee freak” has been known to coach competitive baristas and was doing precisely that with 2008 and 2009 Dutch champ Sander Schat when Janga came around. Janga served as Schat’s signature drink guinea pig, and later became part of his team.

“They asked me to go with them to the Worlds, in London 2010, just as a polish guy—to help polish their jugs and stuff,” he recalls. “And that’s where it all started.”

Fast-forward to 2012, Janga gets crowned Dutch Barista Champion himself, headed to the WBC in Melbourne, and placed 24th

Not long after Janga returned to the Netherlands, however, the Sirens of Antipodean cafe/restaurant culture called not only him, but Blejaars too. Seeking new employment, the duo sallied southward. Janga was most drawn to popular Melbourne espresso bar Patricia Coffee. Unable to find an opening there, he became a barista at The Kettle Black, where Beljaars eventually joined him, working the front of house. That position followed her floor manager stint at cafe Manchester Press and preceded a supervisory role at Kettle Black sibling Higher Ground. Then, two and a half years later, ready to be their own bosses—along with missing family (Beljaars) and Dutch dairy (Janga)—the pair boomeranged back to Rotterdam.

harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

Janga and Beljaars, with daughter Mia.

Open from 7:00am to 4:00pm most weekdays and 9:00am to 5:00pm weekends, Harvest is dedicated to dayfare. Beans come from a rotation of roasters—for example, citymates Man Met Bril, Amsterdam’s Friedhats, Aarhus’ La Cabra, Seoul’s Fritz Coffee Company, and Hunt Brothers in Norderstedt, Germany. Pour-overs are handled with a V60 and, as witnessed on recent visits, studious TLC from staff barista Michael Chow. A FETCO CBS-2131XTS produces the batch brew, orders of which are bottomless—a totally far-out but welcome notion in the Netherlands.

Janga and Beljaars take turns cheffing in their well-appointed kitchenette. Sourdough, brioche, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and maple syrup repeat on the menu in classic breakfast and brunch combos. Some flairs are also delightfully non-indigenous to these parts: chia pudding with kumquats, a half-avocado as a side, “Big Brekkie In A Pan.”

harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

Janga, now 27, and Beljaars, now 28, both moved to Rotterdam about a decade ago. He had left his native Aruba to attend maritime school, hoping to become a ship captain, though quit that plan on realizing he wanted a job with more human interaction. She had come from the Dutch village of Stramproy. At FG, she worked the front of house while studying hotel management and, in between, interned at Librije’s Zusje, another Michelin-starred restaurant (then in the city of Zwolle and since reincarnated at the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam).

Comparing their experiences in upscale Dutch dining rooms to Australia’s elevated cafes, Janga notes how during a typical shift at FG, “We used to do 70 persons a whole night and give all the energy to those 70 persons.”

“You have your own section and you’ve got five tables of two and you take care of them for the whole night,” says Beljaars, completing Janga’s thought. “In Melbourne, you’ve got 10 tables, but every half an hour, [new customers at each] table. It goes faster.”

So does being home in less hurried Holland bring some relief, I asked?

“No,” she replies. “We kinda want the busyness.”

The local industry is appreciating how busy the couple has been. This past fall, Harvest was nominated for HORECA trade publication Entree Magazine’s 2018 Best Coffee Concept award. And in terms of more personalized awards, like barista competitions?

harvest coffee brewers rotterdam netherlands

Janga foresees a reentry into the ring.

“I’ll definitely be competing in the future again. I just wanna set this up first, have a stable life,” he laughs, acknowledging the inevitable totters that come with having a new cafe and a newborn. “Then I can go and be unstable again.”

Meanwhile, with Janga and Beljaars as its co-captains, Harvest seems set for smooth sailing.

Harvest Coffee Brewers is located at Glashaven 107, Rotterdam. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge

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Source: Coffee News

This Is Your Last Chance To Nominate For The Tenth Annual Sprudgie Awards

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Can you feel it? The holiday season is in the air, and that means we’re about to learn who this year’s finalists are for the Tenth Annual Sprudgie Awards, presented by Oatly.

Categories like Notable Roaster, Best New Cafe, Best Coffee Writing, Best Design / Packaging and many more are all up for grabs. Nominations close tonight—on Sunday, December 9th at 11:59 PM EST. Following the open nominations process, we’ll whittle down to a final list of finalists, and open that up again to a popular vote—look for a short list announcement of finalists in the next few days.

View all past Sprudgie Award winners here. 

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. So don’t boo, vote! Nominate your heroes today. Best of luck to everyone and we’ll be back shortly with finalists to share with the world.

You can access the form here or vote online directly via Sprudge right here.

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

The post This Is Your Last Chance To Nominate For The Tenth Annual Sprudgie Awards appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Coffee Sprudgecast Episode 62: Live From US Coffee Champs Denver

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On a very special edition of the Coffee Sprudgecast, we take you live to the event floor at the 2019 US Coffee Champs Qualifying Event in Denver, Colorado! There we join multimedia director Elizabeth Chai, who—in addition to helming our must-follow Instagram coverage of the event—taped a series of original interviews for this week’s episode of the podcast.

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

In this episode, Chai talks to Blair Smith, a Brewers Cup competitor for Augie’s Coffee in California’s Inland Empire region. Smith placed 9th overall in the qualifying event, earning a bid to move on and compete at the 2019 US Coffee Championships national event next March in Boston.

Chai also sat down with Hana Kaneshige, a barista competitor representing Counter Culture Coffee, a wholesale roaster hubbed in Durham, North Carolina, and Emeryville, CA with satellite training centers nationwide. Kaneshige would also place ninth in the US Coffee Champs Barista Competition field, earning a coveted spot to move on and compete at nationals next year in Boston.

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.

Sprudge Media Network’s coverage of the 2019 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Joe Glo and Mahlkönig. All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by Acaia, Baratza, FaemaCafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.

Sprudge is an official media partner of US Coffee Championships.

Follow @SprudgeLive on Twitter and never miss a moment from the shows, and cruise over to SprudgeLive.com to read routine recaps, enjoy dynamic full-color photos, and check in on all the advancing competitors from Denver.

2019 Sprudge Live coverage is produced by Zac Cadwalader. Our lead photographer is Charlie Burt. Multimedia direction by Elizabeth Chai.

See y’all in Nashville!

The post Coffee Sprudgecast Episode 62: Live From US Coffee Champs Denver appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Chill Out With Minor Figures CBD Post-Coffee Drops

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The holidays can be stressful, and for all the joys that coffee brings, caffeine is said to increase the stress hormone called cortisol. So what’s a coffee person to do in these merry trying times to chill out but in a very coffee person way? A little CBD oil should do the trick. That’s why East London’s Minor Figures has come out with CBD Post-Coffee Drops, “to bring back balance, relaxation, and focus.”

Made of hemp distillate, coconut oil, and peppermint, the CBD Post-Coffee Oil is meant to be added to your coffee or administered sublingually, under the tongue. The active ingredient, Cannabidiol, works by counteracting caffeine’s effect on how the body interacts with adenosine; whereas caffeine “disrupts your body from receiving the effects of adenosine…CBD responds by upping the amount.” In short, the Post-Coffee Oil “should help ease the mind and irradiate the over anxious jitters,” per a Minor Figures press release. The effects are said to take five to 10 minutes to feel and will last between one and three hours.

And for you teetotalers out there, don’t worry, CBD Post-Coffee Oil won’t get you all wavy gravy; it lacks THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. And it is completely legal.

The CBD Post-Coffee Oil Drop are available in original and peppermint flavor and can be purchased through Minor Figures’ official website for £20 ($25 USD). They’d make a perfect stocking stuffer or, you know, something to keep for yourself to help make it through the most wonderful time of the year.

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 Minor Figures

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Source: Coffee News