Best Coffee in Honolulu – The Curb Kaimuki

Coffee in Armenia is like beer to Europeans. When you arrive, you’ll quickly learn that when a new friend invites you out for a drink, they don’t mean a pint of beer. It is almost always a coffee.

In homes, cafes, and restaurants, it is predominantly made with unfiltered, finely ground beans in a small pot, called a jezve or cezve. This is, of course, known as Turkish-style, though don’t say that to Armenians due to the historically tense relations between the two neighbors. Armenia, a small nation of three million, is also wedged between Georgia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. The people here see coffee as a staple of every meal. It comes dark and rich and, more often than not, sweet.

A landlocked country with a complex history, the country experienced a politically charged 2018. Sick of the deep-rooted corruption that had spread its roots through every part of society, people took to the streets in a bid to overthrow the long-ruling Republican Party. After a peaceful revolution, the protest leader, Nikol Pashinyan, became Prime Minister and has since seen his party win a landslide election. It is a time of optimism in this small, yet beautiful, former Soviet country.

The capital of Yerevan embodies this newfound optimism. Bright and bustling, one of the oldest cities in the world is a fusion of monolithic Soviet-era buildings, ad hoc balcony and roof extensions, and modern new-builds. Water fountains, parks, grand government buildings, and public squares are spread across the city. And with an increasingly demanding service industry, cafes have become Yerevan’s speciality. There are hundreds within the city centre.

The Green Bean

Launched in 2012, The Green Bean was an attempt to carve out an environmental conscience in Armenia’s cafe industry. Owned for the last three years by Lilit Ishkhanian and her husband, The Green Bean claims to be the first in the city to be entirely non-smoking.

Its sustainability mindset combined with a craving for locally sourced produce can create issues at times, admits Ishkhanian, but they have led the charge with their eco-concept approach. The theme continues through the restaurant’s design, including messages of environmental caution sketched on the walls and a wide chipboard bar at the main cafe, which is just minutes from the Republic Square.

Another Green Bean cafe serves the students at the campus of the American University of Armenia, while a franchise outlet is located at the foot of the city’s grand Cascade stairway. All three sell a Costa Rican and Peruvian blend roasted at the main cafe. They began roasting five years ago and have seen locals join tourists in buying into the cafe’s coffee and concept—particularly during the Velvet Revolution, says Ishkhanian.

She recalls tables full of excited Armenians, desperately following the movement on laptops, tablets, and phones. And the subsequent political changes have left Ishkhanian excited for the future. “The country now needs an economic revolution,” she says when asked about any possible expansion.

Mirzoyan Library

An escape from busy city centre traffic, Mirzoyan Library is hidden just behind Yerevan’s impressive Republic Square. An arched entrance on a narrow side street opens into the grand 19th-century courtyard, which houses a small public library, a cafe, art gallery, and studio space. An ancient chestnut tree stands tall above the two-floor wooden terrace which is packed full of young tourists and locals throughout the year.

Named after its founder, Karen Mirzoyan, the cafe was opened in 2014 alongside the photobook library, which features donated books from across the world. The gallery also serves as a late-night venue with regular jazz and electronic music nights.

The coffee, Buon Gusto, comes from Bristot, and blends Arabica beans from Brazil, India, and Central America with Asian Robusta varieties. The rich body and intense aroma make it ideal for an intense espresso and there is nowhere better in Yerevan to enjoy it than overlooking Mirzoyan’s sunlit courtyard.

Jazzve

One of Armenia’s largest cafe chains, Jazzve opened its first branch back in 2003 when Yerevan was a completely different city. The ubiquity of Yerevan’s cafes and restaurants had not yet appeared across a city that was still adjusting to independence from the Soviet Union, and Jazzve can take some credit for that industry’s subsequent success. Its name comes from the concept of combining cezve-made coffee and jazz music and has stretched to five outlets. Three of those lie within Yerevan’s small city-centre with the most popular on Abovyan Street, just meters from the Republic Square.

Despite a rebrand in 2018, the chain has kept true to its traditional method of coffee-making. Using cold water in a cezve pot filled with blends from Ethiopia, Honduras, Cameroon, and Guatemala, the coffee comes thick and rich. Around a year ago, Jazzve opted to introduce three “Armenian coffee” varieties to its customers as a tribute to one of the nation’s most beloved writers, Hovhannes Tumanyan. Named Gohar, Anush, and Tamar, characters from Tumanyan’s poems—the brand uses the term Armenian coffee loosely as it refers to the techniques of their process rather than the coffee being grown in the small, mountainous nation. All three are sold in shops across the country, with Anush, a 70-30% blend of Arabica and Robusta, this writer’s favorite choice.

Artbridge Bookstore Cafe

One of Yerevan’s oldest coffee spots, the Artbridge Bookstore Cafe in the city centre was the first to combine literature and coffee. The cafe was opened in 2001 by Shakeh Havan, who wanted to create a space where women felt comfortable to dine or drink alone. Its interior has changed little in the 18 years since, and includes a smoking room inspired by Armenian manuscripts and hieroglyphics. The ceiling’s exposed beams are decorated with painted copies of ancient documents while the walls host different artists every month. The back (non-smoking) room takes its inspiration from the Urartu Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Van, which was centered around Lake Van in the historic Armenian Highlands—now modern-day Turkey.

Customers in Artbridge can surreptitiously tuck themselves into the cafe’s corners. High-profile Armenian-Americans such as System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are often seen there during visits to Yerevan and it has also been a personal favorite eaterie of the current Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over the years.

Artbridge buys its coffee from a local roastery, where it is blended into what they call their “secret Artbridge blend.” A combination of Costa Rican and Tanzanian beans, it is served in a French press and has a light, subtle sweetness. Those looking for a more authentic experience can order the small muddy Eastern coffee. Either way, the best bet would be to pair it with the cafe’s mouthwatering French toast.

Impresso

The ideal experience for a romantic late-evening coffee, Impresso is Yerevan’s tribute to the Italian cafe. It pairs modern lighting and tall ceilings with a number of vintage accessories, including a 1950s analogue TV that sits high on the bar. They only sell Caffé Mauro, which is bought directly from Italy and the cafe boasts that it is the “only place to get a real Italian espresso in Yerevan.” Almost the entire Caffé Mauro range is for sale though you’ll generally find yourself drinking from the original line, with its high-caffeine, spicy aroma, and strong flavors.

Aside from their coffee, Impresso also offers a broad menu ranging from a number of succulent pasta dishes to the intriguingly named pizza cones. The real eye-catching food items are found in the dessert menu, however, with homemade carrot cake and gato-chocolate among the choices.

Despite its long opening hours, the dark, classy interior and teardrop lighting make it more suitable for an evening outing. With piano music every night except Sunday, Impresso offers far more than just a great Italian espresso.

Joe Nerssessian is a freelance journalist based in Armenia. This is Joe Nerssessian’s first feature for  Sprudge.

Photos supplied courtesy of each cafe.

Top image © Adobe Stock/Photoaliona

The post The Sprudge Guide To Yerevan, Armenia appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Mohammad Fakhri’s kettle. (Photo by Elizabeth Chai)

We’re back with a new episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast podcast! Sprudge Live 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 with World Brewers Cup competitors from backstage.

Listen to the full episode right here:

In this episode, Chai interviews UK Brewers Cup Champion Lewis Maillardet, Indonesia Brewers Cup Champion Muhammed Fakhri, and Ireland Brewers Cup Champion Stephen Houston.

For more World Brewers Cup content, read about the 2019 World Brewers Cup Champion Du Jianing of China.

All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by Acaia, Baratza, Faema, Cafe Imports, Wilbur Curtis, Third Wave Water, Minor Figures, and Mahlkönig.

In 2019 SprudgeLive is home to the Digital Roasters Village because it takes a village to cover a barista competition. The Digital Roasters Village features Camber Coffee, Verve Coffee, Partners Coffee, Intelligentsia Coffee, Rishi Tea, Kickapoo Coffee, Blue Bottle Coffee, Onyx Coffee Lab, Creation Coffee, Amavida, and Equator Coffees without whom this work would not be possible.

Check out The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes or download the episode here. The Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by  Oxo, Urnex Brands, Hario, IKAWA Sample Roasters and Swiss Water Decaf. Follow @SprudgeLive on Twitter and never miss a moment from the shows, and cruise over to SprudgeLive.com to read routine recaps, and enjoy dynamic full-color photos. 2019 Sprudge Live coverage is produced by Zac Cadwalader. Our lead photographer is Charlie Burt. Multimedia direction by Elizabeth Chai.

Sprudge is an official media partner of US Coffee Championships.

The post Coffee Sprudgecast Episode 74: Live From The World Brewers Cup Stage appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The threat of climate change looms large over the future of coffee production. If problems like leaf rust and artificially low C prices are the past and present hurdles for coffee growers, climate change is the certainly the future (though, in truth all three problems have existed and will continue to for years to come). Often colloquially known as “global warming”—though we don’t use that as much anymore because there are dum-dums in this world who take the presence of cold weather as a sign that everything is a-ok—climate change is best represented by extremes in weather, both hot and cold. And while the earth is warming and that is shifting the regions suitable for coffee production, these swings in temperature can have a more immediate impact, decimating vulnerable coffee trees almost overnight.

But in a bizarre twist of fate, it was one of these temperature swings that led to the discovery of what the MIT Technology Review calls a “climate-change-proof coffee.”

The new F1 hybrid—meaning it is the first-generation offspring of two genetically distant parents— is called Centroamericano and was created in Costa Rica’s Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). A combination of Sudan Rume and T5295—a “Sarchimor” variety hybrid made from Villa Sarchi and Timor—Centroamericano was created for “disease resistance, yield, and taste;” according to the article, “it produces a high-quality beverage, yields over 20% more coffee beans than average per hectare, and shows high tolerance to coffee leaf rust, a much-feared plague.” But no real thought was given to how it would hold up in extreme conditions.

Until February 6, 2017, that is. On that night at a test farm in Laos, the temperature underwent a drastic drop, bringing with it a frost that “blackened and severely injured most of the trees on the plot.” By the next morning, only three rows of trees had survived: “those with Centroamericano and two other hybrid varieties from Central America.”

Scientists believe these trees survived due to something called “hybrid vigor,” a concept more widely utilized in things like corn, poultry, and rice that has more recently found its way to coffee thanks to the work of Benoît Bertrand at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and other researchers. Hybrid vigor is essentially the idea that each parent organism of the hybrid passes on to their offspring different genes, making it more genetically diverse and therefore more resilient.

The article notes that hybrid vigor may be a boon for the health of coffee, which is “notorious for its lack of diversity,” with Latin American coffee having “an especially shallow genetic pool.” And indeed, initial trials showed these new varieties to have 20-50% more hybrid vigor than their parents, were yielding more coffee, and were disease tolerant.

But the future of coffee hasn’t been secured just yet. Producing these F1 hybrids is expensive—each seedling costs two to three times that of a normal seedling—and they are incredibly unstable. Left to their own devices, these F1 hybrids would create any number of new varieties as the “parents’ genes reshuffle to create new combinations.” This would lead to the loss of stability in the hybrid as well as the vigor.

Nonetheless, Centroamericano represents a step forward in staring down climate change, a problem that doesn’t just impact the coffee industry but everyone, and as such is an issue that is going to require more than just coffee people to affect any real change. So until the Twitter-toting dodo birds of the world jump on board with the idea that humanity needs to amend their practices for the earth to survive beyond our own noses, planning for surviving the worst may just be the best practice. Centroamericano may just be that plan for coffee.

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

Top image via MIT Technology Review

The post Have Scientists Found A “Climate-Change-Proof” Coffee Variety? appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Can you feel it? The long days are getting longer, the sunshine is getting shinier. The flowers, they bloom. Not to mention the baseball—did you know they’re playing it every day now? We’re almost—almost!—ready to gear up for an incredible Series Seven of our annual Build-Outs of Summer roving feature series, exploring the best and brightest in new cafes under construction around the world. Look for an open call for submissions on the near horizon, somewhere amidst the barbecue smoke and chilled sparkling beverages.

But for today we’re taking an in-depth look at a project built not during the summer, but across a long and frigid Minnesota winter. Our longtime partners at Dogwood Coffee just opened a truly stunning new roasting headquarters and cafe space in Minneapolis at 1209 Tyler St NE (just across the river from Downtown and not far from the University of Minnesota). It was an epic undertaking, involving creatives from a wide berth of fields and plenty of support from the local Minnesota specialty coffee community.

Photos of this place look truly wild. The wallpaper! The vibe! All that gorgeous neon! To learn more we sat down for this in-depth interview (a glimpse of Build-Outs to come) with Dogwood Coffee owner Dan Anderson.

As a start, let us know a bit of background about this project—how long has the new HQ space been in development? Who did you work with on this project for design and architecture?

Our new space was just down the hall from where we’d been roasting since our beginning in 2010. Truth be told, we coveted the space for a long time. It was originally a photo studio and I totally get it now. It’s a huge open space with just the best natural daylight. The photography studio had covered all the sides of this southern-facing space with large windows and glass garage doors, no interior lights really—just lots and lots of glass. So, that was the foundation of the space. Last winter (we tell time with seasons here), the tenants who had it under lease told us they were gonna let go of the space and we jumped right on it.

We worked with an architect for the city submittal plan, but most of the design we actually did ourselves collaborating with a lot of talented friends. First off, the space was vacant and just down the hall, so I really had unlimited access to sit/stand/walk and dream/stare/notice and of course, lots and lots of thick blue masking tape marking off every idea and option. My wife was my greatest partner in helping define and refine the design. She really helped me pull everything together. We wanted a space that was bright, playful, welcoming, reflective, layered, warm and uniquely us.

As I mentioned earlier, we had a lot of help from great friends and ultimately they are what allowed us to achieve the type of space we hoped for. Here’s a snapshot of some of those collaborations:

*Michael Brown, production designer for Bon Iver and The National—walked the space with me early on and shared thoughts on lighting, acoustics, and creating environments. Put me on to using wool felt as an acoustic material. Our lighting (Turf Designs) are large felt baffles with integrated LED lighting and some of them are even full RGB color adjustable, which allows us to play with light as color in the space.

*Ashley Mary, painter—worked with us on a custom mural to cover a long-running wall on the cafe side. Her use of color and forms create such a playful, bright and energizing space.

*Alec Soth, photographer—in between losing in ping pong matches to him, Alec heard out our vision and searched through his catalog of photographs for just the right one and was then willing to have us large-scale print his museum worthy work on FRP (Marlite.com) to use as the back wall of our bar. It was a first for both of us. 

*BluDot, furniture company—their headquarters is just down the way in our same building complex. They worked with us on all our soft seating in the cafe and all our office furniture. Nadia (their Visual Creative Lead) and her team even personally helped us plan and execute the furniture layout.

*Loll & Intectural, furniture and architectural supply—these and companies are owned by our friends up in Duluth. With Loll, they created custom booths for us made from recycled bottles. Intectural supplied us with Richlite panels that we made our bar from and also all the thermally-modified wood we used for interior walls and our deck/patio. They even did a custom milling of our wall boards that allowed us to add ¼” strips of felt (supplied by the lighting company TURF that matched our felt lights) between each row of boards.

*Skyline Neon—Since Neon (our espresso blend) has been a core product for us since our beginning, we always have a neon installation in all our cafes, and they’re all made here in Minneapolis by Matt Thompson. This neon installation was by far our most ambitious and Matt made it happen. We essentially suspended four running tubes in mid-air that start at our bar, puncture through the wall that separates the cafe from our roasting space, and then stops above our roaster. On the cafe side, a separate neon tube appears and then wraps around/squeezes all the tubes together. I know it’ll be missed by many customers, but I also know my staff is aware of what the neon installation represents. Each of the four tubes start from a different place and connect both our retail and roasting spaces. For us, it is a visual reminder that encompasses all of what Dogwood does with a knowing that we are bound together with all the people involved along the way.

*Benoit Tardif, illustrator and fellow hockey fan—we had the wonderful opportunity to work with a longtime personal favorite illustrator. Benoit is from Montreal and as we continue to strive to express the humanity behind and in our business, he created the perfect illustration that is uniquely Benoit and uniquely Dogwood. The illustration is what we used for our signage on the outside of our space. It was hand painted by Forrest Wozniak and his team. They painted it outside in the middle of January here—single digit temps at best. We built a little structure covered in plastic with a heater pumping in. I’ll never forget running coffee out to them in super freezing weather, and there they were painting away wearing just t-shirts.

What neighborhood is the new space located in, and can you tell our readers a bit about it?

The new space is located in NE Minneapolis. It’s a great neighborhood with a lot of artists, breweries, creative businesses, restaurants, and even a local ice arena a block away. Most people affiliate a lot of our local craft beer growth coming from within a number of blocks from us: Indeed, Dangerous Man, Able, BauHaus, and several more. It’s about a five minute drive or a 12 minute rollerblade, depending on your preferred mode of transportation, across the Mississippi River to the north of downtown.

Talk to us about some of the gear at the cafe and roastworks—what roaster are you working with? How about cafe gear? Anything new or notable to play with?

Lots of new tools and toys!

First off for roasting, we purchased a new Mill City 30kg roaster with a tube loader from Cablevey and a 500g Mill City for sampling and profile development. We previously had Probat roasters, and spent time considering them, Loring, and Mill City. We spent a lot of time with Joe Morocco and Steve Green here at Mill City and really liked what they’ve come up with and where they are going with Mill City. So far we’ve been really happy with their system and the coffee is tasting better than ever. We also got a few items that help in terms of the physical demands of being a roaster. We’re using a prototype hydraulic lift cart with a built-in scale from Mill City that is immediately being appreciated in terms of cutting down all the repetitive lifting and loading.  We also have a new ergonomic lift workstation (Ergotron) that we use for roasting. It has a large screen and is running a beta version of Cropster developed for Mill City. It’s also on casters and can move between our sample and production roasters. We are big fans of Cropster and have used them for all our inventory and profile management.

On our warehouse side, we purchased a sweet little blue 1991 battery Mitsubishi forklift with pneumatic tires (need for driving in the snow here). So fun! Previously we used hand pallet lifts for all the coffee and we just can’t get enough of  the forklift now. We also got enough storage shelving from Uline to qualify for the free chocolate covered peanuts that are so good. We built a new training and cupping lab on our warehouse side and have a Synesso S200, Mahlkönig K30 Air and EK43s, two Curtis Corinth water towers, lots of Chemexes and Kalitas, Acaia scales (including the Cinco for cupping), Fellow kettles, notNeutral cupping bowls, and a bunch of Umeshisho rainbow cupping spoons.

For the cafe coffee tools, we got a glitter stardust powder-coated three-group Synesso MVP Hydra, three Mahlkönig PEAK grinders (for espresso service), EK43s paired with two Modbar pour-over units, and a Curtis G4 Thermopro paired with an EK43 for batch. We use notNeutral’s Vero glassware for our espresso drinks up through cappuccinos. We have the rose color for our Neon-based drinks and the smoke color for our Bear Hug-based drinks. More Chemexes, Kalitas, Acaia scales, and Fellow kettles. We’re also using Square’s new register and so far, so great.

What’s something you’re especially excited about for the space that folks might not notice at first glance?

I’m especially proud of the thought that went into this space in terms of accessibility. I know ADA requirements will address a baseline of accessibility considerations, but we wanted to push it further in terms of thoughtfulness. One example is that we put the best seat at our bar at wheelchair height and included another chair right alongside it for a friend or special someone. The rest of the bar bumps up to the traditional bar height. I couldn’t think of any bars around that someone in a wheelchair could pull up to and it’s been one of my greatest joys in the space to see it when it’s used. We’re currently arranging a third party accessibility audit of all our shops to learn how we can better make our spaces accessible to all. More than anything coming from this interview, I’d love to encourage everyone out there to consider doing an accessibility audit of their spaces if they haven’t already.

What’s your favorite coffee right now in the Dogwood line-up?

I am a total sucker for our Andrade family coffee from Colombia. We’ve purchased all of their exported coffee since 2012 and do some day lot separations of the best days. It ends up supplying us with an almost year-round supply of constantly arriving small vac-packed bricks of stunning coffee. We roll out one day lot after another and they are a consistent favorite of mine. We’re on one lot right now that just has the juiciest tropical flavors—it’s such a satisfying cup! 

Your previous HQ space was full of delightful nick-nacks and tchotchkes—we partied there a full time and the space had so much personality. How did you transfer that spirit into a new home?

I love trying to figure out fun little surprises to add throughout our spaces. Things you might not always notice in coming once, but the more you come, the more you might discover. In this space we have a full glassed-in room (racquetball court-esque) dedicated to just playing ping pong. It has a real tennis court floor with a center stripe, and the only music in the room comes from a custom Mixtape (Mixtape is also a blend of ours) cassette we made that’s played on an 80’s JVC Boombox.  

We have two bathrooms in our space; one has this metallic tiger pattern wallpaper and only plays “Eye of the Tiger” on repeat and includes an early Balboa cardboard cutout on the back of the door, the other has a gold chain foil wallpaper and includes a vintage large photo of Run DMC, only plays “My Adidas” on repeat and has a vintage pair of Jam Master Jay Superstars hanging from their laces on a pipe running across the ceiling. I also had a pair of baby Superstars glued down to a lower shelf on a diaper changing table in the room, but someone already stole those, sadly. I think bathrooms are an easy place to have some fun with, maybe it can just catch someone off guard a little bit and make them smile.

Another fun spot is hard to explain without seeing, but is essentially a combination of a mirrored multi-angle wall, a glass wall and a wallpapered wall. The wallpapered wall is a reflective mylar galaxy design that then has a suspended ceramic astronaut and a separate small rotating globe coming off the wall. About five feet across from that is the multi-angled mirrored wall that reflects back into the retail space through the large glass wall that separates the spaces. Oh forget it! Too hard to explain. It’s a big mirrored wall that reflects the customers back into the space. They bring the color, the movement, the dynamism to the space, and at just the right angle for them as they walk by, they’re reflected back into this deep cosmic space.

A final little touch of fun is we’ve adorned a wall in our cupping room with all the national soccer scarves we could find from countries we buy coffee from. The only bummer is a quick realization that East Africa needs some better representation on the world soccer stage.

Are you going to make more hockey pucks?

We just made some new ones inspired by the old Minnesota North Stars logo. Kevin is our production manager here and one heck of a designer! He’s done a lot of designs for us, and this is one of my personal favorites. We like them as tamp mats, paper weights, and the obvious as hockey pucks.

The Minnesota (and specifically Twin Cities) coffee scene is really special—lots of personality, lot of cafes. What makes the coffee culture in your part of the US so great?

The Twin Cities at its best can pair humility with quality, something special from both the product and the experience. We do have a lot of great coffee here and some really wonderful shops. We’re also home to Cafe Imports, Mill City Roasters and the Northern Coffee Alliance, which are obviously huge assets here to the coffee community. We really have world-class restaurants (currently three women chef James Beard finalists representing us), baking (Rustica, Baker’s Field, Sunstreet, Patisserie 46, Black Walnut), and beverage communities (too many distilleries, cocktail rooms & breweries to name).

We’re also home to some people doing really special things, like Sean Sherman, author of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen and a personal hero of mine, who is revitalizing Native American cuisine and currently building a new project here called the Indigenous Food Lab; Steve Horton, a gifted baker who has brought flour milling back to Minneapolis, sourcing various grains from local small farmers, stone milling it right here in Minneapolis and then baking naturally-leavened breads in a wood-fired oven; Tony Querio at Spyhouse, winner of the 2106 US Roasting championship; and the team at Gutter Punk, who works to provide employment and development for youth experiencing homelessness.

We’re very fortunate to be surrounded by such a gifted and collaborative community.

Thank you. 

Jordan Michelman (@suitcasewine) is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

The post Inside The New Dogwood Coffee Roasters HQ In Minneapolis appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

There is no greater candy on this earth—and until we can prove the existence of alien life, the entire universe—than gummy bears, specifically the clear pineapple Haribo variety. It is the perfect candy and I’ll not abide any talk to the contrary. It stands to reason, then, that combining the greatest candy in the world with coffee, the greatest liquid in the world, would create the greatest something or other in the world. This, at least, is what Sugarfina is betting on. Teaming up with Los Angeles-based coffee shop Alfred, the luxury candy shop has just released three coffee-flavored gummy bears with caffeine.

As reported by Food & Wine, the new gummy line from Sugarfina was released on Monday, April 22nd and is being touted as “the world’s first coffee-infused, caffeinated gummy bears.” Available online and in stores, the coffee candies come in cold brew, bourbon cold brew, and iced vanilla latte flavors, the latter of which leads me to a very important question: why iced vanilla latte? Does it taste different than a hot vanilla latte gummy bear would? Does this mean that it tastes more like cold milk and not properly steamed milk, making it less sweet? It’s an important distinction they are drawing and I want to know why.

And these aren’t just coffee-flavored. These bears got bite. Equivalent to a shot of espresso, in fact. According to Food & Wine, each serving of Sugarfina’s coffee gummies have 60mg of caffeine, the same as a shot of espresso. What a “serving” of gummy bears equates to is anyone’s guess. But later in the article, F&W states that 9.5 ounces of gummy bears have 125mg caffeine, which puts a serving size at roughly 4.5 ounces. At first blush, a quarter pound-plus of gummy bears sounds like a pretty large serving size, but then again, that’s about the size of a standard box of movie-theatre Haribos and I can put back about three of those things faster than you can say, “Avengers: Engame is how long?!”

Prices for the gummy bears range from $14 to $25 for 12 ounces, depending on if you want them to come in a boring old bag or a super tumbly tumbler. If you can’t decide, Sugarfina has even put together a handy quiz to help you figure out with flavor you are (I’m bourbon cold brew gummy bears btw). Or you could just get the $21 “pick 3 mini coffee cup” sampler pack.

I’m all for new coffee combinations, but I still prefer my coffee and gummy bears the old fashioned way: by sneaking them into the theatre myself.

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

Top image via Sugarfina

The post Cold Brew Gummy Bears Exist, In Case You Were Wondering appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Felix Felix (Photo by Chach Hernandez)

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty Interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring our 2019 featured class of Sprudge Twenty honorees, each one changing the coffee game worldwide. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty.

Felix Felix is a working coffee professional and competition barista living in Santa Barbara, California, where he works as a Cafe Manager for Dune Coffee Roasters. Felix (he is mononymous and has competed in the Brewers Cup circuit as Felix Felix) is one of several nominees who was highlighted for his exemplary customer service and for approaching coffee work with a level of care and consideration on par with fine dining. From Kay Cheon’s nominating essay:

“As one of our store managers, Felix sets an example for service and work ethic to all of our employees, and is always looking to improve his skills as a manager and barista. Before he and I worked together, he would always come in and ask me questions about the coffee we were serving that day, gently asking me questions about what flavors we were getting and just generally being excited about coffee and its potential to bring people together. He holds Danny Meyer and his book Setting The Table in the highest regard, and is genuinely the most creative and heartfelt person when it comes to customer service.”

Nominated by Kay Cheon

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

Workplace environments. I really care about healthy, positive, and supportive workplace environments.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

Being able to create a safe and welcoming place for anyone to walk into.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

How we could waste less and reuse more.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

I like the diversity of flavors you can find in different origins and processing methods.

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

Seamlessly crushing a shift with my friends all while making meaningful connections with our guests. There’s nothing better.

If you could have any job in the coffee industry, what would it be and why?

A local barista in the best town with the best guests… oh wait 😉

Who are your coffee heroes?

Matt Fewel and Collin Barrett are living legends.

If you could drink coffee with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Danny Meyer!

If you didn’t get bit by the coffee bug, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

Something using my Culinary Arts degree

Do you have any coffee mentors?

My dear friend Kay Cheon. I love bouncing coffee/life ideas off him and then talking about them for a long time

What do you wish someone would’ve told you when you were first starting out in coffee?

That the water you brew with also matters.

Name three coffee apparatuses you’d take into space with you.

An electric kettle, a flat bottom dripper, and my favorite mug (a clear 12oz glass handle mug).

Best song to brew coffee to:

Anything by Ratatat.

Look into the crystal ball—where do you see yourself in 20 years?

Still trying to create the best hospitality experience possible for people.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

Trader Joe’s cereal with some strawberries!

When did you last drink coffee?

This afternoon.

What was it?

A pour-over of a natural Ecuador from Hacienda La Papaya. Thanks Juan Peña!

Thank you.

The Sprudge Twenty is presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. 

The post Felix Felix: The Sprudge Twenty Interview appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Chaff is a bit of a maligned byproduct of coffee production. The husk of the coffee seed, chaff is the tannish papery stuff you find in your coffee, often still stuck in the little fold-looking section of the bean. Chaff isn’t necessarily great for the flavor of a cup of coffee, and some go through great lengths to remove it before brewing—including 2019 World Brewers Cup champion Du Jianing, who ground her coffee twice, one very coarsely and then again to a more fine grind, so that she could more easily remove the chaff before brewing.

But that doesn’t mean chaff is useless—it’s great for composting—or tastes bad even. New Zealand coffee company Kōkako has put that last assertion to the test by creating sweet treats using the roasting byproduct. Step aside, sprinkles, coffee chaff is the new ice cream topping du jour.

Originally appearing at Auckland’s first-ever Ferment Festival, Kōkako collaborated with chef Plabita Florence of Forest Pop-Ups (and the former head of kitchen at their flagship Grey Lynn cafe) to create a fun way to “serve chaff to a larger audience in more of a bite-size manner.” And what’s more fun than ice cream? Nothing, that’s what. The team ultimately landed on “a fermented feijoa coconut ice cream with a dusting of coffee chaff and sea salt,” which sounds absolutely wild and divine all at the same time.

While the ice cream might be their most delicious confectionary use of chaff, it is by no means Kōkako’s first use of a coffee byproduct. The company has for years worked with coffee’s most popular byproduct—cascara—to create a variety of kombuchas, creating new revenue streams for producers, and their chaff has been a go-to compost material for local gardeners for some time now.

With the Ferment Festival now in the rearview, so too is the chaff-topped ice cream, but perhaps not forever. Kōkako has a new cafe expected to open September of this year in Auckland’s Commercial Bay precinct where chaff “will likely make it onto the menu of our new espresso and brew bar,” per Managing Director Mike Murphy. And yes, some iteration of the coffee chaff ice cream is most likely to make a triumphant return with the new location.

As the coffee industry continues to struggle with the impact it has on the world, it’s good to see companies like Kōkako finding new and inventive ways to use byproducts that would otherwise end up in the trash. Will eating coffee chaff ice cream empty the landfills, clean out the oceans, and patch the hole in the ozone? No, but it is this sort of mindfulness that will help boost coffee’s sustainability quotient. And who can be mad about eating ice cream to help save the planet?

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

All images via Kōkako

The post Don’t Chaff Your Churn: This Coffee Chaff-Topped Ice Cream Sounds Delicious appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Sam Keck (Photo by 3000 Thieves)

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty Interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring our 2019 featured class of Sprudge Twenty honorees, each one changing the coffee game worldwide. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty.

Sam Keck is an entrepreneur and founder of Commonfolk Coffee, located in the town of Mornington, on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne. Keck has spun a successful roaster/retailer into a series of social enterprise efforts, including Zukuka Bora, a farmers initiative benefitting coffee growers in Uganda; and Home Ground, which is focused on providing training and job options in hospitality to unemployed youth on the Mornington Peninsula. By fusing the high demand for quality coffee with organized social enterprise, Keck’s work shows us how coffee can do more than just taste good—it can also do very serious good for communities at home and around the world.

Nominated by David Bishop

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

Overall the sustainability of coffee as an industry. In particular the seemingly widening disconnect between producer and consumer. Too many “industry professionals” assume far too much and don’t actually bother to understand what a producer’s priorities are.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

What started out as a cheap way to fuel my caffeine addiction has transformed into an insatiable desire to bridge the gap between my customers and my producers. I want to understand more about how coffee as an industry can continue to serve both our customers and provide meaningful and sustainable work for our producers.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

The fact that many people on both ends of coffee production are suffering. Many producers/farmers are among the lowest paid people in the entire world. On the flip side, many cafe owners—especially in small business—are going out of business at a rate you wouldn’t believe. If the two ends of the chain can’t make a fair income our industry has serious issues. A lot of people talk about the issues producers and farmers have (not that much is done about it), but there isn’t too much conversation about the struggles of the cafe/coffee bar owner. In fact, you could argue that the responsibility and burden of equalizing our industry, making it fairer for farmers, is too often thrust upon the final part of the chain: the small business owner, many of whom are broke and not really in a position to make a big difference. We should be looking at adding value in other areas and ultimately placing the responsibility on the consumer who has had it too good for too long, at least here in Australia.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

There is no greater sensory experience than the aroma of freshly ground coffee!

Did you experience a “god shot” or life-changing moment of coffee revelation early in your career?

I was working as a barista in 2006 but I’d never really had “specialty” coffee and I visited St Ali, back when it was still owned by Mark Dundon, of later Seven Seeds and Paramount Coffee Project fame. I was lucky enough to order a natural Yirg as a filter coffee. I never believed that coffee could taste so extraordinary. Delicate aroma of bergamot and orange blossom, bright citrus acidity and a rich booziness—damn I was hooked. I haven’t looked back since!

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

Recreating some kind of rubbish Starbucks cocktail but with super high-quality ingredients, organic maple syrup, unpasteurized local dairy, and real vanilla beans. I love watching wanky baristas have meltdowns.

If you could have any job in the coffee industry, what would it be and why?

Probably the job I currently have.

Who are your coffee heroes?

James Hoffmann. In the early days he was one of the few people creating content online, so I felt like I wasn’t the only coffee crazy guy in the world. Also Alan Adler, the dude who invented the AeroPress. I bought my first AP in 2005 but I was so sketchy on it—any product that has to say “the best coffee maker in the world” on the box seems kind of suspicious—but I guess on this occasion they weren’t lying.

If you could drink coffee with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Tough question, but probably Sir David Attenborough. He’s a real hero of mine and I would love the chance to talk about his life and experiences, but also to pick his brain on the future of our planet and how he thinks we can turn things around.

If you didn’t get bit by the coffee bug, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

Following on from the previous question—I actually have a degree in Zoology and I was planning on traveling the globe filming nature documentaries, a la Sir David.

Do you have any coffee mentors?

There’s always been a real coffee culture in Melbourne but the movement towards “specialty” really only kicked off in the early 2000s. I was lucky enough to befriend ex-head roaster of Five Senses and Ceremony Coffee, Caleb Podhaczky, and he was instrumental in my coffee journey early on. I was actually lucky enough to employ him for about a year when he returned to Australia and it was really fun to work with one of the people who inspired you to start in the industry. Another key figure that was instrumental in my coffee journey early days was Shannon Roche, a barista on the Mornington Peninsula where Commonfolk is located. They’re one of the first baristas I met who focused on preparing quality coffee and really opened my eyes to coffee’s potential.

Otherwise, I try and look outside the industry for inspiration because I find that coffee sometimes insulates itself from the outside world and really limits our opportunities to grow as an industry. I take a lot of inspiration from the craft beer and lofi wine industries. I have some great friends who are really pushing the boundaries on what is acceptable in those industries, from brands like Mr Banks, Chevre Wines, Mornington Brewery, and Jetty Road Brewery, and a lot of their ideas/philosophies can be transferred to coffee—especially at the producing end.

What do you wish someone would’ve told you when you were first starting out in coffee?

No one has a fucking clue what they’re doing. Don’t take anyone seriously.

Name three coffee apparatuses you’d take into space with you.

AeroPress, Ikawa sample roaster, and a stubby holder (to keep my coffee warm).

Best song to brew coffee to:

Shout out to the Commonfolk bar—definitely “September” by Earth Wind & Fire.

Look into the crystal ball—where do you see yourself in 20 years?

Retired or at least with enough time to study coffee science and agronomy.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

Black coffee. I’m trying to intermittently fast because dad bod.

When did you last drink coffee?

At lunchtime.

What was it?

A cheeky batch brew of a washed Yirg from the Gedeo region of Ethiopia.

Thank you. 

The Sprudge Twenty is presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. 

The post Sam Keck: The Sprudge Twenty Interview appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Crowds clamor at the Slayer Pop-Up at the 2019 Boston SCA Expo. (Photo courtesy Slayer)

The Specialty Coffee Association‘s annual Expo is one of the largest coffee tradeshows in the world. With seven Sprudge folks on the floor, we covered a sampling of fine pop-ups, tech drops, and show floor surprises. All the while, our team covered World Barista Championship and Brewers Cup over on our sister site Sprudge Live. There’s just so much to cover—we’d need a team of 50 to really do it justice! While we were wrapping up Facebooking, Instagramming, Tweeting, and live-blogging, the SCA honored exhibitors of the festival with a set of gleaming awards.

15 awards were handed out for Best New Product in several categories and their Design Lab. The Best New Product Competition and Display are judged on their quality and value.

The 2019 Best New Product winners are:

Kruve Inc. EQ: Coffee Accessories
Bellwether Coffee: Commercial Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment
Breville Barista Pro Model BES 878: Consumer Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment – Electrical
Cafélat Robot Espresso Maker: Consumer Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment – Non-Electrical
Cometeer Coffee Capsule: Open Class
Steeped Coffee S-101: Packaging
1883 Maison Routin elixirs d’ exception ~ truffle: Specialty Beverage Flavor Additive
Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Powder: Specialty Beverage Flavor Additive (Honorable Mention)
Dona Chai Spiced Soda Pink Peppercorn Lemon: Specialty Beverage Stand Alone
iFinca Coffee Chain: Technology
Tierra Nueva Nudge Coffee Butter: Food

The award-winning Kruve EQ Glassware Line. (Photo courtesy SCA)

Four awards were handed to winners of the Design Lab. “Great coffee is often given dissection via great design, and increasingly serves an important function in distinguishing specialty coffee,” explains the SCA. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

The 2019 Design Lab Winners are:

Rishi Tea. Design by Studio MPLS: Branding Category
Greater Goods Coffee Roasters. Design by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture: Spaces
Blue Bottle Coffee Can. Design by Elaine Fong and Neil Day: Packaging
KRUVE EQ Glassware Line by KRUVE Inc. Design by Michael Vecchiarelli: Vessels

Blue Bottle’s award-winning coffee cans. (Photo courtesy SCA)

Last, but certainly not least, three very special awards were given to the Best Booths and the Best Pop-up at the show. For the 10 years we’ve been covering the SCA tradeshow here in America, it feels as if the bar gets raised higher and higher each year when it comes to quality booth design. The SCA gave the awards for all-out best to these deserving three:

Bellwether Coffee: Inline Category
Anacafé/Guatemala: Island Category
Slayer Espresso: Pop-up Category

The award-winning Slayer pop-up cafe. (Photo courtesy Slayer)

It was indeed a year of innovation, high-stakes design, and thoughtful execution. The beauty of the curved Kruve EQ glassware. The simplicity of the Blue Bottle coffee can. The ultra-modern yet understated Slayer pop-up. The question on everyone’s lips is: who will it be next year? When the ribbon is cut at the Portland Convention Center, who will truly bring it? Only time will tell.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2019 SCA Expo Awards!

The post If You Love Coffee, You’ll Love These Award Winning Products appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

April showers bring May flowers, and what do May flowers bring? Why Blooms (plural) of course. Back for the fourth event in as many years, Bloom is an event series from the Barista Guild that “brings together some of the best minds in coffee, creating a unique opportunity for deeper discussion and engagement for attendees.” And this time, they are doing things a little differently. Instead of hosting a single event over the course of a three-day weekend, Bloom is hitting the road throughout June, making four stops along the east and west coasts.

Like with previous iterations, Bloom looks both within and outside the coffee industry to put together thought-provoking discussions and panel talks to provide “the opportunity for meaningful dialogue” amongst coffee professionals. Each of the four stops will revolve around three primary talks. The first, A Participant in the Evolution of Specialty Coffee, will be led by 2106 USBC Champion and 4th place finisher at the 2016 World Barista Championship, Black & White Coffee Roasters’ Lem Butler. The second talk looks outside the industry (sort of). Innovation Culture in Food and Coffee is a “crash course one innovation culture” led by Coffee Manufactory’s Chris Jordan and Chad Robertson, the founder of Tartine who exists amongst the breadmaking pantheon (ask one of your baking coffee friends, there are a ton of them (us)). The final discussion is more community-focused. Creating Coffee Communities of the Future is a panel discussion featuring local coffee professionals who will be talking about what it takes to create a thriving, inclusive coffee community (it ain’t just throwdowns).

The June 2019 Bloom events stops are:

June 17: Atlanta, GA — Counter Culture
June 19: Washington, DC — Small Planes Coffee
June 24: Salt Lake City, UT — Campos Coffee
June 26: Los Angeles, CA — Coffee Manufactory

In the past, Bloom has taken a little heat for the cost of attending the event, but thanks in part to sponsors DaVinci Gourmet and Pacific Barista Series, the price for all four events has been cut in half. And tickets purchased before May 30th are even cheaper. Early bird rates run $50 and $65 for SCA members and non-members, respectively. On May 31st, prices increase to $60 and $75, with group discounts available at $40 per person (minimum of five required).

For more information on the event or to register, visit Bloom’s official website.

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

Top image via Bloom

The post Tickets Are Now Available For The Bloom Event Series By The Barista Guild appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News