Best Coffee in Honolulu – The Curb Kaimuki

We’re looking for twenty people who are changing the world of coffee. And we need your help.

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty—presented by Pacific Foods Barista Series. The Sprudge Twenty is a new annual initiative honoring and amplifying leaders in the specialty coffee community. We believe that the future of coffee is being written right now, by the people who work in the coffee every day. The strength of this community is in its membership: the mentors and leaders as well as the young strivers and future game-changers. Baristas and farmers, traders and teachers, entrepreneurs and original voices—our hope is that by identifying those exemplifying what’s special about coffee, we will be able to uplift and center their stories to the entire world.

But Sprudge and Pacific can’t do it alone—we need you, our readers, to tip us off to the individuals who best exemplify what makes coffee special in 2019. This is an open call to our global network of readers and partners: nominate people in your business or community who exemplify excellence, leadership, and the future of coffee. Mentors can nominate their young students; owners can nominate a member of their core staff; or cafe patrons/coffee lovers of all kinds can nominate their favorite baristas or roasters.

Nominations can be submitted in any language, in the form of an original essay, audio nomination, or video recording, so that there is no barrier to submission. Entry is 100% free for all thanks to the support of Pacific Foods Barista Series.

Winners will receive a series of spotlight features highlighting their stories and causes on Sprudge, as well as mentorship opportunities from Pacific Foods Barista Series, and much more to be announced in the weeks and months to come. Nominations are now open through March 4th, 2019.

To nominate someone in your community for The Sprudge Twenty, simply fill out this form below, and visit sprudge.com/twenty for updates in the weeks to come.

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The post The Sprudge Twenty—Presented By Pacific Foods Barista Series appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

For all the good will former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has built up over the years, he’s wasted little time in throwing it all away in the whirlwind few days since announcing his potential presidential bid. After taking to Twitter to pre-announce his bid as a “centrist independent,” Schultz has been criticized for potentially splitting the democratic vote, effectively handing over re-election to the Republicans. He has since gone on to defend billionaires, refer to himself as “self-made,” and take aim at the progressive polices of New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. For a centrist, Schultz sure has spent a lot of time the past four days taking shots at those to his left, forgetting presumably what new hell sits at his right and the consequences of splitting its opposition.

Now, according to the Huffington Post, Starbucks is trying to get out in front of the blowback with their recent internal “Baristas Need-To-Know” updating with talking points on how to handle questions about Schultz’s potential presidential bid.

You really have to feel for Starbucks baristas. They already catch the brunt of the ire the conservatives want to fling toward Schultz. And now they’re going to hear about it from the other side. Their only friends, it seems, are the centrists, should such a group even exist in the current US political dichotomy.

For the coffee chain’s weekly internal update, partners (the Starbucks term for employees) are given instructions on how to handle customers’ questions about Schultz’s new book From the Ground Up as well as bullet points for redirecting any interactions that involve Schultz’s political aims:

Give the biggest non-answer you can muster, essentially. Which is probably a smart tack for the company, considering the Starbucks baristas quoted in the HuffPo article have called his potential bid “extremely awful” and saying things we are all already painfully aware of, “Just because you’re a businessman does not mean you’re also a stellar leader.” One barista even went as far as to say that voting for Schultz “would be voting against [their] family’s economic security.”

So please, no matter whether you’ve hated Howard Schultz for years or have only recently come to dislike him, please, please, please, don’t take it out on the baristas. They’re just trying to make coffee and pick up a pay check.

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

The post Starbucks Has Talking Points On How To Avoid Talking About Howard Schultz appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

News flash, breaking, extra extra: working on an espresso machine all day long is fucking bad for you.

Repetitive motions in the workplace that engage small muscle groups can lead to serious injury. This not a theoretical construct. It is a reality with which the coffee industry must grapple going forward if it intends to protect its own and develop paths to career longevity. It’s not going away.

So—what if we just said like, “no“? What if through a combination of research and implementation, the coffee industry stepped up and made a concerted choice not injure its own? The worst thing about “barista wrist” is that it is, at least in theory, largely an avoidable condition. We can, in theory, invent our way out of it, design and engineer our way into a better reality for the baristas who help drive coffee as a culture and community.

What’s changing is the “in theory” part. This style of new tech is fast emerging, and now today La Marzocco has stepped into the fray in a major way. Today they’ve launched a new espresso machine, the KB90, that addresses the ergonomic reality of the barista profession in what I think is a fundamentally transformative and disruptive way. They’ve done so by correcting one of the main stress points: the small muscle movement motion by which a portafilter locks into the espresso machine grouphead.

The result may be the most ergonomic espresso machine ever made.

Think about it with me for a minute. On a traditional espresso machine—any brand, including all versions heretofore of gear by La Marzocco—you have a portafilter in one hand, and it’s your job to get that portafilter to lock in to a little set of pin locks hidden in a grouphead. You place the portafilter unseen in the grouphead, then you twist a little bit with your wrist, maybe adjust with your thumb, and the portafilter locks into place.

This motion, though intimidating as all get out for new baristas (and journalists!), has long been accepted as “the way things are done” when using an espresso machine. That’s despite the fact that injuries directly related to the motion are literally among the most costly and time consuming injuries in all of food and beverage service.

On the KB90 you are required to make no such blind twisting motion. Instead you get the portafilter to click into the grouphead by simply… sliding the portafilter straight forward. It is deceptively simple both in concept and practice, but the engineering, design, and concepting work around it took years to perfect.

Using the mechanism feels like clicking on a pair of ski boots, or plugging in the Rumble Pak attachment to the controller of your N64. (I realize this reference dates me.) There is a uniquely satisfying haptic response, with bumpers that give a wonderful “click” sensation when the portafilter pops into place. Kent Bakke—who served as CEO of La Marzocco for decades—has been working since the late 90s to perfect this technology, and now, in the hands of the La Marzocco R&D team, that work is a reality. There is a reason why this is the first La Marzocco espresso machine named after an American.

The overall effect is tough to put into words; you simply have to click in and try it for yourself, which you’ll be able to do at upcoming marquee trade shows like Host and the 2019 SCA Event in Boston. There you’ll have the chance to see some of the other cool stuff this machine can do, including an automated group flush option that increases efficiency; a “Pro Touch” steam wand that uses double walled stainless steel to regulate temperature (no more burning the shit out of yourself on accident!); drip prediction tech adapted from the Modbar AV; improved ease of access for maintenancing the steam wand; and a design aesthetic that evokes the square block retro-futurist techno-chunk of a 1980s Ferrari, or the motorbike from Akira.

But even sitting here, writing this, a week or so removed from my preview time with the machine at LM USA headquarters in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, I can still hear and feel that satisfying *click*. There’s really nothing else quite like it.

“It’s fun,” Scott Guglielmino tells me. He’s a career espresso tech who has worked his way up through the company, starting first as an advisor on the Strada “street team,” to his role today as La Marzocco’s Global Product Manager. “Working on this machine is fun. But it also allows you to speed up while reducing hypertension—it’s supposed to be both fun and safe.”

Think about that for a second. Both fun and safe. Isn’t that the dream? In our shitshow of a toxic modern society, a slurry of constant aggressions both overt and micro, I think this might be all I really want in the world. For something to genuinely be both safe and fun.

La Marzocco conducted and outsourced a range of studies, including with the Italian ergonomics consultancy Faentia, that found the new tech in their filter holder required a lower amount of muscle engagement, could be used with the same efficiency by both left and right handed baristas, kept the forearm in a neutral position throughout usage of the machine, and engaged the whole arm-hand-wrist system while disengaging, as opposed to isolating movement to the hands and thumbs (a precursor for repetitive stress injury). It requires less total muscle engagement. It takes less time to train on. Execution time is shortened. As per the Faentia study this machine is safer and more efficient to use than the previous iteration of La Marzocco machines by a factor of twelve. 

It is both safe and fun.

There’s lots of ways to write about a new espresso machine, and at this point in my career (Sprudge turns ten years old this fall) I’ve done pretty much every version: technical, design-focused, brand-y, trade show beat, press release reblog, and on and on. But my response to the machine was above all else emotional. Technology in the right hands, in the right moment, has the power to make us feel stuff. That is an extraordinary power! The full summation of man’s command of the world around us! The orangutan fishing for grub worms with a stick dipped in honey, the Apollo space program engineer sending man to the moon and back on less computing power than an iPhone—a continuum of invention and innovation dating back before recorded memory, indeed, responsible for the technology to record memory in the first place. We can design and invent ourselves out of anything, from the earth to the heavens, including something as relatively conquerable and quantifiable as barista wrist.

The result is a sea change that I think is going to be integrated into the next several waves of espresso machine technology, wherein approaching any project with a health and safety mindset becomes not a novelty, not a disruption, but a basic tenet and focal point across the whole big wide world of coffee tech. This is a very good thing! Let’s see more R&D like this, more products dedicated to workplace safety for baristas, especially those without  subsidized access to healthcare. In twenty years I hope we look at “barista wrist” the same way we look at second hand smoke: a once-accepted workplace hazard of yesteryear. Big leaps in the interplay between tech and society quickly become mundane; that’s how you know they’ve been adopted. This is how you measure change.

This new espresso machine, the La Marzocco KB90, makes me optimistic about the future of coffee. What else is there really left to say?

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

For more on the La Marzocco KB90 visits its official website. 

Disclosure: La Marzocco is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network

The post The La Marzocco KB90: Better Living Through Ergonomics appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

It is the great catch 22 of finding employment in the coffee industry (any industry really). In order to get a job you need experience, but you can’t get that experience without having a job. But the climb isn’t over yet. Baristas who want to transition to other areas of the coffee industry can find themselves facing the same conundrum. But in a new event, the Houston Coffee Collective is helping to close the gap between experience needed and experience possessed. Happening Tuesday, February 5^th, Lift and Learn is a free event teaching tech, barista, and brewing skills to coffee professionals and would-be professionals alike.

Taking place at GEVA Coffee, Lift and Learn is a collaborative effort between the HCC, Urnex, and Counter Culture that will give attendees a chance to learn “tech building preventative maintenance skills” and “barista brewing and espresso skills.” Led by Pit Crew’s Allen Leibowitz, Counter Culture’s Eli Ramirez, and Blacksmith’s Antoine Franklin, folks can sign up for classes on steam wand rebuilds, grinder preventative maintenance, basic hand skills, and espresso fundamentals.

It’s not all learning (and lifting) though, food trucks will be on-site for anyone who works up an appetite, and beer is being sponsored by Slow Pour Supply. A hard day’s works deserves a coldie, y’know.

The event gets started at 6:00pm at GEVA Coffee on Tuesday, February 5^th. Attendance is free, but an RSVP is required via Eventbrite, which can be done here. For more information, visit the Houston Coffee Collective’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 the Houston Coffee Collective

Disclosure: Counter Culture and Urnex are advertising partners with the Sprudge Media Network

The post Houston: Get Skilled At Lift And Learn appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The social and political climates of every economy in our world are undergoing widespread change. Whether or not it’s realized, the laws of our lands and the commentary that comes with them affect every facet of our lives. Coffee isn’t immune to this—as a global industry, it depends on the exploitation of black and brown farmers and international laws of trade to thrive.

We look to coffee professionals in Iran, who are currently barred from participating in SCA events and WCE competitions thanks to the Trump administration, and Guatemalans leaving coffee behind in search for a better, safer life. Not only are these examples of the close relationship coffee has with politics, but the way our media portrays these people and events often demonizes them instead of informing the general public. As a result, portions of this public sometimes feel emboldened to react in dangerous ways.

In the state of Victoria in Australia, similar things are happening. Over the last year, unfair, racist media and political persecution has heavily affected Sudanese-Australians. Apparently, Melbourne is experiencing a rise in violence due to “African gangs,” but this is a myth. The sensationalism by Australian media outlets is doing more harm to these communities than good.

In the world of coffee, stepping in to stand up for the underserved and wrongly persecuted has become a new norm. It’s an acknowledgement of the very communities that produce the fruit an entire industry is built off of. From Sprudge’s multiple national fundraisers for refugees and asylum seekers to Department of Brewology’s Filter Coffee, Not People campaign—both helped send a message in strong support of people banned at US borders.

1951 Coffee Company in Berkeley, California offers employment to refugees also. Across the world in Singapore, Bettr Barista puts its focus on at-risk youth and marginalised women within their own community.

Despite the industry as a whole often toeing the line of humanitarianism and White savior complexes, it’s needless to say: the world of coffee has a heart to act for the social good of people because people are its core.

But in Melbourne—a city globally known and highly revered for its cafe culture—there rings a silence toward mobilizing for this cause in the coffee scene.

This isn’t true for every cause—there was an outpouring of community support for Australia’s vote to legalize gay marriage, and cafes have worked together nationally to raise money for the homeless. Richmond cafe Long Street Coffee also joins the list of places that employ refugees and recent migrants to Australia. Since we are in the age of coffee businesses utilizing their place in society as social third spaces to take strong stances for marginalized people everywhere, this could be an opportunity for Melbourne to join in. But as time passes, the current silence is beginning to speak volumes.

i.O.G.

In North Melbourne at Auction Rooms Cafe, three Sudanese-Australian artists—members of the collective Burn City Movement: Wantu Tha One, i.O.G, and Prince Leo—gather over coffee. They speak openly with Sprudge about their experience being seen as outsiders in a society they grew up in, and how the coffee community could play a role in fighting back against the political and media circus.

“Growing up in Australia was a wild experience,” i.O.G begins. He’s lived here almost half his life, having moved to Melbourne from South Sudan in 2006. “I grew up in the suburbs, where it was safer than most. Over the years, it’d been peaceful. But now it’s getting serious.”

I.O.G is referring to the recent rise in race-related incidents since the media’s reporting on the “African gang crisis” in the state of Victoria. This sensationalism has lingered in the media all year. Isolated incidents of South Sudanese youth committing crime have been exaggerated, so much so the Prime Minister himself spoke out against the so-called issue.

Wantu Tha One

“The Prime Minister of Australia is blurting out nonsense about African gangs and Sudanese-specific communities, while the police commissioner says this is far from a crisis; just a group of young people getting together now and again committing petty crimes,” says Wantu Tha One. “The statistics don’t add up to what they’re saying.”

And he’s right—crimes committed by Sudanese people in Victoria accounted for 1% of all crime in 2017. While many Victorians know and understand the demonization of South Sudanese people in Australia is to cause unwarranted fear for political party votes, Sudanese-Australians question why it comes at the expense of their own communities. At the same time, some are trying to find creative ways to address these problems while bringing everyone together.

This is where coffee can come in.

Wantu says, “The first thing—[Melbourne] coffee culture would have to find a way to welcome people of all backgrounds. And from there, we can feel more comfortable utilizing these spaces to come together.” Although they’re not the only black people in the cafe on this particular Sunday afternoon, they stand out. The stares from patrons of the cafe are glaringly apparent, but the vibe isn’t inherently unwelcoming.

“[Coffee shops] are more friendly in the city,” Wantu continues. “You find more open minds, and you’re greeted with a friendly smile. There are other areas where you walk into the shop and you feel out of place automatically.”

In the decades following the White Australia Policy ending in 1973, Australia promoted multiculturalism. The City of Melbourne proudly calls itself home to “one of the world’s most harmonious and culturally diverse communities,” reflected heavily in the city’s culinary spread, including coffee. But when you walk into one of the numerous cafes residents and tourists alike have to choose from, folks on both sides of the bar look mostly the same.

There’s a chance for Melbourne cafes to not only open their space to have these conversations and mobilize for the community, but offer jobs, as well. After all, being a barista is considered a serious profession in Australia—often viewed as a trade.

Certain politicians have suggested Sudanese people aren’t adjusting quickly enough to Australian culture. This is an interesting point to make considering the lack of support received overall after migration from a war-torn country to a society much different than their own. But maybe it’s here—at the coffee shop—where the lines that have clearly been drawn to divide Australians can begin to blur.

Prince Leo

Prince Leo asserts, “I don’t drink coffee on a daily basis, but I do respect the culture. Over here, it’s more than coffee. It’s social. It’s a vibe. We can use that to bring more awareness to what’s happening right now.”

The idea of spending time behind the espresso machine riles up the conversation as the group sips on cappuccinos and gazes at the baristas working. Wantu says, “Being a barista, you get to meet and connect with a lot of different people. And the idea of having coffee meet-ups to have a space for these connections could make a change.”

In a city where coffee is woven into the fabric of society, the amount of influence the coffee community has is immense. The community can take a stand for its fellow Australians and help change the narrative hurting Sudanese communities. If diversity is truly something we should champion and celebrate instead, standing by silently while certain groups of people are demonized is a step in the wrong direction.

Very recently, Victoria voted to re-elect Labor Party leader Daniel Andrews to office in the state elections. Similar to the American Democratic party, Victorians rejected “a campaign based on fear and division“ in overwhelming numbers. If this is truly the case, there’s no better time for the people of Victoria to band together and slow the ripple effects of this year’s political and media storm.

As Melbourne-based lawyer, activist, and Sudanese-Australian Nyadol Nyuon put it in the Saturday Paper:

“When the voting is done, and political careers are secured or lost, when the journalists put down their ‘pens’ and head to their families or bed, and when the publishers are onto the next story, the resultant scars from this episode of moral panic will still be carved into our lives. And they will still be there, weakening the ties that bind us into a shared identity as Victorians.”

Perhaps these ties can be strengthened again, if at the very least, over a cup of coffee.

Michelle Johnson (@thechocbarista) is the publisher of The Chocolate Barista. Read more Michelle Johnson on Sprudge.

The post In Melbourne, Debunking The African Gang “Crisis” Over Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Polar Vortex is here, and IT. IS. COLD. Despite supplications from the simple-minded, more global warming isn’t going to save us or make it warmer. In fact, some would argue (read: scientists and people who believe scientists) that this dangerous cold snap is actually caused by global warming. It sounds odd, I know. If it makes the earth hot, then why is it so cold, huh science? It’s all just some ivory tower conspiracy to make me putter around in a car powered by rubber bands instead of rolling coal the way God intended.

Winter storms don't prove that global warming isn't happening. https://t.co/LDqfq4JH9n pic.twitter.com/ndmLD637Cb

— NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAAClimate) January 29, 2019

But no matter which side of the global warming hoax you fall on, we can all agree on one thing: it’s really, really cold outside. And this is especially true in Chicago, where an entire city’s coffee habit threatened by historically low temperatures. Shops all around the Windy City are closing or operating with limited hours.

And because we love you and want to make sure you’re safe and not chasing a caffeine fix in vain, dear citizens of the Second City, we’ve compiled a list of Chicago cafes that maybe you shouldn’t visit today, Wednesday, January 30th, if you’re trying to find a warm cup of coffee.

CLOSED:

Ipsento
Caffe Umbria
Wormhole
Cup & Spoon
Metric
Werewolf Coffee Bar
Purple Llama

LIMITED HOURS:

Caffe Streets: open 7:00am–1:00pm
Colectivo Coffee: open 8:30am–3:00pm

If you absolutely must get out to get coffee, Passion House, 4 Letter Word and all Intelligentsia locations are open, with the latter offering $2 off any drink with purchase of a pastry.

Be safe out there, y’all.

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 Law.com

The post The Polar Vortex Has Cancelled Coffee In Chicago appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Barista Championship Qualifiers in Nashville in January was characterized by cool, collected baristas delivering academic routines and meaningful conversations (revisit all the action on Sprudge Live here and here). But in an afternoon of weighty work, a barista named Sarah Gill—owner of Mama Mocha’s in Auburn, Alabama—stepped up to the stage and delivered a perfomance full of life and self.

“Most people call me Mama Mocha,” she started, then delivered a performance so full of infectious laughter and Southern charm that the crowd erupted into delighted cheers every time she addressed them. When the lid to her ice cream popped off and unexpectedly hit a judge, she turned to make a joke out of it with the crowd, encouraging everyone (including the judge) to laugh about it with her. If you missed her performance, you really owe it to yourself to go back and watch—it’s available here. (Start at 6:44:19)

Gill ended up officially disqualified from the competition due to time, but did so with such grace, humor, and charm that she walked away a deserving crowd favorite. There is no “People’s Choice” honorarium in the USBC circuit; perhaps there should be.

I caught up Sarah Gill by phone a week later to talk about all things Southern, being a mama and entrepreneur, and what competing in Nashville meant to her.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

Introduce us to your work as Mama Mocha.

I’m a mama to one rambunctious son. Our family is the most important thing, and that means doing business the old fashioned way. He comes with me to work, and someday he’ll help out in the shop. I started Mama Mocha’s Coffee Emporium about 10 years ago. We were born in a tiny 11 ft x 16 ft room in the back of Newsroom, a used book store where all the baristas went to hang out in Auburn, Alabama. The store was doing a tiny espresso bar with pour-overs, no batch brewing at all. Everyone was like, “What is this?” It was very new for people then.

When I bought the bar and started Mama Mocha’s, I wanted to do it without the trendiness, which I think has been to my benefit. I was able to make my own flavor, my own style of how I roast and brew. We aren’t the million-dollar white box that is trendy other places. Where I am it’s a bunch of thrift store velvet couches with classic darker roasts in mismatched cups. Our location in Opelika has a covered front porch and a bodega where people walk up. It’s the South: We still love biscuits and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but we’re drinking specialty coffee.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Gill.

How did you get into coffee in Alabama? How did you get into roasting?

I was working at a Starbucks, and they wanted to make me a GM at 19. But I saw the hard lines on all of the managers faces around me, saw my future in that, and thought, “Hell no.” So I moved to Auburn and started working in independent coffee. In 2009, I went to the SCAA conference and realized, “Oh, I can open a roasting company.”

I learned roasting all my dang self. Auburn was very much an island. I didn’t have anywhere to go to learn coffee. I talked to people in Atlanta, I went to SCAA conferences, I read everything I could online, I got books. When I bought a tiny three kilo roaster, I didn’t know anything about anything. I roasted 14 hours a day over and over again until I liked what I was making. It was hard, but I didn’t have any choice but to make it work. It was bootstrapping times 10.

What is it like running an independent specialty shop in a small town?

Today, we have a full roastery in the Lebanon Art District of Opelika, Alabama. Opelika doesn’t allow corporations in; there’s only small businesses, families supporting families. So we bootstrapped again and opened in an old warehouse there, where the streets are rough and it’s just gritty enough to be cool. My husband (Taylor Gill, but everyone calls him Papa Mocha) did all the construction to make it work for us. Now there’s a bodega in the front, and a sensory lab in the back where we cup all our coffee. We use language that mimics the Sensory Lexicon. Our baristas are all career baristas, they’re the shining light of Mama Mocha’s.

We’re not in a giant metropolis. I’m happy in my small community, roasting for shops close enough to personally deliver to. We love supporting local, and supporting women-owned businesses. I am all about community over competition and supporting other cafes in my neighborhood. I feel sad that I have to say this, but we’re a safe space. I’m a cisgendered straight married white woman, but I’m progressive and an LGBTQ ally. I’m a Christian but Mama Mocha’s is not a Christian company. Christianity and coffee are real close in the South, but one of our only rules is no proselytization in the cafe. I want anyone to come in and not feel like there’s an agenda against them.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Gill.

How did competing in Nashville feel to you?

The other people in this competition are totally unlike me, a different breed of barista. They are like mixologists and I’m not doing that. When I was training, it was on a $1,000 espresso machine and a KitchenAid burr grinder. When I got there, I thought I was going to be nervous, but it was really easy to hold my head up high because I’ve already built my legacy. I’m not trying to prove myself. Even though it was the most glorious display of crash and burn I’ve ever done [Gill went more than a minute over time and didn’t finish her signature beverage] it felt awesome to tell my story and let go of the point system.

As soon as I let go, I could feel the audience’s sense of relief. It was an energy shift that erupted into laughter and cheers. They knew I didn’t give a shit, that I wasn’t restricted by the same scripts and cadence that’s been done in the past. I wasn’t trying to make a mockery of the point system and everything US Coffee Champs has built—but there’s more to being a barista than just those parameters. The process was so good for me. Developing the routine got me back to my roots, it developed a fire behind me that I haven’t had for a while. I left Nashville with such a great feeling of accomplishment.

Talk us through the signature beverage you made.

I was originally going to do a play on the beverage-that-shall-not-be-named, a dark brown sugar quad latte over tapioca pearls, but was told I couldn’t because it had to be drinkable. I watched videos of people smoking stuff and adding two grams of God-knows-what and thought, “This is so extra.” I wanted to honor what Mama Mocha’s coffee style and come up with a compromise between what I know and love as Southern coffee culture and what I saw in the videos, so I came up with something similar to a classic espresso affogato.

But I can’t make ice cream! My ice cream would be awful. I love Häagen-Dazs, so I used their vanilla. I muddled it because when you just pour espresso over ice cream it doesn’t drink well. So it was essentially a hand-muddled espresso milkshake. Monin makes this dope line of concentrated flavors, so I added their basil concentrate, as well as a wreath of rosemary around the bottom of the glass for extra olfactory herbal play. I smoked the glasses using a pecan log. On stage in Nashville I was behind, so I cut this out, but the drink was supposed to include smoking satsuma peels with the log, then I was going to rim the glass with the peel and use dragonfruit as an accoutrement to mimic the juiciness of the espresso. I call it The Bougie Bouquet, and it’s delicious.

Sara Frinak cheering on Gill.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank?

Sara Frinak, who manages Brewers Cup, was one of the starting baristas at Newsroom. She grew up in Auburn, she was a roaster and manager for me for a long time, and now she works for Ally, one of my importers. She was the one who came to me and said, “Mama, you need to be a competitor.” She encouraged me to go to preliminaries, and then she came and helped me piece together a routine and play mad scientist.

And of course I have to thank my sweet husband Papa Gill, my entire staff who are the heart beat of Mama Mocha’s, my mom and dad who always have my back, and God.

Valorie Clark (@TheValorieClark) is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. Read more Valorie Clark on Sprudge.

All photos by Charlie Burt for the Sprudge Media Network unless otherwise noted.

The post Sarah Gill Of Mama Mocha’s: The Sprudge Interview appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Hate to say we told ya so, but we definitely don’t hate it at all, so here goes… WE TOLD YOU SO. The Howard Schultz 2020 campaign has just been upgraded from “possibly maybe” to “definitely maybe” thanks to a tweet from the former Starbucks CEO. The Twitter announcement about the potential for Schultz to possible consider maybe running for president came out two days ago, January 27^th, and well, it’s never a good sign when your announcement about maybe there being an announcement gets ratioed to high hell.

I love our country, and I am seriously considering running for president as a centrist independent.

— Howard Schultz (@HowardSchultz) January 28, 2019

Schultz states that were he to run, it would be as a “centrist independent,” which has left many on Twitter to worry that this would split the Democratic vote, allowing for four more years of what the hell it is we currently have going on in the White House.

I’m an American political historian and I can assure you that the only thing you’ll accomplish by running for president as a centrist independent is helping re-elect Donald Trump.

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 28, 2019

Howard, I like your coffee, but please don’t do this. You’re not going to win. You’re just going to make it easier for @realDonaldTrump to win.

— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) January 28, 2019

Others have offered Schultz, who stated in the original article that serving his country didn’t necessarily mean a run for office, alternative ways to help.

Or how about tackling a problem like clean water in Flint? Or helping to rebuild Puerto Rico? Do something that has a tangible effect instead of spending however long your campaign lasts to muck up the process. You still have time to redirect here.

— Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) January 28, 2019

Literally just get up tomorrow morning and match Bill Gates contributions to vaccines and you'll do more for the world than this entire vanity project.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 28, 2019

Then this nitwit had an opinion on a thing.

Howard Schultz doesn’t have the “guts” to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the “smartest person.” Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019

And there’s American Treasure Michale McKean.

Sir, this is a Peet's.

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) January 28, 2019

Bless you, Doug Forcett. You just earned so many points.

Schultz has made no official announcement, but assuming he takes the time to glance at how well this whole “maybe I’ll run” thing has been going thus far, he may reconsider. And who knows, maybe he would be a good president? We have literally never had a successful businessperson in charge of the country before.

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

The post Howard Schultz Is “Seriously Considering” Running For President appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Step into the posh, pastel entry to Felix Roasting Co. and you might forget for a moment (or for several moments, what’s the hurry for?) you’re on New York City’s Park Avenue South. You might be in New Orleans, Paris, Miami Beach, or perhaps some strange hybrid of the three.

Felix—which comprises three spacious rooms at street level and will soon boast a large coffee lab and tasting room in the basement—is decidedly unique for its environs. Beyond the decor, it’s a place that evokes a slower pace than the bustling streets outside. In fact, says Reagan Petrehn, Felix’s head of brand and “coffee stuff” guy, the goal is to pull you off the streets of Manhattan both figuratively and literally.

Reagan Petrehn

Kansas City native Petrehn plays the classic coffee-wunderkind-amidst-splashy-investment role here, and his hospitality and warmth are as infectious as his talking points are down pat. As he guides me through the front of the cafe—which he says they call “The Hall”—towards a stunning round coffee bar beneath a domed ceiling (which the team earnestly calls “The Sanctuary”), he points out the intention behind each element of the space. The Park Avenue South facing side of the curved copper-topped bar serves as the fast bar, Petrehn explains, with a “G&B-style pre-dosing experience” for speed. Service is anchored by a La Marzocco Linea PB and twin Malkhönig EK43s, alongside a suite of opulent copper-plated toys like a Mazzer Kold grinder, Modbar AV-ABR modules, and Marco MIX water boiler. The fast bar focus is primarily on espresso service, and no pour-over is offered.

In an expression of expansive interstate commerce, the beans themselves, while roasted under the Felix banner, are done so with remote consultation in faraway Houston, Texas. “Our logistics are so efficient with the roastery being located in Houston that it’s hard to justify the rent in NYC for the small gain in convenience,” explains Petrehn as we advance towards the back of the space, known as “The Lounge.” The Lounge is similar to “The Hall” but with less natural light, and I’m assured laptop use and hanging out is encouraged. It’s here I meet founder Matt Moinian, hotelier-investor who is in fact, using his laptop and hanging out. Along with Moinian, the operation is steered by design partner Ken Fulk and a handful of other busy crew, ever milling about behind the bar making sure everything seems perfect, and supervising the build-out of a downstairs tasting lab geared towards wholesale, education, and events. (I’m told it will look like an Italian wine cellar, and I don’t doubt this.)

Tea and pastries are currently the only outsourced elements here. The former comes from Spirit Tea, while the latter come from the Lower East Side’s Supermoon Bakehouse, with doughy selections ranging from classics to vibrantly colored croissants. Alternative milks, such as oat and almond, are produced in-house.

It’s hard to call out any one favorite element of Fulk’s eye-catching interior concept: the starburst blush-and-teal terrazzo floor radiating enthusiastically outward from the bar, the basketweave detailing on the sanctuary ceiling, the variations of Arabica blossom wallpaper throughout the space. Indeed, clever touches—whether coffee-focused or design-focused—dominate here, from the condiment bar with chilled lines drawing the house-milked almond milk and its friends up from the basement, to the four different designs of to-go cups, to the coffee-botanical-design-adorned custom hand towels (yes) in the bathroom. It’s all a part of what Petrehn says is drawn from “many different time periods and aesthetics”—a goal of making you a little lost in space and time, not sure of where you might be at all, except for here, very specifically inside Felix.

And of course, a place with such aspirations of grandeur would be remiss without a performative slow bar. Seasonal drinks rotate here, like a campfire-experience-inspired s’mores latte, or a deconstructed espresso tonic served up in a snifter with fresh basil, Campari reduction, and a rosewater spritz. “We have a few people that come back every day for one,” says Petrehn of the signature drinks with prices well above $10.

We are, after all—as much as the owners might like you to forget it—still in Midtown Manhattan.

Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge Media Network and the co-author of Where to Drink Coffee. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge.

The post Get Lost In The Elegance At New York City’s Felix Roasting Co. appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Coffee is the next frontier for entrepreneurial technologists looking to make an impact on a budding industry. Just have a look around Kickstarter and you’ll find all manner of coffee inventions, re-inventions, and re-inventions that are actually no different than the original product they are supposedly revolutionizing; not all ideas are good ones (or new ones). But now, the next frontier is heading to the final frontier: space, as two entrepreneurs are going to roast coffee in space “to produce perfectly roasted coffee beans.”

According to The Guardian, Space Roasters is the brainchild of Anders Cavallini and Hatem Alkhafaji. The Dubai pair’s plan is to shoot a pressurized tank filled with 300kg of green coffee into space—around 200km, or 124 miles, in height (for reference, the ozone is around 30km from the earth)—and then let the heat from re-entry do all the roasting. Their theory is essentially that gravity accounts for the flaws in coffee roasting: “beans tumble around, break apart, and are scorched by contact with the hot surfaces of the roaster,” per the article. But in space, where no one can hear your beans go to first crack, “if gravity is removed, the beans float around in a heated oven, giving them 360 degrees of evenly distributed heat and roasting to near perfection.”

According to The Guardian, the temperature inside the capsule will be held at around 200°C (392°F) for the entirety of the 20-minute plummet back to earth. Cavallini and Alkhafaji are unsure yet how much they will charge per cup of their space coffee, but seeing how it will be sold in Dubai, it’s safe to say it will fall in the “fuckton of dirhams” range. According to their website, a pre-sale starts in four weeks, where the price will presumably be revealed.

The real question is—other than the very obvious, “Why?! Why are you doing this!?!—will the coffee be any good? 20 minutes is a pretty long roast time, at least by terrestrial standards, but 200°C is a very low temperature. Like, “may not make it to first crack” low. I’m no roaster or anything, but that doesn’t quite sound like a recipe for success. Or good coffee. Though, Cavallini has “over five years experience, roasting, brewing, tasting coffee from around the world,” according to a very ambiguous statement on the company’s about the duo’s coffee bona fides, so maybe they know what they’re doing?

But what is progress and innovation without a few over-engineered misfires? And who knows, maybe this one isn’t a stinker. Maybe this sous-vide free fall through space is how all coffee will be roasted in the future. I have my doubts, but I’m willing to be proven wrong if Cavallini and Alkhafaji want to send me some coffee to try, ideally by not targeting a plummeting coffee rocket ship at my house.

Hopefully the coffee won’t collide with the La Colombe Draft Latte Todd Carmichael shot into space (if he did in fact send one to space, though we have our doubts).

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

The post So We’re Shooting Coffee Into Space To Roast It Now, Huh appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News