Best Coffee in Honolulu – The Curb Kaimuki

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photos courtesy of Superior Merchandise Company.

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Source: Coffee News

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

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

The new members are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top image via the SCA

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Source: Coffee News

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

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

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

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

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

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

Janga and Beljaars, with daughter Mia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Janga foresees a reentry into the ring.

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

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

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

The post Rotterdam With A Flair For Melbourne At Harvest Coffee Brewers appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

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

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

View all past Sprudgie Award winners here. 

Cast your ballot! Tell your friends! Nominate your heroes! A lot of really good stuff happened this year in coffee and it’s time to tell the world. So don’t boo, vote! Nominate your heroes today. Best of luck to everyone and we’ll be back shortly with finalists to share with the world.

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

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

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

Source: Coffee News

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

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

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

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

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

Listen, subscribe and review The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes.

Download the episode here.

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

Sprudge is an official media partner of US Coffee Championships.

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

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

See y’all in Nashville!

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

Source: Coffee News

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

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

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

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

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

Top image via Minor Figures

The post Chill Out With Minor Figures CBD Post-Coffee Drops appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Photo courtesy of Djaro G.

“De Poezenboot. Goedemorgen?” That translates to “The Catboat. Good morning?” and it is how Judith, in a warm yet clearly down-to-business voice, answers the office phone. She is the manager and the public—human—face of a cat refuge long moored in the Singel, a large canal that once moated Amsterdam’s medieval center and still provides the embankment for Golden Age mansions.

By contrast, De Poezenboot (pronounced “POOH-sen boat”; poezen is Dutch for “cats”) appears as a simple wooden rectangle floating on concrete, in a boat style known as an ark. Hardly of Noah dimensions, the shelter can hold 50 cats at a time—this month they’re the chosen charity supported by sales of Santa Claude, a special holiday coffee collaboration between Sprudge, Cafe Imports, Roundhill Roasters, and Dutch Pack. Currently, there are 17 in-house cats, each with a distinctive personality, and while most of the cats at the shelter are rehomed in short order, some are too rascally to place with families, and now call De Poezenboot their forever floating home.

Kasumi is a yellow-eyed Persian that hams it up for the camera, but gets pushed aside by her housemates during mealtime and pees where she pleases. Samus, the dead ringer for Scut Farkus, comes with his own scratch-warning sign and last year posed in a photo with Ricky Gervais.

On a recent Wednesday, one of the two days the boat is closed to the public, Judith sat at her desk in the reception area. Between fielding calls, she talked about De Poezenboot and sipped a drink that Sprudge picked up prior to the interview. Good Beans, a nearby espresso bar which this past summer came under new American-Norwegian ownership, prepared Judith’s hot chocolate and an Americano with their own Rwandan Bourbon roast. The coffee went to Michi, a feline portrait artist and the volunteer that morning taking care of rigorous kennel cleaning.

Even though stray animals are not a systemic problem in the Netherlands, De Poezenboot has plenty of work. It takes in cats that are occasionally found on the street, orphaned, aging, or otherwise too difficult for owners to continue tending.

“Sometimes we have a whole family crying here because they have to bring in their cat,” says Judith.

As a schoolchild, she was one of De Poezenboot’s earliest volunteers, and eventually became a friend and a caregiver to Henriëtte van Weelde, the woman who began the sanctuary. That was in 1968, on a barge one canal over. Van Weelde died at age 90 in 2005.

Today, the De Poezenboot has 22 volunteers, organized into fixed teams that rotate boat shifts. Their main responsibilities are feeding, administering medicine, and cleaning. They also keep an eye on the neighborhood swan that likes to swim up to the deck and out-hiss its water-wary canal-mates. Some volunteers double as foster parents, socializing and nursing cats to more adoptable states. Judith had planned to do precisely that with a once “really tiny and scared” kitten, she recalls, but eight years later, Jumi is her family pet (as is a merle-coated Chihuahua named Rosa).

The boat survives on donations, with money put towards cat provisions plus mooring and other houseboat-related costs. The small fee that adopters pay largely covers health costs, including sterilization, vaccination, chipping, and sometimes deworming.

This past June, De Poezenboot celebrated its 50 year anniversary. Feline-themed festivities aside, the jubileum allowed the organization to raise funds for a campaign to help financially struggling Amsterdammers get their cats spayed and neutered “almost for free,” says Judith. The program is scheduled to run in February 2019.

In the meantime, rehoming remains the main mission. Would-be adopters who see a listing on the website or via social media can call or visit to inquire if they might be a good match.

“We do want to have the cats go to the most suitable house,” Judith emphasizes. “If we have a cat, for instance, that is scared of kids, but really beautiful, and somebody comes in and says, ‘Oh I like that beautiful cat,’ but she has three screaming kids, she will not get the cat.”

Yet, most adopters are, much like the creature they covet, sensitive and self-assured.

“We get nice people, people that think about what they’re doing, not people who are like ‘Oh give me a cat, and I don’t mind what kind of cat. Just give me one,’” says Judith.

Included in that group are business proprietors that seek a mouser or, for whatever reason, a whiskered workplace companion. Up the block, Café Kobalt got “a red one from us,” notes Judith, “and Café de Doelen also.” More recently, a local cigar store requested neither a cafe lounger nor a lap-sitter, but rather “an independent cat that goes his own way.” The satisfied owner has already emailed photos, says Judith. “Everybody loves him and he’s running through the store.”

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

Support De Poezenboot and drink delicious coffee with Santa Claude! Worldwide shipping available.

The post De Poezenboot! We Brought Coffee To Amsterdam’s Delightful Floating Cat Charity appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Last year, we told you about the Ember, a “smart mug” that regulates the temperature of your coffee via a smart phone app. We may or may not have tossed around words like “overly complicated” and “you don’t need” and “$80.” Suffice to say, it didn’t make it to the final stages of the Sprudgie nominations. But you know who thinks we’re wrong? The Jonas Brothers. Most of them anyway.

CNBC reports that Nick and Joe Jonas are investors in the Ember. No Kevin, though. Kevin gets it.

After what some would consider a successful “music” career, Mr.’s Priyanka Chopra and Sophie Turner, respectively, have turned their sights to investing and comprise part of the $45 million the Ember has raised thus far, though the exact amount of Jonas money in not mentioned.

“Hot coffee is a big deal,” say Joe, which is the sort of thing you’d expect to hear from a person named after coffee twice. Though it’s a statement that is true and I agree with, I still find it somewhat infuriating, at least as an investment strategy. And what does Joe Jonas know? He’s got weird opinions about cold brew and “bougie third wave coffee [shops].”

But the Brothers Jonii aren’t the only celebrities that have put their money where their temperature-regulated coffee mug goes. Professional football players and noted best friends Aaron Rodgers and Ndamukong Suh, seen here playing a friendly game of Ankle-Step Butt-Slap, are also listed in the CNBC article as investors in the Ember.

via NESN.com

They may never agree on whether or not you should be allowed to stomp on the neck of an opposing player, but if there’s one thing they can unite around, it’s battery powered coffee mugs.

The Ember has a current valuation at $140 million and has already netted north of $10 million this year, so what do I know? Nothing about coffee mugs or investing it would seem.

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

Top image via People

The post Most Of The Jonas Brothers Are Burnin’ Up Over This Coffee Mug appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Enthusiasm in coffee is easy to come by; the first step of almost everyone’s third wave journey is doe-eyed excitement at this beverage they’ve consumed their whole lives but only now feel like they are really seeing for the first time. The tricky part comes in keeping that same sense of wonderment as one progresses through their coffee career, to not get jaded by the workaday rigamarole. Even after years working a variety of jobs in the coffee industry, husband and wife Ben and Haley Lytle have found a way to not let their enthusiasm dull; they have honed it, sharpened it. And it’s that excitement that is on full display at Cryptozoology, the brand new coffee bar for this pair of first-time owners, opened inside Denton’s Armadillo Ale Works.

Inside the 5,500-square-foot space, Cryptozoology occupies just one half of the bar top stretching across the southernmost wall. The rest of the space is devoted to fermentation tanks or communal, picnic table seating, almost all of which have at least one person sitting at them. It’s no small feat for a shop opened less than a month ago to have this sort of draw in a college town full of already established and very, very good coffee bars and to do so without any pull from Armadillo, yet to officially open their taproom. But one stop in and it is easy to see why.

Ben Lytle

During my visit to Cryptozoology, Ben (who full disclosure, was a coworker of mine at a local coffee roaster a few years ago) was working the counter and greeted everyone—and I mean everyone—by name; each guest was already a regular. A mix of big personality and bigger hair, Ben’s natural habitat is behind the bar, interacting with people. Intently focused on making drinks at the two-group Synesso Hydra, Haley is the yin to his yang. Whereas you might expect Ben—winner of the 2016 Western Conference Brewers Cup, his only year to compete—to be the person making the drinks, the espresso machine is Haley’s domain. Originally a schoolteacher before diving headfirst into specialty coffee and taking a barista position at Shift Coffee in Denton, Haley is academic, efficient. She quietly churns out drinks while Ben takes orders, never falling behind even with a line that refuses to let up, perhaps aided by the leisurely pace set by the stop-and-chat nature of ordering drinks at Cryptozoology. This experience, in a nutshell, is what Ben and Haley—currently the coffee bar’s only two employees—want to define Cryptozoology.

Haley Lytle

“Our mission is to serve really great coffee quickly and with great hospitality,” Haley tells me. “Ben and I really have a heart for hospitality, but wouldn’t it be great for a coffee shop to have both warm personalities AND stellar coffee?!” Ben adds, “For me, I’m idealistic, and I want Cryptozoology to be pushing the boundaries of quality and experimenting with service styles while simultaneously being a place that’s welcoming to anybody who ordinarily feels alienated by specialty coffee. We take coffee really seriously behind the bar so that our guests don’t have to!”

And while you don’t have to be really into coffee to have a great experience at Cryptozoology, it certainly helps as they have one of, if not, the most progressive coffee programs in the entire DFW Metroplex. Similar to that of Denver’s Amethyst Coffee, Cryptozoology adheres to an “any coffee, any way you want it” approach. Their menu consists of offerings from two rotating roasters—San Francisco’s Ritual Coffee and Bellingham’s Camber Coffee during my visit—that can be made as a pour-over using Crypto’s preferred brew method, the December Dripper, or as an espresso, pulled as an EK shot on one of the two Synesso groupheads specifically calibrated for this style of drink. Or you can just order an espresso or a latte and the Lytles will serve you their house espresso from the Mahlkönig K30 grinder in a more ristretto style (as compared to the longer EK shot, at least).

Cryptozoology also keeps a handful of non-coffee-forward drinks on offer, including a carbonated iced black tea made with Spirit Tea, because “if you don’t have good iced tea in Texas, what are you even doing?” Ben tells me with a smile. Or, if you fancy something a little sweeter, the Mothman may be more your speed. Espresso based, the Mothman includes sweetened condensed milk, sea salt, and a touch of activated charcoal and can be served hot or over ice.

In the future, Ben and Haley will be collaborating with Armadillo for some taproom-only coffee beers. I’ve already put in a not-so-subtle request for a shandy-style beverage combining Crypto’s carbonated tea with Armadillo’s Land Yacht IPA.

The coffee scene in Denton right now is crowded and it is only getting bigger, bolstered in no small part by a number of barista-forward cafes, where the owners will still strap on an apron and get dirty. It’s a tradition that Cryptozoology carries on, and even as this new coffee company grows and evolves, I wouldn’t expect that to change. The Lytles love being behind the bar. It’s where they belong.

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

The post Fantastic Drinks And Where To Find Them At Cryptozoology In Denton appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Alpha Dominche has shuttered.

The Brooklyn-via-Salt Lake City design company most known for the Steampunk, their modular automated immersion coffee and tea brewer, are ceasing all operations—sales, technical support, spare parts fulfillment, and internet/server maintenance—effective immediately. All social media accounts have been deleted.

The announcement came via a partners email from Alpha Dominche sent yesterday, December 4th, obtained by Sprudge via multiple sources. In it, the company confirms there will be “no further support available from Alpha Dominche to any customers, resellers, or affiliates.” From the email:

This past year we have explored every reasonable option to continue our business operations, but were unable to secure the resources necessary to continue. We deeply regret any hardship this causes our partners, customers, and friends within the coffee and tea industries. You have all been such a wonderful support and champion of our business over the past six years, and we are so thankful for the meaningful relationships we have built during this time.

In the wake of the news, many questions remain to be answered. The most pressing of which—at least for the 2,586 backers who committed over $230,000 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo—is what will become of the FLASK? A mix between an AeroPress and a French press, the FLASK was Alpha Dominche’s foray into hand brewing using similar, though manual, brewing methods to that of the Steampunk. It is unclear if any orders were shipped out before the closing. An email sent to backers states that the “company is exploring options to continue with fulfillment of the Kickstarter and Indiegogo [orders] if possible.”

And what of the Extraction Lab, AD’s Brooklyn showroom cafe generating all the buzz over the $18 cup of coffee? Will it remain in some fashion even with its namesake company closing? A call to the Extraction Lab has not been returned as of press time.

We have reached out to Alpha Dominche for comment and will update this article with more details as they are made available.

This story is developing…

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

Top image via Alpha Dominche

The post Alpha Dominche Has Ceased All Operations appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News