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Study Finds People Prefer Cold Brew Over Iced Coffee, Is Wrong

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recipe iced coffee lemonade da matteo gothenburg fika sprudge

recipe iced coffee lemonade da matteo gothenburg fika sprudge

A new, deeply flawed study finds that 66% of people prefer cold brew over iced coffee.

According to an article in Italian coffee trade website Comunicaffe, the study was performed by a company called Square Cottage, makers of a “French Press Design [sic] Cold Brew Coffee Maker.” For the weeklong survey, participants were asked to “alternate between cold brew, iced coffee, and hot coffee,” and “after each beverage, participants recorded how they felt based on several questions.” They found that 2:1 participants preferred cold brew to iced coffee.

There are some caveats here, though. Each participant was given one of Square Cottage’s “best French Press Cold Brew Coffee [Makers]” to use at home, meaning folks were responsible for making their own drinks, so there goes any sense of objectivity. It should also be noted that this is pretty much just a French press; sure it can make iced coffee, but there’s no guarantee it’s any good. I’d wager most folk’s idea of iced coffee is more of a filter/pour-over brew than a heavier, French pressed cup. It may just be the case that this particular brewer is better at making cold brew than it is iced coffee.

The point is: these results are wrong. While I’m not anti-cold brew (actually I’m anti-people-that-are-anti-cold brew), let’s be totally honest with each other here: if you’re offering tasters a crappy French press version of iced coffee, as opposed to, you know, something a bit more dialed in and flavor-focused, of course that is going to skewer the results. If you’d like to make some delicious iced coffee at home, we like Counter Culture’s method presented here by Lifehacker. If you’d prefer to drink some cold brew, that’s of course fine as well.

However, if your real preference is in producing poorly constructed, fundamentally flawed studies, then passing them off as legit coffee statistical points of reference to help sell brewing baubles and doodads, we are going to have some beef.

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 from This Iced Coffee Lemonade From Sweden Is Really, Really Good by Anna Brones.

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Source: Coffee News

Coffee Design: Aperture Coffee Roasters In Woodstock, Virginia

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There’s a new coffee company is roasting in Shenandoah Valley. Meet Aperture Coffee Roasters, a small operation lead by Shawn Garman and their partner Julien Garman along with Kevin Deans. Aperture rolled out on Instagram earlier this year and debuted on May 4th. Julien Garman designed the coffee packaging: we like the clean type and layout. Each offering has its own striking color with subtle striping. The bags are the popular stand-up matte laminate resealable pouches. We dig it! We spoke with the team at Aperture Coffee to learn more.

Tell us a bit about your company.

Aperture Coffee Roasters was founded in the Spring of 2018 and is based out of Woodstock, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. We’re a three-person team of a husband-and-wife duo (Shawn Garman is the CEO and head roaster, while Julien Garman mans the creative side of things), and our green sales coordinator and assistant roaster, Kevin Deans. With a strong focus on ethical sourcing and high-quality beans, we wanted to offer a cleaner, brighter cup of coffee for those interested in a more fulfilling coffee experience.

Who designed the package?

We’re really proud to say we designed everything in-house. Our co-founder, Julien Garman, has worked heavily in marketing and design for the past five years, so she was excited to take on this project. It took a lot of time and revisions, but we’re thrilled with how it turned out.

What coffee information do you share on the package?

On the front, we have our logo, roasting region (the Shenandoah Valley), the origin of the beans, tasting notes, and a special bag number. With Aperture being our central theme, we felt it’d be really fun to make each bag feel like it’s own work of art…so we number the bags so consumers know that what they’re getting is small-batch roasted and limited edition.

On the back, we tell a little of our story…how we started, and about our mission as a coffee roasting company. Of course, there are some promo pieces we couldn’t help but include (website, address, and Instagram) as well as the roast date. Then on our website, we talk about the farms where each bean is grown and sourced.

What’s the motivation behind that?

We wanted to be really thoughtful with every detail—from the angles on the front (mimicking light rays a la “aperture”) to the bag numbering feature—we wanted people to feel that they were really receiving something special. It was important that the design was as enticing and special as the coffee itself. Through the story on the back, we really wanted to share that we’re just a small team of people that are obsessed with coffee, hoping to spread a little joy with everyone who comes in contact with our beans.

Why are the aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

Packaging is really the first impression you can have on someone before they try your beans. We felt it was imperative that from the moment our box reaches your doorstep to the moment that coffee hits your tastebuds, you’re not just drinking coffee—you’re truly experiencing it.

Where is the bag manufactured?

It’s made here in the USA (Wausau, Wisconsin) and all materials are sourced locally within the United States as well.

Where is it currently available?

Right now, it’s exclusively available online at aperturecoffee.com, but will be featured in a few DC coffee shops this Fall!

Thanks!

Company: Aperture Coffee Company
Location: Woodstock, VA
Country: United States
Design Release: May, 2018
Designer: Julien Garman

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

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Source: Coffee News

Starbucks Teams Up With Alibaba For Coffee Delivery In China

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As previously reported here on Sprudge, Starbucks is feeling the heat in China. Multiple competitors—most notably Tim Horton’s and Luckin Coffee—are making big pushes within the country to knock Starbucks off the top of the hill. But Starbucks isn’t going down quietly. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Big Green Mermaid has agreed to join forces with Alibaba to offer a coffee delivery service.

Those in the coffee industry may be familiar with the name Alibaba, especially those in the product creation side of the biz. Alibaba is a Chinese-based clearinghouse of sorts for all manner of coffee products—more than a few of them using potentially stolen intellectual property—at bargain basement prices. They are also the owner of Ele.me, a food delivery service that can be found in thousands of cities within China, and it is this brand in particular that Starbucks in interested in.

According to the article, Starbucks will announce this week that they will be teaming up with Ele.me to deliver coffee and baked goods starting this fall. This move comes after a government crackdown on third-party delivery services that is at least partly to blame for Starbucks’ sales dropping by 2% over the past three months as well as a response specifically to Luckin Coffee, a Chinese upstart who has raised over $1 billion and opened over 600 locations this year alone, “mostly bare-bones shops where the coffee is brewed and carried to customers by scooter-riding delivery workers.”

Coffee is big money in China right now and Starbucks in looking to hold onto their estimated 80% market share. But it won’t be easy. Luckin, Tim Horton’s, and Costa are all trying to chip away at the coffee behemoth. Perhaps teaming up with Alibaba will keep the wolves at bay. Or maybe soon we’ll all be able to buy knock-off Howard Schultz’s for $.50 a pop (minimum order 500).

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 Camera Courage.

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Source: Coffee News

South Carolina’s York Coffee Offers Job Training For People With Disabilities

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york coffee roastery south carolina

york coffee roastery south carolina

In the specialty coffee industry, the roasting sector has traditionally been structured in ways that bar access to people with all types of disabilities, from the mobile to the sensory to the intellectual to the neurological. Upending that dynamic completely is South Carolina-based York Coffee Roastery, a job training roastery and storefront for people with intellectual disabilities, head and spinal cord injuries, and autism. The roastery and attached storefront opened just this month and are already seeing a wave of community support for their mission and work.

Born out of the residential and vocational support nonprofit MaxAbilities, York Coffee Roasters launched as a solution to a much larger problem. Typically, people with lifelong disabilities can get help through Medicaid, but the system also has huge gaps in coverage. “When you’re sick you get specific types of support, which are usually temporary,” explains Mary Poole, executive director of MaxAbilities and York Coffee Roastery. “But when you have a lifelong disability, you need things above and beyond a hospital stay or a particular medication. You need residential and vocational support, you may need physical and occupational therapy, and you’ll need those things well beyond your childhood years.” Those services come with long waiting lists, and not all individuals with lifelong disabilities have access to Medicaid, so MaxAbilities works to house and job-coach folks who fall through the cracks and create sustainable living situations for them as they reach adulthood.

york coffee roastery south carolina

York Coffee Roastery started as a way to provide concrete job training and placement using coffee as the vehicle. “Our goals are to give people skills, confidence, and a resume. Then, we utilize our job coaching services and find a job for those folks in the community. We’re trying to do all that without government funding,” says Poole. While workers are doing the real work of roasting, bagging, and serving coffee, they’re also developing a number of soft skills, like customer service, cleaning, and the ability to take criticism and follow a specific schedule. Trainees also learn basic computer skills on-site with coaches, developing resumes, and filling out online applications to get their next, more permanent job placements once they’ve been successfully integrated into a real-life work environment.

“It’s a job training center; the coffee is the vehicle that we’re using to help them understand what a job is. After roasting coffee, they might go be a janitor somewhere, or they might go and bus tables somewhere,” says Poole. After York Coffee Roastery, folks may never work in coffee again, but they learn skills that will allow them to do any job properly with the right training.

Unlike a lot of traditional coffee roasting setups, the roasting work is neither particularly physical nor dangerous; workers roast two-pound batches on four Sonofresco air roasters. The tables in the space are all height-adjustable so that workers of different heights can all access them with ease. “The coffee part is all new to me,” says Poole. “It’s been incredible to learn about the coffee side of things while using it for our larger mission.”

york coffee roastery south carolina

The cafe also tries to streamline coffee service as much as possible for a maximum focus on transferable skills; featuring batch brew, cold-brew, and a cappuccino/latte/espresso machine with pictures of drinks, the goal is less to train baristas and more to train workers. “Folks are cleaning the tables, learning about the drinks, but also just learning to interact with people they may not have interacted with otherwise,” says Poole. Just as crucial to the mission, the community also learns to interact with them. “We can sit here and say we want people with disabilities to have jobs all day long, but if business owners aren’t able to see the value of employing our folks and seeing all that they can bring to the table, they’re never going to get those jobs. The community needs to be just as invested in the mission as we are.”

In just the short time since York opened, they’ve seen an enthusiastic community response, including coverage from several local news stations. “Every time a piece goes out, our orders go through the roof,” says Poole. They’re currently selling retail bags online, in their storefront, and in a local farmer’s market, but have submitted the necessary applications to start selling their coffee wholesale as well.

york coffee roastery south carolina

“We’re trying to be innovative in our approach to job training,” says Poole. “Our folks are really enjoying the work; they really enjoy being there. We need to bring other people into the storyline—it can’t be about our mission existing in a vacuum. I think we can do it and we’re going to try.” In the specialty coffee world, we too need to think differently and focus on bringing everyone along. York Coffee Roastery offers a valuable precedent for a different way to think about coffee roasting spaces.

York Coffee Roastery is located at 132 Blackburn Street, York. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook.

RJ Joseph (@RJ_Sproseph) is a Sprudge staff writer, publisher of Queer Cup, and coffee professional based in the Bay Area. Read more RJ Joseph on Sprudge Media Network.

Photos by Michelle Shaffer unless otherwise noted.

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Source: Coffee News

San Francisco: Taste The First-Ever Harvest Of Gesha Village At Equator

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San Francisco! Tomorrow, August 2nd is a good day to drink coffee, as Equator Coffees & Teas will be hosting Adam Overton—co-owner of the Gesha Village Coffee Estate in Ethiopia—who will be bringing along with him a previewing one of the lots from their first-ever crop.

Taking place at 6:00pm at Equator’s downtown San Francisco cafe, The Gesha Village Preview is a chance for Bay Area residents to get to meet Overton, who will be discussing his 500-hectare farm as well as how the Gesha Village Coffee Estate acquired the seedstock from the Gori Gesha wild coffee forest just 20 kilometers away. Following the presentation, Overton will be available for a Q&A session with all attendees.

After the talk, guests will be able to be some of the first individuals to try Gesha Village’s Oma coffee, roasted by Equator. This is part of just their first harvest, some of which already sold at auction for over $100 a pound, but attendees will get to try it for free. For those unable to attend, all Equator cafes will be serving the Gesha Village Oma the following Monday, but for a cool $8 a cup.

The event is free to attend with no RSVP required. For more information, visit the Gesha Village Preview Facebook event page.

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 Gesha Village Coffee Estate.

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Source: Coffee News

Build-Outs Of Summer: Ironclad Coffee Roasters In Richmond, VA

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ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

One of the real joys in reading the Build-Outs of Summer that come our way each year is seeing how new cafes are repurposing old buildings. Sure, a ground-up build is also exciting, but getting to see coffee shops get creative within limitations while preserving sometimes 100-year-old historical structures is always satisfying. You get to see new spaces retain and add to the character of a place.

Our next stop is doing just that. Ironclad Coffee Roasters in Richmond, Virginia is taking over a 130-year-old fire station that has since been decommissioned since the 1950s. In the process of their build-out, they made sure to keep much of the original character of the building in the historic Shockoe Bottom neighborhood and have done so to a dramatic effect. They have breathed new life into those old bones, but made sure the history remained.

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

As told to Sprudge by Ryan O’Rourke.

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

We began roasting coffee, primarily for wholesale, in February of 2016. Our founder, Ryan O’Rourke, had just returned to the USA after living in Ireland for five years. During that time, he was fortunate enough to enjoy coffee from some excellent European roasting companies. This shaped his vision for Ironclad. We strive to offer coffees of outstanding quality with an attitude of approachability and fun.

The new Ironclad cafe is our opportunity to showcase the coffees that motivate us to get out of bed every morning and to present them in our own unique manner. Mostly, we want people to enjoy delicious beverages and tasty treats in a beautiful and welcoming environment.

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

The building was constructed in 1884 as the station for the No. 2 Hook and Ladder Company of the Richmond Fire Department. It was decommissioned as a fire house in 1952.

In remodeling the space as a cafe, we wanted to highlight the manifold original features and highlight the history. We also want it to highlight the beauty and uniqueness of Richmond as a city. The building sits in the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood, arguably the most historic section of one of the most historic cities in the USA.

What’s your approach to coffee?

A commitment to quality in a fun and approachable manner. We endeavor to be a place where anyone can enjoy their time with top-quality food and beverage in a comfortable environment. Life is, indeed, too short for both bad coffee AND mean people.

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

Three-group Victoria Arduino Black Eagle Gravitech
Nuova Simonelli Mythos One Clima Pro grinders for espresso
Mahlkönig EK-43 for pour overs and batch brew
Ground Control for our batch brew (this thing is incredible)
Yama drip cold brew tower

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

Grand Opening on July 13th

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

CB Chandler Construction
Lustre Home (designers)

Thank you!

You’re welcome! 🙂

ironclad coffee roasters richmond virginia

Ironclad Coffee Roasters is located at 1805 East Grace Street, Richmond. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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

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Source: Coffee News

Schmuck Of The Week: Coffee Folk Is A Twitter Joke Thief

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Recently, members of the Sprudge editorial team were reminiscing on the Schmuck of the Week, a semi-regular feature series from the early days of the site. It was full of articles of people putting foul things in coffee, a barista getting punched in the face for getting an order wrong, and other such schmucky activities, primarily as a vehicle to run increasingly groan-worthy headline puns. We ultimately moved on from the series for a variety of reasons, including: it was all a little mean; it was never very popular; we are older, wiser, better people now; and one time someone complained to us very sincerely about how it was preventing them from seeking gainful employment.

That is, until today, when we encountered an act of schmuckery so synonymous with the term—Yiddish for “contemptible person”—that we had to revive the series. And so, for the first time since November 2013, there is a new Schmuck of the Week: joke-stealing Twitter account Coffee Folk.

A little background info on Coffee Folk: they are “a collective of folk living the coffee life,” per their Twitter account, currently sitting with a healthy 55.9K followers. They have an Instagram, but with only 18 followers and only six posts, it’s safe to say they are primarily Twitter based.

Coffee Folk was first brought to our attention for this tweet:

It’s a good joke. I laughed. But then…

That is literally just a copy and paste. It would actually be easier to press the retweet button. To date, the tweet is still up even though they are getting absolutely roasted for it by other Twitters users. But wait, there’s more.

…is literally the exact same as this joke from an hour and fourteen minutes before:

Sometimes Coffee Folk likes to punch up the joke a little. Check out this nervy bit of end-of-days humor:

They thought removing “zombie” would throw us off the scent. It did not.

And they reeeeeaaalllly like Death Wish Coffee, whom Coffee Folk has “borrowed” from liberally on several different occasions.

And maybe this whole Daniel G. thing has me looking for conspiracy theories where there are none, but what if Death Wish Coffee IS Coffee Folk? It seems unlikely. What’s more likely is that whoever is behind the account saw the Insta-fame Josh “The Fat Jewish” Ostrovsky got for stealing jokes and thought, “Hey! I could do that… but for coffee.”

Not since the heyday of Dane Cook has joke theft been so blatant, but the moral of the story here folks is if you have to steal jokes—or “aggregate content” or whatever—don’t do it on a text-based (and easily searchable) platform. Most especially one that has a retweet button. Unless of course you want to end up like Coffee Folk, a schmuck so schmucky it has given us due cause to revive a long-dead platform: The Sprudge.com Coffee Schmuck of the Week.

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

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Source: Coffee News

Build-Outs Of Summer: Little Lion Ice Cream In Wichita, KS

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little lion ice cream wichita kansas

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

I scream, you scream, we all scream for more Build-Outs of Summer! And in this case, also ice cream. Our next stop takes us to Wichita, Kansas—a town for which we are very familiar, albeit hazily—to visit with the brand new Little Lion Ice Cream. Making a name for itself via some very tasty handmade sweet treats, the downtown Wichita parlor is not skimping on the coffee. Featuring Madcap Coffee, a La Marzocco Linea, Mahlkönig grinders, and Curtis brewers aplenty, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a coffee shop that also served ice cream and not vice versa.

Coffee and ice cream, is there a more perfect pair in the summer time?

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

As told to Sprudge by Ian Miller.

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

We’re all about connecting with people and providing experiences that facilitate connection. We source our ingredients intentionally, and seek out likeminded growers and suppliers to establish a community of folks who are working together to create the kind of world we want to live in.

We started two years ago with one cart, serving made-from-scratch ice cream at local markets and anywhere else people would have us. We’ve since expanded to two carts and a temporary pop-up inside another local coffee shop, Espresso to Go Go, where we serve waffle sundaes and breakfast burritos, in addition to our ice cream.

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

Oh, it’s going to be awesome. We’re fortunate to be a part of the new Revolutsia shipping container development (a first in Wichita) that will be opening this summer. Our building is an adorable pre-existing stone cottage that is being integrated into the face of the development. It features stone floors and a sweeping ceiling with a large fireplace and a cozy loft.

Revolutsia is a mixed-use development on an up-and-coming stretch of Central Ave., a main thoroughfare in Wichita. We’ll be joined by a couple of restaurants, several retail concepts, a salon, and more. The containers and our building surround a common outdoor courtyard area that will, much like a historic town square, be a great place for people to gather.

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

What’s your approach to coffee?

Accessible and balanced. Straight-forward and free of pretense. Fun and serious. We are passionate about making the best cup of coffee possible, but we don’t want to impose all the behind the scenes work we do to make the coffee delicious on the customer. We’ll have solid options for people who just want a tasty cup of coffee and a curated menu of sweeter options for the crowd who likes their flavored beverages. We are trying to be serious about coffee without taking ourselves to seriously. Jubilee, a co-owner, is originally from Grand Rapids and our first introduction to specialty coffee was at Madcap back in 2009. We’ll be using them for all of our coffee offerings because they roast delicious coffee and are pioneers in relational sourcing.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

Our equipment has been selected to make consistently delicious coffee as quickly and effortlessly as possible. A La Marzocco Linea PB ABR will be fed by a Mahlkönig Peak and a Puqpress. An EK43 will service both single origin espresso and drip options. Batch brew will come from a Curtis G4 and we’ll offer rotating by-the-cup options brewed by a Curtis Gold Cup.

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

Our builder has promised that we’ll be open for National Ice Cream Day, which is on July 15.

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

Jubilee has spearheaded our design aesthetic, with lots of help from Shelden Architecture and Farha Construction.

Thank you!

Thank you for being an invaluable resource to the coffee community.

little lion ice cream wichita kansas

Little Lion Ice Cream is located at 2721 E Central Ave, Wichita. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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

The post Build-Outs Of Summer: Little Lion Ice Cream In Wichita, KS appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Who Is Daniel G? A New Suspect Emerges

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Last week we reported on an evolving mystery out of Portland, Oregon, where multiple coffee companies had received the same handwritten complaint letter requesting a replacement for “stale” coffee. But quickly we learned this was not just a Portland phenomenon—first dozens, and now more than 100 brands have contacted Sprudge over the last week, having received their very own identical Daniel G. letters from the same name and address in Nevada.

You’ve graciously sent us photos of your letters, from coffee brands big and small, in urban metropoles and rural hamlets alike. We’ve been deluged with clues, red herrings, false leads, and no shortage of what appear to be legit customer service complaints and requests for refund misidentified as Daniel G. communications. Sleuthing is currently underway behind the scenes to establish more information about the sender, to confirm their identity, and to shed light on the truth behind this mystery, one of the great coffee grifts of all-time.

Today we need your help. 

While we’re currently tracking a suspect (or suspects) to an address in Las Vegas, another possibility has emerged over the last few days, tied to a chain of letters sent out from a different Nevada address—and with a different name attached. This new suspect made our hair stand on end. We have reason to suspect they may be connected to the person or persons responsible for the Daniel G. letters.

Here’s one of the letters, sent from Reno, NV by a new suspect we’re calling Person T:

If Person T is indeed connected to the massive set of Daniel G. letters, this would be a bombshell new development, one with implications stretching several years. Person T has lead us to investigate a disturbing set of truths behind who, exactly, is sending these letters, and why.

The letter above bears some connection with the Daniel G. letters but also carries with it several discrepancies. This is far from a home run—we are not claiming definite knowledge or certainty that the letters are connected. But we’re sharing this with you today to see if others have received letters in the style of Person T over the last decade, and to request those who have to get in touch with us immediately.

Here’s another letter from Person T:

Connected? Random? An early example of what would go on to become Daniel G.? Here’s a quick outline as we see it:

Connections

1. Similar MO — both letter writers are sending hand-written, unrequested mailings to specialty coffee companies around the country over the last half-decade. The earliest Person T letter we’ve seen dates to 2013. The earliest confirmed Daniel G. letter dates to 2016.

2. Odd grammar — both letters include unusual uses of punctuation and grammar.

3. “Sincerely” — both letters end with a handwritten “Sincerely,” sign-off.

4. Nevada — both letters were sent from a return address in Nevada.

5. Return letter stickers — both sets of letters include pre-printed “return letter” stickers, of a similar make and style, in place of a handwritten address on the envelope.

6. Block address — both sets of letters include handwritten block addresses within the body of text.

7. Lined paper — both letters are sent on blue-lined notebook paper of a similar style.

8. No digital footprint — both letters contain absolutely no information about how to contact the sender aside from a return address. No email, no phone number, no social media handles, and no website.

Discrepancies

1. Handwriting —  a cursory view of the handwriting between each letter seems to suggest that it’s not an exact match. We’re following up with a handwriting expert this week to learn more.

2. Different address — Person T is writing from Reno, while Daniel G is writing from Las Vegas, more than 400 miles away.

3. Different request — Person T is simply requesting a sale sheet; Daniel G. demands replacement coffee and an explanation.

4. Letter variation — the Person T letters we’ve seen so far all differ slightly—some are multiple paragraphs, others are just two sentences. Daniel G.’s letters are all of an identical length and style.

So far only a few coffee companies have checked in with letters from Person T, but we have reason to believe there could be many more letters of a similar style sent all over the United States, dating back to as early as 2013. We’re keeping those coffee brands anonymous for now because the more we learn about Person T, the more we uncover disturbing information tied to their name—and past convicted crimes.

Here are a few more of these letters from Person T:

 

Have you seen letters like this before? At any point in the last decade were you contacted via mail with a handwritten letter asking for a “sell sheet” or “toll-free” number? Does this jog your memory, ring bells, or remind you of something you’ve received before? Get in touch with us. We have reasons to believe this could be connected with the saga of Daniel G.

More news as it develops this week, only on Sprudge.

E-mail us.

1-888-55-SPRUDGE

@Sprudge on Instagram 

The post Who Is Daniel G? A New Suspect Emerges appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

A Guatemalan Coffee Crisis Is Leading To Greater Rates Of Migration

By Coffee, News No Comments

Coffee production in Guatemala is facing a new crisis. No, it’s not roya, climate change, or low coffee prices. It’s all of them, and they are causing greater numbers of workers and some landowners to abandon the coffee farms and migrate north to the United States.

“You have two options in this part of Guatemala: grow coffee or migrate,” says Cipriano Juventino Niz Chilel, the president of the Entre Rios coffee cooperative in San Pablo.

According to a recent article in Time, Guatemala has undergone three decades of migration. Civil war in the ‘80s, “economic crisis, grinding poverty, and natural disasters” in the ‘90s and ‘00s, and gang and domestic violence in current years have all led of hundreds of thousands (of a population of 16.5 million) with no option but to relocate north.

And now troubles with the coffee industry are causing even more to leave. The roya outbreak in 2011 decimated 20 percent of the coffee crop, having a particularly devastating effect on higher-end Arabica varieties. The leaf rust outbreak has only been exacerbated by climate change, with “warmer temperatures spreading the disease to higher altitudes” and also “[increasing] the frequency of droughts, floods, and cold shocks, which can decrease, or at times completely destroy, production.”

At the same time, countries like Brazil, Vietnam, and Honduras had particularly good yields, leading to a drop in the price Guatemalan coffees could fetch. Whereas producers were at one time able to get $170-180 per 100 pounds of coffee, prices today stand around $110, lower than the cost of investment it takes to produce the coffee.

With no money to be made in the coffee field, many Guatemalans are forced to migrate. And according to Time, whereas many would head for Guatemala City, low wages and gang violence have made the journey to the United States much more appealing.

To stay afloat, many coffee farms are taking the advice of ANACAFÉ—Guatemala’s national coffee association—and diversifying their crops to include bananas, plantains, and macadamia nuts. This, the article notes, will help the farms survive the current price dip, but it does little to affect employment, as the new crops don’t require near the same number of people to harvest as coffee does.

It’s easy to forget, especially for those of us not living with the circumstances everyday, that these issues don’t exist in a vacuum. Climate change, unrest, violence, immigration, untenable coffee prices: they are all connected.

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 Time.

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Source: Coffee News