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There are many paths to becoming a roaster/cafe. Some begin with the cafe, serving coffee from another roaster or roasters before deciding to make the ultimate plunge into the yet-unexplored world of roasting. Others being life as a roaster, creating profiles in a small roasting space (sometimes even a garage) or renting time on someone else’s equipment. The latter path was the one taken by Los Angeles’ Compelling Coffee.

For seven years now, owner Kian Abedini has been roasting coffee under the Compelling Coffee moniker, though it originally had an “and Rich” spliced in the middle. Abedini roasted primarily for others, be they wholesale accounts or retail customers, but now, in 2019 Compelling is going in for themselves and completing the other half of the roaster/cafe equation. Set in the Line Lofts building in the Hollywood Hills, this first Compelling cafe is a proof of concept for the company, with success leading to other larger, more grand-scale projects over the coming year. But first, Abedini and Compelling have their eyes set on getting this first cafe off the ground. So let’s go to LA to visit a familiar name to the coffee scene, but one completely new storefront signage.

The 2019 Build-Outs of Summer is presented by Pacific Barista Series, notNeutral, KeepCup, and Mill City Roasters.

As told to Sprudge by Kian Abedini.

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

We’re a wholesale coffee roaster and cafe partner from Los Angeles, California.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

We’re excited to open in the 2019 AIA|LA Residential Architecture Award-winning Line Lofts building in the Hollywood Hills. The space itself is 300 square feet, and will have a small kitchen, interior, and patio seating, and a takeout window. We’re planning on approaching this first space as a less-risky way of testing what works and expanding that to the larger cafes we’re planning around LA over the next year.

What’s your approach to coffee?

Our approach is to find exceptional coffees and make them accessible. While we’ve won awards for our lighter single origins, we’ve experienced that generally the majority of coffee consumers aren’t looking for a super acidic, complex cup every day; we try to find sweet, clean coffees, and roast them with enough development that they express ripe fruit flavors while still extracting easily for baristas of any skill level.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

La Marzocco Linea PB for espresso, and a modified FETCO batch brewer, as well as a TBA custom-made brewer.

How is your project considering sustainability?

We will be stocking only biodegradable cups and serviceware, along with asking our vendors to only make deliveries in recycled or compostable packaging.

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

Late-July/early-August 2019

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

We’re working with local Fathom Design Studio to build out our space. Our food program will be heavily informed by local producers from the nearby Hollywood Farmers market, and supplemented by local bakers Farmshop.

Thank you!

You’re welcome!

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: Compelling Coffee In Los Angeles, CA appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

When it comes to the business of coffee buying—and the business of marketing those coffee buying practices—there’s a lot of wiggle room in the definitions. This allows companies to get away with suspet claims, like say, touting a coffee as “direct trade” without ever having to been to where the coffee is grown, or meeting the people who grow it (to say nothing of role of the importer).

There’s a lot of marketing sleight of hand that can thrive in these grey areas, and the ill-defined concepts in coffee buying are the sleeve that hides the magician’s tricks. But an international group of coffee companies are banding together to roll up those sleeves by creating “a common standard for transparency reporting.” They are called, aptly enough, Transparency Coffee and their goal is to bring transparency to coffee transparency.

Made up of 19 signatory companies in North America, Europe, and Australia—including brands like Counter Culture, Onyx Coffee Lab, Coffee Collective, Tim Wendelboe, and Seven Seeds—Transparency Coffee wants to “ensure a sustainable supply of coffee by working towards a living income for producers so they will continue to invest in the future of their businesses.” To this end, they have created The Pledge, a commitment other coffee companies can elect to take part in whereby they agree to report on “a fixed set of variables” in green coffee buying.

Along with a host of other commitments, companies that sign The Pledge agree to have at least one coffee they are selling to be included in a large-scale transparency report collated by Transparency Coffee. The report, which will be “publicly available and easily accessible,” will include producers, Free On Board (FOB) price paid, coffee quality, volume purchased, length of producer/buyer relationship, as well as the percentage by volume of “transparent coffees” that company has sold that year.

With this report, Transparency Coffee aims to not only hold themselves accountable (and put pressure on other companies to join the pledge) but to provide producers with information they can use to make sure they are receiving fair terms for their hard word.

As noted on their website, the initiative acknowledges that transparency isn’t the solution to the coffee’s price crisis. Indeed, many of the companies taking part have been on the forefront of transparency, much of their work we’ve reported on here at Sprudge over the years. They do note, however, that transparency is an incredible tool, one that when used the right way could help chip away at the problem.

But a tool is only useful when, you know, it gets used. And the initiative is off to a good start. Jonas Lorenz of Cross Coffee and Transparency tells Sprudge that over 30 new coffee companies have reached out about signing The Pledge in the first three days after its launch. As the number of companies taking part grows, so too does the report and thus, its efficacy.

For more information on Transparency Coffee or to sign up to be part of The Pledge, visit their 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 Transparency Coffee

The post Bringing Transparency To Coffee Transparency With “The Pledge” appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

When visiting Brazil, tourists may never hear about Vitória, the island where you’ll find the capital Espírito Santo. It boasts Brazil’s largest urban mangrove, which together with the water, vegetation, and local fauna makes for a unique ecosystem: a boat ride around the island is a perfect way to see it all together. Vitória is also perhaps the capital that is closest to a specialty coffee producing area, taking less than a two-hour drive to get to the small farms of the mountains of Espírito Santo. Thankfully, you don’t even have to leave the city for good coffee: we have selected these fine coffee shops for you to drink a nice cup and be merry on the island.

Kaffa Cafeteria

Vagner Benezath and his mother, Carmen Benezath, founded Kaffa in 2010, close to a university area where bars were way more common than coffee shops. Carmen is a nutritionist and a culinary chef, so she took charge of the food offerings, and Vagner is the lead barista and coffee curator. From the beginning, they offered coffee-focused classes, which were fundamental in bringing more people from Vitória into the specialty coffee spectrum. Although the younger Benezath is a partner at Trentino, a Vitória-based roastery, Kaffa has multiple offerings from roasteries that source coffees from regions other than Espírito Santo.

Kaffa has a variety of coffee options as well as a lunch menu that changes seasonally. A good bet for dessert—or well, breakfast—is the artisanal bolo de côco (cold coconut cake) with one of the pour-over options.

Tulha Cafeteria

João Vitor Ribeiro says Tulha is the result of his culinary school term paper. He has always liked coffee, but it was not until he was studying cooking that he started to go after further education on the subject. He took some barista courses and then realized that his college final paper could unite two of his favorite things: food creations and coffee. He founded Tulha in 2018, and since the beginning has been making everything from scratch: from cinnamon rolls to cheesecakes and sourdough toasts.

To pair with the delicious pastries, the coffee: Ribeiro works mainly with Trentino due to its proximity and the possibility to tailor the origins and roasts to Tulha’s needs; however, he always offers beans from other roasteries as well. Don’t leave without trying their passionfruit tonic, made with passionfruit syrup, tonic water, and cold brew. Ribeiro is Brazil’s 2018 AeroPress champion, so, needless to say, ordering an AeroPress is also a safe bet.

Café 495

Lucas Tristão Ferreira started out as a barista at Kaffa, and when he realized he wanted to do that for the rest of his life, he invested his life savings on barista and sensory courses and then on founding Café 495 in 2017. Located at Praia do Canto, a beach not suitable for swimming but famous instead for standup paddling and other beach sports, the coffee shop charms neighborhood patrons as well as the beach crowd.

Café 495 is very proud of its artisanal bread line: everything is made in their recently renovated kitchen. And, to beat the capital’s heat, go with their famous drink Espresso 2222: coconut water, rangpur lime syrup, ice, and a shot of espresso.

Zayin Café

Danielle Segovia and Rafael Victor Pereira founded Zayin in 2015, aiming to, in their own words, “bring a cozy feeling back to Vitória’s downtown.” They carefully source their coffee from Trentino, and offer espresso-based drinks as well as filtered methods, the AeroPress being the most ordered.

The owners have an array of sweet and savory pastry options made with matzah flour—a note to their Jewish upbringing. They are proud to bring these and other Jewish-influenced foods to their patrons, most of whom are not acquainted with Jewish cuisine.

To pair with the coffee, go for the pão de queijo (gluten-free cheese bread—not yet a Jewish staple) filled with guava jam. You won’t regret it.

Trentino Cafés Especiais

Trentino is not a coffee shop, but worth mentioning here since it is the only quality-focused roastery in the greater Vitória area. Jonathan Piazarollo is the head roaster and has been working with coffee since 1994, first as a producer and then as a roaster and educator, while Vagner Benezath (from Kaffa) recently joined as his wholesale and marketing partner. Together, they have been able to strengthen the specialty coffee scene in Vitória to a whole new level, bringing higher quality coffee to unusual places such as the capital’s airport in a small kiosk and small bakeries, cocktail bars, and food joints across the city. Besides supplying the coffee, they offer barista training courses at the roastery and regularly promote trips to visit Espírito Santo farms and the producers they partner with. The Vitória coffee scene wouldn’t be what it is today without Piazarollo and Benezath’s effort to bring sensibly sourced coffee to restaurants, bakeries, and small cafes all across the capital Vitória as well as the state of Espírito Santo.

Juliana Ganan is a Brazilian coffee professional and journalist. Read more Juliana Ganan on Sprudge.

Photos by Roberto de Barros.

The post The Sprudge Coffee Guide To Vitória, Brazil appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

This week we take a look at Broadcast Coffee Roasters that just debuted a brand refresh after 11 years of business in Seattle, Washington. Inspired by the fashion world, beer world, and Handsome Coffee Roasters, Broadcast Coffee’s new line of packaging is striking and sleek. We talked to Sales and Marketing Director Timothy Graham to learn more.

Tell us a bit about your company.

The heart of our company is our founder, Barry Faught. He hails from the expansive wheat fields and deep blue skies of Idaho. His father, Bill Bailey, was a radio DJ and local celebrity in Boise. After college, Barry ended up in the family business of broadcasting. But his yearning for adventure eventually led him to Seattle.

The coffee scene attracted Barry’s attention. And before long he was fantasizing about having his own cafe. After working his way up the corporate ladder he was making good money, but feeling unfulfilled. Visiting new coffee shops went from hobby to obsession.

In 2008 Barry traded in his salary for his own independent coffee shop, Broadcast Coffee Roasters, named in honor of his dad’s lifelong passion for radio. The goal from the get go was to spread love and acceptance through hospitality and delicious drinks. We now have three cafes, a stellar roasting team, and a growing community of friends, baristas, and business owners, who drink and serve Broadcast coffee. We’re at a really fun stage where we’re growing, but still super connected and have that family vibe.

A coffee company is more than a founder. We’re really lucky to have an amazing staff of intelligent, empathetic, and hardworking friends. Our GM, Natalie Walker, is truly the model of a leader who lives to serve. She’s the best! We’re having a ton of fun and I’m excited to see the company continue to grow and build infrastructure for long term health and sustainability.

When did the new branding/packaging debut?

May 2019

Who designed the package?

Eric Fisher.

Honorable mention to Ryan Hunt for the stellar product photography.

Describe the vision/vibe/look behind the new design.

I got the idea to have a series of bags from the fashion and beer world. An apparel designer will often pick one fabric and make a series of silhouettes, or they might pick one silhouette and make it with a handful of different fabrics. In a similar way, a brewery will release a different design with each of their styles of beer. I wanted to do the same thing with coffee bags. Essentially, I wanted to create a collection that would look really good displayed together as a set.

I also really thought Handsome Coffee was clever when they divided their whole menu into either Comfort or Adventure coffees. I wanted our blend bags to have a design that was distinct yet classic with a broad appeal, as we have a diverse range of wholesale accounts. They needed to fit in anywhere from classy bars to punk rock dives. Then on the other extreme, I wanted our East African bags to be as bright, playful, and exciting as those coffees often taste. We also have a bag for Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

From there I helped the team narrow down their influences to midcentury modern for colors and general shapes. I also love texture, going back to the world of fashion. I’ve followed Eric’s work ever since we worked together back in 2015. He’s a bit of a legend in the design, music, and restaurant world here in Seattle. Recently he’d been doing some really clever work with warping lines in a kind of psychedelic and playful way. We let Eric run with the concept and he blew us away with the execution. He over delivered and we got to pick our favorite five designs.

How is the design different than the previous branding/packaging?

Originally we just focused on what went into the bag, and so we simply stamped our logo on craft paper bags. Now we have a design that is a reflection of our character: playful, whimsical, artistic, and each design connects with every other one. The paper bag is gone, instead our new packaging is made from more sophisticated materials with an air-tight heat seal. We’re intent on competing with the big players in the business.

How long did the redesign process last?

Four months

Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

Folks taste with their eyes first. It’s important to show some personality as well. We’re in a wonderful era in coffee where so many people are really doing a great job. Design can be the thing that helps someone choose what vibe matches their business or home. It’s also a great way to impart that extra touch of respect to the amazing product that coffee is. It’s also really fun to share coffee as a gift for a friend or loved one and have packaging, which is essentially wrapping paper, be gorgeous and in a way part of the gift.

Where is it currently available?

We’re selling wholesale nationwide, as well as proudly serving our coffee in Seattle at our three Broadcast Cafes and through our amazing wholesale partners.

Thank you!

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

The post Coffee Design: Broadcast Coffee In Seattle, Washington appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Coffee has for years now been the straw man burned in effigy to the gods of fiscal responsibility. It’s the reason you’re not a millionaire, why you can’t afford a house, whatever it is that you are supposed to want but don’t have, there’s some self-proclaimed financial guru out there who will tell you the reason you don’t have it is because you drink coffee (and occasionally order the avocado toast). It’s an exceptionally dumb argument made even dumber with each new iteration, like a stupidity phoenix rising from its own steaming, coiled ashes.

But it wasn’t always just a quippy soundbite for some rich nitwit to tell you how to not spend your money. In a recent article, Vice traces the history of the coffee vs. savings platitude and finds that the origins had a much more positive bent.

According to Vice, it all begins with Grandma Rose, the grandmother of financial guru David Bach. Back before her kids had kids, Grandma Rose worked at a department store, living paycheck to paycheck until she “figured that being poor sucked and decided to become rich.” Her plan to escape this lifestyle was to put “50 cents into a coffee can each week, then [deposit] those hard-earned savings into a brokerage account at the end of the year.” This, as the story goes, led to Grandma Rose’s financial security.

This quaint little story about how making a small change can have a big impact (if you were lucky enough to be born a 20th century white privileged American etc.) was the inspiration for Bach’s first book Smart Women Finish Rich, one that launched his financial guru’ing career. But after a 20 year game of telephone, the story has mutated into something more heinous and weaponized against whatever generation the olds feel need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In its most recent iteration, Suze Orman—who saves 20% off her name by not writing the i—has stated that she would not “insult [herself] by wasting money that way.” (All her insults are reserved for the people she is being paid to pretend to help.)

Many financial advisors are now saying that focusing on small changes is an ineffective strategy. Our focus instead should be on larger decisions like “saving $150,000 on a house purchase or negotiating a major raise.” Others see comments like Orman’s as some mix of nonsensical and classist (and also definitely racist, because the whole history of property ownership in America is racist). Senior researcher at the Economic Policy Institute Elise Gould notes that even those with “stable, middle-class incomes” find themselves living paycheck to paycheck.

“In a world where lots of people can’t find $400 for some unexpected expense, like fixing their car, I think a lot fewer people are spending money on lattes to begin with,” she said. “It’s like, who are we even talking to?”

Like with most things, this wisdom from the “simpler times” doesn’t track with modern life. Back in the day, Grandma Rose could easily save 50 cents a week to pull herself out of poverty or work a part-time job flipping burgers to pay her way through college (and then some!), but those options simply are available to the generation currently being admonished for not owning homes and having too much debt. Today’s reality for prospective home owners is incalculably fucked, except people have calculated it, and the numbers are tragic.

Fuck a Suze Orman. Grandma Rose’s house is now worth 30x what she paid for it and she and her realtor won’t take a penny less. There’s only one thing that’s going to help people in America level the playing field when it comes to home ownership and generational wealth accrual, and it’s fast on the way.

In the meantime, we drink coffee.

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 A Brief History Of Not Buying Coffee As Financial Advice appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Fort Worth, Texas goes by many names: F-Dub, Panther City, Cowtown (or if you live on the Dallas side of the Metroplex, you may opt for the more pejorative Fart Worth, because it’s a town of cows), but no sobriquet is more earned than Funky Town. When outsiders think of Fort Worth, the first thing that comes to mind is the Stockyards or perhaps the iconic honky tonk Billy Bob’s, but there’s an undercurrent of the weird and wacky thanks to the thriving music, arts, and culinary scenes. A blend of yeet and yee-haw, Forth Worth is a place where independent spirits with big ideas have enough room to execute them; it’s like Austin used to be before all the corporations bought the city, but with waaaaaay more cows.

This sort of bootstrapping is of course a boon for coffee shops, just ask Roots Coffeehouse and owner Janice Townsend. After spending a decade-plus in the DFW coffee scene with the original Roots in the FTW suburb of North Richland Hills, Townsend is opening a second location/coworking space, this time in the heart of the city she calls home. With the help of her husband Matt, Townsend has spent the last three years ripping a 5,000-square-foot building down to the studs to rebuild it into the brand new Roots Coffeehouse. It’s the sort of pick-up-a-hammer-and-make-a-name-for-yourself story that Fort Worth should be known for, not just—and I can’t stress this enough—all those very many cows. Funky Town is about to get a little bit funkier thanks to the new Roots Coffeehouse.

The 2019 Build-Outs of Summer is presented by Pacific Barista Series, notNeutral, KeepCup, and Mill City Roasters.

As told to Sprudge by Janice Townsend.

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

Roots is a community coffeehouse that has been serving the greater Fort Worth area for 10+ years. Our company values are building community, creating an environment of hospitality, and crafting excellence. We believe in slow, sustainable growth and supporting our community by buying local. We’re known for our annual Buy Local Event (a farmer’s market style event where we bring in the best local makers, artists, and food businesses), our kind baristas, and our excellent coffee.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

The new space has been a dream for over three years—a second location for Roots in the city we live in, more specifically, the Near Southside of Fort Worth. The Near Southside is an area devoted to the funky, independent businesses that make Fort Worth what it is. After paying rent for over 10 years, we decided it was time to build something from the ground up. We were lucky enough to find a piece of land in an area called South Main Village (about a mile south of downtown) and we purchased it at the end of 2016. Working with local architects and our builder, we came up with a plan to combine the second location of Roots with a coworking concept called Criterion Coworking through an open-concept, funky, and modern building that was filled with elements of light, natural materials, and green features. The building is unique, split level (the coffeehouse is 2′ lower than the rest of the building and matches the incline of the street), and absolutely beautiful. Coworking members will have access to the entire space, which includes a rooftop deck with views of downtown Fort Worth. Coffee shop visitors will enjoy a beautiful open space with 14′ ceilings, exposed Douglas Fir beams, tons of real plants, and a lovely patio facing Bryan Ave.

What’s your approach to coffee?

We, as baristas, are the final step of the coffee’s journey and we want to honor the entire process by connecting customers to something they will truly enjoy, prepared with excellence. We know that some people want an espresso, some want a flavored latte, and some want a great cup of drip. With that in mind, our entire menu is crafted with the customer in mind—if it’s a straight espresso, we are going to prepare it with care, if it’s a flavored latte it’s going to have house-made syrups and local ingredients, if it’s a drip coffee it’s going to be dialed in to bring out the sweetness in each roast. We work with a great local roaster out of Dallas called Novel Coffee Roasters and with the great service and coffee they provide, we’re able to offer amazing coffee to every single type of customer that comes through our doors.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

Yes! We’re so excited to have purchased a two-group Slayer LP as our primary machine for the new shop, along with a Mahlkönig PEAK grinder and an EK-43.

How is your project considering sustainability?

In so many ways. Because we’ll own the building, we were able to invest in features that will lend themselves to sustainability in the long run—for example, a really excellent, high-efficiency HVAC system combined with foam insulation and low-E windows. Additionally, the whole building will use LED lights and operate on a timer with dimmers and daylight harvesting. We have also integrated re-purposed and recycled materials where we can—salvaged countertops and shelving from the old antique store that used to be across the street, acoustic panels made from recycled water bottles, and more. At Roots, we also place a high value on sustainability by buying local, recycling, and reducing our single-use items wherever we can (check out our blog post on Eco-Cups). At the Fort Worth location of Roots, we also hope to partner with local composting company Cowboy Compost to make sure our coffee grounds and food waste don’t end up in landfills.

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

Fall/Winter 2019

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

Matt Townsend of Freeform Made is my husband, co-owner of the building, and has done a huge amount of work on this project—from hand-making the complex coffee bar in the shop to making the stairs in the coworking space to being on site every single day. Chris Raines from Archistructure has also put in a ton of extra work and time making this project work and helping us make changes that will benefit the project in the long run.

Thank you!

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: Roots Coffeehouse In Ft Worth, TX appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Adam JacksonBey is a working coffee professional in Washington, DC, a seasoned competition veteran, a former member of the Barista Guild of America Executive Council, and the official president of #coffeetwitter (as well as its sproet laureate). JacksonBey is also the recent victim of a cyber attack that cloned his Venmo account and depleted his bank account. Currently working on opening a shop of his own, this invasion has left JacksonBey’s future, both professionally and personally—his landlord has threatened to evict him after his rent check bounced due to the incident—on uncertain ground.

Now, the Birmingham, Alabama coffee community is rallying to his support. This Friday, June 28th, Seeds Coffee will host a throwdown with all the proceeds going to JacksonBey.

Taking place at their Lakeview location, the spontaneous fundraiser is being spearheaded by Seeds’ Blake Nail, himself a competition barista in the Brewers Cup. Sign-up for the event begins at 6:00pm, with 100% of the $10 buy-in going to JacksonBey recoup the stolen funds. First pour hits espresso promptly at 6:30pm, and though competitors won’t be taking home any cash prizes, there will be winner’s booty provided by sponsors Prima Coffee, Barista Magazine, The Chocolate Barista, and Acaia.

For those unable to attend but wanting to help the cause, folks can donate directly to JacksonBey via Square and Venmo (which has since been re-secured), or for those unable to help financially, they can spread the word via social media.

If you are able, consider helping Adam JacksonBey; he’d do the same for you, and include a very good/very bad pun (the best ones are one in the same).

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 Birmingham: Help Adam JacksonBey By Throwing Down At Seeds Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Contrary to how it may appear, barista competitions are a team sport. While the competitor is the only person to take the stage for that fateful 15 minutes, they do so representing not just themselves but often a group of people that helped shape their run; baristas are, in short, the tip of the spear.

Even in the niche world of coffee competition, one that creates very big fish in a small, somewhat obscure pond, coaches remain relatively unknown. Save for a handful of World Barista Championship winners like Hidenori Izaki, Sasa Sestic, and Pete Licata, who made names for themselves on the grandest of coffee stages and used that momentum to kickstart a successful post-WBC career, coffee competition coaches are not household names.

Coffee competition coaching is a fairly esoteric gig, and most non-competitors have no idea what coaches do. Sure, we know they “help make the routine” and maybe they help decipher the day-of-competition flavor calls, but beyond that, it’s all just a black box, especially at the World stage of competition, where the stakes are higher and the demand for a new, noteworthy routine is paramount. A competitor goes in, bursting with talent and potential, and comes out the other side a more complete package, hopefully a champion. That’s pretty much the beginning and end of the rest of the world’s knowledge of coaching.

If there is anyone who does know, though, it’s Federico Bolanos. His may not be a household name (even among coffee obsessives), but Bolanos is one of the most prolific coffee coaches in the history of the World Barista Championship. His resume includes five Semi-Finalists, none more notable than Costa Rica’s Maria Elena Rivera in 2019, who placed 13th without “exotic auction coffees, an experimental processing method, rocket science, or a revolutionary technology,” as she stated in her routine, itself an impressive feat. Bolanos has also coached two Champions: the 2011 Champion from El Salvador Alejandro Mendez—the first winner (of two total) from a producing country—and Jooyeon Joon, the 2019 Champion from South Korea, whose routine was one of the most memorable in competition history.

Who better to ask about the world of barista coaching than the person a little over a month removed from a wildly successful season behind the scenes? Sprudge has previously interviewed Bolanos about his pioneering work in Salvadoran cafe culture as the founder of Viva Espresso, but when we speak with him this time, it’s all about competition, the life of a coach, what he looks for in a trainee, and everything in between.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

For those of us who have never experienced that side of competition, can you give us an introduction into what a Barista Competition coach does?

I can’t speak for other coaches, but I help baristas in all aspects of their preparation for a championship. I structure a tailored training program for the needs of a barista and the available time frame. A complete training program includes: sourcing and coffee selection, presentation concept/theme ideas, signature drink creation, finding the best brewing parameters, developing roast profiles, technical skills, presentation action steps, speech development and refinement, reference material/accessory design, and competition coaching and support during competition week.

Can you give examples of these things in action and how you help coach them?

I help competition baristas improve their technical skills by perfecting their movements and making them work more efficiently, purposely, and consistently. With regards to presentation action steps, I help them structure their actions and decide on the strategy of what should be achieved, when it should be done, and how it should be performed.

I also help competitor write and refine their speech. This is usually a three-step process. The first step is a sort of “pre-speech”, which involves deciding what should be talked about and when it should be said. The second step is writing the speech itself, which involves the how it should be said. And the third step is refining and improving the speech.

How did you get into coaching?

Everything began after attending my first SCAA Coffee Expo in 2006. I was working at an exhibitor booth when I heard a loud crowd cheering across the expo floor. I asked someone what was going on and the guy responded that it was the national barista competition. I had never heard of or seen a barista competition in my life, so I decided to go and check it out. I still remember like it was yesterday, the moment I walked up to the comp area and saw a barista making her presentation… I felt an amazing energy coming from the people on the stands cheering and watching attentively every move and word of the barista. I immediately knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and right then and there I had a dream: to win the World Barista Championship!

Everyone I told this dream to said I was crazy or that it was near impossible to achieve. This didn’t discourage me… it actually had the opposite effect, it made me more passionate to pursue this dream. So, next year I was a sensory judge at the US Barista Championship, and with that experience I returned home full of answers and highly motivated to keep following my dream. The following year, El Salvador was going to organize its first ever barista championship. So, I immediately began training myself and my wife to compete. My wife won first place and I finished in fourth. This is how I found out I was better at guiding others than performing.

You have coached people from all over the world. How do these relationships come to be? How do you decide who you want to work with? What are you looking for in a potential trainee?

In most cases, the company where the barista works contacts me by email or thru social media (Instagram: @federicobp). We then get in touch and organize a video call.

There are many things I take into consideration before deciding who to work with. I like to work with baristas that compete for a higher purpose and greater good, not personal benefit, fame, or glory. I also like to work with companies that understand that great results are not overnight miracles; they take time and are the result of a long process.

The most important trait I look for in a trainee is a good-hearted person with an academic and scholarly approach to coffee. I also seek and value modesty, passion, drive, intelligence, and a good working ethic.

Is this how your relationship with Jooyeon Jeon began?

I met JooYeon’s boss, Hyunki, in 2013 during his coffee sourcing trip to El Salvador. He then got in touch with me and I agreed to prepare her for the South Korean Barista Championship. A few months later, we began training together. Since the moment I met her, I knew she was someone really special… someone that was made from the stuff champions are made, someone with huge potential and that had everything I look for in a trainee. So, since the very beginning of our journey together I told her I believed she could become a World Barista Champion.

What does coaching international competitors look like? Is it all mostly digital or do you spend time in person as well?

The training is in person. I always travel to do the trainings at the barista’s company facilities, except for the sourcing and coffee selection process, which requires traveling to coffee-producing countries. The duration of the training varies from barista to barista, since each one chooses the length of the training time. A training can last anywhere from one week to several months. More time means better results, which is why I recommend four to five training sessions a week, leaving two to four weeks between each session. Between sessions, I leave the barista with “homework” and follow up their progress digitally until the next training session.

How are routines and themes decided? Do competitors normally have the idea and you help shape it or do you have a more active role in figuring these things out?

It depends. If the barista already has a presentation concept/theme, I always make an assessment to determine if it has potential. If it doesn’t, I give them other ideas and if it does, I help them shape it and develop it. Up to this point, I have never worked with a barista who doesn’t need help in this area of their presentation.

Jooyeon Jeon’s routine is truly the most memorable one I have ever experienced. Walk us through it from her coach’s perspective.

To me, form is just as important as substance. We created a concept with an in-depth scientific content (substance). So, we balanced this by developing a friendly delivery (form) that would lighten the presentation to make it more enjoyable and fun to experience.

We wanted to change the “you” (judges) and “me” (competitor) setting to a “we” (friends) environment. So, right from the beginning, the judges were asked to stand inside JooYeon’s space, instead of outside with a table separating them. This would make them feel intrigued for what would follow next. Judges were then asked to sit on the table where they could be relaxed, feel closer to JooYeon, and enjoy her coffee as friends. This playful and casual setting would surely increase their expectation and create the perfect atmosphere to introduce the concept/theme of the presentation.

While preparing her signature drink espressos, she spoke about the coffee’s origin with a focus on how carbohydrates developed at the production/farm stage and the impact it would have in the cup. During the milk bev preparation, the speech was about how she achieved a higher concentration of carbohydrates by freezing and melting the milk, plus talking about how carbohydrates were affected during the processing and drying stages and their influence in this would have on the cup. Following came the espresso course, so the focus was to talk about how her coffee was roasted and again on its effect on carbohydrates of green coffee and the connection to the taste they would enjoy.

Next up came the sig drink. Judges were invited to move to the edge of the other presentation table (standing up this time) where the sig drink would be prepared, explained, and served. Again, the focus of the drink was carbohydrates to continue reinforcing the connection with concept/theme and its importance. I’m particularly proud of the sig drink we created because it had perfect synergy with her coffee: it reincorporated the carbohydrates her coffee lost during roasting, plus it revealed the polysaccharide sweetness from her coffee’s espresso puck that had never been extracted ever before. We wanted her presentation to finish with a climax, so I thought it would be a great idea to ask judges to raise their glasses and celebrate her coffee and the whole experience with a toast!

Jooyeon’s routine had the judges constantly in motion: first standing before her during the intro, then sitting on the bar, then moving around another bar. It really took advantage of the customizable stage setups. What was the thinking behind keeping the judges active in that way?

We wanted to keep the judges engaged. Sitting down on the tables was different, casual, and fun, but moving them to a different space would add another layer of engagement and excitement to the presentation.

Of all the routines you helped coach that didn’t win, which one is the most memorable?

I would have to say the presentation of William Hernandez in 2013 that helped us finish in 3rd place. It stands out because it was focused on the aromatics of coffee how it complemented the sensory experience. The espressos were served in a wine glass that had been placed upside down over the espresso and then over the ground coffee used to brew them to capture both the aroma and the fragrance. Judges were led on the tasting of the espressos sip by sip to really enjoy its complexity and structure. The signature drink was created making the aromas a key component of the beverage. I also loved that the presentation was full of wonderful moments and details, like the playful and fun way of explaining the new processing method applied to the coffee… many people still remember the happy-faced sun used to visually represent the sun drying.

If you can give one piece of advice to someone who has competed in the past but is having trouble making that next step, what would it be?

I would recommend to keep going and keep learning. Most of the time what separates a world champion from the other competitors is that the champion failed more times than the other competitor has even competed.

Thank you Federico!

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

All images courtesy of Federico Bolanos unless otherwise noted.

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Source: Coffee News

We here at Sprudge love you just the way you are; you come here to read about coffee news and culture with us, and we couldn’t ask for anything more. You don’t need to change, not for us, not for anyone. But, if you are looking to physically alter your appearance by shedding a few unwanted pounds—which is okay too, be your best self, whatever you deem that to be—coffee may be able to help you with that. New research suggests that coffee may have a “fat-busting effect.”

As reported by CNN, a study published by researchers at the University of Nottingham found that coffee may help stimulate brown fat cells, “which play a key role in how quickly we can burn calories.” According to the article, there are two different types of fat cells in the human body, brown fat and white fat, and they serve very different metabolic purposes. White fat cells store fat, which can then be harnessed as energy when needed. Brown fat cells generate heat, particularly by burning sugar and fat, per professor Michael Symonds, the study’s co-author. Brown fat has previously been known to exist in high levels in children, a recent discovery of the cells in adults has brown fat as a new subject of scientific research in hopes of finding a new means of fighting obesity.

For the study, University of Nottingham researchers asked five women and four men to drink coffee and then used thermal imaging to see if these individuals’ necks—where most brown fat is stored—showed signs of increasing heat in the brown fat cells. They found that there was indeed a heat increase in the thermal images, leading researchers to posit that coffee can activate brown fat cells and thus, their fat-burning properties.

The research is still in the early stages and researchers have yet to identify what exactly in coffee is having this effect on brown fat cells (the leading candidate is of course caffeine), but the results from the limited sample size appear to indicate that coffee, via the activation of brown fat cells, can help improve blood sugar control and blood lipid levels as well as burn extra calories that can help with weight loss.

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 Study Finds New Way Coffee May Help You Burn Fat appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Build-Outs of Summer rolls on, quite literally in this case, with the brand new outpost for Hopscotch Coffee & Records in Winchester, Virginia. With an already established brick-and-mortar cafe and record store, Hopscotch has decided to go on tour with their brand new mobile espresso bar inside a 1972 Dodge B300 camper van.

But this isn’t just some dude with a few bags of beans and an AeroPress calling himself a coffee bar, this moveable feast comes equipped with two of the brand new Modbar AV modules for some serious portable portafilter power. Though we can neither confirm nor deny, we assume the tape deck in the B300 is in full working order and will be blasting good tunes to round out the vintage Hopscotch vibe.

The 2019 Build-Outs of Summer is presented by Pacific Barista Series, notNeutral, KeepCup, and Mill City Roasters.

As told to Sprudge by Nate Rhodes.

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

Hopscotch Coffee & Records is an independent specialty coffee and vinyl only record shop located in Winchester, VA. We started as a small bar inside a local bakery Bonnie Blue in 2013 and expanded to our current location with the addition of the record shop the following year. We offer locally roasted coffee from our pals at Lone Oak Coffee Co. on espresso, slow bar, drip, and whole bean. While you enjoy your beverage you can relax in one of our many seated areas or flip through the new and used vinyl we have for sale.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

The new space is in the form of a 1972 Dodge B300 camper van that we will turn into a mobile espresso bar. We are looking to be able to take our amazing coffee and good vibes on the road, whether it’s for local events, markets, festivals, or private events and even on the open road to meet up and share with coffee drinkers all over the US.

What’s your approach to coffee?

Approachability, quality, and fun.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

We will be installing a two-group ModBar AV.

How is your project considering sustainability?

Since we have the main location as the destination spot with a solid following and not a lot of overhead in the van it should sustain itself well.

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

Summer of 2020.

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

Working with Terry Ziniewicz of Caffewerks on water storage and filtration.
Eric Decker of Espresso Meccanica on the installation of the ModBar.
Matchstick at Custom Vanner Magazine on making the van solid and reliable.
All other work will be done in-house.

Thank you!

Thank you guys for what you do for the specialty coffee world!

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.

Photos courtesy of Davey Hess.

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Source: Coffee News