Keep It Kaimuki Archives - Page 21 of 23 - The Curb Kaimuki

After four days of intense multi-skill barista action at the fourth annual London Coffee Masters during the London Coffee Festival, a new champion has been crowned: Agnieszka Rojewska, an independent competitor from Poznan, Poland.

From a field of 24 baristas—one not short on high profile competitors from across Europe and North America—Rojewska’s name quickly rose to the top of the list as the favorite to win it all, and for good reason; she is a three-time Polish Barista Champion, a four-time Polish Latte Art Champion, a two-time World Latte Art Championship finalist, a Polish Brewers Cup runner-up, and most recently a runner-up at the 2017 New York Coffee Masters. In short, she has amassed one of the most impressive and varied résumés in barista competition history.

Rojewska’s multi-faceted skillset suited her well in Coffee Masters, a competition testing a broad range of barista skills, ushering her into the top eight before she bested Romania’s Daniel Horbat in the semi-finals on the way to beating out Rob Clarijs of The Netherlands for the title (and another notch on an already well-notched belt) of 2018 London Coffee Masters Champion.

With the win, Rojewska earned a £5,000 cash prize, which she says she will use primarily to fund future barista competitions. To learn more about the big win, and what it means, Sprudge co-founder Jordan Michelman caught up with Agnieszka Rojewska.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Hi Agnieszka! Congratulations on your big win! By way of introduction, what do you do professionally in the coffee industry in Poland?

For now I call myself an unemployed freelancer. There is no specific job I do. Most of the time I train baristas in barista skills, brewing, and latte art, and sometimes I do guest shifts at coffee shops. I also help people with opening or improving their businesses. I used to co-own a coffee shop, but because of number of travels I’ve had lately, I had to give that one up. But it is still in good hands.

You’ve won £5,000 for winning the Coffee Masters. How will you be spending your prize?

Well there is still a big kid inside me, so some part of it will definitely go to useless stuff, like new video games, funny socks, or sneakers. But definitely most of it will be an investment into my next competition later this year. Competing internationally is a big investment.

Talk us through your signature drink creation for the Coffee Masters. What did you do? Did this differ from years past?

I was looking for an idea that we are all familiar with and a beverage that wouldn’t be very complicated. It just struck me at some point that most coffee people like gin and tonics. Going from gin and tonic, we get tonic espresso, so we have a common ingredient.

My biggest problem with most gin and tonics and also tonic espressos is that there is too much bitterness and then this sugar-like sweetness in tonic. So I prepared my own tonic base, which still had those botanical notes, but I added more acidity and citrus flavours. It is basically made of orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and lemongrass with pepper, cardamon, anise, allspice berries, and quinine bark. From those ingredients I created a syrup, which I added to sparkling water in a 1:1 ratio.

Because it has a lot of citrus acidity I chose a different gin and infused it with Turkish quince juice to get an apple and pear sweetness. A gin and tonic made from those ingredients is more refreshing and has more acidity than regular ones.

For the coffee, I didn’t want to use espresso because it would be to intense for that drink. That’s why I used a natural-processed Ugandan coffee (Arabica). It has an extremely big body with flavors of prune, rum, and black cherry. It fit the rest perfectly.

This was a new approach for me. Most of the time I start with the coffee and then try to find matching spirits, but this time I wanted to take something from a bartender’s world and adjust the coffee world to it.

You placed second in the New York tournament last year, squaring off against Erika Vonie in the finals. Take us back to that moment: what did you learn from it? How did your Finals appearance help you win in London?

New York was a great experience, and I went there with no expectations. I was a bit surprised with my good performance through almost the whole tournament, but I think I lost focus in final moments. Erika was at her very best in the finals, when I was already going down. Looking back, it was a compilation of mistakes at every step. I didn’t handle the pressure. I learned there that you can only relax or let go a bit when you cross that finish line, not before. I learned that even if you are very good, it doesn’t mean that someone won’t be better, so you should prepare for every discipline; I’m talking here about losing latte art battle in NY 🙂

Editor’s note: Rojewska didn’t make the same mistake twice, winning every latte art battle she was a part of at London Coffee Masters.

In London I already knew how it goes, I knew more less what to expect and how demanding every day is, so I could just prepare myself a lot better.

Is this a major moment in your career thus far?

I think so. This is the first huge international competition I managed to win. I was always near the top, but never succeeded. I started to think that I might not be able to deliver that at some point, that maybe I will always be just inches from the top. It was the moment when I felt like all those years of trainings weren’t for nothing. Might be a breaking point in my career, who knows 🙂

What’s something about competing in Coffee Masters that new competitors might not know? What have you found surprising about the tournament?

A lot of competitors think that this will be similar to other competitions like, the Brewers Cup or Barista Competition. The big difference is that for Coffee Masters, you can’t actually prepare, you know nothing that will be happening there besides your signature beverage. We enter the competition with the same preparation: we don’t know the coffees, we have no idea how to brew them. So it all goes back to how you handle pressure and stress. Are your skills and knowledge good enough the handle the unknown? At first I was telling my friends that on the CM stage you have to be a little coffee McGuyver—in a new environment, you have to make coffees taste great while knowing almost nothing about them. It challenges your skill like no other.

Rojewska’s coffees from Caravan’s The Niners Series chosen on the spot for her custom blend.

You’ve been part of the tournament now for several seasons. Does it feel to you like Coffee Masters is growing?

Oh yes. Just look, for example, at the numbers of competitors. It’s 24 now. And not just the number of competitors is growing but the level as well. Look at the results in first round, we were all very close; baristas are getting better and better and there is no place for mistakes in the competition.

What’s the one thing about Coffee Masters you’ve enjoyed the most? 

It would be hard to choose one thing… I think that the interactions we have with judges, other competitor on stage, emcees, and the crowd: talking, asking questions, joking, etc. It just makes you want to never leave that stage.

Describe the moment of victory in your own words.

The feeling is hard to describe. Of course I was pretty nervous before. I have already been in that place and lost, so the pressure I put on myself was a bit bigger. But the moment they showed my name as a winner I was just extremely happy; all that stress was gone, my mind was calm. I think I was smiling for next three days.

Is there anyone special you’d like to thank? 

Of course!!! Special thanks to my teammate Paula. She is always there for me, drinking all those good and bad versions of my beverages, taking care of the cuppings.  She is able to handle my whining, anger, depression. She is my team, none of this would happen without her help!

Thanks Agnieszka, and congratulations again on the big win!

Check out our complete coverage of the 2018 London Coffee Masters on Sprudge Live.

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

Photos by Zachary Carlsen and Zac Cadwalader for Sprudge. 

The post An Interview With Agnieszka Rojewska, 2018 London Coffee Masters Champion appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Just when I thought I was out, the butter beat spoons me back in. I was content to hang up my top hat and monocle and leave coverage of the nexus of coffee and legume-based spreads to the next generation of hungry nut butterists, but when given the opportunity to take first scoops from the chaste nut butter news of the day, how could I refuse a dip?

It was a little over a year ago when we first reported that Big Spoon Coffee Roasters teamed up with Intelligentsia Coffee for a special release an espresso nut butter made with Black Cat espresso. But now the North Carolina-based artisanal butterist is back to one up their peanut, almond, and espresso spread (espreadso?). In collaboration with the Bay Area’s Equator Coffees & Teas, Big Spoon has just announced the release of an almond hazelnut butter made with Equator’s Tigerwalk Espresso.

Like with all of Big Spoon’s edible spreadables, the new collab is light on ingredients; it’s made up of only “fresh-roasted heirloom California Mission almonds, Oregon Barcelona and Clark variety hazelnuts, [raw organic] coconut crystals, [organic Madagascar] vanilla, [Vietnamese] cinnamon, and sea salt with Equator Coffees & Teas’ flagship Tigerwalk Espresso,” per a press release.

The special release nut butter retails for $12.50 for a 10-ounce jar and can be purchased via Big Spoon’s and Equator’s respective webstores. And starting today, for the next two weeks the Proof, Miller, Larkspur, and Fort Mason Equator locations will be offering $3 off a 12-ounce bag of Tigerwalk Espresso with any purchase of a jar of the nut butter collaboration.

For more information, visit Big Spoon’s official website. Or, you know, just buy a jar. Seems like everything you need to know is under that lid. It’s good to be back on the butter beat.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and butt nutter enthusiast.

The post Big Spoon And Equator Coffees Join Forces For An Espresso Nut Butter appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Black Coffee, the new event series from creative director Michelle Johnson (The Chocolate Barista) premiered last week at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon. Hosted by Michelle Johnson, Ian Williams (Deadstock Coffee), and Gio Fillari (Coffee Feed PDX), this event centered the voices and experiences of Black coffee professionals and enthusiasts alike, all with unique perspectives that spanned intersectional identities and roles on the retail end of the value chain.

The guests for the first podcast included D’Onna Stubblefield (Counter Culture Coffee), Ezra Baker (Share Coffee Roasters), Zael Ogwaro (Never Coffee), Adam JacksonBey (The Potter’s House), and Cameron Heath (Revelator Coffee Company), with a live DJ performance by |Fritzwa|.

You can now listen to the podcast! Download it here and subscribe.

Black Coffee PDX was made possible by La Marzocco USA, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Oatly, NXT LVL, and The Ace Hotel Portland. Ticket proceeds are being donated to our charitable partners Sankofa Collective and Brown Girl Rise.

Listen to the podcast now! Video of the event will premiere in the next week. More events are on the horizon in 2018—stay tuned.

During Black Coffee PDX the @Sprudge Instagram account was taken over by Shaunté Glover—in addition to the images above, here’s a few key images live from the event evening.

It’s all family here. The conversation is about to begin. BLACK COFFEE. Who’s ready to listen? TAKEOVER: @shaunte

A post shared by Sprudge (@sprudge) on Apr 24, 2018 at 6:18pm PDT

It’s getting real Portland! Let’s go! Takeover: @shaunte

A post shared by Sprudge (@sprudge) on Apr 24, 2018 at 7:24pm PDT

H I S T O R Y. #blackcoffeepdx Takeover: @shaunte

A post shared by Sprudge (@sprudge) on Apr 24, 2018 at 8:44pm PDT

Thank you to everyone who came out and not only heard but listened to these extraordinarily important stories and perspectives! #blackcoffeepdx Takeover: @shaunte

A post shared by Sprudge (@sprudge) on Apr 24, 2018 at 9:00pm PDT

All images by Shaunté Glover.

The post Black Coffee: The Live Podcast Is Now Available appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Cafe Imports is getting the band back together and hitting the road one more time. This May, the 2018 Legendary Coffee Tour is heading to 10 cities around the US, and they are bringing with them their “greatest hits, brand-new releases, and even a few deep cuts from the archive.”

Kicking off on May 4^th in Minneapolis, the Cultivar Caravan will focus on “the history and significance of coffee varieties,” which will of course be presented along with a cupping. Along with a “set list of favorites,” including heirloom Ethiopian types, Typica, and Bourbon, Cafe Imports is bringing a completely unknown variety that came their way via a Banexport cupping in Pitalito, Huila, Colombia (which co-owner/green coffee buyer Andrew Miller described as “Holy *@!&” and scored an astounding 94 points).

The Cultivar Caravan will also include not coffee things to taste, “as a way of exploring and understanding the ways that different varieties can contribute to diversity of flavor, as well as to simply show some love to the diversity of flavors this weird, wild world has to offer us at every turn.” The event will then be followed with free food and drinks for all attendees.

The full list of stops for the 2018 Legendary Coffee Tour are:

May 4: Minneapolis, MN, Cafe Imports Warehouse
May 7: Kansas City, MO, Messenger Coffee
May 8: Springfield, MO, Classic Rock Coffee Co.
May 10: Chicago, IL, Metropolis Coffee Roasterie
May 15: Coeur d’Alene, ID, Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters
May 17: Tempe, AZ, Tempe Public Market Cafe
May 23: Austin, TX, Wild Gift Coffee
May 25: Dallas, TX, Communion Cafe
May 30: Boston, MA, Pavement Coffee
June 1: Philadelphia, PA, Rival Bros. Coffee

The Cultivar Caravan is free to attend, but space is extremely limited, so an RSVP is required. To reserve your spot, follow the links above to your stop on the tour.

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

*all images via Cafe Imports

The post The Cafe Imports US Tour Is Coming appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The last time Sprudge reported on how the coffee world was helping Syrian asylum seekers in the Netherlands, a simple, very human-level initiative was underway. The objective was to pair refugees and longtime Dutch residents with similar professional interests, encouraging the two parties to go on a coffee date and trade career tips. The setting was the Amsterdam Zuid franchise of cafe Anne & Max, which provided free beverages and an inviting third space.

Today, nearly two years later, thanks to a program offered by the Amsterdam foundation Refugee Company, this same segment of the population, which once may have accepted a coffee gratis, is learning how to make coffee professionally. And it is not just any coffee, but specialty coffee by Dutch roaster Bocca.

A nationwide coffee supplier and trainer, Bocca partnered with the Refugee Company shortly after the foundation moved its operations into the Bijlmerbajes in July 2016. The country’s most renowned bajes—local slang for “jail”—had recently been vacated and turned over to Lola, an organization that repurposes empty buildings. Entrepreneurs and small businesses moved in, and alongside their offices and ateliers, Lola birthed various refugee-staffed enterprises, including a hotel, a boxing school, the acclaimed restaurant A Beautiful Mess, and Kahwa coffee bar.

Kahwa was also where Bocca taught the refugees the fundamentals of being a barista. The lessons began in January 2017. Back then, the former prison felt far more spartan, as Bocca account manager Jeroen Vos observed last August.

“You have to imagine that when they started here, there was nothing in this building,” says Vos. “There was no wood, there were no plants, there were no colors. It was cold.”

He was addressing the dozens of people who had filled the half-garage, half-foyer-like space for a graduation ceremony. Sixteen refugees from Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, and Syria had freshly completed the training.

“In five months’ time, they exerted a lot of effort, did a lot of work, and it became a very successful little business here,” Vos adds.

Boris Montanus, Bocca’s head trainer for the project, called the students one by one. Abiding by the community’s convention, he used only their first names. They were handed diplomas and—no Dutch festivity goes flowerless—cellophane cones holding a fuchsia gerbera daisy or pink and white lisianthus. Depending on a recipient’s preference, Montanus spoke English or Dutch, and shared a personal anecdote or accolade about them.

“You were here when the machine broke down, right?” he said to a graduate named Kosai. “He lifted up the cover of the machine and he put his hands inside it, to help,” he explained to the audience. 

He described another barista named Rafi: “He was really, really tense every time I tried to examine him, but he kept sending me beautiful pictures of latte art, so I knew he could do it.”

“Samir may be the loudest barista I’ve ever met,” Montanus said, laughing. Turning warmly to the diploma recipient, he added: “Here you are, man.”

Onlookers stood clapping and digitally documenting. Some leaned on the wood furnishings, rudimentary though brightened by photography, paintings, and pillows. Two geometrical pendant lamps twinkled over Kahwa’s two-group La Marzocco Linea Classic and Ceado E37S grinder. Passing through the machines was a seemingly bottomless supply of Bocca’s Fatima espresso, washed Catuai and Bourbon beans from Brazil.

The ceremony dovetailed with a meet and greet, allowing members of the city’s horeca industry to get acquainted with the graduates as potential hires. In intimate group conversations, refugees gave glimpses of their past lives.

“I know coffee. I come from East Africa,” noted a former security guard from Eritrea, while also sharing a newfound appreciation for the drink’s taste. “The way they roast the beans is very nice.”

An Iraqi talked of having had some coffee-serving experience back when working at a shisha lounge, though he lost the opportunity after the venue was bombed. “Alles is weg,” he said—Dutch for “Everything is gone.”

Months after the graduation ceremony, a second group of refugees was in the thick of the barista course. Montanus had just returned from a trip to Ethiopia and was showing photos of coffee. Yosief from Eritrea and Ben from Zambia politely glanced at his phone, though the red cherries and green beans appeared far less exotic to them than to Montanus’ usual Dutch trainees.

“You’ve seen more coffee than me,” said their teacher, reminded that at Kahwa he could usually zoom through the course’s agricultural history, given the students’ backgrounds. Anyway, demanding more visual attention that day were the steamed milk hearts that Yosief and Ben were working on.

“First, swirl. All the bubbles out.”

“Start high and then bring it low in one go.”

“Most Dutch people will find this to be too little milk.”

The constant feedback had a positive effect on the forms appearing in the foam.

Kahwa was as hospitable a place as it had been in the summer, but the sun set early during these fall afternoon lessons. The season’s quickly cooling temperature made attendance seem like even more of a commitment. Many visitors would reach the Bijlmerbajes by metro. The stop is about a 15-minute walk from the Refugee Company’s headquarters, though arriving as such means having to follow an awkward path. It is so narrow that two pedestrians can barely pass each other without one having to step off the pavement into the marshy flora. On wet days, small black slugs speckle the way. Should anyone forget that the hunkering six towers once housed the country’s most notorious convicts, the moat and the concrete wall serve as reminders.

The barista class met twice weekly, but it had to be woven into the time-consuming bureaucratic requirements that asylees must simultaneously navigate. Ultimately, they are expected to pursue Dutch language and integration courses, settle into permanent housing, and secure work. Behind the bar, students had to demonstrate the ability to pull an espresso, steam and pour milk, clean an espresso machine, and dial in a grinder. A form hanging on the wall listed these skills and, if they struggled, “we just did it again and did it again,” Montanus said. “It was a bit like pre-runs for a barista competition.”

Besides common English and Dutch words in “hospitality slang,” as another posted printout termed them, the trainees were kept up to speed with specialty coffee lingo (the synonym-spawning flat white was particularly conducive to quiz material).

In December 2017, Yosief, Ben, and two Syrian classmates had their own graduation. That made for a total of 20 refugees who, within the year, completed the training with Montanus or his former Bocca colleague, Jasper de Waal.

One especially passionate diploma-holder was Rafi, the tense yet talented latte artist Montanus had praised at the August ceremony. When Sprudge caught up with him half a year later, the 24-year-old was balancing intensive Dutch classes with work as a part-time barista and waiter at Restaurant Merkelbach.

“Bocca gave me everything to really make me a barista, so I can say that I’m really a barista,” he says, sipping an espresso at Merkelbach on a day off.

Before moving to the Netherlands, Rafi had what he described as an internship with Costa. But before transitioning into a job with the multinational coffee company, he had to flee, leaving his hometown of Lattakia, Syria. After finishing his current studies, he hopes to attend hospitality school and pursue a career in coffee.

“I want to have my own cafe. That’s my dream,” Rafi says. Ideally, he added, his business would yield a whole chain of cafes, spanning the Netherlands, Lebanon, and one day, Syria, too.

In the meantime, a new hospitality course for another group of refugees has begun at the Bijlmerbajes. Bocca continues to provide the barista training, though Kahwa as its own entity no longer exists. Earlier this year, the bar merged with A Beautiful Mess and reopened in March as part of the restaurant’s vibrant renovation.

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

The post Teaching Barista Skills To Refugees At A Beautiful Mess In Amsterdam appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

What a week we’ve had in the coffee world. Monday feels like weeks ago, but it wasn’t. It was on Monday. So instead of throwing anything else new at you, we’re going to take a look back at the things that got people buzzing on the social medias.

#BlackCoffeePDX: With a sold out show in Portland, Oregon that raised $2000 for Brown Girl Rise and Sankofa Collective NW, the #BlackCoffeePDX event from Michelle Johnson was a smashing success, with much of the conversation continuing on Twitter.

I’m in fucking awe of the pure excellence of the people around me. This entire night was on some other shit, and I couldn’t be more excited for what every single one of these people in #blackcoffeepdx are going to achieve just for being their unapologetic selves.

— Michelle Johnson (@meeshal) April 24, 2018

My heart is so full in a way it hasn’t been for a long time. Real talk and hot tea: life has been hitting me very hard recently, but tonight made all that growth, uncertainty, fear worth it. I am so thankful and hopeful and inspired

— D. (@deezz_nutz) April 25, 2018

For those unable to attend, the audio podcast and video will be dropping very soon, so watch this space!

Coffee ASMR: Some call it creepy (me), some call it tingly (me again, but in an uncomfortable way), but autonomous sensory meridian response (or ASMR, as in, “sucks to your ASMR“) videos are here to stay. And now, there are ASMR videos for coffee lovers. So if you want to fall asleep I guess, or whatever it is you do to these videos, now you can do it with coffee.



Compostable Bags: Staff writer Anna Brones, whose excellent piece on compostable coffee bags ran a little over a year ago, checks in on the degradation process after some six months in the compost heap. The results thus far have been mixed.

Compostable coffee bags, six months after being put in compost. (I wrote about this for @sprudge last year: https://t.co/XcFIfzp6ST) pic.twitter.com/e0niFYBssS

— Anna Brones (@annabrones) April 27, 2018

Do they not have to go through an industrial composting facility?

— Mat North (@matnorth) April 27, 2018

Stirring Coffee: Early this week, we reported on the Stricle, an electronic coffee stirring devices looking to replace stir sticks. We weren’t super psyched on it because, well, it’s kinda dumb. The responses on social media haven’t been much better.

Some idiot is going to use this without a lid and get hot coffee everywhere. There's gotta be some better solution than a $350 spinner

— Dillon Fearns (@dilski) April 25, 2018

What a week. We’ll see you back here on Monday.

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 4 Coffee Things People Are Buzzing About This Week appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Coffee is adept at crossing borders. From the coffee we drink to the machines we brew it on, this is one of the most international substances known to man. That’s part of the fun—the global connectivity, and the endless possibilities and outcomes contained therein. In late March 2018, our partners at Royal Coffee Inc. held their first-ever international outreach event series in Japan. This four-part event series was titled “Green Coffee Movement,” and hosted by Royal GM Richard Sandlin in Tokyo, Osaka, and Gunma.

Richard Sandlin (center) in Tokyo.

Sandlin is helping spearhead the company’s ongoing growth in Japan, with an eye towards more events and future expansion. In this way Royal joins an ongoing effort at cultural and business exchange between Japan and the United States, which has roots going back many years. On the American side, brewing products by Japanese brands like Hario, Kalita, and Takahiro have long been popular choices for brewing in the cafe and at home; beautiful cold drip towers and siphons made by brands like Oji and Yama continue to draw oohs and ahhs in American cafes; and Japanese entrepreneurs like Hiroshi Sawada and Hidenori Izaki have opened popular cafes and remain in-demand consultants. Meanwhile there are a growing number of American coffee brands branching out to Tokyo and beyond, including a growing number of proprietary cafes from Blue Bottle; a wildly busy Verve location at Shinjuku Station; and a dedicated wholesale partnership for Stumptown at Paddler’s Coffee, now with multiple locations in Tokyo. 

Into this milieu steps Royal, with Sandlin as a not-so-secret weapon. He’s lived previously in Japan; his spouse was born in Sendai; he speaks the language fluently, and has even contributed writing on Japan’s coffee scene to this website. This showed at Royal’s recent event series, attended by a relaxed mix of roasters, baristas, industry notables and coffee lovers, with whom Sandlin chatted with casually in Japanese.  

The Tokyo event was held at FabCafe, and Sandlin treated the crowd to a crash course on Royal’s services as a green coffee importer, including the company’s detailed record keeping on every facet of inventory. This information, as per Sandlin, helps inform Royal’s customers before, during, and after their purchasing of the beans. Joining Sandlin at the event was the microroasting brand Ikawa, and the application MineDrip. These two were introduced once Royal’s presentation was completed, after which the group broke out into a series of stations focused on Ikawa’s sample roasting prowess, a comparative tasting area, and a demo station for MineDrip. 

The evening in Tokyo closed with a cupping, featuring a half-dozen current offerings from Royal’s catalogue, available to potential customers in Tokyo. What followed was an open exchange of flavor perceptions, as much a chance to mingle as it was a formal evaluation. The Tokyo coffee scene, though deeply international, is also quite close knit, and during events like this one you see the familiarity and camaraderie that is happily part of coffee life here. It’s not just people in the same industry at the same event, going because they feel obligated, but people with the same love and passion for coffee. Into this steps Royal Coffee of Oakland; it’s a lovely fit.

Craig Atkinson is a freelance journalist based in Tokyo. This is Craig Atkinson’s first feature for Sprudge Media Network.

Disclosure: Royal Coffee Inc. is an advertising partner on Sprudge Media Network. 

The post Green Coffee Movement: Royal Coffee In Tokyo appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

El Diablo Coffee, a Seattle institution almost two decades old, is being forced to leave their space and find a new home. The coffee shop, located in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, has been serving coffee to their community since 2000. Recently, the building they’ve operated out of for the last 18 years changed hands, and they’ve received notice that they need to vacate the premises by the end of the month. In response, they’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $75,000 in order to cover the gap and keep their workers employed as steadily as possible.

Originally founded by Terri Sullivan, the shop was bought out by Jill Killen, who also owns Cloud City Coffee, in 2010; the original owners were looking to sell and found the ideal buyer in Killen, who was drawn to the space because of its community focus and friendly atmosphere. Over the course of Killen’s tenure there, she’s put a lot of money into improvements, including converting storage space into a kitchen, adding a back patio, upgrading the restrooms, and working to fix the electrical, which is still not reliable. “I’ve put probably $50,000 into the space that I won’t get back—it stays with the space,” she said. Over the last eight years, she’s also had three different landlords, whom she described as absentee. “They just want the space rented, then they sell the building. Rinse and repeat.”

Photo courtesy of Jill Killen.

Last year, Killen learned from the building manager that the building had changed hands. When she brought up a new lease agreement to the management company, she tried to negotiate as low a rise as possible due to the repairs she had had to make and some conditions that were still subpar. “I said I didn’t want to pay more without upgrades,” said Killen. “I was already at or above market rate, compared to buildings with new plumbing and new electric.”  The management company allegedly reported back to Killen that the new landlords agreed that the electric needed upgrading. “I asked again for a lease,” said Killen. “I asked many times over the spring and summer. They said to hold tight, the electric problem was complicated. I wanted to do upgrades to my space and was waiting to hear back so I could start. Things were falling apart.”

The notice to vacate came on April 2nd, with a deadline of 11:59 pm on April 30th. “The courier handed it to a barista and said ‘this has to be hung in the window.’ My barista called me freaking out. Rent was paid.” After calling the management company and her old landlord, she finally got ahold of the building manager. “After four phone calls, Ben returned my call and said it was true and that this was ‘the hardest part of his job.’ The landlord was doing improvements on the space and El Diablo was in the way.” When Killen asked why the notice was so short, the building manager allegedly responded that he was only required to give 20 days. “He said he didn’t agree with how it was handled, but he was just a broker doing his job and didn’t own the building. He said they wanted to move in a different direction.”

Neither the building manager nor Diablo Coffee’s landlord have responded to Sprudge’s repeated request for comment.

So what’s next for Killen and El Diablo? According to Killen, they just signed a lease on a space that used to house a Mexican restaurant. The shape of the new space, which includes a full-service kitchen and is about three times the size of the old space, will change their service model slightly, but Killen is resilient and ready to see potential changes as positives. “We’ll need an expeditor/delivery person and a system with table numbers, but it will allow us to do other things such as expand our menu,” says Killen. “We had run out of electric amperage and space in the old cafe. Many people left because of seating issues. So there’s lots of positives.” The obvious downside: “The cost of moving is enormous. Between physically disconnecting and moving things we have to build counters, add floor drains, and more.”

Killen is particularly concerned about service disruptions for her staff. “We just need money for the move. We weren’t anticipating this.”

She’s hoping El Diablo has proven its value over time and that the community will continue to invest in their continued existence. “I’ve come to love this neighborhood and our kind neighbors,” Killen tells Sprudge. “We’ve gained so much diversity and it makes me proud to come in and see a variety of clientele. The neighborhood has rallied around us in the past.” She’s hopeful that both the local community and the larger coffee community will lend a hand to keep El Diablo operating. So far, the support has been strong: the campaign is trending on Kickstarter and has raised nearly $20,000 of its $75,000 goal. To help El Diablo manage the gap and keep their employees as secure as possible, you can donate here.

RJ Joseph is a staff writer for Sprudge Media Network. Read more RJ Joseph on Sprudge.

All photos by Neil Oney unless otherwise noted.

The post Seattle’s El Diablo Coffee Needs Your Help appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Indianapolis, there’s a coffee festival coming your way next month, and coffee is bringing some of its best friends along for the ride! Taking place May 6^th at the Biltwell Event Center, the 2018 Indianapolis Cup will feature some of the Midwest’s best coffee roasters, breweries, distillers, and bakers. Pretty much everything you would need to live a very good life.

Created by Tinker Coffee, this year’s Indianapolis Cup will feature 25 vendors, including Tinker, Quills Coffee, Carabello Coffee, The Abbey Coffee Co., Indie Coffee Roasters, Mile Square Coffee, Bee Coffee Roasters, Pilcrow Coffee, and Utopian Coffee Company. To balance out all that caffeine, there will be beer from Flat12 Bierworks and Centerpoint Brewing, kombucha from Circle City, booze from Cardinal Spirits, and a handful of bakeries and ice creameries.

Sponsored this year by Modbar, Genuine Origin, and Atlas Coffee, proceeds from the Indianapolis Cup will go to Project Alianza, who provides education to children on coffee farms, and Big Car Collaborative, an Indianapolis-based non-profit arts organization.

Tickets for the event range from $15 to $35 for general admission and VIP, respectively. GA tickets “provide guests the opportunity to sample coffees, beer, wine, and baked goods from all vendors, participate in product demos, and expand their knowledge of the coffee industry,” per the press release, with the VIP tickets providing “access to a private coffee cupping featuring coffees from Tinker Coffee, Quills Coffee, Carabello Coffee, and The Abbey Coffee Co.” Tickets can be purchased via the Indianapolis Cup’s Eventbrite page.

It all happens Sunday, May 6^th from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Biltwell Event Center. For more information on the event, visit the 2018 Indianapolis Cup 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 the Indianapolis Cup

The post The 2018 Indianapolis Cup Is Coming May 6th appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

This Texas tale started out as a family affair: When Sean Henry started Houndstooth Coffee in 2010, his brother, Paul Henry, came to work for him as a barista. Since their initial launch, the brothers have continued to gradually expand the company, which now runs six cafes: three in Dallas (where Sean is based) and three in Austin (where Paul is based), as well as the roastery Tweed Coffee. Their latest addition is a new cafe in East Austin that offers coffee during the day and extends into the late hours with beer, wine, and cocktails.

On the day we visit the new Austin location, Paul is wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. I can see a bit of Texas tattooed on his arm. I ask him about it and it turns out it’s actually the same logo that’s on my espresso mug: the state of Texas on one side, the Houndstooth fedora logo on the other. He brings up his childhood—he was raised in the suburbs of Dallas—and I ask him how being Texan plays into his business. “There’s a hospitality and swagger to Texas that’s hard to find elsewhere,” he says. “There’s something magic about it.”

The Henry brothers have worked to bring that magic to the new location, which is intended to be more of an all-day hangout than just a cafe for morning fuel. “It seems a lot of people don’t hang out in the same place in the evenings that they do in the mornings,” says Paul. To help facilitate that idea in the new Austin space, Houndstooth is drawing from its experience with its successful Dallas cocktail bar Jettison. “We want to borrow a little bit of what happens up there and bring it down here,” says Henry. Cocktails at the East Austin Houndstooth will include Jettison favorites such as the Red Headed Oaxacan, a smoky agave version of a Penicillin with reposado, mezcal, ginger honey, lemon, and a spray of Bowmore 12-year-old Scotch whisky, and the Earl’d Fashion’d, made with bonded bourbon, orange and Angostura bitters, and maple syrup smoked with Earl Grey tea.

But while there are alcoholic drinks on offer, the space feels more like a comfortable neighborhood hangout than a chic bar. Paul tells me the story of his grandfather, who was known for wearing a fedora (another nod that Houndstooth makes to family heritage). One day his grandfather was eating at a restaurant in Lubbock, Texas, where he was a regular, and accidentally left his fedora behind. The next day when his grandfather returned, the hat was waiting for him. Paul likens this to the feeling that they are trying to create in all the Houndstooth cafes, one that’s focused on hospitality and community, ensuring that everyone feels welcome. “I see you, I know you, you’re safe here,” says Paul.

Order the house blend at Houndstooth and you’ll be served Timepiece, another family nod, this time to the Henrys’s father, a watch collector. Besides passing along watches to his sons, their father has also passed along a business sense. “For years my dad would say, ‘Do the right thing,’” he says. “As long as you live within your means, you’ll be fine.” The company has never taken outside funding, and as Paul puts it, “We do things that make fiscal sense.”

But that doesn’t mean that they’re not willing to try new things. On the contrary, they are open to new ideas and challenges, but with a healthy dose of pragmatism. “We try and make our own mistakes but we try not to make the same mistake twice,” says Paul.

Despite a lot of growth over the past few years, “we’re still a personal company, a family company,” says Paul. That means putting a big focus on investing in their staff. Most of the Houndstooth staff is full-time and they all have company health insurance. “What I love is helping our staff become who they want to become,” says Henry. That focus on people, be they staff or customers, is ultimately what weaves all of the elements of Houndstooth together.  

“If we can bring good people and good coffee together, we can create a pattern that will last a long time,” says Paul.

Anna Brones (@annabrones) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in the American Pacific Northwest, the founder of Foodie Underground, and the co-author of Fika: The Art Of The Swedish Coffee Break. Read more Anna Brones on Sprudge.

The post In Austin, The Henry Brothers Expand Houndstooth On Their Own Terms appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News