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¡Vamos A Barca! The Independent Barcelona Coffee Festival Returns This Month

By 3FE, anne lunell, April Coffee Roasters, Barcelona, colin harmon, events, independent barcelona coffee festival, koppi coffee, Manuela Fensore, Patrik Rolf, spain, Utopia 126, Wire

The Independent Barcelona Coffee Festival is coming back! Taking place October 31st through November 2nd at Utopia 126, the IBCF returns for its fourth year, where it will build upon the festivities of the previous iterations for the biggest festival yet.

Intended for all levels of coffee experience, from seasoned barista to specialty noob, professional roaster to home novice, the IBCF has a little something for everyone. You could show up and drink all the wonderful coffee available from the handful of local and national coffee companies that will be in attendance. Or, if you’re really looking to grab the coffee toro by the cuernos, the IBCF has literal days full of interesting talks from leaders in the international coffee community. You can learn v60 Insights with Anne Lunell of Koppi Coffee or Setting Up a Roastery from 2019 World Brewers Cup Runner-Up, April Coffee Roasters’ Patrik Rolf. You can hear about “What I Know About Running Coffee Shops” with 3fe’s Colin Harmon or even up your latte art game with 2019 World Latte Art Champion Manuela Fensore.

Tickets for the IBCF come in one of two varieties: the open and the pro pass. The open grants admission to all the Saturday festivities, including unlimited coffee and access to food, drink, and music all day long and cost €3. The pro pass runs €85 for a day and €120 for a full event pass and includes everything the open pass includes plus access to all the talks.

It all takes place in Thursday, October 31st through Saturday, November 2nd at Utopia 126 in Barcelona. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Independent Barcelona Coffee Festival’s official website.

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

All images via the Independent Barcelona Coffee Festival

The post ¡Vamos A Barca! The Independent Barcelona Coffee Festival Returns This Month appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

The Analytics Of Autumn: The 2019 Build-Outs Of Summer By The Numbers

By Analytics of Autumn, Beachcomber, Build-Outs Of Summer, Cafes, cartel coffee, curtis, Featured, Fetco, intelligentsia, K30, KB90, La Marzocco Linea, Mahlkonig EK43, Mazzer Major, modbar av, Nuova Simonelli Mythos, Peak, Pilot, Prototype, Slayer Steam, Synesso MVP Hydra, The Meteor, Virgin Islands Coffee

The Build-Outs of Summer Season Seven is officially behind us. But even still, the Thrill of the Build shines brightly in the rearview, reflecting a small glimmer of warmth as we head full steam into the colder months. And so too do we reflect upon all that transpired, crunching numbers and finding trends for the Analytics of Autumn, our yearly wrap-up of our summer series.

This is our fourth year of making competely-justified-but-not-at-all-justified statements about the state of specialty coffee as told by the Build-Outs of Summer. And while it’s ostensibly difficult to claim that 40 cafes who didn’t even exist until a few months ago represent the totality of a global industry, there is nonetheless a lot of truth to be gleaned from them. As we’ve stated previously, the Build-Outs of Summer is an opportunity for owners to give an unfiltered account of what they want their cafes to be, regardless of how well they are able to live up to the standard they are trying to achieve. These are the cafes at their most aspirational. We are given a direct line to the Platonic ideal of the specialty coffee shop in 2019; the Greek philosophers would be green with envy.

What we’ve found this year bolsters claims from previous years. It’s as if there’s a trend or something. So let’s take a deep dive into the numbers and see what we can glean from the 2019 Analytics of Autumn: A Brief Reprise For The Build-Outs Of Summer, Who Went Away, But For Very Good Seasons.

Who’s Building Out

We saw a total of 40 entries in the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer, but unlike previous seasons, this year’s participants came solely from North America (come on, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America, what gives?!). Only four—Beachcomber, Prototype, Pilot, and Virgin Islands Coffee—came from outside the continental United States. Entries this year have a fairly even geographical spread, with 16 shops in the East, 13 in the center part of the continent, and 11 in the West.

Whereas previous years have told the story of good coffee happening anywhere—which it can and still very much does—this year’s Build-Outs is all about the big cities, the established players continuing their coffee dominance. For every Albuquerque or Cranston, there’s a New York City or Houston; in fact, exactly half of the 40 entries this year came from top 20 US cities by population (this includes Toronto, whose population would put them in the top five were they an American city).

But despite the ever-so-slight western bent this year, the cities with the most entries into the Build-Outs of Summer this year are Los Angeles (again) with four and Austin with three. These two cities share a similar arc in their coffee scene’s evolution; both are places coffee brands want to be. Of the three Austin cafes featured, two—Cartel Coffee and The Meteor—are from already existing brands making a move into the Texas state capitol (to say nothing of Intelligentsia’s recent cafe opening in ATX).

The Roasting Boom

Following last year’s trend of everyone wanting to roast, it turns out everyone still wants to roast. 28 out of the 40 coffee companies featured this year, a whopping 70%, roast their own coffee. Using even the most lenient definition of “multi-roaster”—having more than one roaster at a given time—only four of the remaining 12 cafes could rightfully fall under that moniker, all of them coffee companies opening their first location.

While the rise of the roaster accompanied by the continued decline of the multi-roaster follows what we have seen coming over the past few seasons of Build-Outs, what’s new for this year exactly how these roasters are plotting their growth. The roasting ilk breaks down evenly between those opening their first cafe and those now with locations, plural, and of the 14 first-timers, eight have been operating as wholesale-only accounts long before finally deciding to open a storefront of their own. The overwhelming theme we are seeing this year is companies focusing on steady growth over ambitious expansion.

The Year In Gear

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the La Marzocco Linea tops the list as most used espresso machine for the Builders this year. 14 of the 37 cafes using espresso machines opted for the Linea, 10 more than the machines tied for second, the KB90 and the Modbar AV (both members of the LM family). Including Modbar cafes, a total 25 shops use some model of La Marzocco espresso machine. The Synesso MVP Hydra and Slayer Steam were the two most used non-LM machines with three and two, respectively.

And if you want some more not-at-all breaking news, the Mahlkönig EK43 is still everyone’s favorite grinder. 18 of the 53 total grinders named, a total of 34%, are EKs. Like with La Marzocco in the espresso machine category, the second most used grinders are also Mahlkönig products, the K30 and PEAK, both of which had seven. 64% of the grinders mentioned in the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer were made by Mahlkönig. The most used non-King of Grinders were the Nuova Simonelli Mythos (both One and Two) and the Mazzer Major, both with five.

Hand-brew coffee continues its steady decline for Build-Outs cafes. This is not to say pour-over coffee it losing favor, but actual manually brewed coffee may be going the way of the multi-roaster. Overall, 16 of the 27 shops that discussed their filter options (13 didn’t even mention anything; take that for what it’s worth) have some pour-over option on their menu, but only five make any mention of actual, brewed-by-hand coffee. In general, we found folks more eager to discuss which model of FETCO or Curtis batch brewer they were using than any particulars about pour-over brew methods.

What Does It All Mean?

If there’s one grand theme that prevailed in the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer, it is how close it hewed to what we saw in 2018. Cafe owners want their spaces to be approachable and community focused. Respondents would much rather talk about how they want to be inclusive and a place for all than they would about how they are chockablock with the freshest gear. As we saw last year—and can now say more conclusively—the gear arms race is over. At least for now.

How folks talk about their new projects seems to signify a shift in how cafes want to identify themselves as amongst the ranks of the specialty world. Folks used to signal their bona fides by talking about what gear they had or how many different roasters they would be bringing in; now being a specialty cafe by and large means having a more social focus. The shift makes sense, especially when you consider the current political environment much of the world currently finds itself in. It wasn’t but five or six years ago when you could walk into a shop, see a Linea, an EK, or five different roasters, and know that place was “legit”. Of course, those things don’t actually necessitate that the cafe was in fact any good, only that they were aware of this broadly nascent thing called “specialty coffee.” But with the democratization of information, specialty coffee’s secret handshake became the formula for those looking to “cash in” on the hot new trend (only to realize any cashing in would be purely figurative).

And as specialty coffee evolved, a rejection of the old schema became the new calling card. What’s old is new again. Whereas coffee shops once wanted to be science labs where you waxed academic about a beverage you’ve consumed everyday of your life but are just now truly tasting for the first time, coffee shops are returning to the hangout spots, the place where everybody knows your name and your drink order.

In 2019, it’s deeply uncool to only drink espresso or consume exclusively hand-brewed v60s of fresh crop Kenya AAs. What’s cool now is broadening the pool of specialty coffee drinkers. What’s cool is espousing the virtues of the peoples’ drinks. It’s expressing unabashed and unironic love for the best damn iced vanilla oat milk latte you’ve ever had. In 2019, specialty coffee has, in a lot of ways, gotten over itself.

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 The Analytics Of Autumn: The 2019 Build-Outs Of Summer By The Numbers appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

Oakland: Head To Royal Coffee To Learn About “Working Toward Transparency”

By california, Capricornio, Catracha Coffee Company, Chad Trewick, events, Jeri Idso, Luiz Saldanha, Max Nicholas-Fulmer, oakland, Peter W. Roberts, Royal Coffee, Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide, The Crown, Wire

There is no more immediate threat to the future of coffee than the current price crisis taking place on the commodities market. The uncertain future has led many in the specialty coffee world to act (more than just me incessantly flapping my gums about it). One such way for those looking to more involve takes place this Friday, October 25th at The Crown in Oakland. Featuring individuals from across the supply chain, “Working Towards Transparency: The Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide” is a night of discussion why, if you care about your coffee you need to care about how much producers are paid for it.

Hosted by Royal Coffee at their lab and tasting room, Working Towards Transparency will dive into what it means for the specialty coffee world to safeguard specialty producers by fully divorcing their products from the C-market prices. To do this, the event will lean heavily on the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide, an anonymized report on specialty coffee prices from “an expanding group of Data Donors—roasters, importers, exporters, and producers—who donate contract data covering specialty coffee transactions from recent harvests.” That information then gets analyzed by Emory University researchers who then use it to create the Transaction Guide.

Presenters at the event include the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide project leads Peter W. Roberts and Chad Trewick as well at Catracha Coffee Company founder Mayra Orellana-Powell, Fazenda California owner and Capricornio co-founder Luiz Saldanha, and Royal Coffee’s CEO and Senior Trader and Sales Team leader, Max Nicholas-Fulmer and Jeri Idso, respectively.

In advance of the event, Royal Coffee has released an episode of their brand new The Crown Podcast all about transparency in coffee. The hour-and-half podcast touches on many of the topics that be discussed at Working Towards Transparency. Consider it a little homework to be completed beforehand.

Working Towards Transparency: The Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide gets started at 4:00pm at The Crown Lab & Tasting Room in Oakland, California. The event is free to attend—though Royal is asking for a donation to Grounds for Health—but does require an RSVP, which can be done via Eventbrite. For more information on the event, visit Royal Coffee’s official website.

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

Image via Royal Coffee

Disclosure: Royal Coffee is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network

The post Oakland: Head To Royal Coffee To Learn About “Working Toward Transparency” appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

A Few Of Our Favorite Moments From The 2019 New York Coffee Festival

By Elixr Coffee, equator coffees, events, KeepCup, La Marzocco Linea Mini, new york, New York City, New York Coffee Festival, North America, NYC, Oatly, Rec Coffee, rishi tea, Spirit Tea, Staff Picks, Stumptown Coffee, USA

new york coffee festival

We came. We saw. We slurped, spro’d and shotted. The 2019 edition of the New York Coffee Festival was perhaps the event’s biggest, best running yet here on American shores. Long a staple of the London specialty coffee culture thanks to the wildly successful London Coffee Festival, the New York edition of the event—like its sibling show, the Los Angeles Coffee Festival (November 8-10th)—brings a global energy to one of the world’s great coffee scenes. The booths, the competitions, the art, the films, all of it buzzing with Manhattan energy.

Whether you trekk’d in by subway from 15 stops deep in Brooklyn, or had your chauffeur waiting in the private subterranean carport of that quiet little Tribeca loft you call home, there was something for everyone at the NYCF. Here’s a few of our favorite moments from the 2019 edition of the New York Coffee Festival.

new york coffee festival

The Coffee Art Project

Art! Yes, art. There was a lot to see and try at the festival, but everyone here on Team Sprudge were truly impressed by this year’s exhibition of the annual Coffee Art Project. The brief is simple: “Artists that apply will need to submit a piece of artwork that represents a creative, unique and personal connection to the concept of ‘coffee’ or ‘coffee shop experience.’ The work submitted can be any form of art, providing that it has a justifiable conceptual link to coffee or coffee shop experience.” In execution that meant evocative vistas of coffee farms at origin, playing cards reimagined in a coffee milieu, portraiture of coffee drinkers from around the world, and best—indeed, most striking—of all, a tribute to New York Yankee legends made entirely out of coffee beans. Not every coffee festival is also an art festival—it’s something we keep coming back to at these events around the world.

Learn more about the Coffee Art Project here. 

new york coffee festival

Roast Masters + MCs

Which host boasts the most roast? The Roast Masters tournament made its North American debut at the 2019 New York Coffee Festival, pitting ready roasters against each other in a browning battle royale. Expertly MC’d by NYC coffee heroes Erika Vonie and Ezra Baker, with judging overseen by Anne Lunell, Alexandria Dancy, Ben Kaminsky, and John Coyne, an incredible quorum of 25 coffee companies put their roasts to the test across three action packed days.

new york coffee festival

In the end, the team from Elixr Coffee in Philadelphia proved triumphant! A huge congratulations to Elixr Coffee, and stay tuned for our exclusive interview with the 2019 Roast Masters champs right here on Sprudge.

new york coffee festival

Oatly

Allow, if you will, for this brief personal vignette from inside the NYCF showfloor.

Scene: Opening morning of the festival. The floor is starting to fill up, and every booth is open, but before I can even really begin to comprehend all the coffee, first I need… some coffee. And then, glowing before me as if placed there by some divine being, was the Oatly booth, a wonderland of creamy oat beverage product ready to be steamed and combined with espresso in a delicious dance of plant-based pick-me-up. I just so happened to approach while Equator Coffees was the on the bar, which meant that I, yours truly, was treated to a luscious, delicious, creamy macchia-oat-o that nearly brought me to tears. It wasn’t just the best coffee of the morning; it wasn’t just the best coffee of the festival; it was my favorite coffee I drank all week long in New York. Believe it.

Wax & Gold 

Not to be outdone by the art show, NYCF was also home to a rolling film festival. We found ourselves bouncing back to the film room again and again throughout the show, to check in on the beautiful films on offer. None cooler than Stumptown Coffee‘s remarkable Wax & Gold, a film journey to the coffeelands of Ethiopia, exploring the country’s endless overlap between the twin cultures of coffee and music.

Tea

Tea, it turns out, is good! And tea was well-represented at the 2019 NY Coffee Festival. I found myself returning again and again to the charming Spirit Tea booth for kegged tea cold brew and whatever other delicious stuff co-founders Jordan Scherer and Taylor Cowan were steeping up. Just a few stalls away, the gang at Rishi Tea had their own take on delicious tea offerings, including some fresh whipped ceremonial grade matcha and truly delicious oat milk chai drinks, fresh steamed on handsome La Marzocco Linea Minis.

On a seperate but not entirely unrelated note, yes, we’re doing Tea Week again in 2019—folks keep asking, which brings us joy. Stay tuned!

Latte Art Live

New York City is home to a ferociously active semi-professional latte art scene. Players compete for cash, glory, and Instagram followers. No holds or pours are barred.

This level of action and intensity was center stage for Latte Art Live at the 2019 New York Coffee Festival, including the 2019 Latte Art East Coast Championship presented by Blue Stone Lane, to battles of Latte Art H.O.R.S.E. and a Latte Art Pro-Am presented by Rec Coffee, to demos and instructionals led by NYC coffee gliterati like Ujae Lee, Jenna Gotthelf, and Emilee Bryant.

The milk? It was put in the cups. The pours? The were textured, they were layered, they were steam dreams of milk art. It all happened, and it was everything.

KeepCup

KeepCup‘s exhibition at the 2019 New York Coffee Festival had us screaming for more. These retro colorways? Those new product drops? This is much more than just a reusable coffee cup—it’s fashion, darling, and we’re living for it. Watch for an exciting slate of new releases from KeepCup just in time for AW 19 and the 2019 holidays!

We could go on, but instead let us take a breath—we’ll be back in a few short weeks with more coverage from the from the 2019 Los Angeles Coffee Festival. Get your tickets today, and we’ll see you in LA.

Photos by Zachary Carlsen and Jeremy Hernandez for Sprudge Media Network. 

Disclosure: The 2019 New York Coffee Festival is presented by Allegra Events, and an advertising partner on the Sprudge Media Network. 

The post A Few Of Our Favorite Moments From The 2019 New York Coffee Festival appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

Brazil’s Largest Arabica Producer Has Run Out Of Coffee

By bloomberg, Brazil, commodity market, cooxupe, dinamo, Wire

When writing about the price crisis on the commodities market, the reliable refrain we see on social media from the free-market capitalist is always, “bUt SuPpLy AnD dEmAnD.” It’s a fairly jejune argument that doesn’t really take into consideration large companies’ roles in creating an artificially low price-point from which they are now benefitting at the expense of the coffee farmers. Never mind that this fawning over the most basic principle as the economic end-all-be-all in no way justifies paying below the cost of production.

But supply and demand is nonetheless the reason given, and normally it is in relation to the bumper crop Brazil had over the past year or so. Brazil has produced so much coffee, the argument goes, that it is driving down the price of all coffee to bargain basement prices. They (and every other coffee farmer) are victims of their own success.

There’s a problem with this argument, though. Brazil is running out of coffee.

As reported by Bloomberg, Brazil’s largest grower and shipper of arabica, Cooxupe, it no longer has any coffee to fill new orders, “countering the steady drumbeat of ample supply that has sent prices to 13-year lows.” According to the article, Cooxupe estimated producing 5.7 million bags of arabica this year but has to date only taken in 4.9 million bags.

“Funds are overselling coffee in New York while in the physical market there’s no more supplies and demand has been strong,” Lucio Dias, commercial director at Minas Gerais-based cooperative Cooxupe, said by telephone. “We don’t know where the world will get coffee in the next six months.”

Other exporters aren’t feeling the same squeeze Cooxupe is just yet. Exporter Dinamo states that their Minas Gerais-based warehouses still have lots of coffee to spare. But one employee at Dinamo states that if the current rate of shipments continues, there will be “a more significant depletion in inventories in the second quarter of next year before the new harvest.”

Even with the abnormally high yield, other factors may decreasing supply for the year. As Bloomberg notes, bad weather in the first quarter of the year ‘hurt bean development while exports were strong just as the current crop entered into the lower-yielding half of a biennial cycle,” all the while Brazilian farmers are holding onto more of their own crops due to the low prices they could fetch as well as lower interest rates.

Currently, the price of coffee on the commodities market sits at $.95 after briefly eclipsing the one-dollar mark. In the bizarro world where supply-and-demand is paramount, this dearth of on-hand coffee would be a great thing for producers. Now their coffees could fetch a much higher price—hopefully one that earns them a livable wage—since it is growing scarce because, y’know, SuPpLy AnD dEmAnD. But of course, that won’t happen. Prices are $.20 lower than they were this time last year. Concerns about depleting supplies in the face of continually increasing demand hasn’t driven up the price. It’s almost as if something other than supply-and-demand is causing the immorally low prices. Weird.

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

Image via Adobe Stock/kamonrat

The post Brazil’s Largest Arabica Producer Has Run Out Of Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

A Coffee Drinker’s Guide To Canberra, Australia

By aeropress, australia, Barrio Collective Coffee Bar, Bodalla Dairy, Cafes, Canberra, city guide, coffee lab, Espresso Room, Greenhouse Coffee and Food Co., Guides, Harvest, Industry Beans, Oceania, Ona Coffee, Places, Sasa Sestic, Staff Picks, the cupping room, The Pines Dairy, Tilba Dairy

It’s easy to arrive in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and get caught up admiring all of the grand government buildings that neatly line the streets of the well-planned city—from Parliament House on top of the hill, to the Australian War Memorial and the National Gallery of Australia. The city is also home to about 80 embassies and high commissions.

Nicknamed the bush capital, Canberra is home to a population of about 390,000 people and is also well-known for having lots of roundabouts (at last count it was about 406). For a long time it was never really considered a destination—mainly because there wasn’t much going on. The only time people visited was during school excursions or when visitors were in town, but even then that was a drag.

However this has all changed and frankly, part of that shift in attitude towards the city can be attributed to the local coffee scene. It all started when one of the city’s very own baristas, Sasa Sestic, was crowned the winner of the World Barista Championship title in Seattle back in 2015. Since then, he’s been training other baristas in the city, many of who have followed in his footsteps and have entered and won similar competitions like the master barista himself.

The burgeoning coffee scene has partially helped put Canberra on the map as a cool place to visit. These cafes have themselves become travel destinations for visitors in search of quality caffeine or a place to take refuge after all that exploring (or going through roundabouts).

 

canberra australia coffee guide

Photo courtesy of ONA Coffee.

The Cupping Room

If you had to pick and choose a handful of cafes that were responsible for starting the coffee trend in Canberra then there’s no denying that The Cupping Room is one of them.

The Cupping Room is owned by Canberra’s largest speciality coffee roaster, ONA Coffee, the company that was founded by award-winning Sasa Sestic and is also home to other champion baristas including Matthew Lewin, 2019 Barista Champion of Australia. Given how many awards ONA Coffee has, no matter the barista you’re almost guaranteed a good brew.

Part cafe and part educational hub, The Cupping Room is the go-to to learn a thing or two about coffee, beans, taste, and flavor with their education cupping sessions. Their seasonal menu features all-day breakfast—it could be a bacon and egg roll or something heartier like fritters or beetroot cured salmon with herbs and greens such as pickled fennel, asparagus, and cucumber.

The Cupping Room is located at 1/1-13 University Avenue, Canberra. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

canberra australia coffee guide

Photo courtesy of Barrio Collective.

Barrio Collective Coffee Bar

Opened in 2015, Barrio Collective Coffee Bar may be tiny in size but it packs a punch in the local coffee scene. Located in the hip neighborhood of Braddon, the coffee menu has been tailored to reflect the cafe’s traditional and contemporary brew methods. Their motto is to keep things simple and everything from their decor to menu delivers on that.

The community-like vibe of the space is best enjoyed with their range of small-batch-roasted coffees. In addition to nut milks, milk suppliers have been thoughtfully sourced from nearby regions: Tilba Dairy, Bodalla Dairy, and The Pines Dairy in Kiama.

The food at Barrio ranges from tasty coffee-pairables such as stroopwafels to hearty and warm grilled cheese sandwiches.

Barrio Collective Coffee is located at 59/30 Lonsdale St, Braddon ACT 2612. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

canberra australia coffee guide

Photo courtesy of Kira Zhouyuan.

Greenhouse Coffee and Food Co.

Who knew you could find good coffee in a mall? In Canberra you can. On the top level of Canberra Centre is Greenhouse Coffee and Food Co. This gem is a welcome reprieve for anyone looking for more than just any average food court offering.

The venture was started by two of Canberra’s coffee veterans, Sasa Sestic from ONA Coffee and Michael Rose from Espresso Room, before it was recently sold to new owners.

Coffee is all locally sourced from ONA. With multiple blends available, drinks include filter coffees, single origins, and cold brews. Just as much as the coffee variety changes, the food menu also rotates each season. Dishes in the past have included pork benedict with braised pork hock, Béarnaise sauce, and pickled beetroot, and banana fritters with cardamom anglaise, vanilla malt crumble, and pineapple sorbet.

The space, as the name suggests, has been designed to replicate a greenhouse with a mix of Hampton styling. Arched French windows overlook the city and greenery hangs from the ceiling, making it an ideal refuge if you’re seeking to escape the craziness of the shopping mall. There’s also a balcony that’s suitable for the warmer months.

Greenhouse Coffee and Food Co is located at . Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

canberra australia coffee guide

Photo courtesy of Coffee Lab.

Coffee Lab

As the name hints, Coffee Lab is part coffee roaster and part science lab. There’s no better way to understand the coffee-making process and the science that goes behind it by watching the baristas, who pride themselves on experimental brews, trial, and test all the different coffee beans at the concrete bar. They’re happy to talk you through the process too—just ask.

Their experiments always produce a rotation of at least two milk-based blends, a single-origin espresso, and filter options, often poured with a bit of theatre.

Just like the coffee, the food served at Coffee Lab is ever-changing. Depending on the season it can vary from tiramisu pancakes to smashed eggs with chorizo to red velvet pancakes to shrimp patty burger.

It’s corner location decked out with hanging greenery suspended from wooden crates and a wall of coffee bags make it a popular go-to spot for public servants, who are often lining up out the door for their morning caffeine hit. To avoid the lengthy lines there are plenty of cosy spots to choose from. The best seats in the house are either on the banquette or by the large front windows where it’s a chance to watch passers-by.

Coffee Lab is located at 26 Narellan Place, Canberra. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

canberra australia coffee guide

Photo courtesy of Harvest Coffee.

Harvest

When your coffee options include pour-over, syphon, cold drip, or AeroPress, you know you’re at a spot where coffee is taken seriously. Harvest is all about serving a cup—or three—of some of the city’s best coffee from its wooden bar where all the dedicated work of testing new brewing methods happens. The moody venue uses a blend of beans from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Sumatra, and Honduras, sourcing it from other Australian roasters including Melbourne-based Industry Beans and fellow Canberreans, Barrio Collective.

While there, it’s hard to resist the sweet offerings that are always on display at the counter. It varies from muffins to banana bread, in-house baked chocolate chip cookies, and Portuguese tarts—all of which are ideal accompaniments to a fresh brew.

The ample low-stool seating and vibrant service that’s offered at Harvest has made it a favorable hangout for crowds to sip away over a few cups in the corner.

Harvest is located at 40 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook.

Aimee Chanthadavong is a freelance journalist based in Sydney. Read more Aimee Chanthadavong for Sprudge.

The post A Coffee Drinker’s Guide To Canberra, Australia appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

The San Francisco Coffee Festival Returns In November

By acaia, AKA, Bird Rock, california, coffee manufactory, counter culture, events, fellow products, kickapoo, klatch, Luvhaus Ceramics, madcap, Mason Center for Arts and Culture, mother tongue, Onyx, red bay, ritual, San Francisco, San Francisco Coffee Festival, Temple, The Crown, Third Wave Water, topo chico, Verve, Wire

Who doesn’t enjoy a good coffee festival? You get to drink coffee all day long, perhaps partake in a few adult refreshments, some tasty bites, and maybe attend a talk or panel discussion. What’s not to love? And is there ever a whole lot to love at the San Francisco Coffee Festival. Happening the weekend of November 2nd and 3rd at the Mason Center for Arts and Culture, the San Francisco Coffee Festival is a celebration of the Bay Area coffee culture and beyond.

With a total of 56 roasters exhibiting, the SFCF has a strong mix of local, in-state, and national roasters for attendees to choose from. Bay Area coffee companies like Ritual, The Crown, Red Bay, AKA, and Mother Tongue will join big name California roasters like Verve, Klatch, Bird Rock, and Temple for the two-day event. They will be joined by out-of-staters Onyx, Kickapoo, Counter Culture (I know they have a Bay Area lab but they’re a national, ok), Madcap, and others to round out a nicely curated coffee list.

Non-roasting exhibitors include locals Acaia, Fellow Products, and Luvhaus Ceramics as well as national hydration darlings Topo Chico and Third Wave Water.

And once you’ve filled up on coffee, why don’t you take a break from the caffeination and fill up on knowledge at one of the many, many talks takin place over the course of the weekend. You can learn about Coffee With A Purpose from Royal Coffee’s Chris Kornman or the Art of Espresso-ion with Coffee Manufactory’s Tricia Lu or even attend the Bartenders & Baristas Blend led by none other than 2017 World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Martin Hudak.

There’s going to be coffee art activations, live music, and a whole host of tasty bites to help you come down from the coffee high. There’s more than a day’s worth of things to do, so come hungry and thirsty.

Tickets for the San Francisco Coffee Festival range from $29 for a three-hour session pass to $45 for a full day pass all the way up to $69 for an all-day VIP pass, all of which can be purchased here. And you may want to act fast because last year’s event sold out. For more information on the San Francisco Coffee Festival and to see a full list of this year’s attendees, 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.

The post The San Francisco Coffee Festival Returns In November appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

Coffee Design: Amavida Coffee In Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

By amavida coffee, Design, florida, kevin tudball, santa rosa beach, Staff Picks, United States

Florida coffee roasting company Amavida Coffee Roasters debuts new branding this season. Amavida Coffee teamed up with designer Kevin Tudball in early 2018 and launched the fresh new look in September of 2019. Tudball has worked with various coffee companies over the years—Verve Coffee, Steeped Coffee, and Truce Coffee to name a few. The refresh goes big on bold patterns and eye-catching colors. “Everything relates back to a coastal warm palette,” says Tudball.

We spoke with Amavida’s Martin Trejo, Dan Bailey, and Jennifer Pawlik to learn more.

Tell us a bit about Amavida Coffee and how it’s grown in the last fifteen years.

Amavida Coffee Roasters started in 2004 as an importer, roaster and purveyor of ethically-traded coffee. Coffee has been our vocation and since day one, we have been working to improve the lives of coffee producers and to advance the coffee industry. So far, It has been a blast and we have met so many great people working in coffee.

In the beginning, we never intended to be in retail but we managed to add four cafes in quaint beach communities in the Florida panhandle. These communities include: Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Miramar Beach and Historic St Andrews, Florida. And recently, we have expanded our wholesale operations from a regional presence to a national level.

In the last 15 years, we have also learned to be a better company. In 2014, we became a Certified B Corporation providing us with a compass to improve on our objectives. And more recently, we worked with takingroot.org to became a carbon responsible company.

Tell us about your collaboration with Kevin Tudball.

We’d been admiring other works by Kevin and knew we wanted to work with him. We first started working with Kevin Tudball to refresh our branding in early 2018. He has an incredible design eye and is very receptive of our company culture and values. Also, we have a common love for coffee and coastal communities. Because of how well he guided us through the rebrand journey, we knew he was the right person to help us take the next steps with updating our coffee packaging.

Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

In most cases, before a person ever tries your coffee they’ll see it in the bag. With coffee it can be challenging to communicate all of the intricacies, form the coffees origin to the quality of the beans to the beliefs of the brand. The packaging is our introduction to these elements. Having a quality design that is friendly, fun, and eye-catching speaks to the uniqueness of each roast. This gives a glimpse of what one might experience when drinking the coffee inside.

Where is the bag manufactured?

Savor Brands manufactures this bag at their factories in China.

For package nerds, what type of package is it?

Quad seal box bottom bag with zip by Savor Brands.

Where is it currently available?

The best place to find this is online at amavida.com and in our retail outlets.

Company: Amavida Coffee
Location: Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Country: United States
Release Date: September 2019
Designer: Kevin Tudball

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

Disclosure: Amavida Coffee is an advertising partner on Sprudge.

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Source: Coffee News

Study Finds Coffee Compounds May Help Curb Issues Caused By Obesity

By obesity, Science, slash gear, type-2 diabetes, University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Wire

When it comes to coffee news that doesn’t relate specifically to the specialty coffee industry, there are generally two modes: articles about coffee being good/bad for you and stories about new uses for coffee, primarily coffee waste. Today’s news is both. A new study has finds that compounds in coffee chaff and husks can help prevent chronic illnesses associated with obesity, including type-2 diabetes and inflammation.

As reported by Slash Gear, the findings the result of a recent study from researchers at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. For the study, researchers extracted two phenolic compounds called gallic acid and protocatechuic acid from coffee chaff and husks, two byproducts of coffee production that end up in the waste bin (or at best the compost pile, though on top of ice cream is a strong second). The extracted compounds were then on fat cells from mice, where they were found to “boost insulin sensitivity, improve the cells’ ability to absorb glucose, and reduce the inflammation caused by fat.”

This is potentially good news for type-2 diabetes sufferers.  The disease can be brought on by reduced glucose absorption and lowered insulin sensitivity, two things which the coffee extracts were shown to have a direct, positive impact on.

According to the article, excess body fat can also cause inflammation that in turn may lead to the “development of cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune issues, and a variety of other problems.” The study found the coffee compounds to have anti-inflammatory properties, which could curb effects.

While still in need of more testing, the findings are positive not just for those suffering from the negative effects of obesity, but for the world at large. Slash Gear notes that more than one million tons of husks and tens of thousands of tons of chaff are produced—and normally discarded—every year as part of coffee production. These revelations could find a potential large scale use for the byproducts, one that turns them from waste into wanted.

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 © forma82/Adobe Stock

The post Study Finds Coffee Compounds May Help Curb Issues Caused By Obesity appeared first on Sprudge.


Source: Coffee News

Inside Boku, Philadelphia’s Art Gallery & Coffee Bar Inside An Apartment

By 1-900-ICE-CREAM, Boku, Cafes, Fairmount, Gaggia, Mahlkonig EK43, North America, Onyx Coffee Lab, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Ryan Fitzgerald, slayer, Staff Picks, USA, Yours Truly Coffee

boku philadelphia pennsylvania

On a misty Saturday morning, you walk up to a rowhouse in Philly’s sleepy residential neighborhood of Fairmount. The buzzers are labeled with scraps of paper, the handwritten names of tenants. You buzz the first floor. The label is printed in thick, purple script: Boku.

Boku has been many things: a culinary experiment, a platform for local line cooks, and an intimate supper club serving never-repeated, reservation-only meals. Most recently though, Boku took on an ABC concept: “Art, Breakfast, Coffee.” Guests admire a gallery of work by local artists, then enjoy a simple, perfected breakfast sandwich and unique coffee service.

boku philadelphia pennsylvania

Ryan Fitzgerald, owner and founder, may be the only consistent piece of the ever-evolving business. Fitzgerald—who doesn’t have any formal kitchen training—started it as a way to explore the culinary arts. “I was making all this food and didn’t really have anybody to eat it, so I threw these dinner parties for my friends.”

Cooking for friends slowly became cooking for strangers. Then Fitzgerald began to host guest chefs, using his vacation days to hold the supper club in his apartment. When he ran out of vacation days in 2016, he quit his day job to run Boku full-time.

Fitzgerald jokes about the decision to turn Boku into an art gallery. “In the beginning, I was selling food out of an apartment and charging people for it. That’s illegal.” Now, visitors pay for admission to the gallery and food is complimentary.

boku philadelphia pennsylvania

Barista Frank Monzo and Boku founder Ryan Fitzgerald

This kind of agile maneuvering explains why Boku’s original logo was an octopus. “Octopi can get in and out of anything. They can adapt themselves to any situation.”

Fabrizio Verga of Yours Truly Coffee in NYC first introduced Fitzgerald to the wider world of coffee. “He’s like a brother to me and 100% responsible for my interest in coffee.” Fitzgerald started out with a hacked Gaggia from the 80s, replumbing the water tank himself and hooking the machine to a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller to get consistent water temperatures. This kind of mad scientist behavior isn’t new for him. “I wish my parents were here to talk about it. I destroyed a lot of electronics.”

When he started to get more serious about the coffee component of Boku, he turned a coat closet into a (home) coffee bar to inspire jealousy. Floral wallpaper and a pink neon sign that reads “SLAY ALL DAY” are the backdrop to the crown jewels: a single-group Slayer and a Mahlkönig EK43.

He also brought on local barista Frank Monzo, who loves the setup. “It’s a playground.”

boku philadelphia pennsylvania

The equipment is key to their precise, unique coffee service. “[The Slayer] allows me to make what I’m serving more expressive,” says Monzo. “It allows me to tailor the machine to the coffee as opposed to vice versa.” Likewise, they use Mahlkönig’s EK instead of the PEAK because they’re tailoring every shot, every cup of coffee, rather than trying to perform at volume. They’ve chosen to carry Onyx Coffee Lab for their service.

And perhaps more importantly, it’s a very intimate service. “First and foremost, it’s my apartment,” says Fitzgerald. Three-quarters of people don’t know that, but when they get here I tell them, and that’s very disarming.”

They don’t have to worry about being crowd-pleasers, and their guests are much more willing to go along with their experiments than they might be in their usual coffee shop. “My favorite part of it is how different it is from working in a cafe setting,” says Monzo. Eating breakfast this close to their barista seems to break down some of the scripts they have about caffeine acquisition.

“There’s been so much more engagement in this setting about specialty from people who aren’t specialty-aligned,” says Monzo. “Every week we have a person say, ‘I didn’t know coffee could taste this way.’”

The format gives them the space to be patient and welcoming, and this allows them to provide a high-level coffee service while avoiding making people feel overwhelmed or unwelcome.

boku philadelphia pennsylvania

A few months ago, Fitzgerald started experimenting with wildly eclectic ice cream for his dinner service, including “God Mode” pints inspired by a locally-roasted coffee. Fitzgerald cold steeps whole coffee beans in the ice cream base, then adds ingredients to recreate the individual coffee’s flavor notes.  “Let the Q graders go wild. They want to call it mid-season Meyer lemon? Let me go find some mid-season Meyer lemons.”

Now Boku is evolving once again. The ice cream was such a success that Fitzgerald has spun it into its own business: 1-900-ICE-CREAM. With orders selling out as fast as he can make them, he has stopped dinner and breakfast service. It’s the end of one chapter of Fitzgerald’s culinary journey and the beginning of a new one.

Derek Beyer is a freelance journalist based in Philadelphia. This is Derek Beyer’s first feature for Sprudge.

Photos courtesy of Ryan Fitzgerald.

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Source: Coffee News