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Specialty Coffee Archives - Page 19 of 40 - The Curb Kaimuki

Coffee Design: ReAnimator Instant Coffee

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It feels like only yesterday that we featured ReAnimator Coffee’s whole bean packaging. But that was long ago, all the way back in June of 2017, long before we had portafilters that go straight into espresso machines or an abundance of specialty soluble coffee. We didn’t realize at the time, but at that moment the folks at ReAnimator were tinkering with an instant option. ReAnimator launched its instant coffee line in December of 2017, in a partnership with instant coffee makers Swift Cup. Like the whole bean packaging, we’re smitten with the design, and we spoke with Matt Scottoline to find out more.

Tell us a little bit about the design process.

We spent a lot of time looking at the existing instant coffees and decided that we really loved the box and sachet form factor. The name of the game with instant coffee (in our opinion) is convenience, so being able to grab a sachet or two, stick it in your pocket or bag, and get going made a lot of sense. It also avoided needing to weigh out or properly dose from a jar or container. So once we knew that was the form factor, the decision came down to how we wanted to have the package look and feel. We wanted to stay on brand, but since it was a new product and form factor, we also wanted to have a little fun with it and make it enticing.

Who designed the package?

The box was designed by Russell Edling in Philadelphia.

How would you describe the look?

Our main goals with the packaging were to A) make it clear what the product was, B) keep it consistent with the brand, and C) make it fun. I think we were able to hit all of those. The packaging is inviting and exciting, clearly shows that it is instant coffee, and all of it is tied in to the use of color between the varieties to make it aesthetically pleasing and interesting. The sachets themselves are more basic and minimalist, with just our logo, the coffee name (if you’re mixing and matching sachets for a trip), and basic brewing instructions. It’s really all designed to be informative when traveling, since that’s how we imagine most people are using them.

How long has ReAnimator instant been in development?

We had been introduced to Nate from Swift Cup in the spring of 2017, and it took us a little bit of time (and confidence building) to make the decision to dive in. As a company, we tend to be fairly gimmick resistant, and we often come out of the gate cautiously when there’s a “next big thing” happening. But the utility of instant is really what won us over. After a bit of back and forth, we sent the first batch of coffee out for processing in November of 2017.

How have your customers responded to instant?

By and large, it’s gone really well. We still get a fairly regular influx of people who just think it’s funny, or a novelty. But we’ve had great feedback from our customers who do a lot of camping, hiking, or just general travel. Even internally, we were the types of coffee people who would lug a hand grinder, AeroPress, or some other kind of minimal brewing device on a trip—but now it just seems kind overkill when you can just pack a box of instant. I think customers are catching on to that, and the sales have only increased over time. It’s definitely not the future of our business, but it’s something that we intend to support and keep as an option.

Where is it available?

The instant coffee boxes are available in our cafes in Philadelphia and on our website.

How much does it cost?

One box [of six] is $19, or you can mix and match 3 boxes for $50.

Company: ReAnimator Coffee
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Country: USA
Design Date: December 2017
Designer: Russell Edling

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

Disclosure: ReAnimator is an advertiser on Sprudge.

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Source: Coffee News

Cory Booker Loves Tweeting The Same Coffee Joke

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We’re still a year and a half away from the Democratic clown car pulling into the big top, and let me just tell you, it is already getting full. Just when you think it has reached capacity, that 1971 VW Beetle finds room in the glove box to squeeze in an extra Hickenlooper or two. It’s safe to say that the opposition party could shed a few hopefuls and no one would really notice.

At this point, I don’t really care who. My suggestion is nixing Cory Booker. Why, you ask? Has he misused government funding? Are there rumors of some nefarious dealings in the back of a pizza shop? I’m afraid it’s even worse: Cory Booker tweeted a bad coffee joke. Repeatedly. Over the course of a decade.

The bad joke, proffered repeatedly and without remorse, was first brought to light by Twitter user Anna Fitzpatrick:

It’s a bad joke. No one is saying it’s a good joke. And as Fitzpatrick notes, it’s unfair to discount a presidential candidate simply because of a bad joke a decade ago:

…if it were only just one instance. In her threaded post, Fitzgerald uncovers 11 other instances of Booker making this same joke since 2009. Like this one:

And this one:

And this one:

Booker makes this same joke as late as 2017, which means he probably due for another one soon:

You get the picture. I’m not going to add them all here, because quite honestly, I’m not sure which ones I added already. Twitter, being Twitter, has responded as you would expect Twitter to:

To be fair to Booker, he isn’t the only other Democratic nominee repeating the same coffee catchphrases on Twitter. Elizabeth Warren, for instance, doesn’t think you are capable of staying up past 11:00PM without coffee:

And Kirsten Gillibrand, god bless her, uses the cost of coffee to help elucidate how the US could institute paid leave. But the tip of that coffee spear has become blunted with use:

Now, no one is saying a presidential candidate should be based solely on their coffee Twitter joke platform—because if so, JacksonBey 2020—but if you need a way to cut through the noise and narrow the focus just a bit, that seems as good an arbitrary designator as any.

Besides, none of this is going to matter when Howard Schultz’s ego trip delivers another win for old Trump.

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

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Source: Coffee News

Checking Out The New Good Coffee Inside Portland’s Woodlark Hotel

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good coffee portland oregon

good coffee portland oregon

Photo by Elizabeth Chai.

What was once a building on the verge of destruction is now home to flourishing new Portland destination—a landmark new hotel with undeniably good coffee.

Since launching in 2014, Portland’s Good Coffee has grown into one of the city’s leading reputable coffee companies, with an emphasis on hospitality and creative coffee concoctions. Founders (and brothers) Nick and Sam Purvis now manage a staff of 27 people across four locations throughout the city. Their latest, at the beautiful new Woodlark Hotel, is part of the wider hospitality work happening under the banner of “The House of Welcome,” which includes a packed new restaurant (Bullard), pre-Prohibition cocktail lounge (Abigail Hall), and the hotel itself, a completely redesigned 150 room boutique that started life as the Cornelius Hotel in 1908.

good coffee portland oregon

Good Coffee’s outpost here is a classic lobby coffee bar, with a primary focus on guests of the hotel who visit the space. As a city that’s become an attraction for foodies and coffee drinkers alike, Portland has seen an increase in tourism, and that’s led to a hotel boom—new offerings from local brands (Jupiter Next) and international concerns (The Hoxton) have opened over the last six months. Co-founder Sam Purvis estimates that 75% of the customers at his new cafe are visitors to the city, which places a high bar on hospitality for his team.

“Our belief is that we provide affection through sustenance, we want everyone to feel welcome as we serve them,” Sam Purvis tells me. One of the ways in which Good Coffee looks to demonstrate their hospitality is through the concept of “lobby culture.” This culture goes further than a trendy aesthetic; it is centered around the comfort of the space for the city’s residents and guests. This creates a sense of community within the lobby.

good coffee portland oregon

Photo by Elizabeth Chai.

good coffee portland oregon

Photo by Elizabeth Chai.

As Good Coffee moved into their new digs, it was important to keep their brand identity while blending in with the restaurant and bar that also inhabit the space. The interior design project for the Woodlark was executed by Atlanta-based firm Smith Hanes. Woodlark tasked them to create a seamless blend between all entities in the lobby, while allowing Good Coffee to stay on brand.

“We wanted to make sure we stayed true to our identity and aesthetic,” Sam Purvis says. “The marble countertops, the plants, we wanted to have consistency within our shops collectively.”

The Woodlark building is now majority-owned and operated by women, which makes for an intriguing tieback to the building’s history. Abigail Scott Duniway, a writer and a women’s rights advocate, was rumored to hold meetings in the building in the early 1900s. Nick and Sam wanted to honor Duniway by naming a drink after her, “The Activist,” which is seen on “The Founder Series” menu. Just around the corner of Good’s coffee bar, the aforementioned Abigail Hall draws heavily on Duniway’s history as an organizer and agitator for suffrage.

good coffee portland oregon

Photo by Elizabeth Chai.

good coffee portland oregon

Photo by Elizabeth Chai.

Elsewhere on the “Founders Series” menu guests can try “The Visionary,” which is named after part-owner Lauren Noecker Robert, as well as “The Actuator,” named after Jen Quist. Quist is part-owner of Abigail Hall and Bullard, whose small-town-Texas-meets-downtown-Portland food vibe carries over into the food menu at Good, which features breakfast burritos, overnight oats, and a range of kolaches (traditional Czech pastries, much loved throughout Texas). All of it’s made in-house by the team at Bullard.

While the lush array of plants and velvet furniture may initially catch your eye, one of the more interesting pieces in the lobby is behind the coffee bar. Good is currently working with a fully-restored La Marzocco Linea Classic, which includes its classic (and discontinued) European buttons and digital shot counter. Gear here is rounded out by a FETCO Extractor Series batch brewer and a pair of Mahlkönig K30s and a Mahlkönig Guatemala grinder.

The coffee bar being placed right next to the front desk of the hotel speaks volumes about the importance of coffee to this whole operation. Most importantly, this allows Good Coffee to be on the forefront of hospitality as guests enter the 11-story space. You can literally order an espresso while you wait for your room key—the coffee bar and check-in desk are just that close.

Good Coffee is located at 813 SW Alder St, Portland. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Giovanni Fillari is Brand Marketing Specialist at Nike and the publisher of @coffeefeedpdx. He is the honorable mention Sprudgie Award recipient for Social Media in 2018. Read more Giovanni Fillari for Sprudge.

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Source: Coffee News

Burger King Has A Coffee Subscription Service For $5 A Month

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Watch out Yes Plz, there’s a new coffee subscription king in town. A Burger King. As reported by The Takeout, Burger King, the home of the Whopper and suspect grill lines on meat, is now offering customers a new type of coffee subscription service. It’s called the BK Café Subscription Program, and it’ll net you one cup of coffee a day for only five bucks a month.

The deal is fairly straightforward: for five dollars paid monthly, participants in the United States are entitled to one small coffee a day, available at any time they are open at participating stores, which sounds like that’s the catch, but a Burger King rep says the deal is available at “every BK location outside of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.” To sign up, all folks have to do it download the BK mobile app (because of course Burger King has an app and of course that’s how you have to signup for this thing).

While there is no fine print, there are a few catches. For one, the program only applies to small, 12oz black coffees. And these daily coffees are use-it-or-lose-it. If you miss Monday’s coffee, you don’t get two coffees on Tuesday, nor could you stop in to two different Burger Kings on Tuesday to redeem one coffee at each stop.

According to Fastfoodmenuprices.com, a small coffee at BK costs $1, meaning you’ll have to five separate days just to break even, which someone seems like that many times to visit a place to get coffee and entirely too many times to visit a Burger King in a month.

The charbroiled gambit, according to The Takeout, is to lure in people—especially the McCafe crowd—with the repeated promise of cheap coffee (“the more you come in, the cheaper it gets,” they are presumably saying) with the hopes that while they are in store filling up on BK joe, they might as well grab a nice croissan’wich or some order of magnitude of Whopper.

Erika Vonie, Coffee Masters Champion and Director of Coffee for Trade Coffee commented on Twitter:

Twitter user and self-described “passionate #CoffeeHunter” Brian Gaffney added:

I have to be honest, this deal ain’t for me. I’d rather pay $5 for a poorly made pour-over than live with the existential crisis of “should I? I mean, it’s already paid for? Maybe with all this money I’m saving I’ll buy an Eggnormous Burrito.” And quite frankly, my heart belongs to another. Even if Whataburger’s coffee tastes twice as bad as is three times as expensive, it’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to eat a chicken honey butter biscuit.

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 Burger King.

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Source: Coffee News

Inside Travertine, Seoul’s Stunning New Fusion Of Coffee and Design

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travertine seoul south korea

travertine seoul south korea

Borrowing its name from a type of limestone used as a key design element in its space, Travertine, a new coffee shop and bakery in Seoul’s city center, mixes the old with the new: a traditional hanok rooftop merges with sleek glass walls, and futuristic steel stools dot a gravel-lined garden space that’s reminiscent of the courtyard surrounding Gyeongbokgung Palace. It’s a welcome new spot for those who live and work on the quiet gingko-tree-lined street in Yongsan—during the day, most of their customers are nearby office workers, but at night and on weekends, it tends to attract a younger crowd (like most Korean coffee shops, Travertine stays open relatively late—until 10pm).

Run by manager Seung Mok Lee, Travertine opened in the fall of 2018, and is owned by a larger creative company that also publishes a triannual cycling magazine, Far Ride Magazine. The multi-roaster shop features coffee from both near and far—they worked with Suan Coffee from Busan to create a house espresso blend, and the selection of filter coffee rotates often, most recently including The Coffee Collective from Copenhagen and Proud Mary from Melbourne. Their pastries, including croissants, brownies, and financiers, are all baked in-house.

travertine seoul south korea

Constructed in the 1920s and originally used as a residential building, the space came with many unique elements the design-minded ownership group took care to preserve. The rooftop, columns, unfinished walls behind the bar, and garden space are all original features, complemented by rich wood tables and walls and greenery added by the team. “We also referenced 2001: A Space Odyssey and Cosmos for inspiration, because both gave us this idea of imagining the future from a past perspective,” Lee says. A neat retail shelf displays an array of brewing equipment, reading material, and bags of coffee that Lee has collected on his travels—when I visited, I spotted some bags of Stumptown and Heart from his most recent trip to Portland.

travertine seoul south korea

travertine seoul south korea

In addition to offering meticulously prepared drinks in a beautiful setting, Lee’s main dream for Travertine is to connect with and inspire their customers, in part by opening the space up for events. “Specialty coffee has become more popular in Korea, and companies are taking coffee extraction and roasting very seriously,” Lee noted, “but we want to take this further and focus on engaging with people.”

travertine seoul south korea

Ray Yoon, who previously worked as a barista at More Than Less and now guest baristas at shops around the city, shares this sentiment. While living in Melbourne, he was struck by the friendly, easygoing nature of Australian coffee culture compared to the polite but more reserved nature of the culture back home. He fondly recalls visiting Aunty Peg’s, and how the staff remembered his name on his second visit. “I think a lot of Koreans drink coffee for the caffeine, or they go to cafes to see friends and take photos,” says Yoon. “There aren’t as many people who come in to really taste and learn about coffee and chat with baristas, and I want to change that.”

In an effort to do so, Yoon has collaborated with people around the city to brew and talk about coffee at everything from jazz gigs to store opening parties. For Travertine’s first gathering this past fall, he hosted a simple cupping event, educating attendees while getting to know each guest. “I just want to show people that coffee and conversation can be easy, and go well together,” Yoon says. “After the event, our customers turned into our friends.”

travertine seoul south korea

Most of the seating at Travertine is communal, encouraging visitors to mingle, and Lee plans to host more events in the new year. “If we can eventually turn this into a spot where meaningful relationships are created over a cup of coffee, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Travertine is located at 18-7, Hangang-daero 7-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Follow them on Facebook.

Joanna Han (@joannakarenina) is a Sprudge.com contributor based in New York City. Read more Joanna Han on Sprudge. 

All photos courtesy of Travertine (by Brad Hammons and Hyunki Kim)

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Source: Coffee News

Oakland: Learn About The Inner Workings Of Coffee At The Crown

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What transforms coffee from a heap of beans and water into the beverage we all know and love? The answer, in short, is extraction, the process in which water gets all up in your coffee grounds, hangs out for a sec, and then leaves with more than it came with. Were that all you needed to know, everyone would make great coffee all the time. But actually understanding what extraction is, how it works, and then being able to apply it in practice is infinitely more complex.

That’s why The Crown in Oakland is hosting an event titled Understanding Extraction this Friday, March 22nd, where Professor William Ristenpart of the University of California, Davis Coffee Center will discuss the current leading research on extraction. And the best part is, it’s free.

The number of variables affecting extraction is seemingly endless. Water temperature, grind size, roast level, bean density, how you pour the damn water, it all affects what compounds get extracted. For this two-hour event, Professor Ristenpart—a chemical engineering professor and the founding director of the UC Davis Coffee Center—will discuss the chemical properties of extraction and how they affect sensory perception. The event’s description states Understanding Extraction will “debut of some of the most exciting and captivating data showing specific sensory and consumer-liking attributes of different extraction protocols, different roast levels, and even fractions of coffee extractions.”

It all gets started at 6:00pm on Friday, March 22nd in Royal Coffee’s brand new mega-coffee facility The Crown in Oakland (featured here on Sprudge). The event is completely free to attend, but space is limited. To reserve your spot, you can RSVP via the Understanding Extraction Eventbrite page. For more information, visit Royal Coffee’s official website.

And bring your refractometers. I bet Professor Ristenpart wouldn’t mind signing a few.

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

Images via The Crown.

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

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Source: Coffee News

The Coffee Lover’s Guide To Cluj-Napoca, Romania

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cluj napoca romania coffee guide

The circumstances under which I found myself in Cluj-Napoca were definitely a case of doing it for the ‘gram. I’m not alone in spending too much time on Instagram, looking at pretty travel photos and dreaming of my next holiday, usually one that involves good food and coffee. Sometimes, my wanderlusting turns into actual travel plans. That’s how I found myself on a budget airline flight from London to Romania, knowing virtually nothing about the city I was about to visit, except that it might just be Europe’s best-kept secret speciality coffee haven. Taking a chance certainly paid off: the Cluj coffee scene blew my mind.

And if you’ve never heard of Cluj-Napoca, don’t worry. I hadn’t either until just a few months ago—you should definitely consider this an outsider’s view on this special place. Cluj (as the locals call it, dropping the pre-Roman denomination of Napoca) may be one of the most populous cities in Romania, but with a headcount of just 330,000 inhabitants, it retains a charming small-town feel. It’s considered the cultural heart of Transylvania, a region known worldwide for its beautiful scenery, rich history, and a population that is linguistically and ethnically diverse.

It’s easy to see why Cluj appeals to a young demographic. Students come here from all over Romania to study at the city’s universities. Young European expats and international tourists are attracted by the affordable cost of living, vibrant food scene, and wide offer of art, culture, and music events. And in the coffee realm, Cluj is home to many of country’s top baristas and roasters, pushing for coffee quality with a culinary approach and, together with Bucharest, paving the way for a booming young specialty coffee culture here in Romania.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

YUME Coffee Roasters

Mihai Sumedre and Răzvan Roșu opened YUME Coffee Roasters in October 2014. The company focuses on roasting, producing a few hundred kilograms of coffee per week across different lines: six to eight light-roasted single origin coffees, a light-medium roasted espresso blend (YUME Espresso#1), a medium roasted 100% Arabica blend, and two single origins (Eclectic Line).

Inside YUME, a glass wall divides the roastery from the cafe area, where customers can taste the seasonal coffees and learn more about specialty and brewing through cuppings and workshops. “Education plays a vital role in changing the Cluj-Napoca and Romanian coffee scene for the better,” Roșu says. “We pursue a dream of perfection that is never to be attained, but always to be striving for, through a continuous craft improvement.”

YUME Coffee Roasters is located at Strada Emil Petrovici 16, Cluj-Napoca. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Narcoffee Roasters

Narcoffee isn’t just one of the most beautiful coffee shops I’ve seen in Cluj. It’s an established coffee chain and roastery with five outlets in Romania (Cluj and Bucharest) and one location in Prague. It all started in Cluj-Napoca, where the first coffee shop was opened in late 2016 by restaurateurs Marcelus Suciu and Dan Isai. They are now planning an international expansion to Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, and USA.

Narcoffee’s goal since the start was to import excellent speciality beans from origin and roast them in small batches at the roastery in Cluj-Napoca, home to head roaster Marius Nica, a national and international Latte Art and Cup Tasters competitor. Espresso is popular here, though increasingly more people choose filter coffee, both as V60 and AeroPress.

“We take our mission of educating coffee drinkers very seriously. We taught a lot of our customers that coffee can be more than a bitter black liquid meant to wake you up,” says Paul Farcas, Narcoffee’s Business Development Officer. “It’s paid off as we have regular customers coming every single day, and many have changed habits from large lattes with a lot of sugar to delicious small cappuccinos with just the natural sweetness of our local fresh milk.”

Narcoffee Roasters is located at Bulevardul Eroilor 49, Cluj-Napoca. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Roots

Roots opened in January 2016 as an all-day eatery and cafe that delivers great experiences—from specialty coffee and tea to cakes and hot dishes, and wines and craft cocktails in the evenings. Like most of the coffee shops in the old town, the space is small yet comfortable. The wooden furniture and long coffee bar are modern and give the impression that a lot of thought and work have gone into the creation of Roots.

Roots is best appreciated as a breakfast and brunch spot: the atmosphere in the morning is lively with lots of customers (many regulars) coming and going all the time. The pancakes with seasonal stonefruit and hazelnuts were excellent. The Portuguese style pasteis de nata I tasted (after I saw them coming out of the kitchen) was quite possibly the best I’ve ever tasted (and yes, before you ask, I have been to Lisbon).

They choose to serve single origins for espresso and filter coffee here, with coffees roasted by one of Romania’s top roasters, Origo Coffee Roasters of Bucharest. “We appreciate Origo’s constant focus on quality and their passion for specialty coffee,” Bogdan Gheorghiu, owner of Roots, explains. “Our guests are open to new flavor experiences and we are happy to spread our passion for coffee with them.”

I loved Roots and its approach to food and drinks. I had a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and a flat white, but I also had the pleasure of tasting one of the best custard tarts of my life.

Roots is located at Bulevardul Eroilor 4, Cluj-Napoca. Follow them on Facebook.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Espresso Studio

Espresso Studio was opened at the end of 2017 by Ioan Sumedre Jr. (Sumi) to create a cultural hub where people can enjoy high-quality specialty coffee and tea served in handmade ceramics, while also connecting over art exhibitions as well as literary and musical events regularly hosted at this space. Sumi is so passionate about coffee and crafts, he creates the ceramic cups and plates himself.

Espresso Studio is proud to serve YUME coffee and a wide range of single origins is offered for espresso and filter. The barista asked me about my personal preferences and recommended a flavorful Ethiopian Kochere Burtukaana coffee as espresso with milk.

Tucked away in a small lane off the main Boulevard Eroilor, Espresso Studio is not as fancy as other Cluj coffee shops, but it’s cosy and welcoming. At the time of my visit, during the Transylvania Film Festival, the cafe was a hangout for film lovers to discuss films and arts. “We believe that having a cup of coffee while being immersed in culture amongst friends and/or artists, musicians, actors, and other creative people is a plus, says Milena Surducan, the shop’s culture manager. “That’s why Espresso Studio was born.”

Espresso Studio is located at Strada Baba Novac 27, Cluj-Napoca. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Eggcetera

Newcomer Eggcetera (opened April 2018) is the second Cluj cafe by Ioana Lazâr and Vlad Udrea. The couple founded Victor. Fresh To Go coffee shop in 2013 and have over five years’ experience in speciality coffee. The shop—as the name suggests—offers coffee and breakfast fare at any time of day.

A team of baristas headed by Udrea himself regularly holds coffee cupping sessions to pick the next single origins for espresso and filter coffee. Lazâr and Udrea are proud to collaborate with top Romanian roasters Origo and Bob Coffee Lab (whose Head Roaster was World Coffee Roasting Champion 2016 Alexandru Niculaie). They also work with foreign roasters such as Gardelli, Fjord, and The Underdog.

Eggcetera looks and feels like a restaurant first more than a cafe; the small space is fully occupied by tables while the coffee counter is at the back. As a self-confessed brunch lover, I thoroughly enjoyed my pretty dish of smashed avo and a Flat White, on par with the best brunches I’ve had in London.

Eggcetera is located at Strada Napoca 13, Cluj-Napoca. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Bujole

Boasting an enviable location on the main square, Bujole is a restaurant focused on speciality coffee paired with French-inspired cuisine. The interiors are modern, bright, and strikingly beautiful, but the best spot in the house is a table on the terrace overlooking the square, Piața Unirii. Bujole is the second brand by Marcelus Suciu, which follows on the success of Olivo Coffee Roasters. You’ll find Olivo a few minutes away on Bulevardul Eroilor. It is one of four speciality coffee roasters in Cluj-Napoca, supplying Bujole with coffee beans as well as specialised barista training.

Bujole works exclusively with single-origin coffees brought from all over the world to offer customers the experience of different flavors. In the evenings, the La Marzocco Linea PB machine goes under the counter (using a special mechanism, like a lift, which quickly lowers the machine underneath) and manual coffee brewing methods become the main attraction.

Bujole is located at Piața Unirii 15, Cluj-Napoca. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Let’s Coffee

Let’s Coffee is the small business of Vasile Lupsac and Oana Moldovan who opened the coffee shop in August 2015. The coffee is sourced from the best Romanian roasters such as YUME Coffee Rosters, Origo, Pressco in Baia Mare, and Bob Coffee Lab in Bucharest. Lupsac and Moldovan also buy coffee roasted around Europe from The Barn, April Coffee Roasters, La Cabra Coffee, JB Kaffee, TAF, and Gardelli Specialty Coffee Roasters.

“We were extremely excited when we received the first coffee from The Barn and we started preparing it. It was a great feeling for us and our customers,” Lupsac says. “We weren’t sure what it would look like, didn’t know what coffee we were going to use, just that we want to deliver quality services for an unforgettable experience.”

Lupsac and Moldocan prefer single-origin coffee, but don’t say no to a good blend. They explained that brewing methods like V60, AeroPress, and Chemex remain difficult to sell as many people in Romania associate filter coffee with tea and assume it is weaker than espresso. “We are trying to offer a range of filter coffees to raise interest and encourage our customers to try them,” Lupsac says. “There is a real connection between baristas and customers here in Cluj. That’s makes us special.”

Let’s Coffee is located at Strada Constantin Daicoviciu, Cluj-Napoca. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

cluj napoca romania coffee guide

Coffee Addicts

Coffee Addicts is a small independent coffee shop opened in 2016 by Mihai (Mike) Tarta. I stopped at the cafe for a quick cappuccino to go on a hot Sunday morning, the cafe was quiet and I had the chance to chat a bit with the barista. The espresso was heavy-bodied, with hints of dark chocolate, prepared with a blend of four medium roasted Arabica coffee beans.

An eye-catching mural of a tree bedecked with multicolored toadstools and creatures sets the fun scene here, suggesting variety and intrigue are the main attractions at this cafe. Indeed, it’s a multi-roaster shop which is “always open to experiments and fresh ideas,” says Tarta. “The coffee culture in Cluj is expanding and our customers welcome the change.”

Coffee Addicts is located at Strada Regele Ferdinand 9, Cluj-Napoca. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Giulia Mule is a Sprudge.com contributor based in London. Read more Giulia Mule on Sprudge

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Source: Coffee News

Rose Woodard Confronts Bias In Coffee Competition Judging

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Rose Woodard presents at the 2019 US Brewers Cup (Photo by Elizabeth Chai)

Is 2019 the year of the coffee competition statement? At two separate North American competitions this past weekend, competitors from the United States and Canada used their stage time to make the case for change in the specialty coffee industry.

Social statements and impassioned messaging on the competition stage have a long history and are part of what we love so much about these events. This year we’re seeing competitors risk serious points and intentionally jeopardizing their ability to advance in order to make some of the biggest, boldest statements we’ve seen yet. Today we’re covering just two of these remarkable intentional actions—look for much more coverage in the days and weeks to come on Sprudge Media Network.

In Kansas City, home of the 2019 US Coffee Championships event, reigning 2018 US Brewers Cup champion Rose Woodard used the final three minutes of her routine to call for equality and fairness for all competitors. “The standards these competitors are held to are that of a white, male, heteronormative perspective,” Woodard told the judges. “That’s a major issue that needs to change before we can make progress in this industry.”

When we originally reported on this routine via Instagram, it ignited debate in the comments (along with some predictably disingenuous sealioning) and an outpouring of support for Woodard’s message.

Woodard provided a transcript of this routine statement to our Competitions Multimedia Manager Elizabeth Chai. We’re running the whole thing below:

Now I have to be honest, I didn’t come here today to only talk about the coffee I’m brewing, I came here to talk about something equally as important.

In 2017 the SCA announced they would be holding a WCE in Dubai, and the community collectively came together and said we were not okay with that. There were safety concerns as well as human rights violations that we did not want to turn a blind eye to. I was part of that push, I signed the petitions and asked the hard questions and didn’t stop talking about it till action was taken. I competed for the first time in 2018 and though I was aware of the clear lack of diversity in the competitions, I was convinced it was because the industry as a whole was white male dominated and that companies were not making an effort to include and support marginalized people. I didn’t realize until I witnessed some amazing people competing and not making it past qualifiers, that the structure of these competitions themselves is problematic. So we push for change on something that, while important, was a symptom of a larger issue, and we don’t push for something deep routed and systemic. Judges, and anyone who is listening, I’m talking about how when EV [Erika Vonie] spoke with passion and purpose, she got labeled “aggressive” and “intimidating.” I’m talking about how when Adam [JacksonBey] used AAVE and played hip hop music, he got marked as “unprofessional.” I’m talking about how I was told at the World Brewers cup that *sometimes* when I was *really* focused I lost my smile, and was docked points for that. The “standards” that competitors are measured up to on these stages are that of a white male heteronormative perspective and that is a major problem that needs to be fixed before we can hope to have progress in this industry.

The rules and regs read that judges are here to support the coffee professionals, but we see majority of white men on these judging panels, supporting mostly white male coffee professionals. The rules read that judges are to be neutral, fair, and consistent when evaluating, but we clearly see biases playing a role in how competitors are scored. The rules say the judges are here to select a worthy and highly professional Champion. We see time and time again, female, gender non-conforming, and POC baristas getting points deducted on professionalism because they don’t fit into this narrow box that makes the majority of white male judges feel comfortable. When someone is told their culture is unprofessional, when people are repeatedly told that they are not professional because they’re intimidating, aggressive or cold for things that white men do without repercussion; it sends the message that we are not wanted, and that we are not worthy of these competitions or this industry.

There needs to be a change in the structure of these competitions before we can be truly inclusive and representative in the industry as a whole.

Chai spoke with Woodard about the performance off-stage. “It really hit me that there are certain wording within the rules that leaves a lot of room for bias in the judging,” Woodard told Chai. “You can see that there’s a clear bias.”

This is powerful stuff, and we’ll continue to report on it in the days to come. A full interview with Woodard will appear in this week’s episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast (subscribe now and never miss an episode).

This story is developing…

SprudgeLive’s coverage of the 2019 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Joe Glo and Mahlkönig. All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by AcaiaBaratzaFaemaCafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.

Elizabeth Chai (@chaiamericano) contributed to this reporting. 

The post Rose Woodard Confronts Bias In Coffee Competition Judging appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Wait, Why Exactly Can’t You Use Alternative Milk In A Barista Competition?

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Is 2019 the year of the coffee competition statement? At two separate North American competitions this past weekend, competitors from the United States and Canada used their stage time to make the case for change in the specialty coffee industry.

Social statements and impassioned messaging on the competition stage have a long history, and are part of what we love so much about these events. This year we’re seeing competitors risk serious points and intentionally jeopordizing their ability to advance in order to make some of the biggest, boldest statements we’ve seen yet. Today we’re covering just two of these remarkable intentional actions—look for much more coverage in the days and weeks to come on Sprudge Media Network.

In Toronto, at the 2019 Canadian Barista Championship, competitor Chris Tellez confronted a long-established rule that disallows plant milks on the World Barista Championship stage. That would be Rule 2.2.2, which states “a milk beverage is a combination of one single shot of espresso… and steamed cow’s milk.” Tellez broke the rule willingly and with purpose, serving his judges milk drinks made using Minor Figures oat milk, earning zero points for the milk drink portion of his routine and resulting in a de facto disqualification. Check out the full rules here (via download) and you’ll see it under the section “Beverage Definitions.”

Chris Tellez at the 2019 Canadian Barista Championship. Photo by Ashley Tomlinson.

It’s fair to say this rule is outdated AF. In this day and age, so many coffee professionals work at the highest level using alternative milks—because their customers prefer it, mostly, though for some the choice runs deeper. Tellez, who is vegan, feels strongly that the competition stage can be a place for positive change. “There is not a single rule in the competition besides this one which puts into question a fundamental value that a person may have,” he tells Sprudge in the interview below. “[This rule] forces them to compromise in order to compete.”

Coffee competition rules are not etched upon some great inviolate tablet; indeed, they are annually evaluated and codified before each event season begins. The small group of coffee professionals who cooked up the barista competition format 20 years ago could have never predicted the quality of alternative milk we have today, especially the delightful steaming properties of oat milk. If you think it’s time for changing this rule, check out a new petition created by Floozy Coffee of Newcastle, New South Wales, coordinated for release with Chris Tellez’ routine this weekend in Toronto.

Sprudge caught up with Tellez digitally in the middle of one hell of a North American coffee competition weekend. Verily this story was originally intended to be a brief news piece but the interview came back great so we’re running the whole thing. Read on.

Chris Tellez pouring disqualification alt milk at the 2019 Canadian Barista Championship. Photo by Ashley Tomlinson.

Hey Chris — thanks for speaking with Sprudge. How did the plan for this statement come into place? How long have you been working on it?

Chris Tellez: I had thought about this idea since my last time competing, but was unsure of how to make it work, especially because the availability of great plant-milks is a pretty recent occurrence. I first shared this idea with my partner, and then my very dear friend Priscilla Fisher of Floozy Coffee Roasters. I think right away they both saw the intention behind it, and how important it was to me and encouraged me to make it happen. I really went back and forth, trying to decide if this was the best course of action for a long time, but once it came time to actually sign up I knew two things for sure. That I wanted to compete, and that I just could not justify using an animal product in order to do so.

What was the reaction in the room like? Have you heard from a lot of people since the performance?

Pin drops followed by a wave of applause… pretty wild actually. I have never received that kind of a response from a performance. I can say that it definitely wasn’t the most tight, perfect performance I have ever given, but I think the honesty of what I was doing resonated with people.

I have heard from a ton of people, lots of friends, lots of people I’ve never met. Overall it was a very positive response, though I am sure I will continue to hear from people in the next little while with all kinds of reactions, though I hope these come in the form of thoughtful discourse, as that is really what I am trying to create with all this.

Photo by Ashley Tomlinson.

Talk to us about coordinating your routine with a petition—we’ve never seen something quite like that before. 

Floozy was paramount in making this happen, and we most definitely planned to have the petition ready to sign once the performance was over. I also want to be super clear that the petition is coming from a place of huge respect and admiration for the competition. This competition has meant so much to me and my career over the years, and this is simply about testing the waters to see how many other people are interested in creating a dialogue surrounding this potential rule change. Floozy was a huge part of making this happen I truly hope that the WCE view this simply as a barometer of the industry, rather than an attack on all the incredibly hard work they do for us as baristas. I want this to spark respectful, honest dialogue and to help us all move forward, if that is what enough of the industry decides is important.

What role did your veganism play in the decision to make this statement?

I am vegan, and have been for the better part of the past 13 years. There was a short period where I was consuming animal products again, which coincided with a pretty heavy bout of depression, and manifested in an eating disorder. It was through becoming plant-based again that I was able to regain some of my balance and work through some of that trauma. this is something I’ve been really open about in the industry, and even lead a talk last year at the SCA Canada workshop all about Personal Wellness in the coffee industry.

My veganism most definitely played a role in my decision to do this, but regardless I think just looking at the pure environmental impact of milk and it’s major role in the carbon footprint of the coffee industry at the cafe level is enough to give anyone pause. Most of the numbers I pulled were from the United Nations’ FAO report on Dairy production, and since this is a global competition it felt like the most accurate numbers to describe our situation as an industry.

The other reality is that there are a lot of places in my life where I am not the most sustainable, eco-friendly and responsible as I could be, so this is no way is some kind of holier than thou sort of thing. I still drive a car, I still buy new clothing instead of getting everything first hand, I still have an iPhone, I have all the same habits as everyone else, but my veganism, and by extension this routine is my way of trying to offset those things a little, especially considering how environmental demanding our industry can be.

An oat milk cappuccino at Sey Coffee, Brooklyn. Photo by Liz Clayton.

There is perhaps a critique to be made that by making this statement in competition you “took away a spot from someone else” or somehow demeaned the competition culture. Have you heard this critique? How do you respond?

This is a really, really important point. In fact, one of the competitors brought it up to me immediately after my performance backstage. She had been lucky enough to get a space after being on the wait list, and she was understandably upset with the idea of a competitor doing something like this. I believe she felt that I was not taking the competition seriously and that I was taking away a spot from someone who would. This is a valid critique and it is one a thought about a lot both before the competition, and since competing yesterday. I am really grateful that she expressed her feelings about it, and it was a really honest and respectful conversation, one I hope we can actually continue after the competition . I have two main points about this.

Firstly, she should be mad, it’s ridiculous for a competitor to have to either take zeroes or get disqualified for choosing not to use a product that disagrees with their value system. It’s a waste of a spot and it is not fair to any competitor, including myself. There is not a single rule in the competition besides this one which puts into question a fundamental value that a person may have and forces them to compromise in order to compete. We may disagree with aspects of drink or presentation scoring, or technical evaluation, but I really can’t think of a rule which is quite like this one in. So I am glad she is upset, and I think we should focus that into seeing some change.

Secondly, I sat out of the competition for three years, waiting for this rule to change, and nothing happened. I really wanted to compete this year, I mean, I love the competition, but I just couldn’t compartmentalize my beliefs just to compete. I took the competition seriously and I have great respect for it, but I just couldn’t agree with this one rule. You could argue that if you don’t agree to the rules, you shouldn’t be in the competition, and I understand that thinking, but I also know that real change happens more readily and rapidly when people take chances. I have a good record in the competition, and I think I could have done really well this year if I had used dairy milk, so just as much as I took a spot from another competitor, I put my own chances of winning aside in order to open dialogue that I really hope speaks for a group of people in the industry that perhaps have never competed because of a rule like this. I hope the net benefit is larger than just a single competitor.

I suppose people can look at it like a stunt, or like I am just trying to be controversial, but what I hope is that more and more the competition is used as a platform for change in our industry, in a way which still honours the competition culture itself, which was the concept of my entire routine and speech. Just this weekend at the US Coffee Champs we are seeing some really progressive conversations happening on stage, and I really just hope that this is seen in this light.

What’s your all-time favorite desert island alt milk?

Well, I ended up using the Minor Figures Oat milk for the competition, because it worked best with my coffee, and they’ve been super supportive of us in our cafes. But for everyday use at home in smoothies, cereal or whatever else, I am trying my best to make milk myself, because there is no waste in packaging and I can use Canadian oats and hemp!

Thank you. 

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

Photos of Chris Tellez at the 2019 Canadian Barista Championship by Ashley Tomlinson (@thelittleblackcoffeecup) licensed for Sprudge Media Network. 

The post Wait, Why Exactly Can’t You Use Alternative Milk In A Barista Competition? appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Here Are Your 2019 US Coffee Champions

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The 2019 US Coffee Championships in Kansas City, Missouri have come and gone, leaving in its wake three days of intense coffee competition taking place across five separate stages. Over 100 coffee professionals descended up KCMO this weekend to vie for one of the coveted spots representing the United States of America in the World Coffee Championships happening next month in Boston.

Competitions this year included the Barista Championship, Brewers Cup, Cup Tasters, Roasters Championships, and for the first time in America, Coffee in Good Spirits, a tournament dedicated to the fine art of the coffee cocktail. There are so many stories to unpack from this weekend, from the powerful message returning Brewers Cup champion Rose Woodard used her platform to deliver to the meteoric rise of lactic acid processing (particularly from La Palma y El Tucan in Colombia) in Barista Championship coffee. Many of these stories, along with competitor interviews and much more, will be featured in the coming days and weeks on Sprudge and on the Coffee Sprudgecast (subscribe now and never miss an episode).

For now, while we catch our breath, let’s take a look back at the weekend that was, and celebrate our new batch of heroes from the 2019 US Coffee Championships.

SprudgeLive’s coverage of the 2019 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Joe Glo and Mahlkönig. All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by AcaiaBaratzaFaemaCafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.

Catch up on the routines of every single barista competitor in our recaps on Sprudge Live.

2019 US Barista Championship Day One Recap

Anthony Ragler, Counter Culture Coffee, Brooklyn NY

2019 US Barista Championship Semi-Finals Recap

Sam Neely, Switchback Coffee Roasters, Colorado Springs, CO

2019 US Barista Championship Finals Recap

Samantha Spillman, Dillanos Coffee Roasters, Sumner, WA

Your 2019 US Coffee Champions

Barista Championship

  1. Samantha Spillman, Dillanos Coffee Roasters, Seattle, WA
  2. Andrea Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR
  3. T. Ben Fischer, Elixr Coffee Roasters, Philadelphia, PA
  4. Dylan Siemens, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR
  5. Sam Neely, Switchback Coffee Roasters, Colorado Springs, CO
  6. Emily Orendorff, Boxcar Coffee Roasters, Boulder, CO

Brewers Cup

  1. Kaley Gann, Messenger Coffee, Kansas City, MO
  2. Justin Goodhart, Sweet Bloom Coffee, Denver, CO
  3. Lance Hedrick, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR
  4. Jacob White, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, San Diego, CA
  5. Jennifer Hwang, Klatch Coffee, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  6. Chelsey Walker-Watson, Atlas Coffee Importers, Seattle, WA

Coffee In Good Spirits

  1. Matt Foster, Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co, St. Louis, MO
  2. Sam Schroeder, Olympia Coffee, Olympia, WA
  3. Brodie Lewis, Madcap Coffee Co, Grand Rapids, CO
  4.  Nathanael Mehrens, Stay Golden, Nashville, TN
  5. Joel Cronenberg, Provision Coffee, Gilbert, AZ
  6. Dakota Graff, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR

Cup Tasters

  1. Jen Apodaca, Royal Coffee, Oakland, CA
  2. Summer Zhang, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR
  3. Samuel Gurel, Sövda Coffee, Portland, OR
  4. Helen Choi, Luce Ave Coffee Roasters, Houston, TX
  5. Cameron Metzinger, Backyard Beans Coffee Co, Lansdale, PA
  6. Roman Deshong, Amethyst Coffee Co, Denver, CO

Roasters Championship

  1. Shelby Williamson, Huckleberry Roasters, Denver, CO
  2. Hugh Morretta, La Colombe Coffee Roasters, Philadelphia, PA
  3. Mark Boccard, Southdown Coffee, Huntington, KY
  4. Janine Cundy, Joe Bean Coffee Roasters, Rochester, NY
  5. Steve Cuevas, Black Oak Coffee Roasters, Ukiah, CA
  6. Eric Stone, Mudhouse Coffee Roasters, Charlottesville, VA

A version of this article ran on Sprudge Live by Zac Cadwalader. Catch up on all the weekend activities over at our sibling site Sprudge Live, on Twitter @SprudgeLive and on Instagram @sprudge.

Thank you to our Sprudge Live coverage team Zac Cadwalader, Elizabeth Chai, Charlie Burt, Colin Whitcomb, and Laura Clark.

SprudgeLive’s coverage of the 2019 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Joe Glo and Mahlkönig. All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by AcaiaBaratzaFaemaCafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.

The post Here Are Your 2019 US Coffee Champions appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News