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Specialty Coffee Archives - Page 25 of 40 - The Curb Kaimuki

A Coffee Lover’s Guide To Boise, Idaho

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boise idaho coffee guide

Like so many of America’s smaller towns and second cities, Idaho’s capital has recently experienced a renaissance of specialty coffee shops, small roasters, and the kinds of spaces that look more San Francisco than Treasure Valley. But the city of more than 200,000 people has more than a half dozen colleges, an exceedingly welcoming view of immigrants, and far more progressive and forward-looking ideas than one may expect from an isolated mountain town. And at this moment in time, nowhere is that desire to keep up with the cutting edge of cities more obvious than the boom of coffee shops happening in Boise. In the last year, four new shops popped up to show the City of Trees just what it means to brew a great cup—even if the newspapers still compared the prices and wait times to Starbucks and Dutch Brothers when announcing the new kids in town.

boise idaho coffee guide
Neckar

Before you’ve even had your first sip, this former farmers-market-stand-turned-bricks-and-mortar shop (as of July 2018) has revealed the kind of attention to detail it puts into every aspect of the shop. Owner Grant Shealy started roasting coffee (sourced from Oakland’s Coffee Shrub) in his parents’ garage a few years ago, before moving first to the back corner of a brewery, and now into his own 1,650-square-foot cafe.

The space, with big windows in front and a long, white counter, is muted but modern, with spare decoration, drawing the bulk of its aesthetics from the coffee and related equipment. Custom walnut-wood handles gleam from Bosco Sorrento espresso machine levers, pastries from the James-Beard-Award-nominated Janjou Patisserie sit under spotless glass-like jewels in a case, and handmade ceramicware cups from Guten Co. hold the coffee in the most stylish of ways.

Neckar is located at 117 S 10th St, Boise. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

Form and Function

Form and Function

Like Neckar, Form and Function got its start serving coffee at the Boise Farmer’s Market before moving into its own, even larger, permanent shop. The subway tile backsplash, white walls, and matching white La Marzocco Linea keep the décor clean and spare, punctuated with color only by the labels on their bagged coffee. In the loft area upstairs, a black and white mural dominates the wall space, while the oversized menu board does the same on the main floor. Coffees come in HuskeeCups, vessels stylishly made from the hull of the coffee plant.

In many ways, Form and Function and Neckar are quite similar—minimalist, design-focused, and serving expertly roasted beans—but F&F does have a broader food menu, including a few porridges and a series of toasts, and also sources coffee with a strong social justice and sustainability bent in their approach.

Form and Function is located at 511 W Broad St, Boise. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

boise idaho coffee guide

Caffeina Roasting Company

What if…a brewery were a roastery? That’s the thinking behind this coffee shop from Boise coffee veterans Tammy Jenkins and her daughter Lyndsey Hopkins. Walking in, it’s a distinctly different feel from hyper-modern cafes: a large map covers one wall, there’s dark wood and color (mostly blue) all around the room, and big, comfortable chairs.

Though Caffeina roasts on-site on an Ozturk, offers multiple pour-over options, and makes its own cold brew, they also offer the full slate of coffeehouse classics, plus smoothies, beer, and wine—a far cry from the minimalism of many of the other newcomers to Boise. They also offer a full menu of toasts, breakfasts, and snacks.

The mother-daughter team comes from a more “Second Wave” coffee generation, as owners of the local Coffee Studio chain, but took a new direction in this space, utilizing old brewery equipment—on which they brew their own kombucha—and whose industrial feel the shop is designed around. They also use brewery inspiration to form their specialty drink—the brew-on-brew, which is espresso poured into a local stout.

Caffeina Roasting Company is located at 4774 W State St, Boise. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

boise idaho coffee guide

Push and Pour

Professional skater Lucas Erlebach wanted to open a skate shop in the area when he moved back up from San Francisco, but there was already a good one. So he did the next best thing: he opened a coffee shop in a low brick building—a former auto shop—serving up his favorite local coffee, Maps, from Hailey, Idaho (though the shop is close to opening its own roastery next door). The coffee aficionado figured it was a way to participate in the community, to provide space for creatives, and still have his own business. His skateboarding background is part of the display, with old decks used as decoration, along with other vintage touches—including a bright red coffee grinder.

Espresso tampers have custom handles made from old skateboards, and murals feature, among other things, a skateboarding fish, giving the place the kind of whimsical and lighthearted feel the owner intended, but within the clean, elegant aesthetic one expects from most modern specialty cafes.

Push and Pour is located at 214 East 34th Street, Garden City. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Naomi Tomky (@gastrognome) is an award-winning freelance writing for The Stranger, Saveur, Lucky Peach, Tasting Table and more. Read more Naomi Tomky on Sprudge.

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Source: Coffee News

Coffee Sprudgecast Episode 67: The One About The Sprudge Twenty

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In the latest episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast we talk about The Sprudge Twenty Presented by Pacific Foods Barista Series, our brand-new initiative that celebrates influential voices and leaders in coffee. In the episode we interview Nathanael May, customer marketing manager of specialty coffee for Pacific Foods and friend of the podcast. Click here to listen to our very first interview with May on the ‘cast back in April of 2016.

A few items discussed this week:

  • Why is the Sprudge Twenty important right now?
  • Why is alternative milk against the rules at barista competition?
  • Why don’t cafes have more board games?

Listen to the full episode below:


Check out The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes or download the episode hereThe Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by  Oxo, Urnex Brands, Hario, IKAWA Sample Roasters and Swiss Water Decaf

Sign up now as a subscriber to the Coffee Sprudgecast and never miss an episode. 

Listen, subscribe and review The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes.

Download the episode here.

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Source: Coffee News

World Barista Championship Returns To Melbourne In May 2020

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Specialty Coffee Association and World Coffee Events announced today that the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup will return to Melbourne in 2020. This will mark the second time the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup competitions have been hosted in Australia. The Melbourne International Coffee Event festival hosted the 2013 WBC and WBrC, where Americans Pete Licata and James McCarthy took home top honors.

More from the WCE presser:

The 2020 World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup will take place in Melbourne, Australia, from the 4th to 7th of May, 2020 at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE). These two World Coffee Championships are expected to bring close to 85 licensed national body champions from across the world together to compete for the World Champion titles. The Melbourne World Coffee Championships will take place over 4 days on two stages at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, hosted by the MICE festival.

If you would like to watch the Melbourne World Coffee Championships live, you can find more information at this link, and you’ll be able to watch the entire event via livestream across World Coffee Championships websites and social media.

The World Barista Championship (WBC) is the preeminent international coffee competition produced annually by World Coffee Events (WCE). The competition focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the barista profession, and engaging a worldwide audience with an annual championship event that serves as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe.

The 2019 World Barista Championship happens this year in Boston, Massachusetts at the Specialty Coffee Association Expo on April 11-14. Catch all the action over at our sibling website, SprudgeLive, a dedicated worldwide hub for coffee sports. SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by Acaia, Baratza, FaemaCafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.

Follow @SprudgeLive on Twitter and never miss a moment from the shows, and cruise over to SprudgeLive.com to read routine recaps, enjoy dynamic full-color photos, and check in on all the advancing competitors from the US Coffee Champs.

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Source: Coffee News

Coffee IP-Eh? Hopwired Is Vancouver’s Coffee Beer Festival

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It’s no longer news to say that coffee and beer—and their eponymous lovechild, coffee beer—go really, really well together. Gone are they days when any old brewery can roll out a roasty coffee stout and expect to take the world by storm now. You have to get creative.

And that’s exactly what’s happening in Vancouver, British Columbia at the Hopwired Festival taking place Saturday, February 23rd. Featuring 60 roasters and breweries from around Canada (and even one or two from the States) getting funky together to create 29 one-off coffee beers, Hopwired is going to be a festival to remember, assuming you can remember anything after 29 beers.

Taking place at the Croatian Cultural Center in Vancouver, Hopwired is cut from the same cloth as Uppers & Downers. Espresso bars? They’ve got it. Case studies for a brewery-led deep dive? You better believe it. Coffee beers? Have you not been paying attention? Of course there are coffee beers.

Roasters from all over Canada—including the likes of Transcend CoffeeDe Mello Palhetta Coffee, and Monogram—will be cahooting with Great White North breweries like Twin Sails, Ile SauvageBrasserie Dieu Du Ciel, and Temporal Artisan Ales. And for a little American flair, Hopwired has invited Portland’s Case Study Coffee Roasters and Gigantic Brewing to join in on the fun.

It all gets going at 1:00pm at the Croatian Cultural Center in Vancouver on Saturday, February 23rd. Tickets for Hopwired are CA$70.21 ($54 USD) and can be purchased here. According to their website, tickets are nearly sold out, so you better act fast if you want to get in on the fun. It’s sure to be a buzzy, boozy good time. For more information, visit the Hopwired 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.

Top image via the Hopwired Festival

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Source: Coffee News

Coffee Design: Summit Coffee In North Carolina

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Summit Coffee out of North Carolina celebrated twenty years of coffee-making in 2018. In the last two decades, Summit has evolved from a single cafe to a multi-cafe roasting company. To kick off the new year, Summit has refreshed its look with a whole new look. It was a true family effort within the company and two years in the making. The colors pop on the Quad Seal Box Bottom bag and we especially dig the topographical touches. We reached out to owner Brian Helfrich to learn more.

Tell us a bit about how Summit got started.

Summit Coffee opened in 1998, as a cafe in downtown Davidson, North Carolina, and we stayed as such until 2013. Since then, we’ve opened a roasting business (in 2015) and two more cafes, in Davidson (2013) and Asheville (2017).

I have owned and operated Summit since 2011, though it’s been in the family since 2003 when my brother acquired it.

You’re starting off 2019 with a brand new design! How long has it been in development?

The packaging rebrand started in 2017, when we were building our Asheville cafe and fell in love with the white/antique green color scheme. Previously, Summit’s brand colors had been orange and dark green. So over the past 15 months, we’ve updated our three cafes to fit the brand refresh, and now the retail bags are our final “here we are, here’s our brand.” We have actively been working on this bag design since summer 2018.

Who designed the package?

This was an exercise in collaboration the whole way. My wife, Tyler, who designed our Asheville cafe and serves as Summit’s Artistic Director, compiled my scattered vision for these bags and put it into a visual that makes sense. Then, Tyler teamed with Brooke Basinger, a local graphic designer who also happens to be the partner of Summit’s COO, Andrew Kelleher. Together, Tyler and Brooke pushed this design forward from idea to drafts to final product.

Once we had a workable draft, we partnered with Savor Bags on the actual production—and their team was immensely helpful the entire way.

What coffee information is shared on the package?

We chose a different color for each of our coffees—the label is affixed over the top of the bag, and the color of the coffee matches the taste profile. We have a single-farmer washed Ethiopian coffee from producer Tadese Mamao that drinks so much like pink lemonade, the label is pink. We also find that customers who are visually attracted to certain colors are inclined to find that the coffee inside matches their taste preference.

A goal of ours is to make amazing coffee more approachable—so we did away with variety, altitude, tasting notes on the front of the bag. We chose, rather, to represent each coffee with a single statement. We want the consumer to have an accurate idea of what they’re buying.

All of our bags also include some brand copy—our mission statement, our story, and our “Find Your Summit” brand ethos—and brewing recommendations.

Tell us about some of the stylistic and aesthetic choices you’ve made in the new design.

We wanted the bags to both represent our brand evolution, and also to pop. We studied a lot of coffee bags, and sought a design and bag that stood out for its colors, shape and aesthetic. The bag we fell in love with, from a size standpoint, was one we saw from Presta coffee. We also wanted to feature something geometric and artistic—and in alignment with our brand, we created a topographical map that covers most of the bag. We’re actually using the same design to do printed to-go cups for our cafes.

Where is the bag manufactured?

We partnered with Savor Brands, which is doing awesome work out of Hawaii.

Is the package recyclable/compostable?

Our partner at Savor Brands has set up a cool relationship with TerraCycle, a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle waste. Savor offers complimentary recycling on our coffee packaging, where 100% of the collected bags are recycled and made into new materials.

Where is it currently available?

The bags are available in our cafes, online, with many of our wholesale partners, and in markets and grocery stores around the Southeast (Whole Foods, Fresh Market, lots of markets in the Charlotte and Asheville areas)

Company: Summit Coffee Co.
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
Design Debut: January 2019
Designer: Tyler Helfrich and Brooke Basinger

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

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Source: Coffee News

A Heat Wave Is Scorching Brazilian Robusta Crops

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You might remember last week’s Polar Vortex, the cold front that wreaked havoc across much of the Midwest, sending the news media into a bit of a tizzy as it went. At the same time as temperatures in Fargo, North Dakota, were bottoming out at -31°, a few thousand miles to the south the Brazilian robusta harvest was literally burning on the trees.

In the eastern states of Bahia and Espirito Santo, which together produce more than 80 percent of Brazil’s robusta crop, maximum temperatures have been as much as 14° above average for this time of year. According to Bloomberg, coffee trees are enduring nine hours a day of high-80s temperatures in full sun, essentially roasting the beans inside their cherries while still on the branch.

Although robusta is notoriously hardier than its more fussy cousin arabica, the lack of shade crops on these enormous farms work against it in the case of drought or intense heat. While rain is forecast for the coming week, it probably won’t be enough to bring real respite, which means the exposed trees will continue to blister in the sun for the time being

A record robusta harvest had been predicted for Brazil this year, with the high production being suggested as one of the reasons for the collapse of the C price in the fall. What this mini heatwave does to coffee prices in the short term remains to be seen, but the reality is that climate change will continue to unleash more extreme, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. It seems as though this sort of story, like the shattering cold of the Polar Vortex, is likely to become routine.

Fionn Pooler is a journalist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the publisher of The PouroverRead more Fionn Pooler on Sprudge.

Top image via Bloomberg.

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Source: Coffee News

Tim Hortons Co-Founder Ron Joyce Has Died

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Ron Joyce (left) with co-founder Tim Horton.

Ron Joyce, the co-founder of Canada’s Tim Hortons, has died. The Nova Scotia native passed away at age 88 on Thursday, January 31st, per the CBC.

The name Ron Joyce may not be as immediately recognizable Alfred Peet or the growing-more-sullied-by-the-minute Howard Schultz, at least on the south side of the Canadian border, but it plays no less a role in the popularity of coffee in North America. Starting as the first franchisee working alongside co-founder and NHL hockey player Tim Horton—whom, as per a note from our website’s founders, “could get it“—Joyce started with a single shop in 1964, “[knowing] ‘zero’ about making doughnuts when he went in for his first shift,” quoth the CBC.

10 years later, after Horton’s death in a car crash, Joyce took over full ownership of the business, building it into the billion-dollar global brand it is today. There are currently over 4,500 locations worldwide, not including the scheduled 1,500 new storefronts planned to open in China over the next decade.

Robert Thompson, the co-author of Joyce’s autobiography tells of the indispensable role Joyce played in creating the Tim Hortons brand:

We probably won’t see that kind of invention — somebody just create something that has such broad appeal across Canada that’s so instantaneously relatable to the Canadian experience. We just don’t see that now, and we probably won’t see it again. And so in that regard, he’s a legend.

In a statement released by the family, Joyce is said to have passed on peacefully in his Burlington, Ontario home surrounded by loved ones.

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 Tim Hortons

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Source: Coffee News

In The Los Angeles Arts District, Go Get Em Tiger Feels Right At Home

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“Our goal is to be part of the fabric of the Arts District.”

That’s the word of Kyle Glanville, co-founder and co-entrepreneur at Go Get Em Tiger, an independent Los Angeles roaster-retail cafe brand. I’m speaking to him today from inside GGET’s newest cafe, a 400-square-foot space in the heart of LA’s teeming Arts District. We’re just a few blocks from where, all the way back in 2011, Handsome Coffee (RIP) planted a flag for specialty coffee in this neighborhood at 582 Mateo. (It is now a Blue Bottle.)

The vibe here at Go Get Em feels industrial and hip—there is a Shinola retail store next door, natch—but shot through with an approach to clean space and line art that evokes the company’s first cafe space in LA, over on Larchmont. The two cafes are about six miles apart, but the aesthetic difference between neighborhoods cannot be overstated. There is also another new GGET in Highland Park, east of the Los Angeles River, in the same building as Highland Park Natural Wine. The brand plans to open several new cafes (plural) across the Los Angeles region in 2019 and 2020.

Kyle Glanville (right) with co-founder Charles Babinski, photographed in Highland Park.

But here on E. 3rd, the bar is outfitted with GGET’s favorite La Marzocco PB, in deep tiger orange, paired with Mazzer grinders. There is house-made almond milk, freshly turned. Watching over the baristas stands a female boxer with her fists raised. The simple line art stands out thanks to her red gloves, drawing your eyes to the corner where she waits. The art evokes a classic, knowingly retro Pee-Chee folders style, which Glanville describes as a fundamental part of the brand. “We want characters who are doing something remarkable,” he tells me.

An in-house design team handled the space’s slight expansion and outfitting. This is the first time GGET has handled all the design work themselves, a sure sign the company is growing. The centerpiece of the industrial architecture is a floor-to-ceiling garage-style door with windows to let in light and framed by reinforced steel beams. Floating shelves on a wall across from the bar display all their retail coffee, the pastel bright packages serving as both tempting retail and cheery candy-colored decor. A rack of GGET shirts hangs in the window, and against the wall next to the bar are other shelves of home-brewing retail, as well as more swag. Like Larchmont, GGET Arts District has a long bar where customers can stand and order from anywhere. There are a couple of two-tops outside for soaking up the sun, and people watching the busy neighborhood.

The food menu here is more compact than say, at the brand’s Los Feliz spot, where food is a major focus. “We want to focus on the hits,” says Glanville, “but we’re walking a perilous line.” He means to make sure that GGET remains a coffee shop in the public eye, instead of being perceived as a restaurant. “Food here should orbit the gravitational pull of the coffee,” Glanville explains, which means you can get stuff like waffles, granola, or a frittata here in the Arts District. It’s food that wants to live with coffee.

This Arts District location opened in late 2018, and it marks just the latest growth iteration for a part of Los Angeles that’s become synonymous with generational change. In the last 15 years, this neighborhood has experienced a renaissance, moving from abandoned buildings, through artist lofts, to a more bourgeois crowd with the money for luxury lofts and curated boutiques. But the undercurrent remains friendly and a little bohemian—there’s a reason why Hollywood films so many New York City scenes on these blocks—and the staff reflects back the same vibe. Though by no means the only coffee shop in the area (there are three other shops serving coffee within spitting distance), GGET has already drawn their regulars and is consistently busy.

“The most gratifying experience is when you can be early to a neighborhood that is coming into itself,” Glanville says, and you can see it happening before your very eyes through the cafe’s windows onto 3rd. The block is bustling, and streams naturally into part of the SCI-Arc campus, the gallery Hauser & Wirth, and the half-dozen boutiques and dozen restaurants nearby. “The Arts District chews up and spits out coffee shops,” he laughs, the implication being—but not this one. Only time will tell, but a strong set of opening months seems to portend well for the future of Go Get Em in the Arts District. They seem ready to sink their claws in and stick around for the long haul.

Go Get Em Tiger is located at 827 E 3rd St, Los Angeles. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Valorie Clark (@TheValorieClark) is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. Read more Valorie Clark on Sprudge.

Photos courtesy of Go Get Em Tiger. 

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Source: Coffee News

The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Prague

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prague czech republic czechia

Prague is a city of meeting points: east and west, old and new, ornate and understated, meticulously restored and graffitied. The city is small—you can explore most of it in a day. It’s charming, and during prime tourist season, crowded. Prague’s architecture also has a sort of Disney World feel. For that reason, the city’s cafes feel like havens in a storm—they are windows into the everyday Prague—the native city frequented by residents alone.

That’s not to say that the tourist’s Prague isn’t worth a visit. It is. There’s the Astronomical Clock and Tyn Church in Old Town, Wenceslas Square in New Town, and the Charles Bridge on the way to Mala Strana and Prague Castle. They are destinations that make Prague itself. Tyn Church’s high Gothic architecture makes it look like Maleficent’s castle. Wenceslas Square is where Vaclav Havel addressed the people at the end of the Velvet Revolution to welcome the end of Communism. And Prague Castle is not just impressive but also affords some of the best views of the city.

The city doesn’t seem to really wake up until mid-morning, so if you rise a little early, it’s likely you’ll only have to share these spots with a few other people—or possibly with no one but yourself. But be advised, Prague’s late wakeup time also applies to most cafes. Of course, they also tend to stay open later and usually serve beer and wine in addition to coffee.

Speaking of beer, or pivo, it’s cheap, abundant, and really good in Prague. So is gulas (think goulash), knedliky (bread dumplings), and schnitzel. And so, of course, is coffee.

Whatever you’re looking for, this guide will help you navigate Prague’s streets and abundant green spaces in its pursuit at the city’s various cafes.

EMA Espresso Bar

Conveniently located near the city’s main train station, EMA can easily be your entree into Prague’s coffee scene. Owned by roastery Alf&Bet along with two other businesses, including the Cafe Lounge and EMA II, EMA is a bustling cafe that retains a laidback air despite high traffic. Unusually, EMA doesn’t just serve Alf&Bet coffee, but also JB Kaffe, SlowMov, Drop, Candycane, Double Shot, and Gardelli.

La Marzocco Strada produces two daily espresso options on EMA’s menu. They use a Moccamaster, V60, and AeroPress for drip coffee, and offer a food menu of mostly sandwiches, salads, and baked goods. If you’re craving something else, EMA is just a block away from Manifesto Market.

EMA is certainly known by visitors to the city, but as barista and sensory development coach Anna Markova says, EMA is still a Czech hangout and meeting spot.

EMA Espresso Bar is located at Na Florenci 1420/3, 110 00 Nové Město. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Kavarna Misto 

prague czech republic czechia

Tucked into the residential part of the Bubenec neighborhood right behind Prague Castle, Misto achieves the intimacy of a Victorian house while still remaining light, bright, and open. Illustrator Katerina Kynclova’s colorful hand-drawn wallpaper and simple Scandi-mod furniture help to open up the private feel of the space.

Misto exclusively serves coffee from its own roastery, Double Shot, which also has four other locations, one of which is in the aforementioned Manifesto Market. They offer batch brew made on a Marco Shuttle Brewer or single cups of coffee made with a rotating selection of brewing methods—Clever, V60, or AeroPress. The bar sports a Kees van der Westen Spirit Triplette. Misto features table service, not unlike many Czech cafes, and offers excellent food, baked goods, and alcohol menus.

Their coffee menu changes constantly, and always includes a featured drink. Ask long-time Double Shot barista and green buyer Ondrej Hurtik what his favorite Irish coffee is at the moment—during a recent visit, it was a concoction of Nikka Japanese whiskey, coconut blossom nectar sugar, and Double Shot’s washed Burundi or Ethiopia espresso. They also serve coffee flights with an accompanying palette quiz!

Kavarna Misto is located at Bubenečská 12, 160 00 Praha 6. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

OneSip Coffee 

prague czech republic czechia

OneSip is delightfully tiny and invites the use of the word “quaint.” Though the cafe owners Adam Gaszczyk and Zdenek Hybl founded their own roastery, Candycane, in 2017, the cafe has continued to use Round Hill Roastery’s coffee in addition to its own. In fact, OneSip was Eddie Twitchett’s first international Round Hill wholesale account. Though small, everything about this cafe has a thoughtful and bespoke feel, from the beverages served to their Acme cups. A Kees van der Westen Mirage Idrocompresso is the focal point of OneSip’s bar—batch brew is made with a FETCO. Baked goods come from Cafe Jen and are accompanied by a selection of Ajala chocolate bars.

Though located in the heart of Old Town, this cafe is on a quiet side street. Looking through its open window, past the bouquet of fresh flowers, you can fool yourself into thinking you’re in a much smaller city than Prague, despite the popular club, a gigantic shopping center, and Old Town Hilton all within walking distance.

OneSip Coffee is located at Haštalská 755 15, 110 00 Praha 1 – Staré město-Staré Město. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Double B

prague czech republic czechia

Just between Narodni Muzeum and Namesti Miru sits Double B. A perfect space to chill and do work, this cafe has window seats with tables custom made to suit. Double B is actually a Russian coffee house franchise, with locations in Russia and several countries throughout Europe and the Middle East. While Double B has a couple of locations in Prague, this one is the oldest and is also home to their roastery, which supplies coffee to their cafes and many of their wholesale accounts outside of Russia.

Part-owner and manager Evelyn Beinarovicha says each cafe is designed differently, according to the owner’s taste, but all of them have the same bar. There is no batch brew here, because Beinarovicha, “Likes to prepare every coffee in a special way.” V60, AeroPress, Bonavita, and Lungo are all offered alongside a menu of seasonal drinks made with in-house syrups and flavors. In summer, the cafe has a large outdoor terrace and is always dog-friendly.

Double B is located at Anglická 15, 120 00 Praha 2. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Original Coffee

prague czech republic czechia

Nestled in Old Town, just south of the Sex Machines Museum between Charles and Legion Bridge is Original Coffee. A minimalist, sans-serif, Kinfolk-y vibe reminds you of the apartments of those friends (everyone has them) who have Etsy shops and use their apartments to shoot beautiful product photographs.

The walls here are white and display polaroid photos hung on twine with binder clips as well as local artists’ work. Original serves its own roastery’s coffee, which has beautifully nice packaging. Filter coffee comes courtesy of a Moccamaster, AeroPress, Chemex, V60, or French press. Espresso is made on a Fiorenzato Ducale. Homemade lemonades and special hot chocolates are also on the menu, as well as soups, sandwiches, pastries, beer, and wine. Even on the busiest days, Original feels tucked away from the madding crowd.

Original Cafe is located at Betlémská 12, 110 00 Staré Město. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Dos Mundos Cafe

prague czech republic czechia

Dos Mundos has a cafe/roastery located near Namesti Miru, as well as a cafe near Stromovka Park, Exhibition Palace, and, fittingly, Coffee Museum Prague. The lattermost cafe has some beautiful graphic design elements, including a black and white wall mural, unique floor tiles, and gold-accented built-in shelves, giving the place a clean design and modern feel. Plus, there are swing seats. Yes, you read that correctly. Some of the seats in the cafe are actually red swings suspended from the ceiling.

The cafe exclusively serves Dos Mundos coffee. Every day it features two filter coffees, both as batch brew made on a Moccamaster and also as V60 and AeroPress. They also offer cold brew made in a drip tower. A San Remo Opera espresso machine fronts the bar. Like many cafes, they also serve beer and wine as well as pastries. The surrounding neighborhood has some excellent examples of Brutalist architecture and just around the corner is Mr. HotDoG, a cheap and great spot for anyone who comes down with a craving for that particularly American cuisine. Dos Mundos is the perfect haven to enjoy a refreshing drink after exploring nearby parks and museums on a hot day.

Dos Mundos Cafe is located at 

Honorable Mentions:

La Boheme Cafe: owned by an American and located near Namesti Miru, the cafe has a shabby chic eclectic vibe and exclusively serves its own coffee, each order of which comes with an information card.

Urban Cafe: walking distance to EMA Espresso Bar, Urban Cafe has a cool design and an industrial feel with a feature wall of plants and neon purple lights. They serve Fjord Coffee from Berlin.

Rachel Grozanick is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon. Grozanick has contributed previously to Bitch Magazine90.5 WESA in Pittsburgh, and 90.7 KBOO in Portland. Read more Rachel Grozanick on Sprudge.

The post The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Prague appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

The Polar Vortex Didn’t Stop People From Drinking Iced Coffee

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The Polar Vortex happened. It was really, really cold. So cold, in fact, that Chicago, a place of both extreme heat and cold, said, “screw it, we’re not doing coffee today.” It was so cold that the temperatures in Chicago were lower than the temperatures in Antarctica (and don’t let Joe Marrocco tell you otherwise).

Humans have developed a few quirky attributes during their time on this rock. One time-honored trait—wearing shorts in the freezing cold—has been welldocumented during this most recent flurry. But a new trait has emerged. Presumably stemming from whatever part of the brain makes people wear shorts in sub-zero temperatures has produced a new breed of humans, ones who drink iced coffee as the Arctic Tundra falls down around them.

And it’s not an isolated event. Reports are coming in from New York and Washington, D.C. that folks are not only braving the elements to get coffee, but are, of their own recognizance, ordering cold coffee. It’s truly baffling. And as the Gothamist reports, even TV stars like the Daily Show’s Roy Wood Jr. are making iced coffee pit stops. I guess iced coffee is still technically warmer than it is outside? I have no idea what’s going on.

According to GayStarNews, there is only one answer to this rash of unexplainable coffee behavior: gay people. The article notes a penchant for iced coffee amongst the gay community, a trope explored elsewhere online, such as the popular Instagram account @Best_Of_Grindr. And while it doesn’t say for sure that any of the folks taking part in this current trend are queer, they aren’t not saying it either. My baptist music minister once told teenaged me that the gays would lead to society’s downfall (true story), but I don’t think he meant via frostbite from an iced coffee run.

Thankfully, the coldest days appear to be behind us. Now everyone can return to drinking coffee in temperatures only slightly below that of their beloved iced coffee. Because let’s be honest, it seems you were going to do it anyway, regardless of the current climate.

As I write this, I’m realizing the harsh truth that I have and will forever and ever drink hot coffee during the heat of the Texas summers. I see now what a hypocrite I am. So go enjoy your cold in the cold coffee, you holy fools. Know that your brother from another weather supports you.

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 the City of New York

The post The Polar Vortex Didn’t Stop People From Drinking Iced Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News