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Where To Drink Coffee In Brussels

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brussels belgium coffee guide

A walk in the park, Brussels is not. In the Belgian capital, contrasts between the well-off and those in need can be stark. Street names and signs are given in two languages, though neighborhoods and their inhabitants tend to identify as either Francophone or Flemish-speaking, sometimes leading to notoriously nationalist identity politics and social strife. Majestic though they are, many of the monumental buildings look like they are forever in need of a power wash.

Despite these complexities, not to mention the city’s Eurocratic solemnity—it is known as the European Union’s “de facto capital” (the title itself evoking bureaucratic provisos and red tape)—Brussels’ mascot is the Manneken Pis. That this simple little statue of a naked boy urinating into a fountain attracts so much attention and celebration reminds us that humor and joie de vivre also exist here. So do chocolates galore, among many other famous local sweets (waffles, nougat) and treats (mussels, beer). Meanwhile, a contrast to all the traditionalist Belgian gastronomy is the novelty of specialty coffee. The scene is still young and the cafes are still very much countable, but that makes it all the more exciting. Here, then, are a variety of venues worth a visit.

brussels belgium coffee guide

OR Coffee

Its name is a conjunction connecting choices, but visiting OR Coffee should not be a matter of choice when in Brussels. Many would agree that this brand brought specialty coffee to the Belgian capital, over a decade after Katrien Pauwels and Tom Janssen founded their own roastery in 2001. Today the couple has two cafes in Brussels, two in Ghent, and the OR coffee school and roastery in Westrem.

Flanked by a Marriott Hotel and a Bobbi Brown store, the Brussels’ city-center location, which opened in 2012, attracts a cross-section of clients, whose Flemish, French, and English conversations bounce animatedly off the bi-level brick walls. Coffee orders—taken at the counter but delivered to tables—might range from traditional espresso-based milk beverages to the most pronouncedly pampelmousse Kenyan à la Kalita this reporter has ever experienced. And in the Dutch and Flemish tradition, drinks are served with a little sweet on the side: here, a chocolate in OR’s signature forest green and gold packaging.

An estimated 95% of OR’s coffee is “direct fair trade,” says the company’s head of education, Wouter Helsen. This choice is facilitated by the close working relationship with Pauwels’ other business, Cup-A-Lot green coffee sourcers, and she and Janssen’s ability to personally travel to origin countries.

brussels belgium coffee guide

For equally appealing offerings and service, visit OR’s second Brussels branch in the municipality of Etterbeek. This cafe attracts the darker-suited set with business in and among the nearby European Commission and provides, for the coffeecrats among us, the cool sight of a Pentair water filter system with customized copper tubing wall-mounted like an objet d’art.

OR Coffee Roasters is located at Rue A. Ortsstraat 9, 1000 Brussel. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

brussels belgium coffee guide

MOK

Like OR, MOK has its roots, roastery, and first coffee bar in Flanders, but its Brussels outpost has become the company flagship. Though founder and owner Jens Crabbé says he once felt namer’s remorse for the obvious choice—mok means “mug” in Flemish—he acknowledges it was an ode to filter coffee, experiencing a renaissance in the Low Countries when his business began almost eight years ago. And it remains fitting considering the scrutiny with which Crabbé develops his roasting profiles and brew recipes; unsurprisingly, he is Belgium’s reigning Cup Tasters Champion.

“It started off maybe quite small and cute and then, as I grew as a person,” says Crabbé, now just shy of 30, “my style started to change, and the brand kind of followed.”

With high ceilings, a communal table, a custom-designed shelving-cum-blackboard unit, and an open kitchenette producing vegetarian-friendly cold and hot breakfast and lunch, MOK is progressive in its aesthetics and taste. Being situated on the fashionable Rue Antoine Dansaert—from A.P.C. to Kartell, stylistas can shop in a straight line—is fitting, though MOK deftly balances chic and geek.

brussels belgium coffee guide

Jens Crabbé

Riffing about MOK’s reverse-osmosis system and the different hardnesses for espresso and filter, Crabbé notes: “When people buy coffee we even encourage them [by saying], ‘Hey, take half a liter of water home from the tap, try it at home with our water. Water is really important, and we really try to like tick all the boxes to give you a good coffee experience.’”

Inasmuch as Crabbé enjoys living and working in his hometown of Leuven, he is seeking a new roasting space for MOK in the Belgian capital. “There’s a lot of work to be done still in Brussels in coffee, and we really want to be a part of that,” he says. 

MOK is located at Rue Antoine Dansaert 196, Brussels. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

brussels belgium coffee guide

Fika

From light roasts in specialty coffee to clean lines in interior design, Scandinavia has contributed much to contemporary cafe culture around the world. In Brussels, however, Scandic style has yet to become big. And when Joana Soulard opened her homage to the Swedish coffee break in fall 2016, it was simply a commonsensical melding of two of her interests: specialty coffee and Scandinavian culture.

For filter preparations, Fika uses coffee roasted by April (founded by, indeed, a Swede), and is known to include Swedish favorites among its on-premise-baked pastries. “We have some Swedish [customers], but they come for the semla,” admits Soulard.

Of Fika’s city-central neighborhood, “it’s very mixed,” she says. The Matongé, as it is commonly known, is named after a district in Kinshasa, DR Congo, recognizing the many Congolese immigrants who have settled in the area over the last half-century; these days they are joined by other African communities and European Union-employed expats.

brussels belgium coffee guide

Fika does a lot of weekday morning takeaway, though during the day provides a peaceful spot to sit and sip. The venue, like its owner, is relaxed yet engaging; characteristically light wood and soft lines create a sense of holding space and hygge. That said, a non-Nordic nod goes to Café Capitale, the Brussels brand that supplies Fika’s espresso beans and a company whom Soulard credits with teaching her “everything about coffee” during her four-year employment there.

“For me, it’s important to use and to have some local products,” she adds.

Fika is located at Rue de la Paix 17, Brussels. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

brussels belgium coffee guide

Café Capitale

Café Capitale is a crowd pleaser. Perhaps this is because founder François Lafontaine established his company in 2001 with ambience very much in mind, aiming for “cool places to drink coffee,” as he put it in a Coffee with April podcast. But fast-forward a dozen years, after inspiring visits to Sydney and Melbourne—having discovered “places where you sell only classic basic milk drink and filter coffee, with no whipped cream, no syrup and no topping and a huge line of customers”—Lafontaine rebranded and renamed his business. His focus turned to specialty coffee and he plunged into SCA courses, eventually becoming a certified roaster and Q grader.

Nowadays, Lafontaine owns and runs an atelier and bakery in nearby Uccle, the Brussels-based Belgian Coffee Academy, which has a roastery and a training center, and two cafes in Brussels.

The Café Capitale on Rue du Midi, which dates back to 2001, occupies a busy corner near the city’s iconic square, the Grand-Place. Vinyl spins on a turntable behind the bar and illustrations of coffee apparatuses act simultaneously as wall art and a visual education.

brussels belgium coffee guide

Alongside espresso-based drinks and filter coffees—V60 is the default, though AeroPress and Chemex are also available—the menu lists “three aromatic coffees from the past,” as Lafontaine terms them: “the mochaccino, the caramel macchiato, and the cappuccinut.” This reporter found the last—a syrup-sweetened hazelnut crunch-topped cappuccino—a perfect pre-prandial pick-me-up. And for those who prefer not to nibble from a drink, but rather, a dish, there is breakfast, lunch, and snack fare, with many of the carbohydrates produced by Café Capitale’s own bakery.

Less spacious but no less enticing, the branch on Rue Ernest Allard is in Sablon, just a 10-minute walk south.

Café Capitale is located at Rue du Midi 45, 1000 Bruxelles. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

brussels belgium coffee guide

Aksum Coffee House

At Aksum Coffee House, do not expect an array of filter choices—in fact, on a recent visit, there was none on the menu, though a barista happily obliged when asked for one—nor conversations about water hardness and fruit-forward roast profiles. Be prepared, however, for a fine selection of espresso beans exclusively from Ethiopia, teas, chocolate, and baked goods, as well as a cost-free feast for the eyes in the form of rotating wall art by local street artists.

The Aksum brand has been around for a decade, but investor Vinod Gautam took it over about five years ago and, with the avid help of manager Fatima Boulben, began focusing on what Gautam calls organic, mainly small-cooperative-sourced Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, and Limu coffees roasted by Aksum’s own roastery. Though neither is Ethiopian—he is from India; her parents are from Morocco—the duo is intent on sharing Ethiopian coffee with the masses, and have ambitions to one day host Ethiopian dance and coffee ceremonies in Brussels.

Aksum Coffee House currently has three Brussels locations, though the most spectacular is in the renowned Saint-Hubert Royal Galleries, a 19th-century European shopping arcade (read: proto-mall). The Embassy of Ethiopia’s quarterly magazine called this branch, which opened in July 2017, “the temple of Ethiopian coffee in the city.”

brussels belgium coffee guide

Amidst the arcade’s Old World boutiques and high-end chocolatiers, it radically offers a hangout spot, with friendly staff and room enough for small groups to share a table or solitary laptop workers to concentrate.

As Boulben describes her vision of Aksum: “It has to be a place where everybody should feel comfortable. From the high social level to the normal social level, they should all feel comfortable, because you know when you say ‘specialty coffee’ people straightaway feel afraid this is expensive.”

Aksum is located at Rue des Chapeliers 17, 1000 Bruxelles. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

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

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Source: Coffee News

2019 Build-Outs Of Summer—Submissions Are Now Open!

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It’s that time again! It’s time for the 2019 edition of the Build-Outs of Summer, Sprudge Media Network’s annual planet-spanning survey of cafes under construction across the global coffee scene. Submissions are now open!

Submit your cafe now for the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer feature series. 

Now in its incredible seventh season, Sprudge spends each summer delving deep into the global world of new cafes, documenting them far and wide, featuring dozens, no hundreds of the hottest cafes around the world in an ongoing narrative of coffee cultural growth and expansion. We yearn for the thrill of the build! And we’re ready to kick the dang thing off again, this time bigger and better than ever.

This is an open call to be featured in the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer series on Sprudge. This year we’re looking for:

  • New cafes under construction between May and September of 2019
  • Cafe remodels that will be completed by September 2019
  • Tiny new cafes built on zero budget
  • Expansive new cafes that push coffee design concepts forward
  • Coffee bars considering sustainability and environmental impact
  • Cafes from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica (especially Antarctica)

The Build-Outs of Summer 2019 season will kick off on June 21st and close on September 23rd. To help keep this annual compendium of coffee construction free and open for all to enter, in 2019 Sprudge has partnered with a select group of presenting sponsors for Build-Outs of Summer. This summer’s series is brought to you in partnership with…

  • Pacific Barista Series — purveyors of fine artisan alternative milks, a must-have for today’s modern and inclusive coffee bar.
  • KeepCup — trendsetting creators of stunning, stylish reusable takeaway cups, and leaders for sustainability in the coffee bar and festival space.
  • notNeutral — pioneers helping lead the fusion of coffee and contemporary vessel design, one “for here” order at a time.
  • Mill City Roasters — makers of handcrafted artisan coffee roasting machines, for aspiring and established coffee roasters alike.

Throughout the summer we’ll learn a bit more about how our presenting partners are working with brands large and small to help make coffee dreams come true. These Build-Outs features are more than just cafe previews—they are a snapshot of where the global coffee culture, and where it’s headed next.

This year’s season will kick off shortly, so bring to us your tired entrepreneurs, working day and night to get the darn thing open (permits permitting); your project managers, your construction liaisons, your architects bedecked in blueprint blues; bring to us your thirsty PR reps, huddled masses yearning to breathe free (and bill fees); show us your carts, your bikes, your trikes, your rippin’ #vanlife conversion vans, your grand new cafe schemes and humble 200-square-foot espresso ventures, your palaces of brekkie, your porticos of ‘spro. Bring us your builds, and upon them we ourselves will build anon, and on, towards another annual edition of the Build-Outs of Summer!

Submit your cafe now for the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer feature series. 

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

Contact us today and submit your cafe for the 2019 Build-Outs of Summer feature series. 

Explore every last Build-Out over the last half decade in our archives.

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Source: Coffee News

Dive Into Cafe Imports’ New “Coffee Processing” Video Series

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By now most of the specialty coffee consuming public knows that there are such things as washed and natural processed coffees—and to a lesser extent honeyed—and the majority would probably be able to give you some sort of description of the difference between the two in terms of flavor. (And if you don’t, don’t worry. Consider joining our newsletter to be part of the Sprudge Coffee Club, where you will receive discounts on all manner of coffee from some of the best roasters around.) But if you were to ask most folks to describe what exactly goes into these processes, you’d probably end up with a lot of blank stares.

Cafe Imports is looking to change that. Ever the purveyor of educational coffee videos, over the course of the next week, June 3rd through 6th, Cafe Imports will be releasing a new series called “Coffee Processing” that explains the four major processing methods found in specialty coffee, and a preview has been released today.

Averaging a little under six minutes a video (a 23 minute total run time), the video series explains the processing methods by following them each step by step as they happen at origin. The videos cover: the washed process at Finca Ecológica in Agua Colorada, Cajamarca, Peru; the natural process at Halo Fafate Washing Station at the Worka Cooperative in Gedeb, Ethiopia; honey processing at Las Lajas micromill in Sabanilla de Alajuela, Costa Rica; and semi-washed (or wet hulled) processing at the Bergandal Mill in the Gayo Highlands of Sumatra.

Starting on Monday, Cafe Imports will release a new video every day at 2:00pm CT on their YouTube channel and via their website. They will be released in the other of: Washed, Semi-Washed, Natural, and Honeyed. For now, a preview of the entire Coffee Processing series will have to hold you over.

 

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A post shared by Cafe Imports (@cafeimports) on May 31, 2019 at 11:37am PDT

You don’t need to be a coffee roaster—or a coffee professional at all for that matter—just coffee curious in order to find these videos useful. Coffee beans just don’t fall off the tree ready to be roasted; a lot of work goes into getting them into a usable state, and the Coffee Processing series gives a better idea of exactly what that work is.

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 Cafe Imports

Disclosure: Cafe Imports is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network

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Source: Coffee News

Coffee Design: Ceremony Coffee In Maryland

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Annapolis, Maryland-based roasters Ceremony Coffee just launched brand new packaging for 2019. With it they’ve incorporated their “Taste By Color” palate palette in the design “meant to simplify finding a favorite coffee and convey a sense of familiarity” with their seasonal offerings, explains Roaster and Green Coordinator Jared Voorhees. We reached out to Voorhees via email to learn more.

When did the design debut?

The new bags started trickling out Monday, May 13th.

What’s different about the package?

We’ve pursued an approachable minimalism and incorporated what we’ve been calling Taste by Color into the redesign. The colors on our website, our cold brew cans, and now our bags, are all meant to simplify finding a favorite coffee and convey a sense of familiarity within our seasonal offering. Take a peek at tastebycolor.com to see what’s up.

Who designed it?

The rebrand was a team effort between Drexler Design Studio in Baltimore and several very relieved people at Ceremony.

How long did this redesign take to develop?

This package redesign was roughly two years in the talking-about phase and took about a year in heavy collaboration.

Why are aesthetics important for coffee packaging?

Coffee packaging is often nice to look at, but if it’s honest, it can also be an elegant heuristic that works as a guide to what’s inside.

Where is it available?

You can snag a bag at ceremonycoffee.com, in any of our four (soon to be six) cafes, or your local Ceremony stockist. DM us if you want to find out who has our coffee near you.

Thanks!

Company: Ceremony Coffee
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Country: United States
Design Debut: May 2019
Designer: Drexler Design Studio

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

Disclosure: Ceremony Coffee is an advertising partner of Sprudge.

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Source: Coffee News

Bring Your Bag, Get Some Swag: Brandywine’s New Upcycle Rewards Program

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When I first got into specialty coffee, I saved every retail bag I purchased. My goal back in those halcyon days was to eventually catalog them all, taking down notes about origin, flavor, my general enjoyment of the coffee, etc. I was gonna crack this whole fancy coffee nut through diligent study. Well, I never did catalog them, but that didn’t stop me from continuing to save every bag, which I convinced myself I would turn into an art project. That art project also never happened. What did happen about a year ago, though, is that I finally gave in and threw away over 400 coffee bags.

Even with my admission of lacking the gumption and requisite artistic skill to save those bags from their ultimate fate, it would have been nice if there was a way for SOMEONE to find a use for them. To combat this with their own bags, Wilmington, Vermont’s Brandywine Coffee Roasters has created a brand new rewards program. Called the Brandywine Upcycled Rewards Program (BURP), the coffee company is offering discounts on future orders for returned bags, which will then be given to local artists to use in their work.

The program is simple: the more bags you return, the better the reward you receive. Send in five bags and receive a free six-ounce bag of BURP-exclusive coffee. 10 bags earns you the same coffee plus a BURP sticker and pin. 20 bag earns you the coffee as well as 10% off your next coffee order.

BURP is also available to Brandywine customers outside Delaware. Per the coffee company’s website, to receive your rewards, “send your mailing address, number of bags to upcycle, and past order number to info@brandywinecoffeeroasters.com to get your free return shipping label, and let the upcycling rewards roll in!”

The collected bags will then be given to artists “who used upcycled materials to make magic.” The first two artists selected are Todd Purse—Brandywine’s Creative Director who also designed the company’s bags, featured here—and Clara Logue, who will be making collages on wooden canvases and coffee bag pouches, respectively. Those items will then be sold in Brandywine’s web store, and the artists are taking direct commissions for their upcycled works as well.

In the future, Brandywine states they will be switching to a new version of the Biotre bags from Pacific Bags. In the meantime, Burp provides a creative solution to curbing the number of bags that make it to a landfill. For more information about the Brandywine Upcycle Rewards Program or to buy or commission a custom upcycled work, visit Brandywine’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 Brandywine Coffee Roasters

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Source: Coffee News

Laetitia Mukandahiro: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

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Laetitia Mukandahiro (Photo courtesy Laetitia Mukandahiro)

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty Interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty.

Nominated by Chelsea Thoumsin

Laetitia Mukandahiro is an accomplished coffee professional born and raised in Rwanda. Originally from the village of Musasa, located near the famed Dukundekawa cooperative, Mukandahiro distinguished herself early in her career as an accomplished and capable professional cupper. She’s worked for the Rwanda Smallholder Specialty Coffee Company (RWASHOSCCO), for the washing station management firm KZ Noir, and today for the noted Rwandan coffee exporter Bufcoffee, where she serves as Quality Control and Sustainability Manager. Mukandahiro is a certified Q Grader and has served on multiple international Cup of Excellence judging panels. Her continuing work with Bufcoffee includes establishing a training center and affording ongoing opportunities for Rwandan youths interested in a career in coffee.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed. 

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

The issue I care for the most is that in developing countries, the younger generation is not interested in the coffee sector. I am afraid for the next years.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

Coffee is my life and my passion.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

The New York [C Market] price is not equal to the small producers and their efforts. Here in Rwanda, many are considering leaving the coffee sector and investing in other subsistance agriculture crops.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

Coffee makes friends. It is a universe of opportunities.

Did you experience a “god shot” or life-changing moment of coffee revelation early in your career?

Yes! When I cupped the 2018 Rwanda Cup of Excellence winner, Twumba Coffee—OMG!

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

Coffee happiness to me is seeing that your production is in high demand and your reputation in the sector is bright.

If you could have any job in the coffee industry, what would it be and why?

My favorite position in the coffee industry would be:

  • Quality control, as I am well experienced in this—I’ve been working in this area for 15 years.
  • Marketing, because I enjoy discovering new people and I love talking about coffee across the cupping table.

Who are your coffee heroes?

I have many! My parents, who are coffee farmers and have been for many years. Tim Schilling from World Coffee Research, Lindsey Bolger From Green Mountain (my trainer), Geoff Watts from Intelligentsia Coffee (also my trainer), Cup of Excellence head judge Paul Songer, Susie Spindler, and Grant Rattry (RIP).

If you could drink coffee with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Tim Schilling is my role model. He taught me to work hard until it pains, because poverty hurts much more.

If you didn’t get bit by the coffee bug, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

If I was not in coffee I would be dreaming to be an actress or a nurse.

Do you have any coffee mentors?

My mentors are my former employer Gilbert Gatali and my partner at my training center, Uzziel Habimana.

What do you wish someone would’ve told you when you were first starting out in coffee?

I would like to hear that I am able and everything will be alright, because in my time everyone told me that coffee is not good for my health and other many discouraging words.

Name three coffee apparatuses you’d take into space with you.

French press, coffee cup, and small grinder machine.

Best song to brew coffee to?

The best song is anything Classical.

Look into the crystal ball—where do you see yourself in 20 years?

I hope that in 20 years I am a producer and exporter of good micro lot coffees in Rwanda. I hope to have a succesful training center and to be an inspiring woman.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

My breakfast was juice with some digestive biscuits and a banana.

When did you last drink coffee?

I took a cup of coffee during my break at 9 am.

What was it?

It was a cup of black coffee.

Thank you. 

The Sprudge Twenty is presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty

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

The New Rules Of Coffee: New Tour Dates Added In Chicago, Las Vegas and MPLS

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You asked for more book tour, and more book tour ye shall receive.

Through the last quarter of 2018 Sprudge Media Network’s founders, Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen, embarked on an epic book tour across the United States, appearing in book stores and coffee houses, event spaces and chic espresso bars. The tour crisscrossed the continent, with appearances from Los Angeles to Manhattan and most points in-between: axe throwing in Salt Lake City, Gritty hangs in Philly, an epic culinary experience in Columbus, a rainy, dreamy night in San Francisco, a vintage comics-fueled tour of Pittsburgh, and many more.

The New Rules of Coffee now available on Amazon.

But it wasn’t enough! We heard from readers across the great US of A a mighty query: “Why didn’t you visit our city?” That’s why in June 2019 we’re picking back up the road bindle and heading back out for a new set of dates, stopping by to see friends in three cities we missed on the first go-round. Those would be Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Chicago, dates for which we’re thrilled to announce today.

publicus las vegas velton's coffee cafe sprudge

On Wednesday, June 12th join us Las Vegas, Nevada at PublicUs (1126 Fremont Street) for an evening book event. This event runs from 5pm until 7pm and includes local food and beverages, a live reading of chapters from the book and community Q&A. Join us for our first-ever Sprudge event in Las Vegas, with community food partners Atomic Kitchen, Hatsumi, and Gaucho’s Sacred Flavors.

dogwood coffee minneapolis minnesota

On Friday, June 14th join us in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Dogwood Coffee for a two-part event. That morning from 11am to noon we’ll be signing books and hanging out at the stunning new Dogwood Coffee HQ and cafe (1209 Tyler Street NE). These are some of our favorite styles of events—come meet us, get your book signed, have a chat and enjoy the cafe vibes. Then that evening we’ll be throwing a big event with Dogwood and community partners Mill City Roasters, Cafe Imports, Rustica Bakery running from 7pm to 10pm. Expect a live reading from The New Rules of Coffee, community Q&A (moderated by the good folks at Cafe Imports), tastings, delicious stuff, and ping pong.

And on Sunday, June 23rd we are thrilled to bring The New Rules of Coffee to the great city of Chicago for an all-day experience with Intelligentsia Coffee. By day we’ll be touring Intelli coffee bars across the city in an epic Instagram caffeine crawl; by night join us for a party at Intelligentsia’s Fulton Street HQ (1850 W. Fulton Street) from 6pm to 9pm for a live episode taping of the Coffee Sprudgecast and sampling the city’s many delights, with more details announced soon.

Visit Sprudge.com/booktour to view past events and check out updating event info for our 2019 dates. Can’t make it to a book event? Order your very own copy of The New Rules of Coffee direct from Amazon, out now on Ten Speed Press (a division of Penguin Random House).

We’ll see you on the road!

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Source: Coffee News

The Plot Thickens Between Caterpillar And Cat & Cloud

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On May 23rd, we reported on a recent podcast published by Santa Cruz-based coffee roasting and cafe brand Cat & Cloud. In the episode, titled “Being Sued By Caterpillar Inc.“, co-founders Chris Baca and Charles Jack stated their company was being sued by the Peoria, Illinois-based construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar to “cancel their trademark.” Shortly after the podcast was released, a petition on Change.org was created titled “Tell Caterpillar Inc. to Stop Bullying Cat & Cloud and Other Small Businesses.” As of publication it is approaching 12,000 signatures.

Before reporting our coverage on May 23rd, we reached out to both Caterpillar Inc. and Cat & Cloud for comment. Both brands have since replied with statements, which we are publishing here in full today.

Up first, the full statement from Caterpillar, sent to us by Rachel Potts, Manger-Corporate Media at Caterpillar Inc.:

Caterpillar serves customers around the world, many of whom earn their livelihood with one or two machines and often a good pair of work boots. We value all of them and strive to provide exceptional products and services. This means we have a responsibility to protect and maintain the brand they love and rely on every day – including our existing trademarks.

We are not suing Cat & Cloud, not targeting a small business and not focused on Cat & Cloud’s primary interest: coffee. We’ve simply asked the U.S. Trademark Office to remove Cat & Cloud’s trademark registration on footwear and apparel only, products for which Caterpillar has longstanding trademarks and a considerable business. We hope to resolve this issue quickly.

Next, here is full comment from Cat & Cloud co-founder Jared Truby:

Caterpillar has released a blanket statement that seems to lead people to consider that we may be negatively affecting their merchandise sales. They also fail to state that we are going to have to go to court to defend our Trademark. They are attempting to cancel our trademark and therefore this is far more than a ‘cease and desist’.

The most notable things to us are the lack of attempts to go after Targets “Cat & Jack”, Dr Seuss’ Cat & the Hat and whats most weird is the attempt to own the term “Cat” which would mean no more printing the term Cat on any clothing for anyone ever without potential for lawsuit. We feel bullied. We feel that we aren’t even close to effecting a $54 billion company.

At the end of the day, we are sucked into what will be an expensive legal battle and we feel we need to defend, not only ourselves, but the other small businesses with lesser voices & community support. America is special because of small businesses with authentic character. This feels like an attack on all of us even if it isn’t meant to be.

We are so grateful for support from the community. We will be starting a gofundme to help with current & future legal fees that will continue to mount & undoubtedly be thousands more.

To those that are willing, please connect with any influencer’s, any media outlet and or just post the petition to spread the word. Please note the money donated to Change.org helps fund the exposure levels, it does not go to Cat & Cloud.

Wish us luck as we are attempting to stay focused on opening our 3rd and 4th location this year.

Much love to you all,
Jared & the Cat & Cloud fam.

This story is developing…

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 Brand House Direct

The post The Plot Thickens Between Caterpillar And Cat & Cloud appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Milan: Inside The Faema Art & Caffeine Flagship Cafe

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faema flaship store milan italy

faema flaship store milan italy

In the hazy afterglow of the Milan Coffee Festival (and a bustling after-party at their brand-spanking new Art & Caffeine Flagship Store), espresso machine pioneer Faema was on my mind.

With the emblematic Duomo of Milan eternally bound to the company logo, Faema started its operations in the city of Milan in 1945 and shortly thereafter started producing its first espresso machines. The brand lays claim to an extensive list of technological innovations, none bigger than being the first coffee machine with a volumetric pumpit allows the machine to maintain a specific amount of pressure (nine bars of atmospheric pressure, to be specific), which is an important variable in producing a consistent espresso. The company was also among the first to acknowledge that intrinsic bond between professional cycling and espresso culture in 1956—from there to modern-day sponsorships and community involvment, Faema has long been an active player in the waves of coffee’s subcultural revolution.

Shortly after the festival I toured the brand’s impressive new flagship HQ. I arrived on a Monday and was greeted by the store’s in-house coffee specialist, coffee trainer, and hospitality ambassador Angelo Sportelli.

faema flaship store milan italy

Gesturing to join him, Sportelli posted up in front of an all-white Faema E71E espresso machine featuring a rear copper panel with an inlay of the “Art & Caffeine” logo, and invited me to pick from a selection of five different coffees to dial in together.  I thought for just a second that it might be a little late in the afternoon for me to taste a dozen shots of espresso, but then suddenly couldn’t resist the urge to indulge. I found myself hypnotized by the overarching third eye above the words in the giant mural on the wall: “Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.”

As we pulled through a half-hopper of shots, a few members of the marketing team joined us in assessing how some of the new features of the E71E affect flavors of espresso extraction. In between sips and pensively staring into demitasse cups, they started to explain some of the features of the campus and the upcoming classes.

In just the following three weeks after my visit, the Flagship hosted a holiday-themed latte art throwdown, a master class with 2018 Italian Latte Art Champion Manuela Fensore, and a two day master class with 2018 World Barista Champion Agnieszka Rojewska. 

faema flaship store milan italy

Faema’s Flagship during a raucous party.

The building was as stunning as in the day as it had been at night, but the daylight and lack of partygoers unveiled the incredible depth of the space. The first floor is fully equipped with a customized Giesen W1 for coffee roasting courses, several espresso performance bars, a multi-purpose bar equipped for coffee mixology innovation, and practicing alternative brewing methods. You could of course find more than a couple ways to lounge in between all the caffeine.

faema flaship store milan italy

Rossella Musarra, Faema coffee specialist and sales promoter, was in the background practicing her routines for the 2019 Coffee in Good Spirits competition. When a large group of guests arrived to visit the space and took over Sportelli’s focus, I took it as a cue to see if I could get my hands on one of Musarra’s presumably delicious drink trials. After all, the sun was setting, and an aperitivo was on the horizon.

faema flaship store milan italy

I hadn’t considered that these drinks would be secret recipes for an upcoming competition, but as usual, a little spark of Italian hospitality illuminated my moment of potential disappointment. Musarra took time from her routine to whip up her decadent “Improved Irish Coffee” for me in a to-go cup just in time to head back out into the cool Milanese air.

If you’re visiting Italy for coffee experiences, today’s modern scene will have you spoilt for choice. But if Milan in particular is your destination, well—make Faema’s stunning new Art & Caffeine Flagship store your first stop before exploring the rest of this beautiful and historic city.

Alexander Gable (@mrgable) is a freelance journalist based in Milan. Read more Alexander Gable for Sprudge.

Disclosure: Faema is an advertising partner on Sprudge Media Network. 

The post Milan: Inside The Faema Art & Caffeine Flagship Cafe appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News

Now On Kickstarter: GEESAA Is The Super Customizable Automatic Brewer

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The home automatic coffeemaker has come a long from the days of the Mr. Coffee. No longer just satisfied with letting a machine do much of the morning time heavy lifting, consumers are seeking a product that delivers a cafe-quality product in an easily repeatable fashion. The biggest breakthrough on that front in the past decade or so has been the automatic machine that brews coffee at specialty coffee-approved water temperatures, and there have been quite a few entries into that space (we even featured a brand new one last week).

Even with a glut of products on the market, little headway has been made in the way of brew customization in a home machine. Until now, that is. Known as GEESAA, the new automatic pour-over device gives the user complete control over how their coffee is brewed—water temperature, pour speed, even where the water is poured in the brew bed—and it’s on Kickstarter now.

Created by Taiwanese coffee professionals with a combined 40+ years experience, GEESAA is the product of three years of research and development. Using a placement-adjustable spout and a turntable-like base to rotate the carafe and brewing device, GEESAA mimics the motion of hand-poured coffee to bring the cafe experience to the home. But what really sets GEESAA apart from other automatic brewing devices currently on the market is how customizable it is. Using the smartphone app, GEESAA users can select a water temperature between 75 and 96 C (167-204.8 F), a flow rate between one and eight cc/sec, where on the brew bed the water is poured, how many phases the water is poured in, and the time intervals between those phases up to 120 seconds.

Or if you are just looking to make a good cup of coffee, you can choose from one of your own saved recipes or choose from a list of “barista recipes” available in the app.

With a little over four weeks left on the Kickstarter campaign, GEESAA has already surpassed its $25,000 goal, but there are many deep discounts still available for would-be backers. Set to retail at $1,000 USD, the campaign has a few Super Early Bird deals priced at $599. After that, the Early Bird pricing will take effect at $699. GEESAA comes in both 110v and 220v power, and according to the Kickstarter backers can expect to receive their rewards in October 2019.

For more information or to back the campaign, visit GEESAA’s Kickstarter page.

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

All media via GEESAA

The post Now On Kickstarter: GEESAA Is The Super Customizable Automatic Brewer appeared first on Sprudge.

Source: Coffee News