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Laura Gonzalez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

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Laura Gonzalez – @StrongWomenOfCoffee of Vancouver, British Columbia

Our coverage of the Sprudge Twenty interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series continues this week on Sprudge. Read more about the Sprudge Twenty and see all of our interviews here.

Nominated by Stacey Lynden

Laura Gonzalez is the founder of @StrongWomenOfCoffee, an Instagram account documenting the work and achievements of female-identifying and non-binary coffee professionals around the world. Born in Guadalajara, today Gonzalez is based in Vancouver, where she works at Genius, an espresso equipment supply and tech service. Through this work, she has helped lead multiple tech training seminars and info sessions, affordably priced and focused on offering resources to women and marginalized members of the coffee community.

This interview has been lightly edited. 

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

There are a lot of playing fields in the industry that aren’t exactly equal. For example, people who compete [in barista competitions] and are able to buy “fancy” coffees and expensive gear for competitions often end up with a bit of an edge. I think it should be equally accessible for as many people as possible and I want to help with that.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

Bringing people together and how passionate our community is in working toward a sustainable future.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

I don’t think this issue is overlooked, because most of us are aware of the problem of female producers fighting to have the same respect, support, and opportunities as their male counterparts in many countries where coffee comes from. It is such a big part of their culture and is so deep that I think many of us might not even understand, and I think it is unbelievable that so much teaching is still necessary that women are equal and should have the same opportunities.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

The opportunity to never stop learning. Coffee is such a complex world that it constantly amazes me.

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

A major revelation moment came when I started working in coffee and was sitting at a table with 12 males and I was the only female. That’s when I started to realize how male-dominated this industry was. Not sure if that counts as a coffee revelation…

It absolutely does. What is your idea of coffee happiness?

It would be amazing to be one of the first industries to have equal pay and diversity in all sectors of the industry. Of course, we’re close in the service end, but there’s so much more that’s often not considered in how coffee gets to a consumer.

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

I’d love to learn about green coffee buying. I think it is one of the most interesting jobs in the coffee chain with tons of responsibilities. They need to be aware of the global market, quality, sustainability, ethical producers, etc.

Who are your coffee heroes?

Everybody in a marginalized group in the coffee industry is my hero. So many are fighting to have a more inclusive industry: womxn, LGBTQ+, non-gender conforming, POC, etc.

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

Gertrude Stein strikes me as someone who really knew how to entertain and converse. I’d love to hear about Saturdays at her salon, with Picasso, Matisse, and Hemingway. She must have had some interesting stories to tell. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a woman I’ve always admired. I wonder if she’s a coffee drinker.

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

It is very difficult for me to picture what I’d be doing if I wasn’t in coffee. This is not because it was my dream job, and been part of my life for a long time, but because as an immigrant sometimes our opportunities are uncertain. I was just lucky to get offered a job in coffee and find a community that is welcoming.

Do you have any coffee mentors?

Anybody who is willing and happy to share their coffee knowledge with me is a mentor and there’s always something new to learn from other people.

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

Get out of your comfort zone as soon as possible. Great things will happen if you do.

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

I guess hand grinder, a Chemex, and a scale.

Best song to brew coffee to

Any song by Selena Quintanilla is a good song.

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

I try not to think about the future too much—it gives me anxiety—so I just try to focus on one day/week at a time.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

Shakshuka. My first time—I loved it.

When did you last drink coffee?

Three hours ago.

What was it?

It was a Chinese washed pour-over.

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

Coffee Design: Ithaca Coffee Company

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Ithaca Coffee Company brings bold colors and rainbow holofoil to its brand new packaging. The fifteen-year-old small-batch specialty coffee roaster out of its namesake Ithaca, New York operates out of two shops in the city. “Coffee is our primary focus, but we also have a nicely curated gourmet market and craft beer selection,” says Marketing Director Aaron Rovitz.

“There is a popular local saying that states ‘Ithaca, New York: 10 square miles surrounded by reality.’ We like to think of ourselves in that way,” Rovitz explained to us over email, “Our shops, and even our coffee, provide an opportunity to escape the day to day insanity while discovering something surprising, delicious, and… gorges (sorry… had to).”

Boxes from the side.

When did the coffee package design debut?

We first rolled out the new package in our stores and online in early April 2019. Shortly thereafter we were selected to be featured in the 2019 Specialty Coffee Expo Design Lab where we debuted to the WORLD!!!! Woo-hoo!!! But in all seriousness, we really did appreciate the acknowledgment and exposure, so thank you SCA for keeping the Design Lab going.

How different is it from your previous design?

Our previous package was a tall 12oz kraft box using black ink printing, with some splashes of color coming from a few sticker labels. It had an earthy feel, but still reflected the sense of care and quality on which we pride ourselves.

Our new package is still a 12oz box, but we have changed up the dimensions and format slightly so make it a bit more user-friendly. We also chose to print this box with fresh and vibrant colors, the two things we hope come first to mind when you think of Ithaca Coffee Company. We chose to feature bolder, cleaner, and more simple imagery while bringing the bling with our rainbow holofoil logo panel.

What was the inspiration for the new design?

We wanted the new package to better reflect our personality and principles as a specialty coffee roaster. The clean, fresh, and colorful design is meant to reflect the clarity and vibrant flavors highlighted in our roasting aesthetic, with a focus on sweetness and aroma. The side and back panels recognize the unique charm and beauty of our home city as well as our dedication to small-batch roasting. Finally, the labels are meant to acknowledge that as the coffee roaster we are merely the final link in the product chain, highlighting farmer or farm first, followed by region and country above our logo. Ultimately we hoped for a design as fun, exciting, and compelling as the coffee inside!

Who designed the package?

The package was conceived, designed, and executed 100% in house. The concept came from our head coffee roaster Chris Ganger, who worked with our graphic designer Nina Widger on creating the first pass. Then after some team input and collaboration, we ended up with the final design.

View of the back.

What coffee information do you share on the package?

On the front the customer sees the farmer or farm, region, and country. On the top we elaborate on this with altitude, variety, and processing information. On the back we add a brief tasting profile outlining flavor, acidity, and body.

From the top.

Why are aesthetics in coffee packaging so important?

For many people the package is their first introduction to your product, so of course you want something that is going to catch the eye and make them pick up the box to find out a little more. You also want it to be something that adds to their brewing ritual at home, something they can leave out on the counter or shelf that will enhance the experience with a pleasing visual element. For us, the most important aspect is to somehow convey something about the coffee inside as quickly and simply as possible. They aren’t able to smell and typically can’t see the coffee they are purchasing so they’re really taking a gamble if they’re just giving you a try without doing any research. If the aesthetics of the package can signal toward the aesthetics of the coffee, it can serve as a great guide to the customer.

For package nerds, what type of package is it?

Our boxes are printed and assembled by Professional Image who have been great to work with on this and past projects. The exact dimensions of the box are 4 x 3 x 6.5 inches. Our new box is printed on 18pt C1S stock, and used a matte aqueous finish. Our logo is printed on using a holographic foil from Infinity Foils.

Where is it currently available?

On our website and in our two retail locations in Ithaca, NY. We are also in Wegmans Markets in Ithaca and Johnson City Binghamton, and occasionally in the Kingston, NY Adams Fairacre Farms market. We are always looking for new wholesale customers and would be happy to ship some samples.

Company: Ithaca Coffee Company
Location: Ithaca, NY
Country: United States
Design Debut: April 2019
Designers: Chris Ganger and Nina Widger

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

Cat & Cloud Is Being Sued By Caterpillar Inc.

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cat & cloud santa cruz california coffee roaster cafe trubaca sprudge

cat & cloud santa cruz california coffee roaster cafe trubaca sprudge

Chris Baca and Jared Truby, the chill Santa Cruz coffee bros better known as Cat & Cloud, are being sued. Did they steal someone’s killer wave? Did they harsh someone’s vibe in a felonious manner, possibly related to a wicked 360 ollie of some sort? No and no. They are being taken to court by Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar, “the world’s largest construction equipment manufacturer with net revenue exceeding $54 billion in 2018,” owns the trademark for “CAT”, the shorthand moniker they go by that is plastered over all their equipment. Cat & Cloud owns the trademark for their name as it relates to the coffee space. Caterpillar is suing Cat & Cloud to “cancel their trademark.”

In a podcast published on May 20th, Baca and Charles Jack—the third founder/owner of Cat & Cloud—share their side of the story. According to Cat & Cloud, the initial notice of potential litigation came on August 4th, 2018. After filling out “70-question interrogatories” and spending thousands of dollars on legals fees—the coffee company expects to spend upwards of $20,000 once it’s all said and done—Baca and Jack say they have decided to not “roll over” but to fight what they consider to be a frivolous law suit.

Now, a petition has been created on Change.org to “tell Caterpillar Inc. to stop bullying Cat & Cloud and other small businesses.” In a little over a day, the petition has already received over 500 signatures, and the number continues to grow with each subsequent browser refresh.

The saga of Cat & Cloud v Caterpillar Inc. appears to be just the latest example of brands vigorously pursuing copyright claims in the coffee space. This is an issue we profiled at length in Jenn Chen’s landmark three-part investigative feature on intellectual property in coffee, which you should definitely read here (part one) (part two) (part three).

Sprudge Media Network have reached out to both parties for comment and will update this article once we hear back.

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 from Inside Cat & Cloud’s Santa Cruz Dream Cafe

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Source: Coffee News

Oakland: Royal Coffee Is Hosting The First Ever Specialty Coffee Job Fair

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royal coffee crown oakland california

royal coffee crown oakland california

Are you a Bay Area coffee professional looking to take the next step in your career? Or how about a non-coffee professional considering removing the “non” from your title and embarking on a specialty coffee journey? If you are either of these things, then Oakland’s Royal Coffee would like to have a word. Taking place at The Crown on June 28th, the green coffee importing company has teamed up with coffee companies from across the Bay Area to host the first-ever Specialty Coffee Job Fair.

Completely free to attend, the Specialty Coffee Job Fair runs from 10:00am to 2:00pm and includes premier coffee companies like Blue Bottle, Andytown, Equator Coffees, and Red Bay Coffee, with even more expected to be added. The goal of the event, per Royal Coffee’s website, is “to give coffee professionals the opportunity to connect with hiring managers and learn about employment opportunities.”

As well as being a hub for potential employment in the coffee sector, the Specialty Coffee Job Fair doubles as an educational opportunity. During the four-hour event, the Bay Area Coffee Community will host a panel discussion “on key topics facing job seekers in the specialty coffee industry.”

And make sure you come dressed for success. Royal suggests all attendees come in “professional attire” and bring with them printed résumés and cover letters.

It all gets going at 10:00am on June 28th at The Crown in Oakland. While the event is free to attend, Royal does ask that all interested parties RSVP via Eventbrite, which can be done here. For more information, visit Royal Coffee’s official website and check out the Specialty Coffee Job Fair Facebook event page.

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

Disclosure: Royal Coffee, Blue Bottle, and Equator Coffees are advertising partners with the Sprudge Media Network

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Source: Coffee News

Elle Jensen: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

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Photo by Tony Adams.

Our coverage of the Sprudge Twenty interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series continues this week on Sprudge. Read more about the Sprudge Twenty and see all of our interviews here.

Nominated by Kat Melheim

Elle Jensen is an entrepreneur, community organizer, and coffee professional based in Denver, Colorado. In 2015 Jensen opened Amethyst Coffee on Denver’s Capitol Hill; in 2018 the brand’s second location opened in the Berkeley neighborhood. In 2015 she launched the Cherry Roast, a landmark “platform and coffee competition to support and provide visibility for womxn/trans/GNC/gender queer coffee professionals.”

In her nominating essay, Coffee People Zine creator Kat Melheim writes “[Jensen] creates a welcoming and inclusive space for guests and baristas alike. She is an amazing, transparent, and honest business owner with the interests of the community at heart.

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

I’ll give you the answer that strikes a chord with me most in this moment, but I don’t think as business owners we get to choose an issue that we care about “most” because we are in a privileged position that demands we care about all issues at the right time. Currently, most of my brain space is taken up with ways to increase cafe transparencies to make hospitality work more sustainable for people who want to make it their career, but behind that is a multifaceted web of decisions that inevitably require that I also care about every aspect of our industry. I suppose I could distill it down into I care about making coffee a sustainable career for everyone along the value chain, with a focus specifically on front of house staff. I don’t imagine I’m known for giving simple answers…

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

The social awareness that I believe serving coffee requires. I think coffee is a beautiful conduit for human interaction, in so many different ways, and I think we have a responsibility as folks who live in consuming countries, and have chosen to serve coffee professionally, to challenge the social norms that are so harmful to so many.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

Again, I think there are many issues on a large scale that are critically overlooked, but being that I am, and always have been, a front of house worker, I think that there is a total lack of efficiency in coffee shops that make them much more stressful to work in and run. I always say that managers are like goalies, the ball has to get by everybody else first, but no one is mad until the goalie lets the shot in/drops the ball. This is not a sustainable infrastructure to promote people into. We set them up for failure; we reward people in the wrong ways for their hard work and dedication to our companies. There is a lack of re-addressing our existing cafe infrastructure that is holding us back and making us unsustainable.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

It’s a tropical fruit, borrowed from D.

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

Well, god-shots don’t exist, but, yes, I did have a defining coffee moment. It was in the basement office of Pavement Coffee on Boylston Street in Boston. There were maybe eight of us at this cupping and probably no more than six bowls. I had a Kenyan coffee, roasted by Counter Culture, that tasted just like carrot juice. It was the first coffee I didn’t relate to a memory or personal experience and actually was able to relay a flavor call. I was at the cupping table, fortunately, with some really supportive people and it is a truly cherished sensory memory.

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

Living in a world where the whole coffee supply/value chain is at peace and not just living but thriving.

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

My job. It’s an incredible job.

Who are your coffee heroes?

Breezy Sanchez, my business partner. She is a living freaking legend.

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

My dad, #ddc. I have a lot of questions.

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

Coffee is my career, and I’m privileged that I got to make that choice. Coffee took over my life at some point, and I’m just now sorting out my identity outside of it, therefore this question is hard for me. I don’t think I need to be “doing something instead” but rather “also doing other things”. However, if you end up with access to another dimension and happen to also run into alternate dimension Elle, please introduce us. I’d love to meet her and see what she’s up to.

Do you have any coffee mentors?

If we’re talking about the traditional mentor/mentee relationship, no I do not. However, I have dear, dear friends whom I bounce ideas off of, cry to, call when I don’t know what to do about an employee situation, look up to as people outside of coffee, and who I whole-heartedly depend on as a human. I recently had a conversation with one such person and he brought up the idea of community and dependency. This man is an integral part of my life, and my business greatly depends on him. He pondered if because we are so dependent upon one another, are we more invested in each other’s lives? The answer is yes. At first that sounds strange, because it sounds like our care for one another is contingent upon our working relationship. However, it really means that in a world where everything feels temporary and “community” is a word that is tossed around like an Aerobie frisbee, coffee has afforded us the space for actual connection and a relationship that is real, happy, and beautifully human.

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

No one has the right to treat you like you are lesser than them. Also never underestimate a floor drain’s propensity for nastiness and clean that shit regularly.

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

Look, I’m really not sure about the whole space thing. I’m much more interested in the bottom of the ocean, and if I’m journeying to either of those places I’m a multi-billionaire or a scientist (spoiler: I am neither of those things), because these hypothetical questions aren’t really my imaginative style. Anywhere I go I will always choose to take my people with me over any apparatus. This means I really need some buddies for the zombie apocalypse because I will have a lot of people and ZERO apparati with me. So we’ll all die if I’m in charge.

Best song to brew coffee to:

Go! by Santigold and Karen O.

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

This is not a question I regularly ask myself because I find it stressful and rather useless (I’m not a dreamer in this way, life comes at ya fast), but I have thought about it for the purpose of this questionnaire and here it is…

I have puppies. My husband, Stuart, and I grow our own food and have a sweet little homestead with some friends. Breezy Sanchez, my business partner, and I maintain our YouTube channel which went viral and has over 2.3 million followers. Amethyst has grown to a company run by an incredible group of passionate, courageous, smart, funny, mostly gender/sexuality fluid folks who are having the time of their lives. I have more time to be involved in social activism and political issues. Stuart and I visit Breezy and her wife at their adorable bed and breakfast in New Mexico often. I might be running for office. Stuart and I are planning to open our breakfast restaurant in which I get to live out my dreams of being a salty, feminist diner waitress.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

Seeded rye toast from a bakery called Dry Storage in Boulder, CO who mills all of their own grains! What!

When did you last drink coffee? 

*sip*

What was it?

Girma Eshetu, a washed Ethiopian roasted by Jason Farrar of Commonwealth 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 Tea Masters Cup Comes To America. Sign Up Now To Compete

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It’s been about a month since the completion of the 2019 coffee competition season and the withdrawals are already starting to kick in. I can’t sleep at night unless someone describes anaerobic fermentation to me before calling “Time!” Luckily for me, there’s a new competition happening next month to hold me over until 2020. Making its first appearance in America, the Tea Masters Cup is the leafy equivalent to the Coffee Championships, and there’s still time for you to be a part of it.

Taking place in Las Vegas on June 11th and 12th at the World Tea Expo, the American Specialty Tea Alliance (ASTA) will be hosting the first US national qualifying round for the Tea Masters Cup. Like with the Coffee Championships, the Tea Masters Cup consists of multiple disciplines for potential competitors to take part in, including Tea Preparation, Tea Pairing, Tea Tasting, and Tea Mixology, though for its first foray, the US will only participate in two: Preparation and Mixology. As with the coffee circuit, the winners of these events at the national level earn the right to represent the US at the World stage of competition occurring later this year.

Though 2019 will be the first year America has participated, the Tea Masters Cup has existed since 2013 and consists of 22 countries across four continents. But according to World Tea Expo event director Samantha Hammer, the addition of America to the competing bodies represents a milestone in increasing the popularity of the event worldwide:

Having the United States be a part of the Tea Masters Cup – especially at World Tea Expo and within that community – is an important step toward furthering the art and craft of professional tea preparation in our country and abroad. World Tea Expo is excited to be a part of the team making this happen, and we’re proud to host the competition this June in Las Vegas.

And perhaps the coolest part of the competition’s nascence in the US is that there’s still time for you to be a part of it. The tea world in America is small and insular—think the early years of the USBC—and the ASTA is looking to expand the pool of entrants outside the usual suspects. If you want to take part in the first ever US Tea Masters Cup event, fill out the registration form here to be considered. For more information on how to prepare, check out the ASTA’s handy guide.

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 American Specialty Tea Alliance

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Source: Coffee News

In The Netherlands, Touring The Giesen Roasters Factory

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giesen factory ulft germany

giesen factory ulft germany

Last fall, I finally got the chance to visit Giesen Coffee Roasters. Almost two years of intermittent emails, calls, texts, and mild-mannered coffee festival doorstepping had transpired between my first interview request and the morning I found myself journeying from home in Amsterdam to Giesen headquarters in Ulft. A bike, three trains, and a bus got me to the town, located in the province of Gelderland and, more precisely, within what is known as the Achterhoek, the country’s “back corner;” Germany is just a half-hour walk east.

That Monday was so chilling that most horses in fields along the way were draped with blankets and the still-erect sunflowers were suddenly shriveled. But as I would learn while sitting comfortably in the Giesen showroom that overlooks their production line, the visit’s timing was favorable. Many of their buyers want new roasters before Christmas or year-end, so I was seeing the factory in full flourish. What’s more, there was news for the new year.

In early 2019, Giesen unveiled its largest industrial-scale roaster: the W140A, which has been in development since 2017 and is named for its 140-kilo batch capacity and its automatic controls. Also due to debut is Giesen’s new roast profile software, promising to be more advanced, user-friendly, and remotely monitorable than its original version.

The Giesen W140A

Giesen is officially 12 years old, though it emerged from another entity that, in more ways than one, was its parent company. De Eik, as it was called, was a metalware factory that made parts and products for businesses in the area. One notable customer was Probat, the century-and-a-half old roaster manufacturer in Emmerich am Rhein, Germany, for whom De Eik made complete machines. De Eik was founded in 1988 by the father of Karin Bussink, who married Wilfred Giesen. When Bussink’s father died at age 50, about 25 years ago, Karin and Wilfred took over. They carried on with the metalsmithing, but in 2006, Wilfred decided to make his own fully realized roaster.

“We thought we could make a better roaster because we had the knowledge of how to build it, and we saw potential for a lot of improvements,” says Davey Giesen, Karin and Wilfred’s eldest child. “That was the point that my father designed the first roaster, the W6, and also put it on the market.”

He was just about a year old back then, but now, at age 26, is Giesen’s COO. Davey has been with the company for six years and has clearly been keeping notes.

“I think I was number 18,” he specifies, referring to where in the sequence of staff hires he falls. “So I saw the company grow.”

Studying IT and, on nights and weekends, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in management have helped prepare him for daily company duties, though his coffee education began much earlier. He got hands-on training working full-time for a year at the micro-roastery and shop that his parents ran in the nearby town of Doetinchem. They opened Koffiebranderij Venetië in 2008 “because they wanted to show how it should be done in the field,” says Davey. Besides providing a setting to test out Wilfred’s earliest products, the venue gave Giesen customers real-life, real-time lessons in running a roastery.

“But after some time,” Davey explains, “we didn’t have any time to run a roastery because of course we were getting better and better at building roasters. And we want to put the energy more into the factory than the roastery.”

Though they sold the shop about eight years ago, it still exists, and the current owners continue using the original W6A that Wilfred installed there. A souvenir from that chapter in the family’s entrepreneurial history appears in the form of the Koffiebranderij Venetië-logoed cup in which I am served coffee shortly after arriving at Giesen headquarters. Ebullient sales representative Miguel de Boer has prepared the drinks, and I talk with him before heading into the factory itself.

giesen factory ulft germany

“We started 10 years ago with 10 people, and up until two years ago, in 2016, we had 50. In the last two years, we really expanded a lot,” he says.

Like the majority of Giesen’s staff, De Boer is a relatively recent hire. He appreciates the sales culture at Giesen after spending years as an account manager for PepsiCo, overseeing the Benelux sales of Tropicana, Gatorade, among other Big Bev and snack brands.

“In the fast-moving consumer goods, it’s hurry, hurry, hurry and small margins,” De Boer says. “Here, it’s: take it easy, big margins, no discussion about one- or two-dollar discounts. No. People might want to have a discount, but it’s not the most important thing when they want to buy quality.”

On that note, I follow De Boer on a tour. He begins in the electrical department.

“We make everything wire by wire,” he says. Here each order gets assigned a serial number and each machine-in-the-making is placed on a cart. As parts are amassed, they get checked off on a list. A photo documents the list and gets archived; this process is repeated elsewhere along the production line to ensure completeness and to keep record of what has been done when.

giesen factory ulft germany

To expedite repairs, the warehouse shelves stay neatly stacked with piles of spare parts. In a fluorescent-lit office, a 24-hour service support staff sits, ready to field calls, emails, or Skypes from six continents. Visitors to the Giesen stand at World of Coffee 2018 may have noticed on hand some VR goggles and screens; a sales tool, they encourage prospective buyers to cozy up, virtually, to the various machines and envision how they might fit in their own workspaces.

The next department through which we wend is welding. Bodies of the roasters—as well as Giesen’s destoners, green bean conveyors, cyclones, filters, afterburners, presentation tables, and coffee bins—are made of steel. I see huge sheet metal rectangles resting on sawhorse tables, as casually available seeming as reams of paper might be in photocopy shop. Most materials are sourced from within Europe, and some come from very nearby. Ulft is situated in a region known as the Oude IJsselstreek, where the soil contains high amounts of iron, leading to a locally quite prolific industry; the earliest blast furnace is recorded as first appearing in 1689.

After assemblage, attention turns to surfaces. In the degreasing and painting department, a chemical scent hangs in the air, fittingly. Roasters come in standard black or customers can request a special paint job in up to three tones with a glossy or a matte finish. Lately, there has been demand for the unpainted raw look, which results in a griege coat that shows all the welding marks. Roofs come in stainless steel or hammered gold, and handles are made of olive, bubinga, or zebrano wood. Logos are not the only way to customize. De Boer is not being hyperbolic when he tells me anything is possible.

giesen factory ulft germany

giesen factory ulft germany

“You can have sparkles on it; you can even have Swarovski diamonds,” he says.

At the end of the production line, it is time for testing. This final step is usually executed by Wilfred, Davey, or Marc Weber, Giesen’s global sales manager. After three successful roasting sessions, a roaster is deemed ready to leave the factory.

A wall-mounted map in the front office is marked up with red and green radii showing the varying costs of delivery according to distance. The machines have all been assembled by hand in the Netherlands, and a bucolic Dutch touch travels with outgoing W1, W6, and W15 roasters. They reach their destinations by horse trailer, pulled by cars driven by the very mechanics who handle the installation. Larger machines go by truck while their mechanics catch a flight. Roasters bound for destinations that fall off the map are flown or sent by sea container. The company relies on 35 trained agents around the world who assist with sales, installation, and repairs. Where there are none regionally (for example, in Argentina and Maldives), Giesen headquarters deploys its own mechanics. These days, their market is wider than ever. I’m told that South Korea, China, and Germany are among the top purchasing countries. Roasters are still being shipped to Iran and Syria. And as of March 2018, Giesen appointed Pennsylvania-based agent David Sutfin for the US and plans to expand the Stateside team with three more agents.

giesen factory ulft germany

The W6A remains the most popular model. Next is the W15A sold with an external cyclone (which permits less interrupted roasting because it does not require a user to stop mid-session to remove bean chaffs from inside the machine). The smallest-capacity model is the WP1, intended for sample roasting. What must be the very smallest Giesen ever made, however, stands on a table in the showroom where I begin and end my visit. Built in honor of Wilfred’s 50th birthday, in 2016, the delightful little dummy is, literally, fit for a Barbie Dreamhouse.

Human-size Giesen equipment is also exhibited in the showroom, as is a vintage sample roaster. Between that set-up and the espresso bar, featuring a two-group Synesso MVP, the back wall displays a collection of T-shirts lately being promoted by the new marketing department employees. A recent addition is a black fitted V-neck with the company name in swash-heavy font scripted over the fuchsia outline of a W6. It makes me think of the hot pink one- and six-kilo Giesen roasters once famously purchased by Kaffismiðja Islands coffee roasters in Reykjavik. It also reflects how this once mom-and-pop heavy-metal factory is changing with the times and appealing to a broader-hued spectrum of clients.

“They sell like crazy—people just want a T-shirt with ‘Giesen’ on it,” says De Boer.

“Even when we are at events, when we close down for the day, we have to take away these items,” he shares as he points to roaster handles, the likes of which expo attendees have apparently pilfered in the past. Still, De Boer sounds more flattered than flummoxed.

On a daily basis, Karin and Wilfred handle general management. Davey’s younger brother, Dani Giesen, oversees facilities and building management. The youngest Giesen sibling is still in secondary school, so it is premature to say if her future is at the factory. Regardless, the family is well positioned to communicate with a major rising segment of the coffee industry: younger people and their globally, millennially minded counterparts. I ask Davey what he has observed of his peers, particularly in comparison to his parents’ coffee industry cohorts.

“They do a lot of things differently,” he replies. “The older generation still want to have manual controls and want to see everything analog, and the generation after that is more about automatization, running a better business. They really use the profile system to control the roaster and all that kind of thing, so it’s more about the digital world.”

giesen factory ulft germany

Davey Giesen

When I inquire about gender balance among clients, Davey acknowledges that “the market is more men than women.” He adds, “But we find it really good that more women are building roasteries. We also see a lot of couples doing this together, husbands and wives.”

The life-partners-as-corporate-partners format has certainly yielded much for the Giesens. In giving a new, more narrowly defined purpose to an old factory, Wilfred and Karin have enriched the specialty coffee industry with their products and their progeny. Both contributions are relatively young, but their potential to keep upping the quality of roasting and its accessibility for everyone is profound.

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

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Source: Coffee News

Now On Kickstarter: The Ratio Six Coffee Brewer

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Consider the Ratio Eight: a luxurious and attractive home coffee brewer first announced in 2013, and one of the original automatic brewers to make coffee with water within the SCA-approved temperature range. But the coffee maker was beset by production delays, and faced a major fundamental issue keeping it out of the hands of most consumers: the price. Ranging between $500 and $750+, the Ratio Eight was prohibitively expensive for most home users. (Why spend espresso machine money when a $40 Chemex or $129 Bonavita could do the trick?)

To combat this, Ratio has just announced their newest creation. Dubbed the Ratio Six and now live on Kickstarter, the new brewer is slightly smaller in size, and sports a similarly reduced price tag.

Functionally, the Ratios Six and Eight are very similar. Both machines have a 1.25 liter/40 ounce brew capacity made using a simple one-button design to initiate the two-stage (bloom and brew) system. But whereas the Eight also put an emphasis on super premium materials like walnut and hand-blown glass, the Six features “precision formed stainless steel, borosilicate glass, and high end BPA-free copolymers,” and is designed to last for at least five years of regular use.

Thanks to the new construction, the retail price for the Ratio Six has dropped considerably from that of the Eight, listing at $345. And if that is still too much of a spicy meatball for your bank account, did I mention it’s currently in Kickstarter, the home of deep discount pre-sale pricing? For the 99 quickest-acting individuals, the Ratio Six will be available at nearly half off, at a cool $194. After that, the brewing system will be available for Kickstarter early-but-not-super-early adopters at $242 or $272, if you want them to include two 10-ounce bags of coffee from Portland’s Good Coffee.

Rewards for backers are scheduled to be delivered in December 2019—just in time for the holiday season—and Ratio founder Mark Hellweg tells Sprudge the company is quite confident they will hit that deadline. That would make it perhaps the first coffee crowdfunding project to hit its delivery date, so take that for what you will. But someone’s gotta be the first, right?

For more information on the Ratio Six, visit their 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.

Top image via Ratio Coffee

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Source: Coffee News

Aubrey Mills: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

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Aubrey Mills – Dapper & Wise Roasters of Portland, OR (Photo by Graham Doughty)

Our coverage of the Sprudge Twenty interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series continues this week on Sprudge. Read more about the Sprudge Twenty and see all of our interviews here.

Nominated by Tyler Geel

Aubrey Mills is the Director of Wholesale at Dapper & Wise, a coffee roasting company with locations in Beaverton and Portland, Oregon. In her role with the company, Mills has avowedly championed the disparity in cost of production across the specialty coffee chain. She’s made public education her goal, focused on educating the public for the need to pay more for quality coffee and address wage instability for coffee producers. These issues were addressed at a recent forum hosted by La Marzocco USA in Seattle, Washington during a Dapper & Wise cafe residency.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

The cost of production crisis weighs heavily on my mind. The first time I heard that many farmers are receiving less money for their green coffee than it costs them to produce was a little over a year ago. I had already been in coffee for four years prior, so finding out that this has been a massive issue for decades was shocking—I felt I should have at least heard about it. It’s not just morally wrong for an industry to be built up on the financial oppression of others, but these are people we call PARTNERS. This doesn’t sound like a partnership to me at all. Even if you look at this issue from a logistical point of view, it’s unwise business for, arguably, the most essential portion of our industry to have the greatest financial insecurity. I know this is common in other industries but I expect better of us in coffee.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

Coffee is for everyone. I have heard someone say that there is the perfect amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee to bond with someone in conversation. I have no idea if this is scientific fact but I have been in that moment before. If coffee is for everyone and has the ability to facilitate connection then that is something I want to help grow.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

This is a hard question, but I would say that I would like to see more leaders in our industry providing tangible ways for people to be involved in solving issues apart from discussion. I don’t think I am the only one who hears about all of the problems we need to solve but have a hard time of figuring out where to start. It could be as detailed as providing intellectual resources to host an event and raise money for a cause, or it could be simple directions for how to break down these large concepts into conversations that can be had with customers and the public. If people are able to see where they can be useful in a cause and feel empowered to act then I think we will start to see actual change.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

The smell of coffee is my favorite. Even garbage-tasting coffee usually smells great.

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

The first time I tried a naturally processed coffee I was blown away. It was an Ethiopia Yirgacheffe that tasted like a blueberry muffin and I remember asking myself, “If coffee can taste like this, what else don’t I know?”

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

When we work as a fluid team from a place of strength not desperation.

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

I don’t have a specific job in mind but I would like to do more things like the panel event I hosted about the cost of production. I loved hearing different perspectives on the same idea and figuring out how to organize that information so the audience could get the most out of it. I am a value-driven person so I love being a part of solving big problems and building meaningful relationships. I don’t think these ideals are specific to a single job and I am starting to feel like the glass ceiling is only in my head.

Who are your coffee heroes?

To spotlight one, Junior’s Roasted Coffee is, in my mind, one of the strongest examples of value continuity in business. Mike & Caryn [Nelson] began Junior’s with the cost of production issue at its center–starting a dialog with customers and staff in every way shape and form. I kid you not, their wifi password is “askmeaboutcostofproduction”. On top of that, they are genuinely kind people who have invested themselves in our Portland community as well. HEROES.

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

Other than my dad, Fred Rogers was my childhood hero. He always kept his values in the forefront of his work and had the ability to address major societal issues in a way that a child could understand. If you haven’t watched his documentary (I recommend it) you’ll see moments of his fury communicated with boldness, compassion, and logic in order to change minds. I’d like to be more like that in my work and relationships.

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

I played soccer for a majority of my life and believe in the impact that the teamwork mentality can have on a community and an individual. I would probably be trying to work for Adidas in team-centric programs for local communities.

Do you have any coffee mentors?

Not officially—but I do have the benefit of working closely with some really incredible people. To call out one person in particular, Michael Ryan is one of the wisest and most patient human beings I’ve ever met. I have gone to him countless times to help me brainstorm problems I am trying to solve or personal goals I want to refine. He listens more often than he speaks and when he does—it’s always thoughtful (and usually profound). I likely wouldn’t be looking at coffee as a long-term career choice had it not been for working alongside Michael for the past five years.

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

Don’t wait for permission or dwell on qualifications. 
Honestly, the very event that led me to this questionnaire was an emotional battle for me. I worked my ass off on that event and to understand “cost of production” as an issue but knew I was entirely out of my league to try and communicate its complexities (on stage, while being recorded). But I found a lot of comfort in the fact that it WASN’T ABOUT ME and that I was certainly qualified to ask pre-planned questions to highly intelligent people. All of this to say, I may have started taking risks earlier had I not been silently waiting for someone to give me the nod, and I don’t even know who that person is.

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

I would take an AeroPress with an Able Brewing disc filter, obviously, because I would love to swim in a room full of thousands of tiny coffee bubbles. My second option would be espresso with a bottomless portafilter. I don’t totally know what would happen but I am trying to find out. My third option is a Voila packet because NASA might actually approve it coming on board.

Best song to brew coffee to:

Gary Clark Jr.’s “When I’m Gone” for a happy morning kind of situation.

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

I honestly have no clue, but hopefully I am still working with people I love and respect and contributing to something bigger than myself.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

A protein shake. I have two very young dogs to tire out in the morning so the faster I can get calories into my body, the better.

When did you last drink coffee?

8:15 am

What was it?

Drip from the FETCO–Colombia Edilma Piedrahita.

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

Coffee Makes You Poop, And Scientists Have Figured Out Why

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They say that only two things are certain in this world: death and taxes. But as a person with no plans on ever perishing and a petulantly Libertarian view on paying my fair share, this idiom never really tracked with me. For me, I only abide two masters: coffee and pooping, both in order of importance and chronologically.

The coffee-make-boom-boom phenomenon is widely known yet not fully understood. What about coffee exactly is it that greases the wheels of progress so effectively? Is it the caffeine? Is coffee a jealous lover, so determined to be the only substance in our hearts and stomachs that it is willing to go to great lengths to literally push out the competition?

But thanks to new research, scientists have a pretty good idea what’s going on between your Bodum and your bottom.

As reported by Gizmodo, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston presented their findings on the topic over the weekend at the Digestive Disease Week research conference. In them they reaffirm what many scientists thought to be the case: coffee helps the muscles in the small and large intestines contract, which helps speed up food’s wait time in the digestive tract.

To reach this conclusion, researchers gave lab rats coffee over the course of three days to examine its affect on their tiny little butts. Different groups of rats were given both caffeinated and decaf coffee, after which they received a “physical examination and probe, focusing on the muscles that contract and help guide food (and eventually waste) through the gut.” The scientists also “studied how muscle tissues from the gut directly reacted to coffee in the lab.” They found that regardless of caffeine levels, coffee had the same “stimulating effect on gut motility,” as lead author Xuan-Zheng Shi tells Gizmodo.

Researchers also found that coffee may have an antibacterial affect on the microbiome in your gut, which sounds theoretically like a good thing but in fact is not. Examining rat poop from before the coffee experiments and after, they found “less total bacteria” in the coffee poops. They also found that the bacteria in poop grew less rapidly when exposed to a coffee solution in a petri dish, suggesting that coffee could be suppressing healthy bacterial growth in the gut, which goes against previous findings on the subject.

Shi states that more research needs to be conducted on the antibacterial properties of coffee, but one thing is for certain: coffee puts your intestinal muscles to work. Move over six-pack abs, a well-toned large intestine is the dad bod of summer 2019, and we have coffee to thank.

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 © Tierney/Adobe Stock

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Source: Coffee News