From Juan Valdez to the Moon Landing: Iconic Colombian Coffee Ads

Colombian coffee ads aren’t just a piece of marketing; they’ve also entered pop culture.

Juan Valdez is a sombrero and poncho-wearing fictional coffee producer who has appeared in the Colombian national coffee association Fedecafé’s commercials for over sixty years. He’s become a sign of 100% Colombian coffee, and is so famous that he and his mule Conchita even have their own Wikipedia page.

Colombian coffee ads have been known to also poke friendly fun at the British…

….And now Café de Colombia are taking a humorous look at the importance of coffee to US Americans.

 

As Café de Colombia says, “Behind humankind’s greatest moments, we believe that something special might have been brewing.” And with that in mind, who does deserve to be celebrated more – Neil Armstrong or Juan Valdez?

Feature photo credit: Café de Colombia

Please note: Perfect Daily Grind does not own the rights to these videos and cannot be held accountable for their content.

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Make A Video About Coffee And Win $10,000

Calling all filmmakers! Peet’s Coffee has teamed up with Project Greenlight Digital Studios – the folks behind that show with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck about making a movie – to create the “Ode to Coffee First” video contest, celebrating coffee in daily life. The winner will receive $10,000 and a year’s worth of Peet’s Coffee. $10,000!

The contest is fairly straightforward. Create a 30 second video that expresses your love of coffee and how it plays into your daily life. Entries will be judged on their authenticity, craftsmanship, originality (“[they’re] not looking for 30 second commercials”), virality, and story. After a panel of judges has reviewed every submission, ten finalists will be selected and have their ultimate fates decided by a public vote. The winner of the popular vote takes home the year’s supply of coffee and the $10,000, which could buy 667 pounds of Peet’s light roasted Colombia Luminosa. We’re talking almost 14 years’ worth of free coffee here.

Project Greenlight will accept submissions from August 31^st to September 16^th, with the winner being officially announced October 12^th. So get to work! You’ve got a little over three weeks before the deadline. That should be plenty of time. It can’t be any worse than the Ode to Coffee First announcement video.

For a full set of rules, visit the Ode to Coffee First contest page here.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.

*top image via Steve Cachero of FortyOneTwenty Inc.

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The Coffee Lover’s Guide To Las Vegas

Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada welcome sign with palm trees

If you’re going to Las Vegas, you’re going for glitz, you’re going for glamour, you’re going to indulge in a lifestyle far outside of your normal one. You’re going for smoky casinos and 30-minute Ferris wheels. You’re going for celebrity chefs and the potential of hitting it big. What you were not going for, until only recently, was coffee. For coffee lovers who’ve relegated themselves to a vacation amongst the deep-fried Twinkies and 100-story-tall Celine Dion posters, the options have been historically slim—doomed to the losing odds of a ceramic mug of casino coffee. Yet, if you are a specialty coffee-minded individual who also enjoys a Vegas vacation, you are now aligned with lady luck, because, though ever slowly, a Las Vegas specialty coffee scene has started to emerge.

To fully see the Las Vegas coffee sights, those scant few burning brightly in the darkness, you’ll need a car, at least a few hours, and of course, you’ll need a guide, this guide. Sprudge spent a whirlwind four days in Las Vegas digging through the desert sands to discover the next (first?) wave of Las Vegas specialty coffee, and now we share our good fortune with you.

Sambalatte Torrefazione

If you have managed to book yourself a room at Treasure Island but don’t want to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte over the sneeze guard at the downstairs Starbucks, Las Vegas’ superficial ode to all things razzle-dazzle, The Strip, now has a viable option: Luis Oliveira’s fourth entry into his Las Vegas mini-chain—Sambalatte Torrefazione. The massive space on the ground floor of the Monte Carlo has been self-described by Oliveira as a “theater of coffee,” and with its towering signage, 100-foot television screens blasting solid latte art pours, and the voyeuristic street level view into its roaster, it oftentimes exceeds the bill. Don’t let the Las Vegas smoke and mirrors turn you off though, under the tutelage of local coffee connoisseur Mason Salisbury, the staff is knocking out some solid drinks to a volume of customers most coffee shops can’t even imagine. So when mashing the screen on your slot machine starts to wear you down, Sambalatte Torrefazione is your go-to spot on The Strip.

Sambalatte Torrefazione is located at 3770 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sunrise Coffee

Joshua Walter, the owner of Sunrise Coffee, didn’t open the homey cafe—tucked away in the shell of a former It’s A Grind across the street from Sunset Park and a block away from Wayne Newton’s expansive domicile—to introduce specialty coffee to Las Vegas. He just wanted to introduce his hometown to an idea that was sorely lacking: a spot where people could come and talk and enjoy a decent cup of coffee outside of the scorching heat. This is not your minimalist, highfalutin, Bay Area specialty joint. This is, as Walter’s planned it to be, a cozy spot for folks to gather and nibble on a selection of vegan sandwiches and burritos while sipping on high-quality coffee that’s skillfully and thoughtfully roasted at Walter’s other spot, Mothership Coffee. Though Sunrise, with its 20-ounce lattes, might not sate the experiential palates of the truly coffee snobby, it’s a place designed to help foster community, but also to offer an opportunity to nascent coffee drinkers to take their first steps into a broader, more delicious world of coffee.

Sunrise Coffee is located at 3130 East Sunset Road. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Makers & Finders Coffee

Downtown Las Vegas is, if you’re seeking a respite from clumps of chain-smoking tourists and the smell of stale beer, your very best bet. This is, if everything works out, the future of “cool” Las Vegas. Specialty cocktail bars, art installations, one of the best bookstores in the country (The Writer’s Block), and, of course, some of the best coffee in town. Valeria Varela and Josh Molina, the 20-something co-owners of Makers & Finders Coffee, have created a spot that not only hews to the chic tenants of specialty coffee, but also offers a bustling community space with a delicious, relaxed Latin-centric food program. This is a place you can spend your entire day at, wolfing down a couple empanadas or an eggs benedict while sipping on a pour-over or a lavender latte (one of Makers & Finders beloved specialty drinks). And though operating a specialty coffee shop in Las Vegas can be trying, as Valera says, “It’s about finding a balance to appeal to as many people as possible without changing your concept. Because, you can be the ripest peach in the world, but it doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t like peaches.”

Makers & Finders is located at 1120 South Main Street #110. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Mothership Coffee

Just down the street from Sunrise Coffee is Joshua Walter’s gorgeous sister shop, Mothership Coffee. Like so many other hidden gems in the Las Vegas treasure chest, Mothership is ensconced in a dusty strip mall next to a grocery store. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d drive right past it. And you’d have missed one of Las Vegas’ brightest, up-and-coming cafes. With Sunrise Coffee pumping out drinks just a few blocks away, Mothership is Walter’s foray into true specialty coffee. He roasts for Mothership and Sunrise and a handful of wholesale accounts in the back while offering up a solid selection of single-cup and espresso-based drinks in the front. And though Mothership is clearly aimed at the coffee aficionado, Walter and his staff know that the Las Vegas community is still getting used to specialty coffee. You won’t find attitude or judgment at Mothership, you’ll find some of Las Vegas’ best coffee, a gorgeous space, and friendly, smiling staff who want to help build the foundations of a new coffee scene. Also, you’ll find a spread of pastries and handcrafted local chocolates that’ll make your belt tight and your mouth water. Do not miss out.

Mothership Coffee is located at Green Valley Plaza, 2708 North Green Valley Parkway, Henderson. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

PublicUs

You wouldn’t expect one of the US’s most formidable coffee minds to set up his new coffee shop in Las Vegas. But that is exactly what Cole McBride, a fixture within competitive coffee, did when he with the help of his partners opened PublicUs in 2015. And what a place it is. Situated on the edge of the once vaunted Downtown Project, PublicUs is the type of cafe you visit a city, even Las Vegas, to experience. It’s the fundamentals of a coffee shop elevated to their very best: everything from coffee prep to food to furniture to the handles on the doors to the bathroom, thought out to the nth degree. Everything is either made in-house, or exhaustively researched and sourced from the highest quality providers. It isn’t that PublicUs is flawless or without character, it’s that McBride has dedicated himself to creating a coffee shop that adheres to his extremely high standards for food and beverage, but also, customer service. With microroasted batches from Velton Ross in Everett, Washington, a selection of quirky, almost-cocktail like specialty drinks, a “kitchen table” spread of truly excellent food, and a staff that goes out of their way to provide the very best version of what their customers want, this place is not only the best coffee shop in Las Vegas, but handily, one of the best in the country.

PublicUs is located at 1126 Fremont Street. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Noah Sanders (@sandersnoah) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in San Francisco, and a contributor to SF Weekly, Side One Track One, and The Bold Italic. Read more Noah Sanders on Sprudge.

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A Coffee Shop Tour of Belfast: The Itinerary

Something’s happening in Belfast. Wave after wave of new investments are seeing Northern Ireland’s capital start to shine – and that’s led to a huge rise in specialty coffee in the city.

So if you’re visiting Belfast, or are lucky enough to live here, I’m going to give you the itinerary for one coffee house tour. You’ll find yourself walking a straight line across the city, drinking delicious brews all the way, as you stop at five different third wave cafés.

SEE ALSO: 5 Steps to Getting the Best Service from YOUR Local Barista

Settle down and relax in the small but cosy 5A.

Why These Five?

With an entire city’s worth of great coffee shops, it would be impossible to pick the five “best”. This is a list of my personal favourites, all chosen for their great coffee, friendly baristas, and charming atmosphere. The fact that they make for an easy coffee shop tour of Belfast is merely the crema on top of the espresso.

That being said, if you’ve already tried these five and want to explore somewhere else, why not have a look at this useful map of coffee shops in Belfast? It’s provided and updated by Established Coffee, the first stop on this tour.

Get ready to have a good time drinking coffee in Town Square, Belfast.

1. Established Coffee

When Established opened in 2013, Belfast’s specialty coffee market was non-existent. It took hard work and dedication on the part of owners Bridgeen Barbour and Mark Ashbridge to create not only a coffee shop but also, and more importantly, a coffee culture.

Located in the trendy Cathedral Quarter – named for the 112-year-old St. Anne’s Cathedral – it’s a great place to start your coffee shop tour of the city. They’re known for having a great collection of coffee, as well as a team of highly approachable and knowledgeable staff.

They serve four different coffees, including one decaf, usually from Dublin’s 3fe or an occasional guest roaster – they’ve previously featured Heart, Cat & Cloud, and Tim Wendleboe. They also offer a huge range of locally sourced teas and hot chocolates, in addition to a large retail section.

Established Coffee has a modern and welcoming vibe.

Where	54 Hill Street (Cathedral Quarter)
Atmosphere	Modern, industrial, and communal
Methods	Espresso and a wide range of filter brews
Coffee Offerings	3FE and an occasional guest roaster
Food & Other Drinks	Teas, hot chocolates, daily savoury and sweet specials, and mini-cakes and loaves from local bakers
Must-Try Food/Drinks	Pie and Drip: every Sunday, they offer homemade pie and a mug of drip filter coffee for £6
Retail Offerings	AeroPress, V60, Chemex, Clever, beans, ACME cups, grinders, and kettles

2. Town Square

Town Square isn’t just a coffee shop. It’s also a restaurant. And a bar. A place for creators to recharge. Most importantly, it’s the only place in Belfast to have its toilet walls decorated in several hundred pennies.

Since opening in late November 2015, it’s become a powerhouse of coffee and creativity. They seek out the top local produce for all their food, and have coffee offerings from Dublin’s Roasted Brown.

They’re also keen to live up to their community-focused name, with weekly events that include cuppings (on Tuesday nights at 7) and a cinema club – which has taken off so well that they’ve had to turn people away! What’s more, they have a public piano for anyone to play.

If you’re coming here, be sure to bring a pen: the menus are inside sketchbooks, with most intentionally blank. Leave your own personal touch on the place or simply have a look at what others have drawn before you.

Get creative at Town Square.es available as well

Where	45 Botanic Avenue (University Quarter)
Atmosphere	Modern and artsy
Methods	Espresso and filter
Coffee Offerings	Roasted Brown (but it varies at cuppings)
Food & Other Drinks	Huge menu of dishes, with lots of sweet bakes available as well
Must-Try Food/Drinks	Changing coffee specials – ask for your barista’s recommendation!

3. The Pocket Coffee Shop

The newest café on this list, The Pocket bounced onto the coffee scene on the 15th of February this year. It’s already made its merry way into the hearts of students and local professionals alike.

As you might imagine from the name, this isn’t a big café. However, they’ve made brilliant use of what they’ve got. They’re situated overlooking the beautiful main building of Queen’s University, but there’s plenty for you to look at inside the café as well. Step in through the distinctive yellow door, and take in the view: a row of pages taken from Alice in Wonderland decorate the white walls of one side of the shop; on the other side, a red-brick wall adds warmth. Benches decorated with bright yellow flowers give a touch of colour to the place.

The Pocket sources all of its coffee from 3fe, and serves up both batch-brewed filter and espresso-based drinks. They also serve hot chocolate from Belfast’s award-winning chocolatier, Co Couture. On top of that, they also offer a range of teas.

The Pocket Coffee Shop is small but delightful.

Where	69 University Road (University Quarter)
Atmosphere	Cosy and welcoming
Methods	Batch brew and espresso-based drinks
Coffee Offerings	3fe
Food & Other Drinks	Hot chocolate, tea, and a range of daily specials and sweet bakes
Must-Try Food/Drink	Their offerings vary; ask the barista what’s new

4. Indigo

The sassy rebel of the Belfast coffee scene, Indigo was founded by two good friends in September 2015. What started as a few pieces of chipboard and a couple of food/drink options is now a two-room café with a devoted customer base that just keeps coming back for more – although their decor still features exposed tiles, chipboard, and copper piping.

They’re known for their often-changing menu of coffees, their delicious range of gelatos, and most importantly their vibe. In the last few months, they’ve offered coffees from roasters including Five Elephant, Workshop, and Alchemy. Their gelato, on the other hand, has included Coconut & Chilli, Honeycomb & Rosemary & Orange, and Guinness. Sound tasty? You bet it is.

Get your coffee with a side of gelato at the trendy Indigo.

Where	86 Stranmillis Road (University Quarter)
Atmosphere	Fun
Methods	Espresso-based drinks and filter
Coffee Offerings	Regularly changing guest roasters
Food & Other Drinks	Gelato, savoury offerings, and sweet bakes
Must-Try Food/Drinks	Try one of their zaniest gelato flavours

5. 5A

5A Lockview Road – or, as it is more commonly known, 5A – is by far the smallest café on this list, but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up in heart. It started off as a cyclist-focused café yet quickly became popular with people from all walks of life.

It has a cosy atmosphere, great coffee, and an incredible collection of sweet bakes – seriously, if you’ve never tried peanut butter dipped in dark chocolate, you’ve never lived. And that’s not to mention their delicious daily meal special.

5A is also the only coffee shop on this list to have their own little library of books in the corner, ranging from James Hoffman’s World Atlas of Coffee to a collection of cult New York brunch recipes. Don’t visit this place if you plan to get things done later. But if you do find yourself here, perch yourself up in the corner with a good book and a great coffee. Or if it’s dry, sit outside and make yourself snug with one of their complementary blankets.

5A manages to be chic, cosy, and full of character.

Where	5a Lockview Road
Atmosphere	Cosy
Methods	Espresso-based drinks
Coffee Offerings	Bailies, a local roaster
Food & Other Drinks	Daily specials and sweet bakes from local bakers
Must-Try Food/Drink	Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls

And if you’ve got the time, and feel like wandering around the city, why not try popping into some of the other great coffee shops around?Belfast’s specialty coffee culture is growing rapidly. Drop into any of these five, and you won’t be disappointed.

Written by J. Lyttle.

All views within this opinion piece belong to the guest writer, and do not reflect Perfect Daily Grind’s stance.

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Vida Cotidiana: Trabajar para Anacafé, Asociación de Café de Guatemala

En el año 2015, Guatemala fue el octavo productor de café más grande en el mundo, con una producción de 3.5 millones de sacos. Más de 125.000 productores guatemaltecos dependen de esta industria  y Anacafé, la Asociación Nacional de Café de este país es la responsable de ayudar a todos los productores.

Hablamos con Isabela Minondo Durán, trabaja en -Comunicación y Mercadeo-  una de las áreas con más trabajo en la Asociación, con el fin de conocer más acerca de lo que Anacafé hace, cómo es trabajar allí y lo que espera del futuro del café de Guatemala.

ENGLISH VERSION: A Day in Life: Working for Anacafé, Guatemala’s Coffee Association

Alex Keller, Vicepresidente de Anacafé, Luisa Fernanda Correa Subdirector General, y Mac Dixon, Barista y catador en Small Batch Coffee de Australia para los Eventos del año 2016 (de izquierda a derecha).

Hola Isa, gracias por compartir con nosotros, ¿Cuál es tu labor en Anacafé?

Trabajo en el área de Comunicación y Mercadeo de Anacafé, uno de los departamentos más interactivos de la asociación. Estamos a cargo de promocionar los cafés de Guatemala a nivel nacional e internacional, lo cual ha sido un reto porque siempre hay algo por hacer pero no contamos con el tiempo suficiente.

Es un reto muy especial porque el café es uno de los recursos más importantes del país, en el sentido de que la industria del café promueve el desarrollo social y económico. Debo decir que hay mucha responsabilidad de por medio, porque tenemos que asegurarnos de transmitir de forma asertiva la calidad extraordinaria del café de Guatemala y porqué  como guatemaltecos estamos orgullosos de ello.

¿Cómo iniciaste con este rol?

Soy egresada de Economía Agrícola de la Universidad de Florida en Gainesville en el año 2014, sabía que quería ejercer en algo relacionado con la Agricultura pero no sabía en qué.

Cuando comencé a aplicar a diferentes trabajos, aplique en Anacafé sin saber realmente de qué se trataba, siempre he estado relacionada con el café en el sentido de que siempre me ha gustado y de hecho mi padre vive en la finca cafetera de nuestra familia. Pero no estaba relacionada directamente con el sector y cuando me ofrecieron el trabajo, no tuve que pensarlo dos veces. Era la oportunidad perfecta para aprender acerca de un tema que para mí parecía algo misterioso e intrigante, algo de lo que no conocía mucho pero de lo que siempre quise conocer.

Recuerdo que alguien me decía, “Lo especial acerca del café es que te hace enamorar”. En ese momento no le di mucha importancia pero ahora sí que la tiene. Porque en verdad te hace enamorar y el café se convierte en una parte significativa en tu vida. Una parte de trabajar en Anacafé es que uno está dedicado de lleno a ayudar a los productores de café de Guatemala, lo que sea que hagamos tenemos que pensar en su beneficio y no en el nuestro.

Eso es hermoso y, ¿Cuál ha sido el reto más grande que has tenido?

Creo que uno de los retos más grandes ha sido el poder llegar a cada uno de los 125.000 productores de Guatemala. Teniendo en cuenta que somos una asociación que representa a todos los caficultores y que es todo un reto asegurarnos de que todos los servicios estén a la disposición de todos, que estén recibiendo asistencia técnica y que estos servicios se implementen de forma efectiva. El café se cultiva en 204 de los 340 municipios lo cual representa el 2.8% del país, así que hay mucho por cubrir.

¿Cuál ha sido tu mejor logro?

Tengo que decir que es muy gratificante trabajar para todo un sector. Creo que aunque no se considere como un logro, se siente muy bien cuando recibo una retroalimentación de algún productor que se esté beneficiando con los servicios que brinda Anacafé.

¿Hay algo que te sorprenda acerca de tu trabajo?

Es un trabajo muy dinámico, cada día es diferente en Anacafé. Un día debes estar visitando alguna finca en Huehuetenango y al otro día estás catando cafés de diferentes regiones y al siguiente día estás organizando un congreso de café. Es un trabajo multifacético lo cual es algo  muy bueno.

 

El Congreso Nacional anual de Anacafé le permite a los productores asistir a las presentaciones de los expertos de la industria.

¿Me podrías contar un poco más acerca de lo que hace Anacafé, empezando por el Analab?

El Analab es el laboratorio de análisis de suelos, agua y hojas. Allí están en la capacidad de presentar cualquier tipo de estudio relacionado a eso, con ayuda de los mejores equipos. El Analab fue creado hace 40 años y cuenta con tres áreas principales de investigación: suelo, agua y planta y el análisis de la protección vegetal. Los productores saben y entienden la importancia de que se haga estos tipos de análisis una vez al año para crear un plan de nutrición y fertilización adecuado.

Entiendo, y parecer que es algo realmente útil. ¿Qué me dices acerca del laboratorio de catación?

El laboratorio de catación está relacionado con los análisis sensoriales, todos nuestros catadores son Q-Grader. Algunos de los cafés que ellos analizan son cafés regionales que representan todos los cafés de guatemala (los cuales son seleccionados a través de una competencia rigurosa y se catan a ciegas en nuestro laboratorio). También catan muestras de productores independientes, dictan cursos, entre otras cosas.

Y, ¿la Escuela de Café?

Escuela de Café es nuestra escuela especial para baristas y tostadores. En donde ofrecemos cursos de latteart, espresso, métodos filtrados, tueste entre otros cursos. Todos están divididos en dos, uno para principiantes y otro para amantes del café. Nuestros cursos para los amantes del café son más avanzados, ya que van dirigidos, como su nombre lo indica, a amantes del café.

¿Qué es Funcafé?

Funcafé fue establecido en 1994, es una iniciativa de desarrollo social para el sector cafetalero. Su misión es ser el programa de responsabilidad social a través del cual se promueve el desarrollo humano en las áreas rurales de producción de café. El programa tiene tres pilares: nutrición, salud y seguridad alimentaria.

Funcafé está matriculado al programa de AmazonSmile (proyecto de donación de Amazon), de modo que puedas aportar al momento de comprar.

Finalmente, ¿Qué hace tu departamento? : ¿Mercadeo Nacional e Internacional?

Participamos en diferentes ferias nacionales e internacionales para promover nuestros cafés y fomentar la cultura de café de nuestro país. A nivel nacional, participamos en un festival de comidas llamado, Feria Alimentaria. El año pasado nos ganamos un premio al Exhibidor del Año.

Este año también estaremos como anfitriones del segundo evento del Día Internacional del Café el primero de Octubre y realizaremos distintas actividades a lo largo del día incluyendo una competencia de Latte Art.

Internacionalmente, participamos en los siguientes eventos y exhibiciones: Asociación de Café de Especialidad (SCAA Specialty Coffee Association), Asociación de Café de Especialidad de Europa (SCAE Specialty Coffee Association of Europe), la Exposición Internacional de Café en Melbourne (MICE Melbourne International Coffee Exposition), Feria de Café de Especialidad de Japón (SCAJ Specialty Coffee Association in Japan), la Semana Internacional del Café Costa Rica (Sintercafé), Café Show en Seul, Corea del Sur y la Exposición de Té, Café y vino en Taiwan. Tenemos un exhibidor para cada una de estas ferias (excepto para Sintercafé), en donde realizamos sesiones de catación y degustaciones para promover nuestros cafés de Guatemala.

Isa (a la derecha) recibiendo un regalo de Rosa Amalia (a la izquierda) la Gerente General de la Cooperativa Agua Blanca.

¡Hacen mucha cosas! ¿También trabajas con Behmor, no es así?

Sí, todo comenzó en la Exposición Internacional de Café en Melbourne de 2013 cuando Miguel Medina, el presidente de Anacafé se conoció con Joe. Luego en SCAA 2015 en Seattle, Joe y Miguel se encontraron de nuevo y tuvieron la idea de iniciar el programa Behmor (programa de retroalimentación de la producción de café para los caficultores) en Guatemala.

Joe quería aportar a la producción de café de Guatemala y pensó que una buena idea sería brindando a los pequeños productores una herramienta que les permitiera conocer su propio café: una tostadora. Actualmente, los productores deben conocer la calidad del café que venden y estas tostadoras le permiten hacerlo. En Septiembre de 2015, Joe hace el primer envío de 30 tostadoras en total. Las cuales fueron distribuidas a las cooperativas y pequeños caficultores. El departamento de Asistencia Técnica eligió de forma cuidadosa a los beneficiarios de cada tostadora, y para esto se tuvieron en cuenta varios aspectos.

Luego de su primera donación, Joe quiso conocer y tener una experiencia con las personas que “lo hacen todo posible”, así que fue a Guatemala a conocer a los beneficiarios de las tostadoras. Y durante su visita, conoció a los miembros de la Cooperativa Agua Blanca una sociedad casi dirigida por solo mujeres. Joe se sintió profundamente conmovido y decidió que quería hacer algo más.

Joe Behm de Behmor enseñándole a los de la Cooperativa Agua Blanca cómo utilizar la tostadora Behmor 1600.

En Febrero de 2016, Joe envió su segunda donación, un total de 62 tostadoras y 45 cafeteras. La lista de distribución de esta donación fue realizada de nuevo por el departamento de Asistencia Técnica de Anacafé y nuevamente Joe viajó a Guatemala para conocer a los nuevos beneficiarios. En esta oportunidad, Joe visitó la Cooperativa Tomastepec, una organización que siempre ha procurado promover la unión y la excelente calidad a sus productores.

La idea con las tostadoras es permitir, como ya lo mencioné antes, que los caficultores puedan conocer su café. Pero lo más importante es darles un sentido de responsabilidad, ya que esto les ayuda a valorar su trabajo, su esfuerzo y la calidad de su café.

Recuerdo que durante la visita de Joe me decía que se sentía muy afortunado y honrado de poder viajar a Guatemala y conocer a los productores en sus propias tierras. Dijo que la mayoría de las personas que toman café, no piensan en el esfuerzo que hay detrás de una taza de café y se sintió profundamente conmovido de ver todo el amor y determinación que le ponen los productores a sus cultivos.

Recuerdo a Joe diciendo varias veces “sin estos hombres y mujeres, nada ni nadie en esta industria tendría trabajo y es por eso que quiero recompensarlos”. Es un programa realmente extraordinario y la mejor parte es que Behmor Inspired está apenas comenzando.

 

Joe Behm de Behmor recolectando café durante su visita a la Cooperativa Tomastepec.

Es muy inspirador, ¿Por qué crees que las asociaciones nacionales son tan importantes?

Las asociaciones son importantes porque trabajan en pro del desarrollo de todo el sector de la producción de café. En otras palabras, los esfuerzos van direccionados en su totalidad al progreso y el fortalecimiento del sector.

Y, ¿Qué le dirías a los guatemaltecos que están buscando tener este tipo de rol?

Yo les diría que hay que involucrarse y buscar oportunidades, a veces nos asustamos y no nos gusta salir de nuestra zona de confort pero es importante aprovechar las oportunidades cuando se presentan y buscarlas cuando no las hay.

Alguna vez leí una frase de Milton Berle que aún recuerdo y pienso que está relacionada: “Si la oportunidad no toca tu puerta, construye una”.

¿Cuál piensas que es el reto más grande para el café guatemalteco este momento?

Creo que es complejo decir que una cosa es el reto más grande que está enfrentando la industria del café en Guatemala. Hay varios aspectos a tener en cuenta, especialmente el hecho de que somos un país en desarrollo y muchos de nuestros productores luchan a diario por mantener sus cultivos y a sus familias.

Esto me obliga a decir que una de mis mayores preocupaciones y que es una de las que creo que le preocupa más a los productores, es los costos de producción. Los cuales no disminuyen con la fluctuación de los precios del café y tienden a incrementar.

Adicionalmente, la moneda de Guatemala no se ha devaluado y últimamente se ha incluso revaluado. Lo cual significa que los dólares que ingresan por las exportaciones de café, no tienen el mismo poder adquisitivo de cuando la moneda está devaluada, así que producir café en Guatemala, es de alguna manera más costoso que en otros países.

Equipo de Asistencia Técnica de Anacafé aconsejando a los pequeños productores.

Ya veo, ¿Cuál esperas que sea el mayor cambio a futuro para la industria de café?

Espero que la industria aprenda a cerrar esa brecha entre los productores, tostadores y baristas y que de alguna forma los una y les permita cuidarse mutuamente. Puede que suene un poco idealista pero todos somos parte de la misma cadena y si alguna parte se rompe, nos afecta a todos. Por eso es muy importante mantener unida la industria, trabajar juntos por una misma causa.

También es importante tener en cuenta el elemento fundamental de la industria del café, los productores. Ellos son la base de toda la cadena, por lo tanto, debe ser inequívocamente fuerte.

Y ¿Cuál crees que será el futuro del café de Guatemala?

La tercera ola de café es el nuevo concepto de normal y creo que nos estamos inclinando hacia ello. A medida de que poco a poco nos estemos alejando de un café regular y que ahora se está convirtiendo en un lujo, la calidad será mucho más apreciada y los nichos de mercado serán extremadamente importantes para los productores.

Un aspecto importante y que también considero que debe incluirse. Es el hecho de que los caficultores se están interesando más por conocer y distinguir la calidad de su propio café, lo cual significa que estarán pendientes de hacia dónde va su café y la trazabilidad del mismo incrementará de manera importante.

Ya estamos viendo las bolsas de café con los nombres, lo cual es una señal, hace un par de décadas no existía y ahora es una realidad. El hecho de que los productores puedan saber a dónde va su café, y los consumidores sepan de donde proviene, significa que el café no es una simple bebida sino algo creado especialmente para ellos.

Y eso es espectacular. ¡Muchas gracias por hablar con nosotros, Isa!

ENGLISH VERSION: A Day in Life: Working for Anacafé, Guatemala’s Coffee Association

Créditos de la fotografía: Isabela Minondo Durán

Traducido por A. Molina y Editado por Karla Ly

Perfect Daily Grind en Español.

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Build-Outs Of Summer: Clatter Coffee of Frostburg, Maryland

Another day, another cool build-out in a college town. This time it’s Frostburg, Maryland, home to Frostburg State University—go Bobcats!—and Clatter Coffee, located in the heart of the Arts and Enterprise District.

As told to Sprudge by John Felton of Clatter Coffee. 

For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?

Clatter Coffee will be the first to bring a true specialty coffee experience to Frostburg, a small college town in the mountains of western Maryland. There have been espresso machines, but not passion, not attention to quality of product or precision of craft.

We mean to make that kind of intentionality our brand (along with a customer-focused earnestness) and to bring it to every aspect of our business. Not least of which will be our build-out.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

In January we bought a 100-year-old two-story building in the heart of Frostburg, Maryland’s new Arts and Enterprise district, with two storefronts and two apartments above. Although essentially solid, there was a lot to do before we could get to the fun part. We began a somewhat surgical gutting, sorting, and setting aside every beautiful rough cut piece of wood, everything with potential for creative re-use. Community volunteers helped us pull nails and organize. As of this writing, we are finally able to start framing the actual shop as the customer will experience it.

The plan is to have the first storefront be the actual coffee shop, 15-feet x 45-feet, with a cozy variety of the seating you’d probably expect. Beyond that, an L-shaped bar that seats seven, and beyond that the kitchen.

The second side would have our stage (constructed of the old floorboards from the coffee side) and additional seating/community space/rentable space.

The design for the façade is about clean lines and lots of light, re-use, and juxtapositions of old and new, smooth/rough, urban/agricultural.

The first thing one will notice when entering are the walls, which will be a collage of horizontally running boards of different types of wood, colors, sizes, and textures, saved from the building renovation. Next, one would notice the bar, with a knowledgeable and welcoming barista presiding.

What’s your approach to coffee?

Our approach to coffee is that excellence is for everyone. Why not just do it right?

We want a regular cup of black coffee to impress. We want our customers to see that we are interested in all that a cup of coffee or espresso can be. In our market, we have to prove that we’re not about “fancy shmancy” snobbishness, but about quality work, attention to detail, and craftsmanship.

Still, all of our coffee focus is really about customer focus. We put effort and intention into each aspect of delivering this product, but not to draw attention to the barista or his/her knowledge. It is only partly to draw attention to the coffee, although that’s a necessary part, because what we want to communicate is, “This can be a really special thing. I put care into making it because I hope it will be a good experience for you.”

We like coffee crisp and bold with complexities worth talking about. We’ll offer both drip and manual brewing methods. Our espresso drink menu is straightforward, using milk from a nearby farm and only homemade syrups. We don’t think of that as too much of a statement—mostly just that it’s already in our skill set, will taste better, be unique to us, and set us apart from other places around here. It also fits our brand and the DIY zeitgeist of our area.

One of our big choices as far as approach to coffee was who to partner with as our roaster. We are really happy and excited to be partnering with Little Amps Coffee Roasters from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

“Our approach to coffee is still very much influenced by the Bay Area scene in the mid-2000s that first turned Aaron, our roaster, on to specialty coffee,” writes Peter Leonard. “Our brewed coffees are mostly from Central America and East Africa, which is par for the course these days.

Roasting coffee for the better part of six years has helped us hone in on what we like and what we want our coffee to taste like. We stay on the more developed end of roasting, which again may harken back to the pre-Nordic invasion, West Coast approach to specialty coffee in the States. We really like juicy, syrupy, fully body coffee with rich stone fruits, berries, and chocolates. Balanced acidity and sweetness are crucial as well!

We’ve always been focused on perfecting our roasting and brewing methods, but we have recently become more proactive in perfecting our green buying. We currently buy from a number of importers ranging from the very small, Colombia focused Tusa Specialty Coffee, to international but small-ish Collaborative Coffee Source, who luckily have a HQ in Central PA, to the ubiquitous specialty importer Cafe Imports. These companies, and a few others peppered in between those size levels, all have a slightly different approach to buying and we can flow between them based on what we’re shopping for. And what are we shopping for? Great coffee. Sometimes we need a value buy, or something blend specific, sometimes we want to splurge on a bag or two of something extra amazing, and sometimes we are looking for coffee from producers that we can connect and can grow with.

A great example of that is Isais Fernandez in Santa Barbara, Honduras. David Stallings of CCS helped us buy a few bags of Isais’ coffee last year, with the understanding we’d buy more this year. We were honored to have two of the five bags he produced this year, and to be the only roaster on the East Coast with this coffee. But it’s not just about the story or the boutique-ness of it. This coffee was SO nice. Our cuppings consistently produced strong notes of bergamot, orange essence, strawberry, and caramel. This is the essence of what we shop for: sweet, balanced coffees with a syrupy body and strong, clean finish.”

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

Our head barista is excited to be using an Athena Leva three-group. We’ll be using a Mahlkönig Tanzania and Mazzer Major for our main grinders, and a FETCO CBS 2132XTS 3L for drip coffee. We also look forward to pour-overs using Beehouse ceramic brewers and some other manual brews.

What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?

We plan to open in September.

Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?

Yes. Our project designer is Stephen Manger. He is a longtime compatriot, veteran chef, builder and carpenter, fine artist, draftsman, problem-solver, and brilliant if sometimes truculent conversationalist. He brings pragmatism to big ideas so they come true. His “Why not just do it right?” attitude, a keen aesthetic sense, and an appreciation for the potential of discarded things combine to bring us a look that is elegant, sophisticated, mutt-sturdy, and strong.

We are starting out with two experienced baristas: Greg Bender comes to us from Nashville, Tennessee, and Caleb Lange, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, both with well-honed skills, great ideas, and a taste for adventure.

Our web presence is being designed by Tyler Harvey.

Clatter Coffee is located at15 South Broadway, Frostburg, Maryland. Visit their official website and follow them on Twitter.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Frostburg was home to Morgan State College, and cheered the Morgan State Bears. We regret this error.

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Interview: How to Organise the 1st Ecuador AeroPress Championship

This year, the Asociación de Baristas Profesionales del Ecuador, Café Vélez, and Jonathan Ramírez set out to organise Ecuador’s first ever AeroPress Championship. And they saw fantastic success.

800 people watched as over 30 competitors took part. They saw the competitors weigh, time, press, present – but only one could become the first ever Ecuadorian AeroPress Champion: John Cesar Romo Quelal of Lucia Coffee Shop.

Jonathan Ramírez was kind enough to speak to us about the event.

SEE ALSO: 5 Reasons Why Specialty Coffee Is Taking Off in Ecuador

Diego Francisco Escobar Tito gives it his best press – and places second.

The 2016 Ecuadorian AeroPress Championship: What Happened?

The Championship was held on May 7th and 8th, just three weeks after the devastating Ecuadorian earthquake (find out how the coffee community can support the rebuilding here), in Quito.

Leading figures in the Ecuadorian coffee community attended and/or judged. The judges were: Audrey Claeys of Veco Andino (Q Grader); Mauricio Rosero of Quinde Café (Q Grader); Ana Lucia Palacios of Quinde Café (Q Grader); Lupe Rogel Black Pearl, Taster for Galo Morales Caravela (Q Grader); Nelson Gusqui of CafeLogía (Q Grader); Vinicio Bastidas of CafeLogía (previous Barista Champion); and Karlha Echeverria of Uma Coffee (barista).

The event was sponsored by ConQuito, Quito Turismo, Café Vélez, Indurama, Cielito Tranquilo, Lucia Coffee Shop, Centro Comercial Paseo San Francisco, Caravela, Coffee del Embajador, and Coffee Spot.

The coffees being judged.

More Than Just an AeroPress Championship

Jonathan tells us they wanted “to make it attractive to both spectators and baristas” and so “tried to make it a full event”.

Guest coffee producers, a heart latte art throwdown, microbrews paired with chocolate, and a coffee in good spirits demonstration made sure that nobody would get bored.

Yet, of course, it was the AeroPress Championship that was the real star of the show.

Caro Madrid uses an AeroPress at the first Ecuador AeroPress Championship.

Innovative Brewing

Jonathan explains that the organisers asked competitors to choose between one of two coffees: a single origin and a blend.

Several competitors also opted for creative techniques and recipes in the hope of standing out. He tells us, “There were two recipes that caught our attention”. One competitor decided to cool their coffee in a shaker; another used two different grinds within the same recipe.

Competitions drive innovation, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re so important for the specialty coffee industry. We look forward to seeing even more experimental methods in future championships.

Jorge Luis Tuquinga, who placed third, opted for the inverted method.

Who Won?

The finalists were John Cesar Romo Quelal of Lucia Coffee Shop, Diego Francisco Escobar Tito of Dulcería Colonial, and Jorge Luis Tuquinga of L’Escoffier.  It wasn’t easy to choose a winner out of these three: in fact, for a while the judges were split 2-1. But in the end, John Cesar Romo Quelal was unanimously appointed the 2016 Champion.

Diego Francisco Escobar Tito, John Cesar Romo Quelal, and Jorge Luis Tuquinga (left to right) with their trophies.

Reflecting on the Ecuadorian Coffee Scene

For Jonathan, this event is a watershed moment. “We know this will mark a before and after,” he says. “We are living in an environment in which all baristas, judges, producers, and assistants share the same energy, in which they know all of the work behind a cup of coffee.”

“The event came to life. It exceeded our expectations and we are very pleased to have organised it. We brought news of Ecuador to the whole world, and we will continue to host similar events. We want to raise the bar for Ecuador’s baristas.”

The end of the first ever Ecuador AeroPress Championship.

With thanks to Jonathan Ramírez. All photos by Ecuador AeroPress.

Perfect Daily Grind

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