Monday, March 5, 2018

Where To Drink Coffee In Seville, Spain

seville spain coffee guide jaime san martin

Extremely hot and dry summers with cold, wet winters, Seville, the largest urban area in Southern Spain, is a city of extremes. Any shop claiming to serve good coffee in this part of the world needs to be equally adept at preparing cold brews and warm lattes. Cafes should be warm and cozy in the colder months, but also bright and fresh in the summer heat. This is a brief guide to some of the places attempting to serve the best cup of specialty coffee in one of the most historic cities on the Iberian Peninsula. Each does so in its own way, on its own terms. 

seville spain coffee guide jaime san martin
Torch Coffee Roasters

Sisters Sara and Victoria Parish co-own Torch Coffee Seville, part of an international franchise focused on sustainable production and coffee education in Asia.

Strategically located next to the Guadalquivir River and to some of the most grandiose landmarks in all of Spain—the Alcázar complex, La Maestranza bullring and the Star Wars-featured Plaza de España—Torch is the logical stop after a big day of sightseeing.

The cafe looks more Scandinavian than Andalusian, which seems to work perfectly fine considering the healthy number of international patrons here. It is spacious, bright, and quiet—you could spend a whole day here if you wished to. There are simple and delicious breakfast, lunch, and pastry options.   

Guatemalan coffee is the main offering by the Parish sisters, who source directly from origin and roast on site. More unique beans such as a Chinese Yunnan are sometimes also available. The cold-brew extract is nicely packaged and strong enough to discourage any siesta time.  

Apart from the roasting machine, pieces of equipment here include a La Marzocco GB5, as well as Malkönig K30 and EK43 grinders. 

Torch Coffee Roasters is located at Ave. Paseo de las Delicias, 3, 41001 Sevilla. Visit their official website and follow them Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

seville spain coffee guide jaime san martin

Virgin Coffee Sevilla

How do you provide customers with shade in this sunny city if you lack space and resources? Leveraging on the surroundings and use the peculiar aesthetics of one of the city’s main landmarks, the Metropol Parasol.

Virgin Coffee is a takeaway coffee bar located at Plaza de la Encarnación, famous for its mushroom-shaped, waffle-like architectural behemoth that provides much-needed reprieve from the scorching sun.     

Run by its owner Pedro Sierra Pradas as a one-man operation, Virgin Cafe serves glorious flat whites and americanos from seasonal coffee beans roasted on-site with a 1kg Gene machine as well as varieties from Spanish specialty roasters.  

This is great option for a quick fix in the city center.

Virgin Coffee is located at Calle Regina, 1, 41003 Sevilla. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

seville spain coffee guide
Lalita Café

If you are spending more time in the city–or if you happen to be in the vicinity of the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán football stadium—drop into Lalita Café for a good opportunity to try excellent Spanish pastries with specialty coffee.

Owner Carlos Fernández Zarapico and his wife had a background in hospitality and as a pastry chef, respectively. They first decided to open their own cake shop, which eventually morphed into the current form of Lalita Café.

They use beans from a variety of Spanish roasters such as Hola Coffee, Puchero, Nomad, Cafés San Jorge, and Ineffable Coffee Roasters. Cakes and pastries are made in house and there are cocktails available after four in the afternoon.

Lalita Café is equipped with Spanish technology: an Ascaso Barista Pro espresso machine with Compak E6 grinders. 

Lalita Café is located at Calle José Luis de Casso, 38, 41005 Sevilla. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook.

seville spain coffee guide jaime san martin

seville spain coffee guide jaime san martin

Mr Chava Cafetería

When you talk to local baristas and roasters in Andalusia, there is one name that usually comes to the fore: Mister Chava. An almost mythical figure in the Spanish specialty coffee scene, the full name of this barista, roaster, instructor, and competition judge is Antonio Manuel Chavarría Rosa.

Chavarria has been in the coffee world for more than a decade and a half, but he truly began his specialty coffee journey about 10 years ago during a visit to Colombia. He says he was amazed by the smells and flavors found in fresh coffee, something lacking in Spanish cafes.

He then took part in national Forum and SCAE barista competitions, with excellent results. This moved him to start proper specialty coffee operations and—for about five years now—roast his own beans in a five-kilo Toper machine.

Mister Chava’s headquarters is located in the town of Osuna, some 90 kilometers east of Sevilla, but still in the same province and near the highway that connects with Granada. It probably defies the expectations of what a specialty coffee cafe should look like. It is more of a traditional Spanish bar, with patrons varying in ages and walks of life, mainly health professionals working in a hospital opposite the cafe.

Equipment here includes a three-group Dalla Corte Evo2 with Compak Master Conic, Nuova Simonelli Mythos One, and Dip grinders plus a Mokkamaster brewer.

Chavarría only opens from 7:30am until 12:30pm, Monday to Saturday. He serves menu items like café con leche—kind of a flat white—and adds small surcharges for things like sugar and extra shots. So while you’ll definitely have to ditch the jargon when you visit Mister Chava in Osuna, rest assured that you are in good hands and that the final result will be as satisfying as you can get in Spain.

Mr Chava Cafetería is located at 41640, Calle Francisco del Carpio, 1, 41640 Osuna, Sevilla. Visit them on Facebook.

Jaime San Martin is a freelance journalist. Read more Jaime San Martin for Sprudge.  

Image of “La Seta” structure, Virgin Coffee images, and Torch Coffee images by Jaime San Martin.

Lalita Coffee images courtesy of Lalita Coffee.

Mr Chava Cafeteria images courtesy of Mr Chava.

The post Where To Drink Coffee In Seville, Spain appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/where-to-drink-coffee-in-seville-spain-129766.html

Friday, March 2, 2018

Baltimore: Join Perfect Brew Services’ 10th Anniversary Party During CoffeeFest

Are you going to be at CoffeeFest in Baltimore later this month? Of course you are. Well, while you are there, Perfect Brew Services, along with Rishi Tea and Nuova Simonelli, are going be throwing a kicking party, just one mile from CoffeeFest!

The celebration is to commemorate Perfect Brew Service’s 10 year anniversary as well as the grand opening of their new coffee machine shop and equipment showroom. The bash will include food from Culinary Architecture, music, beer, a tea bar featuring tons of tea cocktails and iced and hot teas (from Rishi, duh), and a cold brew cocktail contest, pitting roasters from around the region in a cold brooze battle extraordinaire. Participants include: Red Rooster Coffee Roaster, Thread Coffee, Vent Coffee Roasters, Lost Sock Roasters, Cafe Kreyol, Caffe Amouri, Happy Creek Coffee & Tea, and Culinary Architecture for Intelligentsia.

So after the showfloor closes, head over to Perfect Brew Services new showroom for a night of good times. It all goes down Saturday, March 17, starting at 6:00pm and going until ???. Jk. It goes until 11:00. But don’t let that stop you from having a good time. For more information, visit Perfect Brew Services’ 10th Anniversary & Grand Opening Party Facebook event page.

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

*top image via Perfect Brew Services

The post Baltimore: Join Perfect Brew Services’ 10th Anniversary Party During CoffeeFest appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/baltimore-join-perfect-brew-services-10th-anniversary-party-during-coffeefest-130967.html

London: The Mercanta Roasting Competition Is Happening On March 23rd

Here’s something fun happening on merry olde Other Side of the Pond. London coffee importer Mercanta is hosting a roasting competition later this month, and the winner—the roaster with the moster, as it were—will be taking home an all expenses paid trip to Antioquia, Colombia.

The Mercanta Roasting Competition will feature 21 roasters from around Europe, all offering their best take on Herlindo Sepulvera’s 100% Caturra Chiroso variety coffee grown on his 1.5 hectare farm, Bella Vista, in Urrao, Antioquia. The Caturra Chiroso is “a variety of Caturra originating in Urrao that is rarely seen outside the region” and was specially selected by Pergamino Coffee Exporters for use in this competition.

The full list of competitors is:

Austrått Kaffebrenneri, Grumpy Mule/Bewley’s UK, Carvetti Coffee Roasters, Colonna Coffee, Dark Woods Coffee, Etno/Wroasters (Hamda Trade), Extract Coffee Roasters, Fjord Coffee, The Golden Bean, Has Bean Coffee, JB Kaffee, Mac&Me Roasting, Origo Roastery, Pharmacie Coffee Roasters, Rave Coffee Ltd, Redemption Roasters, Round Hill Roastery, Tangermünder Kaffeerösterei, Taylor Street Roasting, Volcano Coffee Works, and Williams and Johnson Coffee Co.

Each roaster will receive 30kg of the Caturra Chiroso to tinker with, looking for that winning profile. They will then have to return one kilo to Mercanta for a blind judging. And who are the judges, you ask? Why the roasters themselves. Each of the 21 roasters will send a representative to the big event to join six Mercanta employees in deciding the Chiroso Champion.

The winner earns an all expenses paid trip to Jantioquia 2019, Mercanta’s three-week residency program in Antioquia. For their efforts, the second place team will take home the sleek Ikawa Sample Roaster. Third place gets two cartons of Sepulvera’s Caturra Chiroso.

And the best part is, you can join in on the fun! The big showdown takes place March 23rd at the Mercanta Lab in Kingston upon Thames, just southwest of the Greater London area. For more information on the Mercanta Roasting Competition, visit their official website. Who knows, maybe you’ll get to dip your spoon into a cupping bowl or two and taste some of Europe’s best roasters’ interpretation of a rare coffee.

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

*all images via Mercanta the Coffee Hunters

The post London: The Mercanta Roasting Competition Is Happening On March 23rd appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/london-the-mercanta-roasting-competition-is-happening-on-march-23rd-130960.html

The Coffee Sensorium By Fabiana Carvalho: A Revolution Of Flavor Perception

sensory perception Fabiana Carvalho

sensory perception Fabiana Carvalho

The human brain is a remarkable thing. For example, did you know that the way we perceive food and drink is profoundly influenced by the environment around us? Or that the very essence of that perception occurs in a single moment, when multiple streams of perception simultaneously reach our brains? You’re never “just tasting” something—you’re tasting everything. 

Many people tend to think flavor and taste are the same thing. But “taste” is only a concept, and it refers to the basic sensations—bitter, salty, sour, sweet, umami, and starchy—represented in the brain from the information gathered at our tongues. “Flavor”, on the other hand, is a far more complex combination of senses and processes, including touch, smell, taste, and vision. It’s a multisensory experience, and one of the most remarkable things we’re able to understand as humans—plus the science behind it is fascinating. 

Fabiana Carvalho is the Brazilian post-doctorate researcher behind The Coffee Sensorium, a project that aims to bring knowledge on multisensory perception of flavor to the world of specialty coffee. A lot of multisensory research has been done on flavor perception of other drinks, such as wine and beer, and so it is already known that certain attributes of the container, such as shape, color, and weight, have a significant effect on flavor perception of chemically complex beverages. Carvalho’s project is investigating how these well-known effects apply to specialty coffee. Right now, she is expecting to be able to match a certain coffee container to the correct flavor profile—just as we already have different types of glasses that match the different types of wine or beer.

sensory perception Fabiana Carvalho

This is absolutely fascinating research, and in speaking with Fabiana Carvalho and dissecting her work, I was able to pull out a number of points that make for especially interesting reading. Here are a half-dozen of my favorite curious facts and findings from her research.

Smell is the major contributor of flavor. One of Carvalho’s most famous exercises involves asking her students to chew a candy with two fingers pressing on their noses. I tried it at a recent course, and it didn’t taste like anything I could recognize. Once she told us to release our fingers, the flavor immediately emerged: it was a very famous pineapple soft candy called “Balas Chitas” that any child in Brazil would recognize. It felt like my tongue was numb before, and just by releasing the nose the tongue got back to work. “If we go by numbers, it is said that between 75% and 95% of what people commonly describe as “taste” actually comes from the retronasal olfaction,” Carvalho tells me. People who have totally lost the sense of olfaction can no longer perceive flavors. They describe the food in their mouths only by the basic tastes and tactile attributes, such as “this is sweet and creamy,” but they could not tell apart honey from custard or Nutella.

Vision has a remarkable impact on flavor perception. It’s often the first contact we have with what we eat or drink. We see it, then we approach it to our mouths, and so visual cues can trigger a great deal of flavor expectation. Carvalho mentions a study described by Wheatley (1973)1 in which a group of people were having steak, fries, and peas in a room with color-masking lighting. At some point during the meal, the lighting was changed and the color of the food was revealed—but the steak had been colored blue, the fries green, and the peas red. Many of the guests felt nauseated simply by looking at the unexpectedly colored foods. And it’s not only about the color—everything from the color of tableware to the color of the environment greatly impacts flavor perception. Back in the 1950s it already was observed that a yellower can of 7-Up induced consumers to rate the drink as more lemony.2

sensory perception Fabiana Carvalho

Coffee packaging colors can influence how consumers predict the beverage. According to Carvalho, there are studies on the association between the color of the coffee package and flavor expectation. Usually, the colors brown and red are associated with strength and richness, blue with mild aroma or decaf coffee, and yellow with a weaker blend. Carvalho adds though that there is still a long way to go regarding a more thorough understanding of the impact of color on perception of flavor of specialty coffee.

Ultimately, the rounder the cup, the sweeter the coffee. The cup shape affects how we perceive coffee aroma, sweetness, and acidity. Carvalho conducted a large sample experiment during the Brazilian Coffee Week last year. It was the first study ever to investigate the effect of the cup on specialty coffee flavour perception. It was done in collaboration with noted Norwegian coffee professional Tim Wendelboe, who developed the three cup shapes tested–tulip, open, or split.3

As expected (per the wine literature), the tulip-shaped cup increased the perception of aroma. Sweetness received the highest scores in the split cup, followed by the tulip cup. This finding was also expected given the very consistent crossmodal association between sweet tastes and round shapes. The only significant difference between coffee amateurs and experts was regarding the “liking” scores. Curiously, despite the enhanced sweetness and acidity, the split cup received the lowest liking scores from the amateurs—but not from the experts. Since the split cup does not match any of the participants’ everyday drinking vessels, including vessels for drinking coffee, the atypicality of the cup may have negatively affected their drinking experience. Several studies show that high levels of design novelty can indeed lead to decreased liking evaluation. On the other hand, experts are used to cupping coffee from vessels of varying shapes, and were perhaps less influenced by the atypicality of the cup shape.

sensory perception Fabiana Carvalho

The color pink is strongly associated to sweetness. Carvalho is currently carrying out her second multisensory study on specialty coffee. She is now testing whether the color of the cup affects the expectation and the actual perception of taste in espresso coffee. She has started by testing real customers in coffee shops during working hours, and is planning to replicate the experiment in a traditional testing room in which contextual information (visual, auditory, and olfactory) is highly controlled.  

The customers were asked to, first, only look at the espresso cup and rate its expected sweetness and acidity. Next, they were asked to taste the espresso and rate the perceived sweetness and acidity, and also how much they liked it.

So far, the results support the sweet taste of pink. The espresso coffees from both coffee shops were perceived as sweeter and also as less acidic when tasted from the pink cup. The espresso served in the pink cup was also more liked by customers in both coffee shops.4

Culture and past experiences can influence flavor perception. Cultural expectations towards some foods can surely affect how we perceive such foods. Think of the Western aversion to the idea of eating insects, while in some Eastern countries they are a common staple. Also, past events in your life can affect how you perceive foods or drinks in your adult life. If you had a bad experience while eating something, say, as a child, chances are you are not going to like it in your adult life.

In addition, some crossmodal associations such as round/sweet and black/bitter seem to be invariant across cultures, whereas other associations are dependent upon cultural background, such as the taste triggered by the color blue.

Carvalho’s preliminary test results will be validated in a controlled test lab. Still, these findings prove it is vital to assess multisensory flavour perception in real-world settings. Billions of dollars are spent annually on failed product launches in the Food and Beverage industry, and one factor that contributes to this failure is the inability to reliably predict consumer decisions (which includes sensory judgements) in real consuming environments. The information gathered will be certainly useful for roasters defining roasting approaches in a certain demography and also for coffee shop owners when deciding what drinkware to serve their drinks on.

To learn more about Fabiana Carvalho’s research, be sure to follow her on Instagram. Happy tasting!

Juliana Ganan is a Brazilian coffee professional and journalist. Read more Juliana Ganan on Sprudge.

All Photos by Fernanda Nunes.

1. WHEATLEY, J. 1973. Putting color into marketing. Marketing. Oct. 26-29, 67.
2. CHESKIN, L. 1957. How to Predict What People Will Buy, Liveright, New York, NY.
3. In the study, the same coffee (a pulped natural yellow Bourbon) was served to nearly 300 participants including specialty coffee experts and amateurs. They were divided into three groups according to the shape of the cup from which the coffee was tasted. So, each participant only tasted the coffee from one cup shape.
4. So far, 92 customers at Ancora Coffee House, in Minas Gerais state, and 82 customers at Takkø Café, in São Paulo were tested. Each shop served its own espresso beans—a natural red Catuai at Âncora, and natural (fermented) Acaiá Cerrado at Takkø. The customers were divided into two groups according to the color of the cup from which the espresso was tasted. Again, each person only tasted the coffee from one cup color—either pink or white.

The post The Coffee Sensorium By Fabiana Carvalho: A Revolution Of Flavor Perception appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/the-coffee-sensorium-by-fabiana-carvalho-a-revolution-of-flavor-perception-130477.html

Thursday, March 1, 2018

You Can Consume Cannabis Legally At The Coffee Joint In Denver

Denver, I love you. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough, but I really, really do. Great coffee, amazing beer, your outdoor activities are top-notch, and all that cannabis. You just get me, y’know. Every time I visit it gets harder and harder to leave. And now with the nation’s first business where it is legal to consume cannabis on-premise—well, almost—I may just be trading in my Texas driver’s license for a Colorado ID.

According to 5280, a social cannabis consumption license is on the verge of being issued to a Lincoln Park coffee shop named… wait for it… the Coffee Joint. All the coffee shop needs to do is make it through a public hearing and pass an inspection and it will receive what is believed to be the nation’s first on-site recreational cannabis consumption permit.

But the Coffee Joint won’t actually sell any cannabis; according to the ordinance passed in November of 2016 that allows for this sort of permit, all THC products have to be purchased elsewhere for on-site consumption. Luckily Coffee Joint co-owner Rita Tsalyuk also manages 1136 Yuma—the dispensary next door—so you won’t have to go far.

And if we’re being technical, you can’t actually smoke here, because of the Colorado Clean Air Act. As store manager Meredith Wharton tells 5280, “You can vape your flower, you can dab your oil, and you can consume edibles. You just can’t smoke in here.”

Entry into the Coffee Joint—including a free cup of coffee—will cost a measly $5, but it is free with a purchase from 1136 Yuma. 5280 even notes that if you buy THC coffee from 1136 Yuma, the Coffee Joint will prepare it for you.

Should I ever be mysteriously disappeared, AWOL from all my agreed-upon responsibilities, with a coincidentally also-missing backpack as the only clue to what may or may not have happened, there’s a better than likely chance I’ve stolen myself away to Denver. The Coffee Joint would be a good place to begin the search.

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

*top image via the Coffee Joint Facebook page

The post You Can Consume Cannabis Legally At The Coffee Joint In Denver appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/you-can-consume-cannabis-legally-at-the-coffee-joint-in-denver-130933.html

The Wine Down: A Coffee Party For People Of Color In Providence

The Barista Guild of America’s latest Bloom Event will take place on March 6th in Providence, Rhode Island, with single attendee tickets starting at $95. That same day, Boston Intersectional Coffee Collective’s Kristina Jackson will team up with I See You’s Ezra Baker to host the Wine Down, a post-Bloom wine party for people of color. The wine (provided by Sprudge Wine, in partnership with Discovery Wines) will start flowing at InterAmerican Coffee (3 Steeple Street, Suite 301) at 5:30 PM, and the event is free of charge.

The Wine Down is the latest in a recent run of creative POC-centered events by Jackson and Baker. Jackson, who has been in the hospitality industry over 15 years and currently works at Intelligentsia’s Watertown location, founded BICC to highlight and support diversity in the Boston area; Baker, who has been in coffee for 10 years and is currently the Wholesale Sales and Customer Relations Manager at Share Coffee Roasters, created the event series I See You to unite and support coffee professionals of color. The two worked together on a panel discussion in early February and wanted to keep the ball rolling.

Kristina Jackson (right) of Boston Intersectional Coffee Community and Ezra Baker (left) of I See You.

While they were already hoping to plan an event around Bloom, the idea for an after-party for people of color came to life when Jackson noticed that, in her view, the Bloom event roster lacked parity in terms of racial diversity. “I think it speaks to an issue where white people forget that we, people of color, spend a lot of time at work being the only one,” said Jackson. She wanted to create an event where coffee pros of color could enjoy each other’s company and feel like they weren’t alone in the room. “My mentality is, we deserve nice things too,” she said. Baker was inspired by the concept of the Wine Down in HBO’s hit TV show Insecure: in the show, the Wine Down is a weekly ritual where the characters get to vent about the stress they experience every day and just be themselves.

Though the Wine Down’s main purpose is to give coffee pros of color a chance to have fun and blow off steam, it’s also meant to speak to larger issues around the lack of meaningful inclusion of POC in the specialty coffee industry. “I think the exchange of our shared experiences is very important. Someone knowing they aren’t alone can give them the confidence to push through to bigger and better job opportunities or just being happier in their current position, ultimately letting them take up more space in specialty coffee,” said Baker.

Baker (left) and Jackson (right) with panel guest Robert Rodriguez at a recent BICC event.

Jackson and Baker are both excited to hang out and network with new coffee pros of color both in their regions and from around the country. The event is meant primarily, but not exclusively, for people of color, and entry and refreshments are provided complimentary to guests. If you’re not a person of color, but you’d like to attend this event, that is certainly welcome, says Baker—but consider using this as an opportunity to donate to the wider, highly valuable work being done by BICC. Donations will be accepted at the event, and digital donation information is available at the end of this article.

The efforts of Jackson and Baker are emblematic of the wider work currently being done by coffee professionals of color to create space for themselves within the specialty coffee industry. In time, this will yield a future where no coffee professional of color will ever attend an event and find themselves as the only one in the room—or the only one on stage. The majority of coffee is produced by people of color around the world; here in the United States, the coffee events scene is lucky to have groups like BICC and I See You pushing us closer to parity.

Wine Down Providence happens Tuesday, March 6th at InterAmerican Coffee (3 Steeple Street, Suite 301). Attendance is free, wine is free courtesy of Sprudge Wine and Discovery Wines. Consider donating to BICC via Google Wallet.

RJ Joseph (@RJ_Sproseph) is a Sprudge staff writer, publisher of Queer Cup, and coffee professional based in the Bay Area. Read more RJ Joseph on Sprudge Media Network.

The post The Wine Down: A Coffee Party For People Of Color In Providence appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/the-wine-down-a-coffee-party-for-people-of-color-in-providence-130863.html

Push X Pull Carves Out A Corner In Southeast Portland

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

The east side of Portland, Oregon is a haven for specialty coffee shops. For coffee enthusiasts, it’s quite the luxury to have your pick of locations within walking distance, but for coffee shop owners the lay of the land looks quite different. Standing out can be tough; making your mark and building a community is even tougher. When it comes to Push X Pull, the neighborhood’s newest cafe, owners Jacob Cowdin and Christopher Hall are looking to carve out a unique space on the 800 block of SE Stark Street. Their focus is simple: serve good coffee and show love to those who enter.

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

Jacob Cowdin.

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

Chris Hall.

Cowdin and Hall opened Push X Pull in January of 2018.  Hall has a background in supply chain, while Cowdin carries design experience as a freelancer for a local advertising agency. The idea of opening the coffee shop sprouted when Hall and his wife were going through a high volume of coffee for their personal consumption. She gave him the idea of roasting his own beans in their living room, barring that he didn’t damage their home. Hall would eventually roast coffee and sell them to friends and locals. One thing led to another and Hall joined forces with Cowdin to make Push X Pull a reality.

When it comes to the space’s design, Cowdin and Hall have leveraged their backgrounds and taken a hands-on approach. Hall, who was born in Michigan, wanted to weave in a “blue collar” theme when it came to color and design, specifically evoking working class Michigan’s mid-century automotive industry. Cowdin, flexing his strength as a creative, brought a blend of a warm and approachable color scheme through wooden accents and the drinkware to the shop aesthetic.

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

“Jacob and I spent much of our time talking about how we wanted to feel in a space that we were co-creating,” Hall states. “Materials and aesthetics, consumer flow and workflow were all key issues we wanted to address and the intention to highlight the roasting process.”

One of the more unique things about the shop is the assembly of the staff. Most of them have prior coffee experience in Portland, which bodes well when it comes to familiarity in the local marketplace, but they also possess a multi-faceted skillset in fields like photography, art, and web development. “We couldn’t have hoped for a more rad staff. Sweet, perceptive, diligent, and experienced,” Cowdin says. 

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari

To match the energy of the aesthetics, Cowdin and Hall brought the heat with the coffee equipment. Their under counter espresso machine from Mavam Espresso is an exact match of that blue tint seen around the shop, paired with Mahlkönig grinders (K30s for espresso, an EK43 for drip), a Wilbur Curtis Company G4 batch brewer and hot water tower, and a small, classy Kalita Wave pour-over option. All the water, filtration, and batch brewer elements were installed by Portland’s own Black Rabbit Service Co. An industrial North coffee roaster anchors the eastern corner of the shop, both working tool of the trade and aesthetic statement piece. If you’re really paying attention, you will notice the Double-Brewer Moccamaster on the top shelf, which was imported from Sweden and is a rarity in the United States. Although their equipment is impressive, the coffee they’re pumping out of it speaks for itself. A couple of early favorites among the offerings include a natural processed Ethiopia Kochere Reko Koba and a honey processed Guatemala Huehuetenango La Cumbre. 

push x pull portland oregon giovanni fillari
Not yet two months in, Push X Pull are trending upwards in Portland, gaining traction and digging themselves in to their own little corner of the neighborhood. The name Push X Pull stems from the vitality of “give and take” in all relationships—they’re building one now with the city of Portland. 

Push X Pull Coffee is located at 821 SE Stark Street, Portland. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Giovanni Fillari is a social media manager and the publisher of @coffeefeedpdx. This is Giovanni Fillari’s first feature for Sprudge Media Network. 

The post Push X Pull Carves Out A Corner In Southeast Portland appeared first on Sprudge.



from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/push-x-pull-130522.html