Ozo Coffee Hosting Throwdown Benefitting KGNU Community Radio

Latte art with a latte heart, that’s what we’re all about here at Sprudge. And there’s a latte art throwdown next week that fits the bill. On Thursday, April 5^th in Longmont, Colorado, Ozo Coffee is hosting a latte art throwdown benefitting KGNU Community Radio.

This is the second annual OZO Coffee TNT, but it is the first done in honor of KGNU’s 40th anniversary, and they are pulling out all the stops. For the cost of a $15 buy-in—with the proceeds going to KGNU—participants will receive one pound of Ozo’s KGNU 40th Anniversary Blend and are entered to win tickets to see Vulpeck and Kamasi Washington at Red Rocks, amongst others. You can be the worst at latte art and still win free tickets to see a modern jazz master at the best outdoor venue in America.

And if you happen to also be good at the hearts, stars, and balloons—or whatever it is you crazy kids are pouring these days—prizes for the throwdown include items from Baratza, Topo Designs (America’s colorful answer for Fjallraven), prAna (makers of the Zion stretch, the best pants for climbing), and many, many more. After those resounding endorsements, should a Daypack or cargo green pair of pants—32” inseam—happen to fall before me, I wouldn’t not pick them up is all I’m saying.

There will of course be beer and wine, really good beer and wine (this is Colorado after all), provided by Upslope Brewing Company, Avery Brewing, and Wyatt’s Wet Goods.

The FOMO is strong with this one. It’s going to be a good time for a good cause with a ton of cool prizes. So you should definitely make your way out to Longmont On Thursday. It all gets going at 6:00pm for throwdown sign-ups, with the first milk touching espresso promptly at 7:00pm. For more information, visit the OZO Coffee + KGNU Thursday Night Throwdown Fundraiser 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 Ozo Coffee

The post Ozo Coffee Hosting Throwdown Benefitting KGNU Community Radio appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/131655-131655.html

Passing The Bechdel Test At Barista Connect Melbourne

So often in specialty coffee—indeed, in most industries—the speaker scene at conferences, panels, and speaking events trends overwhelmingly male. All-male speaking line-ups are such a commonplace occurrence that a modified version of the Bechdel test comes to mind—is there actually one woman in the line-up? Is there more than one woman? Could two women conceivably have a conversation together on the panel stage? And would that conversation be about anything other than the work of a man?  

The normal tapestry of specialty coffee speaking circuits is highly guilty of the above, and especially here in Australia, where notions of gender equity and equality can often feel stuck in the past compared to other parts of the world. And so when it was announced that Barista Connect, the international women’s coffee event series, would be making its way to Melbourne for the first time, my response—and the response of many others in the Australian coffee scene—was one of outright delight.

Here’s an event that doesn’t just pass the Bechdel test, it crushes it. 

Having previously held events in Aarhaus and London, Barista Connect Melbourne is the third incarnation of the event founded by Sonja Zweidick, with the Melbourne edition organised collaboratively alongside Camilla Bargholz (8Kilo) and Mikaela Gervard (The Coffee Collective). Here at Sprudge we’ve been enthusiastic supporters of previous Barista Connect events and while each is unique, the goal of for Zweidick and her team has proven to be an incredibly consistent one: to improve equality in the coffee industry and to create and further the network of female coffee professionals internationally.

Held over the Monday and Tuesday preceding MICE (the Melbourne International Coffee Expo) at two stunning venues—Maillard Atelier and La Marzocco Australia—an intimate group of 22 coffee professional attendees were treated to a range of talks, workshops, and collaborative discussions. Presenters included—among others—Elika Rowell of Square One Coffee Roasters, Charlotte Malaval of Toby’s Estate, Monika Fekete of Coffee Science Lab, Lucy Ward of St Ali and Sensory Lab, Meira Harel of King & Godfree, Michelle Johnson of The Chocolate Barista and Barista Hustle, Jets Anita Langland of La Marzocco, and Jenni Bryant and Milla Vainikainen of Market Lane Coffee.

Barista Connect founder Sonja Zweidick (left) with Charlotte Malaval.

Highlights included Jets Anita Langland discussing the elements of value in the coffee industry, getting deep into the academic side of marketing—Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, anyone? Meanwhile, Michelle Johnson spoke about the utility and purpose of social media in amplifying her experiences and ideas in the coffee industry as a way to network and further her professional opportunities.

I was struck by the fact that this event, curated avowedly by and for women, focused so sparingly on “gender issues” throughout its speaker lineup. By and large it was an event focused on ideas, theories, skills, and experiences that felt applicable to the entirety of the industry. I never felt talked down to or marginalized. There is an all-for-one community vibe to Barista Connect that’s quite unlike most other coffee symposia. 

Michelle Johnson.

Jets Anita Langland.

The specific topic of women in coffee was, however, tackled by Charlotte Malaval, former French Barista Champion, as the final speaker of the event. After expressing frustration at the frequency of which she was asked “What’s it like to be a woman in coffee,” she moved into a fascinating presentation of anthropological theories on gender and competition by academics like Bordieu and Lévi-Strauss. Malaval’s talk put forth the theory that there are more men in competitions solely because they’re socialised to compete, whereas the majority of women aren’t socialised in the same way. As she went on, Malaval elaborated on her own experiences and how she hadn’t really perceived any negativity towards herself in relation to being a female competitor. “It’s hard no matter who you are!” she told the crowd, while also posing the question: “Do we really need to identify and be inspired by the same gender?”

It was an interesting insight to hear, and one that was at odds with a number of attendees in the audience, leading to a fascinating back and forth in the discussion segment following the talk. Some of the attendees talked about their own experiences—highlighting the fact that when some of them had previously competed confidently and assertively in competition, it was commented on negatively whereas the same characteristics garnered their male counterparts overwhelmingly positive feedback. It was a reminder that discussions like these are so important to further understand how diverse and complicated the issue of gender still is within the coffee industry, and that no two people’s experiences are the same. It left me, and others in the group, pondering as to whether the very paradigm of competition itself as a yard marker of value and worth as a coffee professional has become increasingly problematic and outdated. 

For the final group discussion, many members of the group expressed their appreciation of the supportive all-female environment, saying how good it was to talk as a group without having to feel that they had to battle to be heard. Michelle Johnson summarised the frustration of the female coffee professional quite aptly during the discussion in a way that truly resonated: “I’m happy to lean in, but I don’t always want to fight.”

Barista Connect Melbourne was a beautifully organised event, and such a pleasure to attend. But in the spirit of dialogue and challenging discussion I found at the event, I’ll pose a final question: what if, in the future, events like Barista Connect considered opening up the attendee restrictions? I found myself wishing for at least a bit of limited inclusion across the gender spectrum in that room, if for no other reason than to show just how good things can be when the male-dominated status quo is flipped on its head.

Eileen P. Kenny is a coffee professional, winemaker, and Sprudge Media Network contributor based in Melbourne. Read more Eileen P. Kenny on Sprudge.

Sprudge Media Network is proudly partnered with Barista Connect. Read all past Barista Connect coverage on Sprudge.

The post Passing The Bechdel Test At Barista Connect Melbourne appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/barista-connect-melbourne-131563.html

Ebb And Flow Rate: A Reusable U.S.-Grown Fabric Filter Hits The Market

For those who think about the sustainability of what’s in their cup, the next step is the sustainability of the brew method. That’s where the Ebb filter comes in, a new reusable coffee filter made from U.S.-grown organic cotton.

Geana Sieburger didn’t set out to get into the coffee industry, but as a product designer interested in sustainable textiles, that’s where her path eventually led. Around 2014, Sieburger launched her Oakland-based business GDS Cloth Goods, a workshop and studio focused on sustainable production, and often, with a connection to food (the company’s first product was aprons). For the last year, she has been working to develop a pour-over filter that’s not only developed to brew excellent coffee, but that’s also ethically produced.

While Sieburger enjoys coffee, her main driving interest is in textiles. The idea for GDS Cloth Goods came after working almost a decade as a textile buyer at Britex Fabrics, “getting a realistic picture of what the industry looks like in this country.” As she worked and her interest in sustainability increased, her research led her to organizations like Fibershed and the realization that when it comes to fashion, “what a huge difference fiber choice can make.”

But while textiles are often equated with fashion, Sieburger is quick to point out that they extend far beyond that. “I’ve never seen myself as a fashion designer,” says Sieburger. “I see myself as a product designer using textiles… All of the things I make come from a very real place and a very real need in my own life.”

Interested in producing a reusable coffee filter, she came across an organic cotton that worked well for the first rendition of the filter. But she wanted to go further, and partnered with Benjamin C. Brewer, Director of Quality Control at Blue Bottle Coffee. “My standard was always ‘does it work for specialty coffee?’” says Sieburger. They found their way to the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative which pointed them in the direction of a mill in South Carolina. Together with a textile developer, they worked their way through many iterations. The new version, which launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter in February, is the result of “almost a year of me going back and forth between the mill and baristas,” says Sieburger. The Kickstarter campaign—now fully funded, ending March 30th—will allow the company to add another filter size to the lineup.

Sourcing fiber from the Texas Cotton Marketing Cooperative allows Sieburger to not only ensure the agricultural sustainability of the product, but also the social sustainability. “Even though there is definitely exploitation of labor happening in this country, it’s less likely with all the regulations in place,” says Sieburger. Pointing out that for her this is “the number one reason” for choosing to source fiber in the U.S. The result is a product where ethics and quality go hand in hand.

“Ebb filters are quite possibly the most luxurious filter medium for brewing. The cloth transforms and transmits silken layers and autumnal textures to the cup,” says Brewer. “These filters have the potential to truly elevate a coffee. It is obvious that a great deal of thought and care have gone into this product.”

Born in Brazil, Sieburger notes that her path to coffee comes with personal meaning. “[It] has allowed me to connect with my grandmother in a way that I hadn’t expected,” Sieburger says, noting that during the development process of the Ebb Filter, “my mother said to me, ‘that’s how your grandmother used to make coffee, with a cotton filter.’”

According to James Freeman, Founder and CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, her grandmother was on to something. “There is something wonderfully ineffable about coffee filtered with a flannel cloth. The technique is quite different than filtering through paper, and, in my opinion, a little trickier, but the result, especially in the texture of the finished product, has a luminosity which shines brighter and deeper than a well made paper-filtered coffee,” says Freeman.  

The Ebb filter isn’t the first reusable filter to hit the market. Sieburger points out two products she respects, Coffee Sock and the Kone Coffee Filter by Able Brewing. For Sieburger, she sees her work as not just offering the consumer a reusable product, but also highlighting the crossover between coffee and textiles. While they experience different difficulties, “coffee is an industry in crisis just like fashion and textiles,” says Sieburger.

She hopes that the new filter can be not just a tool to making great coffee, but also a conversation starter. “These things that we wear and use and consume and eat, they come from people and they come from the land,” says Sieburger. “Creating products that create awareness about that has such a far reach, and has such a powerful education value.”

Anna Brones (@annabrones) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in the American Pacific Northwest, the founder of Foodie Underground, and the co-author of Fika: The Art Of The Swedish Coffee Break. Read more Anna Brones on Sprudge.

Some photos courtesy of GDS Cloth Goods.

The post Ebb And Flow Rate: A Reusable U.S.-Grown Fabric Filter Hits The Market appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/ebb-filter-paper-filters-131056.html

What Do Coffees From Around The World Taste Like – & Why?

Colombia or Brazil? Kenya or Ethiopia? Indonesia or Thailand? Does it even matter?

That last question is easy to answer – yes. The others, a little harder.

Coffee is grown in over 50 countries around the world (National Coffee Association). You’ll find it mostly in an area called the Bean Belt. This belt, as the name suggests, circles the globe, covering parts of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. It sits over the Equator but stretches as far north as Mexico and Myanmar and as far south as Zimbabwe and Brazil.

And exactly where your coffee is produced, out of this vast range of countries, will affect how it tastes, how it was grown, and more. So, let’s take a look at some of the most common coffee origins.

You might also like How to Understand The Label on Your Bag of Roasted Coffee

Coffee plants on Astrid Medina’s farm Finca Buenavista in Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia. Credit: Angie Molina

How Coffee Origin Affects You

Consumers, you might find that you like the fruitiness of an Ethiopian coffee, the balanced and sweet notes of a Guatemalan, or the earthiness of an Indonesian – but you won’t know until you try these origins.

As Catherine Gu, a green coffee buyer for Latorre & Dutch Coffee, tells me, “People want to drink different and interesting coffee flavors… The appreciation of the origin flavor is quite precious.”

What’s more, different countries face different challenges, whether that’s low wages, political instability, or coffee pests. If you’re looking to buy sustainably sourced coffee, having an awareness of what’s going on in your favorite origins will help.

Learn more – read Many Fairtrade Coffee Farmers Don’t Earn Enough to Live On

As Catherine says, “The origin of coffee is the start of everything. We want the origin to be better, provide the rest of the world with better-quality coffee beans, and for the people who live there to have a better life.”

What’s more, as an agricultural product, coffee is seasonal. Certain origins may be more difficult to get at certain times of the year. And roasters will need to not only plan their menus around this but also adjust their roast profile to the bean’s origin.

Jon Allen, Co-Owner of Onyx Coffee Lab, a roastery and small chain of US-based coffee shops, tells me, “We become more successful in the specialty industry when an inherent knowledge of origin and flavor profile is widely known… When origins of coffee become standard ‘flavors’ in broad terms, like sodas or other flavors to the mass public, that’s a win in our industry.”

So, what are these flavors?

Sítio Rancho Dantas in Brejetuba, Espírito Santo, Brazil, owned by Mr. Joselino. Credit: Ivan Petrich

Coffee Flavors Around The World

With over 50 coffee-producing countries, we can’t hope to describe all of them in this article. Let’s shine a spotlight on some of them, however.

Africa

Richard Keane, Q-grader and Co-Owner of the family-owned and US-based green bean importers Balzac Brothers, tells me that when he looks to buy coffee from Africa, he’s looking for acidity and fruity notes.

In particular, he tells me that, from Ethiopia, he’ll be searching for a tea-like body, blueberry aroma, and as much acidity and fruity notes as possible. From Kenya, on the other hand, he would want grapefruit notes and a dry, clean acidity – one that, he tells me, is more like wine than tomato soup.

Other notable African origins include Rwanda and Burundi, countries known for their sweetness and body.

The Americas

Central Americans will often taste familiar to a US palate, thanks to their proximity. Richard tells me that the countries here are characterised by balance: all the different elements work together to create what is, usually, a great coffee. You can expect a good body, good acidity, and fruitiness.

Head down into South America, and you’ll come across Colombia – one of the most famous coffee origins in the world. Like Central Americans, Colombian coffee tends to be balanced. They’re also known for their sweetness and aroma.

Head further and you’ll reach Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer. Responsible for one-third of the world’s coffee, it’s arguably defined what we think of as “a coffee flavour”. We’re talking nutty, buttery, and chocolatey notes with a heavy body. Richard tells me that Brazil has a bad reputation in the specialty coffee industry, but that this isn’t always accurate. It’s one of several countries starting to produce coffee with “clean, fruity, bright, acidic notes,” he says.

A producer turns drying coffee at Cuatro M mill, El Salvador.

Asia

A huge continent, Asia offers plenty of diversity in its origins. The most famous include Indonesia, known for an earthy or smoky profile – although Ricard tells me you can find fruity notes and huge bodies here – and Vietnam, the world’s second-largest producer of coffee. Vietnam primarily producers Robusta, however, a coffee species known for being bitter and less aromatic.

Then there are less well-known countries with the potential for distinctive crops. Myanmar has recently impressed the specialty coffee community with its clean, high-quality coffees. Papua New Guinea can produce sweet, fruity coffees, although it also faces challenges with infrastructure.

he Philippines, Thailand, India, Laos… these countries shouldn’t be overlooked either.

Coffee picking in Santa Lucia, Honduras.

Terroir & The Climate Factor

But why does your coffee taste so different depending on where it’s grown? Well, part of that comes down to environmental factors – otherwise known as terroir.

Terroir is the soil condition, topography, climate, and more. It’s a common phrase in the wine world but also used by coffee professionals.

The Galápagos Islands are a great example of the impact of terroir. Straddling the Equator, you’d imagine them to have a hot climate – something that doesn’t lend itself to high-quality coffee. Add low elevation to the equation and you would normally have even lower expectations. Most specialty coffee is grown at high elevations, where cooler temperatures allow the fruits to grow more slowly and so develop sweeter, more complex flavors.

Yet the islands surprise consumers with their quality coffee – and it’s all because of cold sea breezes and the Humboldt Current, which makes its way north from Chile.

Learn more! Read What Is Terroir & Why Does It Matter?

At Fazenda Bateia in Castelo, Espirito Santo, Brazil, Mr. Valdeir Tomazini dries natural coffees on a shaded patio. Credit: Ivan Petrich.

Different Processing Methods, Different Flavors

How your coffee is farmed and processed can also affect its taste. And, again, different regions have different farming and processing methods.

Processing is how the coffee beans, or seeds, are removed from the coffee fruit, or cherries. There are several methods and they all impact on the flavor of your coffee – as well as its environmental footprint.

There are three main ways to process coffee:

• Wet/washed: The coffee cherries are removed from the beans in fermentation tanks and then the beans are dried. This results in a clean cup with less body. It makes it easier to avoid undesirable fermentation but is also more expensive and can result in water pollution, unless the mill follows eco-friendly processes. It’s very common in areas including Colombia, Guatemala, and Eastern Africa.

• Natural/dry: The coffee is dried with the fruit still attached, leading to sweetness, fruity notes, and a full body. It’s cheaper than washed processing but it can be hard to control, meaning that it needs good quality control and good weather.

• Honey/pulped natural: Part of the fruit is removed prior to drying. Depending on the amount of fruit left on the bean, you’ll get varying levels of sweetness and body. It’s popular in Costa Rica and Brazil.

Read more about processing! Check out Washed, Natural, Honey: Coffee Processing 101

But there are many more forms of processing methods around the world. In Indonesia, extreme humidity leads producers to wet hull their beans. In Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi, double washed processing is common. Experimental processing methods are also growing in popularity.

As Jon says, “Processing alone no longer fits in the three categories of washed, honey (semi-washed) and natural. Washed is such a broad term now based on termination, drying time, pulping screens, anaerobic or aerobic chamber… the list goes on.”

In fact, in many countries, you’ll find a variety of processing methods – especially on specialty farms. As consumer demand for different processes grows, producers are open to experimenting. Ricard tells me, “Not too long ago, most people didn’t even know that there were different processes for coffees… Natural is a big trend in the coffee industry right now, along with honeys, but natural specifically allows the producer to add a ton of funky fruity notes to their coffee.”

However, certain processes suit certain climates. For example, it’s hard to natural process coffee in humid conditions. Natural processing takes a long time to dry and, with all the moisture in the air, the cherries can start to ferment. On the other hand, regions such as Minas Gerais in Brazil have a very dry harvest, so they produce a lot of natural processed coffees.

Coffee cherries arrive at the wet mill at CarmoCoffees in Carmo de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Credit: Ivan Petrich

The Limitations of Coffee Origins

At the same time, a coffee’s country of origin can only tell you so much. Within each country, you’ll have many regions, microclimates, varieties, and experimental production and processing methods that lead to distinctive coffees. As Richard says, “There’s always a micro lot on a small estate that can produce coffee that is totally different than what you expect.”

And Jon is even more skeptical. “Honestly, I don’t expect anything anymore. I think origin flavor profiles are starting to dissipate,” he says. He tells me he encounters SL-28, a coffee variety from Kenya, in Guatemala. Gesha/Geisha, a coffee variety from Ethiopia that rose to fame in Panama, can be found in Guatemala. And then there’s processing: he’ll come across experimentally lactic acid processed coffees in Ethiopia.

“It’s a new world,” he says, “with varietals and processing changing hands.”

Want to better understand different coffee origins? The answer is simple: sample as many as possible. Compare a Colombian, an Ethiopian, and an Indonesian. Try a natural from Brazil and a natural from Burundi. Ask your barista about the origin and read the information on the bag. With time, you’ll start to recognise certain country’s profiles and know your favorites.

And, when a coffee doesn’t have the typical profile for its region, you’ll be even more excited to try it.

Enjoyed this? Check out How to Understand The Label on Your Bag of Roasted Coffee

Written by Ivan Petrich.

Perfect Daily Grind

Want to read more articles like this? Sign up for our newsletter!

The post What Do Coffees From Around The World Taste Like – & Why? appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2018/03/what-do-coffees-from-around-the-world-taste-like-why/

Drinking Coffee May Decrease The Effects Of Cannabis

Coffee and cannabis: two great tastes that go great together. But new research may have some bad news for collab enthusiasts (or at least the ones who like their gravy to be extra wavy): coffee may cancel out the effects of cannabis, and not just because coffee is an “upper” and cannabis is a “downer”.

In a new study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, assistant professor of preventative medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Marilyn Cornelis takes a look at how coffee consumption affects chemical levels in the blood. According to LiveScience, Cornelis and her team found that coffee had an effect on a total 155 metabolites in the blood, 34 of which “don’t even have names or known roles in the body.”

One of the known affected metabolites are what is known as endocannabinoids, “molecules that bind to cannabinoid receptors, which are found all over the nervous system, as well as in immune and endocrine tissue.” When you consume cannabis, the endocannabinoids in the plant bind to the receptors in your body, causing the sweet, sweet effect.

The research from Cornelis found a decreased number of endocannabinoid metabolites in persons who consume four to eight cups of coffee daily, which she posits may mean that coffee works to suppress endocannabinoids. But the nature of these effects remains unknown. Cornelis offers an alternative explanation for the lowers metabolites. From LiveScience:

The same endocannabinoids that declined with coffee also decrease when the body is under stress. It’s possible that the amount of coffee that participants were drinking (four to eight cups a day) caused stress, which led to a drop of endocannabinoid levels as some kind of protective measure.

The relation between coffee consumption and efficacy of cannabis is still a bit of a mystery, but as the new research shows, there is at least a correlation between drinking coffee and a decreased endocannabinoid effect. So if you’re looking to just get a good walking-around high going, maybe chug a lug of some batch brew beforehand.

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 Dank Roast: Trichome Seattle Puts Weed In Coffee And We Tried It

The post Drinking Coffee May Decrease The Effects Of Cannabis appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/drinking-coffee-may-decrease-the-effects-of-cannabis-131623.html

Coffee In Texas Gets Better With Dallas Coffee Gxls

The Dallas coffee scene is looking better than ever since Oodie Taliaferro of Cultivar Coffee teamed up with barista Briana Flores to found a new organization, Dallas Coffee Gxls. Founded in January of 2018, the organization’s mission is to support, empower, and foster community for coffee professionals in the Dallas metroplex area, especially those who have historically been underrepresented in the coffee community: women, queer people, and people of color.

Inspired by grassroots coffee organizing across the country and frustrated by a lack of forward motion at the local level, Taliaferro and Flores decided that if they wanted to see change in their local community, they would have to be the ones to make it happen. “Dallas coffee events are still cisgender/heterosexual/male dominated,” said Taliaferro, even though, according to them—Taliaferro uses they/them pronouns—the Dallas-Fort Worth area is very diverse. “We want all people to feel like they have an organization that fights for them. Dallas coffee is growing, and with that needs to come growth of representation.”

Oodie Taliaferro.

Briana Flores.

They also want to be clear about who they represent: “Our group is by women, for everyone,” said Taliaferro. “Some events will be exclusively for gender-marginalized people, but most will be open to everyone.” Taliaferro and Flores aim to push community-centered events past latte art throwdowns and other competitions, working towards collaborative events like social hours, meet and greets, cuppings, and volunteer-based education. They also want to support and encourage more gender-marginalized people—a term for any gender group that experiences gender discrimination, including cisgender and transgender women, nonbinary people, and transgender men—to attend, compete, and judge in the competition-based events that the area already enjoys. In working to accomplish these goals, they also plan to address access needs that keep certain community members from being able to attend, like making sure events are child-friendly.

Pouring at a recent Dallas Coffee Gxls event. Photo by David Halloran.

The fledgeling group started off strong by releasing a thorough code of conduct and gathering names for a Slack community where they can collaborate despite the geographic sprawl of the Dallas region. Their inaugural event in January was a gender-marginalized meet and greet, followed by a celebratory throwdown. “We discussed harassment and discrimination in the workplace and ways we can help each other combat it. Baristas and roasters alike shared their visions for what our industry can and should be here in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,” said Taliaferro. The event spilled over into what was one of the most widely and diversely attended throwdowns the Dallas-Fort Worth area has seen in recent memory, with around 50 attendees. “There was definitely a vibrancy in the air as soon as we started our discussion,” said Flores. “I don’t remember the last time there was such a large turnout for a TNT in North Texas.”

The organization has much more planned in the coming months. “We’re also planning to work with #CoffeeToo and Queer Coffee Events in the future,” said Taliaferro. [Full disclosure: I am a co-founder at Queer Coffee Events.] “Dallas has a huge coffee community and so many of those folks face racial or gender marginalization. We hope to be able to be a resource for everyone.”

Judging latte art at a recent Dallas Coffee Gxls event. Photo by David Halloran.

Down the line, Taliaferro and Flores intend to elect interregional representatives throughout Dallas-Fort Worth midpoints like Denton, Flower Mound, Coppell, and Highland Village to make sure that everyone within their large region feels represented and included. “We’re fortunate to live in one of the most progressive cities in Texas, where we can find the support to move forward,” said Flores. “We want to reach out as far as possible to educate, heal, and empower.”

The group is excited to keep hearing and amplifying the voices of their local community and bring their shared vision to life. “We want to provide hope, educational resources, child-friendly coffee events, but most of all, a safe place for marginalized individuals to speak, feel, create, be appreciated for their craft,” said Flores. To stay up to date on Dallas Coffee Gxls, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram; if you want to connect or are interested in donating, you can reach out to Dallas Coffee Gxls via email. 

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.

Photos courtesy Dallas Coffee Gxls. 

The post Coffee In Texas Gets Better With Dallas Coffee Gxls appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/dallas-coffee-gxls-131277.html

Austin’s Houndstooth Coffee Is Taking Over Dallas

Austin brands trying to find footing in Dallas often struggle—and ultimately shutter—because they have trouble navigating the city’s love-hate relationship with anything coming out of the state capital. People in Dallas love Austin and Austin things but also presume everything coming from there is trying to be too cool for school, something that Houndstooth Coffee learned almost immediately after opening its first outpost in the city, when a local magazine sandwiched a story dubbing it the “Best Coffee Shop” between two articles smearing it for being both too serious and too nice. We locals are complicated, petty, maybe a little jealous, but if you want to serve us coffee at our best, you have to deal with us at our worst.

With the opening of Houndstooth’s third location in Dallas, it is safe to say that the brand has successfully weathered our fickle tumultuousness and, in doing so, has acted as a sort of sherpa for other Austin companies looking to make the move 200 miles north. Houndstooth’s second Dallas shop sits adjacent to Taco Deli, its next-door neighbor at the original Austin cafe (which will also be a stone’s throw from the newest spot). And for the third location, Houndstooth teamed up with TreeHouse—an Austin-based home improvement store that focuses on sustainable, environmentally friendly homewares—to create Dallas’s first 100 percent solar-powered coffee shop.

Opened in Northeast Dallas last November, the new shop is Houndstooth’s first location to exist in a stand-alone building. But not just any stand-alone building, or even a single building at that. The new cafe is basically two separate tiny houses joined in the middle by a wooden backdrop with a giant lighted “COFFEE” sign. Each of the roughly 500-square-foot houses serves a distinct purpose; one acts as a standard bustling cafe, including seating for eight to ten people stopping in for a quick drink, and the other is a much quieter area with more open seating for those looking to stay a while or have an uninterrupted conversation with a friend.

More than just offering quaint partitioning, the tiny houses fall in line with the other environmentally responsible decisions that went into the design of the new Houndstooth. From the old-growth bamboo floors and fireclay tiles to the Tesla solar-powered station providing electricity for the entire building and shopping complex–wide composting program soon to be rolled out, everything in the cafe is designed to be energy efficient, eco-friendly, and sustainable.

Houndstooth owner Sean Henry explains that the opportunity to team up with TreeHouse on the new shop serves as an eco-friendly jumping off point for the rest of his cafes: “When we looked at growth and how we wanted to make our cafes more in line with our personal thoughts on sustainability, this opportunity was a great fit. Over the next year, we’re implementing several measures across all cafes to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Inside the cafe side, the look and feel is different from other Houndstooth locations. Being in a stand-alone building allows big windows lining three walls of the cafe to pump in tons of natural light at almost any time of day, adding to the warmth of an already inviting space thanks to a variety of woods, textures, and rich, colored tiles behind the coffee bar. It’s a bit of a departure from the clean whites more common in other Houndstooth locations; that aesthetic is reserved for the interior of the other tiny house.

For this location, Houndstooth also departed from its standard espresso machine setup: Dallas shops use Nuova Simonelli Black Eagles and Austin shops use Kees Van Der Westen (or Van Der Westen–designed La Marzocco) machines. For this shop, Henry opted to go with the Mavam—the newest contender for the under-counter espresso crown—making Houndstooth the first shop in Texas to do so. Paired with the three espresso modules are three Nuova Simonelli Mythos One Clima Pro grinders, the standard espresso grinder at all the company’s locations.

“We love to break down the barriers between guest and barista,” Henry says. “Obviously, removing the espresso machine can open up the conversation even more, which is a good thing for our baristas. It is certainly a professional’s machine—everything is highly visible. We’ve focused even more on training our baristas to be conscious of every move. It has really helped us be specific.”

Coffee shops and roasters are starting to focus on increasing sustainability efforts, implementing changes big and small to reduce their carbon footprint. The new Houndstooth represents a top-down approach, where everything is seen through an environmental lens from the very beginning. And once again, Houndstooth finds itself playing the canary in the coal mine, testing the viability of an eco-forward cafe in a not-always-eco-friendly city. Smart money is on Houndstooth succeeding because for one, it’s hot here; we’ve got the resources for solar power in spades, so why not use it? But more importantly, Henry and Houndstooth are good at what they do, which they’ve proven time and again. A good cup of coffee may just make Dallas folks eco-acolytes yet.

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

The post Austin’s Houndstooth Coffee Is Taking Over Dallas appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/austins-houndstooth-coffee-continues-its-dallas-expansion-129900.html

Why Every Coffee Roaster Should Break The Rules – Sometimes

Do you want to understand coffee roasting in greater detail? Become a more creative roaster? Develop your own personal style? Then it’s time you start breaking some of the “rules” of roasting.

You might also like Is Bitterness in Coffee Always Bad?

Inspecting coffee beans during roasting. Credit: The Coffee Ride

The Myth of The Perfect Roast Profile

When I began roasting, I would spend hours, even weeks, researching the “perfect” roast profile for a particular coffee or region. It was only after years of home roasting that I finally realized this doesn’t exist.

Coffee has many variables: moisture, elevation, machinery, processing methods… And then you need to consider consumer tastes. There are so many factors that go into the roasting process that it’s pointless having a one-size-fits-all mentality. Instead, learn from each roast, take notes, and have fun experimenting with different beans.

Get to know your machine. Find out what works and what doesn’t work. Cup your coffee. Collect samples every 30 seconds to see what the flavors of each stage of the roasting process taste like. Then, go back and roast it all over again, speeding up or slowing down at various points, just to see what happens.

Remember, mistakes are not bad, as long as you know why they happened and can use that to improve.

You might also like Effective Experimentation Methods for Coffee People

Checking roast progress. Credit: The Coffee Ride

What Rules Can You Break?

Some rules shouldn’t be broken. I call these the outermost parameters, and they’re where the extreme “unwanted” flavors begin to enter the taste of brewed coffee. These are things such as scorching, baking, tipping, and over/under-roasting. They are the imperfections that will give your beverage a sour, bitter, baked, or ashy profile.

Discover more! Read 6 Common Roast Defects & How to Recognize Them

But working within these outer parameters, you’ll hear many “rules” that, really, we should just consider guidelines. These inner parameters are subjective. And it’s here that you can express your personal roasting style.

One of the most important things I’ve learned about coffee is that taste is personal. One individual may be seeking an acidic, fruit-forward drink. Another might want a more mellow and balanced cup filled with notes of dark chocolate and currants. And then others may appreciate a smoky tobacco flavor.

Each consumer is unique. Each coffee is unique. And each roaster should be unique, too.

Studying coffee-roasting technique. Credit: The Coffee Ride

Developing Your Own Roasting Style

Experiment with parameters. You won’t know where yours lie until you hit them. Try charging your roaster at 450°F (232°C) just to see what happens. Try stretching out your roast to 20 minutes and then tasting the coffee.

Without finding where these imperfections are, you’ll never be able to find the perfections. I remember a natural processed Ethiopian that I had decided to roast much faster than normal, with a time of around eight minutes rather than my standard twelve or so. I had expected an awful result. Yet, when I cupped the coffee, so many fruity notes appeared that had previously been overpowered by the chocolate ones.

While this mistake wasn’t what I was in search of for this coffee, it sparked my curiosity. It pushed me to continue my endless research in coffee development.

As you break the rules, you’ll understand them better. You’ll learn which ones you should follow and which ones are just guidelines. You’ll uncover how and when to ignore rules for the best effect. You’ll discover new ways to bring out different characteristics from each coffee – and, in doing so, you’ll develop your own personal style.

It takes hours and hours of practice to understand how each bean will react to different roast techniques. But the most beautiful thing about coffee is that, as soon as you think you know what you’re doing, something happens that makes you rethink your entire process.

And it’s worth rethinking your methods – and sometimes even challenging the status quo. Just because many people are roasting one way doesn’t mean you should too.

Starbucks has a store on almost every corner in the United States because people like their coffee and have done so for years. While their products may not impress many third wave coffee professionals, the company figured out a way to work within certain parameters, develop their style and build a loyal customer following.

In the end, your roasting style is what makes you stand out. So experiment, break the rules, and have confidence in your taste buds. If you’re roasting coffee that you love, others will love it too.

Enjoyed this? Read Is Bitterness in Coffee Always Bad?

Written by Joshua Crane.

Perfect Daily Grind

Want to read more articles like this? Sign up for our newsletter!

The post Why Every Coffee Roaster Should Break The Rules – Sometimes appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2018/03/why-every-coffee-roaster-should-break-the-rules-sometimes/

Even Lions Love Coffee

Who doesn’t love coffee? Not lions, that’s for sure. Instead of making you work your way out of that unnecessary and cumbersome double negative, I’ll go ahead and tell you that lions love coffee.

A new video from the Times of Israel show a group of lions having themselves a time by rolling around in coffee grounds at the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. “Who gave these lions coffee and why are they rolling around in it?” are two questions you are surely asking yourself right now. Working backwards and then forwards, let me just start by answering your question with another question: “who among us hasn’t rolled around in coffee grounds before? Let them cast the first puck.” The real answers, though, are that the big cats were given the coffee grounds by their handler, Yifta, and was done in hopes that the animals would act as they would in the wild.

According to the article, predatory animals often have a natural instinct to roll around in things with a strong scent, which effectively disguises their own smell from their prey. And indeed these lions as they are wont to do, rolling around in the coffee for nearly half an hour.

Either way, just look at these terrifyingly cute little buddies. Have you ever seen so many big ole cats acting like tiny kitties in such a deadly cuddle puddle?

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

*all media via the Times of Israel

The post Even Lions Love Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8200593 http://sprudge.com/video-even-lions-love-coffee-131565.html