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2007 World Barista Champion James Hoffmann has just opened the Penny University, an espresso-free coffeehouse extension of Square Mile Roasters. New York Times’ Oliver Strand reports: Notably, there’s no espresso machine. It’s a daring decision given that Square Mile…

S Brew V Oy vey. Trena Fiels, a 42-year-old from Detroit, was heading westbound on Oregon 22 near milepost 38 when she decided her coffee needed sweetening. During the maneuver, she drove off the highway and then overcorrected, sending…

May was a hard month for Latin America. First there was the double-whammy of the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala, followed by the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador. Then Tropical Storm Agatha hit Central America. Early reports indicate that at least 106 people…

The industry’s sexiest barista championship is upon us, pinning and mounting the international coffee community with bated breath. The Ultimate Barista Fighter: involving booze, aeropresses, steamed milk and a lot of rope: For this challenge we want you put…

A Colombian model accused of leading a drug-trafficking gang that persuaded pretty young women to smuggle cocaine to Mexico was arrested Wednesday after evading Argentine police for five months. Angie Sanclemente Valencia had been hiding out in Buenos Aires…

CoffeeFest Minneapolis is just a few short days away. CoffeeFest is a thrice-annual trade show for specialty coffee going strong since 1992. At this event excitement is brewing over a reformatted Millrock Latte Art Championship (with a grand prize…

Only in Seattle New information released by Mint.com on coffee-buying trends reveals that on average Seattleites spent $36 a month at their favorite coffee shops, topping out the list of caffeine-addicted cities. San Jose, Calif. and Portland trailed just…

Greg Sherwin, longtime guru behind the San Francisco-based CoffeeRatings.com, took a recent trip to the city of Seattle. He visited most of the usual suspects in the Seattle coffee scene, ranting and ranking them accordingly, and coming up with…

We’re not making this up. What started out as a move to save the town’s 113-year-old bakery has transformed this group of police officers into innovative entrepreneurs. Now, the Clare-based Cops and Doughnuts bakery has teamed up with Tennessee…

Stay-at-home-barista Joy Chalk has made a number of new friends with Cup of Joe For Joe, a program that puts coffee in the hands of American soldiers for $2 a cup. Her son is currently serving a tour of…

“If you think about anything long enough, parts of it will annoy you.” This statement perfectly sums up the content Esquire.com’s recent piece on specialty coffee, “Back to the Future: The Coming Coffee Revolution“. Written by former Seattle-area bean…

From time to time, we here at Sprudge like to highlight the best and brightest coffee writing on the web. We regularly link to James Hoffman’s JimSeven.com, we check Shot Zombies a couple of times a week, and we’re…

ShotZombies.com has reported on today’s historic Best of Panama auction: Holy crap! WATARU & CO., lTD. and Saza Coffee just went at it for the number one lot in the Best of Panama auction. Don’t feel bad for Wataru though, they…

In 2008, a conversation began on the Coffeed.com message boards about coffee flavor descriptors. It all started with green Jolly Ranchers. One of the most enlightening contributions comes from Jimmy Oneshuk from Saskatoon: When you think of it, using…

From Kona to Kitsap County, from El Salvador to Silverdale. God only knows what this guy needs a 10,000 square-foot greenhouse for… You can purchase these Kitsap coffee plants at 3leafcoffee.com. “Nobody grows coffee beans in Kitsap, so I…

Sprudge is late in reporting on the Starbucks sponsored “Betacup Challenge” program. It’s in full swing now and the winners will be announced sometime after June 15th. The Betacup Challenge is purposely open-ended: design a coffee cup that addresses…