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Armchair environmentalists, farmer’s markets, and organic California-grown coffee: is this the Fourth Wave? When customers stop by Jay Ruskey’s stand at the Santa Barbara farmers market these days, they may or may not be impressed by the likes of…

Exciting news from Minneapolis based Cafe Imports, who are today announcing a new partnership with the USBC. Cafe Imports will be sending all Regional Barista champions, the winner of the USBC, and the World Barista champion to origin. Journeying…

A rainbow of bummer news from the island state of Hawaii, where coffee borer beetles are posing a real threat to America’s origin…

Sent along by Tom of Sweet Maria’s, check out this really-too-perfect shot of automotive ingenuity: Sprudge readers who have spent time in East Africa, tell us: is this a fairly common practice? Are there lots more photos like this…

Sprudge.com has been contacted by the Cup of Excellence regarding our “Aguagate” report on discrepancies at CoE Colombia 2010. We’re happy to pass on the following information to our readers: 1. At no point has the Cup of Excellence…

  Whispers and questioning blog posts are circulating within specialty coffee regarding the results of this year’s Cup of Excellence event in Pasto, Colombia. A score of 94.9 was awarded to Jose Antonio Gualguan’s Finca La Loma coffee, the…

Here’s a brief primer on coffee varietals found in Colombia to supplement our “Aguagate” report. Information gathered from Virmax, photos via Stumptown Coffee. Typica The first coffee variety introduced to most coffee growing countries (including Colombia). Known to originate…

There’s trouble today at the Gikanda Cooperative in Kenya, some of whose members are alleging the loss of millions of shillings over recent accounting discrepancies. Gikanda is among the most reputable and highly prized co-ops in Kenya, and products…

At the Seattle Times, Melissa Allison and Amy Martinez report on the growing trend of “Direct Trade” coffees in the Northwest. We’ve whined in the past about Mainstream Media’s fair trade love-on and we’re pleased to see this thoughtful…

Santa Cruz based Verve Coffee Roasters just released Mama Cata Estate 2010 honey-processed Geisha. Although we personally haven’t had a chance to taste this coffee, all reports from those who have agree: this coffee is caps lock DELICIOUS and…