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Ben Blake is our news intern, but he’s also a heckuva doodler. Isn’t that little Hobbit up above just the cutest? Check out more of Ben’s work via Draw Coffee.

‘Hobbit’ Crew Spends $380,000 on Coffee – In an attempt to get to the bottom of a recent report by Forbes, our correspondent Joeย Marrocco sat down with Elorendora the Elf to talk about why the crew of ‘The Hobbit’ย spent an Ent-ish $380,000 on coffee. In what became nothing short of a long-windedย lecture, Ellie not only justified the expense, but dropped an info bomb in the processโ€”ย Hobbits are basically made from coffee.

Real Talk: Barista Health Part II –ย Sprudge staff-writer Alex Bernson released the second installment in his importantย “Barista Health In The Workplace” series. This week, Mr. Bernson explored some ofย the causes behind barista health issues, approaching them from both a physical andย (oft-neglected) emotional aspect. Bernson uses interviews with industry experts to discuss how the industry as a whole can create low-stress, high quality service-centeredย environments. These are important issues to discuss, and we hope the conversationย remains fluid and open.

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Oddly Opens New Space –ย KC-Based Roaster Oddly Correct started 2013 off in a big way and ovine into an all newย cafe space in the Midtown area. We chatted with Oddly’s Tyler Rovenstine about theย company in advance of our upcoming KCMO trip and can’t wait to visit. Congrats!

Coffee in Cars Continues – Funnyman Jerry Seinfeld signed on to do a second season of his Crackle-based webย series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” The series centers around conversationsย between Seinfeld and his funny friends, and offers an intimate glimpse into, well, theirย conversationsโ€”it’s a real gem. We just hope next season’s budget includes enough forย some new coffee footage.

Intelligentsia Expands –ย Intelligentsia made a splash this week by announcing it will open an amazing five (5!) new retail coffee bars this year, including an expansion into NYC. In addition, Intelliย will be opening three new Chicago locations, as well as a previously reported Sanย Francisco cafe.ย Intelligentsia is now hiringโ€”be sure to check out the postings on our allย new “SprudgeJobs” page.

Barista Hero –ย A Spokane, Washington barista deserves a raise after she successfully fended off twoย wannabe robbers this week. In response to the men’s demands, and with a gun in herย face, barista Ashley Berto was all like “No! You’re not taking our money! I don’t thinkย so.” Thankfully, her defiance was enough to scare the men off. Props to Ms. Berto forย being so awesome.

Exploding Coffee Filters –ย We knew something wasn’t right about airline coffee. The FAA has recently released anย official alert, warning Airline Attendants of exploding coffee pod filters. According to theย FAA, “the coffee filter containing the hot coffee grounds can burst causing burns to theย face, neck, hands, arms and torso in varying degrees of severity.” Scary stuff!

Look for this scene in an upcoming episode of “Dangerous Grounds.”

TED + SCAA –ย The SCAA recently announced it would be providing coffee services for this Year’sย TED conference in Long Beach, CA. Both the Barista Guild and the Roaster’s Guild willย team up to provide coffee services and farm-to-cup education for the more-than 3,000ย attendees, through 7 state-of-the-art coffee stations. Baristas will be hand-selected from the best and brightest!

 

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