Another week, another incredible entry in our Coffee Design series, a recurring feature on Sprudge since 2015.ย
This week we’re catching up with Bellingham, Washington’s very own Camber Coffee, who launched an exquisite Artist Series in Winter of 2019. Back then, Camber Coffee co-founder David Yake told us that Camber has always been a representation of their love of coffee, people, food, art, and the natural world. “Having the chance to feature work by artists we admire is a privilege,” Yake says. We wanted to loop back around with Yake to find out how the series has been going, and to spotlight their newest offerings designed by UK-based artist Tilly Mint.
Hi, David! Tell us about how the Artist Series has been goingโwho have you featured so far?
Splendidly! These projects bring us a lot of joy. Our first featured artist (in late 2019/2020) was Rosa de Weerd, a Dutch illustrator with a fascination for flora and fauna (real and imagined).
Tell us about the latest releaseโthe artist, their work, and how it fits with the coffee offerings.
We’re delighted to feature the creations of Tilly Mint, a UK-based artist. Tilly captures fluid interactions with a macro lens. She describes her work as “a microcosm to macrocosm journey.”
Her pieces remind us of the collision of the natural and human-made world, like, well, coffee. The fluidity and vibrancy of her work also reminds us of our encountering new, unique coffees, which is exactly what we seek out for this series.
Tilly also makes meditation and music videos. We’re featuring one of her videos on our homepage this month. I’ve definitely visited our site intending to complete some task and instead found myself falling into a complete trance. It’s nice. While supplies last, we’re also including postcards that we had printed with Tilly’s artwork with every Artist Series order placed on our website.
The first release in the series is a palate-bending coffee from the Sidama region of Ethiopia. Before we cupped this lot from the fabled Daye Bensa washing station, we had never tasted a honey-processed coffee from Ethiopia. From our first sip, we were delighted by the percussive notes of mango, apricot, and tangerine. Producer Asefa Dukamo is responsible for making this lot a reality; weโre thankful that we get to share his efforts.
How long will this offering be available?
Some of the lots that we feature in our Artist Series are quite small. We’d love to feature a half dozen special coffees in the Tilly Mint packaging this year.
Where is it available?
Primarily on our website and at our cafe. When supplies permit, we feature both Artist Series coffees in our custom box set. A few of our wholesale partners have a limited stock, including Milstead in Seattle and Cafe Dulce in LA.
If artists reading this are interested in collaborating, how can they get involved?
Drop us a line! We can be reached at coffee@cambercoffee.com
Thank you, David!
Thanks Zachary! Hope to see you in Bellingham soon.
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Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge.ย
