Maybe you spent the last week like me, trying to watch all the seasons of Breaking Bad while simultaneously moving. Maybe you were copy and pasting press releases for a hot new breaking blog post, or perhaps you forced yourself into going on a technology fast. Whatever the case may be, here’s the last week’s worth of Sprudge Certified Content, boiled down to its purest form. Let’s call it a synthesis – these recaps are the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change.
Beans, ‘Bucks and Barismo: Sprudge contributor Hannah Neuschwander again graced our pages this week, putting out a nice feature on the world’s first traceable ECX coffee (roasted by Barismo). She spoke with Matthew Hodges, the founder of GeoCertify on the company’s mission to make the coffee world a bit more transparent. GeoCertify utilizes QR Codes and Tracking codes that make tracking an ECX lot a reality—an exciting prospect for getting more information out of those Ethiopian coffees we know and love.
Barista Nation: Barista Nation is coming back to the Southlands with an epic Los Angeles event on September 28th, 2013. The event is hosted by Wilbur Curtis Company at their Los Angeles HQ, and the thrilling talks and high impact labs are some of the most daring and outrageous we’ve ever seen on a coffee event program. This year’s theme is myth-busting, and #BNLA will be addressing myths about roasting, espresso, careers, journalism, blended coffee drinks, and cuppings. Your Sprudge Editors will be presenting, leading labs, and DJ’ing at this event!
Books: Espresso Parts just made it a whole lot easier for you to get Liz Clayton’s brand new book, “Nice Coffee Time”. Copies of Nice Coffee Time are available for $14.95, and will ship August 23rd.
Bears: Check out this new camping mug from Verve Coffee Roasters—it’s got a bear on it! Right on!
Berlin: Our content model here at Sprudge currently includes staff writers in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Melbourne. This week we announced a brand-new contributor to Sprudge.com: Mr. Cory Andreen, based in Berlin. His first feature focused on Five Elephant Coffee, an out-of-the-way cafe that serves up great coffees and cakes (and boasts a sexy Diedrich set- up. Hubba Hubba).
Build-Outs: The build-outs just keep rolling in. We’re in the thick of the 2013 edition of our Build-Outs of Summer series, and things don’t seem to be slowing down. Only Sprudge can take you around the world to find the coolest new cafes, before they open. This week we profiled two new shops, both of which will be must-visits as soon as the lights go on.
In Helsinki, 2013 Finnish Barista Champion Kalle Freese has been hard at work building out the first location of his very own cafe. Freese Coffee Company will be an education center during the weekdays, with intimate public coffee service available on weekends. We’re ecstatic for Kalle, and may well use his shop as a great excuse to visit Helsinki soon.
And in San Francisco, we featured the build-out Andytown Coffee Roasters, a brand new roaster in the the Outer Sunset neighborhood. Owners Lauren Crabbe and Michael McCrory have quite a pedigree: she’s a former Blue Bottle Lead Barista and a coffee tech writer for Wired, and he’s got extensive bartending and barista experience in New York and San Francisco. They also happen to be married and in love, which is awesome. This feature was a real pleasure to publish!
Best Brand Buds: Portland bosom buddies Poler Outdoor Stuff & Stumptown Coffee Roasters teamed up for a #CampCoffee kit, perfect for chasing down those last dog days of August out in the woods. Just add a portable water heating source, and you’ve got everything you need to make the perfect cup of coffee out on the trail. Just be sure to photograph it with your iPhone; you’ll have to wait to Instagram it, but I think there was 3G back at the trailhead.
Ben Blake is the genius behind Draw Coffee (@DrawCoffee) and a regular weekly news recapper for Sprudge. Though briefly a resident of Italy and Seattle, Ben now resides in Washington DC. Read more Ben Blake here!
