You’ve got a few short days left for you to nominate your coffee heroes for this year’s class of The Sprudge Twenty, our annual initiative honoring and amplifying extraordinary individuals in the specialty coffee community. Presented in partnership with Pacific Barista Series, the Sprudge Twenty is searching for mentors and leaders, strivers and game-changers, baristas and farmers, traders and teachers, entrepreneurs, and original voices in the field of coffee.
Nominate a Sprudge Twenty Honoree Today.
Nominations are open through Friday, March 3rd at 11:59 PM for the Sprudge Twenty class of 2023. Nominations can be submitted in any language, in the form of an original essay, audio nomination, or video recording, so that there is no barrier to submission—the entire process is open and free, in partnership with Pacific Barista Series.
Click here to nominate someone in your community today, and read on to learn more about some of our favorite past Sprudge Twenty honorees featuring a few of our favorite interviews from past Sprudge Twenty years.
Britain Brooks-Hall, Sprudge Twenty honoree for 2021
What issue in coffee do you care about most?
The intersection of climate change and racial justice. Environmental justice brings to the forefront the ways in which Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are disproportionately and deliberately affected by climate change. An equitable future is one that de-centers white environmentalism and prioritizes radical action and transformative justice working alongside communities that have been living the reality of climate change for years.
JoEllen Depakakibo of Pinhole Coffee, Sprudge Twenty honoree for 2021
How have the challenges of this last year informed your work?
More than ever my “protective mom” instinct kicked in to try and sustain my small business cafe baby. I did the most I could to keep things afloat while being a small business in a pandemic. It brought out my intentions of wanting to take care of my staff and the community. Applying for grants and loans, I had to analyze and understand my business more than I have ever paused to do in the past. Additionally, the challenges brought out how much love Pinhole Coffee produces as well as receives. So much gratitude for the community support.
Gisele Rodrigues Coutinho, Sprudge Twenty honoree for 2019
What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?
Consumer education. People need to understand the amount of work necessary and just how much it costs to fill a cup with quality coffee and how many studious people need to work at this to make it happen. Coffee is not just coffee.
LaNisa Williams, Sprudge Twenty honoree for 2020
What cause or element in coffee drives you?
I love coffee because it brings people together. It allows you to be as creative as you want. There are so many events in coffee that anything can happen. I step behind the bar and become an artist. Coffee fuels people’s day. It baffles my mind on how a cup of coffee can be the key to someone opening up to you. Coffee is consumed all over the world; it’s that one thing that unites us.
Check out the full list of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 Sprudge Twenty honorees and read their remarkable interviews here. The Sprudge Twenty is presented in partnership with Pacific Barista Series.
