We’re excited today to announce the coming global empire of Sprudge.com “desk” writers. These paid members of the Sprudge.com team will be bringing you the very best in coffee coverage from a roster of cities around the world. As specialty coffee grows, so too does the craft of writing about specialty coffee. With our new team of city desks, Sprudge.com can continue expanding the quality and quantity of coffee writing that happens each day on this website.
Our first four “desk” writers are located in London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Melbourne, and you’ll be seeing more coverage from these cities in the coming weeks on Sprudge. What this means for you is, better and more comprehensive content from four of the world’s most progressive, fascinating, and rapidly expanding specialty coffee scenes. What it means for us is, a treasure trove of new ideas and story possibilities, plus the excitement that comes from collaborating with new and immensely talented staff.
To head any frothy gossip off at the pass, no, we have not been purchased by an outside buyer, or sold part of Sprudge to an investor. We remain a wholly owned independent publishing company. Buying a bunch of awesome writing from awesome writers is how we’re spending our ad revenue.
Meet said awesome writers!
London – Elyse Bouvier (@ElyseBouvier) is a photographer, essayist, and working barista at Talkhouse Coffee, in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London. Ms. Bouvier’s first series of features for Sprudge.com brought a landmark depth and breadth of coverage to the 2013 United Kingdom Barista Championship. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Elyse has a degree in communications and electronic publishing from Mount Royal University, and has been living and working in London since early 2012.
Los Angeles – Julie Wolfson (@JulieWolfson) is a professional freelance writer and lifelong Californian. We first met Julie at Let’s Talk Coffee 2012, which she attended on behalf of Cool Hunting. Her contributions to Sprudge.com have been among our very favorite in 2013, including her pitch-perfect exploration of chef Gary Menes and his coffee program at Le Comptoir, her sprawling two-part series on Ulysses Romero and Tierra Mia Coffee, and her world’s first look at the new G&B Coffee location at Grand Central Market. In an unassailable stroke of coolness, her home has been featured on Apartment Therapy.
New York City – Alex Bernson (@AlexBernson) is already a well-known voice here at Sprudge.com, where he’s been a contributor since May of 2012. His series on “Barista Health In The Workplace” – part 1 – part 2 – part 3 – helped usher in a new focus on workplace health and good practices across the global specialty coffee industry. His world-first reportage on the Modbar Modular Espresso system is among the most popular features in Sprudge history, and has been widely linked to or excerpted by the mainstream media, including The New Yorker. Educated at Wesleyan Univeristy, Mr. Bernson will speak alongside presenters such as René Redzepi (Noma) and Christer Söderberg (Open World Foundation) at the 2013 Nordic Barista Cup.
Melbourne – Eileen P. Kenny (@EileenPK) is the author of Birds of Unusual Vitality, which we consider to be one of the very best coffee publications on the planet. Eileen was a Coffee Common barista at TED2012, and is a working barista at Market Lane Coffee in Melbourne. Ms. Kenny holds a Bachelor of Photography from the Griffith University Queensland College of Fine Art, and has worked previously with Sprudge.com as the principal photographer for our 2013 World Barista Championship coverage. [For more on the implications of our new global media strategy, please see here.]
