Summer School Lede

Summer school sucks. You have to spend all day inside studying math or science or whatever it is the librul media says is โ€œimportantโ€ to โ€œlearnโ€. But what if instead the subject matter was coffee? That could maybe provide some edutainment in between all those times spent cutting class to go smoke heaters under the bleachers (which is the main reason youโ€™re in summer school to begin with).

Well, if that sounds like a reasonable alternativeโ€”or if you just one of those weirdos that likes to learn thingsโ€”then Bellingham, Washingtonโ€™s Camber Coffee has just the curriculum for you. Completely digital, Camberโ€™s Summer School series has a coffee class for just about every interest.

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Itโ€™s hard out there for roasters. Even if youโ€™re lucky enough to have your own cafe and the steady influx of coffee sales it provides, youโ€™re no doubt seeing less poundage going to your flagship, and the bread and butter of your business, your wholesale clients, are in no better shape themselves. This has left many, like Camber, looking beyond the three-dimensional cafe space for other, more two-dimensional avenues, like the internet. Going digital doesnโ€™t mean just online coffee sales but finding new ways to reimagine community engagement events like coffee courses. Thus arose the idea of Summer School (because all school is probably going to be online for a while anyway).

With two already in the books, Summer School is an a la carte coffee education series that takes place via Zoom call. Taking place roughly every month, Camberโ€™s course roster has included subjects like an Intro to Cupping using the SCAโ€™s cupping form and an Origin Identification class, and for the July installationโ€”taking place Sunday the 26th at 10:00am PSTโ€”Camber is turning their attention from palate development and going deep on the science of brewing iced coffee. The hour-long course (tickets are available now for $15 via the Camber website) will walk attendees through some of the companyโ€™s favorite flash ice brew methods, specifically those that involve Chemex and AeroPress brewing.

Looking forward, Camberโ€™s next Summer School sessions include a Crash Course in Home Espresso at the end of August as well as an interview on Instagram Live with Swiss Waterโ€™s Mike Stumpf, and then in Semptember, the focus will shift to origin, with interviews with producers Maria Pacas and Benjamin Paz of Cafรฉ Pacas in El Salvador and Beneficio San Vicente in Honduras, respectively. Exact dates and times for the class in August and beyond will be made available on Camberโ€™s website and Instagram once they have been officially set.

But in the meantime, thereโ€™s still time to sign up for the Iced Coffee course and get it down cold. For more information or to register to attend, visit Camber Coffeeโ€™s official website.

Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.

Disclosure: Camber Coffee is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network

Top image ยฉ Adobe Stock/Ardea-studio

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