The Sprudge Report - A Condiment Controversy
Plus some RTD coffees that I want and one that I definitely don't
How do you take your coffee?
Do you like your coffee black? Cream? A splash of oat milk? Maybe a little sugar? Or do you go a little more adventurous? The options for coffee go-withs range from tame and mainstream to wild and what?! That’s why we want to know what you put in your coffee and what you would be willing to try. Take our poll and sound off!
Cafes we visited
It was quite a cafe tour this week on Sprudge. From Edda, a Nordic style roaster in Cleveland to the Turkish coffee modernists at Pax & Beneficia in Dallas to even a design studio/cafe in Portland at Fisk, there were a host of unique expressions of what it means to be a coffee shop in America in 2023.
The Hawaii Coffee Conference
Elsewhere on Kauai, the Hawaii Coffee Association is hosting their annual conference and trade show June 15-17 at the Kauai Beach Resort & Spa in Lihue. There will be talks, demos, latte art and cupping competitions, and of course, a lot of American-grown coffee. Follow this link to learn more.
Hublot made a coffee watch with Nespresso
We’re all for upcycling coffee. Anything to keep it from ending up in a landfill. But charging five figures for it? Oof. That’s what Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot is doing. Teaming up with Nespresso, they have created a very green timepiece made in part of used coffee grounds and pods. The cost for these literal trash watches? A cool $24,000. There are no words.
A flat burr hand grinder has entered the chat
Hand grinders are traditionally of the conical burr ilk, but Italy’s Pietro Grinders is putting a new spin on manual grinding with the first-of-its-kind flat burr hand grinder. Hefty both in size and price tag, the Pietro hand grinder may nonetheless represent the next evolution in on-the-go grinding. Winning a Red Dot Design Award ain’t half bad either.
How much coffee do you need in the morning?
“Don’t talk to me ‘til I’ve had my coffee” is basically the “live, laugh, love” of the Monday morning workaday crowd. But how much coffee do you need before you actually start to feel like you can get stuff done? A new poll of over 2,000 office workers sought to find the answer, and honestly? I thought it would be more.
Neil Patrick Harris would like to sell you a canned espresso martini
Espresso martinis are here to stay. For a while at least. Or until a new coffee fad returns them to the annals of “why did we drink that again” history. But for now, they are going to live forever. And beloved actor Neil Patrick Harris has jumped into the espresso martini game by teaming up with Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits for a ready-to-drink canned espresso martini. Chug a lug.
Now that’s a canned coffee I’d drink!
Ok so maybe I’m not on board with espresso martinis, but these canned coffee drinks, now these I can get on board with. As part of our Ready to Drink series, we took a look at the RTD lineup from Dubai’s Three Coffee. Passionfruit cold brew! Marshmallow latte! Cold brew & tonic and even an oolong melon tea! There’s a can for every season, and I want them all.
The Coffee Sprudgecast: Live from the 2023 US Barista Championships
We’re heading back to Portland one last time to look back at the 2023 USBC, this time in podcast form! Host Elizabeth Chai spoke with two USBC competitors Gray Kauffman and Frank La. Both competitors had two of the more memorable routines this year, and Chai sits down with Kauffman and La to learn more.
New job listings from Sprudge Jobs
La Marzocco - Parts Fulfillment Team Member - Seattle, WA
Shamrock Foods Company - Beverage Specialist - Eastvale, CA
Bellwether Coffee - Sales Development Representative - Berkeley, CA
Cropster - Inside Sales Manager, Europe (f/m/d) - Innsbruck/Vienna, Austria or EU remote
Baratza - Support Specialist - Bellevue, WA
Ceremony Coffee Roasters - Sales & Partnership Manager - Annapolis, MD
Rancilio Group North America - Technical Specialist - Woodbridge, IL
New cafes on Sprudge Maps
Here are new cafes discoverable on our global cafe portal Sprudge Maps. Register your cafe for free—thanks to the support of La Marzocco and Pacific Barista Series.
Milli Coffee Roasters - Charlottesville, VA
Hesperis Coffee Factory - Marrakesh, Morocco
Ome by Spacebar Coffee - George Town, Malaysia
Do you have a news tip? Feedback? A funny joke? Send us an e-mail, use the contact form on Sprudge, leave a message at 1-888-55-SPRUDGE, or send us a letter at P.O. Box 3943 Portland, OR 97218.