The Mikael Jasin guide to Jakarta
Mikael Jasin is the 2024 World Barista Champion. He is also a resident of Jakarta, which just so happens to be the host city of the World of Coffee event happening right this very moment. And who better to give us a tour of the Indonesian capital than Jasin? That’s why we sat down with him to discuss some of his favorite places to eat and drink in Jakarta. And make sure you are tuning in to the Sprudge Instagram for coverage of the World Brewers Cup all weekend long.
The yin and yang of celebrity coffee
If there’s one thing celebrities seem to love doing, it’s starting a coffee brand. But they don’t all inherently suck. Take for instance Jason Mraz. He a celebrity with known ties to coffee, including owning his own farm near San Diego that produces coffee. But he has also shown himself to be a good human being with the latest news that he helped save Jitters, the oldest coffee shop in Oceanside that was on the verge of closing. Then there is Jolene Coffee, a new line of canned cold brew from Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Keidis, a reality TV star, the founder of a Hollywood hospitality and lifestyle marketing company, and the vultures at Live Nation.
Hella facts about Halifax
Up in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, there sits Halifax, the remote city with around half a million residents. It may be easy to overlook Halifax for other Canadian destinations like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, or Banff, but Halifax has been quietly brewing up a strong coffee scene that punches above its weight class. This week on Sprudge, we explore some of the stalwarts as well as the young up and comers in Halifax coffee.
The coolest roasting tech at Expo
The coffee world may have moved onto WoC Jakarta, but we’re still wrapping our heads around Expo in Houston just a few weeks back. Home of the World Roasters Championship—as well as being one of the premier events to show off the latest and greatest coffee tech—it makes sense that Expo had a whole lot of cool new roasting gadgets. That’s why we are taking one last spin around the show floor to look at the coolest new tech for the keepers of the flame.
La Marzocco x Aimé Leon Dore
When it comes to collabs, nobody does it quite like La Marzocco. And recently, they teamed up with luxury lifestyle brand Aimé Leon Dore for a custom Linea Micra. Featuring ALD’s forest green, wood, and brass color palette, the machines are handcrafted and made to order at Officine Fratelli Bambi, La Marzocco’s Florence-based bespoke espresso machine studio.
Tracking the price of coffee with Futures.Coffee
Understanding the price of Arabica on the futures market is an arduous task, but luckily there’s a new online tool that makes understanding it a little bit easier. Futures.Coffee is a free tracker of the price of coffee on the C market. It includes (mostly) realtime updates as well as a vast array of historical data.
A canephora flavor wheel
Coffea Canephora is making a comeback and it’s high time it started receiving the broad scale respect it deserves. And it all starts with its own flavor wheel. Canephora, also known as robusta even though it is but one of two of the varieties, has historically been assessed using an Arabica-focused flavor wheel, but a team of researchers led by Fabiana Carvalho has created a new, canephora-specific way to assess and assign flavor descriptors.
Press releases
Press releases this week brought us news from Mazzer, who is the official grinder of the 2025 World Brewers Cup, which is happening right now in case you hadn’t heard. Then, back Stateside, Portland Coffee Roasters is launching an all-new line of canned cold brew.
Nominations continue for the Sprudge Twenty
The Sprudge Twenty is our annual initiative honoring and amplifying extraordinary individuals in the specialty coffee community. This is an open call to our global network of readers and partners: nominate people in your business or community who exemplify excellence, leadership, and the future of coffee. The free and open nomination process continues through June 1st, 2025.
World Coffee Roasting Champion Mikaël Portannier on the Coffee Sprudgecast
We’ve got a special bite-sized episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast this week, featuring an interview with 2025 World Roasting Champion Mikaël Portannier. Liz Chai caught Portannier on stage moments after announcements to learn more about his epic win. And host Zachary Carlsen sips Passenger Coffee‘s India Bhadra while thumbing through a copy of their 2024 Transparency Report.
Roaster’s Village
We’re highlighting outstanding coffees from some of our favorite roasting partners each week here in the newsletter. This week’s selection of tasty coffees are…
PERC – Colombia Linarco Rodriguez Pink Bourbon
Klatch Coffee – Java Gunung Tikukur
Equator Coffees – Thailand Mae Chedi Anaerobic Natural
Heartwood Coffee – Kenya Kayu AB
Partners Coffee – Peru Los Tulipanes Honey
La Barba Coffee – Colombia Andrés Cardona Extended Fermentation Semi-Washed
THE BARN – Rwanda Mahembe
Madcap Coffee – Colombia Juliana Guevara Gesha
Passenger Coffee – Peru Fidel Huancas
Phil & Sebastian — Ecuador Lilac Dream (Catuaí – Hacienda Santa Gertrudis)
Mr. Espresso — Colombia La Terraza
Onyx Coffee Lab — Colombia Jairo Arcila Lychee
Portland Coffee Roasters – Anniversary Roast
Stumptown Coffee Roasters – Vivid Bloom
Dune Coffee Roasters – Ecuador Hacienda La Papaya Anaerobic Sidra
Pachamama Coffee – Perú
Night Swim Coffee – Ethiopia Nano Genji #6
Sightglass Coffee Roasters – Spring Equinox
Olympia Coffee – Colombia San Sebastian Reserva
Verve Coffee Roasters – Kenya Gura AA
Joe Coffee – Honduras Rubí Sisters Catuaí
CXFFEEBLACK – Fruit Of Our Labor
New job listings from Sprudge Jobs
Black & White Coffee Roasters - Production Roaster - Raleigh, NC
Ceremony Coffee Roasters - Production Roaster - Annapolis, MD
Gold Mountain Coffee Growers - Finance & Logistics Officer - Washington, DC
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