The Sprudge Report - It Was a Halloweek
Scary stories and other weird coffee news.
The spooky scaries
This week, as is our mostly annual tradition, we published four all-new original works of coffee-themed Halloween fiction. There were tales of a coffee shop where things didn’t seem right, a haunted coffee advent, a Transylvanian coffee roaster, and even a coffee competition with a modern curse. The frights are fantastical and sometimes all too real.
25 years of Stumptown
Portland’s Stumptown Coffee Roasters is an icon in the specialty coffee world, and they are somehow celebrating their 25th anniversary. How time flies. So today, at their original SE Division St location, Stumptown has a whole host of festivities lined up, including free drinks!
Hand grinding need not be a grind
There’s something romantic about hand grinders. Normally relegated to a travel coffee setup, manually grinding your coffee adds an intimate aspect to the coffee preparation. So there’s absolutely no reason a hand grinder couldn’t be part of the home coffee countertop. And the NECCST grinder, now on Kickstarter, wants to be your home manual grinder. It’s definitely not travel sized.
FairWave Pac-Man’s another coffee company
FairWave Specialty Coffee Collective, the Kansas City-based, private-equity backed coffee conglomerate has acquired another legacy coffee brand. This time it’s Baltimore’s Ceremony Coffee Roasters. It marks the 11th company under the FairWave umbrella, and the first outside of the Midwest.
Ooh dang, it’s Moo Deng!
Moo Deng, the baby hippo Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand, has bitten, stomped, and slipped her way into the internet’s heart. And now, Moo Deng has been immortalized in latte art form. We take a look at some of the Moo Deng-inspired latte art from around the world.
Press release news
Lots and lots of press release new this week. For the roasters, there’s news of Air-Motion Roasters’ first virtual live coffee roasting event, Royal Coffee offering free shipping to Canada on all their Crown Jewel and Royal Gem boxes, and Cropster releasing their Cafe Inventory Insight Feature. For the coffee makers, there’s news of Verve Coffee’s new brewing device, the Dwell Dripper, as well as Opo Coffee kicking off their Upside Scholar Program.
Arrivaderci, Oleato
After less than a year since its unholy introduction, the Oleato, Starbucks’ olive-oil-infused coffee drink, is no more. It was a drink known more for its laxative properties than its taste, which is never a good sign. It would make you wonder how it ever made the menu in the first place, until you learn that it was created by then-CEO Howard Schultz who did no market research on it (and is a partial owner of the olive oil brand used in the drink). But now it’s gone, as part of new CEO Brian Niccol’s plan to simplify the menu.
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…
Partners Coffee—Honduras – San Francisco Natural Bourbon
Roger Domínguez produces some our favorite natural process coffees, like this red bourbon from Finca San Francisco. This coffee is all punchy and jammy red fruits—think strawberry and raspberry compote or rhubarb pie—supported by subtle notes of chocolate and brown sugar. A delicious filter coffee.
Madcap Coffee—Luis Reinoso
We first met Luis Reinoso in 2010 and have been buying his coffee ever since. Luis produces coffee in a collaborative effort with his wife, Yenni, whose name you may recognize from a previous label from the Reinoso farm. The Reinosos had the first coffee Madcap ever purchased from Colombia. Luis and Yenni operate on a small, secluded eleven-hectare farm on the outskirts of Herrera, Tolima. In this balanced cup, expect notes of hibiscus, pomegranate, and lime zest.
Klatch Coffee—Panama Cochea Gesha Natural
Pearl Reserve is Klatch Coffee’s premium single origin collection, sourced from the finest estates and roasted to perfection. Offering a sensory journey of opulence and luxury, each Pearl Reserve coffee is a rare gem. This delightful Gesha comes to us from Panama’s Jorge Jimenez at Finca Cabecera de Cochea, nestled high in the Chiriquí Highlands of western Panama. Pearl Collection coffees are only roasted on certain Mondays; order by 11:59pm PST on Sunday, November 3 to reserve your Cochea Gesha Natural.
Dune Coffee—Honduras Benjamin Paz Gesha
Benjamin Paz is a multiple time Cup of Excellence winner, taking first place with his coffees in 2022 and 2024. His farm, La Salsa, is is located on the Santa Bárbara mountain of Honduras. Here, the rainforest and proximity to water create a unique microclimate, where the Gesha variety thrives amidst these high elevations on the farm. Benjamin then processes this coffee using an anaerobic washed process, preserving the floral flavors and silky textures of the Gesha variety grown in the Santa Bárbara terroir. Benjamin’s Gesha reminds us of sweet stonefruit and vibrant citrus, with aromatic floral qualities like jasmine and honeysuckle.
Equator Coffees—Panama Finca Sophia Gesha Washed
Experience coffee at its absolute peak. This year, we are proud to present a very limited release of Panama Finca Sophia Gesha Washed: sweet & delicate coffee with notes of jasmine, white peach, & meyer lemon curd. We only have 50 bags available; order this very special coffee before it’s gone; and look out for one more surprise Finca Sophia selection in the weeks to come.
PERC—Holiday Blend
The dreaded Frost Gobbler is here, chasing her favorite treat, gingerbread people. She’ll snatch the unlucky ginger folks up, tear them apart, and gobble them down with her terrible teeth. The last thing you’ll hear as she stomps out of town is her dreadful laugh, moohoohaha.
Joe Coffee —Rubí Sisters Catuaí
Perched between the Sierra La Esperanza and Santa Bárbara mountains in Las Vegas, Honduras, lies Finca Ruland 2—a specialty coffee farm as beautiful as it is biodiverse, owned and operated by the Rubí-Landaverde family. Notes of Candied Lemon, Almond Paste, Cinnamon.
Pachamama Coffee Farmers—Guatemala
Grown on the volcanic shores of Lago Atitlán, this is an exceptional single origin medium roast coffee from the Manos Campesinas coop in Guatemala.
Olympia Coffee—Alexander Vargas Pink Bourbon
Alexander Vargas is a Cup of Excellence-winning producer for his Pink Bourbon varietal. He continues to innovate in processing and drying, making his coffees an absolute delight for us to roast. The variety is native to Colombia, specifically Huila, with the name inspired by the cherry ripening with a pinkish hue.
Nigh Swim Coffee—Yukro #8
Tasting Notes: Peach, Mango, Lemon, Floral Honey
All proceeds from sales of Yukro #8 are being donated to help the Hurricane Helen relief efforts in Western NC and Upstate SC. Please join us in supporting our neighbors by purchasing and enjoying this stellar, washed coffee from Agaro, Ethiopia!
Sightglass Coffee—Autumnal Equinox
Named for the celestial shift from summer to autumn, marked by nearly equal amounts of daylight and darkness across all latitudes, our Autumnal Equinox blend is crafted from a 50/50 composition of washed and natural processed coffees from famed Mexican coffee farmer Jose Argüello. Persimmon, Cardamom, Toffee.
Onyx Coffee Lab—Ethiopia Gesha Village Box Set
Ethiopia Gesha Village Oma Natural and Ethiopia Gesha Village Surma Washing
CXFFEEBLACK—Fruit Of Our Labor
A HIGA JUNT -NATURAL RWANDA KILIMBI STATION, 1650-1850 MASL
TASTING NOTES: Strawberry, Dark Chocolate, and Passionfruit
Verve Coffee Roasters—Seabright
From our house to yours, Seabright House Blend is undeniably inviting. Seabright showcases apricot and honeydew flavor notes composed of direct trade coffees from El Salvador and Guatemala. A balanced mouthfeel. And aromatics of toasted hazelnuts. Set yourself up for a winning day with one of our easiest drinking blends.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters—Evergreen
Evergreen is a special seasonal blend featuring coffees from some of our finest producer partnerships with flavors that are sure to call up the ol’ winter spirit.
Portland Coffee Roasters—St John’s
St John’s is the signature espresso blend at all of our cafes. It’s named for a beautiful bridge in Portland, Oregon, and it may be the most beautiful bridge in the world! Dizzyingly high and radiant, St Johns Bridge is the perfect pairing with our vibrant, well-rounded coffee blend that carries lovely orange flavors across your palate. This blend is great when brewed as drip coffee or espresso.
La Barba Coffee—Colombia | Diego Bermudez Castillo Y-05
This directly sourced Castillo has delicate peach sweetness with intense and complex floral character. Its a coffee that balances sweet flavors and delicate notes beautifully – the result of Diego Bermudez’s meticulous farming and a scientific approach to coffee processing. Notes : Peach, Apple, Lychee
The Barn—INSPIRATION ADVENT CALENDAR 2024
This Advent Calendar contains 24x Single Origin Coffees from producers that decided to change the way they grow and process coffee. It includes: 4 boxes with 50g of Single Origin Coffees, individual cards about each coffee, tasting diary to record your favorite brews, variety of handpicked coffee gifts, and limited edition artwork to hang on your wall.
Phil & Sebatian—Colombia, Finca El Paraiso Bourbon Aji
This is our first coffee of this amazing variety. Bourbon Ají is an Ethiopia Landrace variety that has found its way to the Americas and is now referred to as a bourbon – much like pink bourbon, chiroso and sidra. As to why it’s called “Ají”, some speculate that the colour of the cherries and the slight spicy flavour of the coffee fruit is why the variety is called “Aji”, which means “red chili” in Spanish. The way Jose decided to process this borbon ají is what makes this coffee more special. The coffee was picked, floated and hand selected. Then it was anaerobically fermented in a cold room for a whopping 110 hours in cherry. The coffee was then de-pulped, washed and dried in raised beds.
Mr. Espresso—Mexico Mayan Village — Women’s Lot
Rosalba Cifuentes Tovía came to the San Francisco Bay Area from Chiapas, Mexico, with two small children and without knowing any English. What she did know was coffee. Incredibly, she built a network within Bay Area coffee circles. It has been her passion to use her coffee expertise to uplift the people from her native community of Chiapas. Rosalba has grown Mayan Harvest into a source that represents some of the best in the region. Combined with direct traceability and an exquisite taste that brings to mind notes of cherry, cream, and panela, this is a coffee you’ll feel good about buying and better about drinking.
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.
Spada Roastery & Coffee Shop - Istanbul, Turkey
Blue Sparrow Coffee - Denver, CO
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.