The Sprudge Report - The Season's End
And a brand new Sprudge Twenty interview
Don’t get left out, build-out!
It’s been a summer chockablock with Build-Out features, but all good things must come to an end. Not quite yet though, as there is still time to submit your cafe to be part of the 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee. We’ve been blown away by the turnout this year, but there’s always room for more. We’ll do two-a-days, three-a-days even, so long as there are interesting new cafes that demand attention. If your cafe opened or will open any time during 2024, you have until September 9th to submit your cafe for consideration. That’s not a lot of time, so act now!
Speaking of Builds
Despite the truncated week as America heads toward the Labor Day weekend, we still had three new cafes to feature. It was an East to West trip across the states, starting with Spectracolor in Easton, PA, who no doubt lives up the the moniker. Then it’s back to the DFW Metroplex to check in with Fort Worth’s Ostara Coffee, a 100% female-owned and -operated coffee roaster. Lastly, we end up in Spokane, where specialty coffee stalwart Indaba Coffee is opening their fourth cafe!
Coffee anywhere
We love a good coffee shop in unexpected places. And we covered a few surprise pop-ups this week on Sprudge. We saw a new EV from Vauxhaull, the Mokka Coffee-E that comes fully equipped with a full-service coffee bar in the trunk (or the boot as the Brits say), even if it was only a one-off concept. But the undoubted winner of the pop-up battle was Kawabonsai, a new coffee and jiu-jitsu pop-up in Brooklyn.
Running on coffee, literally
If you want a coffee shoe, it normally either looks like coffee—via a fun print, logo, or colorway—or it is made of coffee as an ecologically-mind alternative material. But what this new sneaker presupposes is: why can’t it be both? XpreSole, maker of shoes from coffee waste, is back on Kickstarter with a new coffee shoe, featuring a coffee cherry print. It’s coffee inside and out, and we’re here for it.
Andrew Miller Of Cafe Imports: The Sprudge Twenty Interview
Andrew Miller founded Cafe Imports in 1993, and in the 30+ years since, it has become one of the most recognizable names in the green coffee trade. As a member of the 2024 Sprudge Twenty class, we sat down with Miller for a career-spanning interview that is both riveting and thought-provoking.
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…
Equator Coffees—Regenerative Organic Blend
Introducing Regenerative Organic Blend, created with coffees grown using regenerative farming practices that heal the earth. This seasonally evolving blend supports a farming method that revitalizes soil health, promotes biodiversity, and fights climate change. This version is a medium level roast, and features balanced and sweet flavors of butterscotch, chocolate, and dried fruit. It’s dark and robust enough to stand up to the addition of milk, yet sweet enough to drink black.
The Barn—LA COLINA NATURAL
Since 1991, Tony Medina has worked to fulfill his dream of growing specialty coffee. Having built his knowledge and expertise over the years, today La Colina offers an exceptional showcase of Guatemalan terroir. Earlier this year, we visited Tony in Guatemala to pick our next lots and this was one that really stood out! Naturally processed and deeply sweet, expect juicy papaya and smooth nougat.
Madcap Coffee—Hunapu
In Antigua, Guatemala, volcanoes dominate the horizon and local farmers cultivate the nutrient-rich soil to grow coffees of world-renowned quality. Luis Pedro Zelaya calls this region’s coffee Hunapu, after the Mayan name for the largest volcano in the region. Madcap has proudly been working with Beneficio Bella Vista and purchasing Hunapu for nine seasons now. A quintessential representation of the quality in Antigua, expect a coffee with great structure and mild acidity balanced by a syrupy, juicy sweetness. Tasting notes of milk chocolate, apricot, and raw sugar make this lot one of our favorites.
Partners Coffee—Mexico – Hermanos Luna
The García Luna brothers belong to a producer group of mostly younger farmers in the community of San Vicente Yogondoy, Oaxaca. Most of the coffee planted here is a variety called pluma hidalgo (or simply pluma), a local mutation of typica. This lot is comforting and approachable with notes of milk chocolate, orange zest, caramel, baking spice, cashew butter, and dark honey elevated by red apple and white grape.
Olympia Coffee—Kamwangi AA Micro Lot 18
Out of hundreds of lots tasted at origin in Kenya, this was our top pick of the harvest. Produced at Kamwangi washing station as their 18th lot of the season, this coffee features plump AA beans packed with warm flavors of orange, brown sugar, and waffle cone.
DUNE Coffee—Chito Ecuador
We are excited to share this coffee and be a part of this project for these coffees and producers. In the cup, we find many of the characteristics that coffees from Ecuador have captivated us with: from soft melon and sweet orange, with a milk chocolate character throughout.
CXFFEE BLACK—GUJI LO-FI
Decaf Ethiopian Coffee, Mountain Water Process. Candy Corn, Semi-Sweet Chocolate, Molasses. Guji Mane, Diaspora Collection
Verve Coffee Roasters—Vancouver Swiss Water Decaf
Our Vancouver Swiss Water Decaf blend highlights candied almonds in a chocolaty background. The 100% chemical-free process results in 99.99% caffeine-free coffee. Anyone who enjoys a dessert-tasting coffee will love this.
Amavida Coffee Roasters—Fero Ethiopia Sidamo
This delicate Ethiopian coffee is from Fero Cooperative in the Sidama region. It features pronounced notes of orange blossom, hibiscus, and jasmine. Certified Organic and Fair Trade.
PERC—Decaf Colombia Los Nogales
Los Nogales is the best decaf we’ve ever tasted! We were lucky enough to get our hands on some after this year’s harvest at Los Nogales farm in Colombia, and we’re so excited to share it with you. Weihong Zhang won the 2024 brewer’s cup using Los Nogales’s Decaf, which shows how special this coffee is. Look for big floral and berry flavors in the cup. We taste jasmine and honeysuckle, complemented by a sweet blackberry flavor.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters—Ecuador Rancho Carmen
This coffee is a combination of small lots from a group of 35 producers in Ecuador’s southernmost province. Rancho Carmen has a lush ganache body elevating notes of raspberry jam and brown sugar in a vibrant cup.
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.
Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters: ETHIOPIA ADDISU KIDANE LOT #2
Phil’s favourite washed Ethiopian coffee of the season! Addisu Kidane is back with some of the finest coffee you can find in Gedeb – a region already known for some of the best coffee in all of Ethiopia. Roasted for filter/drip brewing methods – expect flavours of peach, vanilla wafer, and black tea.
Joe Coffee—Amsterdam
Rich, sweet, and comforting, Amsterdam is the perfect drip coffee option for those who seek a deeper roast profile. We select the components for this coffee for their ability to stand up to a more developed roast, without ever tasting over-roasted or smoky. Instead, we pull out classic notes of chocolate, nut, and toffee.
Sightglass Coffee—Summer Solstice
Named for the shortest night and longest day of the year, Summer Solstice is the perfect compliment for the warmer season. A time when we seek carefree adventures, experience these moments with a radiantly refreshing cup. This years blend combines beans from Ethiopia and the Ngorero region of Rwanda to create an easy-drinking beverage with fruity and bright notes of hibiscus, Meyer lemon, and honeysuckle.
Greater Goods Coffee Roasters—Basha Bekele
Our latest release from Ethiopia is a juicy fruit bomb from the Sidama region. Grown at the mid-bending altitude of 2000 plus meters above sea level, this coffee is a great example of how clean and beautiful extremely highgrown coffee can be. In the cup we got mouth-watering notes of dried strawberry, grape candy, and star jasmine.
Night Swim Coffee—Jairo Arcila – EF2 Natural
A masterclass in processing, the work Cofinet and Jairo Arcila’s team have done at Santa Monica and La Pradera produced a very balanced, sweet, and clear encapsulation of the best characteristics of the Java variety. Take this limited opportunity to join us in enjoying the remarkable sundried Java varietal from Quindio, Colombia. We think you’ll find your childhood in it’s limeade-like acidity, sweet and sticky strawberry frutiness, and a syrupy, lingering, chocolate-y mouth feel.
Pachamama Coffee Farmers—Peru Santa Teresa
This single origin coffee is from Pachamama Farmer Owners at COCLA cooperative in Santa Teresa Peru. Just a short trip from the slopes of Machu Picchu, the organic and shade grown farms of the cooperative are situated in prime landscape to grow world class coffee. This coffee brings forward notes of cherry chocolate and cream in each cup.
Portland Coffee Roasters—Endless Summer
This summer, let your cup transport you to a place of endless sunshine and good vibes. Portland Coffee Roasters is proud to introduce Endless Summer, our brand new medium roast that captures the carefree spirit of the season in every delicious sip.
Onyx Coffee Lab—Tropical Weather
Tropical Weather is a seasonal blend that celebrates coffees from our favorite coffee producing country: Ethiopia. We take a fresh washed offering that provides delicate florals and juicy texture, and incorporate a natural processed coffee that promotes pungent fruits and natural sugars. The result is indeed better than the sum of its parts.
New job listings from Sprudge Jobs
Sustainable Harvest - Quality Control - Seattle, WA
High Five Coffee - General Manager - Asheville, NC
Blue Bottle Coffee - Production Supervisor - Sacramento, CA
Broad Porch Coffee Co - Production Roaster - Luray, VA
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.
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.