The Sprudge Report - Welcome To 2024
And the 15th Annual Sprudgie Awards
One last weekend for nominations
The annual Sprudgie Awards are now in their 15th year of honoring the best and brightest in the coffee industry, and we want to hear from you. There’s still time left to nominate your coffee heroes for consideration. This year’s nominations process closed on Monday, January 8th at 11:59 PM PST. And it’s completely free!
Atlanta coffee is PERCing up
Our first cafe spotlight of the year takes us to the American South, Atlanta to be specific, for the all-new PERC Coffee location. The Savannah, Georgia roaster is branching out with their second cafe the in ATL. It’s all clean lines, bright colors, and even brighter coffees.
Coffee in Good Form
Bay Area coffee legends Trish Rothgeb of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters and Dan Streetman of Bird and Bear Coffee have teamed up to create Good Form, a brand new coffee education platform. With nearly six decades of combined experience, many of them as educators, Rothgeb and Streetman have created a roster of coffee classes for both professionals and enthusiasts alike.
Tumblin’ and rumblin’
The Stanley Quencher tumbler is a viral sensation among the TikTok teens. They’re basically the Gen-Z Beanie Babies. And like other crazes of the past, when new drops happen, people lose their ever-loving minds. Thus is the case with the new pink Starbucks x Stanley Quencher collab. The Target-exclusive brought out the most rabid in folks, with reports of fights and attempted thefts. All for a vacuum-insulated mug.
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…
Amavida Coffee Roasters: Holiday Blend—Amavida’s Holiday Blend is comprised of two of our most popular single origin offerings, Honey Honduras and Ethiopia. The end result is a sweet and cozy, beautifully aromatic cup of coffee that has great texture and is really approachable. We hope that you will share this coffee gift with your family and friends this holiday season.
Camber Coffee: Struttura—Struttura (meaning “structure”) is a sweet, weighty, and structured blend with notes of dark chocolate, molasses, and plum. It was carefully crafted to produce syrupy, dimensional, full-bodied espresso shots, while also brewing a vibrant, balanced cup of drip. We can’t wait for you to try this truly luxurious blend.
CXFFEEBLACK: Baile Funk: Afro Brazilian Natural Process—Brought to you straight from an all-Black supply chain, we proudly present Baile Funk. Grown by resilient Black farmers in the heart of Brazil, this coffee is a testament to their unwavering spirit. It’s a blend of Yellow Catuca and Mundo Novoi, and every sip pays tribute to Brazil’s rich coffee heritage. This coffee is a cultural anthem.
Equator Coffees: Guatemala El Amate Cup of Excellence—This fully-washed Bourbon lot was one of the winners of this year’s highly competitive Cup of Excellence competition in Guatemala! Decadent and sweet with flavors of root beer float, baking spice, and black currant. Petronilo de Jesús Martínez Castillo and his son produced this delightful coffee on their family farm, Finca El Amate. Having invested in their own wet mill and drying area, this producer family yields more control over the processing of their coffees.
Greater Goods Roasting: Rung’eto PB—Rarely has a coffee release synced up with the start of a season quite like this one. Hailing from Kirinyaga County in central Kenya, this peaberry lot is the warm, comforting, hot cocoa in front of the fire – the spirit of winter in coffee form. Peaberry makes up about 10% of Kenya’s coffee export and is highly sought out for its depth of sweetness and a thick, syrupy body. You can enjoy your winter days with notes of golden apple, black treacle, and red currant jam.
Joe Coffee: Colombia La Familia Guarnizo—This coffee comes to us through a strong relationship between Joe Coffee and the El Paraiso growers’ association in Huila, Colombia. This bright and light-bodied selection was grown by a special group of El Paraiso’s member farmers: the Guarnizo family. Featuring notes of stone fruit and almonds with a medium acidity, this coffee is a customer favorite.
Madcap Coffee Company: Finca de Dios—Husband and wife duo Ellen and Stuart Prentice oversee a 19-hectare farm, encompassing a multitude of microclimates. Ellen inherited the farm from her father in the early ’70s, falling in love with the coffee growing process and planting more and more on the land. Together with their daughter Ashley, they’ve established state-of-the-art processing equipment for their farm, Finca de Dios (Farm of the Gods). In this year’s harvest, expect notes of cacao, orange, and agave.
Monogram Coffee: Figgy Pudding—We blended a washed Ethiopian with an anaerobic Costa Rican to make a seasonal coffee with wonderful pops of dried fruit and warming spices. It’s warm, cosy and perfect for the holidays.
Night Swim Coffee: Aurora – Mensur Ahabika Natural—Say hello to our featured coffee offering for the holidays! Mensur Abahika was the first single producer that Osito purchased coffee from in Ethiopia, four harvests ago. These coffees are fundamental to our coffee menu, so it’s a no-brainer to take this opportunity to put Mensur’s work on a pedestal for all to enjoy.
Olympia Coffee Roasters: Holiday Blend—Our annual Holiday Blend is back! This year’s blend draws inspiration from our beloved Pacific Northwest, paying tribute to the iconic, decked-out evergreen trees that usher in the holiday season and brighten our homes during the darkest time of the year.
Onyx Coffee Lab : Framily—We are excited to release our seventh edition of this heartwarming Holiday coffee that embodies the joy of spending time with friends and family. This washed coffee from Banko Gotiti is a developed medium roast creating complex cocoa notes mixed with sweet berry cobbler-like flavors. Designed to accommodate the coffee nerd or the heavy-handed cream and sugar in-laws… you’re welcome, my friends.
Partners Coffee: Colombia – Papayo—Papayo is one of a few curious varieties that have emerged in Huila in recent years. This lot, from Rubén Correa of Acevedo, Huila, is a great example of why it first caught our attention on the cupping table. In a clean, incredibly sweet cup, we taste spiced cherry and plum, dried mango, papaya, and pineapple.
PERC: Java Frinsa Estate—This is our second time sourcing this beauty from Java. If you tasted it last year, you’ll know why! It’s an intensely sweet and funky coffee. The anaerobic fermentation done at the farm contributes to its big fruity flavors, and the cup finishes with a deep, fudgy note that’ll keep you coming back for more. It’s truly a unique coffee that delivers all the wild vibes.
Stumptown Coffee: Guatemala El Injerto Pacamara —A seven-time winner of Guatemala’s prestigious Cup of Excellence competition, El Injerto Pacamara is one of the most highly anticipated coffees we roast all year. Known for its large size and award-winning profile, El Injerto Pacamara will captivate your senses like only a legendary coffee can. This year’s lot is pure decadence with notes of ripe peach and sugar cane complemented by a touch of sage.
Verve Coffee: Costa Rica Sumava Lactico Natural—Sweet Magnolia florals greet the nose at the first sip, complemented by the soft touch of White Peach. Concord Grape is woven throughout with a similar profile to natural wine, finishing the cup with a sparkling mouthfeel. Francisco Mena’s coffee has been sprinkled throughout our menu year after year, and he is someone that we are proud to partner with.
New job listings from Sprudge Jobs
Mocha Joe’s - Head Roaster - Brattleboro, VT
Curated - Curated Coffee Expert - Remote/United States
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