#Olam Specialty Coffee

[flowercoffeebb]

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New BEANS from our partner roaster SINGLE O @singleo_japan .

新しくザンビアがラインナップしました✋

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◼︎ ZAMBIA Isanya & Nsunzu Estate - Washed

FLAVOR NOTE: Black cherry, Stone fruits, Brown sugar, Rich mouthfeel

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VARIETY: Catimor 129, Java

PROCESS: Washed

AREA: Northern Province of Zambia

PRODUCER: Northern Coffee Corporation Ltd (Olam)

ALTITUDE: 1400 - 1600 m

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　ザンビア北部に位置するNorthern Coffee Corporation Ltd. （NCCL, 現在は国際的コーヒー企業Olamの傘下）が保有するウォッシングステーション（Ngoli、Isanya、Kateshi、Luombe、Nsunzu）のうちIsanyaとNsunzuからのロットです。

　NCCLは ザンビアにおいての高い生産量を誇る有数の生産者です。ウエットミルとドライミルを保有しており、Washed以外にもNatural、Honey、そして近年ではAnaerobic fermentation（嫌気性発酵）を用いた精製にも取り組み、多様な風味を作り出して商品に付加価値をつけることで、収入の向上を目指しています。農園は2016年にはレインフォレストアライアンスの認証を取得し（現在は独自規格にシフトしています）、環境や農家の生活に配慮した持続可能なコーヒー栽培を目指しています。労働環境の改善のため、無料での薬、医療の提供や、労働者の子供のための託児所の設置、また女性の活躍の場の創造を進めています。

　1950年代に、宣教師たちによってコーヒー栽培が紹介され、1970年代から事業化が進んだザンビアコーヒー。一時はアフリカを中心に猛威を振るったCBD（Coffee Berry Disease）の影響で生産量が激減、危機に瀕しましたが、ザンビアコーヒーの高いポテンシャルに期待を寄せる国際的コーヒー企業のOlamがコーヒー事業再生に乗り出し、今回のクロップを生産する地元企業NCCLを買収するなど 内外での取り組みが進み今に至っています。当初は高収量と効率が重要視されていましたが、上述のとおり 足もとでは品質志向の生産や小規模農家の支援が進み、ザンビアコーヒーは着実に成長してきています。

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☕️ Single Origin Coffee Line-up

[Single O]

　T) ETHIOPA Shantawene - Washed ←残りわずか

　T) KENYA Mungaria Factory - Washed

　N) COSTA RICA Finca La Julia - Natural(Double Diamond Process) ←残りわずか

　T) COLOMBIA Manos Juntas Micro Mill - Natural

[Headlands Coffee]

　C) DEADLY DECAF Mexico - Washed ←Last 5 shots

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Categories

　T) The Specialty ...Terroir

　C) Conceptual ...Sorting, Technology transfer

　N) New Wave ...Innovative approach

　S)) Special ...Winning lot, Top specialty

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FLOWER COFFEE / BREW BAR

　Weekday 10:00 - 18:00

　Weekend/ Holiday　9:00 - 17:00

　店舗休: 6月: 28日

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　※ 安全面を考慮し 警戒レベル3以上の悪天候が見込まれる場合には予報に沿って営業スケジュールを調整します（なるべく早く店頭張り紙、SNS、Googleにて情報発信します）

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神奈川県茅ヶ崎市東海岸北1-7-23 雄三通り

　🚃 JR茅ヶ崎駅 歩8分

　🚲 駐輪可 3台まで

　🚗 駐停車不可（近隣駐車場をご利用ください、参考: 三井リパーク ¥200-/h）

　🦠 周囲に配慮あるご利用をお願いいたします

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#thanxalways #newbeans #singleo #zambia #northerncoffeecorporationltd #olam #isanya #nsunzu #catimor129 #java #washed

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#specialtycoffee #singleorigin #coffee #headlandscoffee #hario #takahiro #mahlkonig #ditting #lamarzocco #pesado #origami #kinto #flowercoffeebb #everydaybeautiful #shonan #chigasaki #yuzostreet

[coffeenewstom]

Kaffee-Genuss von den Feldern Sambias: Rarität No.3 Amabala Yasuma Zambia

Kaffee-Genuss von den Feldern Sambias: Rarität No.3 Amabala Yasuma Zambia

Es geht auf Kaffee-Safari! Wer dazu einlädt? Die neue Rarität No.3 Amabala Yasuma Zambia. Sie bringt Kaffeeliebhaberinnen und Kaffeeliebhaber nach Afrika, genauer gesagt nach Sambia, einem Land, das mit wenig Masse und umso mehr Klasse überzeugt – beste Voraussetzungen für eine neue Tchibo Kaffee-Rarität. Die neue limitierte Spezialität stammt von den heimischen Feldern Sambias, von der Farm…

[olamspecialtycoffee]

Buy Bulk Coffee Online!

At Olam Specialty Coffee, we connect roasters to the finest specialty green coffees. Our services include an online green coffee marketplace as well as importing, exporting, processing, warehousing and training. Shop our coffee in bulk today.

https://www.olamspecialtycoffee.com/

[natachavcerda]

Former Olam Director Mark Inman Joins Importer Sustainable Harvest

Longtime specialty coffee professional Mark Inman has joined the team at Portland, Oregon-based green coffee trading company Sustainable Harvest, as the new “director of growth.” A past president of the... Article Source Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine https://dailycoffeenews.com January 22, 2020 at 01:23PM

[shebreathesslowly]

Olam Agri Strengthens Progress Towards Sustainable Quinoa And Chia, Positively Benefitting Farming Communities In Peru

Olam Agri, a global food, feed and fibre agri-business, has released its Specialty Grains & Seeds, Peru Sustainability Report 2021. from Sprudge Coffee https://ift.tt/Ck285Ry

[cliftonsteen]

Exploring Zambia as a coffee origin

As is common in many producing countries in Africa, coffee was first introduced to Zambia by missionaries. Here, however, it arrived comparatively late, in the 1950s.

Zambian coffee production has risen steadily since then, especially after the country first started exporting internationally in 1985. However, the modern Zambian coffee industry faces many challenges, including many related to a lack of accessible finance and investment.

This, among other issues, is why Zambia produces comparatively small volumes of coffee. At present, it ranks 51st in the world for coffee production, having grown an average of around 1,500 tonnes a year since the turn of the 21st century.

To learn more about the challenges the sector faces, I spoke with a local industry expert. Read on to learn more.

You may also like our article exploring the DRC as a coffee origin.

Zambian coffee: A profile

Most Zambian coffee comes from the country’s mountainous Northern Province, and is grown at elevations between 1,300 and 1,600 m.a.s.l. Coffee is also grown around the country’s capital, Lusaka. Zambian coffee is generally washed, with a sweet, bright acidity, 

As Zambia is located on the plateau of central Africa, most of the country is 1,000 m.a.s.l. above sea level or higher, meaning that it provides the minimum suitable altitude for growing arabica coffee. This means that it is not just capable of growing high-quality washed arabica, but actually that it exclusively grows arabica – including some specialty-grade plants.

Common varieties include SL-28 from Kenya, as well as some Catimor, which is largely grown because of its disease and pest resistance.

According to the African Fine Coffee Association, Zambian coffees are generally full-bodied with sweet, mild acidity and pleasant flavours. Olam Specialty Coffee’s website describes its Zambian coffee as being “dominated by fruit notes, predominantly citrus fruits with berry and melon accents”.

Some Zambian SL-28 micro lots have scored as high as 89, albeit in small quantities.  These are mainly specially-grown coffees which have been experimentally processed.

A history of coffee production in Zambia

Before the introduction of coffee to Northern Rhodesia (as Zambia was known until 1964), most of the country’s exports were from its rich copper deposits. In 2020, copper still accounted for 73% of all Zambian exports, showing that it remains a huge part of the country’s economy.

Zambia was also comparatively slow to start cultivating coffee, with missionaries only introducing the crop in the latter half of the 20th century. 

This meant, compared to other African coffee-growing nations, that there was little expertise about coffee production in the country. Most of the knowledge about how to grow the crop came from British colonists.

Once farmers did start growing coffee, however, they encountered a challenge almost immediately: disease. 

The plants introduced to Zambia struggled in its subtropical climate, despite the fact that it offered relatively good elevations for growing coffee. This meant small yields, and harvests were largely insufficient for any kind of export.

The World Bank’s plan to revive Zambian coffee

In its quest to help the Zambian government diversify its economy away from copper exports, the World Bank established a number of coffee projects throughout the country in the 1970s. These all aimed at finding the most suitable and productive varieties for Zambia’s coffee farms.

It was later joined by the UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), which worked with the Zambian government and the United Nations Development Programme to assist smallholder farmers across the country.

The project used Kenyan coffee as a framework, as Kenya was already a well-established coffee origin at the time. The country started by adopting the Kenyan green coffee grading and classification system as the first real method of quality assessment.

The project’s aim was to encourage the cultivation of high-quality coffee at the lowest possible costs. The bulk of production was concentrated in large and well-organised coffee estates in the Northern Province. 

However, the project did also seek to encourage smallholder coffee production, helping thousands of Zambians in rural poverty make a living through coffee growing. 

Originally, the World Bank had set out to establish around 600 new smallholder farmers in the Northern Province, providing seedlings and technical support. The project was an overwhelming success: by the mid-80s, this number had nearly doubled.

In the years that followed, total annual production rose from 70 to almost 400 metric tonnes. Zambia was given an annual quota of 350 metric tonnes by the ICO, and started commercially exporting coffee in 1985.

The Zambian coffee sector today

The Zambian coffee industry is divided between smallholders growing on fewer than 10ha of land, and five large-scale farming groups.

Four of these five estates are located in Mazabuka (Southern Province), Lusaka (Lusaka Province), Serenje (Central Province), and the city of Kasama. However, the fifth (and largest, responsible for around 97% of all exportable Zambian coffee) is the Northern Coffee Corporation, with three estates in Kasama and two in Mbala.

Two of the Northern Coffee Corporation’s three Kasama estates can actually be traced back to a 1978 project by the World Bank. This then became a government-owned company, known as the Northern Coffee Company.

However, in 2012, the company was acquired by Olam International and renamed. Its five estates presently cultivate slightly over 3,500ha of coffee-growing land. It is the only entity producing coffee in Zambia that is both Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certified.

Teija Lublinkhof is the owner of Peaberry Coffee Roasters and the Chairperson of the Zambia Coffee Growers Association (ZCGA).

“The Coffee Board of Zambia is the highest government policy making body for the Zambian coffee sector,” she explains. “However, on its board there are representatives from the private sector coffee farming and roasting sectors.

“The ZCGA is a wing of the Coffee Board of Zambia. It is wholly run by Zambian coffee growers, providing services on behalf of its members to the government and international organisations. These include marketing, quality assessment, milling, export documentation and shipping.”

Teija says that Zambian coffee exports reached a peak in the 2004/05 crop year, at 6,654 tonnes of green coffee. However, since then, these figures have largely fallen year-on-year.

In 2015, the country reached a low of just 180 metric tonnes; this crash was brought about by a combination of poor weather and a lack of accessible finance for coffee producers.

However, Teija says that in 2019, the country exported almost 2,000 metric tonnes of green coffee, representing a significant recovery.

“For the first time in a very long time, we are producing more [coffee] than Malawi,” she says. “This is a good indicator that we are getting back to our best.” 

Quality control and local stakeholders

In Zambia, Teija says that 90% of all coffee production comes from estates. The ZCGA can facilitate coffee processing for estate farmers, as it has access to all the necessary equipment as well as trained personnel.

The association handles quality control on behalf of the estates, although some opt to do it themselves. It also handles the export process by sending samples around the world, managing documentation, and agreeing sales. The major buyers of Zambian coffee are Europe, South Africa, Asia (specifically Japan), and the US.

“Some farmers leave marketing to the association, while others contact the buyers directly,” Teija explains. “Even in this case, the association will handle the quality control. These farmers determine their own price, however.”

She also notes that the association uses cup quality and the C price to determine pricing. However, according to her, the farmer retains total control of their coffee, and makes the final decision on all sales.

After milling, Zambian coffee is graded and stored in a central warehouse in Lusaka. Large estates may have their own warehouses and use trucks to transport their coffee.

Outside of estates, Teija says that most smallholder farmers grow coffee like they would do maize or other short-term crops. She says that the ZCGA is trying to encourage co-operatives to form, but notes that it is a long-term initiative. 

The goal, she says, is to increase production and raise the number of coffee producers in Zambia. 

Processing facilities and methods

The Zambian coffee harvest runs from May to August. Some farmers have their own wet mills where they manage their own washed processing.

This is the most prominent processing method in the country, but there are also some high-quality naturals, pulped naturals, and anaerobic coffees being processed on some of the farms.

“There are some producers doing pulped naturals, and they tend to produce the best Zambian coffee,” she says. “Usually, it’s the dry season when we do the processing, so the sun tends to provide good conditions for drying. 

��In the north, the farmers actually do some very nice anaerobic processing.”

Teija says that the major reason for the pulped naturals is to add some sweetness to the high acidity of the coffees. This makes them more marketable for espresso. 

“Many of the farms have good quality wet processing equipment,” she adds. “The large estates have fermentation tanks and demucilagers from Tanzania.”

She also notes that the ZCGA owns its own dry mills, as do some farms around Lusaka. The ZCGA mills are open to smallholder farmers, who can take their coffee as parchment directly to the association.

Challenges in Zambian coffee

Although yields are increasing, Zambia’s location is an issue. It’s landlocked, meaning there’s no easy access to ports.

Coffee from the north of the country is shipped via Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, while coffee from the south is shipped through either South Africa or Namibia.

Zambia also faces another unusual problem: a lack of production capacity. Teija says there is no shortage of land or farm owners, but instead says that there is a high cost of coffee production in the company, which is only compounded by a labour shortage. Farmers then turn to “easier” crops, such as maize.

In addition, the project started by the World Bank has not been sustained by the Zambian government. In response, Teija says the industry has come to rely on private companies like Olam Specialty Coffee to step in and support farmers.

Zambia’s coffee sector is indeed a unique one. Its late entry to the international coffee industry means it is only really getting started, and has a long way yet before it will truly compete with major African coffee producers.

However, the sector is on an upward trend, and forecasts show that production is set to increase. Teija concludes by saying that with more investment from multinational companies and the government on the horizon, she thinks the outlook is bright.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article exploring Malawi as a coffee origin.

Photo credits: Pexels

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The post Exploring Zambia as a coffee origin appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

Exploring Zambia as a coffee origin published first on https://espressoexpertweb.weebly.com/

[epchapman89]

Here’s Everyone Moving On From Austin Coffee Champs

On February 11th and 12th of 2017 a legion of baristas descended upon Austin, Texas, with a singular goal: advancing to compete at nationals April 21st-23rd in Seattle. And compete they did. Sprudge’s live coverage team from Austin brought you industry-leading play by play action of the event all weekend long over on SprudgeLive.com, our sister website dedicated to competitive coffee, as well as via the @SprudgeLive Twitter feed and @Sprudge Instagram. Now we’re thrilled to bring you the advancing competitors across four competitions at #CoffeeChamps Austin.

Sprudge Media Network’s coverage of the 2017 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Urnex Brands and Nuova Simonelli. Sprudge is an official media partner of the Specialty Coffee Association and #CoffeeChamps. 

So here they are! Let’s meet the coffee competitors moving on from this first round of qualifiers in Austin.

Barista Competition

Andrea Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR

Talya Strader, Equator Coffee & Teas, San Francisco, CA

Devin Chapman, Coffee Manufactory, San Francisco, CA

Ashley Rodriguez, The CRO Cafe, Oakland, CA

Isaiah Sheese, Archetype Coffee, Omaha, NE

Lorenzo Perkins, Fleet Coffee, Austin, TX

Nicholas Balcer, Barista, Portland, OR

Matthew Gasaway, Intelligentsia Coffee, Los Angeles, CA

Sam Schroeder, Olympia Coffee Roasting Co, Olympia, WA

Andrew Frohn, Ultimo Coffee, Philadelphia, PA

Becky Reeves, Barista, Portland, OR

Eliza Lovett, Story Coffee Co, Colorado Springs, CO

Tyler Hill, Loyal Coffee, Colorado Springs, CO

Dustin Mattson, Counter Culture Coffee, Atlanta, GA

David Buehrer, Greenway Coffee Co, Houston, TX

Milo DeGoosh, Bard Coffee, Portland, ME

Brandon Paul Weaver, Foreigner, Seattle, WA

Josh Taves, Novo Coffee, Denver, CO

Brewers Cup

Tommy Kim, Andante Coffee Roasters, Los Angeles, CA

Jacob White, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, San Diego, CA

Alexander Choppin, Baratza, Bellevue, WA

Chris Garrison, Old World Coffee Co, Reno, NV

Allie Silvas, Intelligentsia Coffee, Chicago, IL

Michael Schroeder, Oddly Correct, Kansas City, MO

Dylan Siemens, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR

Chelsey Walker-Watson, Slate Coffee Roasters, Seattle, WA

Brian Gelletly, Joe Coffee Co, Philadelphia, PA

Sam Schroeder, Olympia Coffee Roasting Co, Olympia, WA

Erich Rosenberg, Novo Coffee, Denver, CO

Conor Puoll, West Oak Coffee Roasters, Denton, TX

Roasters Championship

Tim Maestas, Augie’s Coffee, Redlands, CA

Elliot Reinecke, Steady State Roasting, Cardiff, CA

Taylor Gresham, Evocation Coffee Roasters, Amarillo, TX

Matthew Toomey, Boomtown Coffee Roasters, Houston, TX

Mark Michaelson, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR

Evan Inatome, Elixr Coffee, Philadelphia, PA

Cup Tasters

Jon Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab, Springdale, AR

Kevin Rosenkranz, Camber Coffee, Bellingham, WA

Charles Lambert, Boxcar Coffee Roasters, Denver, CO

Cody McGregor, Ultimo Coffee, Philadelphia, PA

Anderson Stockdale, Blacksmith, Houston, TX

Taylor Sullivan, Olam Specialty Coffee, Healdsburg, CA

Ryan Smith, Novel Coffee Roasters, Dallas, TX

Benji Aguilar, XELA Coffee Roasters, Houston, TX

Anthony Auger, Genuine Origin Project, St. Louis, MO

Megan O’Connell, Portland, OR

Marco Carrera, Colectivo Coffee, Milwaukee, WI

Steve Hyun, Andante Coffee Roasters, Los Angeles, CA

Coverage is produced by Zac Cadwalader. Photos by Charlie Burt and Elizabeth Chai for Sprudge Media Network. 

The post Here’s Everyone Moving On From Austin Coffee Champs appeared first on Sprudge.

seen 1st on http://sprudge.com

[rafaelthompson]

Former Olam Director Mark Inman Joins Importer Sustainable Harvest

Longtime specialty coffee professional Mark Inman has joined the team at Portland, Oregon-based green coffee trading company Sustainable Harvest, as the new “director of growth.” A past president of the... Former Olam Director Mark Inman Joins Importer Sustainable Harvest published first on https://espressoexpertsite.tumblr.com/

[thecoffeehotspot]

Former Olam Director Mark Inman Joins Importer Sustainable Harvest

Former Olam Director Mark Inman Joins Importer Sustainable Harvest

Longtime specialty coffee professional Mark Inman has joined the team at Portland, Oregon-based green coffee trading company Sustainable Harvest, as the new “director of growth.” A past president of the… Go to Source

[michaelfallcon]

Holden and Gwen

You wake with the setting moon but open your eyes just enough to remember your surroundings, though they are as familiar to you as your hunger. The dim light filters through curtains so old that the hand painted daisies you once despised have faded to the rumor of yellow. You exhale dust. Your mind swims through the grayness of the room, beyond the room, the streets, the town, searching, sniffing, hunting.

Your bones know what time it is, and your bones know that the next two are close, though not so close that you can yet capture their names.

Harold, maybe, and Grace?

Part of the price you pay is the quiet agony between waking and rising, before time, which returns to you only when you sleep, comes slowly again to a halt. It’s as if the passage of time must be wrenched from your body on these mornings and exposed to the air to stop it from working its slow inevitabilities. When you were young, when you still thought of this life you live as a gift, you imagined you were giving birth to all your magic at the beginning of the day after a rare sleep. Now, you just think of it as brutal and meaningless pain. This nourishes you in a way that more romantic notions did not, gives you the energy you need to keep up with the world as it changes around you… or to try.

When your feet touch the floor, the pain stops abruptly and sour relief washes over you, draining into the floor with the last ticks of the clock that is your heart. Into every life, you remind yourself, only so many heartbeats are given, so you stop your heart whenever you wake, on your way to living the length of three lives. You were 14 when you stole the daisy painted curtains from a neighbor’s house where you poured out your first spell. That was over 200 years ago.

“Holden and Gwen,” you whisper to the wooden floor. The floor creaks its assent. The walls breathe, waiting. As you rise, the crooked body that slept in the bed falls away. You stand straight and tall and firm. You part the curtains to stare out into the old night, listening. Lovers. No. Brother and sister. Yes. You moan. Even better.

“What do they need?” you ask the cold air, as wrinkles drop off your skin.

“What kind of house should we be, for Holden and Gwen?”

Not a gingerbread facade, no, and perhaps never again. Those days have faded away like the daisies. You’ve adapted and the house along with you, always shaping itself to your wishes, shaping itself into the lures that attract lives in pairs, entwined in some way that feeds you even before you eat.

Boardinghouse. Flophouse. Counting house. House of ill-repute. Warehouse. Frat house. Schoolhouse. All of these and more have been webs woven because you need them to come. Husbands and wives. Mothers and sons. Brothers and sisters. Best friends. Even great enemies, and countless relationships you couldn’t understand, have entered your house searching for something small or something grand, something mundane or momentous. It doesn’t matter. They all find you and your long hunger.

What sort of house this time, you wonder, standing now on the porch, eyes closed as you reach out to touch the minds of your prey. The house begins to fashion itself behind you.

You are watching again from the window as the people of Cutterswood, Connecticut, begin their day. They glance at Cora’s Coffeehouse on the corner of Thompson and Arne, where it’s been since… they don’t quite remember. They keep walking and they don’t think about it again.

“Hello,” you sing, as the door opens. This is always the delicate part, when you find out how well you’ve performed the dowsing of their minds and how well the house has read your intentions. You perceive a lack of recognition on their faces. Cora’s Coffeehouse is not what Holden and Gwen were expecting. You are not what they were expecting, in your dark brown dress and yellow apron. But you’ve played this game many times.

“Cora is my daughter,” you say, “and this is her house… her coffeehouse. I’m afraid she’s been called away, so I am here doing my best in her absence.”

Holden and Gwen nod in unison, the way you’ve seen so many brothers and sisters do before. They seem satisfied by this explanation and remain wary of nothing more than the unexpectedness around them.

“I was hoping for a vanilla latte,” says Gwen, “with nonfat milk?”

You smile. “Oh dear, I’m afraid we are all out of the lotties today.”

Gwen looks confused. Holden looks curious. “They don’t even have an espresso machine,” he says. “I get it. You only do pour-overs or something, probably all single origin?”

“A single cup or as many cups as you like,” you say, turning to the large percolator on the counter, an exact copy of the coffee making machine inside a movie house version of your house, where you once lured a young couple on their first date. They were delicious. When was that? It couldn’t have been that long ago.

You recognize the glance that passes between Holden and Grace as resignation. They are not happy. No one who comes to your house is ever happy to be there. But they decide to stay, like they always do, because there is nothing better next door or a block away or even within miles. This is, perhaps, your truest talent, being the worst and only option.

You pull the lever and the coffee splashes into yellow cups on matching yellow saucers, the same yellow as your apron, the same yellow the daisies once were. Holden and Grace are talking behind your back as if you are not there about how they just need a cup of coffee and how they don’t care, they just want some coffee. When you place their coffee in front of them at the counter you don’t ask if they want sugar or cream. They drink. The door locks and the shades on the windows come down slowly. The lights dim. Only you notice.

Candy. Coins. Cake. Coffee. It’s always the same. These two needed coffee. You gave them coffee. They accepted. The spell is poured out and working now.

“This is coffee,” says Gwen.

“Tastes Perfect,” says Holden.

“It’s always good,” you say.

They finish and push their cups forward without speaking. You fill them again. Now, they need your coffee in a different way. It’s no longer a simple desire, it’s a necessity, increasingly urgent and demanding. The pattern is set.

They drink.

“This is coffee,” says Gwen.

“Tastes Perfect,” says Holden.

“It’s always good,” you say.

This continues, your appetizer, for a long time that you do not know how to measure, until that beautiful moment when their inability to speak or lift their cups anymore coincides with the zenith of your giddy anticipation. They have fallen to the floor, but you continue to pour coffee into their mouths to watch the temporary relief bloom on their faces.

“This is coffee,” you say.

“Tastes Perfect,” you say.

“It’s always good,” you say.

When you finally stop giving them coffee, their eyes—the only parts of Holden and Grace still moving—fill with panic, and so you begin, as you always do, by first licking the sweet sweat of desperation off their skin.

Mike Ferguson (@aboutferguson) is an American coffee professional and writer based in Atlanta and currently part of the marketing team at Olam Specialty Coffee. Read more Mike Ferguson on Sprudge.

The post Holden and Gwen appeared first on Sprudge.

Holden and Gwen published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

[floydscoffee]

Vegan Cafe Dark Hall Coffee Opens in Phoenix with Xanadu Roasting

In the Valley of the Sun, a little darkness can be a relief, just as a bit of creativity, quirkiness and innovation can be refreshing in an otherwise repetitive retail...

https://dailycoffeenews.com/2018/05/02/vegan-cafe-dark-hall-coffee-opens-in-phoenix-with-xanadu-roasting/

[cleansandcaffeine-blog]

This was an article posted by a popular coffee blogger who attempts to go into details on how a specialty coffee roaster can expand their social reach in the sector. He goes into the specific steps he took to expand his coffee business. I thought this was relevant because the poster was very experienced in the industry, and had success using tried and true methods to expand his marketing reach.

[walkwithwachs]

Valentine 2/14/17

Today is St. Valentine’s Day.

It’s history is interesting.

The holiday's roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.

The more modern adaptation is one of romance involving flowers, chocolate, poetry and specialty menu dinners for two with perhaps a glass of champagne.

The spirit behind the holiday is to celebrate love.

Today, more than ever before, I believe we must embody that spirit and spread love as we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Kindness to strangers is important. The spirit of Tikun Olam (anonymous giving) is also important. But more important than anything is letting the ones you love know you love them.

This is not a once a year thing gang.

It’s an everyday thing gang.

I love my partner. Daniel Smith. We have been together for almost 9 years. He is a gentle, caring soul who listens and every day tries actively to make sure I know I am loved. He laughs at my jokes, never tires of my stories and is always eager to learn something new or explore the unknown. I am beyond blessed to share my life with my best friend. I love you Daniel.

I love my daughters Melanie and Rachel. While each of them have unique personalities and follow differing paths, both have good hearts filled with love and compassion for others. As I watch them grow and develop as adults, my heart swells with pride. I can see the positive influence that I have had in their lives whether recently or from long ago and I am proud of the role I have played in their lives. Every day brings a new opportunity to witness their life development and I am eternally grateful. The single greatest achievement of my life has been and will always be the birth of my girls.

I love my cats. It’s been almost 5 years since Jett stormed into our lives and he has dominated our world ever since. The former “mayor” of Lawrence who wandered the streets of downtown making friends with shop-keepers and college students alike is a constant companion who is as eager to have a conversation as he is to cuddle or wrestle. I have had many cats in my life but Jett is one of the most actively engaged felines I have ever encountered. Together with his sisters Roberta and Aretha, we have a home that is always filled with love, purrs, cuddles, play time and lots of laughter. I am thankful to be able to share my home and my life with these three.

Over the years, I have encountered some very special people. Some of them have become long-term friends. Others have been short-term bridges to other things and other people. Some have been one time encounters. I am grateful for all of the friends, acquaintances, colleagues and co-workers I have had in my life. 

It is hurtful to name names because when someone is omitted, feelings are hurt and they feel their role in your life is diminished. That is not the intent here. There are a few people who I must mention because their role in my life was so significant. Not surprisingly, a great many of them are no longer with us.

The departed. My grandparents. My parents. My aunt and uncle. Pearl Storey. Gertrude Hill. You all provided the foundation. The Winslow Road and Van Aken Shopping Center crew. You solidified and cemented the mold. Hawken School...you polished the mold.

The Marks Family. My life would be incomplete without Linda, Jeremy, Darren and their family. They were my “other” family and are still part of my world and I am forever grateful for their role in my life past and present.

My college best friend Bram Layman. Thank you for teaching me what platonic, non-judgemental love is and thank you for still orbiting my world. Together with the late Tom Reynolds and Pastor Earl Thompson, you all made the Columbus years some of the best years of my life. I am grateful.

My radio career has taken me all over the country. I have worked in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Arizona and Kansas. In each of the markets I have worked in, there has always been someone or someones special who I will always associate with my time there. But of all the people I have worked with, one person stands out and that is Jamey Benson. You made coming to work fun, exciting and full of love. No matter what the situation, you always helped to find the humor and together we got through some serious shit. Seeing your happiness today fills my heart more than you can ever imagine. Thank you for you.

The concept of “home” is a tough one for me. For the first 34 years of my life, Cleveland Ohio was “home.” After my mother died, I felt lost and did not identify with Cleveland as home any longer. Today, Cleveland remains a special place in my heart as my birthplace. I could easily return some day and live there and be happy for sure. However, of all the places I have lived since Cleveland, only one place feels like home and that is Lawrence, Kansas. I am grateful for the people, places and things that make this college town so unique and will forever be in debt for the role Lawrence has played in launching my business.

Rachel Black and Eric Moore. You have become extended family. Having you a touch away has made a huge difference in my life and I am so glad we can be together again to share the moments.

And then there is you. YOU know who you are. You know the role you have played in my life and the role I have shared in yours. It is personal. It is private. It is unique. And it is only shared between you and me. It may have been a conversation. It may have been an embrace. It may have been a cup of coffee. But it was our time. Just you and me. And there are a lot of YOU out there with whom I have shared a moment or two through conversation, life coaching, spiritual guidance or just active listening. I am grateful for the abilities that I have been given and for the chance to use them on a daily basis. Thank YOU for sharing you with me.

So, on this Valentine’s Day...make sure the people in your life know they are loved. The day to do it is EVERY day because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Go out and spread some love today please.

#walkwithwachs

www.walkwithwachs.com

[shebreathesslowly]

Holden and Gwen

You wake with the setting moon but open your eyes just enough to remember your surroundings, though they are as familiar to you as your hunger. The dim light filters through curtains so old that the hand painted daisies you once despised have faded to the rumor of yellow. You exhale dust. Your mind swims through the grayness of the room, beyond the room, the streets, the town, searching, sniffing, hunting.

Your bones know what time it is, and your bones know that the next two are close, though not so close that you can yet capture their names.

Harold, maybe, and Grace?

Part of the price you pay is the quiet agony between waking and rising, before time, which returns to you only when you sleep, comes slowly again to a halt. It’s as if the passage of time must be wrenched from your body on these mornings and exposed to the air to stop it from working its slow inevitabilities. When you were young, when you still thought of this life you live as a gift, you imagined you were giving birth to all your magic at the beginning of the day after a rare sleep. Now, you just think of it as brutal and meaningless pain. This nourishes you in a way that more romantic notions did not, gives you the energy you need to keep up with the world as it changes around you… or to try.

When your feet touch the floor, the pain stops abruptly and sour relief washes over you, draining into the floor with the last ticks of the clock that is your heart. Into every life, you remind yourself, only so many heartbeats are given, so you stop your heart whenever you wake, on your way to living the length of three lives. You were 14 when you stole the daisy painted curtains from a neighbor’s house where you poured out your first spell. That was over 200 years ago.

“Holden and Gwen,” you whisper to the wooden floor. The floor creaks its assent. The walls breathe, waiting. As you rise, the crooked body that slept in the bed falls away. You stand straight and tall and firm. You part the curtains to stare out into the old night, listening. Lovers. No. Brother and sister. Yes. You moan. Even better.

“What do they need?” you ask the cold air, as wrinkles drop off your skin.

“What kind of house should we be, for Holden and Gwen?”

Not a gingerbread facade, no, and perhaps never again. Those days have faded away like the daisies. You’ve adapted and the house along with you, always shaping itself to your wishes, shaping itself into the lures that attract lives in pairs, entwined in some way that feeds you even before you eat.

Boardinghouse. Flophouse. Counting house. House of ill-repute. Warehouse. Frat house. Schoolhouse. All of these and more have been webs woven because you need them to come. Husbands and wives. Mothers and sons. Brothers and sisters. Best friends. Even great enemies, and countless relationships you couldn’t understand, have entered your house searching for something small or something grand, something mundane or momentous. It doesn’t matter. They all find you and your long hunger.

What sort of house this time, you wonder, standing now on the porch, eyes closed as you reach out to touch the minds of your prey. The house begins to fashion itself behind you.

You are watching again from the window as the people of Cutterswood, Connecticut, begin their day. They glance at Cora’s Coffeehouse on the corner of Thompson and Arne, where it’s been since… they don’t quite remember. They keep walking and they don’t think about it again.

“Hello,” you sing, as the door opens. This is always the delicate part, when you find out how well you’ve performed the dowsing of their minds and how well the house has read your intentions. You perceive a lack of recognition on their faces. Cora’s Coffeehouse is not what Holden and Gwen were expecting. You are not what they were expecting, in your dark brown dress and yellow apron. But you’ve played this game many times.

“Cora is my daughter,” you say, “and this is her house… her coffeehouse. I’m afraid she’s been called away, so I am here doing my best in her absence.”

Holden and Gwen nod in unison, the way you’ve seen so many brothers and sisters do before. They seem satisfied by this explanation and remain wary of nothing more than the unexpectedness around them.

“I was hoping for a vanilla latte,” says Gwen, “with nonfat milk?”

You smile. “Oh dear, I’m afraid we are all out of the lotties today.”

Gwen looks confused. Holden looks curious. “They don’t even have an espresso machine,” he says. “I get it. You only do pour-overs or something, probably all single origin?”

“A single cup or as many cups as you like,” you say, turning to the large percolator on the counter, an exact copy of the coffee making machine inside a movie house version of your house, where you once lured a young couple on their first date. They were delicious. When was that? It couldn’t have been that long ago.

You recognize the glance that passes between Holden and Grace as resignation. They are not happy. No one who comes to your house is ever happy to be there. But they decide to stay, like they always do, because there is nothing better next door or a block away or even within miles. This is, perhaps, your truest talent, being the worst and only option.

You pull the lever and the coffee splashes into yellow cups on matching yellow saucers, the same yellow as your apron, the same yellow the daisies once were. Holden and Grace are talking behind your back as if you are not there about how they just need a cup of coffee and how they don’t care, they just want some coffee. When you place their coffee in front of them at the counter you don’t ask if they want sugar or cream. They drink. The door locks and the shades on the windows come down slowly. The lights dim. Only you notice.

Candy. Coins. Cake. Coffee. It’s always the same. These two needed coffee. You gave them coffee. They accepted. The spell is poured out and working now.

“This is coffee,” says Gwen.

“Tastes Perfect,” says Holden.

“It’s always good,” you say.

They finish and push their cups forward without speaking. You fill them again. Now, they need your coffee in a different way. It’s no longer a simple desire, it’s a necessity, increasingly urgent and demanding. The pattern is set.

They drink.

“This is coffee,” says Gwen.

“Tastes Perfect,” says Holden.

“It’s always good,” you say.

This continues, your appetizer, for a long time that you do not know how to measure, until that beautiful moment when their inability to speak or lift their cups anymore coincides with the zenith of your giddy anticipation. They have fallen to the floor, but you continue to pour coffee into their mouths to watch the temporary relief bloom on their faces.

“This is coffee,” you say.

“Tastes Perfect,” you say.

“It’s always good,” you say.

When you finally stop giving them coffee, their eyes—the only parts of Holden and Grace still moving—fill with panic, and so you begin, as you always do, by first licking the sweet sweat of desperation off their skin.

Mike Ferguson (@aboutferguson) is an American coffee professional and writer based in Atlanta and currently part of the marketing team at Olam Specialty Coffee. Read more Mike Ferguson on Sprudge.

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[floydscoffee]

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