happenings
- Copenhagen has a new café called Sneezing Fruits by the purveyors of Alice. Beyond the scare of being sneezed on orover, the culture is intrigued. There’s layers of dough, copious coffee and provisions like wine – hello fruit.
- A lot of things are coming back as in back from being closed or shut down due to the pandemic. While coffee has never left many, The London Coffee Festival returns Sept 23rd-26th where Hario will celebrate 100 years of existence with the Artists Edition V60. The collector pieces feature “incredible designs from prominent artists and roasters/coffee shops,” says the brand via an Instagram share. Early drop info is available for Hario newsletter subscriber. Here comes Hario to your inbox.
- The sustainability footprint of coffee can’t be ignored. Instead, brands are doing more to be transparent about their producti0n and processes. Plant based milk brand Oatly which can be found behind many a coffee counter from Australia to United States has published an emission report. After a much talked about Superbowl ad that sung the praises of not using Cows for milk, this report might cause coffee cooler talk about its impact on our planet. Hint: Electric trucks rule. View the full confessional here.
- This is something to keep handy. The Coffee Sensory and Cupping handbook is here. Written by Dr. Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda and Peter Giuliano, the Specialty Coffee Association hopes “this new handbook brings together 30 years of scientific advancements in the field of sensory science, and by combining these with cupping practices and flavor language, we hope to provide an approachable and practical guide to the complexity of coffee and sensory science, to anyone in the coffee industry.” Print editions become available Oct 1, at the organization’s annual expo, held this year in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Print is not dead nor is snail mail. One might have found themselves writing more letters, sending a physical card and getting handy with more time at home in the last year and a half. Issued by the United States Postal Service are stamps after a coffee lovers heart. A peek inside the artist who consulted on the book is provided by Scott Rao – coffee writer and consultant. These “espresso drinks’ stamps should be used and of course, collected.
- Sustainability is a journey. As such it doesn’t happen overnight even for coffee companies with big funding and a big bottle as its logo. Blue Bottle Coffee has made public its three-year goal in pursuit of a carbon neutral brand. Climate action needs action and this means change from the top down and ground up for many specialty coffee companies. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2024, Blue Bottle will focus on four categories: electricity, coffee sourcing, dairy, and waste. The culture looks forward to tracking updates through the company’s blog and forthcoming reports.
- If you’re looking for a place to vicariously travel through, where you can imagine solo coffee dates, lingering long with a friend over a couple shots of espresso, or people watching unknowns walking by, visit Coffee Shop Goals. The Instagram account’s curation of coffee shop scenes does more than allay FOMO but engenders the desire to make travel plans and explore again when all is well and safe. Additionally, it fosters comfort for the time that one takes to value the ritual of having a coffee.