Fresh Cup Magazine | November 2018

T E A CO C K TA I L S | E S P R E S S O M AC H I N E S | RT D P RO D U C T S | G O L D E N B E A N | D O N D O M I N G U E Z

Stainless Steel Straws PAGE 50

November 2018 » freshcup.com

COSTA RICA Part Three: Innovating Together PAGE 36

T H E M AG A Z I N E F O R S P E C I A LT Y CO F F E E & T E A P RO F E S S I O N A L S S I N C E 1 9 9 2

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CONTENTS N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 8 | VO L . 2 7 . N O. 1 1 | F R E S H C U P M AG A Z I N E

D E PA R T M E N T S 9

Drink of the Month Golden Fog By Onsen

12 #Trending

Craft Tea Cocktails

By Anna Mariani

14 The Filter Golden Bean 2018, Fresh Cup’s new editorial team, and illy’s International Coffee Awards By Fresh Cup Staff

20 Do You Know?

Don Dominguez, K&F Coffee

By Caitlin Peterkin

50 The Last Plastic Straw Success with Stainless

By Robin Roenker

F E AT U R E S Espresso Machines

22

The benefits and drawbacks of automation

By Michael Butterworth

Ready to Drink Something New? RTDs are steadily growing in popularity

By S. Michal Bennett

Costa Rica: Part Three Innovating together

By Perry Czopp

9 10 42

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32

38

LET TER FROM THE EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS GOLDEN BEAN SHOW SHOTS

44 46 48

COUNTER INTELLIGENCE C ALENDAR AD INDEX

ICED COFFEE PHOTO COURTESY OF GHOSTLIGHT COFFEE; FARMER PHOTO BY CHE YANNE PAREDES

DRINK OF THE MONTH

GOLDEN FOG This month’s featured recipe comes from Betsy Mcleod, bar manager at Onsen in San Francisco .

INGREDIENTS: 1.5 oz Fino Sherry 1.5 oz Dry Vermouth 1⁄2 teaspoon Tap Twice Tea Turmeric Ginger Spice Grapefruit twist

Infuse sherry with tea overnight, then strain. Serve over ice and add a grapefruit twist. Garnish with edible flowers (optional).

EDITOR’S NOTE It’s about the people.

The past few weeks, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet industry professionals from all over the world, while traveling coast to coast: first at Golden Bean North America in Portland, and then at the 3rd Annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award in New York City.

My first foray into the world of coffee competitions and awards, both GBNA and EIICA found me meeting so many passionate, knowledgeable people from all over the globe. Though a newcomer to the industry, I was welcomed into the tribe with open arms.

I shouldn’t have been surprised.

After all, I keep hearing from everyone I speak with—from the growers to the roasters, from the importers to the institution leaders—that the best thing about this industry is, in fact, the people. In this month’s stories, both on these pages and on our website, you’ll hear from folks of all backgrounds that this industry all comes down to one thing: “[My] great satisfaction is to see the people, how passionate they are, how engaged they are,” says Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè.

“It’s not any one thing that one person does. It takes a team,” says Don Dominguez, co-founder of K&F Coffee Roasters.

“It’s community…. Getting to learn from other people and getting to share what you know,” says Jen Hurd, of Genuine Origin.

“The camaraderie that you cultivate…it’s just nice to know there are other people out there like you that are doing similar things,” says Keith Feigin, of Black Oak Coffee Roasters.

The more I dive into this vibrant world, the more I see it really is about the people, the team, the community, the family. And that’s an incredible thing to be a part of.

CAITLIN PETERKIN, EDITOR

editor@freshcup.com

DRINK PHOTO BY ANNA MARIANI

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 9

CONTRIBUTORS

S. MICHAL BENNETT co-owns Coffee Roboto, a mobile coffee cart that traverses the streets of Coeur

PERRY CZOPP is a coffee professional from Phoenix, Arizona, now sourcing and exporting coffees from Costa Rica.

CHEYANNE PAREDES is a Portlandbased photographer who enjoys capturing the coffee industry from

d’Alene, Idaho. Besides slinging shots, she’s been actively putting pen to paper since she was 15, writing about food, health, and most things literary.

Read “Ready to Drink Something New?,” p. 30.

His passion for learning and sharing knowledge has translated into an affinity for writing specifically about Costa Rican coffee (“Costa Rica—Part Three: Innovating Together,” p. 36), with plans to play a large role in the coffee exchange between Costa Rica and the rest of the world.

bean to cup. Her work is influenced by her experience in the coffee industry, as well as her trips to coffee origin, as seen in “Costa Rica—Part Three: Innovating Together,” p.36.

MICHAEL BUTTERWORTH is a coffee educator and consultant living in Istanbul, Turkey. He co-founded thecoffeecompass.com, mostly as an excuse to visit more cafés. He’s also a licensed Q grader and a two-time USBC competitor. In this issue, he explores “Espresso Machines: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Automation,” p. 22.

ANNA MARIANI is a tea blogger, content creator, recipe developer, writer, and photographer based in San Francisco, California. She’s on a mission to transform tea into an approachable and fun experience, like with “Craft Tea Cocktails,” p. 12. She loves tea and food pairings, and she’s fascinated by the great potential tea has in bringing people together and bridging cultures.

Follow her blog “The Tea Squirrel” at teasquirrel.com.

Lexington, Kentucky-based freelance writer ROBIN ROENKER has extensive experience reporting on business trends, from cybersecurity to real estate, personal finance, and green living. For Fresh Cup, she explores sustainable practices in cafés in her column, “The Last Plastic Straw,” p. 50.

ON THE COVER: A Costa Rican coffee farmer loads up a truck of freshly-picked coffee cherries. Photo by Cheyanne Paredes

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FRESH CUP MAGAZINE FRESH CUP PUBLISHING Publisher and President JAN WEIGEL jan@freshcup.com EDITORIAL Editor CAITLIN PETERKIN editor@freshcup.com Associate Editor JORDAN JOHNSON freshed@freshcup.com ART Art Director CYNTHIA MEADORS cynthia@freshcup.com ADVERTISING Sales Manager MICHAEL HARRIS michael@freshcup.com Ad Coordinator DIANE HOWARD adtraffic@freshcup.com ACCOUNTING Accounting Manager DIANE HOWARD diane@freshcup.com FRESH CUP FOUNDER WARD BARBEE 1938-2006 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD DAVID GRISWOLD

ANUPA MUELLER

Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers

Eco-Prima

CHUCK JONES

BRAD PRICE

Jones Coffee Roasters

Phillips Syrups & Sauces

JULIA LEACH

BRUCE RICHARDSON

Toddy

Elmwood Inn Fine Teas

PHILLIP DI BELLA

MANISH SHAH

Di Bella Group

Maya Tea Co.

BRUCE MILLETTO

LARRY WINKLER

Bellissimo Coffee Advisors

Torani

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FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 11

TRENDING Craft Tea Cocktails Story and photos by Anna Mariani

SAN FRANCISCO—Tea as an ingredient in craft cocktails has seen a surge in popularity, with many bartenders creating innovative, unique drinks. Whether camellia sinensis, herbal, or flavored, tea is a great way to add layers of complexity to cocktails, while its variety makes it easy to pair with just about any spirit.

Making cocktails with tea, however, is not completely new—tea was actually used in very early punches, the ancestors of modern cocktails.

For example, the milk punch, one of the oldest teabased cocktails, was a concoction of black tea, port, lemon, and Batavia Arrack, a liquor popular during the 18th century.

Unsurprisingly, this tea trend extends even beyond the cocktail bar. Home bartenders can choose from a wide selection of tea-based mixology products, from bitters like DRAM Apothecary Black Cocktail Bitters to tea-infused cocktail syrups like those by Oregon-based company RAFT. For DIYers, there are even craft cocktail infusion kits like 1pt Infusion Kit, which includes pre-measured infusion blends for spirits, a glass bottle, instructions, and recipes. The infusion blends are designed to pair with different base spirits, and all of them include tea and/or botanicals.

There are different ways to incorporate tea in cocktails. You can infuse tea leaves directly into base spirits, create tea-infused syrups and tinctures, or use the steeped tea as a dilution agent.

INFUSING CREATIVITY At Onsen, a Japanese-inspired bath house and restaurant located in the Tenderloin neighborhood, tea plays a key role on the menu. Betsy Mcleod, Onsen bar manager and gin enthusiast, uses tea to overcome a challenge.

“We are limited to work with soju and its limited flavor profile,” she says. “I wanted to make soju taste like gin and create a beautiful, floral, herbal base for every cocktail. Tea and herbal teas helped me achieve that because they have a lot of complexity, which will shine later on in the cocktails.”

For the cocktails, Mcleod infuses soju and sherry with teas and herbal blends by San Francisco-based tea company Tap Twice Tea, also featured on their extensive tea menu. Onsen tea cocktails are refreshing, balanced, and have a nice complexity of flavor. According to Mcleod, another advantage is that if cocktails have to be batched in advance and shelf-stable like at Onsen, tea can sit and will make the cocktail even more flavorful.

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Tea for Two Golden Tea Milk Punch cocktail at The Bar at Hotel Kabuki (opposite page): Beefeater 24 gin, turmeric, cinnamon matcha tea, coconut cream, Madagascar vanilla. Served warm in a teapot.

Chrysanthemum cocktail at The Bar at Hotel Kabuki (left): goji berry-washed St. George Botanivore gin, Alessio Bianco vermouth, chrysanthemum, honey, Suze.

A white Negroni inspired by the traditional Chinese recipe for chrysanthemum and goji berry herbal tea.

Coco Rosie tea cocktail at Onsen (above): Rosemint Cacao herbal tea-infused soju, coconut cream, lemon.

DILUTION SOLUTION At The Bar at the newly remodeled Hotel Kabuki in Japantown, beverage director Stephanie Wheeler serves her “Tea for Two” cocktails in teapots.

“It’s our version of a large-format cocktail but we decided to use tea as a base because we wanted to create something that you can drink warm or cold,” she says. “Obviously hot is a lot more popular, just because it’s always cold outside in San Francisco. They are called ‘Tea for Two’ because they are meant to be shared.”

Wheeler doesn’t infuse tea into spirits; she uses it mainly as a dilution agent and infuses it in syrups. She sources it from the Japanese grocery

store down the street, Nijiya Market.

Her reason for choosing tea as a cocktail ingredient lies in its versatility and flavor.

“The great thing about tea is that it can do just about anything water can when it comes to dilution,” she says. “I like to use particularly floral teas, I love how they trick your brain into thinking you are drinking something a lot sweeter than they actually are. We use jasmine tea and chrysanthemum, they have a little bit of bitterness and floral notes but they make you think you are drinking something a lot sweeter without the extra sugar.”

Getting to know the teas you are working with is very important to find

balance in a tea-based cocktail and make its flavor shine.

“Study your teas and let the tea inspire you. It’s a lot of testing,” says Wheeler. “When you’re making a tea cocktail compared to any other drink, you want to start with the tea. If tea is your focus, you have to build the other ingredients around it, which can be a little counterintuitive at first, but I think that it makes a difference.”

Tea-infused craft cocktails have the potential to elevate any menu in a captivating and innovative way. It’s all about getting to know the teas you are working with, letting them inspire you, and finding that balance that will keep your customers coming back for more. FC

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THE FILTER

OVERALL WINNERS—IT’S A TIE!: Black Oak Coffee Roasters—represented by Steve Cuevas (far left) and Keith Feigin (far right) pictured with Fresh Cup Publisher Jan Weigel and Golden Bean’s Head Bean Sean Edwards—tied with Bonlife Coffee (at right), represented by Erika Moore.

Golden Bean North America 2018

By Fresh Cup Staff

T

his September found coffee professionals from around the world descending upon Portland, Oregon, for the 2018 Golden Bean North American competition. This year’s event had more than 850 submissions from roasters across the United States and Canada to compete in different categories including filtered, espresso, and milk-based. During the three-day judging round, samples of the coffee were prepared and served to attendees of the conference, then scored based on sweetness, acidity, body, and overall balance. Head judges then came around to ensure fair scoring and provide their own assessment. The conference provides a great opportunity to fine-tune your palette and taste some of the best coffees available in North America, while meeting dedicated professionals in a variety of positions throughout the coffee industry, including roasters, baristas, importers, product suppliers, and more.

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In between tastings, industry experts provided educational seminars on hottopic issues for coffee professionals.

Seminars from this year included marketing your business, by Phillip Di Bella of Di Bella Group; coffee without limits,

by Daniel Robles of Descamex; emerging origins, by Susan Heller Evenson of Atlas Coffee Importers; an alternative beverage trends panel with Michael Bishop of Alchemy Cordial Company, Manish Shah of Maya Tea, and Mindy Ritter of JoeFroyo; and how to maintain your importer relationships with Brian Nicholas of Organic Products Trading Company.

Evening events included a cocktail and karaoke party at Portland Roasting Coffee and a latte art throwdown at Black Rabbit Service Co. Competition festivities culminated in a medieval feast-themed awards party, held in the DoubleTree ballroom, that included dancing, drinking, and celebration.

Guests came dressed as knights, princesses, monks, and even a giant red dragon, as awards were handed out.

HOW MEDIEVAL: Rod and Jan Weigel with Reg Barber (above, from left); Amy Angelo and head judge Scott Angelo of Oceana Coffee.

THE 2018 GOLD MEDAL WINNERS: ESPRESSO (short/black) Theory Collaborative LLC – CA Ethiopia Keramo MILK-BASED Bonlife Coffee Roasters – TN Top Shelf Espresso POUR-OVER FILTER Folklore Coffee – MT Kenya Ruthagati

ROAST HOUSE COFFEE

K&F COFFEE ROASTERS

HALL OF FAME AWARD goes to Don Dominguez (pictured with his wife, Wendy), K&F Coffee Roasters

ORGANIC ESPRESSO Roast House Coffee – WA Ethiopia Homacho Waeno and Relevant Coffee – WA Guatemala San Pedro Necta Organic SINGLE ORIGIN Bonlife Coffee Roasters – TN Ethiopia Gedeb Natural DECAFFEINATED K&F Coffee Roasters – OR Liana WP Decaf NORTH AMERICAN-GROWN MILK-BASED Kona Coffee Purveyors – HI Mauna Loa FRANCHISE /CHAIN ESPRESSO Bird Rock Coffee Roasters – CA XO Geisha FRANCHISE /CHAIN MILK-BASED The Roasterie – MO Ethiopia Yirgacheffe NaturalFranchise/Chain FILTER Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters – CA Panama Hartmann Natural Geisha – Lot 1 AB and Klatch Coffee – CA Golden Bean Panama Drip Overall Small Franchise/Chain Champion: KLATCH COFFEE Overall Large Franchise/Chain Champion: CANTERBURY COFFEE

CANTERBURY COFFEE

KLATCH COFFEE

Overall Golden Bean Champions: BLACK OAK COFFEE and BONLIFE COFFEE

Visit freshcup.com for more photos from the event as well as interviews with Golden Bean judges, winners, attendees, and more.

PHOTOS BY C YNTHIA MEADORS

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Fresh Cup Announces New Editor & Associate Editor

JORDAN JOHNSON (left) & CAITLIN PETERKIN (right)

F

resh Cup Magazine is pleased to welcome Caitlin Peterkin as its new Editor and Jordan Johnson as Associate Editor.

Caitlin Peterkin comes to Fresh Cup after serving four years in Seattle as Program Manager and Editor at arts non-profit Earshot Jazz. Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, she earned her degree in Journalism with a minor in Music from Indiana University in Bloomington, and has worked for various publications including The Chronicle of Higher Education and Paste Magazine. Since moving to Portland, she has been involved with PDX Jazz and Literary Arts, and is a loyal member of both her volleyball and trivia teams. A craft beverage enthusiast, avid hiker, and devoted concertgoer, Caitlin is happy to now call Portland, Oregon, home. She is honored to be at the helm of Fresh Cup, helping to tell important stories about coffee and tea around the world.

After a year of splitting her time between helping out at Fresh Cup and selling wedding dresses as a Bridal Stylist, Jordan Johnson is excited to join the Fresh Cup team full-time as Associate Editor. Born and raised in Yamhill County, Oregon, Jordan grew up riding dirt bikes with her father, playing the cello in the high school orchestra, and learning how to cook from her grandparents. Jordan majored in Business Administration and minored in Fine Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she was awarded the Charles H. Lundquist Outstanding Student in Entrepreneurship Award. She then went to work for Broussard Communications as a public relations Account Coordinator in Portland, representing restaurants, wineries, and coffee shops throughout the city. When she has downtime, Jordan likes to bake breads, cakes, and cookies, or work on her illustrations, which you can see on her Instagram account @DrawnHungry.

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PHOTO BY C YNTHIA MEADORS

The 3rd Annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award

ANDREA ILLY speaks at the 3rd annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award breakfast reception and seminar at the United Nations in New York City.

I

n early October, New York City played host to the 3rd Annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, where major themes of sustainability and gender equality echoed throughout the day’s events. Kicking off with a breakfast reception and seminar at the United Nations, the awards program culminated in a gala at the Rainbow Room, where, following rounds of blind tastings by an international independent jury of top culinary and coffee experts, illycaffé announced that coffee beans grown by Rwanda’s Ngororero Coffee Washing Station, represented by Philotée Mukiza, were designated “Best of the Best.”

Ngororero Coffee Washing Station was chosen from among the world’s top lots from the 2017/2018 harvests in nine countries, and was selected based on criteria including aromatic richness/complexity, balance/elegance, and aroma intensity/strength. Alongside Rwanda, coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, and Nicaragua were chosen to compete as finalists, following intensive analysis at illy’s Quality Lab at its Trieste, Italy, headquarters. All nine finalists, spanning four continents, are ingredients in the legendary illy blend, celebrated for decades for its richness, complexity, and consistency.

"It all starts with the unique illy blend, developed consistently year after year, that gives us deep knowledge of the coffee origins combined with our direct trade model that works closely with coffee growers to produce the highest quality Arabica beans," says illycaffè CEO Massimiliano Pogliani.

At the gala, Pogliani, on behalf of illy partner United Airlines, presented the “Coffee Lover’s Choice” award, which also went to Ngororero Coffee Washing Station—the first time in the history of the award that both honors went to the same lot. This particular achievement was chosen in a blind taste test by more than 1,500 consumers at illy café locations around the world,

PHOTO BY C AITLIN PETERKIN

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THE FILTER

including San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, London, Milan, and Paris.

Named for illycaffè’s visionary, second-generation leader, the Ernesto llly International Coffee Award

recognizes excellence in raising coffee of the highest quality through sustainable means. The award is rooted in a program that illy established nearly three decades ago in Brazil, originally called Prêmio de Qualidade do Cafè para Espresso, that drove illy’s

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PHOTOS BY C AITLIN PETERKIN

transformation to a company that today purchases nearly 100 percent of its coffee beans directly from producers able to meet its exacting quality standards, at a guaranteed premium over market prices.

At the morning program, H.E. Ambassador Stefano Stefanile, deputy permanent representative of Italy to the United Nations, recalled Dr. Ernesto Illy’s kindness, extensive knowledge, and how he was “vividly passionate about his work,” affirming that the “award is a good way of honoring his memory.”

One of several speakers during the morning reception, Stefanile joined the lineup of Gerard Patacconi, of International Coffee Organization. Andrea De Marco, of UNIDO, and Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè, in covering topics that ranged from growing practices and business management to climate change and gender equality in the coffee industry.

At the evening gala, illycaffè homed in on gender equality and equity, sharing with the crowd gathered at the Rainbow Room its “Half a Cup” video created for International Coffee Day on October 1, which focused on celebrating women in coffee. Representing what the industry would look like without women, the campaign highlighted the need for their equality and reflected illy’s dedication to promoting the empowerment of women across the coffee value chain.

like illycaffè, which are “stepping up and becoming thought and impact leaders in the coffee industry,” but also by coffee growers the world over.

Speaking to Fresh Cup, Illy waxed about the pleasure he takes in seeing the happiness of the growers, as well as tasting the quality of this year’s coffee, which he says was “unimaginable a few decades ago.”

“Seeing the people, how passionate they are, how engaged they are, how open and willing to learn they are,” says Illy, “we are building something great together.”

—CAITLIN PETERKIN FC

“‘Greatness’ means much more than ‘best,’” Andrea Illy expressed during his talk at the morning reception. For the chairman, this event truly showcases how the coffee industry is moving forward in the right direction thanks to the significant work being done not only by institutions

PHOTO SOURCE: ILLYC AFFÈ

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 19

DO YOU KNOW?

WENDY + DON DOMINGUEZ at K&F Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon.

Don Dominguez, K&F Coffee Roasters

By Wendy Dominguez & Caitlin Peterkin

A

t the 2018 Golden Bean North America award ceremony, Don Dominguez, co-founder of Portland’s K&F Coffee Roasters, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in recognition of his excellence and dedication to the coffee industry.

“I was very surprised,” says Don of the honor. “All of the emotions came back from when my dad and I started the company.”

Even before Don Dominguez was born, an infatuation with coffee was brewing in his ancestral line. His great-grandfather, Captain Sven (Fred) Fredrickson, sailed the seas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on his ship, the Matilda, searching the world over for the finest coffees to bring back to coffee roasters in his hometown of San Francisco. Captain Fredrickson’s granddaughter, Nadine, later married

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J.K. (Bud) Dominguez, leading to Don’s future in coffee.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Don’s father studied the coffee business from turnof-the-century master roasters of San Francisco. He became a buyer for Folgers Coffee, then the preeminent brand in the U.S. Over a period of 50 years, Bud perfected his skills in tasting, buying, and blending the world’s premium coffees. Throughout his life he passed these skills and exacting standards on to Don. When Don was 2 years old, his father Bud was transferred to Portland to help open Folgers’ Northwest roasting facility. The family moved back and forth between California and Oregon more than once, finally settling in Portland at the beginning of Don’s sophomore year of high school.

Don went on to graduate from Southern Oregon College and spent a

year gaining fluency in Spanish as an exchange student in Mexico. Even as he began a career in international freight forwarding, Don’s passion for coffee was always at the forefront. One day, at a little shop in Ports O’ Call Village in San Pedro, California, he had an epiphany.

Upon entering the shop, he could smell the enticing aromas of vanilla and hazelnut, scents that led to packages of gourmet roasted coffee from Portland.

Something began rising in Don: a mix of envy, hope, resolve, and then dedication and conviction. He realized he could be doing what he knew and loved in his own hometown—and he’d better start now.

“I always had this lingering thing in the back of my mind, gnawing away at me that I wanted to open up a coffee roastery,” he says. “I thought, if I’m gonna do this, I got to do it now, or this thing is gonna pass me by.”

PHOTO BY C AITLIN PETERKIN

And so, Don encouraged his father to start a coffee company with him, and in March of 1983, K&F Coffee Roasters became one of the first micro-roasters in Portland, taking its name from Don’s great-grandfathers, Kittridge, a San Francisco dock worker, and Fredrickson, the coffee-buying sea captain.

Over the last three and a half decades, Don has earned his place among the finest roast masters in the Pacific Northwest. He was one of the first 100 in the U.S. to earn distinction as a certified coffee Q Grader. His extensive skills and finely-honed palate have led to numerous coffee awards. Don also developed a complimentary product, his Mexican Spiced Chocolate, which won second place as Best New Product at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and led to a full line of beverage mixes under the K&F name.

Don has served as a judge for many barista contests and for the Cup of Excellence. His fluent Spanish strengthens his relationships with coffee brokers, growers, and customers worldwide, and his knowledge and high standards have brought him industry recognition. He has been active in the coffee industry as a member of the SCA and ORLA, a board member of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association, and a founding member of the Oregon Coffee Association. He served for five years as a board member of Moonstruck Chocolatier. He and K&F Coffee Roasters have been profiled on MSNBC’s national program, Your Business, and featured in CNNMoney Magazine. Over the years, he has made generous donations through projects and fundraisers with and for the Salvation Army, Doernbecher, the Oregon Food Bank, Portland Rescue Mission, and numerous schools and community organizations.

His real passion is mentoring others in the coffee industry. Many a coffee retailer and restaurateur have benefited from Don’s experienced advice about bean or equipment selection, staff training, merchandising, marketing, menu planning, and much more. Don’s greatest joy in business is to inspire others and help

PHOTOS SOURCE: GOLDEN BEAN NORTH AMERIC A

them to succeed, especially those with whom he works.

“It’s important to me to pass on the information to, for example, Mike, our plant manager, he just got his Q Grader certificate,” says Don. “Mike was also instrumental in developing all of the roasts for the Golden Bean Awards… [he] was the one that really honed the roasting for that. So it was letting him go, letting his instincts fly—we came out pretty successful.” (K&F medaled in all six categories in which it entered beans, and took home the gold in Decaf.)

“For any type of business,” he continues, “it’s not any one thing that one person does. It takes a team, it takes everybody doing their part, and so the more information I can impart to the people that I work with, we all get on the same page and the same mission.”

And for K&F, their mission is, “Obsession is a virtue.”

“I was once asked, ‘Why do you like coffee?’ And the pat answer is, because I’m passionate,” says Dominguez. “I’m obsessed with coffee, and I’m constantly trying to make it better.”

In recent years, that obsession has expanded to antique coffee mills, of which he now has an extensive collection of more than 300 between his home and office. Don’s rule of thumb for bringing in an addition to his home collection: if it lasts for 24 hours without his wife, Wendy, noticing, it stays.

“Our house is covered,” says Wendy.

“I pride myself on my feng shui arrangement of coffee grinders!”

Along with collecting antique coffee equipment, Don has a long list of interests and hobbies. He is an accomplished skier, golfer, and martial artist who has also studied flamenco guitar, linking back to his family’s roots in Andalucía, Spain.

Don’s wife Wendy joined him full-time at K&F in 2015. They have two grown sons, both of whom have also worked in the company, and two grandchildren.

One last note and a little-known fact: In 1993, Don married Wendy, whose mother’s maiden name was…

Coffey. FC

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 21

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PHOTO BY PETER PIVAK

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 23

ESPRESSO MACHINES

C

an specialty coffee be automated? Or perhaps the better question is, should specialty coffee be automated? Faced with rising operation costs and razor-thin margins, some coffee professionals are proposing that automation can help lower labor costs while increasing consistency.

But many remain skeptical, maintaining that high-end coffee is incompatible with a convenience-oriented service model.

“Automatic machines can be worse than baristas, but they also have the potential to be much, much better,” says Matt Perger, founder of Barista Hustle and 2012 World Brewers Cup champion. Perger has been a public advocate for automatic espresso machines, also called “super autos,” since speaking at La Marzocco’s Out of the Box event in 2015. “The reactions ranged from surprise to full-on anger,” says Perger.

MATT PERGER is the founder of Barista Hustle and Eversys Swiss Espresso Systems brand ambassador.

Third-wave coffee shops, after all, rose to prominence with an emphasis on manual brew methods by the cup and paddle espresso machines, which require baristas to manually start and stop each shot. Although pour-overs remain a fixture in many specialty coffee shop menus, the pendulum has swung decidedly in the other direction. Baristas have discovered anew that automated batch brewers are every bit as capable to brew a well-extracted cup—with greater reproducibility and efficiency to boot.

With a renewed affirmation of the benefits of automating large batches of filter coffee, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that automation advocates have turned their sights to espresso. In many cafés, paddle espresso machines have given way to volumetric

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BARISTA HUSTLE

and even gravimetric machines. On the tamping front, devices such as the Puqpress and the PUSH tamper have attempted to eliminate errors during tamping. But some want to automate espresso even further.

Long the exclusive domain of fast-food chains and convenience stores, super automatic espresso machines are being embraced by a growing number of specialty coffee experts.

“I have certainly had better shots from super automatic machines, than I have had at many cafés,” says Marcos Iglesias, an account manager at Brooklynbased coffee roastery Parlor Coffee. “I would venture to say that a properly programmed and maintained super auto can yield a higher quality cup of coffee than the average barista can in a busy café setting.”

AUTOMATIC ESPRESSO MACHINES AUTOMATE THE GRINDING, DISTRIBUTING, TAMPING, AND BREWING PROCESS, REDUCING THE TASK OF THE BARISTA TO PUSHING A BUTTON. SOME MODELS EVEN AUTOMATE STEAMING THE MILK.

Automatic espresso machines automate the grinding, distributing, tamping, and brewing process, reducing the task of the barista to pushing a button.

Some models even automate steaming the milk.

Iglesias previously worked as an espresso machine technician, a job that had him service super automatic espresso machines over a three-state area. Although the quality of coffee prepared by these machines was poor, he was impressed by the technology.

“Super autos have a bad reputation because of their place in the industry and because of the technology implemented in them in the past,” says Iglesias.

“Usually super autos are seen by people as an option for those who want simple and labor-free coffee. This usually means they get put in fast-paced restaurants or cafés, offices, twenty-four-seven establishments and other settings along that same vein. These places generally don’t know how to program or maintain these pieces of machinery and additionally tend to use bad quality coffee.”

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ESPRESSO MACHINES

EVERSYS: The e’6 (left) can make six espressos at a time and up to 525 espressos per hour. The Cameo (right) is Eversys’ aesthetic line—associated with traditional quality and machine design.

As with manual and semi-automatic espresso machines, super automatic machines vary by make and model, and require regular maintenance.

in flat ceramic burrs and dropped into a cylindrical brewing chamber made of stainless steel. The bottom of the brewing chamber has a stainless steel

IT’S ALWAYS WATCHING. EVERY SHOT TIME, EVERY DOSE OF GROUNDS, EVERY BEVERAGE MADE. WITH ALL THIS DATA IT CAN MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT CHANGING THE GRIND AND OTHER VARIABLES THAT NO BARISTA—EVEN HYPER-ATTENTIVE AND DISCIPLINED—COULD EVER HOPE TO MATCH.

“Just like baristas, not all machines are the same,” says Perger, who is a brand ambassador for the Swiss company Eversys, which manufactures fully automated espresso machines.

“Eversys machines are designed to emulate the mechanics of traditional espresso machines as closely as possible,” says Perger. “Beans are ground

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screen with hundreds of precision holes just like a regular basket. The coffee and chamber then move beneath the tamper which descends down and compresses the grinds with 20, 40, or 60 kilograms of force. Interestingly the tamper also acts as a shower screen and is already in the right spot; it then backs off a few millimeters to provide

headspace so the coffee can expand when saturated with water.”

Another benefit of super automatic espresso machines is automated cleaning cycles—a duty often neglected by baristas during peak hours.

“After completion of the shot, the bottom of the brewing chamber drops out, the tamper/shower screen pushes the puck into the knockbox and the chamber is rinsed, ready for the next shot,” says Perger.

Perger credits the machine’s software for keeping the espresso more dialed-in than any human could hope to match.

“It’s always watching,” he says. “Every shot time, every dose of grounds, every beverage made. With all this data it can make decisions about changing the grind and other variables that no barista—even hyper-attentive and disciplined—could ever hope to match.”

Many baristas might be left wondering what their job is if they no longer have to adjust the espresso grind or tamp. Perger invites baristas to think of their role as a sort of coffee sommelier, where their value has less to do with physical skills and more to do

PHOTOS COURTESY OF E VERSYS

with understanding their product and providing heightened hospitality for their guests.

For café owners who embrace automation, Perger predicts entire service models will need to be adjusted.

“Your entire workflow is going to change,” he says.

“Your baristas will have about fifty percent less work to do. So, what’s going to change? Do you hire less staff and make more profit, or do you reinvest that profit into wages, training, better product, and more time for customer service? Or maybe just one of the above? There’s a lot of choices to be made, and you need to figure out what’s worth improving or removing.”

safety (the clutch prevents the handle from popping up) and temperature stability.

According to Enrico Wurm, La Marzocco’s product improvement manager, the inspiration for the Leva came as a response to how baristas were using the La Marzocco Strada EP, a machine which allows the barista to program variable pressure throughout the brewing process. What surprised the design team at La Marzocco was that although users had a seemingly infinite number of pressure profiles, most users preferred mimicking a classic lever machine: a slow ramp up to nine bars of pressure before tapering off. For the design

MANY COFFEE PROFESSIONALS ARE SKEPTICAL THAT AUTOMATION IS A SILVER BULLET THAT WILL SOLVE ALL OF THEIR PROBLEMS.

Many coffee professionals, however, are skeptical that automation is a silver bullet that will solve all of their problems.

“If we have fully automated coffee machines, at what point might you just buy a caffeine pill?” says David Donde, owner of Truth Coffee in Cape Town, South Africa. “Where is technology going take us?”

Donde recently installed a La Marzocco Leva in his café. The machine is an updated take on the classic lever espresso machine, and is as about as far from a super automatic espresso machine as conceivable. Using technology borrowed from the motorcycle industry, baristas must manually engage a clutch and pull a lever to physically pull a shot of espresso.

Improvements on a traditional lever machine include improved

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ESPRESSO MACHINES

team at La Marzocco, this showed a potential niche for lever machines, even as the popularity of volumetric and gravimetric machines has never been higher.

But for Donde, lever espresso machines are not only about espresso flavor, but customer experience as well.

“When you walk in, there’s something romantic about it. Isn’t that what we’re selling?” says Donde. “We’re selling dopamine. We’re selling human contact.”

Although he concedes that a super automatic espresso machine might be capable of making coffee as well as a skilled barista, for Donde the process is as important as the finished product.

IF I’VE GOT TEN MINUTES TO KILL IN A COFFEE SHOP I DON’T WANT MY LEVER UP: The Leva by La Marzocco (above) at HOST in 2017; The Pull Espresso Machine (below) is a handmade machine with leather-wrapped levers and hand-turned walnut handles and taps.

BARISTA ON AUTOPILOT, NO MATTER HOW MUCH BETTER IT MIGHT BE.

“If I’ve got ten minutes to kill in a coffee shop I don’t want my barista on autopilot, no matter how much better it might be,” says Donde.

Donde’s point perhaps raises the crux of the issue: can specialty coffee utilize the benefits of automation without destroying its own value proposition? Consumers are conditioned to pay more for “handmade” products across industries, but will cup quality alone be enough to differentiate specialty and commercial coffee if the preparation is the same?

Donde is skeptical.

“Can the luxury live with convenience? My instinct says no, that they don’t coexist,” he says.

Perger and Iglesias both realize that automatic espresso machines have a marketing problem. But they don’t see it as an insurmountable obstacle. Iglesias

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TOP PHOTO BY PETER SZ YMC Z AK , BOT TOM PHOTO BY C YNTHIA MEADORS

suggests restaurants with full kitchens might consider moving the espresso machine to back of house.

“You’re left to decide on quality based on your taste buds, presentation, and overall experience,” he says.

For Perger, embracing automation is not a matter of aesthetics but business viability.

“You need to separate businesses trying to be profitable and affordable from those who want to be super niche and expensive,” says Perger. “The former will have to embrace automation to keep up with the rest of the industry. The latter can do whatever it likes, as long as there’s customers willing to pay the premium.”

Donde is less convinced of the financial necessity of automation.

“We’ll sell romance and they will sell convenience,” says Donde. “And why shouldn’t romance sell?”

Donde, of course, recognizes that all cafés utilize varying levels of automation. Even the most fastidiously “hand-crafted” pour-over was likely prepared with hot water from an automated water boiler.

“We accept automation in the areas we’re bad at,” says Donde. “Even the best of us get it wrong.”

For those cafés willing to brace automatic espresso machines, Iglesias has some practical advice. Although super automatics offer more consistency from shot-toshot, they still must be programmed and maintained.

Like manual machines, this requires a barista who is able to dial-in a coffee by taste.

“The problem with most super automatic machines, is that contrary to popular belief, they are not ‘set and forget.’ They need to be monitored carefully and checked periodically,” says Iglesias. “It would be an undertaking I wouldn’t take lightly.”

Although the technology for automating espresso is here, it’s yet to become a trend. That doesn’t stop Perger and Iglesias from anticipating an automation revolution.

“It’ll take a truly radical coffee professional to pull the trigger on a super auto in a specialty shop,” says Iglesias. “I think once we see a few successful shops start to adopt this model, then super autos will start to snowball.” FC

PHOTO BY NATHAN DUML AO

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READY-TO-DRINK

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his year has been a good year for coffee drinkers—especially for those of us who are just too busy for our own good, but still want healthy and delicious caffeine options. Every day, it seems, there is a new canned, bottled, or cartoned coffee or tea drink in the cooler aisle vying for my consumption.

Yes, roasted coffee still dominates the coffee retail market, but ready-to-drink (RTD) products have steadily grown in popularity (31% increase) over the past two years.

Actually, 2017 didn’t introduce a lot of new trends in coffee and tea, unless you count unicorn blended drinks from Starbucks, lattes poured into avocado skins, or the emergence of cold-brew tea. Coffee and tea kind of settled in and refined their offerings through new coffee roasters, more single-origin coffee beans and tea leaves, increased awareness of processes, and the cultivation of instant specialty coffee. Even in the ready-to-drink arena, Red Bull Green Edition and Pepsi’s LIFEWTR— yes, water—took overall top consumer dollars, while Dunkin’ Iced Coffee release came out ahead in the coffee category. But there weren’t many challengers to this sugary corporate bottled drink, or to third-wave stalwarts like Blue Bottle’s New Orleans-Style Iced Coffee and Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ now widely recognizable cold-brew carton. That changed in 2018.

As we approach the close of the year, I find myself a little overwhelmed by the ever-increasing number of drinks available when I just want to grab a quick coffee at the grocery store.

We have choices, choices, and more choices—perhaps a byproduct of the emerging “small is the new big” philosophy, or perhaps a result of the monumental internet, digital, and social media age. With the inevitable evaporation of privacy that comes with having a camera, phone, and connective device in our hands 24/7, we also gain more access to knowledge and options than one person could possibly handle.

And yet, the 80 million millennials (1/3

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of the U.S. population) seem to know just how to navigate this digital excess.

They make constant digital choices with their “likes,” posts, and dollars that reflect their lifestyle and values, as well as make them feel connected and promote their individuality. Baby boomers may be old enough now to be stuck in their ways, but those of us in the generations in between are realizing that the millennial mindset is what is going to be the winning or losing factor as we strive to keep our businesses and products relevant.

other in the early afternoon, I don’t typically have time to stop and make coffee, and it gets expensive visiting a coffee shop on a daily basis. I want a mid-day pick-me-up, but I also want it quickly and in a portable container.

“More and more, people are looking for that element of just being able to take it with you,” says Melissa Kalimov, co-founder of RISE Brewing Co., an RTD brand known for its innovative nitro cold brew, organic ingredients, and highquality products. “You really did have to go to a coffee shop and have someone

Here are a few trends that are sweeping the RTD product category, which could also be considered reasons for the fascinating growth in grab-n-go drinks in recent years.

make you a coffee in order for it to be an excellent, high-quality experience.

Products that offer a high level of quality along with the convenience are a newer and growing availability.”

Temperature and timing are two additional elements that influence the popularity and adaptability of RTD products within our lifestyles.

“Beverage is something that is super sensitive to the temperature that you consume it at, whether it’s hot or cold,” says Kalimov’s business partner, Grant Gyesky. “The fact that not only is a product available in stores and on shelves, but it’s available at the right temperature at the right time that it’s supposed to be consumed at is a pretty big component that is often overlooked.”

PACE OF LIFE With technology and services that theoretically could take care of every detail of our lives, the pace of living in the developed world has not slowed. At all.

In fact, it’s gone the opposite direction.

I have a couple of apps on my phone and tablet for relaxing, which I never use, and the app that I use most for organizing myself is Notes, of all things. And I still make handwritten notes for myself, on my hand and on stickies.

When it comes to fueling my day, I still enjoy making a good cup of hot, black coffee in the morning, taking a moment to sip on it, and then allowing it to launch me into my craziness. Yet, when I get off one job and head to the

HEALTH & NUTRITION Health and nutrition also play a significant role in food, drink, and body care decision-making and consumption in the

U.S. Lacie Mackey, one of three “reluctant entrepreneurs” who started Caveman Coffee Co. in 2013, used to drink soda every day and had a difficult time finding a substitute. She needed something that tasted great, gave her a caffeine boost, and provided that bubbly texture that is so satisfying to the body and brain. For Mackey, Caveman’s canned Nitro Cold Brew Coffee replaced soda in a way that made her healthier, gave her more energy, and still enabled her to enjoy a flavorful liquid snack.

“There’s been a shift in our society from a very sodabased, sugar-based consumer group to people now looking at their health and quality of life, and paying attention to what they are putting in their bodies,” she says.

In addition, diets and active eating plans are shaping food and drink trends in unexpected ways. Fad diets have come and gone over the decades, but several modern diets, like Paleo, Ketogenic, and Whole30, are fairly practical and integrated into certain lifestyles, giving them more staying power than, say, the cabbage soup or steak diets our parents experimented with. The CrossFit world has certainly popularized the Paleolithic Diet, and several emerging RTD coffee companies, like Caveman and Kitu Super Coffee, were birthed from a Paleo need for a caffeine drink without sugar that could incorporate healthy fats, like MCT oil or grass-fed butter.

Jim DeCicco, one of three brothers who founded Kitu Super Coffee, tells his story: “We as brothers started this company for ourselves—active male athletes who are ambitious, focused on personal development, personal growth, wanting more from our day, more from ourselves. We saw a need for a coffee or energy drink that tasted good, was good for us, and gave us lasting energy, and we solved the issue, for ourselves and others like us.”

Kitu coffees start with organic coffee, add creaminess with protein instead of milk or cream, provide healthy fats from MCT oil, and satisfy your sweet tooth with monk fruit, a superfood with a taste similar to stevia.

There are also more and more individuals today dealing with food allergies, digestive disorders, and sensitivities to gluten, dairy, and artificial additives. Their lifestyles may not be as active as someone involved in CrossFit, HIIT, or Barre, but many of them still love

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READY-TO-DRINK

coffee. JoeFroyo, a brand-new RTD coffee company that recently moved from Seattle to California, combines cold-brew coffee with protein and probiotics, then removes the lactose with the same process used to make frozen yogurt lactosefree. Lactose is converted to lactase, which also provides sweetness without the sugar. It’s obvious that founder Zach Miller and his team are passionate about both coffee and health, and while they are still in the initial retail stages, they are broaching a diet and allergy issue that hasn’t yet been addressed in the RTD coffee category.

Some products are doing away with dairy altogether, resulting in a surprisingly flavorful and tea-like drink, like RISE’s Blood Orange and Lemonade Nitro Cold Brew Coffees and Upruit’s Ginger Hibiscus and Mint Grapefruit Sparkling Cold-Brew Coffees. Then there’s the cross between tea and coffee—cascara. A handful of roasters and companies, like Caskai, are taking this one-time waste product (the dried coffee cherry), and brewing it into a beverage with a unique flavor, a caffeine boost, and a powerful story— no dairy or fillers needed.

When talking about health in conjunction with coffee or tea, we have to

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talk about organic. Organic ingredients are truly the foundation for healthier drinks popping up on the market. RISE co-founder Grant Gyesky crafted his own organic oat milk for their new Oat Milk Nitro Cold Brew Latte, because there were only conventional ones available. Coffee is the second most pesticide-sprayed crop in the world, so developing companies are standing their ground when it comes to using organic coffees. Tea-based products, like RUNA Energy Drinks, Hiball Sparkling Energy Drinks, and Health-Ade Kombucha not only source organic ingredients, but also take their conscientiousness to another

level through relationships, fair trade practices, environmental processing, and a pursuit of sustainability.

RELATIONSHIP & SUSTAINABILITY I recently listened to an audiobook that explored the primal need of human beings to connect, love, and experience love. Even in our digital age, these basic yearnings infiltrate everything we do, every social media platform we play on, and every interaction we initiate, whether in person, on the phone, or online. Therefore, in the midst of a plethora of options, we as consumers

are progressively seeking companies that we can build a relationship with, align with our values, and make us feel like we are making a positive impact on our world, whether small or great.

Health-Ade Kombucha is a perfect example of the kind of company that virtually anyone can get behind. They brew their fermented drinks in glass, not leaching plastic or metal. They support their supplying farmers and farm workers beyond buying ingredients. They compost their brew waste. They are actively reducing their environmental footprint in their offices. They aim to be Zero Waste (90% diversion rate) by 2020. And they have remarkably scrumptious and diverse flavors, like Beet-Lime and Blood Orange-Carrot-Ginger.

Berry Beet Smash

Cocktail Recipe INGREDIENTS: 1/3 cup crushed ice 1 1/2 oz vodka The prediction is that the relationships between consumers and craft coffee and tea are headed in the same direction as the evolution of the craft beer industry over the past 10 to 15 years.

“You used to walk into a bar and order a beer, but now people order IPAs because they want something more hop-forward, or a hazy beer because they want something sweeter,” says Kalimov of RISE. “The average customer has so much more understanding of what they are looking for in the taste and mouthfeel when it comes to beer, and we are really starting to see that same thing in coffee.”

As a small coffee and tea business owner myself, I am excited to explore the avenues being laid by current innovators. This is a big world, and we are just beginning to discover the endless possibilities. May the future be even more delicious than the present. FC

1/4 cup mixed fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lime juice 1 teaspoon St-Germain liqueur (i.e. elderflower liqueur or simple syrup) HEALTH-ADE BEET-LIME KOMBUCHA To garnish: 2-4 fresh berries, sprig of fresh mint

DIRECTIONS: Add ice to a glass and set aside.

Muddle vodka, berries, lime juice, and St-Germain together in a cocktail shaker.

Pour vodka/berry mixture into prepared glass.

Top with Health-Ade Beet-Lime kombucha and garnish with extra berries and a sprig of fresh mint.

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COSTA RICA: PART 3

S

omething that makes Costa Rica coffee production and consumption so special is its yearning to explore further.

Many producers in this country seek to improve and educate themselves about coffee even beyond the fact that their livelihoods may depend on it, whether it be through learning different fertilizer options, pruning techniques, varieties, and/or processing methods. At the same time, the rise of the specialty coffee movement around the globe has also affected the producing world.

Farmers have started to evolve their practices in order to cater to the new and enticing demands.

EVERYONE HERE HAS PICKED COFFEE TO HELP OUT, LIVED NEXT TO A FARM, HAS A FAMILY MEMBER WHO PRODUCES, OR HAS STUDIED HOW COFFEE SHAPED THEIR COUNTRY. PRODUCTION MEETS DEMAND Another of the many pivotal impacts on the evolution of Costa Rican coffee was the idea of changing what was the norm of a business model for production. Typically, farmers have fields of coffee trees—tend to those fields, and when harvest comes they pick the cherries and sell them to large cooperatives/mills that most frequently apply a fully washed process to them. It was not until fairly recently that these individual farmers decided to process and sell their own coffee. The co-ops, having to keep up with the evolving market, began to

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experiment with different processing methods and lot separation.

LOCAL DEMAND CHANGE Meanwhile, the culture of drinking coffee within the country began to see a shift via a handful of dedicated coffee entrepreneurs. An overwhelming majority of Costa Ricans still drink commodity coffee, like any other country, but more and more people are choosing to patronize the businesses that these visionary coffee professionals are creating. Along with inviting retail stores and online information, consumers in Costa Rica have a plethora of esteemed coffee courses to pick from. Noted schools like Asociación de Cafés Finos de Costa Rica, Academia Costarricense del Café, and Musa Lab have paved the way with their multiple and unique offerings. Courses ranging from brewing at home, roasting, and Q Grade training are made readily available to most of Costa Rica. These courses inspired a group of new baristas to make their mark on the Costa Rica coffee scene.

Jen Kalman of Franco Restaurant, an expat barista of four years in Costa Rica, comments, “All these coffee proprietors are somehow connected to coffee production. You know how integral coffee production has been to the development of the country... Everyone here has picked coffee to help out, lived next to a farm, has a family member who produces, or has studied how coffee shaped their country. So you can see why they would have the utmost respect for farmers and the product itself.”

COLLABORATING TO MAKE IT The investments are of a similar magnitude. The new wet mill as the producer and the retail coffee establishment as the barista. Immense risk that is mitigated only by the drive to earn for one’s self and a passion to be considered among the best. For the farmer, having a consistent demand for coffee year after year in a direct and more lucrative fashion is highly sought out by various micro mills. Unique coffees that lend a new experience to their

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COSTA RICA: PART 3

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guests is what the baristas are after.

The blending of the two necessities ends up in a symbiotic relationship that elevates the industry as a whole.

Marianela Montero of Don Eli Micro Mill, who comes from a family of coffee producers and has been exporting coffee under Nordic Approach/Tropiq for four years, states, “Unfortunately, the reality is that the best coffees do get sent to other countries. However, the producers still have seconds (the second-grade coffee that falls through larger screen sizes and higher density sorting machines) that are cupping really well and need to be sold in order to make the most of the production.”

In short, these two links in the chain work together in order to help each other succeed in a volatile market.

The only thing separating the local barista from the farmer is the roasting step of the process. In most cases, this has a very low impact. A few farmers with a larger presence in the local specialty market own roasting machines and roast their own coffee. They then sell it to their wholesale partners already packed and roasted, which returns the most on their investments.

Oftentimes baristas purchase the coffee green and either rent time on a roaster or get it toll roasted by another service provider. More and more, producers are even deciding to dive in and open their own retail shops. Overall, these practices lend to more control over the roasting process and lowers the cost of coffee for the retailer while raising the price normally received by the supplier.

IMPROVING TOGETHER Although Costa Rica is considered to have coined the honey process, what it should be called is the “processing innovation capital.” Honey process (when cherries are pulped and their seed dried in the remaining mucilage) is essentially a creation out of a desire to use less water, while adding a unique quality to the coffee. The action of posing a question about this critical part of the coffee process, and the willingness to solve the problem, is what led to this

discovery as well as the new trend of anaerobic processed coffees. The fairly recent anaerobic process occurs when cherries, or pulped seeds, are closed into a tank and deprived of oxygen for anywhere between 16-72 hours causing a controlled fermentation to occur.

Some methods even use the mucilage of other coffees or the juice of other fruits in the controlled fermentation.

The results of these new and innovative processes along with the established washed and natural processes allow Costa Rica to separate itself from other producing countries when it comes to the various different products that it can provide. A catalyst of

this system of improvement is the influence that the local coffee buyers have on their producers. Those retailing coffee mostly in the capital city of San José are consuming information at a speed faster than ever with ubiquitous access to the internet and other coffee professionals around the world. Often, when working closely with a producer over the years, a buyer can influence and make suggestions to producers about how to tweak their production recipes.

Together, both buyer and supplier can work together around supply and demand to not only move the industry forward, but also thrive in a difficult industry. FC

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GOLDEN BEAN SHOW SHOTS

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September 19–22, 2018 | Portland, Oregon

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COUNTER INTELLIGENCE

You Keep Me Hot and Cold ZOJIRUSHI Stainless Tumbler www.zojirushi.com/app/product/sxda This sleek stainless steel tumbler is vacuum insulated to keep your favorite drinks hot or cold for hours, while keeping the exterior cool to the touch and condensation-free.

The interior is SlickSteel-polished to resist stains, and allows the color of your drink to shine through. Enjoy and relax with a cup of coffee, tea, wine, or a mixed drink. Available in 15 oz. and 20 oz. capacities. Dishwasher safe.

Softer Than Your Pottery Barn Throw Pillow ENHANCED BEVERAGE SOLUTIONS Nitro Infuser www.enhancedbeveragesolutions.com Magically turn your conventional cold brew into a velvety, nitro-infused beverage with the Nitro Infuser! Simple setup, minimal maintenance, and easy storage makes this device a new standard for the café.

Coffee and Cocoa Better than Tiffany’s NEUHAUS Coffee & Pralines Collection www.neuhauschocolate.com

The Best Mug Shot ZOJIRUSHI Stainless Mug www.zojirushi.com/app/product/smshe The slim and lightweight Stainless Mug features an electropolished SlickSteel finish interior that is corrosion-resistant and repels stains. The tight fitted flip-open lid with a safety lock makes drinking from the mug easy and prevents beverages from spilling. Available in 16 oz. and 20 oz. capacities.

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Few things in life are as elegant and iconic as the Belgiumborn actress Audrey Hepburn, but the Neuhaus Coffee & Pralines collection sure gives Holly Golightly a run for her money.

Based on the Belgian tradition of pairing chocolate with coffee, the chic pralines are designed to pair with specific origins around the world for an enhanced tasting experience.

fresh businesses & products

Phillips Syrups & Sauces

Crazy Easy to Do Good

LONDON FOG CONCENTRATE phillipssyrup.com 440-835-8001

BARISTA PRO SHOP Humankind BaristaProShop.com 1-866-776-5288

Only one drink can make your guests feel like they’re enveloped in a warm Burberry scarf on a chilly evening in the old smoke—a London Fog. Phillips Syrups & Sauces London Fog Concentrate makes it easier than ever to add this wintery warmer onto your café’s menu.

Humankind was started for one simple reason: to help end the world’s water crisis. Illness contracted from contaminated water is the #1 killer of children around the globe. Fortunately, it’s preventable, and Humankind’s business model is designed to empower consumers to help. The purchase of one Humankind water bottle provides clean water for one person for 100 days. Likewise, the purchase of one Humankind organic tea or lemonade provides 50 gallons of clean drinking water for people in need. These delicious products make it crazy easy to do good. Join the effort by ordering today from Barista Pro Shop.

Beware of Burgeoning Coffee Enthusiasts Tea Them Up, Knock ‘Em Down SMITH TEAMAKER Holiday Tea Trio www.smithtea.com While your café is a necessary re-fueling stop for customers in their pursuit of the perfect presents, having thoughtful gift options such as the Smith Teamaker Holiday Tea Trio is a great cross-selling strategy, and customers can cross one more item off their list.

33 BOOKS CO. 48 Tasting Books & Cardboard Displays 33books.com orders@33books.com Do you get questions from your patrons such as: Where was this coffee grown? What’s the difference between a latte and cappuccino? Do you offer cuppings? Be careful—you might be raising a community of burgeoning coffee enthusiasts!

33 Books Co. tasting books can take that energy and channel it into productive analyses of coffees and teas.

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TRADE SHOW & EVENTS CALENDAR NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER 7–9 INTERNATIONAL COFFEE WEEK Belo Horizonte, Brazil semanainternacionaldocafe.com.br/en/

DECEMBER 1–2 COFFEE & TEA FESTIVAL VALLEY FORGE Valley Forge, Pennsylvania coffeeandteafestival.com

NOVEMBER 7–9 WORLD LATTE ART CHAMPIONSHIP Belo Horizonte, Brazil worldlatteart.org

DECEMBER 3–7 INTERNATIONAL COFFEE & CHOCOLATE EXHIBITION Riyadh, Saudia Arabia coffeechoco-expo.com

NOVEMBER 7–11 SINTERCAFE San Jose, Costa Rica sintercafe.com

NOVEMBER 8–9 ALLEGRA WORLD COFFEE PORTAL CEO FORUM Los Angeles, California allegraceoforum.com

NOVEMBER 8–11 CAFE SHOW SEOUL/ WORLD COFFEE LEADERS FORUM Seoul, Korea cafeshow.com

NOVEMBER 9–11 LOS ANGELES COFFEE FESTIVAL Los Angeles, California la-coffeefestival.com

NOVEMBER 9–18 KONA COFFEE CULTURAL FESTIVAL Kona, Hawaii konacoffeefest.com

NOVEMBER 11–12 HX: THE HOTEL EXPERIENCEROOMS TO RESTAURANTS New York City, New York thehotelexperience.com

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DECEMBER 5–7 INTERNATIONAL COFFEE & TEA FESTIVAL Dubai, UAE coffeeteafest.com

JANUARY 2019 JANUARY 17–19 CAFE MALAYSIA Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia cafe-malaysia.com

FEBRUARY 2019 FEBRUARY 7–9 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COFFEE EXPO Melbourne, Australia internationalcoffeeexpo.com.au

FEBRUARY 13–15 AFRICAN FINE COFFEE CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Kigali, Rwanda afca.coffee/conference

MARCH 2019 MARCH 1–3 AMSTERDAM COFFEE FESTIVAL Amsterdam, Netherlands amsterdamcoffeefestival.com

MARCH 2019 MARCH 3–5 INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT & FOODSERVICE SHOW New York City, New York internationalrestaurantny.com

MARCH 3–5 COFFEE FEST New York City, New York coffeefest.com

MARCH 13–15 COFFEE & TEA RUSSIAN EXPO Moscow, Russia coffeetearusexpo.ru/en

MARCH 16–17 SOUTHWEST COFFEE & CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL Albuquerque, New Mexico chocolateandcoffeefest.com

MARCH 21–23 CAFE ASIA & ICT INDUSTRY EXPO Albuquerque, New Mexico cafeasia.com.sg

MARCH 2019 MARCH 23–24 COFFEE & TEA FESTIVAL NYC Brooklyn, New York coffeeandteafestival.com

APRIL 2019 APRIL 11–14 SPECIALTY COFFEE EXPO Boston, Massachusetts coffeeexpo.org

APRIL 14–15 NORTHWEST FOOD SHOW Portland, Oregon nwfoodshow.com

MAY 2019 MAY 18–21 NATIONAL RESTAURANT SHOW Chicago, Illinois show.restaurant.org

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 47

ADVERTISER INDEX

Go to freshcup.com/resources/fresh-cup-advertisers to view the Advertiser Index and the websites listed below.

ADVERTISER

CONTACT

ONLINE

1st-Line Equipment

732.298.6268

1st-line.com

Abbotsford Road Coffee Specialists

646.983.0448

abbotsfordroad.com

Art of Tea

213.493.6518

wholesale.artoftea.com

Barista Pro Shop

866.776.5288

baristaproshop.com/ad/fresh

29

Bistro Collection

855.5BISTRO (524.7876)

bistrogourmetbakery.com

51

Brewista

888.538.8683

mybrewista.com

29

Caffe Ibis

888.740.4777

caffeibis.com

49

Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters

916.451.5181

chocolatefishcoffee.com

18

Coffee & Tea Festival

631.940.7290

coffeeandteafestival.com

49

Ditting

810.367.7125

ditting.com

Empire Tea Services

812.375.1937

empiretea.com

Fresh Cup Magazine

503.236.2587

freshcup.com

6

Ghirardelli Chocolate

800.877.9338

ghirardelli.com/professional

5

Gosh That’s Good! Brand

888.848.GOSH (4674)

goshthatsgood.com

2

Grandstand Glassware + Apparel

800.767.8951

egrandstand.com/coffee

4

Grounds For Health

802.876.7835

groundsforhealth.org

18

Healthy Kids Concepts

916.730.5275

healthykidsconcepts.org

33

Java Jacket

800.208.4128

javajacket.com

Malabar Gold Espresso

650.366.5453

malabargoldespresso.com

Monin Gourmet Flavorings

855.FLAVOR1 (352.8671)

monin.com

RetailMugs.com

970.222.9559

retailmugs.com

49

SelbySoft

800.454.4434

selbysoft.com

25

SerendipiTea

888.TEA.LIFE (832.5433)

serendipitea.com

47

StixToGo

800.666.6655

royalpaper.com

47

T-Go / Spectrum Food Group

248.348.1010

tgoteas.com

16

Toddy

970.493.0788

toddycafe.com/wholesale

25

US Roaster Corp

405.232.1223

usroastercorp.com

49

WaterWise

865.724.1200

waterwise.pro

24

Your Brand Café

866.566.0390

yourbrandcafe.com

11

Zojirushi America

800.264.6270

zojirushi.com

52

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FRESH CUP MAGAZINE | 49

THE LAST PLASTIC STRAW

Success with Stainless

By Robin Roenker

S

ometimes, a good idea simply sells itself. “ We put a container of stainless steel straws for sale for $2 each by our cash register with a sign that said, ‘It’s Up to You,’” says Shane Anderson, owner of Ghostlight Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. “That’s the tagline that we’ve been using, because we can offer these things, but it’s up to the customer to make the choice to use them.”

“We really didn’t do any other promotion than that, and they have sold great,” he continues. “Immediately people were showing interest. Our first order this summer sold out in just a matter of days.”

Anderson has been sourcing the metal straws from Amazon and figures he has invested about $1 to $1.50 in each one.

Selling the straws isn’t about making a profit, he explains. It’s about giving customers the opportunity to choose something reusable.

As cafés across the country join the movement to do away with single-use straws, stainless steel offers an attractive, multiple-use alternative.

In Amarillo, Texas, Palace Coffee Company began selling stainless steel straws for $2.50 each at its four citywide locations earlier this summer.

50 | NOVEMBER 2018 » freshcup.com

The response has been “very positive,” says Sam Gum, the café’s director of retail. “Recently I overhead a husband tell his wife when she was preparing to purchase one: ‘You already have three of those. Do you really need another?’ So they’ve already developed a bit of a fan base.… But the real goal is to encourage customers to purchase one and bring it back in every time they come.”

In Amarillo, where citywide recycling is not currently available, Gum says there’s still a bit of an education component involved in their marketing of the straws.

“We want people to realize that while they are cool, we’re not presenting them as just another cool piece of merchandise to buy,” she says. “The idea is to keep it in your car and use it daily as a way to eliminate waste.”

Driven largely by the green thinking of their baristas—especially Adriana Rella, lead barista at its Summit location—Palace has begun to adopt multiple, simple steps to reduce waste in the way they serve their customers.

This includes offering discounts for reusable cups and making laminated paper squares (as a sort of DIY dry-erase board) to write orders on, in place of single-use Post-it Notes.

“It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer waste we produce as a society,” says Rella. “It seems silly that we have so much unnecessary garbage when it doesn’t take much to limit it.”

For those wondering about the ease of cleaning and maintaining the stainless steel straws, Rella has the answer: pipe cleaners. While commercial straw cleaners are available, Palace Coffee encourages customers to try pipe cleaners since they’re just as effective, cheaper, and can be rinsed and used multiple times.

At Ghostlight, the success of the stainless straw sales has helped illustrate that customers want to make good choices. Anderson feels it’s his mission, as a shop owner, to help make it possible for them to do so.

He’s recently partnered with Daytonbased GoZERO composting services and GreenSpeed Products to ramp up the café’s composting capabilities and is well on the way to becoming a no-waste coffee shop by year’s end.

“Over the years of doing business, you find yourself watching all these bags and bags of lids and cups going out the door every day, essentially to a landfill. And you just know it’s not good,” he says. “So you start looking for other options that make sense.” FC PHOTOS COURTESY OF GHOSTLIGHT COFFEE

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