Welcome To SUNDAY Coffee+: Coffee News That Made The Headlines
Each week, Craft Beverage Jobs compiles the top headlines for Craft Coffee News & Information. On Sunday morning we post those headlines in SUNDAY Coffee+ for your reading pleasure. Whether its industry growth, new business, job openings, profiles or human interest, you just never know what will tickle our fancy from week to week. We want to make SUNDAY Coffee+ a part of your Sunday morning coffee experience. Want Sunday Coffee+ delivered via email each weekend? Sign Up Here.
Coffee Business Booming In Memphis
Brewing Opportunity: Coffee fuel growing number of business ventures in Memphis, by Andy Meek – The Memphis News
When Memphians like Jimmy Lewis are leaving established careers to remake themselves as coffee roasters, it’s one sign that coffee culture in Memphis is abundant with opportunity and steadily coming into its own.
Lewis got out of the commercial real estate business and opened Relevant Roasters, a specialty wholesale coffee roasting business in the Broad Avenue Arts District. And his venture joins a growing collection of new ventures built around the signature bean, some recently opened, some still to come.
Jeremy Harris of Reverb Coffee pours green, unroasted Guatamalan coffee beans into the hopper of his Ambex roaster (Memphis News/Andrew J. Breig)
Lewis is yet another example of how coffee culture in Memphis is clearly having a moment. His Relevant Roasters launched in September, the result of some soul-searching on a quest to “create fulfilling work for myself.” He poured that ambition and energy into launching his business in a 2,480-square-foot space at the corner of Broad and Tillman that features environmentally sensitive whole bean and ground coffee.
He’s especially eager to sell his blends to a particular kind of customer, the type of person he describes as curious, discerning and eager to try new things. And he’s constantly expanding the brand, announcing earlier this month the availability of Relevant Roasters coffee at Cosmic Coconut on Sanderlin Avenue, where customers can buy bags of Relevant’s coffee and a latte made with its espresso roast.
Do You Speak Coffee?
The Home Barista: Simone Egger’s guide to coffee jargon, by Simone Egger – goodfood
You may be familiar with some, or none, of the terms in this grab bag of coffee language. Many of them have come up in the book, others you might hear when buying beans from your local roaster.
Acidity: A term that describes the high notes (with words like “bright”, “clean” or “dry”) or unpleasant qualities (described as “sour”).
Bloom: Freshly roasted coffee is constantly releasing carbon dioxide. When ground coffee is combined with hot water, the release of gasses increases in what is called a “bloom”. “Blooming” essentially involves preparing coffee for extraction by sitting the ground coffee in hot water, forcing out that carbon dioxide.
Crack (first and second): The sound made when coffee beans release gases during the roasting process.
Third Wave: The new breed of coffee roasters who deal exclusively in specialty beans and who are totally devoted to getting the most out of them by whatever means, including varying roasts (particularly lighter roasts) and filter brewing.
(And many more coffee terms defined when you follow the title link.)
Alton Brown Puts Wichita Roaster On The Map
Alton Brown puts two Wichita coffee shops on his list of favorites, by Denise Neil – The Wichita Eagle
Celebrity chef Alton Brown’s love affair with Wichita continues.
Last week, Brown published on his blog a list of his top 10 favorite coffee shopshe visited while on his recent tour, and two Wichita businesses made the list. (No other city, by the way, made the list twice.)
Brown, who was in Wichita in late October for a performance of his “Edible Inevitable” tour, included both Reverie Coffee Roasters, 2611 E. Douglas, and Espresso To Go Go, 102 St. Francis and 120 E. First St. N., on the list.
10 Ways To Up Your Coffee Game!
How to up your coffee game, by Amy Haneline – IndyStar
I know, I know. Craft coffee seems so daunting and expensive. Grinders, French presses, pour overs — you’re telling me I have to buy a scale?
But with the most basic tips or opting for more complex brewing methods, there are several ways to up your coffee game. With the help of Trace Yates, owner of Mile Square Roastery, here are 10 ways to improve your java experience.
- Check for freshness
- Find a nearby roaster
- Inspect the beans
- Store coffee correctly
- Grind immediately before brewing
- Heat water to the right temperature
- Hold the cream and sugar
- Try total immersion brewing
- Advance to the pour cover
- Still overwhelmed? Take a class
Feature photo credit: James Theophane via photopin cc