Drama:

WEST BRIDGEWATER, MA―May 20, 2012―In a rare business-to-business plea Equal Exchange has released an open letter to Larry Blanford, the CEO of fellow New England specialty coffee company, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) in the form of a full-page color ad in today’s Sunday edition of the Burlington Free Press (Vermont) that strongly encourages the multi-billion dollar brand to withdraw its support from the controversial certification agency, Fair Trade USA (FTUSA).

Ooh, girl, drama. More from the Burlington Free Press:

FTUSA President and CEO Paul Rice said expanding the market for fair trade products will help all farmers. He cited the case of an estate in Brazil that recently began using the fair trade label on coffee it sells to the Whole Foods chain for its Allegro brand. The Fair trade coffee that carries the “social premium” of 20 cents a pound could now go both to the estate and to small farmers that also provide coffee for Allegro.

Workers on the estate voted to put the roughly $15,000 they earned from the premium toward eye exams and glasses for those among their number who needed them.

“The notion that co-ops should have exclusive access to our markets is just wrongheaded from a marketing perspective,” Rice said.

Rodney North, spokesman for Equal Exchange, was not impressed with the Allegro example. He argued that new sales of that brand to “committed Fair Trade shoppers” merely would take market share away from the co-ops where their previous coffee was coming from.

DRAMA!

But what could be more delicious than burgers and pour-overs? Bloody Marys and Cold Brews? In the 7th Ward? Here’s a shot from their Memorial Day private residence stop:

Ugh, we love New Orleans. Brigade Coffee is back at Company Burger this week from 9am to 9pm, each day except Tuesday. They’re roasting their own coffee, and currently offering a Brazil Flor de Ipe (mixed process and pulp natural mixed process) and a Nicaragua Beneficio Las Segovias, both sourced by Atlas.

On the horizon, look for a co-branded line of Brigade and Bittermens coffee liquor and bitters products, launching in time for this summer’s edition of Tales of the Cocktail, where Brigade will a featured hangover cure at the Tales food truck village. Best of all, starting in July three specialty cocktails highlighting the Bittermens / Brigade partnership will be featured at Napoleon House, a centuries-old French Quarter institution and all-time Sprudge.com milk punch favorite.

Follow along with Brigade Coffee as they scoot around New Orleans @brigadecoffee on Twitter or on their Facebook,

It’s our hope that Lars and Harald continues their mug design work elsewhere within the Tarantino film canon. Robert DeNiro demands coffee from Max in “Jackie Brown”, Pat and Lorraine’s Coffee Shop is the setting for the opening scene in Reservoir Dogs, and of course, who can forget Mallory Knox’s coffee shop fandango that opens “Natural Born Killers”. These are mere suggestions; the ball is in your court, L&H.

Journey back in time on June 11th with Sprudge contributor and Joe NYC barista Alex Bernson, as he transports your imagination through the history of Western cafe culture, past and present. Featuring 21 unique slides and a unique design perspective, this lecture is a public expansion on Mr. Bernson’s thesis dissertation at Wesleyan University, which was entitled “The Social Space of the Cafe: How Service and Physical Design Condition Social Performances.” More from the event’s Facebook listing:

Come join us for a special class that examines the history of cafes and coffee consumption in the development of modernity.

We will explore the rise of cafe culture, from its earliest spread in the Ottoman Empire, to the London Coffee Houses and Parisian Cafes, through the post-WWII commodity coffee boom in the United States, to our current speciality coffee movement.

Space is very limited, so please RSVP jessica@joenewyork.com. Price for the class is $30.

It’s all too rare for specialty coffee and academia to be presented as more than mere study buddies, which makes this an event we sorely wish we could attend. If you’re in New York when you wish you could be in Vienna for WBC, this night will make for a damn fine surrogate. There are a limited number of reduced price spaces available for members of the coffee industry. Please contact Mr. Bernson for discount details.

Developing throughout the day on Seattle’s local news networks, there is a gunman at large after a fatal shooting at Cafe Racer, a coffee shop / dive bar in Seattle’s University District. The incident has already claimed the lives of two men, with three others in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center. For more, we turn to Kiro News, the Seattle CBS affiliate:

Police are searching for the gunman, described as a man in his 30s wearing dark clothes. The shooting took place about 11 a.m. at Cafe Racer, a restaurant and music venue north of the University of Washington.

Seattle police said on their Twitter account that the scene is still very active and people should avoid the area, KIRO reports. Three blocks have been cordoned off and are blocked to traffic. Meanwhile, KIRO reports that a woman was shot and killed in an apparent carjacking in downtown Seattle less than an hour after the cafe shooting, the Seattle Police Department said. It was not immediately clear if the two incidents were related.

This incident is of particular horror to your Sprudge editors, both of whom have attended and performed live music at Racer. We give our heartfelt condolences to the victims and the employees of this U District institution.

Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger is updating a post on the tragedy throughout the day, with updates as they happen.

UPDATE (15:35PM):

King5.com has a still from Cafe Racer’s surveillance cameras of the suspect.

A third victim has died. Police are still searching for the shooter.

This Thursday, May 31st, thirsty Seattleites and Pacific Northwesterners of all stripes would do well to hit up the Caffe Ladro location in Fremont, where from 6pm onward they’ll be brewing up some special new arrivals from the Mierisch family farms in Nicaragua. The event is being held in conjunction with #TNTNW, sponsored by Espresso Parts and Sprudge.com. Competitors at this particular #TNTNW event receive super-cool special print t-shirts from Ladro, and of course, a chance for social glory and financial numeration.

Latte art contests are all well and good, but we’re especially excited to try Ladro’s coffees from Nicaragua. The Mierisch family has long been synonymous with quality – past offerings via Intelligentsia offered ample evidence to this claim – and this Thursday marks the roll-out of multiple new-to-Ladro offerings, including three coffees from Finca San Jose. On hand will be two 100% caturra “estate lots” (one washed, one pulp natural), along with Ladro’s roast of the Mierisch’s java nica coffee variety. Quoth Ladro’s Director of Coffee, Jared Linzmeier: “Java nica is a rare and curious little coffee. If you roast it just right and brew it just right, it’s got this delicate floral quality to it, reminiscent of a Yirgacheffe, with black tea and bergamot notes.”

In addition to these coffees from Finca San Jose, we’ll be able to try Ladro’s 100% caturra Mama Nina microlot, and a pulped natural pacamara from Finca Limoncillo. Mr. Linzmeier has recently been to all of these farms, and will be on hand to talk about his experiences there and guide us through the range of flavors available that abound in Nicaraguan coffees. So come drink some tasty Chemex, why doncha? If you haven’t been to Ladro Fremont recently, they’ve got brand new gorgeous siphon pot light fixtures, a 3-group Strada EP, multiple selections available via AeroPress, and they’re in close proximity to the Fremont PCC, home to like the best grocery store sandwiches of all time…

Spotted via the essential time-trap that is the Sweet Maria’s web forum, your hot new coffee arts & crafts blog is  http://caraft.tumblr.com/. The husband and wife behind this project, Chris & Camri McAvoy, sound refreshingly humble and sweet as pie, and Camri’s filter cut-outs are just the coolest. Plus they’re now accepting submissions! Here’s more from their Tumblr artist statement:

We’ve been using a Chemex pour over carafe for a while now. A few months ago, my wife started cutting designs into the filters. A few weeks ago, she started taking pictures of them and posting them to Tumblr, http://caraft.tumblr.com/

Not sure if anyone else does this…it’s pretty fun. Nice way to wake up a bit in the morning, cutting some paper designs while you wait for the water to boil. She just turned on the ability for other people to submit photographs, so if you’re interested in trying it out, send in your pictures!

Can you cut out a sweet-looking spooky spider web? Maybe an intergalactic set of alien antennae? Send ‘em in, and we’ll run some more cool ones soon.

Tonight, for one night only, coffee types and illusion-seekers from throughout the Twin Cities are invited to be amazed. Our friends at Dogwood Coffee are hosting what is perhaps the first-ever “Coffee Magic Science Night”, courtesy of Jon Ferguson, our industry’s foremost Mesmerist and reigning NC Brewers Cup champion. The city of Minneapolis may well disappear completely.

More from Jon:

My name is Jon and I’m the new guy at Dogwood. I’m hoping to bring something to the table that will shock and awe the entire population of coffee geeks in Minneapolis. I thought about doing some magic tricks to start the night off and then progress into the whole “science” thing.

Tuesday night will include these exciting topics;

- The Scientific Method (how to define and control variables)

- Bimodal Grinding (grind profiles which use various particle sizes)

- Clever Brewing Method (I don’t like the Clever Brewing method… I absolutely LOVE it!!)

- Setting the Grind (Recommendations for various Brew Methods)

This event is TONIGHT! At Dogwood Coffee Company, located at 1209 Tyler Street #150 in Minneapolis, which we hear is really nice this time of year. Here’s the Facebook listing. If you’re within driving distance, you should totes go.

This event was made possible by the expert execution of the good people at Handsome Coffee Roasters, Visions Espresso Supply, and California’s own Wilbur Curtis Co., who were on hand with water tower support and two custom Gold Cup brewers, used to batch brew selections from throughout the evening’s cupping  menu. A sincere thank you again to all of our participating roasters, sponsors, and supporters for making International Delight possible. We just love holding these events – feel free to look back at the table listings for Colombiana and Rwandalust  – and we’ll be back with our next public cupping in July.

The following is a full list of what was served on our table(s) for International Delight. Please note: the list you see below unfortunately does not include several of the coffees submitted, but unfortunately delayed by US Customs and shipping delays. And with a tip of the hat, this remarkable list…

South Korea:

Coffee Libre, Seoul – “Bad Blood” / “No Surprises”

Greece:

Taf, Athens – Aguilera Brothers Los Robles de Naranjo (Costa Rica), Finca de la Batea (El Salvador)

Mexico:

Cafe Sublime – Jaltenango Finca Santa Cruz (Chiapas, MX), Costa Gande Finca El Regardito (Guerrero, Mexico)

United Kingdom:

Square Mile Coffee Roasters, London – Vista Hermosa Huila (Colombia), Sertao Carmo de Minas (Brazil), Bella Vista Narino (Colombia), El Diviso Huila (Colombia)

Norway:

Kaffa, Oslo – El Roble (Colombia), Cerro Azul Geisha (Colombia)

Australia:

Small Batch Roasters, Melbourne: El Carmen (Guatemala), Golden Ticket Seasonal Filter Blend

Proud Mary Coffee, Collingwood: Santa Felisa Geisha (Guatemala), Santa Teresa Geisha (Panama)

5 senses, Perth / Melbourne: Lintong (Sumatra), Veer Attikan (India), Blackburn (Tanzania)

Mecca Espresso, Sydney: Finca Suiza (El Salvador), Gikanda Coop Gachatha (Kenya)

Coffee Alchemy, Marrickville, NSW:  – Kochere Tekly Dembel (Ethiopia)

Single Origin Roasters, Alexandria, NSW – Northern Rivers Bin 478 Mountain Top Estate (Australia)

Canada:

Bows & Arrows, Victoria, BC – Gitesi Coop (Rwanda), La Plata Huila (Colombia)

Social Coffee and Tea Co, Richmond Hill, Ontario -  Paez (Colombia), Agustine Cruz (Bolivia), Yirgacheffe Kochere Special Prep (Ethiopia)

Transcend Coffee, Edmonton – Genesis (Costa Rica), Bwayi Lot No. 1 (Burundi

49th Parallel, Vancouver – El Diviso (Colombia)

Detour, Toronto – Finca El Limonar (Guatemala), Kochere Yergacheffe (Ethiopia), Bufcafe (Rwanda)

Te Aro, Toronto – Mpito AB (Tanzania), Cerro Azul Geisha (Colombia)

Phil & Sebastian, Calgary – Gillio Francesa (Costa Rica)

New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco said he was “not trippin’” about losing his wallet, credit cards, license and iPod when his SUV was broken into on Wednesday, but was inconsolable about his Starbucks gold card being stolen as well.

According to the Starbucks web site, gold card holders get a free drink every 15 times the card is used, free syrup or soy milk with any coffee purchase and, of course, a personalized card so the barista will know you by name when you order. Customers need to use their Starbucks card at least 30 times a year to upgrade it to a gold card.

Later in the day, Ochocinco tweeted that the mother of one of his followers had found the wallet in Providence. While it contained his credit cards and license, the Starbucks gold card was missing.

Shortly after the heist, Mr. Ochocinco’s wallet was discovered and returned by the mother of one of his 3,453,840 Twitter followers. But the much-malgined Starbucks card was not spared, having gone missing somewhere in transit (the details are sketchy). To the credit of their social media savvy, the folks at Starbucks used this opportunity to discuss the issue with Ocho – in public, on Twitter, of course – and then agreed to replace the card and its numerative contents, thereby restoring balance to the universe.