 | |
Type of site | Blog |
|---|---|
| Owner | Dolcepump LLC |
| URL | sprudge.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | September 2009 |
| Current status | Active |
Sprudge is an American blog founded by Zachary Carlsen and Jordan Michelman and based in Portland, Oregon, focusing on "coffee news and gossip". [1]
Founded in 2009, [2] Sprudge is a coffee news and lifestyle website. It is the flagship blog of the Sprudge Media Network, which manages sister sites Sprudge Maps, Sprudge Live, and Sprudge Wire. [3] In its first three months of existence, the website was called "The Sprudge Report" [4] and was a direct visual parody of the Drudge Report. [5] [6]
Today, the site focuses primarily on coverage of the modern specialty coffee industry, coffee history, and coffee within cultural and sociopolitical contexts. It publishes a breadth of City Guides, as well as includes a job board for those seeking careers in the industry.
Sprudge came under scrutiny after publishing the name of an anonymous author of a blog titled "The Bitter Barista", resulting in the termination of the author's job. [7] [8] [9]
In 2013, Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen received the Distinguished Author Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America. [10] The Sprudge Media Network was recognized as a 2017 Webby Award Honoree in the Cultural Blog/Website category. [11]
In 2016 the Coffee Sprudgecast was launched, a podcast featuring interviews with business owners, baristas, and other members of the world coffee community. The Coffee Buildcast, a subset of the Coffee Sprudgecast, focuses on new coffee shops under construction.
In 2018, Michelman and Carlsen co-wrote The New Rules of Coffee: A Modern Guide For Everyone, an illustrated guide to coffee published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House. [12] Their second book, But First, Coffee was published in 2023 by Union Square & Co. focusing on brew methods and diverse coffee recipes.
Sprudge teamed up with South by Southwest to curate the Roasters Village, an extension of the 2018 SouthBites Trailer Park food program at the festival. [13] Today the concept of Roasters Village lives on within the Sprudge site as spotlighted links to current interesting coffees available for purchase online.
Peet's Coffee is a San Francisco Bay Area-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer owned by JAB Holding Company via JDE Peet's. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's introduced the United States to its darker roasted Arabica coffee in blends including French roast and grades appropriate for espresso drinks. Peet's offers freshly roasted beans, brewed coffee and espresso beverages, as well as bottled cold brew. In 2007, Peet's opened the first LEED Gold Certified roastery in the United States. Peet's coffee is sold in over 14,000 grocery stores across the United States.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters is a coffee roaster and retailer based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The chain's flagship café and roastery opened in 1999. Three other cafes, a roastery and a tasting annex have since opened in Portland, as well as locations in Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles,. Stumptown is owned by Peet's Coffee, which in turn is owned by JAB Holding Company. The company was an early innovator with cold brew coffee in nitro cans and have continued to develop other cold brew product innovations.
The World Barista Championship (WBC) is an annual barista competition operated by World Coffee Events for the title of World Barista Champion. The competition is composed of the winners of the national barista championships, which are operated by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) chapters, or an approved, independent, non-profit national body. First held in 2000, the event is hosted in a different city every year. The most recent edition in 2023 was in Athens, with the 2024 edition scheduled to take place in Busan, South Korea.
The United States Barista Championship (USBC), is an annual American coffee-brewing competition designed to evaluate baristas on their skills in espresso-based drink preparation and service. Competitors prepare and serve three courses of espresso-based beverages consisting of straight espressos, milk beverages, and signature drinks. They are then scored on taste, presentation, and technical proficiency. The winner represents the United States in the World Barista Championship.
Alan Adler is an American inventor. His inventions include aerodynamic toys under the Aerobie brand, such as footballs with fins, flying rings and discs, as well as a manual coffee brewing device, the AeroPress. His Aerobie Pro flying ring set several world records for the farthest thrown object.
Third-wave coffee is a movement in coffee marketing emphasizing high quality. Beans are typically sourced from individual farms and are roasted more lightly to bring out their distinctive flavors. Though the term was coined in 1999, the approach originated in the 1970s, with roasters such as the Coffee Connection.
James Alexander Hoffmann is an English barista, YouTuber, entrepreneur, coffee consultant, and author. Hoffmann first came to prominence after winning the World Barista Championship in 2007 and has since been credited as a pioneer of Britain's third-wave coffee movement. Hoffmann has published three books, including The World Atlas of Coffee, amassed a significant following on YouTube, started several businesses, including the specialty coffee roaster Square Mile Coffee Roasters, and consulted for several coffee ventures.
Michael Phillips is a barista who won the United States Barista Championship in Portland, Oregon, in March 2009, while working at Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago, IL. He also won the 2010 United States Barista Championship, becoming the second repeat U.S. champion. He has since become the first US Barista to win the World Barista Championship in London, England, in 2010.
The World Brewers Cup is an annual international coffee brewing competition organized by World Coffee Events, an organization founded by the Specialty Coffee Association. The stated goal of the competition is to showcase the craft and skill of filter coffee brewing by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and quality of service. Contestants qualify for the international competition by winning their respective national championships. As of 2019, there were approximately 40 participating national organizations. The annual location of the event is determined by the World Coffee Events organizing committee, and is typically held in conjunction with the World Barista Championship, the World Coffee Roasting Championship, and the World Latte Art Championship. The first World Brewers Cup was held in 2011 in Maastricht, Netherlands. The 2022 WBrC was held in Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Colectivo Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Until July 2013, the company was known as Alterra Coffee Roasters. Colectivo roasts its coffee and makes all its food products in Milwaukee and is known nationwide as a wholesale coffee supplier.
ST. ALi is a privately owned group of cafes, retailers and specialty coffee roaster founded and based in Melbourne, Australia in 2005. As of October 2009 ST. ALi had cafes in Melbourne, and was credited with being a contributor to the third wave of coffee movement in Melbourne.
Portland, Oregon, in the United States, is known for having an established coffee culture. In February 2012, The New York Times reported that Portland had more than 30 coffee roasters. Comparing Portland's coffee culture to other major cities along the West Coast, Oliver Strand wrote: "Seattle coffee might have more muscle, and San Francisco coffee might have more mystique, but Portland's coffee scene is arguably the country's most intimate. It's also one of the most relaxed."
La Colombe Coffee Roasters is an American coffee roaster and retailer headquartered in Philadelphia. Founded in 1994, the company has cafés in locations including Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston, and Washington D.C. In 2023, it was acquired by Chobani for $900 million.
Sudden Coffee were an specialty instant coffee manufacturer based in San Francisco, California, USA. It was founded by Joshua Zloof and Kalle Freese in 2015. The company closed in 2020.
Victrola Coffee Roasters is a coffee roasting company with multiple locations in Seattle, Washington.
Morgan Eckroth, also known by their username MorganDrinksCoffee, is an American online content creator and barista. A resident of Portland, Oregon, Eckroth maintains a popular TikTok account and YouTube channel along with participating in barista competitions. After competing in nationals and qualifiers for the United States Barista Championship in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Eckroth became the United States Barista Champion in 2022, thereby qualifying to represent the US in the 2022 World Barista Championship (WBC). Eckroth placed second at the WBC, where they were sponsored by Onyx Coffee Lab, an Arkansas-based coffee roaster where Eckroth also serve as the content marketing specialist.
Public Domain Coffee is a coffee shop in Portland, Oregon. Coffee Bean International opened the cafe in 2010.
Prince Coffee is a coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, United States.
Ghost Note Coffee is a coffee shop on Capitol Hill, in Seattle, Washington. Christos Andrews and Lee Hampton opened the coffee shop on Bellevue Avenue on March 14, 2017.
Elm Coffee Roasters is a coffee shop in Seattle's Pioneer Square, in the U.S. state of Washington. It has operated two locations.
