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.
Expertly Designed Coffee Mug
Current Obsession: An Expertly-Designed Coffee Mug In Cool, Geometric Prints, by Krista Simmons – laist
If you drink craft coffee, chances are your lips have graced one of notNeutral’sporcelain cups, which were made specifically for Intelligentsia in 2008, and have since been adopted as industry staples throughout L.A.—and across the globe. The white pieces are ergonomically designed to retain heat, deliver maximum flavor, and nestle comfortably in your hand, making them the ideal vessel for a well-sourced cup of Joe. Their sleek design is a real stroke of genius.
Vancouver Coffee Shop Says NO! To WiFi
As laptop users settle into coffee shops, Lear Faye cafe opts out of Wi-Fi, by Maryse Zeidler – Straight .com
Lear Faye owners Jess & Dolly Reno
AT LEAR FAYE(2270 Commercial Drive), a young woman in a turquoise turtleneck reads a friend’s tarot cards. Nearby, a few pals pass around a baby. It’s a typical coffee-shop scene, but there’s a key piece missing: the ubiquitous creative-class worker typing on a laptop.
That’s because Lear Faye doesn’t allow laptops. The new coffeehouse is one of a few in Vancouver whose owners are struggling to run a vibrant and profitable business while meeting customers’ changing expectations of café culture.
Other café owners say the expectations of customers like Dowell, combined with the competitive nature of the business, mean laptops are here to stay.
“We have over 100 seats,” Vince Piccolo, co-owner of Forty Ninth Parallel Coffee Roasters, says by phone. “And we need to fill our seats.”
His two coffee shops, at 2902 Main Street and 2198 West 4th Avenue, offer people who prefer to work in public spaces free Wi-Fi. He says businesses that don’t are taking a risk.
You’ll see a lot of cafés get bad reviews because they didn’t have Wi-Fi – says Piccolo
Is China The Future Supplier Of The World’s Coffee?
Trade House Bets on China’s Coffee: New Volcafe Joint Venture to Buy, Sell Coffee Beans Grown in China’s Yunnan Province, by Leslie Josephs – The Wall Street Journal
Volcafe, a unit of commodities trade house ED&F Man Holdings Ltd., said Tuesday it signed an agreement to create a joint venture with China’s Simao Arabicasm Coffee Company to buy and sell coffee beans grown in the southern Yunnan province.
China accounts for less than 1% of global coffee production, but limited global supplies of arabica coffee and subsequently higher prices have 
attracted investment to the country. Big roasters likeNestlé SA and Starbucks Corp. have invested in farms and growers to ensure supplies of the mild-tasting arabica beans.
Arabica-coffee prices are up 73% this year after a drought in top grower Brazil crimped output and continued dry weather raised concerns over next year’s crop.
Chinese mild arabica is still relatively new to the world coffee scene, but its improving consistency means it is rapidly growing in acceptance with global roasters – Jan Kees van der wild, ED&F Man.
If China’s production does increase, it could ease the world’s reliance on major arabica-coffee growers such as Brazil and Colombia, analysts said.
“If there’s a way to diversify away from Brazil, I don’t see how that’s a bad thing,” said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Chicago brokerage Price Futures Group.
America’s Best Espresso 2014 Award Goes To…
2014 Coffee Fest National Winners and The Making of “America’s Best Espresso”, Daily Coffee News
Coffee Fest held its final show of the year this month in Portland, including the national competitions for its three flagship events: America’s Best Coffeehouse (barista-focused), America’s Best Espresso (roaster-focused) and the Latte Art World Championship open (self-explanatory).
Roast Magazine was proud to be among the sponsors of this year’s America’s Best Espresso competition, a head-to-head bracket-style elimination tournament in which Sunergos Coffee of Louisville, Ky. took top honors, followed by Resilient Coffee Roasters of Richland, Wash., and Goshen Coffee of Edwardsville, Ill. Palace Coffee Co. of Canyon, Tex., took top spot in the America’s Best Coffeehouse National Championship, among an impressive field of established shops including New York’s Cafe Grumpy (2nd place) and L.A.’s Klatch Coffee (3rd place). Japanese competitors swept the podium at the Latte Art World Championship, with Yusuke Ota edging out Kenta Tamura (2nd) and Daisuke Tanaka (3rd).
Kenny Smith (center) and Blake Nail (center left) of Sunergos Coffee, winners of the America’s Best Espresso championships
The Columbus Coffee Experience
You love coffee. Columbus loves coffee. Next time you visit, explore the Columbus Coffee Trail: Simply pick up a card at any of the locations plotted below, buy a drink and get your card stamped at four or more shops and make your way to Experience Columbus’ Arena District Visitor Center (with the light grey pin below) to redeem your card for a free Columbus Coffee T-Shirt!
Feature photo credit: Neil. Moralee via photopin cc