Caffé Umbria Opening Portland Lab with Future Growth Plans for 2017,Caffé Umbria Opening Portland Lab with Future Growth Plans for 2017

The Caffé Umbria Portland training lab opens this week. All images courtesy of Caffé Umbria.

Longtime roaster/retailer Caffé Umbria is celebrating the grand opening of its first dedicated training lab this week in Portland, Ore., while signaling additional growth plans for 2017.

The new lab in Portland's Northwest District will serve as a training space for Caffé Umbria staff and wholesale clients, and the company has described it as the "first step in building the infrastructure to support 2017 expansion plans in the Pacific Northwest and Chicago."

Caffé Umbria's Annamaria Gatlin told Daily Coffee News that the Portland Lab will eventually also be used for public classes and workshops for coffee professionals and potentially consumers, although its primary function is to provide a quiet, gear-filled space in which to maximize educational impact.

"We've been in this process of dedicating some space for a while, but finding the right space has been a little difficult," Gatlin told Daily Coffee News. "It's a beautiful space, and it's nice to have no interruptions."

With a roasting headquarters in its hometown of Seattle, the company is planning to open a second Portland café, in addition to its existing Pearl District location, later this Spring, and Gatlin said the Caffé Umbria distribution center in Chicago will eventually be expanded and renovated to include a roastery and training lab, as well as an additional café. The company opened its first and only café in Chicago in late 2015.

Asked whether Caffé Umbria has additional growth plans on the horizon, Gatlin said, "For us, it's just finding the right place."

Caffé Umbria Coffee Quality Specialist and Trainer Antonio Madeddu inside the new lab.

"We don't have specific number goals for the year," Gatlin continued. "We're not that kind of company that says we're going to open five cafes this year. But we always have our eyes open."

The new Portland lab includes La Marzocco Strada EE and La Spaziale S2EK espresso machines; Mazzer Kony and Mahlkonig K30 and EK43 grinders; and numerous pieces of alternative and manual brewing equipment, including Moka pot, Chemex, an Oxo pourover, a Yama cold brew tower, a Yama siphon, a Saint Anthony Industries Page brewer and Phoenix70 brewer, Aeropress, Clever, Hario V60, and Toddy.

The lab grand opening celebration is scheduled for 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16., at 1700 NW Marshall in Portland.

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.

Tags: Annamaria Gatlin, Caffe Umbria, Chicago, Oregon, Portland, quality control, seattle

,Longtime roaster/retailer Caffé Umbria is celebrating the grand opening of its first dedicated training lab this week in Portland, Ore., while signaling additional growth plans for 2017. The new la… Business Operations,Craft/Operations,Events,Industry,Macro,Northwest,Retail,Roasting,United States,Annamaria Gatlin,Caffe Umbria,Chicago,Oregon,Portland,quality control,seattle
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Coffee Blossom Honey: A Sweet Extension of the Farmer to Importer Relationship,Coffee Blossom Honey: A Sweet Extension of the Farmer to Importer Relationship

Beekeeping at El Apiario in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. All images courtesy of Coffee Blossom Honey.

Throughout the world's coffee lands, beekeeping has been proven effective not only in providing additional sources of food and income for farmers through honey production, but in promoting coffee plant health and yields on working farms and throughout entire agricultural communities.

Taking this reciprocal relationship to its next logical step, Bellingham, Wash.-based importer Onyx Coffee — whose core business is related to cultivating relationships with coffee farmers in the highlands of Guatemala — has launched a new side venture called Coffee Blossom Honey.

Jorge Mendez, center, at El Apiario.

The concept came to fruition as members of the Onyx team were cupping coffees at the farm Jorge Mendez in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, when Mendez asked if they'd also like to sample some unfiltered honey from the farm's beekeeping operation. The farm itself is called El Apiario, which directly translates in English to The Apiary, a place where bees are kept.

"Jorge began beekeeping as a necessary response to the disappearance of bees on his farm, and has since harvested the honey for household and community consumption," Onyx's Edwin Martinez, who's family coffee farm, Finca Vista Hermoasa, is a neighbor to Mendez's, told Daily Coffee News.

After tasting the honey, Onyx endeavored to export and import one harvest of honey into the United States, and the Coffee Blossom Honey brand was born. In the United States, Coffee Blossom Honey is capitalizing on Onyx's existing relationships with roasters and other green coffee buyers for wholesale honey offerings in jars, as well as half-gallon or five-gallon buckets.

"We are the first that I'm aware of to introduce honey that is predominantly from coffee flowers, available to North American roasters, that is traceable at this level from a small producer, tracked by lot," Martinez said, characterizing the unfiltered honey itself as bright and clean, qualities that are reflected also in the coffees being produced there.

Unfiltered honey produced at El Apiario.

Martinez said Jorge Mendez intends to collaborate with nearby farmers to expand honey production in the area to enable further export through Coffee Blossom Honey, which hopes to initially export two honey harvests a year. From Martinez's perspective, the honey project reflects Onyx's mission to provide roasters with traceable, quality goods while providing deeper connections between farmers, roasters and consumers.

Said Martinez, "The only reason for us to get into honey is because we are buying product from the same producers and selling to the same roasters, allowing us to add more value to both, while increasing sustainability."

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.

Tags: beekeeping, Coffee Blossom Honey, Edwin Martinez, El Apiario, Finca Vista Hermoasa, Guatemala, honey, Huehuetenango, importers, Jorge Mendez, Onyx Coffee

,Throughout the world's coffee lands, beekeeping has been proven effective not only in providing additional sources of food and income for farmers through honey production, but in promoting co… Central America,Farmer Issues,Industry,Origin,Products,Roasting,Sustainability,United States,beekeeping,Coffee Blossom Honey,Edwin Martinez,El Apiario,Finca Vista Hermoasa,Guatemala,honey,Huehuetenango,importers,Jorge Mendez,Onyx Coffee
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Pairing Cycling and Coffee at Colorado's Peritus Coffee Roasters,Pairing Cycling and Coffee at Colorado's Peritus Coffee Roasters

The Peritus Coffee Roasters roastery and bar in Fort Collins, Colo. All images courtesy of Peritus Coffee Roasters.

Habitual cyclists know well the thrilling moment of opening the garage and rolling on out. In Fort Collins, Colo., Peritus Coffee Roasters now knows that thrill in a number of ways.

The company was founded by avid cyclists in a home garage built out for certification as a commissary kitchen, and the Peritus production roaster has just moved out of that garage for installation into the company's first retail café, which happens to share a space with Source Endurance cycling training gym.

"I have a lot of friends in the cycling community," Peritus founder and head roaster Quinn Schultz told Daily Coffee News. Schultz has a history of mountain bike endurance races himself, and his son-in-law, a professional cyclist, is the owner of Source Endurance. Whitney Allison, Schultz's daughter, is also a professional cyclist when not doing business development and marketing for Peritus, although Peritus does not consider itself a cycling-specific brand.

The word "peritus" is latin for "expert," something both Schultz and Allison have been working towards in coffee. Schultz has achieved levels 1 and 2 certification by the Roaster's Guild, and Allison has attained Level 1, while hoping to soon add roasting to her official staff duties. Allison said the company's ties to the cycling community have offered some advantage as a roasting startup.

"It's really hard for businesses when they get started if they don't have a core group that they're involved in. I think cycling offered that initial customer base instead of trying to do the shotgun approach and appeal to anybody and everybody that you can get your hands on," Allison told Daily Coffee News. "It allowed us to have that nice base, and we've been able to expand from there."

"Probably about 80 percent of our customers the first year and half or so were from the cycling community," Schultz said, explaining that the company in the past year has branched out to the broader community and sought more of a balance of patronage by selling and serving at farmer's markets and other means of spreading the word.

Of the 2,000 square feet inside the newly split facility, about 800 square feet is now devoted to all things coffee, including the retail service counter and roasting production area, plus a separate room for bagging and green storage. The company's original 6-pound San Franciscan roaster is in the shop, where it will be joined by a 25-pound San Franciscan later this month.

At the bar, Peritus focuses on V60 pourovers and Curtis G3 batch brews, all ground on Baratza Forte grinders, though later in the year Schultz said he's considering adding espresso one group head at a time by way of professional-grade Decent Espresso machines. "This might be a really good model for that," Schultz said of the Decent Pro pitch of several self-contained machines in lieu of the expense and risk of a single multi-group machine. "We could add modules as volume dictates."

Peritus currently sources through Red Fox Coffee Merchants and Café Imports, and roasts generally into the medium-light range, preserving origin-indicative nuances with a balance of sweetness.

"I don't really like something that's super light and bright," Schultz said. "I like to have just a little bit more development in our coffee, to bring in a little bit more of the sugar development. I appreciate more of a multi-dimensional coffee."

Down the road, Peritus aims to grow by way of online retail and local wholesale, including shelf presence in select nearby specialty grocery stores. The goal is not to become a major regional player, per se, but rather to achieve slow, sustainable growth locally and perhaps a bit beyond.

"Unless the weather dictates otherwise we'll deliver by bike," Schutz said of their retail to consumers, illustrating the company's priorities. "This past December we bought an electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt, so at least I won't feel bad if I can't ride my bike."

Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.

Tags: bikes, Cafe Imports, Colorado, cycling, Decent Espresso, Fort Collins, Peritus Coffee Roasters, Quinn Schultz, Red Fox Coffee Merchants, Source Endurance, Whitney Allison

,Habitual cyclists know well the thrilling moment of opening the garage and rolling on out. In Fort Collins, Colo., Peritus Coffee Roasters now knows that thrill in a number of ways. The company was… Business Operations,Craft/Operations,Micro,Openings,Plains/Rockies,Retail,Roasting,bikes,Cafe Imports,Colorado,cycling,Decent Espresso,Fort Collins,Peritus Coffee Roasters,Quinn Schultz,Red Fox Coffee Merchants,Source Endurance,Whitney Allison
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Swing's Coffee Opens Elegant New Bar in Downtown DC,Swing's Coffee Opens Elegant New Bar in Downtown DC

Swing's Coffee at 14th and G Street in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Ron Ngiam

When Swing's Coffee Roasters — founded by Michael Edward Swing as M.E. Swing Coffee Roasters — fired up its first batch of greens in 1916, Woodrow Wilson was finishing his first term as U.S. President mere blocks away at the White House.

Now, 17 presidents and untold thousands of roasts later, Swing's has opened a new upscale coffee bar on Metropolitan Square in downtown DC that's just minutes, as the bald eagle flies, from both the original "MESCo" building and the White House, at 640 14th Street NW.

Swing's Coffee at 14th and G Street in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Ron Ngiam

The opening comes as Swing's is fully renovating its G Street location on the other side of the White House, and it marks the third Swing's retail location in total, in addition to the roasting headquarters and lab, which helped redefine the company's course when it opened in 2013. Swing's Owner Mark Warmuth said the new Metropolitan Square bar will help the company as a benchmark for the G Street bar reopening.

Swing's Coffee at 14th and G Street in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Ron Ngiam

Coffees from the new bar will come from Swing's three-year-old direct trade sourcing initiative called "Home Grown," in which the company attempts to cultivate long-term relationships with individual producer partners, promoting transparency, premiums for quality, sustainable agricultural practices and healthy communities at origin.

Swing's Coffee at 14th and G Street in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Ron Ngiam

Patrons of the new shop will see a rotating selection of single-origin pourovers produced through a Poursteady machine, as well as espresso beverages made with a customized La Marzocco GB5 and a Victoria Arduino lever machine. At least three cold coffee drinks will be on tap, including cold-brewed coffee, nitro cold brew and nitro lattes. The seasonal drink menu will mirror that of Swing's Del Ray coffee bar, while locally made pastries will be available.

Swing's Coffee at 14th and G Street in Washington DC. Photo courtesy of Ron Ngiam

The DC-based firm Core Architecture + Design, Inc., led the project design in keeping with Swing's vision, building on the existing decorative aesthetic of the Beaux-Arts building that surrounds the shop. Major design elements include a 25-foot main bar with multiple countertop surfaces including white Carrera marble, stained hardwoods, and an patterned mosaic tile floor with Swing's brand colors of black, white and cranberry red.

Swing's Coffee Roasters 14th and G Street location is now open at 640 14th Street NW in Washington DC. 

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.

Tags: Arlington, Core Architecture and Design, Mark Warmuth, Swing's Coffee, Virginia, Washington D.C., White House, Woodrow Wilson

,When Swing's Coffee Roasters — founded by Michael Edward Swing as M.E. Swing Coffee Roasters — fired up its first batch of greens in 1916, Woodrow Wilson was finishing his first term as U.S. … Business Operations,Northeast,Openings,Retail,South/Southwest,Arlington,Core Architecture and Design,Mark Warmuth,Swing's Coffee,Virginia,Washington D.C.,White House,Woodrow Wilson
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Zion Coffee Connects Customers to the Other Side of the Cup,Zion Coffee Connects Customers to the Other Side of the Cup

The Zion Coffee Co. bar and roastery in Peoria, Ill. All images courtesy of Zion Coffee Co.

Banu and Mike Hatfield firmly believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, and to prove it, they're helping Peoria, Ill., coffee shop patrons achieve the extraordinary by way of a seemingly ordinary indulgence.

The Hatfields' Zion Coffee Co. hopes to connect patrons to the arduous journey coffee goes through from bean to cup, and to reveal how the simple purchase of this morning staple can have extraordinarily positive ramifications in the lives of the people at the other end of the chain.

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

Though the company has been in business for about three years, the cups and whole-bean bags that changed hands at pop-ups and farmer's markets are now being served over the counter at an airy, bright café at 803 SW Adams Street in Peoria's up-and-coming Warehouse District. Surrounded by tall white walls and wide windows, a long bar supports a white 3-group La Marzocco Strada, coupled with a pair of white Mahlkonig K30 Air grinders. A white Mahlkonig EK43 and a row of three Baratza Forte grinders break beans for V60 and Bunn batch brews, as well as for a Bunn Trifecta brewer.

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

"I wanted to bring something completely new to Peoria. Something clean, crisp, open," Zion cofounder Banu Hatfield told Daily Coffee News, adding that as soon as they walked into the space, despite it being the former home of a "porn shop" as Hatfield put it, they knew it was the right spot.

"It's in a part of the town that the city is investing in greatly. It is growing," said Hatfield, describing the city's effort to attract more apartment complexes and businesses to the area. "We thought, 'This is it.' We want to be the pioneers of bringing coffee here."

Zion Coffee Peoria

They are quite literally bringing the coffee there, as Zion Coffee does not work with any importers to source the green coffees that they roast in their Probat 12/2 machine, which is visible through a glass partition in the new café. The only coffees they roast, sell and serve are those that the couple has sourced personally, through direct, personal sourcing partnerships with coffee farmers in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The hope to count some Burundian relationship coffees among that stock by the end of this year.

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

"Our business model is centered around having this 'relationship farming,' and that's what we want to grow," said Hatfield, explaining also her belief that patrons, too, seek transparency in the businesses they frequent and a personal connection to the origins of the things they love. "Our idea is that they're only a person away from the person that grew that coffee."

In business and life, Banu Hatfield is predisposed to empathy for people facing challenges in foreign lands, given that she immigrated with her family to the United States herself from her native land of Turkey at the age of 20 in the early 1990s. "I've been here 25, 26 years now," she said. "Thank god I came then, because maybe I wouldn't have been able to come now, given what we're going through."

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

Aside from paying a premium to farmers for the coffee up front, Zion Coffee also engages in microloan and other forms of investment in projects at origin, bolstering education and resources in farming communities.

"As we scale this, I have no doubt that it's going to be hard for us to know every farmer where we source our coffee, but our business is truly built on us wanting to connect coffee lovers to what we're calling 'The Other Side of the Cup,'" said Hatfield. That concept will also be the name of a self-funded 25-minute documentary about the personal lives, stories, hopes and dreams of coffee farmers with whom they do business.

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

"As two people that have good jobs, we're not doing this for the money. For us, it is very important to be able to tell stories on the other side of the cup," said Hatfield, who reported having sent a film crew to Guatemala last month. The hope is to be able to conduct a preview screening of a finished film at the SCA Expo in April of this year, with a wider release sometime after that, Hatfield said.

With the documentary now in post-production, roasted coffee production is on the upswing in Peoria, as the company aims to grow its wholesale business to be able to make larger green coffee purchases.

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

"We want to foster an attitude of curiosity with our customers, exposing them to new varieties, as well as roasting and preparation techniques," Hatield said, adding that Zion's roasts lean toward the lighter end of the spectrum in an effort to preserve and present the qualities that make each coffee unique. "We tend to focus on lighter profiles, but wouldn't rule out something darker if it would blow their mind."

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

Currently the Zion Coffee shop is in soft-opening mode, with hours to expand gradually and a grand opening scheduled for the shop later this month. From there, as wholesale develops and the film project nears fruition, the Hatfields will continue to strive for the extraordinary.

"I believe that Zion Coffee will be an international brand," said Banu Hatfield. "We have a great story, a great heart behind it, I think consumers want that connection."

Zion Coffee Co. photo.

Zion Coffee is now open at 803 SW Adams Street in Peoria, Ill.

Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.

Tags: Banu Hatfield, direct trade, film, Guatemala, Illinois, Mike Hatfield, Nicaragua, Peoria, The Other Side of the Cup, video, Zion Coffee

,Banu and Mike Hatfield firmly believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, and to prove it, they're helping Peoria, Ill., coffee shop patrons achieve the extraordinary by way of … Central America,Craft/Operations,Farmer Issues,Marketing,Micro,Midwest,Origin,Roasting,Banu Hatfield,direct trade,film,Guatemala,Illinois,Mike Hatfield,Nicaragua,Peoria,The Other Side of the Cup,video,Zion Coffee
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Unpacking Coffee with Kandace and Ray: Heart Coffee Roasters,Unpacking Coffee with Kandace and Ray: Heart Coffee Roasters

Nick Brown | February 14, 2017

Heart Coffee Roasters bags, featuring a plain white bag with Futura type and color to represent each coffee. Needmore Designs photo.

In this week's episode of Unpacking Coffee, Kandace and Ray check in with Wille and Rebekah Yi-Luoma of Portland's Heart Roasters, which has two existing cafés and a third on the way, as well as wholesale accounts throughout the country.

A former professional snowboarder, Wille is known for his meticulous sourcing and roasting practices, applying an athlete-in-training-like approach to the craft. He explained to Kandace and Ray his preference for only sourcing washed-process coffees — some of which will on the La Marzocco Cafe bar in Seattle beginning today as Heart begins a month-long stint as featured roaster there — while offering the following blunt advice to aspiring roasters:

"If you really want to make money, don't get into coffee."

Unpacking Coffee is a weekly show discovering new coffee roasters one episode at a time led by Kandace and Ray of the Portland-based studio Needmore Designs, which specializes in coffee, wine and lifestyle brands.

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.

Tags: Heart Roasters, La Marzocco Cafe, Needmore Designs, Portland, Rebekah Yli-Luoma, Unpacking Coffee, Wille Yli-Luoma

,In this week's episode of Unpacking Coffee, Kandace and Ray check in with Wille and Rebekah Yi-Luoma of Portland's Heart Roasters, which has two existing cafés and a third on the way, a… Columns,Macro,Marketing,Micro,Northwest,Roasting,Heart Roasters,La Marzocco Cafe,Needmore Designs,Portland,Rebekah Yli-Luoma,Unpacking Coffee,Wille Yli-Luoma
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Remembering John Rapinchuk of Knutsen Coffees,Remembering John Rapinchuk of Knutsen Coffees

Rapinchuk pictured with Helen Russell (far left) and Brooke McDonnell of Equator Coffee in 2013. Erna Knutsen is pictured second from left. Photo courtesy of Helen Russell.

Longtime specialty coffee professional John Rapinchuk recently passed away due to heart failure at the age of 65 at his home in San Francisco.

A former SCAA board director, Rapinchuk spent 20 years as the CFO of San Francisco-based Knutsen Coffees, Ltd., where he met the woman who would become his wife, Erna Knutsen, who is widely credited with coining the term "specialty coffee."

Following are some remembrances of Rapinchuk, as shared by Sherri Johns of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence:

John lead an illustrious life as a coffee professional, independent real estate professional, intrepid businessman, investor, art collector and photographer. In 1990, John joined Knutsen Coffees, Ltd., in San Francisco, where he met the love of his life, Erna Knutsen, and persued a 20-year career as CFO until 2010. Knutsen Coffees shuttered their doors in 2014 with an announcement at the annual SCAA exposition as John's wife, Erna received the lifetime achievement award. Most recently, John was responsible for the launch of the Erna Knutsen line of single serve coffees in Taiwan.

Those who knew John, knew him to be opinionated, boisterous, intelligent and a personality within the specialty coffee world himself, who per his wife Erna, "never liked to pick up the phone".

Among his many achievements in specialty coffee, John served as an SCAA Board Director from 1998 to 2000, representing Knutsen Coffees at the Roasters Guild as sponsor and participant on the cupping team. John once appeared with Erna in a fund-raising calendar completely nude. John was known as a no nonsense person with a very quick wit and dry sense of humor and heart as large as his girth.

An avid traveler, John loved to travel with Erna, not only in coffee producing countries but also credited to more than 15 cruises and motor home adventures with dear friends.

John's love for Erna is possibly the best characteristic he is remembered for. Assisting Erna everywhere, with care and devotion.

John leaves behind many friends which include multiple luminaries in the coffee world. John is survived by his wife, Erna Knutsen, 95, who resides in San Francisco.

,Longtime specialty coffee professional John Rapinchuk recently passed away due to heart failure at the age of 65 at his home in San Francisco. A former SCAA board director, Rapinchuk spent 20 years… Industry,People,United States,Equator Coffees & Teas,Erna Knutsen,John Rapinchuk,Knutsen Coffee,Sherri Johns
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