Author: admin

coffee world faces its own reckoning

Angela Weiss/AFP

As the US, and now the world, is forced to face up to the injustices and structural racism which confront black people on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that the coffee industry is dealing with shocks of its own. The past week in particular has caught up key players in the specialty coffee world, as well as the gargantuan icon of the global coffee industry. Let’s weed through a few examples.

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settling in

Hey kids. Sorry ol’ Matty hasn’t been very active lately, but a combination of being busy with work, not being able to get out for coffee, and getting ready to move has kept me pretty busy lately.

We got through the move this week, and other than the garage door opener track ripping apart a poorly installed ethernet cable and a heavy thunderstorm flooding the basement, it’s all gone smoothly. Surrounded by boxes but managed to set up the coffee infrastructure and make my first cup in the new house. Funny how minor changes in the setup, like a different counter height, feel awkward at first. I do think this will soon feel like a much better layout.

trying a new bag (or two)

I’ve heard a lot of good things in the specialty coffee nerdiverse about Onyx Coffee Lab, a roaster in Rogers, Arkansas, with cafes in Rogers, Fayetteville, and Bentonville. Since I’ve never been to the Ozarks and, current pandemic notwithstanding, don’t anticipate getting there anytime soon, it was high time to try them out by ordering some beans by mail. I was very happy for this box to appear on my doorstep the day after I ran through my current stash of beans.

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the best

I’ve already gone over in some detail that the best coffee in DC’s Georgetown, if not the entire DMV, can be found at Baked & Wired. Well, this weekend I found out that their cupcakes are also spectacular.

nom nom nom

Big cupcakes, absolutely delicious, interesting flavors without going too nuts, and better than that place nearby that got all the buzz from reality tv ten years ago. Don’t get me wrong, Georgetown Cupcakes is good; but this is better, with amazing coffee to boot. And they are taking their social distancing protocols very seriously, which is a great comfort.