Tag Archives: specialty coffee

The Official Guide to (Inter)national Coffee Day 2016

September 29, 2016The Coffee Experiencechain coffee, coffee deals, discussion, International Coffee Day, Local Coffee, National Coffee Day, Online Coffee, specialty coffeeColin Mansfield

Coffee lovers, now is the time to rejoice. This week grants us not one, but two days dedicated to our favorite beverage: National Coffee Day (September 30th) and International Coffee Day (October 1st). Tons of coffee chains and local coffee shops around the world are celebrating by offering deals, discounts, and free drinks for us over-caffeinated to enjoy.

Below I’ve compiled two lists to help you find the deal closest to you, but keep in mind that local coffee shops are likely to be participating as well. Be sure to check in with your local cafe to see what deals they may be offering! In that vein, I’ve included a few deals from coffee shops local to Idaho – my home state.

National Coffee Day (September 30th)

Coffee Studio (Meridian, ID) is offering a free 12oz latte to anybody who utters the phrase “where love & locals meet.” Find out more here.
Guru Donuts (Boise, ID) is offering a free cake donut or vegan mini raised with any coffee purchase. Nothing better than free donuts with your coffee!
Flying M offered (Boise/Nampa, ID) offered a free 8oz drip coffee between 6:30am and 11pm today. Hopefully you scored one!
Dunkin Donuts is offering medium coffees for only 66 cents to celebrate their 66th anniversary. Find out more.
Krispy Kreme is handing out a free cup of coffee and free donut to visitors. No purchase necessary. Find out more.
Starbucks isn’t offering discounts, but they are donating a coffee tree for every brewed cup of México Chiapas coffee sold today. Find out more.
Pilot Flying J is giving away a free cup of coffee – or any hot beverage – to people who show the coupon found on their website. Here it is.
Tim Hortons is running some sort of social media campaign using #TimsCoffeeDay and #WhyWeBrew. Check out their Twitter page for more details.
Caribou Coffee is giving away a free medium brewed coffee for every pound of coffee purchased from now until Oct 2nd. Also, for every cup of “Amy’s Blend” coffee purchased, they’re donating a cup to nurses and caregivers at cancer centers throughout the country. Find out more here.
Peet’s Coffee is giving away a free coffee with the purchase of any food item.
Sheetz is giving away free cups of their new cold brew. You must be a loyalty card holder to qualify.
Wawa is keeping it simple with a free cup of coffee (or any 24oz self-serve beverage) all day. No purchase necessary.

International Coffee Day (October 1st)

International Coffee Day is a bit different, and quite frankly more organized, than National Coffee Day. There are dozens of events happening around the world on October 1st, so I’ve chosen to highlight a few notable ones. You can find the full list here. You can even sort by events happening close to you!

Italy – Free guided tour and coffee at MUMAC coffee machine museum. Find out more.
Norway – Join the world’s largest coffee party in Oslow. The Norwegian Coffee Association is attempting to set a world record in coffee brewing. Their goal is to serve at least 5,000 cups of freshly brewed coffee to coffee lovers in the afternoon on October 1st. Find out more.
Canada – Experience the tastes and aromas of small batch roasting in Nova Scotia. River Run coffee shop is hosting an open house; the grounds will be open to explore, and the animals for petting, but inside is where the excitement will take place. They will be holding 30 minute coffee roasting demonstrations at 10am and 1pm. Find out more.
South Africa – Enjoy the tasting menu at Bean There Coffee Company in Johannesburg. Try a Chemex, Hario V60, AeroPress, or French Press combo for just R30. Find out more.
New Zealand – Vanguard Specialty Coffee presents a screening of A Film About Coffee. Tickets are $17 and are available through our Facebook event page or by emailing ahead. Screening is being held Saturday October 1st, at 6:30pm. Every attendee will receive a complementary cold brew concoction created by local roaster/coffee guru Jason Moore using a single origin Ethiopian Dumerso. Find out more.
Germany/Online – Save 20% on the Hile Set by Hile Products. The Hile Set includes Sola paper filter holder and Kapu (a measuring spoon/fastener in one), handcrafted in Finland. Use offer code HILE1 on their online store. Find out more.
France – Free cupping of AVPA award-winning coffees in Paris. Find out more.
Australia – Coffees from around the world at Pomeroys in Queensland. They will have coffees from a range of origins, brewed using a variety of methods. Find out more.
Austria – Coffee Battle: Head to Head for the Best Espresso in Vienna. From 9am-7pm baristas will be duking it out to see who makes the best espresso. Find out more.

Did I miss anything? If so, comment on this post and let me know. Enjoy your free coffee, and have a great day!

Colin

S2 Episode 15: Italian Coffee ft. Hannah Mansfield

September 15, 2016Coffee Canonaudio, discussion, Espresso, Italy, Podcast, specialty coffee, tipsColin Mansfield

Over the last two weeks my wife, Hannah, and I were celebrating our anniversary in Italy. We got the opportunity to try coffee from the Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Milan, and we learned a lot about Italian coffee culture as we went. At the end of our trip Hannah and I sat down and recorded this episode, discussing Italian coffee, the culture that its integral to, and how it’s different from U.S. brews.

For a humorous take on the “10 Commandments” of ordering coffee in Italy, check out this post from The Telegraph.

The two specialty coffee shops that are briefly referred to in the episode are Taglio in Milan, and Ditta Artigianale in Florence. Taglio won 3rd place in the 2014 Italian Aeropress Championship, and Ditta Artigianale took 6th place in the 2015 World Barista Championship (Seattle) and 5th place in the 2016 World Barista Championship (Dublin).

ditta-awards — Ditta Artigianale’s Barista Championship Awards, proudly on display.

Music on this week’s episode is from The Free Music Archive, and the picture in the cover art was taken by me in La Spezia, Italy. If you’d like to see more classy pictures that I took of Italian coffee while traveling, take a gander at the Boise Coffee’s Instagram.

This episode of The Boise Coffee Podcast is brought to you by WMF Coffee Machines. If you are looking for a fully automatic commercial coffee machine for your office or workplace, look no further than WMF. Their offerings range from state-of-the-art filter coffee machines all the way to professional, barista-grade equipment. To find out more, visit wmf-coffeemachines.uk.com.

Colin

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S2 Episode 12: Developing Latte Art & Perfecting Espresso

June 30, 2016Coffee Canonbarista, Coffee Technology, Espresso, latte art, specialty coffeeColin Mansfield

Making coffee is as much an art as it is a science. As with any culinary endeavor, the amount of time and energy you put into the ingredients, the preparation, the creation, and the presentation of a cup of coffee or espresso, the better the end product will be. The ingredients of a cup of coffee start at the farm where coffee beans are grown and continues through the processing, storing, and roasting.

As I discussed last episode, any one misstep in this enormous supply chain will leave you with a sour, bitter cup of coffee. But there’s more to it than just ingredients – preparation plays a huge role as well. If a perfect batch of roasted beans makes it into the hands of an untrained or careless barista, you won’t get the variety of flavors and complexity in your end product. Finally, there’s presentation to be considered. As much as I’d like to tell you that the environment and atmosphere where you drink your coffee, together with how the coffee itself looks, doesn’t impact taste, I’d be lying. There’s a reason why high-quality filet mignon isn’t served in a styrofoam carryout box and fine wine doesn’t arrive at your table in a red solo cup. We human beings care a great deal about how something looks – and we make judgement calls about how food and drink tastes before it ever touches our lips.

In 1988 Espresso Vivace opened. Its founder is an overqualified eclectic scientist named David Schomer. Schomer’s path to coffee is as winding as they come – he spent four years in the U.S. Air Force, training in electronic calibration and repair, then a stint as a metrologist (the science of measurement) at the Boeing Class A Standards Lab. For a time he was the Canvas Coordinator for Greenpeace NW, and he holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and a BFA in Flute Performance from the Cornish College of the Arts. In short, he’s both an artist, and a scientist.

This episode of The Boise Coffee Podcast is brought to you by WMF Coffee Machines. WMF is the leading international manufacturer of fully automatic commercial coffee machines, and they’re proudly made in Germany. Whether you’re looking for a simple office machine, or robust professional barista-grade equipment, WMF has what you’re looking for. Visit wmf-coffeemachines.uk.com to find out more.

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