Category: Uncategorized

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5 Questions About Coffee: Revelator Coffee

The first Revelator Coffee opened in Birmingham, AL, in 2014. Next came shops in Chattanooga, New Orleans, Nashville and Atlanta. Just last year, the company opened its 15,000 sq. ft. roastery in Birmingham.

In this interview with Paste, Meredith Singer, Executive Director of Marketing, and Sarah Kluth, Executive Director of Coffee, discuss sourcing specialty coffee and Revelator’s special brand of Southern hospitality.

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photo by Mountainside Photo Co.

Paste: What issues matter to you when sourcing beans for Revelator?

Sarah: Number one, I want the relationship to be mutually beneficial. For some of our coffee growers, what’s most valuable to them is knowing that I’m available to talk about experiments they’re doing on their farm. They get to brainstorm with me because I’ve been on their farm and I see what they want to accomplish and we can work together towards that.

The second thing is looking for high quality coffee. No one who knows agriculture can tell you that you can achieve quality without sustainability. What the soil requires; what the trees require; what the fruit requires — to produce truly beautiful quality, you cannot achieve that without sustainability; you cannot achieve that without loving the Earth and loving the process because if you don’t you’re not going to get good quality.

Then, whatever country we’re sourcing from, we look at the history, and we look at the context and we look at the sense of place. Every place is individual with the soil, with the types of coffee trees, with the types of processing and that all will be expressed in the cup.

Read the full article at Paste. 

 

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May Writing Workshops

Create Space for Creative Writing in Your Busy Life

writer with exploding headHave you always wanted to try creative writing but find the idea scary?
Or, did you once love to write but think you have forgotten how to do it?

Do you find it impossible to squeeze time for creative writing into your hectic life? No more excuses. It’s time to start writing!

Learn how to make time and space for creative writing in your life. In this workshop, we will explore the elements of creative writing and work through exercises designed to help you develop the habits of a successful writer. You will learn how to establish writing goals and meet them–even if you only have 20 minutes to write a day. You will walk away with new writing, new goals and a new commitment to your creative life.

Date: Saturday, May 21, 2016
Time: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Location: cove – 1817 M Street Northwest, Washington, DC
Register here.

 

Increase Revenue with Creative Content (Training)

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Time: 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Location: Cove 7th Street – 829 7th Street Northwest
Register here.

content meetingCreative content has become a critical part of doing business. How well are you telling your organization’s story?

Everyone wants to hear a good story. Whether your goal is to engage donors, secure grant funding or engage new customers, the best way to do it by developing content about your products, programs and services. If you’re not telling stories, you’re leaving money on the table.

In this training, you will learn how to:

  • Develop content that showcases your products, programs and services.
  • Implement a content culture across your organization.
  • Create an editorial calendar and production schedule to plan for upcoming news and events.
  • Interview clients, customers and supporters.
  • Track and evaluate how well your content is performing.

This training is for business owners, communications and development professionals and anyone who wants to learn how to use content to increase revenue.

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5 Questions About Coffee: Bellwether

Bellwether is a specialty coffee shop, whiskey club, men’s boutique and a members-only co-working space for creative entrepreneurs in Denver. For all the things Bellwether offers, slow-brewed, quality coffee tops the list. The shop works with local roasters (including Boxcar, Corvus Coffee Co, Method Coffee and MiddleState) to create the perfect cup of coffee.

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image courtesy Bellwether

Here’s a Q & A with Bellwether co-owner, Rustin Coburn, who talks about what makes Bellwether a special place for specialty coffee.

Read the article at Paste magazine.

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Inspired by David Bowie

David Bowie knitDavid Bowie’s style broke the laws of our universe. Colors were more brilliant; more dazzling on him. Searing orange. Lightning bolt yellow. Blood red. Bowie was patterns on patterns. And the textures! He brought cohesion to chaos. A silk kimono, a vinyl suit, a velvet jumper. He could pull it off.

Looking for some inspiration? Be bold. Be brave. Be Bowie.

Here’s some tips for integrating the colors and textures of Bowie into your favorite spaces.

Continue reading “Inspired by David Bowie”

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Reykjavik Roasters

Reyk Roasters Torfi_crop
Torfi works the Giesen roaster at the Kárastígur shop

Reykjavík Roasters’ new café on Brautarholt has a much edgier feel than the original shop –– a cozy little quaint place on Kárastígur, which since its launch in 2008 has been city favorite.

The new location is a neighborhood just 10 minutes up from the bustling downtown area of 101 Reykjavík, but it has a totally different vibe.

“This neighborhood is kind of raw, but it’s also kind of trendy, and up-and-coming,” says co-owner Ingibjörg (Imma) Jóna Sigurðardóttir. The café’s design matches that industrial aesthetic.

Reykjavík Roasters is a major player in Iceland’s small but mighty coffee scene. Their retail business includes in-store and online sales, and they do wholesale sales to cafés, restaurants, and a few other accounts.

Continue reading “Reykjavik Roasters”

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Record Shopping in Reykjavik

reyk records shop 11Where’s one of the best places in the world to spend the day crate digging? If you said Reykjavík, Iceland—which you probably didn’t, because … well … it’s Iceland—you’d be right. Reykjavík may be a small city on a small island, but its vinyl culture is huge. Musicians blend global influences and mash up musical styles, and that eclectic vibe is reflected in the city’s record stores.

From old school Parisian hip-hop to Swedish death metal, you can find just about every genre in the world here and what you won’t find is that snobby record store clerk attitude. There are plenty of places to satisfy your vinyl fix downtown. With all of these options, your biggest problem will be getting your new vinyl collection back home.

Read the full article at Paste Magazine.

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Filter Out the Noise

Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar is not the coffee shop you want to hit when you’re in a hurry. Not when you only have four and a half minutes to spare before your bus passes you by. I’m a perpetually late person. I leave late, I walk slow and then I panic. I don’t go to Filter on my way to work. I don’t go when I don’t feel like smiling or chatting or trying something new. It’s not that kind of place.

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First of all, the pour overs are worth waiting for; and second, the baristas are pleasant, knowledgeable and amendable to conversation.

Located in D.C.’s Foggy Bottom, the café lacks frills. And Wi-Fi. In fact, laptops, devices and screens are highly discouraged. Filter is a place for face-to-face interaction. It’s a spot for talking, staring, reading, thinking.

Filter’s selection of single origin coffees come from local roaster Ceremony Coffee Roasters, which is based in Annapolis, MD. Ceremony’s offerings are complex and flavorful. One blend boasts notes of cantaloupe, honeycomb and raisin bread. Another roast compares to the experience of eating a Snickers bar. Hints of lime, apricot, lemon meringue pie, zests and peels, walnuts and almonds, all make their way into Ceremony’s elegant blends.

Since I prefer to drink my coffee unadulterated, I appreciate these exquisite flavors. I enjoy the partnership between Filter and Ceremony because I know that while the quality of the coffee will be predictable, its taste will not.

That’s why I never rush. I read the tasting notes listed on the menu. I pick the conversation up where we left off. I laugh at some anecdote another customer is sharing. And, I’m reminded to do something important: slow down and smell the coffee.

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Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar: http://www.filtercoffeehouse.com
Ceremony Coffee Roasters: http://ceremonycoffee.com

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Social Justice Writing Workshop

social justice

How do you change the way people think and act? With well-researched and informative content. In this workshop, we will discuss how to write for different audiences (supporters, critics and the uninformed); how to use data and research to build your content; and how to interview people. This class is open to writers of all levels interested in creating social change. This will be an intensive writing workshop with in-class writing exercises.

When: Monday, November 9, 2015
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Location: Cove – 1990 K Street, NW, Washington, DC
Cost: $25
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-justice-writing-workshop-tickets-19223271322