This piece is inspired by curiosities surrounding Aviary’s release 004: Lino Rodriguez as well as upcoming releases 005 and 006. AVIARY#004: Lino Rodriguez, featured in the April 2024 edition of Food & Wine Magazine, is available for pre-order through the Aviary website. To place this piece in context of the coffees that inspired it or […]
My head hurts, my legs ache, I’m thirsty. For everything else it is, Ethiopia isn’t an easy place to travel—not how we do it, anyway. We drive into Jimma, five of us packed into a Land Cruiser, a vehicle that is as much a symbol of success as a way of saying, “I need no […]
I don’t drink soda. Guy Fieri It was my fourth and final cupping of the day, and staring down at the mess of spent grounds and spilled coffee wrecking the table like seaweed at low tide or forgotten treasures unearthed in the snowmelt of spring, I dipped my spoon and set to work. I had […]
“Since the rise of the coffee shop, culture has disappeared, don’t you think? People are horrified that they have to pay for music. Music! But $20 for two coffees, oh, absolutely.” Noel Gallagher (singer, guitarist and frontman of Oasis) I didn’t plan to end up in coffee. It’s one of those ice breakers that you […]
The sun never sets on the British empire. attributed to John Wilson, 1829 During one of his “yes or no” Instagram Q&As, Scott Rao lamented the declining quality of Kenyan coffees over the last three years—a sentiment I’ve heard echoed by buyers across Europe, the US, and Australia. He kicked a different question over to […]
Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting. Michael Pollan I got a message from Kaapo Paavolainen of One Day Coffee on Telegram, I think, after he saw me snark on Jonathan Gagné’s Ad Astra channel about cinnamon and coffee. I personally don’t want cinnamon anywhere near a fermentation tank—but I also don’t believe it’s the role […]
I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge. Herman Melville Every story needs a villain—and in an industry where the highest achievement many can aspire to is simply not being a villain, at least that measure of success is attainable. But the power to create a villain—power that […]