Famous Paintings Reproduced In Coffee

Sure this reproduction of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam is a lil’ bit perverted by the inclusion of a coffee cup, but look closer. The entire masterpiece was painted using only coffee

I’m amazed that I haven’t seen these coffee art clones before. They’re the creation of Karen Eland, a former barista, who one day decided to dip a paint brush into her coffee cup instead of nibbling on biscotti. By gradually building layers of espresso she’s able to create a range of tones and what must be the tastiest smelling paintings ever.

Maybe it’s my caffeine addiction talking, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen the Mona Lisa and wanted to give her a lick. [Coffee Art via Artsy Spot via Neatorama]

Written by: Rosa Golijan

Geisha Coffee Roaster Wins Coffee Industry’s Top Honor

October 22, 2009
San Rafael, California

California based Equator Estate Coffees and Teas – www.EquatorCoffees.com – was named America’s 2010 Roaster of the Year in Roast Magazine’s highly competitive challenge, triumphing over 40 of the country’s best coffee roasters for Equator’s special blend of quality, sustainability, and business innovation.

Equator proudly joins the ranks of the very top US-based roasters, including previous winners Intelligentsia, Stumptown and Counter Culture. Competing against industry heavy-weights, Equator was picked as the best roaster in America as much for its long-term commitment to quality, as for its cutting-edge sustainability practices and business innovations including the purchase of a small coffee farm in Panama.

The final round of the Roaster of the Year competition pitted Equator against two other finalists in a blind cupping of their coffees by industry professionals.Equator submitted three coffees: Panama Esmeralda Geisha, Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Organic and Moka Java, winning this round and clinching the Roaster of the Year award.

Like America’s Top Chef and the James Beard Award, Roaster of the Year is considered a top award in the $13.65 billion U.S. specialty coffee market.

Among the achievements for which Equator was honored in this year’s Roaster of the Year competition were:

• Equator has a proven track-record of coffee quality, regularly winning awards and attracting some of the industry’s most celebrated chefs.
• Equator was a pioneer in adopting the ultra-efficient Loring Smart Roaster, which reduces carbon emissions by 80%.
• Equator’s biofuel and hybrid vehicles make all deliveries; and the company composts 100 percent of its coffee chaff and burlap bags.
• Equator has provided micro-loans to coffee partners around the world for quality related investments.
• Equator has spearheaded social and environmental sustainability projects that benefit food challenged communities in coffee growing regions around the world.
• Equator recently purchased its own farm in Panama, where they are in the process of growing ultra-boutique, sustainable coffee alongside a team of Panamanians with generations of experience in coffee cultivation.

“Equator Estate Coffees & Teas encompasses the core of a true artisan coffee-roaster,” says Connie Blumhardt, Publisher of Roast Magazine. “Roast chose Equator Estate Coffees as our 2010 Macro Roaster of the Year because of their commitment to sustainability, desire to educate their employees and customers as well their continual drive to push the boundaries of what it means to be a coffee roaster. Equator Coffees has a true passion for creating and selling amazing coffee.”

Equator was an early champion of fair trade practices that address economic, environmental, and social issues in coffee growing communities. Equator has instituted micro-loan programs in coffee growing countries, and recently partnered with ZERI Foundation and a young Zimbabwean woman named Chido Govero in an innovative “pulp to protein” program that increases food security for people in coffee growing regions.

“The Roaster of the Year award is a tremendous honor. This peer-level recognition validates our efforts to promote sustainability both at home and in the global coffee growing communities with whom we collaborate so closely,” said Helen Russell, CEO and co-founder of Equator Coffees. “Equator relentlessly seeks to improve our quality, sustainability and innovation; we are grateful to our employees, customers and farmer-partners whose sincere commitment to our work has made this possible.”

Panama – Coming to a Flat Black near you

Jun. 05, 2009
By Kendra Stanton Lee
Dorchester Reporter

Americans consume some 400 million cups of coffee every day, and though we are no Seattle, Bostonians are serious about their joe. If you’re not brewing it at home, you might grab your “coffee regular” from “Dunkies” or maybe your coffee comes from any number of independent coffee houses here in Dorchester. Or maybe it comes from Panama.

Last month, Jennifer and David House, co-owners of Flat Black Coffee Company, traveled to Panama to bring the best brew back to their coffee shops in Lower Mills, Peabody Square, and in the Financial District downtown. Such an excursion in the coffee world is known as a “trip to origin.” That is, a trip to meet the people responsible for growing, picking, cleaning, and shipping the coffee beans that are packaged, ground, and brewed in our coffee houses here.

Trips to origin were a part of the business plan for Flat Black from the very beginning, according to Jennifer. Jennifer said she, David, and co-founder Jeff Chatlos asked themselves, “What is our business goal five years down the road? We knew we wanted to expand with more retail stores.” Such a goal necessitated purchasing their own roaster (which the Houses equate to the price of a luxury car) in order to have more control over quality, she said.

“We offer coffee from twenty different countries. It was our intention to provide the consumer with the highest quality coffee bean produced in that country,” she said.

Original Article