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On today's episode of The Coffee Sprudgecast, hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen drip drop minerals, dish about coffee events and the seventeenth annual Sprudgie Awards (noms open November 10!) Michelman discusses his experience at HOSTMilano, the massive food convention that played host to the 2025 United States Barista Championship, and the La Marzocco Out of the Box Event in Milan: fresh coffee, new gear, hot collabs, and frothy gossip.
On this episode, the hosts were sipping a delicious Ethiopia Koke Honey roasted by Presta Coffee. Thanks, Presta!
Stay tuned to Sprudge and @Sprudge on Instagram for the very latest.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by noissue, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
Show notes:
Miir Coffee Hand Grinder
Meet the New Standard Hand Grinder – the perfect companion for coffee lovers at home, on the road, or camping. Designed to provide a consistent grind from coarse to espresso-fine, this portable coffee grinder delivers precision with every use. Durable conical stainless steel burrs and an easy-to-rotate folding handle make grinding coffee effortless.
Slow Pour Supply 2-WayCup
Introducing the award winning, newly refined 2-WayCup, crafted with precision and an eye for excellence. In collaboration with Martin Wölfl, WBrC 2024 Champion, 2-WayCup’s design has been elevated to ensure an enhanced tasting experience. This champion-approved refinement guarantees that every sip meets the highest standards of enjoyment.
Slow Pour Supply Apax Lab Water Mineral Concentrates
APAX LAB mineral concentrates: TONIK, JAMM, and LYLAC — are formulated to create specific water profiles that subtly alter how coffee flavors are perceived. By changing the mineral balance of your brewing water, they enhance different aspects of the coffee, such as sweetness, acidity, or floral notes. These mineral concentrates are designed to be easily applied. They influence the way your palate interprets the existing flavors of coffee, unlocking its fullest potential. Add Apax Lab mineral concentrate to your brew water or directly to your coffee post-brew and unlock new exciting profiles!
Ceado Hoop Pour Over Coffee Brewer
If you’re a Coffee Sprudgecast listener, you’ve no doubt heard us talk about the Ceado Hoop, an innovative and fun to use new home coffee brewer that uses radial infusion for an even, expressive brew. This brewer is simple, intuitive, and offers you an easily repeatable brewing method—we absolutely love it for trying different coffees each week on our podcast. Try it once and you’ll agree, this is a fabulous new edition to your home brewing set-up.
TIMEMORE Basic 2.0 Electronic Espresso Scale
Crafted with high-quality acrylic, this sleek and compact scale is durable and low-profile. The waterproof dial surface and upgraded closable charging port ensure protection from liquid damage. Includes a silicone waterproof insulation pad for added convenience.
We love coffee gear. Find out about all the coffee gear we're geeking out over here!
Barreling into November—this podcast needs a drink! At the top of the latest episode we rip a generous glug of State Line Distillery’s new Coffee Liqueur with coffee from Madison, Wisconsin’s Kin-Kin Coffee. The reaction?
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Ohh.”
The unique flavor sensations don’t end there—hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen Ceado Hoop Brew a special offering from Deadstock Coffee and Portland, Oregon’s renowned Haitian restaurant Kann.
To round things out, the hosts taste Partners Coffee’s Colombia Chiroso limited release—a beautiful cup to carry them through the episode.
Check out the latest coffee offerings from Partners Coffee at our Roaster’s Village portal.
Stay tuned to Sprudge and @Sprudge on Instagram for the very latest.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by noissue, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
It's busy out there in the world of coffee: national barista champions from across the globe are in Milan for The World Barista Championship at HOST Milano and La Marzocco's Out of the Box. Who will become the 2025 World Barista Champion? Only time will tell! In the meantime, we've got another humdinger of an episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast. Much is discussed on this episode but the real meat is in the macchiato. Espresso macchiato? Macchiato latte? Caramel Macchiato? "Traditional" macchiato? What's a real macchiato anyway? After a brush with macchiato clarification at a coffee bar in Portland, host Jordan Michelman had questions.
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With every fresh episode, there's fresh coffee. With another fresh coffee offering from the Roaster's Village, the hosts drink Bay Area's Equator Coffees limited Kona Monarch Washed Pacamara. The coffee was brewed and enjoyed using coffee gear we're bench testing at Sprudge HQ: the coffee was ground fresh with the Timemore Sculptor 078S and brewed using a Miir Pourigami Travel Coffee Dripper. We're partnering with Miir to provide 25% off Miir products using promo code SPRUDGE25. The hosts ("big vessel guys") enjoyed the coffee in a 2-WayCup from Slow Pour Supply:
Introducing the award winning, newly refined 2-WayCup, crafted with precision and an eye for excellence. In collaboration with Martin Wölfl, WBrC 2024 Champion, 2-WayCup’s design has been elevated to ensure an enhanced tasting experience. This champion-approved refinement guarantees that every sip meets the highest standards of enjoyment.
Stay tuned to Sprudge and @Sprudge on Instagram for the very latest. This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by noissue, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
The days are getting shorter, the leaves are falling, the pumpkin spice latte recipes are influencing—and for us? It means big European coffee events, awards season, gift guides, and an extra helping of tea in the moody afternoons. Much tea is talked about on the Coffee Sprudgecast thanks to our continuation of the DONA Tea Library deep dive, including a tea sourced from the Wah Estate featured in a recent article from writer Navdeep Kaur.
We always take a moment to cherish coffees from our Roasters Village and on this episode the hosts drink a fine cup of Penrose Espresso Blend from Blueprint Coffee out of St. Louis, Missouri. While an espresso blend by name, the coffee itself makes a delicious cup of filter. The hosts locked the coffee tight in a new Miir Airlock Coffee Canister—a piece of Coffee Gear we're playing with at the Sprudge HQ. Coffee canisters aren't the only thing fresh out of the box—that's right, the hosts dialed in the coffee on the Timemore Chestnut C5 Pro. How much futzing was required? Tune in to find out.
Later in the show, Jordan Michelman talks about our future travel to Milan for HostMilano, The World Barista Championship, and La Marzocco's big Out of the Box. The events are all happening October 17-21, 2025. Michelman also hints at a very screening of The Rise of Espresso happening in New York City in November. More on this soon! Put in a pin in it, we'll circle back.
Until then, enjoy this trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ir_3yeDlGg
Stay tuned to Sprudge and @Sprudge on Instagram for the very latest.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
We're exploring brand new cafes from Seattle, Olympia, Long Beach, and Medellin on another special episode of the Coffee Buildcast on the Coffee Sprudgecast (a coffee podcast). At the top of the show hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen enjoy coffee from Caffe Umbria brewed using the new Timemore Sculptor Series Electric Grinder, Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 Scale, all brewed with the Ceado Hoop Brewer.
The hosts take a moment of centering and reflection over fine tisanes from DONA's beautiful Tea Library. Jordan enjoys chamomile while Zachary went for a classic tisane blend The Field.
Cafes Featured:
https://sprudge.com/build-outs-of-coffee-papaver-roaster-house-in-olympia-wa-399299.html
https://sprudge.com/build-outs-of-coffee-pergamino-cafe-in-medellin-colombia-399376.html
https://sprudge.com/build-outs-of-coffee-dedo-coffee-in-long-beach-ca-390627.html
https://sprudge.com/build-outs-of-coffee-blue-ridge-coffee-house-in-seattle-wa-405864.html
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
We're in the middle of a very busy Build-Outs of Coffee Summer, that time of year when Sprudge spotlights new and exciting projects from near and far. To celebrate, we chose four to highlight on the newest episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast.
To keep hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen in tip top form, the two sip espresso on the show. It's a little daring, a little different—most shows will find the hosts sippin' drip but this episode needed something a little more robust. Find out how the YesPlz Coffee (release #346—Nice Things Blend) tasted from the Sprudge HQ La Marzocco Linea Mini (we'll give you a hint: it tasted delicious.)
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
On this episode, we're taking you on a wild trip, man. Inspired by Verve Coffee's recent collaboration with Grateful Deadand their delicious Morning Brew Blend, hosts Zachary Carlsen and Jordan Michelman weird out on Grateful Dead lore. From favorite eras to favorite albums to tales from the golden road, things get a little heady in an extremely chill way. Later in the episode, Michelman sits down with Verve Coffee Co-Founder Colby Barr to learn more about what it was like working with the Grateful Dead.
Check out the show notes for links out to hear Grateful Dead's one and only Santa Cruz performance, as well as the same show Colby Barr drove out to during his summer in Lake Tahoe.
Show Notes:
Verve Coffee Grateful Dead Morning Brew
Enjoy the full 1983 Santa Cruz concert at Archive.org.
Listen to Colby's show at the Sacramento Cal Expo in 1994.
Jordan thinks this coffee would pair beautifully with one of the best Stadium Dead era shows—Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY 7/16/90 on Youtube.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by TerraCycle, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
It’s that time of the year again, where the days are long, the coffees are flash chilled, and cafes show up and build-out! On the latest episode the show we explore new cafe build-outs from Bradley Beach, New Jersey, down to Springdale, Arkansas and all the way to Ventura, California. It’s all part of our annual Build-Outs of Coffee series, a humdinger of a program focusing on the hard work, dedication, craftsmanship, and the community it takes to build something great.
On the Coffee Sprudgecast this week, hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen ring in the summer season with a very special Sightglass Coffee Summer Solstice Limited Series Seasonal Blend. Summer blends are really great. We spend a lot of time during long winter days talking about Holiday Blends but it’s never been a better time to tap into the well of summertime offerings and dive deep.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by TerraCycle, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
Welcome to the Coffee Sprudgecast. It's not just a coffee podcast, it's a taste experience, where only the strongest endure.
Zachary Carlsen returns from World of Coffee Jakarta on the Coffee Sprudgecast and brings with him delicious coffees, interesting coffees, and coffees he didn't dare dream existed. This includes a Space Roastery coffee that mimics the process of Kopi Luwak (the poop coffee) without using animals. It's a fair and cruelty free Kopi Luwak! No civets were harmed in the making of this coffee. We also try a Vietnam-grown gesha coffee roasted by our reporter Tung Nguyen over at his project Citric Meets Malic. We love it.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by TerraCycle, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
We've got a special bite-sized episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast this week, featuring an interview with 2025 World Roasting Champion Mikaël Portannier. Liz Chai caught Portannier on stage moments after announcements to learn more about his epic win.
Host Zachary Carlsen sips Passenger Coffee's India Bhadra while thumbing through a copy of their 2024 Transparency Report. "In addition to prices paid for every pound of green coffee contracted in the most recent harvest year, and cup quality data," says Passenger, "our 2024 Transparency Report also includes dispatches from our green buying team." It also happens to be beautiful—with rich photos and thoughtful design. Check out Bhadra and their transparency report on their website.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
On this special episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen talk about the winners of the 16th Annual Sprudgie Awards. This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by TerraCycle, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
On this very special episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen list off all the incredible things to see, do, and experience at this weekend’s SCA Expo in Houston, Texas. On the show we also try out the new double-the-size AeroPress XL and make not one but TWO delicious YesPlz “Soft Power” Blend coffees in one pump! It’s a genuine flavor journey and testament to the size and girth of one of specialty coffee’s favorite brew methods.
To celebrate coffee history’s final SCA Expo we make ourselves elevated coffees with the convenience of a Keurig. We recently partnered with a company called BestCup who crafts Keurig compatible “Hi-Fi Coffee Pods” using quality coffees roasted by respected roasters like Amavida and La Barba (just to name a few). It marks the first time Sprudge has had a Keurig machine in its podcast studio. Did our hosts enjoy it? Listen along to find out!
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
It's time again for another rousing episode of the Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen on the Sprudge coffee podcast The Coffee Sprudgecast! Learn about how we curate our popular city guides, find out about the 16th Annual Sprudgie Award Finalists (voting open now!)
On this episode of The Coffee Sprudgecast Michelman and Carlsen wet their whistles with a Chemex brew of Bekele Kachara Natural out of Muraga, Ethiopia roasted by our friends and partners Heartwood Coffee Roasters. "Bekele employs a meticulous approach to coffee farming," Heartwood writes on its website, "using shaded pre-drying beds on-site and nurturing specific coffee varieties. he uses organic methods, fertilizing his farm with compost or agricultural residues. His expertise in coffee processing comes from years of experience, including work at stations in the Bensa and Bona districts of the Sidama region." Delicious!
As things started to heat up, the hosts alleyooped a Ceado Hoop Brew of Partners Coffee's *secret process* Ethiopia Suke Quto. What's the big secret? We have a few guesses after tasting flavor notes of wild cherry, pineapple candy, and concord grape.
So too does Partners Coffee green buyer Sam Klein, who writes, "we mean it when we say 'secret' process—the few things we do know only add to the mystery. (We think there was inspiration drawn from a globally beloved soft drink.) What's left, then, is sensory clues. It appears to have been dried as a natural (with the fruit still intact), judging from the intensity of fruit flavor, syrupy body, and the reddish appearance of the unroasted coffee. The flavors are articulate and complex, and we're consistently reminded of grape and cherry soda, lambrusco, and root beer, which gradually mellow to white peach, pineapple candy, and passionfruit. Signs point to some kind of intervention in the fermentation process that would aid in the coffee's complexity—perhaps an additional fermentation stage, possibly in an environment where ambient oxygen has been displaced or removed." We love a little mystery in our cup. Who doesn't?
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
On this episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, hosts Michelman and Carlsen drink Partners Coffee's limited-edition Valentine's Day "Be Mine" specialty instant coffee and the 4th Place Guatemala Cup of Excellence coffee—a natural pacamara from the Ponderosa farm roasted by Proud Mary.
It's Sprudgies Season! Lots of discussion is had about the Sixteenth Annual Sprudgie Awards. Nominations are open through the end of Presidents' Day weekend—submit a nomination today!
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.
A new year, a new Coffee Sprudgecast. It's 2025 and hosts Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen talk about all of the incredible Sprudge Design Award winners on the latest episode of Sprudge's coffee podcast.
Ceado Hoop Brewers come out to brew up a lovely cup of Verve Coffee's special Green Tip Gesha from Elida Estate in Panama. Before diving into the coffee, the hosts tried a hot Black Scottie Chai out of Snohomish, Washington using hot steamy oat milk. Lots of ginger, lots of spice: a classic coffee house chai.
Check out all of the finalists and winners of the Sprudge Design Awards over here.
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Ghirardelli, and DONA.