Sensory Summit 2022 in Zurich was an eye-opening journey into the world of coffee academia. Coffee, like food, is an interesting subject that can fall into the realm of both science and art, and it was fascinating to see how deep we are diving into things. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to attend the summit and visit Zurich as a writer. Isn’t it amazing where coffee can take us? My eye is definitely on the @zhaw.coffee.excellence.center now and I’m looking forward to seeing what exciting new research comes out to scientifically back the incredible techniques and flavors we experience in specialty coffee today. #superlatepost

So in May 2022, I joined forces with @enjoyevermore to operate the bridgehouse cafe at @lil_delfshaven for a few months. In that short time, I really got to know the Delfshaven community (and made some improvements to my Dutch 🤣) I didn’t plan to have a cafe, but when the opportunity came, it was too interesting to pass up. I never imagined I would be making cappuccinos and stroopwafels in a historic building along a canal, watching the bridge go up and down, barely a year into my time in Rotterdam. One of my favorite things about being in the bridgehouse was its “living room” setting where friends could drop by anytime, knowing I would be there for coffee and a chat. I also loved all the different moods of the cafe, depending on the weather, bringing together all my favorite coffee shop vibes into one little space. Thank you to everyone who supported this project 💜 so much love

Milan was a whirlwind of new friends and joyous occasions. So many great memories, including Jaco’s incredible WCTC performance, the launch of the @coffeewristbands project, and forging some true friendships with beautiful people. With #MICE2022 just around the corner, I’m excited to dive into new coffee discoveries very soon. See you then! (Also reached the tag limit on this post 😅 too many friends for IG to handle)

The incredible thing about working with Micky @iamnotabarista is that whenever we have an idea, he can turn it into reality overnight. I mentioned to him how it would be nice to have some IANAB stickers or something to share with friends at World of Coffee 2022 and in like, a week, he set the wheels in motion for producing stickers, pins, and these awesome @coffeewristbands And yet– What started as a little event swag item turned into something so much more. Now @coffeewristbands have taken a life of their own as a whole new fundraising project for baristas around the world. Cafes and coffee businesses can pre-order these wristbands, designed by coffee-loving artists like @blckhoneygirl @g_delgadillo @timalogachev at production-cost and sell them locally as our charity partners. The profits of the sales then go back to the local coffee community as charity donations or barista tips. They’re kinda like Girl Scout Cookies but less edible. I’ll be passing out a ton of free wristbands this week at WoC to jumpstart the program but very soon they’ll be available at charity partner businesses around the world. Check the map and event calendar on the @coffeewristbands website to find out where you can snag one next! (Designs may vary on location, gotta collect them all 😜)

Earlier this year, I recorded my first-ever podcast with @iamnotabarista and I’m so glad I was feeling eloquent that day. I’m usually a better writer than I am a speaker. But I really enjoyed putting what I do and what my passions are into words, and I’m so glad someone recorded it 😂 It was also a great opportunity to unveil an epic project we’ve been working on together. See my previous post on the @momentemgrinder . It’s something to keep your eye on for 2022! Check out the podcast on Spotify if you wanna learn more about what I do and how I got to where I am. It involves witches and traveling 🧹

Keep your eye on the @momentemgrinder this year. Its going to be the first dual burr, multi-step hand grinder designed for baristas and home brewers. Working on MOMENTEM with @iamnotabarista is like hurtling head first into uncharted territory. While product design is not our first expertise, we still wanted to create a functional tool that would really add value to people’s lives. That’s why this is more than a dual burr grinder – other quality-of-life features include faster grinding speed and ease of grinding, a strong magnetic cup with a knocker-like connection, a built-in grinds sifter with interchangeable sieves, and a whole array of customizable aesthetics like sleeves and knobs. This grinder isn’t here to compete with existing greats. It’s more of a nudge to the industry that we can push design even further and go beyond the current standard to create something that will not only change the variables we brew with, but also take into consideration extra features that can make manual brewing more interesting. After months of project and product development with @iamnotabarista , 3D designers, and production factories, we’re finally getting our hands on a pre-production prototype very soon. Can’t wait to see how it’s looking! Launching on Indiegogo, stay tuned :)

Enamel pins and stickers for the recent TUMI | RAZER collaboration, 2022 -Design & production by @curioustyphoon

For the past few Chinese New Years, I’ve developed a variety of gifting items for TUMI. This was my forst time design a deck of poker cards and I had a lot of fun learning about all the different elements that make a pack of cards both aesthetically pleasing and functional. I also made mistakes along the way. Originally I had a pink and blue border on the cards but realized that you could see the colors on the edges, thus revealing a bit of your hand 🙈 Poker Playing Cards for the Year of the Tiger, TUMI 2022 -Design & production by @curioustyphoon -Artwork by Ofen Hu

Year of the Tiger CNY greeting and animation for TUMI 2022 -Copywriting, concept & storyboard by @curioustyphoon -Animation by @just.dandan -Artwork by Ofen Hu

I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t recognize @morgandrinkscoffee – their reach is just that wide. Since this story came out, Morgan has officially joined the Onyx team as a Content Marketing Specialist and I LOVE how her two passions have fused together here. Coffee people aren’t just limited to baristas and roasters. There’s definitely a growing career path for coffee creatives, whether it’s in writing, design, digital marketing, sensory experience, etc. The sky’s the limit and Morgan is an inspiration to all of us backend coffee people. Story for @iamnotabarista 2022 Read the full story on www.notabarista.org !