The newly designed Mahlkönig Guatemala shop grinder. Courtesy photo.
Grinder manufacturer Mahlkönig has unveiled a redesigned and upgraded version of its popular Guatemala shop grinder.
Centered around the same tried-and-true, vertically oriented 71-millimeter steel burrs, the new version features a larger hopper and new body design, sturdier materials, and easier access to interior components for maintenance.
“The old Guatemala body was plastic; the new Guatemala body is aluminum,” Timo Keimer, head of product management for Mahlkönig parent company Hemro Group, told Daily Coffee News. “Serviceability is better because the grinder can now be opened from the back. All components are reachable without taking out the motor, and the motor can be installed lowered into the body with the spout already attached.”
At the Velvet Robot Coffee Lab inside the Rockford City Market building. Photo by Forest City Photographs, courtesy of Velvet Robot Coffee Lab.
Combining precision-made coffee drinks and a warm and fuzzy approach to customers, Velvet Robot Coffee Lab has opened a brick-and-mortar cafe in downtown Rockford, Illinois.
Justin Carner and a roasting partner launched the Velvet Robot brand in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2017 when they saw a demand for cold brew at a local farmers market. They set up a booth and built a following for their cold brew before Carner in 2019 moved back to his home city of Rockford, splitting the business into two, and launched as a vendor at the Rockford City Market.
The Voila Labs introductory discovery pack of 30 capsules featuring three single-origin specialty coffees in compostable and biodegradable Nespresso-compatible packaging. Photo courtesy of Voila.
Specialty instant coffee maker Voila has joined the pre-ground coffee capsule fray with a new product and service called Voila Labs.
Voila Labs offers creatively packaged Nespresso-compatible capsules made from eco-friendly materials and containing high-quality specialty coffee. The concept also aims to remove all barriers for consumers through an innovative text-based ordering system for United States customers.
Voila Founder Kent Sheridan told Daily Coffee News that the company has partnered with European coffee packaging and services company Mo Coffee, which roasts beans sourced by Voila and then grinds and packages them in Voila-branded biodegradable, compostable capsules.
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Abbey and Josh Schmitt own and operate Banyan Coffee Company, a specialty coffee roaster, in Bradenton. (Tiffany Razzano)
BRADENTON, FL Josh Schmitt remembers his first cup of coffee well, but not fondly.
He was in his early twenties and attending flight school near Chicago, taking night courses. To stay awake, he d order traditional airport coffee, he said. The stuff that s been sitting and baking for probably 10 hours, and it wasn t the best, you could say, but I needed a pick-me-up.
Those were my less glory days of coffee, said Schmitt, who today owns and operates Banyan Coffee Company, a specialty coffee roaster, in Bradenton, with his wife, Abbey.
The Banyan Coffee Co. Cushman Truckster. All images courtesy of Banyan Coffee Co. unless otherwise noted.
A new specialty coffee roaster on Florida’s Gulf Coast called Banyan Coffee Co. has been making its presence known in the Bradenton and Sarasota area through a converted 1984 Cushman Truckster.
The slow-cruising, light-duty, 80s-era service vehicle is a fitting ambassador for the laid-back brand created by founders Josh and Abbey Schmitt. While nodding to sunny Florida’s cool, shade-providing banyan trees and forests, the brand is also inspired by 1980s cultural phenomena like the mullet hairdo.
Banyan Coffee Co. Co-Founders Abbey and Josh Schmitt.