Barista Magazine

JUN-JUL 2016

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/686001

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Publisher Kenneth R. Olson Editor Sarah Allen Art Direction Demitri Fregosi Powers Copy Editors Erin Meister, Chris Ryan Photographer Alix Dobkin Business Manager Cheryl Lueder Advertising Sales Sarah Allen 800.296.9108 Contributors Nora Burkey Andy Freivogel Helena Krekling Erin Meister Mayita Mendez Alabaster Pizzo Sarah Richmond Ashley Rodriguez Viktor Sloth Chad Trewick Eton Tsuno Joshua Vasko Kelsey Viscount Editorial Advisory Board Nora Burkey, The Chain Collaborative Anna Gutierrez, Barista 22 Hidenori Izaki, Samuri Coffee Experience Heather Kelley, Stumptown Coffee Roasters Sam Low, Code Black Coffee Todd Mackey, Bolt Coffee Co. Mike Marquard, Blueprint Coffee Noah Namowicz, Café Imports Lorenzo Perkins, Fleet Coffee Sarah Richmond, Mountain Air Roasting Craig Simon, Think Tank Coffee Jess Steffy, Square One Coffee Teresa von Fuchs, Irving Farm Coffee Roasters Laila Willbur, Cherry Street Coffee House Barista Magazine 4345 NE 72nd Ave. Portland, OR 97218 phone: 800.296.9108 fax: 971.223.3659 email: info@baristamagazine.com www.baristamagazine.com Barista Magazine is published bimonthly by Ollen Media, LLC. Subscriptions are $30 in the United States, $45 USD in Canada, and $60 USD for the rest of the world. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Barista Magazine, 4345 NE 72nd Ave., Portland, OR 97218. ISSN: 1944-3544 Copyright 2016 Barista Magazine. All rights reserved. BARIST A M A G A Z I N E E D I T O R L E T T E R on equality ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS has a niece named Brave. Brave is 2 years old. The significance of her name doesn't resonate with her now, the way it did to her mom and dad when they chose it—which they did for all sorts of reasons, not just because she was a girl, though that sure was one of the aims. Brave's parents aren't in coffee, but her aunt is. She's a roaster for a celebrated microroaster in the Southeastern United States. This roaster and I, as friends, have talked a lot for a long time about the themes showcased in this issue of Barista Magazine. She says it's hard to feel oppressed when the men she's surrounded with in specialty coffee are pretty awesome— they're thoughtful and curious, and they lean toward the progressive. I'm reminded of The Coffeewoman, an event organized by former United States Barista Champ Laila Willbur, that took place in Kansas City, Mo. in February. The keynote speaker was a woman, and all the panelists were women, but the audience included plenty of men. Some were on the edges of their seats the whole night, eager to glean whatever enlightenment they could from these women to help them be better colleagues and friends. Of course, even in our progressive specialty-coffee industry, there are men out there who belittle, insult, and dismiss women before giving them a chance. There are even women who don't expect much from females, or even feel that they are less capable, despite what seems like an obvious conflict of self- interest. Don't forget that there are also plenty of men who feel maligned and disparaged by more aggressive men in our industry. This whole thing is almost all gray area. We haven't even started talking about the lack of racial equality in specialty coffee—or the discrimination facing those with sexual orientations and gender identities that are not within the binary norms. There's a whole wide world of denigration out there. I appreciate what Sonja Zweidick, the woman on the cover who inspired this whole issue, had to say about sexism—or rather, what she didn't say. Sonja prefers to focus on the positive, on making changes for the better, rather than getting bogged down in what's bad and wrong. All she wants is for women to feel increasingly empowered and confident in specialty coffee. That was the stimulus for Women Barista Connect, a daylong workshop she hosted in Denmark last fall, that made news through global coffee channels. "The more women we see deciding to continue with a career in coffee will help create an environment which can feel less intimidating," Sonja told me in our interview. Though we had already decided to focus this issue on celebrating a new generation of strong women in coffee, articles recently published by Talor Browne and Jenn Chen on Medium.com would have inspired it anyway. Talor's piece, "The Specialty Coffee Industry Has a Gender Problem," and Jenn's essay, "On Gender and Racial Equity in the Coffee Industry," are both candid and powerful, with real- world examples of discrimination in our industry, and formidable dialogue on why this exists and why it must change. We tried to include as many voices in this issue as we could, most of which appear in Nora Burkey's thoughtful and unflinching examination of gender inequity in the workplace. We've also included a fantastic interview with Kimberly Easson as this issue's Master Q+A. One of Kimberly's many accomplishments in the specialty-coffee industry was cofounding the International Women's Coffee Alliance, which has grown into a robust community of women producers and roasters primarily, but also café owners and baristas, who support one another and drive the industry forward. Most recently, Kimberly has led the charge with CQI's Partnership for Gender Equity. This issue of Barista Magazine, however, is meant to be as business-focused and educational for retailers as ever, which is why we include a thought- provoking story by Kelsey Viscount about how pop- ups can work and why they fail; Ashley Rodriguez's analysis of cold-brew coffee being used as an ingredient in our regular series, "New Adventures in Cold Brew"; and a look at the latest online loyalty programs on offer to café owners, analyzed by our "Tech Support" columnist Andy Freivogel. I'm also heartened to bring you part one of Chad Trewick's two-part essay, "Behind the Beauty," which wrestles with the touchy topic of the poverty many producers and their workers continue to live in. Given the current economy, Chad asks some hard questions about what coffee is really going for, and how we can be sustainable when the system is anything but. I'm just so excited to share this issue with all of you. I'm hopeful it will inspire conversations and debates, and that you'll share your questions with me so we can keep the dialogue going. I don't just mean about the matters surrounding gender. I hope you'll talk to me about anything in or pertaining to Barista Magazine any time. This publication exists for you—all of you—and any forum it inspires is your forum, too. 14 barista magazine

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