The Coffee Compass

Your Guide for Craft Coffee

Archives for July 2014

Full Immersion Entrepreneurship: An Interview with Luke and Hugh of Sandows London

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Sandow London

At The Compass we have tremendous respect for entrepreneurs. A great book we’re reading on the subject says that it takes heart, smarts, guts, and luck to successively start a business. In our estimation, Sandows London has got what it takes. Sure, it may sound kind of risky selling bottled cold brew coffee in a country best known for drinking hot tea, but like their Victorian strongman namesake, Sandows London is defying the odds. We got the chance to chat with founders Luke Suddards and Hugh Duffie and find out what it takes to start your own company in one of the world’s coffee capitals.

Tell us a bit about yourselves. How did you find yourself starting a cold brew coffee company?

Sandows London is Luke Suddards (25) and Hugh Duffie (22) and we became best mates working together at TAP Coffee, where we’ve been for the last few years. (Luke 3.5 years, Hugh 1.5 years) We’ve been fortunate …

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You Won’t Believe What This Guy Did With a Moka Pot

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Moka PotIf you asked us a couple months ago, we would have told you that it’s impossible to make a good cup of coffee with a moka pot. Although this stovetop espresso maker is seemingly ubiquitous across the European continent, our only experience with moka pots have been bitter, acrid, and unenjoyable. But then we stumbled upon this video from Kávékalmár on James Hoffmann’s blog. To summarize, we haven’t questioned our coffee presuppositions so much since we watched Matt Perger’s 2013 WBC routine. After watching this video we feel like we need to add a moka pot to our brew arsenal, not to mention some thermocouples!


Photo from Creative Commons.

Could These Slayer Espresso Machines Be Any Cooler?

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Slayer Espresso Machines

We’ve been in love with Slayer for some time. Our first post at The Compass featured Sunergos Coffee’s downtown espresso-focused concept shop, which boasts the first Slayer ever installed in Kentucky. Photographer Brian Moats’s snapshots of Barista Parlor’s machine made us feel strangely patriotic (perhaps because Slayer espresso machines are designed and built in the USA). And Slayer’s recently released single group machine had us wishing the limit on our credit card was slightly higher. Given our long time crush, we couldn’t be anymore giddy to welcome Slayer to our growing list of sponsors. To commemorate this momentous occasion (for us anyway), we’ve curated a list of our favorite customized Slayer espresso machines….

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Jesse Harriott to Start Copper Horse Coffee in Ithaca

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Copper Horse Coffee

Jesse Harriott is no stranger to long-time readers of The Coffee Compass. Jesse’s curriculum vitae reads like a greatest hits record: award winning coffee roaster, co-founder of America’s Best Coffee House Competition, and the fist person to ever represent Kentucky in a barista competition. In addition to being a specialty coffee mentor of ours, Jesse has conducted several interviews for the Compass, including with World Barista Champion Pete Licata. Now Jesse can add “founder of Copper Horse Coffee Roastery” to that list.

copper horse coffee

When I first heard that Jesse was leaving Sunergos Coffee to help start a new roastery in his native Ithaca, New York, I was ecstatic. Anyone who has met Jesse can testify to his skill and passion for roasting coffee. The sad reality that our close-knit coffee community in Louisville is losing one of its pillars has yet to set in, but anyone with Jesse’s giftings deserves to be at the helm of their own project.

The good news is that you can be one of the first people to try coffee roasted by Copper Horse by backing them on Kickstarter. I’ve got my eye on that Brazil Cup of Excellence winning coffee from producer Fazenda Recreio. Regardless, upstate New York should be excited to have another fantastic coffee roaster in the area.

You Have to See Mission Coffee’s Cold Brew Bike

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Mission Cold Brew BikeIt’s iced coffee season. And even though cold brew is a breeze to make at home, there’s nothing quite like tapping into a keg. If only everyone was as lucky as residents of Columbus, Ohio, which is home to Mission Coffee Co.’s Cold Brew Bike. The popular Short North cafe recently launched their pedal-powered cold brew cart, which features two taps, wooden siding, and super classy old-timey lettering….

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