#wce clover

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

"i think its quite beautiful how consistent my "frogspawn" is, like it was meticulously designed, but still so much chaos. something kinda funny i thought about is for everyone else making any impactful choice in a way doesnt even matter since you will create a universe where you will do the opposite of whatever you decided to do. But since im the only one of me in my multiverse i actually can do things that will actually effect things, since i cant spawn new branches no matter what i do. -spiral

Clover: maybe it was meticulously designed! It would make sense, with how specifically you’re describing it works, and your unique-ness inside of it. Maybe I’ll run across your writer one day. Maybe I already have

[michaelfallcon]

Chris Tellez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

Photo by Daniel Smith

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty Interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty.

Nominated by Priscilla Fisher 

Chris Tellez is a coffee professional and entrepreneur based in Ontario, where he serves as a regional sales representative for Phil & Sebastian Coffee and owns and operates Show & Tell Coffee. A career professional, Tellez has been competing in the Canadian barista competition circuit for more than a decade. His work came to international attention in 2019 for a protest routine on the Canadian Barista Championship stage, calling out an official World Coffee Events rule disallowing the use of alternative milk. Tellez’ routine was timed to the launch of a petition formally requesting WCE reconsider the rule.

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

I’ve spent the last several years focusing on personal wellness and its role in the coffee industry. We are largely a customer-facing, service-oriented business, and being in that position requires creating an emotionally, physically, and spiritually stable foundation. I think there is a serious problem of burnout in our industry, which leads many, many people to end up leaving the customer-facing positions, or the industry altogether. I see very little being done to cultivate all-around health within organizations and I think this is a huge area where we can improve.

I should also mention that currently I am putting a lot of effort behind trying to change rule 2.2.2 in the World Baristas Championships, which indicates that competitors must use cow’s milk for the espresso and milk course. As a vegan, and someone with sustainability in mind, I really feel like this is a regressive rule and it is definitely time that we work towards updating it to reflect the current culture in the industry, where more and more plants milks are being enjoyed, at a fraction of the ecological footprint of dairy milks.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

I think the driving force for myself in coffee is creating accessible spaces to learn about coffee. At the cafe level, we work really hard in our spaces to create an environment where everyone can ask questions and learn at their own pace without feeling alienated. But on a broader level, I really love to work with new coffee professionals, to get them thinking about coffee in new and unique ways, and to try and learn from their experiences so that I can better understand where people are coming from when they start to pursue coffee. It makes it a lot more exciting for me and it allows me to connect with people on a more honest level, which is the most motivating thing I can think of.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

Lately, my mind has been on green coffee quality and the issues we are facing in getting quality roasted coffee, due to green issues. We get sent tons of samples, and so, so often the coffee tastes past crop. When I taste age on a coffee, it no longer feels like specialty coffee to me. When we get into the end of the winter months, and everyone’s coffee is starting to taste its age, there are only a few roasters really doing anything to combat this. It’s something that has inspired us to create a pretty hard-line on the coffees we will be bringing in, and that in the future we simply cannot accept old coffees. I really look forward to more roasteries addressing this in a sustainable way.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

Coffee gives us the opportunity to connect with a plant every time we drink it. I have a great respect for the power of plants and the medicine they hold. Coffee has been known for a very, very long time to be a powerful and potent medicine, and I think our ritual of roasting and brewing the seed builds a very direct relationship with the plant, something most of us lack in our day to day lives. In addition to having a career in coffee, I am also in the final stages of finishing school to become an herbalist, and I like to see coffee making as a daily practice in connecting to the plant world.

Did you experience a “god shot” or life-changing moment of coffee revelation early in your career?

Probably not dissimilar to a lot of people, but I remember in 2007 going to a coffee shop and being served an “Aricha” Ethiopian Clover coffee. You probably could have assumed it was 2007 because I said Aricha and Clover. Anyways, it was the first cup of coffee I paid a lot of money for, and it was the first time I tasted something that was entirely outside of my preconceptions of coffee. It was a blueberry bomb, no subtlety, no nuance, no elegance, just big, loud, and full of blueberries… and roast. Definitely opened my eyes up to the idea that there was something else going on, and led me to pursue working with a roaster, which helped me explore these things.

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

I don’t know if I’m interpreting this question properly but I think “coffee happiness” to me is just being served a really well-made, fresh coffee from a barista who genuinely cares about providing a good experience. I get to travel a fair bit for my work and I go to a lot of cafes. When I meet a barista who clearly has the intention of making something special out of the experience, I get really stoked. That’s what I try and do as much as possible in my cafes and what I really try to encourage staff to think about. It also really helps when the coffee tastes amazing. I’m a sucker for a really well made batch brew.

If you could have any job in the coffee industry, what would it be and why?

This is such an awesome question, and I think my answer actually has a few caveats. Firstly, I kind of have exactly the job I want now; I run a couple cafes (along with my business partners) and I do wholesale management for Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters. It’s a really cool blend of work that gives me a lot of opportunity to build personal connections, which is what I care most about. But if I wasn’t doing this, I think I would really like to create a role within a large coffee company that focuses on blending elements of HR and community engagement. Acting as a voice for both the baristas and/or roasting staff to help maintain a healthy internal community, while bridging the gap between what the company is trying to achieve and the outside community’s role. I would also foresee some kind of overall “Wellness” attribute to it.

Who are your coffee heroes?

Oh man, I have a pretty long list of the people who have inspired me. As a competitor I was always so, so inspired by Colin Harmon. Watching his sets just made me so excited, because I could see a little bit of how I liked to perform in him, just on a whole other level. I would also put Ben Put into that category. No one in my competitive life has set a better example than him. Outside of competition, I have to say Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb. Every day I see the phenomenal amount of dedication they put into what they do and I am so deeply humbled and inspired. The things they do at origin, the way they approach problems like green quality, and their excitement surrounding roasting is just such a good reminder of why I care about coffee.

On a more personal level, every one of my staff members inspires me, though we have worked hard to try and promote female coffee professionals within our organization, which was something that my very first coffee job was really good about recognizing and set the tone for me. Having strong female voices in the mix just feels so natural and so so important, and gives me a much better understanding of the industry as a whole, so they are definitely my heroes.

If you could drink coffee with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

So, he’s more of a tea drinker, but it would have to be Ram Dass, my spiritual teacher. He is the person who taught me how to live in my heart, helped bring me out of the depths of my depression, eating disorder and self-harming thoughts, and really just opened my eyes to so much of the beauty in the world. Without him I couldn’t be the person in coffee I am now, so a coffee date would be a pretty big experience. We did have a Skype date once, but I don’t think I had a coffee with me.

If you didn’t get bit by the coffee bug, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

I might be working on a vegetable farm in some strange corner of the world, living in a van near a climbing crag, or likely working in the health industry. I studied nutrition, and am finishing up my schooling in herbalism, so I suppose that would probably be somewhere in there too!

Do you have any coffee mentors?

The Phil & Sebastian team for sure, I think the Cat & Cloud team really has helped me better understand my own vision for managing a team, and I wouldn’t be anywhere without my bosses at my first cafe, Mark and Christene at Espresso Post in my home town.

What do you wish someone would’ve told you when you were first starting out in coffee?

I was 16 so, there was a whole lot of lessons I needed to learn, but I think the biggest one would be to just stay quiet and curious. I had a lot of self-esteem issues and I really only knew how to play those off by faking confidence. I think this got in the way of some of my learning early on, especially when I took my first serious coffee job after high school. It led to certain assumptions about me that I don’t think were very accurate and I probably could have avoided some of that. Regardless, it helped me grow into who I am now, so I’m thankful for that.

Name three coffee apparatuses you’d take into space with you.

I guess a scale wouldn’t be much good, hey? So maybe like, a cup with a lid, some freeze-dried coffee, and a straw?

Best song to brew coffee to:

At the risk of sounding way too Canadian: “Big League” by Tom Cochrane. I used it in my comp playlist this year and I was pretty happy with it.

Look into the crystal ball—where do you see yourself in 20 years?

I have a kind of grandiose plan. I would like to create a network to provide people within the coffee industry access to health services that are normally outside of their financial means. Things like nutrition, personal training, meditation, talk therapy, etc. We work in an industry that really doesn’t do a great job of promoting a healthy lifestyle, and I think we need to start changing that. In 20 years I would love to be operating a space which acts as an almost wellness centre to provide that to our industry. And of course, there would be a cafe involved too.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

A ton of berries and some almonds. Pretty standard!

When did you last drink coffee?

Literally right now… it’s happening.

What is it?

La Magdalena #1 from Colonna Coffee. It’s a Colombian coffee comprised of a bunch of microlots from Tarqui, Huila. It’s a total slugger, insanely delicious and a very perfect morning coffee.

Thank you.

The Sprudge Twenty is presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. 

The post Chris Tellez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview appeared first on Sprudge.

Chris Tellez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

[shebreathesslowly]

Chris Tellez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview

Photo by Daniel Smith

Welcome to The Sprudge Twenty Interviews presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty.

Nominated by Priscilla Fisher 

Chris Tellez is a coffee professional and entrepreneur based in Ontario, where he serves as a regional sales representative for Phil & Sebastian Coffee and owns and operates Show & Tell Coffee. A career professional, Tellez has been competing in the Canadian barista competition circuit for more than a decade. His work came to international attention in 2019 for a protest routine on the Canadian Barista Championship stage, calling out an official World Coffee Events rule disallowing the use of alternative milk. Tellez’ routine was timed to the launch of a petition formally requesting WCE reconsider the rule.

What issue in coffee do you care about most?

I’ve spent the last several years focusing on personal wellness and its role in the coffee industry. We are largely a customer-facing, service-oriented business, and being in that position requires creating an emotionally, physically, and spiritually stable foundation. I think there is a serious problem of burnout in our industry, which leads many, many people to end up leaving the customer-facing positions, or the industry altogether. I see very little being done to cultivate all-around health within organizations and I think this is a huge area where we can improve.

I should also mention that currently I am putting a lot of effort behind trying to change rule 2.2.2 in the World Baristas Championships, which indicates that competitors must use cow’s milk for the espresso and milk course. As a vegan, and someone with sustainability in mind, I really feel like this is a regressive rule and it is definitely time that we work towards updating it to reflect the current culture in the industry, where more and more plants milks are being enjoyed, at a fraction of the ecological footprint of dairy milks.

What cause or element in coffee drives you?

I think the driving force for myself in coffee is creating accessible spaces to learn about coffee. At the cafe level, we work really hard in our spaces to create an environment where everyone can ask questions and learn at their own pace without feeling alienated. But on a broader level, I really love to work with new coffee professionals, to get them thinking about coffee in new and unique ways, and to try and learn from their experiences so that I can better understand where people are coming from when they start to pursue coffee. It makes it a lot more exciting for me and it allows me to connect with people on a more honest level, which is the most motivating thing I can think of.

What issue in coffee do you think is critically overlooked?

Lately, my mind has been on green coffee quality and the issues we are facing in getting quality roasted coffee, due to green issues. We get sent tons of samples, and so, so often the coffee tastes past crop. When I taste age on a coffee, it no longer feels like specialty coffee to me. When we get into the end of the winter months, and everyone’s coffee is starting to taste its age, there are only a few roasters really doing anything to combat this. It’s something that has inspired us to create a pretty hard-line on the coffees we will be bringing in, and that in the future we simply cannot accept old coffees. I really look forward to more roasteries addressing this in a sustainable way.

What is the quality you like best about coffee?

Coffee gives us the opportunity to connect with a plant every time we drink it. I have a great respect for the power of plants and the medicine they hold. Coffee has been known for a very, very long time to be a powerful and potent medicine, and I think our ritual of roasting and brewing the seed builds a very direct relationship with the plant, something most of us lack in our day to day lives. In addition to having a career in coffee, I am also in the final stages of finishing school to become an herbalist, and I like to see coffee making as a daily practice in connecting to the plant world.

Did you experience a “god shot” or life-changing moment of coffee revelation early in your career?

Probably not dissimilar to a lot of people, but I remember in 2007 going to a coffee shop and being served an “Aricha” Ethiopian Clover coffee. You probably could have assumed it was 2007 because I said Aricha and Clover. Anyways, it was the first cup of coffee I paid a lot of money for, and it was the first time I tasted something that was entirely outside of my preconceptions of coffee. It was a blueberry bomb, no subtlety, no nuance, no elegance, just big, loud, and full of blueberries… and roast. Definitely opened my eyes up to the idea that there was something else going on, and led me to pursue working with a roaster, which helped me explore these things.

What is your idea of coffee happiness?

I don’t know if I’m interpreting this question properly but I think “coffee happiness” to me is just being served a really well-made, fresh coffee from a barista who genuinely cares about providing a good experience. I get to travel a fair bit for my work and I go to a lot of cafes. When I meet a barista who clearly has the intention of making something special out of the experience, I get really stoked. That’s what I try and do as much as possible in my cafes and what I really try to encourage staff to think about. It also really helps when the coffee tastes amazing. I’m a sucker for a really well made batch brew.

If you could have any job in the coffee industry, what would it be and why?

This is such an awesome question, and I think my answer actually has a few caveats. Firstly, I kind of have exactly the job I want now; I run a couple cafes (along with my business partners) and I do wholesale management for Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters. It’s a really cool blend of work that gives me a lot of opportunity to build personal connections, which is what I care most about. But if I wasn’t doing this, I think I would really like to create a role within a large coffee company that focuses on blending elements of HR and community engagement. Acting as a voice for both the baristas and/or roasting staff to help maintain a healthy internal community, while bridging the gap between what the company is trying to achieve and the outside community’s role. I would also foresee some kind of overall “Wellness” attribute to it.

Who are your coffee heroes?

Oh man, I have a pretty long list of the people who have inspired me. As a competitor I was always so, so inspired by Colin Harmon. Watching his sets just made me so excited, because I could see a little bit of how I liked to perform in him, just on a whole other level. I would also put Ben Put into that category. No one in my competitive life has set a better example than him. Outside of competition, I have to say Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb. Every day I see the phenomenal amount of dedication they put into what they do and I am so deeply humbled and inspired. The things they do at origin, the way they approach problems like green quality, and their excitement surrounding roasting is just such a good reminder of why I care about coffee.

On a more personal level, every one of my staff members inspires me, though we have worked hard to try and promote female coffee professionals within our organization, which was something that my very first coffee job was really good about recognizing and set the tone for me. Having strong female voices in the mix just feels so natural and so so important, and gives me a much better understanding of the industry as a whole, so they are definitely my heroes.

If you could drink coffee with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

So, he’s more of a tea drinker, but it would have to be Ram Dass, my spiritual teacher. He is the person who taught me how to live in my heart, helped bring me out of the depths of my depression, eating disorder and self-harming thoughts, and really just opened my eyes to so much of the beauty in the world. Without him I couldn’t be the person in coffee I am now, so a coffee date would be a pretty big experience. We did have a Skype date once, but I don’t think I had a coffee with me.

If you didn’t get bit by the coffee bug, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

I might be working on a vegetable farm in some strange corner of the world, living in a van near a climbing crag, or likely working in the health industry. I studied nutrition, and am finishing up my schooling in herbalism, so I suppose that would probably be somewhere in there too!

Do you have any coffee mentors?

The Phil & Sebastian team for sure, I think the Cat & Cloud team really has helped me better understand my own vision for managing a team, and I wouldn’t be anywhere without my bosses at my first cafe, Mark and Christene at Espresso Post in my home town.

What do you wish someone would’ve told you when you were first starting out in coffee?

I was 16 so, there was a whole lot of lessons I needed to learn, but I think the biggest one would be to just stay quiet and curious. I had a lot of self-esteem issues and I really only knew how to play those off by faking confidence. I think this got in the way of some of my learning early on, especially when I took my first serious coffee job after high school. It led to certain assumptions about me that I don’t think were very accurate and I probably could have avoided some of that. Regardless, it helped me grow into who I am now, so I’m thankful for that.

Name three coffee apparatuses you’d take into space with you.

I guess a scale wouldn’t be much good, hey? So maybe like, a cup with a lid, some freeze-dried coffee, and a straw?

Best song to brew coffee to:

At the risk of sounding way too Canadian: “Big League” by Tom Cochrane. I used it in my comp playlist this year and I was pretty happy with it.

Look into the crystal ball—where do you see yourself in 20 years?

I have a kind of grandiose plan. I would like to create a network to provide people within the coffee industry access to health services that are normally outside of their financial means. Things like nutrition, personal training, meditation, talk therapy, etc. We work in an industry that really doesn’t do a great job of promoting a healthy lifestyle, and I think we need to start changing that. In 20 years I would love to be operating a space which acts as an almost wellness centre to provide that to our industry. And of course, there would be a cafe involved too.

What’d you eat for breakfast this morning?

A ton of berries and some almonds. Pretty standard!

When did you last drink coffee?

Literally right now… it’s happening.

What is it?

La Magdalena #1 from Colonna Coffee. It’s a Colombian coffee comprised of a bunch of microlots from Tarqui, Huila. It’s a total slugger, insanely delicious and a very perfect morning coffee.

Thank you.

The Sprudge Twenty is presented by Pacific Barista Series. For a complete list of 2019 Sprudge Twenty honorees please visit sprudge.com/twenty

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. 

The post Chris Tellez: The Sprudge Twenty Interview appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://bit.ly/316YPnm

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

What Is a Writer Class Entity?

Clover: i DID coin the term after all :3

Clover: So it starts with a Creative- usually a writer or artist who most often writes in the fiction category, but not always. Through some multiversal mishap, they end up falling from the universe they were born in, into a universe they created through their writing or drawing

Clover: and in this control, we can have whatever abilities we want, and whatever body we want. I personally ADORE unlimited shapeshifting

Clover: though of course we're not all powerful. if we're in a universe we didnt make on our own too much tampering runs the risk of destroying that universe completely

Clover: we are chaotic, but personally i dont think you guys have anything to fear from us. our characters might, but not you all

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

Who is in the character bin, uh.. (reads the name on box) mod Clover?

Clover: I have made so many—

Clover: ah whoops—where’d my arm go—

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

What is this place? Why is it so empty?

Clover: I thought we weren't ready yet?

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

Clover: I wonder…

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

*a portal opens in the void, but not a normal portal a rift, a violent, forced tear in reality. outsteps a man in purple armor, hes whereing a black mask with a glowing purple spiral on it, and a there whereing a purple glowing coat over there armor* "so this is the writers room for reality? thought it would be more then, this"

Clover: reality doesnt really have one specific writer's room, many of em do but that's not the point

Clover: oh- and congrats on being the first anon here with some kind of face

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

"something quite interesting i figured out is if all universes in a multiverse are destroyed, then the prime universe will reset and be pruned like a tree, basically not able to create any divergences and it will become a singular universe, also any beings that somehow survive the reset will be put into the new universe, i tested this with a series of pocket dimensions i created, not entirely accurate but the results are still fascinating. You know im the only one of me in my multiverse?" -Spiral

Clover: that IS fascinating … I don’t think I’ve ever seen a frogspawn behave like that. MAYBE a few fragile spiderverses? But I don’t go there much because of how fragile they are

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

"something else thats funny is the way i travel universes isnt the most stable way, most universe hoping is through portals or teleportation that opens a gate way to another world, like walking through a door. While my rifts tear a hole in reality, like knocking out a peice of the wall, walking in, and then covering up the hole in the wall with duct tape. i actually figured out i can collapse realitys if i weaken them down enough at least in my multiverse" -spiral

Clover: interesting! Don’t try that here though. With how many WCEs we’ve got this place is probably like. Minecraft bedrock strong. Either that or it’ll collapse within the next few days

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

*he looks around* "huh, only new person here i recognize from my multiverse is the cat boy in the dress, ive kil- uh met like 12 of them there pretty annoying" -spiral

Clover: Maid? Oh maid is squarely in Based’s domain, that’s probably who your Writer is. Definitely met her.

And you can say you’ve killed ‘em. Im not gonna judge you. Tis how it be.

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

"i theorized the possibility of multiple multiverses of course but knowing there real is, really damn cool, my theory is every multiverse has a prime universe where all the divergence points stem from and depending on the strenth of the prime universe, the more often there will be a divergence point, the stronger the prime the more universes you get. he mine must be pretty week then" -spiral

Clover: I wouldn’t say yours is weak. Look into infinity, you’ll see infinite more of it! Every tiny fragment of a second infinite universes are made from nothing, infinite are destroyed, infinite split off. It’s a bit of a headache to look at— and think about too hard. people were not made to comprehend this stuff, haha.

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

"actually around my corner of reality the laws of the multiverse work a little differently, theres only 52 universes where im from all steming from the prime universe. instead of every single possible point of divergence creating a new universe its only the more importent ones, certain people influence the creation of new universes more then others. Oh and dimensions and universes are not interchangeable terms, dimensions are layers of a universe and theres typicly only around 7-8, while alternate universes are timeline divergences. again its probably very different around here but thats how it works where im from, Ive started writing a book on it" *spiral says excitedly enjoying his little info dump*

Clover: ah yea you’re definitely out of your multiverse then. I would agree, universes and dimensions are different! It’s very interesting the frogspawn you come from!!

Wait I should explain that should I— frogspawn is what I use to refer to like. Universes that are themselves multiverses! Cause when I visualize them they’re big clusters of bubbles— like frogspawn :]

But yea, it’s pretty different out here!

And a bit of a meta tip for the future, I’d sign off with your name that way we know for sure who you are. If you’re not clear things get kinda blurry

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

*the man nods* "your close actually, i go by spiral, i like hopping through different realitys but it seems my exploits have lead me either outside of my multiverse or just into a corner of it im not familiar with its nice to meet you"

Clover: ah sweet, almost got it. You might be outside if your multiverse— its infinite in every direction including out and in, but who knows? Not me :> nice to meet you too

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

Clover: besides, they’re used in for fun projects that we get no money from, the only people who would be upset about that would be people like Anne rice or something. That author who got REEEAL pissed about non-profit fanfic

Stolen?! U stole from others? Isn't that art theft or smth?

"Stolen" was used as a general term for using an already existing character/concept so much that the changes you made along the way turned it into its own separate thing.

That is not art theft. Art theft is using art/a piece of art via clipping, reuploading, or tracing (COUGH COUGH or ai usage- COUGH COUGH) and claiming it as your own.

Here we use the characters we've made and loved to have silly times and answer questions :]

- Doodles

[weirdcornerofthemultiverse]

Clover: ah sick it does work! Hell yeah