Just a couple weeks ago I was talking about how much I love a good cup of coffee. And although my previous post was mainly about how crack-alicious Blue Bottle coffee was, I also mentioned that at home we are avid drinkers of Stumptown coffee. Now let me be the first to say that the number one reason why we drink Stumptown is for the taste and strength, which is near perfect, but it also helps that it’s an independently run, small batch, fair trade coffee roaster… which may no longer be the case. I first read about this in Gothamist, but the news comes from Todd Carmichael’s food blog at Esquire magazine that, without listing actual details, says that Duane Sorenson, founder of Stumptown, has sold his entire entity to the highest bidder. There are even subtle suggestions that Stumptown may now be owned by Vitamin Water, which you should know, is owned by Coca-Cola.
Remember this terrible attempt at caffeine delivery??
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If this in fact is the case, then I would be willing to guess that the quality of these coffees will be dramatically reduced over the next year or so and we will be looking for a new coffee once again. Green Mountain is a good example of a good roasting company that went corporate and now makes coffee that tastes like shit. It’s like finding out that the McCarren Park Farmer’s Market was bought out by Monsato (which is wasn’t!) And I was just reading yesterday in the New York Times Magazine that Stumptown was coming out with bottled cold brew coffee, which looks yummy with bonus points for it not using plastic bottles. Actually, the “stubbies” are retro chic and I can see myself chugging one of these on my way to work.
So, anyways, this is only day one of this big java news that will grow online very quickly, which will make those involved have to speak up and get to the bottom of this cup of controversy. Is Todd Carmichael a slandering douche? Is Duane Sorenson really that greedy that he’s sell out his company to Coke? You may not care, but I do. In a world where corporate takeover is like a fucking plague out to destroy every little bit of individuality left in the world, this should be concerning to you, too. In the meantime, I will continue to cold brew my Stumptown coffee beans using my trusty Toddy Brewing System (below). If you’re not familiar with cold brewing, no hot water is used, therefore 70% of the acid from the beans is no released into the coffee, making it a much mellower, yet still just as strong cup of joe.
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