Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/139019
FROM THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER Say hello to the latest chai player in the tea industry: Chai Diaries. The California-based company was founded by Ami Bhansali, the daughter of a tea planter, and it aims to connect consumers to a number of teas (both chai and other types) that are marketed with a youthful air and are available as loose leaf and in pyramid sachets. Currently, the line includes more than 40 different teas and blends. 562/801-9600. mychaidiaries.com CERTIFIED LEADER Teatulia Organic Teas, a brand that sources all its leaf from a company-owned garden in northern Bangladesh, announced that its plantation achieved Rainforest Alliance certification. It's the first tea garden in Bangladesh to pick up the label. "Being able to add the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal to our packaging is a great reminder to consumers of Teatulia's commitment to environmental stewardship and the well-being of farm workers," company co-founder Linda Appel Lipsius noted in a release. The company's U.S. operations are based in Denver. 303/433-2980. teatulia.com YOUR EQUIPMENT WILL THANK YOU Florida-based Holiday House Distributing has introduced a Homeland Water Filters line that aims to bring more options and user-friendliness to the filtration space. The line includes 14 different products (all made in the United States), and seven of them are designed with café operators in mind. Five fall into the company's coffee brewing and ice category and strive to reduce chlorine, unwanted taste and odor. Two other products, meanwhile, are espresso-machine-specific cartridges that help reduce the water hardness that can cause mineral buildup in equipment. 800/443-4318. hhdonline.com GET DIALED IN Newberg, Ore.-based roaster Caravan Coffee this month is holding a barista competition at its headquarters to introduce a new product line of lighter-roasted coffees and raise money for the Willamette Valley Cancer Foundation. The Barista Show-Down, scheduled for July 20, will bring a number of Northwest coffee pros together. Each will have 10 minutes to make three espressos and three cappuccinos that a panel of judges will then taste and score. The winner grabs a free two-and-a-half-day training session at the American Barista & Coffee School in Portland. 800/875-5282. caravancoffee. com/barista-show-down continued on page 62 freshcup.com July 2013 61