"With all the knowledge and technology out there, we can now train baristas in a matter of months what had taken me years to learn about coffee," Colin Harmon said to an audience at the Black Eagle Gravitech launch.

He's correct - how quickly we can stand upon the shoulders of giants! 

Anyone with a keen interest in coffee (and reading, right Anna Brones?) has the privilege of living at a time when reams of collected coffee knowledge have been made readily available online. It's become an easy way of keeping abreast of our changing industry, and one of my favourite ways of spending a quiet morning, cup in hand.

So, where to start?

I follow roughly 40+ different coffee blogs on my Feedly, but I'll whittle it down here to my top 11 essentials!

Latest Coffee News

Sprudge - The standard for all news coffee. 7 years of quality content headed by lifelong friends Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen. From new shop openings worldwide, think pieces from coffee experts, to fun Q&A columns - this is a one-stop shop of the latest and greatest. (Check out our interview with Jordan here.)

Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine - Founded by Connie Blumhardt 4 years ago, this publication specialises in more in-depth and technical pieces. Go here for origin studies, cultural changes across the globe, and roasting-focused developments.

CRS Coffeelands Blog - Michael Sheridan & team posts on-the-ground reports from the coffee belt, and has raised awareness for the social and environmental action desperately needed there. At times a dense read, and often a heart-wrenching one, his pieces speak truth to power about what it means to live at origin.

Barista Magazine Blog - Their monthly magazine is a joy in itself (and also available to read online), but their day-to-day news blog is worth a watch. It's more U.S.-centric, but their series on barista competitions lately has been an excellent read.

 

Personal Blogs of Coffee Greats

James Hoffmann's writing on coffee - You can barely stick a toe into the world of speciality coffee before hearing about James Hoffmann, author of The World Atlas of Coffee & CEO of Square Mile Coffee Roasters. Sometimes funny, mostly insightful and curious - he's a pleasure to read. (Check out his Tumblr for non-coffee stuff, too.)

Pax Coffea. Peter Giuliano's Coffee Blog - I love reading (and listening) to this guy. Scholarly, interesting; with a unique voice and writing style - I find his posts both academic and very approachable. More teachers like this in the world, please!

@nickcho - I love Nick Cho's unique blend of hilarity, non-bullshit, and coffee-focused passion in his posts, and we're all made a bit better because of it. His posts on Medium are great, too!

Prufrock Coffee Blog by Jem Challender - If you're looking to read about efficiency structures within a cafe, or are just curious about what goes on behind the scenes, this is worth picking up.

flyingthud : A blog by Stephen Morrissey - A friend and one of Dublin coffee's hometown heroes. I wish he wrote more, but when he does it's always worth the wait. 

 

Coffee Forum

Barista Hustle/The Slack - What started as Matt Perger's blogs on coffee/service betterment has exploded into a lively global community of coffee folks wanting to do more; better. 

 

Coffee Humour

I SAW BREW : Find That Specialty Someone - A coffee-centered parody of the I Saw You/Missed Connections personal ads. Excellent.

There are many out there, and I'm always looking out for more! I'd love to hear your favourites, too.

-Rashel