Issue 19: Walls, noses, and coffee

This issue contains: long-form features on Commune of Buttons (Australia); Naboso (Slovakia); Trossen (Germany); and Maloof Wines (Oregon). As well, it holds an essay on natural wine culture in the U.S.; the stories behind June Bar; Loup Bar; and Lane Harlan's hospitality work in Baltimore; a personal essay by Julia Sherman about making natural verjus in California; an interview with comedian/winemaker Eric Wareheim; and city guides to Los Angeles and Paris. 

Journal du Thé (JdT) invites the reader to explore contemporary tea culture. Created and edited by Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck and Tilmann S. Wendelstein in 2018, Journal du Thé wonders what is it that makes tea into this force which lets us slow down and grants serene moments to our lives. It is said, that what makes a teapot a teapot is the empty space inside. Likewise this publication sets out to explore space – in this case the space surrounding a cup of tea. With a curious and playful eye, Journal du Thé investigates the palette of cultures and feelings contained within tea practices and their power to overcome borders. For us, tea is a symbol of togetherness.
 
 

Chapter 3 explores everyday tea culture in India, visits craftspeople in Japan, England and elsewhere while musing about the concept of scale. Chapter 3 features among others the potter Steve Harrison, tiny teaware in Alsace, France, the Kakuun-tei teahouse in the heart of Tokyo forest, Kettl Tea in New York, a short introduction to Einstein’s Tea Leaf Paradox, a collection of endlessly surprising teapots from Kochi in India, the metal craftswoman Yumi Nakamura, a teapot in the shape of a peacock, an Indian tearoom in 1920s Germany and its relation to the Bauhaus, the delicate Japanese confectionary of Okashimaru, a piece on Mingei theory and Oriental Orientalism, an essay on tea gardens in India and Japan, a recipe for a cup of Rama Tulsi, a piece on the meaning of tea in post-colonial Zimbabwe, Johanna Tagada’s paintings of women and tea, a list of books and what they have in common with the tea ceremony, the father of studio pottery in India Gurcharan Singh, Mai-Thu Perret’s giant walk-in teapot, Louise Garland introducing the holy Kawakawa plant of New Zealand, Satish Kumar and his inspiring peace walk,Taiwanese potter Ia-Wen Li, and of course another instalment of Izumi Shiokawa’s manga. 

With contributions by Yoshiko Imaizumi, Cécile Sayuri Poimboeuf-Koizumi, Chipo
 Mapondera, Izumi Shiokawa, Kohei Yamamoto, Anuradha Ravindranath, Yashima Ide, Yasmine Ganley, Sarah Gissinger, Anouk Peeters, Ilona Tuominen, Malwine Stauss, The Bauhaus Archive Berlin, The Collection of Musée Alsacien Strasbourg, Charlotte Desborough, Jyoti Naoki Eri, René Rötheli, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Eléonore Grignon, Marco Tsai, Tilmann S. Wendelstein and Johanna Tagada.
 

Designed by T. S. Wendelstein / 75W

Published by Poetic Pastel Press

128 pages

All texts in English 

Advertising-free 

Format: 21 x 28 cm 

FSC certified paper 

Soft cover

Printed in Germany, Spring 2020

eighty degrees will have you discover the beautiful and rich culture of tea.

This time, we venture into Vietnam to re-discover the ancient art of making Snow Shan — a tradition strong enough to rival some big tea names across the border.

Fuchsia Dunlop, the renowned food researcher, culinary expert, and sinophile, tells us about her experience with tea in the context of food in the land of plenty.

We look at various tea habits in Europe and sail across the oceans to learn about the violent history between Britain and China resulting in the Opium Wars.

The city of Chengdu will reveal its secrets about the origins of its old tea houses and how they are preserving their status in society.

We will drink our way through the Russian Revolution, stroll through colourful Bangkok and end up in the Shire Highlands of Malawi.

All this and much more on 144 pages of beautiful, uncoated paper.

Kombucha, Kefir & Natural Sodas

A Simple Guide for Creating Your Own

By Nina Lausecker & Sebastian Landaeus

Making thirst-quenchingly healthy kombucha, kefir, and natural sparkling sodas at home is easier than you probably think. This book breaks the process down step-by-step.

This simple and stunningly photographed book explains the basics of brewing your own kombucha, kefir, and natural soda – right from your very own home. Truly, this book couldn’t arrive in your life at a better time. At this crucial moment of consumer awareness, many of us are starting to make better and more informed choices about what we eat and drink – and we’re given plenty more choice than in the years gone by. The fridges of all supermarkets and corner stores are now laden with healthier options which challenge the classic selection of commercialised, sugar-filled soft drinks of our youth.

Today you’ll find anywhere a whole range of naturally low-sugar, fermented alternatives such as kombucha, switchel, and kefir – all healthy, gut-friendly drink options. These thirst-quenchers might seem too complicated to consider making yourself – but in fact, fermented drinks are much easier to create at home than you might think. That’s the thing about fermentation… You just bottle it up and wait.

This book contains forty easy-to-create drinks that will not just save you money, but will make you feel great too! Recipes in the book include kefir, kombucha, grapefruit soda, cider, switchel, and mead. You’ll be a (mocktail) mixologist in no time!

Issue 18: Critique, Therapy and Toilets

Issue 18 introduces an exciting new content structure that takes as its thematic centre a long-form essay ‘On Coffee and Criticism’ by the incredible Noa Berger—a social scientist working on coffee consumption.

The idea of critique, in its many forms, guides our newest release. From pieces that explore the role criticism plays in our everyday lives and how we can turn it into constructive fuel for improvement, to a critical exploration of how we define ‘premium’ in paying farmers a decent price for their work, to how Modernist writers Virginia Woolf and T. S. Eliot used coffee as a literary device to explore the fabric of consciousness.

Ready to take a critical look at coffee? How about criticism itself? Get your copy of Standart issue 18 now.

In February 2020, released Issue 5, which features 96 pages of original journalism about natural wines alongside photography and artwork, with a special guest designer!

Standart issue 16, as ever, treats a varied subject matter through engaging articles, essays, interviews, and artwork. In this issue, we delve as never before into some of the more pressing topics facing our industry.

In our ‘Coffee’ chapter, we continue our series comparing coffee and tea—this time the brewing methods of each, and look at a historically massive producer of tea that is moving into high-quality coffee production, Sri Lanka. It’s often easy to forget that given all the coffee we make, there necessarily exists a lot of coffee waste in the form of grounds; we take a look at how we might best make use of them. Finally, we round out the chapter with an essay on responses to the price crisis, and the baristas lending their voices to a thus far rather marginalized topic.

Our ‘People’ chapter, in which we explore the talented people that make up our industry, is stacked with great stories, including an interview with Canadian Barista Champion Cole Torode, a word or two from two of our favourite baristas as they take us through their daily routines, an article by Ashley Rodriguez exploring freelance life, asking questions, and the experiences that made her who she is today, and much, much more.

In our ‘World’ chapter, we take a look at some of the traditions that make up the experience of drinking coffee in the Balkans, then skip over to Austin, Texas for a reflection on exactly what conspired to make the city the coffee mecca it is today. To round it out, we are then treated to a rich and delicately wrought rumination on a recent origin trip to the land of gesha.

Introducing Drift: Bali.

Drift, Volume 9 takes a multi-faceted look at the coffee culture of Bali. Once a hideaway haunt for yogis and surfers, this tropical destination in the world’s largest archipelago nation has become a hotspot for a wide range of visitors, from coffee purveyors to nomadic techies and itinerant bon vivants. And the new global trade winds they bring to the Indonesian island offer fresh perspectives on its cash crop coffee, as well as an increasingly international sense of style. A burgeoning third wave of coffee has narrowed the proximity between coffee farmer and consumer in Bali, presenting new opportunities for collaboration and education—what one author posits as the fourth wave of coffee. But it also presents challenges, as the Balinese, steeped in local tradition and religious beliefs, are confronted with foreign money and interests. Drift Volume 9 examines these relationships, while taking readers all over the island to explore the temples and beans of the Kintanami highlands, to the highly designed coffee shops of Canggu and Ubud.

Drift, Bali includes:

• How the Balinese take their coffee—with everything from durian to egg yolks

• Photo essay of local baristas and their personal interests

• The influence of digital nomads and other expats on the coffee culture of Bali

• Explainer of “fourth wave coffee” and Indonesia's Coffee Wheel

• How coffee shops in Bali are doing their part to alleviate the island’s waste crisis

• Balinese religion and how they need to be in balance with both gods and devils

• And much more..

Beer Snacks
Tasty bites from around the world

By Oscar Smith

It was a certain character from The Simpsons who once said: “Homer no function beer well without.ˮ The same applies to their accompanying snacks.

This cookbook is a celebration of the very best accompaniments to the very best beverage. Beer is enjoyed the world over, and wherever beer is imbibed, there’s usually some kind of deliciously salty snack to go with it. From the smaller snack fare like moreish Malaysian ikan bilis and Japanese otsumami to more substantial drinking food like spicy buffalo wings and currywurst, Beer Snacks brings you the world’s best of what to eat, while you drink.

More of the international recipes in Beer Snacks include: Edamame (Japan), Boiled peanuts (USA), Chicharrón (Mexico), Pimientos de Padrón (Spain), Pickled onions (UK), Biltong (South Africa), Jalapeño poppers (USA), Masala peanuts (India), Salted egg French Fries (Thailand), Oysters Kilpatrick (Ireland), Buffalo wings (USA), Pretzels and beer cheese (Germany), Tsukune (Japan), Adobo Chicken Wings (The Phillippines) and (last, but most cheesily) Poutine (Canada).

Stories in Issue 3 highlight Loire Valley winemaker François Saint-Lô; the Burgenland’s Claus Preisinger; an in-depth story on cult French winemaker Daniel Sage; political and travel essays; an interview with Southold Farm + Cellar after their first vintage in Texas; and so much more (we can’t give it all away!). The articles are accompanied by original, professional photography and artwork.

Our latest issue is ram-packed with articles, essays, interviews, and artwork addressing subjects of significant and lasting import for the future of coffee.

In our ‘Coffee’ chapter, we begin an exciting new series from Gwilym Davies looking at coffee myths—both true and untrue—and how they play into our conception of coffee. Implicit bias is a hot topic right now; read how far its tendrils permeate the coffee world by investigating its implications for the cupping table. Consider China as a behemoth rising specialty producer through the eyes of an insider, and, finally, sink your teeth into a statistical study of the effects of weather on coffee yields in Hawaii.

Our ‘People’ chapter, in which we explore the talented people that make up our industry, trying to get to know them beyond just coffee, is positively bursting. We travelled to London to interview Paul Ross, wholesale manager at Kiss the Hippo and 2019 UK Barista Champion, about competition, running, and Scrabble; we had our good friend and founder of This Side Up, Lennart Clerkx, write a delicately wrought and powerful piece on the moments and experiences that have informed his professional choices and business practices; an academic takes a hard look at some of the troubling representations of producers that still abound in specialty coffee marketing; and, to round out the chapter, we look at how milk was first introduced to coffee, what it meant, and what it still means.

In our ‘World’ chapter, an anthropologist reconsiders the site of her book research amidst its changing coffee culture, a writer muses on the phenomenon of origin travel after having visited Panamanian coffee farms for the first time, a coffee geek guides us through Tel-Aviv’s coffee scene, and the unique history that led to what it is today, and finally, we interview an experimental psychologist and anglican priest about the meaning of our mortality, moral quandaries, human universals, and speaking about death in coffee shops, sometimes with cupcakes.