Colby Barr and Ryan O'Donovan received the Star Chefs Rising Stars Award at AT&T park on Thursday, June 14. Verve is the first coffee roaster ever to win the honor, and they were featured alongside some of the best restaurants in the bay area. Also winning from Santa Cruz: David Kinch and Stephanie Prida of Manresa. Check out the write up here. (PDF Version)

StarChefs came to the Bay Area this year to announce their picks for the rising stars in the food and drink industry. Verve was their choice coffee roaster and Inside Scoop SF did a write up on it here. (PDF Version available here)

 Sprudge did a great article on the 2013 Good Food Awards and featured a speech by our Owner and Green-Buyer, Colby Barr. You can check out the speech, finalists, and other coverage here! (PDF Version available here) 

We were fortunate to be a part of Cuesa's coffee and sustainability panel at the Ferry Building on January 21st.  Verve co-owner and green buyer, Colby Barr, was a panelist.  He talked in depth about direct trade, sustainability, and incentivizing quality, and the importance of each of these things at Verve.  Check out the article below.

A Complex Cup 

At the farmers market, you can meet the farmer who grew your carrots, talk to them about their growing practices, and feel confident that your food dollars are going directly to the farm. But the path coffee travels from farm to cup is much more mysterious. How can you feel good about the businesses you’re supporting with your coffee dollars and ensure that farmers thousands of miles away are receiving their fair share?  Read more...

Download the PDF Version

   We were greatly honored to have two winners at this year’s Good Food Awards with our Elida Green-Tip Gesha and Birhanu from Ethiopia. These two coffees were chosen from an entry field of over 1300 products and represent the best of what our industry has to offer. The Elida received special mention as the highest scoring coffee overall. (PDF Press Release available here)

 Food Republic ranks Verve Coffee Roasters as one of their favorite craft roasters of the year. Check it out here! (PDF version available here)

We had the pleasure of doing a training session with New York Times reporter Matt Richtel.  He wrote a great article showcasing the complexities of coffee preparation and how with a few key items you can make great coffee at home! The article is in The New York Times - Dining & Wine section, or you can download the PDF version. 

Design Bureau did a write up on our beautiful Pacific Avenue location! Touching on the great architecture by Fuse and how important it is to the experience when you buy a high quality cup of coffee. See the PDF version here.

Back in February, Fresh Cup Magazine wrote a great article about Verve.  Here's a link to the PDF version. 

Verve is one of the 8 businesses selected by Architectural Record to receive the annual 'Good Design is Good Business' Award.  The print edition will be available in May, but here's the link to the online announcement (Architectural Record Announcement), and you can read the article here (Architectural Record Article).

From Architectural Record:

'Now in its fifteenth year, the Architectural Record Good Design is Good Business Awards celebrate architecture as a vehicle to enhance a company’s bottom line. This year, the editorial jury is honoring eight outstanding facilities—and the architect/client collaborations responsible for them—that prioritize quality-of-life, community outreach, and sustainability to achieve their goals. The winners will be showcased in the May issue of RECORD.'

See the PDF version here.

See the Architectural Record online version here.

Having the SWRBC right here in Santa Cruz was everything we hoped it would be.  We have an amazing town and community, and everyone at the event seemed to really enjoy being here.  A huge thanks to all of the Santa Cruz community for helping us pull this off.  The Santa Cruz Sentinel provided non-stop coverage on the event, and they put this piece out this morning.  Thanks again to the Sentinel for all the help in making this a successful event!

LA Weekly wraps up the SWRBC with an article about the finalists for both the Brewer's Cup and Barista Competition this weekend.  We are so proud of our wholesale partners who made it to the Brewer's Cup finals!  Amazing work out there Fix Coffee, Single Origin, and Bellano!

Edible Monterey, a print publication that covers the local foodie scene, wrote an article about Verve in their recent edition.  If you are in the area, feel free to stop into one of our cafes and pick up a free print version.  If not, here's a link to the online article: Edible Monterey.

Noah Sanders just wrote a piece in the SF Weekly talking about decaf coffee.  He explains how coffee is decaffeinated, and why decaffeinated coffees have historically had such a bad name.  Colby had the opportunity to weigh in with some insightful thoughts on how we'll likely be seeing the quality of decaf coffee improve pretty dramatically.