Muggswigz Barista Qualifies for United States Barista Competitions

   Sean Hreha, from Muggswigz Coffee and Tea Company, has qualified for the Qualifying United States Barista Championship located in Nashville, TN occurring January 12-13, 2019. Having competed in the recent Preliminary Barista Competition held at the downtown Canton Muggswigz earlier this month, Sean, who works as a Skilled barista at the Portage Lakes location, made it through to the top 6 barista competitors who move on to the next level of competitions. The end goal for these competitors is to be crowned the World Barista Champion at the World Barista Championships in Boston, MA, in 2019.

   Sean has been a barista since 2015 and has proven to be a knowledgeable and highly skilled barista for the company. He began his career at the downtown Canton Muggswigz, working both as a barista and a saucier. He then moved to the Portage Lakes location when it opened in February of 2017. No matter which store he has worked at, he helped to make guests’ experience a delicious and happy one. Over the years, Muggswigz has produced many award winning competition baristas. They don’t just train baristas for competitions, but for everyday work behind the coffee and tea bar.

New Retail Coffee Bags

As of late, you may have noticed a difference in our bags. We have recently switched our retail bags to a new style, one that is better for both the coffee beans and the coffee drinkers alike.

The bag construction was designed by Alex Haas, Muggswigz Founder and is the first bag in the industry to put a window on the bottom of the bag. The bottom window allows you to see the beans while preventing harmful light from shining in. The rest of the bags have a reflective silver finish and allow for more bag space for printing. There are instructions on brewing guidelines for your coffee beans printed on the back of the bags to help you to keep the beans fresher for longer, as well as advises buyers on how to to brew the coffee as they would receive it at our stores. There is a higher quality, one way valve on the back, allowing for gases from the fresh coffee to escape and for guests to be able to inhale the aromas of the whole beans inside, but not allowing in any harmful oxygen. The original labels from the previous style bags still remain as visuals for the coffee's taste and smells. The coffee roast dates are still printed on the front of the bags to inform guests of when the coffee was roasted.

Next time you are in one of the shops or are buying our coffee from our online store, check out the new bags!

Barista Competition

Muggswigz Coffee and Tea Co. will be hosting a national Preliminary Coffee Competition in partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association, Arts in Stark, and Visit Canton. Canton is one of only ten national locations to host this event. On August 11th & August 12th, 2018, Muggswigz, who has been Canton’s local coffee shop, roastery, and wholesaler, since 2003, will open its downtown Canton location doors to competitors from all over the country. Muggswigz will be hosting the SCA Barista Competition Preliminaries. During the Competition Muggswigz will be hosting its second annual ‘Celebrating the Craft’ community event, bringing artists and craftspeople from all over Ohio to Canton to showcase and sell their works. There will be live music provided and raffle baskets throughout the day. The event will be free for non-competitors and all are invited to attend and watch.

Muggswigz has competed in national competitions in years previous, earning them the title of ‘3rd Best Coffeehouse in America’ in 2013, along with Semi Finalist in ‘America’s Best Espresso’, “The Golden Cup Award”,  and many more. Alexander Haas has been both a competitor and a Judge in coffee competitions nationally and internationally so this Preliminary Competition is a long time coming. “We've been involved with the specialty coffee industry for so long and have always had to go out of the state or country to participate in Specialty Coffee Association competitions. It's great that we can now bring an event like this to Canton and stay home!” .  This will be the first Specialty Coffee Association event ever held in Ohio !

Competitor tickets and vendor registration is available by going to www.eventbrite.com. Please visit http://www.uscoffeechampionships.org/ for more details.

 

 

  CoffeeFest 2018

 We attended Coffee Fest in Baltimore, MD this past March. Coffee Fest is a well known coffee and tea trade show that is highly populated in the industry. They host national competitions, such as 'America's Best Espresso' (we were a semi-finalist!), 'America's Best Cold Brew', and the "world Latte Art Competition open'. The competitions use a head-to-head bracket system which makes the experience more exciting. Vendors are set up to showcase up and coming products.
     A trend in espresso, and coffee in general, was a lighter roasted brew, where the acidity was pronounced. The 'Cold Brew' final four had a variety of options to chose from, one of them being a brew that was set in the same room as tea, allowing the aroma [taste and smell] of the cold brew to take on the scents of tea although the drink was coffee. Many of the cold brews available had notes of berries and/or citrus fruits. There were several gluten free baked goods to try. There were many of granola/oat/nut/energy bars to sample. Workshops were held by professionals and attended by our competitors and staff concerning tea information, an open panel of coffee roasters, trends in consumers and specialty drinks, etc.  We also learned more about how the united States is now beginning to produce tea as there is a tea farm in South Carolina called, 'Charleston tea Plantation'; Here is the link:
www.charlestonteaplantation.com/

 

Local Honey

Honey is a staple in coffee shops; it sweetens tea and can be steamed or drizzled overtop of a specialty coffee beverage. Since 2004, one year after the company started, Muggswigz Coffee and Tea Company has been buying local honey. It's important to note that the company has not just been buying any honey, but made the choice to buy local honey indigenous to our area, on purpose. Alexander Haas, Muggswigz Artisan Barista and Founder stated, "There is a lot of 'honey' that is imported from china that is largely rice syrup and not actual honey. Buying local ensures more trust and transparency in the transaction, ensuring the quality and integrity of the product. Also being a beekeeper myself, I understand the importance of bees in our ecosystem so the more bees around my community the better!"

According to thehoneybeeconservatory.org, here are 5 reasons why buying local honey is beneficial:

1.) Keeps Beekeepers in business

2.)  It's good for our Agriculture: buying local honey from beekeepers allows for the bees to stay in the community and pollinate. Nearly 1/3 of the food we eat relies on pollination.

3.) Protect the environment: local honey doesn't have far to travel so the carbon footprint is reduced.

4.) Helps with Allergies: 'Anecdotal evidence' suggests that the honey ideally should be from miles from your home, ensuring that it has traces of the allergens and/or pollen spores that cause you trouble; similar to a vaccine effect.

5.) Safety: Some importers were selling honey that was mixed with sugar syrups and illegal antibiotics. With local honey, you avoid consuming honey that could be hazardous and you also avoid supporting those 'honey launderers.'