Irving Farm Coffee Roasters The Loft in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.
New York’s Irving Farm Coffee Roasters is opening a new training and education facility, called The Loft, in Manhattan, just west of Union Square on the border of the Flatiron District and Chelsea.
The Irving Farm team is celebrating with a big party tomorrow night, May 28, from 6-9 p.m., that will include snacks and hors d’oeuvres from numerous local vendors, a coffee cocktail combining Irving Farm’s cascara with vodka from Industry City Distillery, and tours with Irving Farms’ Teresa von Fuchs (director of wholesale) and Daniel Streetman (green coffee buyer).
Irving Farm Coffee Roasters The Loft in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.
Once the party’s over, the Irving Farm team plans to get down to business, hosting a range of classes in multiple training labs and a cupping room, while repairing equipment in a large, attached shop.
“Our main programming areas are the two training labs which can open into one larger space via sliding glass walls, accommodating up to 20 people per class, and the Cupping Lab where we review sample roasts and new coffees,” Irving Farm’s John Summerour tells Daily Coffee News. “Our curriculum, led by Director of Education Joshua Littlefield, covers everything from intro to cupping and tasting to coffee brewing science to a four-hour barista fundamentals intensive.”
Irving Farm Coffee Roasters The Loft in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.
In addition to group classes, which range from $30 to $150, the roasting-and-retail company plans to offer one-on-one tutorials, as well as programming space for special events such as open barista jam sessions, where, as Summerour describes it, coffee professionals can “practice their craft in a controlled, customer-free environment.”
Filling the rooms inside the loft is a range of shiny new brewing and teaching equipment, including a Nuova Simonelli Aurelia; a La Marzocco Strada, Linea EE and GS/3; a Mahlkonig K30 grinder for espresso; a Mazzer Robur grinder for espresso; a Nuova Simonelli Clima-Pro Grinders; batch brewing equipment from Fetco and Curtis; a Colortrack laser refractometer and an infrared color-monitoring system in the cupping lab; and flatscreen monitors for lab presentations.
Irving Farm Coffee Roasters The Loft in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.
The Loft, designed by Jeremy Barbour of Brooklyn-based Tacklebox Architecture, is a noteworthy companion to The Farm, which is Irving Farm’s roasting facility 90 miles north of New York City in the Town of Millerton. The company is currently in the process of expanding its roasting operation in a nearby facility, with a potential opening date later this year.
Irving Farm Coffee Roasters The Loft in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Irving Farm Coffee Roasters.
Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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