You know that moment when traffic just... stops? No crash or orange cones. No rogue shopping cart rolling across three lanes, only a wall of brake lights stretching to the horizon like some kind of automotive punishment for sins you cannot remember committing.
Scientists call it a "phantom traffic jam." Sounds made up, right? Like something a traffic engineer invented to avoid blame. But the research is actually fascinating. It only takes one driver reacting a half-second too slow to create a ripple effect that backs up traffic for miles behind them. One tiny delay. One small lapse in attention. And suddenly three hundred people are late for work, cold sandwiches, and questionable life decisions.
The culprit, more often than not, is someone who is simply not paying attention. Tired. Foggy. Running on fumes and three hours of sleep. The kind of person who probably skipped their morning coffee or worse, went with decaf.
Coffee is not just a morning ritual or a personality trait. It might actually be holding the infrastructure of modern society together. Every smooth merge, every properly timed lane change, every driver who notices the light turned green before the person behind them leans on the horn, fueled by a decent cup.
Coffee deserves more credit. Way more. And the people who grow it, roast it, and pour it into something worth drinking deserve an audience that actually appreciates the craft behind it.
That is exactly what the Black Coffee Please Newsletter is built for. It is a whimsical, no-nonsense look at coffee culture, the roasters doing things right, and the places worth visiting for a proper cup.
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Roaster Notes:
Spent Grounds Coffee Roasters (https://spentgroundscoffeeroasters.ca/ )
Surrey, BC
In their own words: “Our first foray into the coffee industry happened in April of 2016 when we opened a green bean business online. After a steep learning curve and a lot of research, we decided to open a roastery/tasting bar in South Surrey. Specialty coffee shops open quite frequently in downtown Vancouver but there aren't many options outside of the city. Spent Grounds is a response to the growing suburban population, a population hungry for good coffee and good food!
There are many coffee chains but not many focusing on the quality of the beans and the experience of taking the time to have a coffee. We focus solely (at this time) on hand-crafted, hand-poured coffee that is freshly roasted weekly in our facility. The art of socialization and a slow pour is lost at most major chains that churn out coffee so we decided to create an environment conducive to talking, chilling out and enjoying the crafting of a cup of coffee.”
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Keep the rubber side down
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