Breakfast Breakout with Matt Riddle
Event Review By Erini Shields (erinichristine.com)
When you think of coffee, what comes to mind? The bold fragrance, the rich color, the fact that it’s the only way you survive the day?
Matt Riddle and the rest of the folk at Intelligentsia are challenging you to change the way you think about coffee. During AIGA’s Design Week they invited others to join them on a tour of their Chicago roasting facility for two Breakfast Breakout sessions. The facility is maybe what you’d expect – only the equipment they need, open racks, concrete and steel, and the overwhelmingly enticing aroma of roasting coffee (which is torture for someone who’s been told they can’t have caffeine).
They roast an average of 8-10,000 pounds of coffee daily, only producing what is needed for the day. When you order from Intelligentsia, they roast, bag, label, and ship it the next day – constantly checking the quality through a method called “cupping”, where they brew small cups and check everything from the acidity, color, aroma, and flavor. But it doesn’t stop there. In fact, 70% of the factors contributing to the quality of the coffee happen at the origin. You could easily say it is this fact that has driven Intelligentsia to push consumer education and industry transparency.
They don’t seek out product that’s got the right label or certifications, but rather they ask a lot of their farmers. It goes a step further than what we know with fair trade, in what they call direct trade. They want to insure that their suppliers use responsible and sustainable methods, as well as making sure the workers are paid a fair and living wage.
They also want a high quality harvest. Coffee is a seasonal product, which is why you won’t see the same roasts offered all year from Intelligentsia. It’s also a plant that does best when hand-picked, insuring only the ripe cherries are harvested. This means that the farms used by Intelligentsia dedicate a lot of their time to harvesting and re-harvesting plants, only taking what is ready.
There is a lot of human involvement in every step of coffee production, a fact we don’t often think about. It’s part of Matt Riddle’s job as Creative Director for Intelligentsia to bring out the stories of the farms and famers. Through their print campaigns and website, and even down to the labels, nothing is overlooked. They’ve created infographics showing the steps the coffee takes just to get to your cup. Where many in the coffee industry end their efforts at the bag, Intelligentsia again goes further.
In their coffee shops, they’ve removed the mechanical brewers. Coffee is now hand brewed in Chemex (pronounced “chem-ex”) carafes. They’re removing the barriers between their customers and the baristas. This not only allows people to see that they can do this at home, but is bringing an artisan culture to the coffee industry.
As Matt will tell you, being a barista and working in coffee is definitely a viable career path. It’s constantly evolving. “Where do we go now? I don’t really know,” Matt said. They’re constantly looking for new ways to create, new ways to educate. In the past they’ve even collaborated with craft breweries like Three Floyds and Goose Island.
“We’re always looking up, looking to expand.”
Win a HOW Conference Pass
One pass for the InHOWse Conference ($1295 value,
InHOWseConference.com) will be awarded at the Breakfast Breakout event with Matt Riddle on Wednesday, June 8.
Event Overview
During Chicago Design Week, everyone has the chance to be a morning person. Two Breakfast Breakout sessions will give you a high-octane jumpstart to your Monday and Wednesday—and what venue could be more suitable than Intelligentsia?
Developed in response to our members’ areas of interest, the sessions will offer both continued education and valuable exposure to a variety of professional practices. Each breakout will begin with a 30-minute tour of Intelligentsia’s roasting facilities, followed by a local speaker addressing a topic with an intimate and dynamic group discussion. All the while, our host baristas will be busy brewing drinks for attendees, helping keep the energy high.
Please note that hats are required on the tour. So unless you’d care to greet the day with your peers while wearing a hairnet, you might consider bringing headgear of your choice.
About Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is a Designer, Web Developer and IT manager for Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago. He graduated from Indiana University's BFA program in 2002 with a specialization in Photography. With over 12 years in the coffee business, he brings a unique perspective to both the design and the technical needs of Intelligentsia. When not designing, he enjoys cycling, rock climbing and spending time with his wife and dogs.
Topic Description
What are the design challenges and triumphs of a Chicago coffee icon? Matt Riddle knows, and he’ll spill the beans with a behind-the-scenes look at Intelligentsia’s in-house design department.
Location: Intelligentsia is accessible by the Grand and Damen buses and the Green line stop at Ashland/Lake. Plenty of free street parking is available. The building is on the Northeast corner of West Fulton & Wolcott streets.
AIGA Chicago would like to thank members and volunteer event chairs Kara Kotwas and Gregg Bochat for planning our Breakfast Breakout series.
This event is sponsored by Intelligentsia.
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