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Sandra Loofbourow
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Sandra Loofbourow

Sandra Elisa Loofbourow is the Tasting Room Director at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room. Her experience working as a Spanish/English Interpreter, working in kitchens, and teaching Argentine Tango all influence and inform her approach to coffee. Sandra has been a barista, roaster, and green buyer for several companies in the Bay Area. She's a certified Q Grader, and at Royal she does brew experimentation, coffee analysis, and creates inventive drinks. She'll be heading up the Tasting Room at the Crown in Uptown Oakland, serving fascinating coffees and delicious education to consumers and professionals alike.

Articles by Sandra Loofbourow

  • purchasing wholesale green coffee beans

    Managing Green Inventory Part III: Inventory Management Pro Tips

    Editor’s Note: Managing inventory onsite or in a warehouse is a crucial part of operations in a roastery, and the tighter the protocols the better. Weekly meetings, physical bag count, monitoring consumption, and staying connected with your trader are all essential parts of successful green coffee inventory management. When procedures are clear and followed to […]
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  • Understanding Extraction

    Understanding Extraction

    What really happens during extraction? There are some things we know, and some things that are still a little muddled. This week I did a few experiments in hopes of tightening up our understanding of how extraction works. What we know about extraction: We know that water is an excellent solvent. Water is sometimes called […]

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  • cut sugarcane

    How Does Adding Sugar Affect the Taste of Coffee?

    Sugar is not a common topic of conversation in specialty coffee – at least, not in the ‘one lump or two?’ sense. While focusing on how to improve the taste and quality of our product, we’ve forgotten that the vast majority of coffee consumers take their coffee with cream and sugar. Without the support of […]

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  • Royal Coffee Oakland Warehouse

    Managing Green Inventory Part I: Physical Inventory

    Editor’s Note: Managing inventory onsite or in a warehouse is a crucial part of operations in a roastery, and the tighter the protocols the better. Weekly meetings, physical bag count, monitoring consumption, and staying connected with your trader are all essential parts of successful green coffee inventory management. When procedures are clear and followed to […]

    Read now
  • making shrubs

    Shrubs and Switchels: North American Heritage

    If you’re a cocktail connoisseur, you may have noticed a trend developing among your mixologist friends. The food and beverage industry has been steadily returning to the use of locally produced ingredients and preparing everything in-house. Of course, eating locally and seasonally was once the only option, but it’s an art (and necessity) that fell […]

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  • beautiful mountain shot of Loja, Ecuador

    Ecuador Coffee Picks: Juan Peña Presents

    This year Royal is partnering with CafExporto to bring some of the best coffees from Ecuador. It’s headed up by Juan Peña, a well-regarded producer from Loja in Ecuador who has won three consecutive Sprudgies for “Notable Producer”.
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  • dosing coffee in a small glass

    Bolivian Specialty Coffee Auction 2021

    Taza Presidencial 2021  When:   This Friday, the auction for the 7th annual Taza Presidencial in Bolivia is taking place. It’s a virtual auction that opens Wednesday, Dec 8th with pre-bidding before wrapping up Friday morning with 10-minute bidding windows for each coffee.   History:   Taza Presidencial began in 2015 as part of a governmental effort to promote the specialty coffee of […]
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  • Coffee Leaves, Caranavi Los Yungas Bolivi

    Specialty Coffee in Bolivia: The Growth of an Industry

    Editor’s note: This article was first published in Roast Magazine’s Sep/Oct 2021 issue, and is reprinted here with permission. Author’s note: I remember the first time I talked to Felix Chambi of Cooperativa San Juan. It was a fall afternoon late in 2019; we had been texting back and forth and he decided to call. […]
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  • DSC01899

    The New Wave of Bolivian Coffee

    The New Wave of Bolivian Coffee  Bolivia’s story with coffee is unique and still unfolding. This year, Royal has contracted coffees from this origin for the first time in over a decade.    A new generation of coffee farmers dedicated to producing high-quality coffee are taking the stage in Bolivia. For the first time in the country’s […]
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  • IMG_3145

    Ghost Pepper Mint Mocha — Assume Nothing! A Year of Recipes

    “Assume Nothing!” A mantra for The Crown as we worked towards opening our doors in March of 2019, the phrase became a Menu section, encouraging our visitors to drop their preconceptions and be open to new and delicious experiences. And now it’s the title of a recipe series, for you to recreate at home. Here’s […]
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  • gfa3

    Good Food Awards 2019

    This was my first year as Co-Chair for the Good Food Awards, hosted by the Good Food Foundation which exists “to celebrate, connect, empower, and leverage the passionate and engaged, yet often overlooked, players in the food system who are driving towards tasty, authentic, and responsible food in order to humanize and reform our American […]
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