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
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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 -
History of Green Coffee Extract + Recipes - One of Coffee’s First Brew Methods
Editors note: A version of this article first appeared as a two-part series in Barista Magazine Online on September 15 and September 18, 2018. By Chris Kornman & Sandra Elisa Loofbourow Part I – Green Coffee Extract was the First Wave By Chris Kornman In Yemen’s port of Aden around the middle of the 15th […]Read now -
Understanding Extraction
Read nowWhat 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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How Does Adding Sugar Affect the Taste of Coffee?
Read nowSugar 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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Managing Green Inventory Part I: Physical Inventory
Read nowEditor’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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Shrubs and Switchels: North American Heritage
Read nowIf 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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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”.Read now -
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 […]Read now -
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. […]Read now -
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 […]Read now -
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 […]Read now -
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 […]Read now