Madison Café Barista Jamie Oliver visits Perugia. By Jamie Oliver - I took a week off of work in August for a road-trip around Iceland with a friend. Once I started looking into flights from Iceland to Italy, I decided to extend my stay to pursue my love of Naples and the one-of-a-kind pizza they make. I have visited Italy before, so I knew that I needed that pizza! After some research and talking with my co-workers at Caffè Umbria, I was convinced to check out the roots of our company in Perugia. I took the bus from Rome to...

On August 7th, 2018, eight teams of three baristas competed for the grand prize at this brand new, ferociously fast barista battle organized by La Marzocco and hosted at our Armitage Café. The energy and excitement were through the roof! Our all-star barista team – Tony, Mackenzie, Cassie – used their mad skills and laser-like focus to calmly crush some of the best barista teams in the industry: Colectivo, Starbucks Reserve, Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Madcap Coffee and La Colombe. Each team was given the same list of 8 drinks to make – the drinks needed to be made perfectly in the...

Our cafés are now serving Rishi Tea Matcha Lattes. This green, powdered tea, dating back to the 10th century, has been taking the world by storm just in the last few years. Matcha was first introduced as a medical aide, but shortly after was consumed for enjoyment. Unlike brewed tea, you are actually consuming the tea leaves when drinking Matcha. Made from stone ground green tea leaves, matcha is a mood-enhancing drink that is full of antioxidants and, of course, caffeine. Traditionally, Matcha is scooped into a bowl and whisked with hot water to create a foamy texture. Using the...

Negroni Week 2018 is June 4 - June 10, 2018. Given our Italian roots, we love Campari at Caffè Umbria in all its beautiful, tasty iterations, so we were very excited when given the opportunity to create a coffee blend for Negroni Week! It was a bit of a challenge to create a coffee that captures the essence and taste of this iconic and familiar cocktail – bitter, sweet, herbaceous and citrusy. We chose the Mexico for the bitter-sweet taste and the Kenya for its citrusy aroma. We roasted the coffee medium-light to bring out the full potential of those flavors, resulting in...

The Cupping Room Collection are unique limited production coffees personally selected by our roasting team. The Kenya Windrush is shade grown under Eucalyptus and Gravellier trees in rich red volcanic soil between Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Range. Once picked, the coffee is processed on site using the traditional washed method, which produces a higher acidy, clarity and consistency in the cup. Windrush Estate cultivates only SL28 and SL34 varietals, which are highly prized due to intense flavor. These varietals were carefully selected by a research organization in the 1930’s because of their ability to flourish in the harsh climate...