These are the words, images, and beers that inspired the GBH Collective this week. Drinking alone just got better, because now you're drinking with all of us.
READ.// “It looked to him somewhat like a computer mouse or a piece of obsidian. Certainly, it was not a glassy, limpid diamond from a fairy tale. It would not photograph well. But the raw fact of the discovery was urgent. It was seventeen hundred and sixty carats, unwashed—about twelve and a half ounces, the weight of a can of soup.” This New Yorker story about the diamond industry is as darkly glittering, and profoundly captivating, as its subject matter.
LOOK.// Between Brexit, the U.S. election, and coronavirus, social media is a particularly noxious place to be these days. That’s why @colorpalette.cinema is such a worthy Instagram follow. The account breaks down the color palettes of key shots across a wide variety of films, and scrolling through them actually makes my brain feel good for a change.
DRINK.// Pilsner Urquell Tank Beer
Not once, but twice in the last week, I was privileged to drink Pilsner Urquell’s Tank Beer—that is, a variant of the Pilsner that’s unpasteurized and served straight from the copper tank via side-pull tap. The first was at Alberts Schloss in Manchester; the second was at Duck and Rice in London. Both were perfectly poured, with a several-inch-thick head of foam, and both reminded me why Pilsner Urquell was the beer that changed my mind about Lager four-odd years back.
READ.// "The coast was rugged with cliffs, and you heard the boom of breaking waves before you saw them below, the sound of eternity. In the distance, a naked child ran across a spit of sand so golden against a sea so blue that it looked digitally retouched." Kapka Kassabova's "Border" is a weird, slow, deep and sometimes mesmerizing travelogue about the place where Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey meet. It's taking me a while to get through it, but I'm enjoying every sentence.
LOOK.// For some of us, Ray Newman is best known for his beer writing, but he is a truly compelling photographer with a great eye for Brutalist architecture, street scenes and the unexpected. His ghostly "Bristol Without Cars" project illustrates how, for better or worse, the automobile has shaped the way we live.
DRINK.// Pivovar Herold's Czech Black Lager
People in the States keep asking me about Polotmavé Pivo and Tmavé Pivo and how to brew them. Sometimes they write to ask if these beers really exist. This Tmavé from Central Bohemia's Pivovar Herold is a bit roastier and more bitter than many, but it's also the one I keep in the fridge most regularly: almost Stout-like in flavor, complex and layered but still completely gulpable.
READ.// “While the coffee retail industry used to be more like so-called pink-collar fields such as nursing and teaching, efforts to make espresso slinging more professional have led to a masculinization of the workforce.” I was at the United States Barista Championships this week in Orange County, and while there has been a ton of change in the industry, the fact still remains: the coffee industry is very white, male, and cisgender, in particular at the elite level. It was exciting to revisit this article from 2013 by Lisa Knisley, who summed up the challenges of the coffee world better than anyone had—and I’d argue still has. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a lot to do.
LOOK.// When I tell people I was at a coffee competition, I don’t think they even know what to picture in their heads. Good thing the U.S. Coffee Championships Instagram exists—now you can see what I’m blabbering about.
DRINK.// Nico N°2 at Hopper & Burr
I’m gonna say it: coffee shops don’t make enough signature drinks. If I’m a regular at a shop, I want my classics. If I’m visiting a coffee shop, I want something exciting, and Hopper & Burr in Santa Ana did not disappoint. Truman Severson has created a small and simple space that hits everything I want in a destination shop, and if you recognize Truman’s name, it’s because he was one of the four featured baristas in the movie about coffee competitions. The Nico N°2 features concentrated coffee, a butter and cinnamon emulsion, and orange oils—and it is perfect. Bonus: I even saw a barista I trained years ago (hi Aaron!).
Curated by The GBH Collective
