BREWERS
Meet the DiGi-Cat Brewers!
Find their presentations bordered with the red glitter background!
Arielle Rebekah Gordon
(she/they)
Arielle Rebekah Gordon is a transgender activist, writer & coffee professional. Though her love for an impeccably brewed cup of coffee is strong, her passion for fostering genuine human connection using coffee as a medium is even stronger. She dreams of a world in which producers are paid a thriving wage, baristas are treated equitably, and consumers understand the love evident in those first 90 feet.
I'm super stoked for this competition! For the past few years, being a Glitter Cat has been one of those "maybe one day, when I'm not so busy!" fantasies. I never felt like I could justify taking the time off work to invest in myself. Being unemployed + having the competition be fully digital made the decision to apply EASY, and jeez, I sure am stoked that I got in!
I've worked in coffee for six years, and my favorite memory was a cupping that I held at my apartment with some coffee pals shortly after moving to NYC. I was often the host of events for my friends, and I had invited a bunch of them over to cup some coffees I'd purchased. It was the first time that I had really built a community of coffee people, and it was so refreshing to nerd out about it with people I love, in the comfort of my own home. I often find myself extremely overwhelmed at big community events, so it was really lovely to be able to host something like this. Though COVID has made it tough to have a repeat of this day, I one day hope to be able to invite Chicago coffee people to my home to do something similar.
Lana White
(
she/her)
I'm the person who dances ridiculously through the aisles of the grocery store. Pre-COVID I was cool and played in a band. Now I spend much of my time tending to my plants, watching anime and k-dramas, and making fiber art. One of my favorite memories in coffee is of when I got to make drinks for all the members of Warpaint and even got invited to their show after! I love that coffee allows me to connect with and meet soo many different people.
Neichelle Guidry
(she/her)
My name is Neichelle Guidry, and I'm a faith leader, a womanist scholar-practitioner, and a lifelong coffee lover. I am passionate about my family, and have committed my life to eradicating racial and gender injustice. When I was growing up, my parents filled our lives with great music. As a result, I am an avid playlist creator. When I turned 33, my two best friends and I traveled to Ethiopia to celebrate my birthday and to observe the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Timket. While we were there, we received the gift of many bunna ceremonies, where we learned about the deeply ancestral and spiritual aspects of preparing and sharing coffee. I was coffee drunk for most of the trip! This is certainly one of my most cherished coffee memories. I'm excited to experience this Glitter Cat chapter of my ever-unfolding coffee journey!
Niki Tolch
(she/her)
Niki Tolch is a quiet human that likes to observe more than she likes to talk. You may be able to get her rambling if you manage to land on a topic she’s thought way too much about.
Niki has enjoyed working in a diverse range of roles and industries that have taught her a lot about people. She’s managed marketing at Harley-Davidson; worked on the logistics of a $6 billion web project with a couple of billionaires; run human resources at a nonprofit providing legal aid to domestic abuse victims; travelled to schools to teach young girls to foster the power and inner beauty that we all have; been interviewed and rejected for numerous web developer roles; worked with a couple handfuls of coffee shops to learn differing perspectives on coffee. Meeting so many people in different demographics and roles has taught her something—they could all use a good cup of coffee.
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My favorite coffee memory is my first. My grandmother made me my first cuppa when I was quite young. It consisted of 10% coffee, 40% milk and 50% sugar. So good. I still think of my grandmother when I walk into a cozy place that is saturated with the smell of coffee, or when I sit down to enjoy a hot cup at home.
Bud Taliaferro
(they/them)
Bud Taliaferro is a trans + non-binary indigenous coffee worker in Austin, Texas. They have been working in coffee since 2014 and involved in coffee competitions since 2017. Bud is currently the President of Austin Coffee Collective and a previous project manager for Glitter Cat's Business Accountability Project (now Anti-racism Hospitality Overhaul).
Their favorite coffee memories are always the ones that include others - whether that be gathering at shift change to share an espresso with their coworkers, or when they were introduced to Burundian coffee for the first time. Their most stand out coffee memory is from 2020, sitting on their aunt's porch in rural Idaho in mid-March (right at the beginning of quarantine.) Their whole family was bundled up outside just enjoying the 40 degree morning, coffee and smokes in hand, and even though the world was crashing around them, for those 30 minutes everything felt like it would be okay.
Ryan Bui
(he/him)
My name is Ryan Van Bui. I am 20 years old and currently live in Seattle, WA. My favorite activities are reading, cooking, playing the saxophone, and spending quality time with my friends. I have been in the coffee industry for almost four years and plan to stay for life. My favorite brew method is the Hario V60 and my favorite coffee growing origins are Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. My absolute favorite memory in coffee is when my friend, Ben, came over and we brewed an Onyx Colombia La Palma Natural Gesha (2019) on the V60. After the first sip, I was literally in tears over the amazing flavor and tactile we were able to achieve. As a Glitter Cat DiGiTiTiON Brewer's competitor, I really hope to meet and connect with my fellow coffee professionals and learn what it means to be a Glitter Cat!