It’s morning in Antigua, a gorgeous old city in the central highlands of Guatemala. To either side of you stand colorful buildings inspired by Spanish Baroque architecture. The entire city is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Gazing down the cobblestone streets you see the one of the twin peaks of the volcano Acatenango rising majestically above the clouds. (The volcanic soil from past eruptions is one of the factors that makes that cup of Guatemalan coffee in your hand so tasty.) Guatemala is more than just colorful old buildings, stunning views, and great coffee though. It’s a cou ..read more

Welcome to the world of Pour Over Coffee! If you like delicious coffee, you’re in the right place. First, what is pour over? Pour-over brew methods are known as a manual brewers. It operates similarly to a drip coffee maker but allows the user to be a hands-on home barista. Simply put, pour-over coffee brewing allow you to control the coffee-making process from start to finish, resulting in a great cup of coffee. Much like a drip coffee maker, hot water travels through the coffee grounds, and coffee is extracted into the container below. Drip coffee pots are automated, but pour-over coffee ..read more

Coffee lovers are always trying different ways to brew in hopes of finding a new favorite method. Any coffee enthusiast is likely to have a number of exciting brewing methods in their rotation, from Turkish brew to French press⁠ — all in search of the perfect cup of joe. Pour-over coffee has been around for over a century but has recently regained popularity. This hands on style of brewing has the ability to bring out the full range of flavorful notes from speciality coffee, making pour-over a highly favored brewing method. If you’re curious about pour-over or are searching for ..read more

Fragrant seeds crackle in oil. Sputtering rickshaws squeeze through dense crowds. Bengal tigers stalk the Himalayan foothills, and ribbons of cloudy mist swirl over Darjeeling’s vast green terraced tea plantations. You’ve arrived in India, the world’s most populous democracy, a spiritual center ruled by the color, chaos, and connection of its people. Aromatics draw you into the maze-like bazaars of Mumbai, bursting with saree silk and mango leaves, coconuts and chaat. You trace a spidery network of lagoons in the backwaters of Kerala, past roaming wild elephants and woven houseboats. On the hi ..read more

If you’re a big coffee drinker, you’ve likely become more interested in what goes on behind the scenes (behind the beans?), AND you’ve probably come across a company or two… or seven… advertising their coffee as Shade Grown and/or Bird Friendly. This could have led to some questions… “Are other coffees unfriendly to birds?” “Is there sun-grown coffee?” Or maybe you don’t even like birds, so you immediately moved on. Regardless, as coffee has grown into a specialty business, many certifications and buzz words have surfaced concerning the quality of coffee. Two of these terms go hand in hand ..read more

Let’s take a trip down memory lane  to your first cup of coffee. Maybe you were 30 or maybe you were 12! Chances are, that very first taste of coffee didn’t stem from a single origin, specialty grade coffee bean. The tasting notes were… coffee. And the smell was… coffee. But still, every morning the thought of having it might be one of the only things to get you poppin’ out of bed. Maybe you remember the smell of your family’s drip coffee maker hard at work. Each drop of grocery store ‘midnight roast’ seemed to get darker and darker and eventually you have a scalding hot cup of opaque bla ..read more

Coffee lovers are always trying different ways to brew in hopes of finding a new favorite method. Any coffee enthusiast is likely to have a number of exciting brewing methods in their rotation, from Turkish brew to French press⁠ — all in search of the perfect cup of joe. Pour-over coffee has been around for over a century but has recently regained popularity. This hands on style of brewing has the ability to bring out the full range of flavorful notes from speciality coffee, making pour-over a highly favored brewing method. If you’re curious about pour-over or are searching for ..read more

Sure, you know to throw out rancid, old coffee, but are the java beans in your kitchen actually fresh coffee? Before you pour your next cup of coffee, keep these details in mind to make sure you’re drinking the freshest, best tasting brew. Let’s begin by answering these questions: Does coffee go bad? Does coffee expire like some items in your kitchen do? The answer is no, coffee does not actually go bad, and a “bad” cup of coffee won’t make you sick. But, if coffee grounds or beans get wet, then yes, they can’t be reused and need to be tossed. Coffee is a dry, packaged food and like ..read more

We call it “making coffee” for a reason. When you have a bag of coffee beans, all you really have are the raw ingredients. It’s up to you to finish what Mother Nature and farmers have started, and the method you use to do that will fundamentally change the way your coffee turns out. The problem? There are different ways of making coffee, and each one produces different results. Do you know which brewing method is best for lighter, fruitier flavors and which method makes the least flavorful coffee? What’s the best water temperature for optimal coffee? What’s the best grind for the aeropress? Le ..read more

There are so many reasons you might reach for decaf coffee—and in many ways, decaf coffee is just like the regular coffee you know and love. It’s made from the same beans as caffeinated coffee, and when processed and roasted properly, it tastes just as amazing. Once it arrives in your kitchen, decaf coffee can be ground and brewed in the same manner as your normal morning cup of joe, and that unmistakable aroma is virtually identical. That being said, decaf has a story that is entirely its own. Read on to get all your decaf questions answer and learn the fascinating origin and scientific evolu ..read more