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Mold Inside a Specialty Bean: How Concerned Should You Be?

Mold Inside a Specialty Bean: How Concerned Should You Be?

There’s something brewing in the world of specialty coffee that’s both alarming and oddly fascinating: the discovery of internal mold in a bean that should have been pristine. You’ve probably seen the photos—tiny worms tunneling through the bean, leaving behind a fuzzy, greenish residue. The bean itself looks fine on the outside, but the damage is done. For coffee lovers, this raises a pressing question: is this a rare flaw, a sign of poor quality, or a red flag for safety? The truth is, internal mold in specialty beans is extremely rare—but not impossible. Specialty roasters typically source beans from…
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Why the Paper Filter in Your Moka Pot is Sabotaging Your Coffee

Why the Paper Filter in Your Moka Pot is Sabotaging Your Coffee

Pour yourself a cup for this one: If you’re chasing a cleaner cup from your Moka pot, adding a paper filter might be the wrong move. A Reddit user’s experiment—brewing eight cups in one morning with varying grind sizes—reveals a stark truth: paper filters strip flavor, amplify acidity, and leave you with a cup that feels like a compromise. The setup? A Bialetti 2-cup Porlex mini II grinder, set to 750μm for coarse grinds, paired with dark roasts that dominate their palate. The goal? To test whether a paper filter could elevate the Moka pot’s output. The result? A bitter,…
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Reviving Fair Trade: A Coffee Entrepreneur’s Quest to Redefine the Supply Chain

Reviving Fair Trade: A Coffee Entrepreneur’s Quest to Redefine the Supply Chain

This is worth savoring: A month in Africa’s coffee heartlands revealed a stark truth—small farmers are getting less than 10% of the retail price. The same inequity echoes in South and Central America, where language, culture, and geography make operations more feasible but ethics remain unaddressed. My mission? To build a processing plant and export brand that pays farmers a living wage. I’m not the first to dream this, but I’m determined to turn the tide. The coffee world is built on a broken pyramid. Farmers, who bear the labor and risk, often earn less than a day’s wage for…
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The Day I Tasted Coffee Like a Symphony

The Day I Tasted Coffee Like a Symphony

Real talk: The moment I realized coffee wasn’t just a morning habit. For years, I treated it like a grocery-store commodity—any bag that didn’t burn my tongue was fine. Then a friend handed me a cup that tasted like berries, chocolate, and sunshine. It wasn’t flavored; it was just fresh. That cup rewired my brain. Coffee, I learned, could be a conversation. A story. A sensory experience. What made that cup different? Freshness. The beans hadn’t been sitting in a warehouse for months. They’d been roasted in small batches, each one a delicate balance of heat and time. The aroma…
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How to Cut To-Go Waste Without Breaking the Bank (Real Examples Inside)

How to Cut To-Go Waste Without Breaking the Bank (Real Examples Inside)

Here’s what you need to know: Small coffee shops are stuck between a rock and a hard place—compostable cups are better than plastic, but they still pile up. What if there was a way to slash waste without draining your budget or complicating your operations? The answer lies in customer participation, not just corporate greenwashing. Across the country, cafes are testing deposit systems for reusable jars, glass bottles, and mugs—proving that reducing to-go waste is possible without turning your counter into a logistics nightmare. The key isn’t forcing customers to change habits but creating frictionless incentives. Take the “payback” model:…
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Why Artificially Flavored Coffee Is a Culinary Cop-Out

Why Artificially Flavored Coffee Is a Culinary Cop-Out

Get ready to sip on this: the next time you reach for that caramel-flavored bag, ask yourself—what’s the real flavor here? Artificially flavored coffee isn’t a shortcut; it’s a compromise that masks poor quality and perpetuates a broken system. The rise of lab-made flavors in the 1960s was born out of necessity—when coffee bean prices skyrocketed, companies resorted to spraying low-grade beans with synthetic oils to mimic premium notes. But this wasn’t about taste—it was about economics. The result? A legacy of cheap, chemically enhanced coffee that’s now stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. Flavored coffee is almost always low-grade.…
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The Pacific’s Secret Coffee Brews: From PNG to Hawaii

The Pacific’s Secret Coffee Brews: From PNG to Hawaii

The Pacific isn’t just a vast expanse of blue—it’s a coffee frontier. While we obsess over Ethiopian heirlooms and Colombian sunsets, the Pacific’s hidden gems—Papua New Guinea, Java, Sumatra, and Hawaii—remain underappreciated. These islands, shaped by colonial history and volcanic soil, produce coffees that defy expectations. Let’s unravel their stories. Papua New Guinea’s coffee is a tale of colonial ambition and resilience. British and German colonists introduced coffee in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t until Jamaican Blue Mountain seeds arrived in the 1920s that the industry took root. Today, two worlds collide: large estates offer consistent, if unremarkable, quality,…
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Mexico & Central America’s Coffee Chronicles: From Oaxaca to Panama

Mexico & Central America’s Coffee Chronicles: From Oaxaca to Panama

Real talk: Coffee’s journey from bean to cup is as rich as its flavors. This isn’t just about taste—it’s about history, geography, and the people who’ve shaped the world’s most beloved brew. Mexico and Central America are powerhouses of coffee diversity, blending tradition, innovation, and terroir into every cup. Let’s cut through the noise and focus on what makes these regions stand out. Mexico’s coffee story began in the late 1700s, imported from Cuba and the Dominican Republic. By 1802, it was exporting commercially, and today, states like Oaxaca and Chiapas dominate production. These regions, with their volcanic soil and…
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Discover the Bright and Complex Flavors of Light Roast Coffee Beans

Discover the Bright and Complex Flavors of Light Roast Coffee Beans

Step into the world of light roast coffee beans—the vibrant, up-and-coming brew that's captivating coffee enthusiasts everywhere. If you've been reaching for your usual dark roast bag without giving the lighter option a second glance, it's time to reconsider. Here's what makes light roast coffee so special and how to find the perfect beans for your palate. Why Light Roast Coffee Is a Game Changer Light roast coffee is roasted for less time than medium or dark roast varieties, resulting in a lighter body, brighter acidity, and a kaleidoscope of complex flavors. Craft roasters are embracing this method to bring…
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Discover the Perfect Medium Roast Coffee: A Guide to Choosing Your Favorites

Discover the Perfect Medium Roast Coffee: A Guide to Choosing Your Favorites

Are you a fan of coffee but find yourself often overwhelmed by the multitude of roasts available? Look no further! Medium roast coffee is a popular choice for many, striking the perfect balance between light and dark roasts. But with so many brands on the market, how do you select coffees that truly delight your palate? In this guide, we'll help you understand why medium roast coffee is loved, and provide insights on choosing the best beans for you. Medium roast coffee offers a harmonious blend of flavors that cater to a wide range of taste preferences. These beans are…
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