Last week’s coffee-centered gift guide will hopefully come in handy while you do your holiday shopping. But if you’re looking for more affordable gifts, I recommend buying something that every coffee lover really wants: coffee beans! A bag of beans from a third wave or local roaster is an excellent and relatively inexpensive gift—it makes for a great stocking stuffer too. Give the gift of delicious coffee this Winter and support roasters who strive to do right by their coffee farmers/suppliers. Here’s my list of this season’s best coffee to gift:   Boxcar Coffee – the Kenya Gatomboya... Read More

You don’t need a reason to celebrate with coffee but the holiday season is a great time to give the gift of coffee. Whether you’re shopping for the backpacker or the urban dweller in your life, my coffee gift guide has got you covered.   Camper’s Coffee Gift Guide: Stumptown’s Voyager Brew Kit is the perfect present for the coffee enthusiast who is also an outdoor adventurer. While pricey, it does come with a ton of supplies—a manual grinder, coffee dripper, mug, and a bag of Stumptown’s Hair Bender blend are all included in this excellent kit.   AeroPress Coffee Maker is... Read More

The phrase “third wave coffee” sounds inflated but it’s a term that best sums up the current trend that many coffee companies are invested in. Many independent coffee shops care about the nuanced flavors of different regional or varietal beans so they buy beans, or roast their own, from domestic companies which use roasting methods that bring out the distinct flavors of each kind of bean. Most of these companies also care about the ethical and environmental impact their industry has on the globe so they make efforts to do direct or fair trade with organic coffee farmers around the world.... Read More