Review: Simple Beans FUCK COVID-19 Social Distancing Blend (La Jolla, California)

Did the name of this blend catch your attention? It sure caught mine!! I haven’t been super motivated to write new coffee reviews lately; my energy level these days is lower than usual (from stress) and I sort of unofficially decided not to create more work for myself by accepting new beans for review. So […]

Review: Drum Coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti FTO (Missoula, Montana)

I first heard about Drum Coffee via my friend Brandon, a fantastically talented percussionist who happened to stop in at one of their locations while on a road trip. My first reaction to the roaster’s name was, ha, nice pun (since I figured they use a drum roaster to roast their coffee beans). But on […]

Review: Kona Roasted Coffee Gary & Valerie 100% Kona (Kona, Hawaii)

This offering from Kona Roasted is named for Gary and Valerie, the farmers of this varietal. Gary and Valerie moved from California to Hawaii in 2005 and, with the knowledge they’ve built over the past fifteen years of coffee farming, have cultivated a crop that earned a 92 from Coffee Review in 2020! Whole bean: […]

Review: Kona Roasted Coffee Salvador 100% Kona (Kona, Hawaii)

I’ve had this blog for roughly five years, and I go through phases where I am really active, writing a lot of reviews, and also phases where I go quiet. Around about December of 2019, I started getting a little overwhelmed with life and I somewhat unintentionally took a hiatus from coffee reviews – I […]

Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Summer Blend (Oakland, California)

Blue Bottle Coffee offers seasonal blends, and I was fortunate enough to pick up a bag of their Summer Blend while it was still available. I first was alerted about this blend through Blue Bottle’s email list, where Blue Bottle’s quality control director, Ben Brewer (really? Is there a more spot-on surname for someone working […]

Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps (Oakland, California)

James Freeman, the founder of Blue Bottle, is a former professional clarinet player, and I’ve always appreciated the occasional musical references thrown into the names and descriptions of his company’s coffees (for instance, the “Brahmsian” characteristics of Blue Bottle’s Hayes Valley Espresso). This particular blend was named after John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and Blue Bottle’s […]

Review: Lüna Coffee Guatemala Huehuetenango Pedro Villatoro Lychee Glow (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Denton, Texas was where I used to call home between 2001-2003, while I was a student at the University of North Texas. The city had a quirky, offbeat vibe while I lived there, and that hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the proliferation of craft coffee shops in the area. Granted, I didn’t really […]

Review: Square Mile Coffee Roasters Guatemala Los Suspiros (London, England)

The last time I had tried an espresso from Square Mile Coffee Roasters, it was their excellent Red Brick Espresso Blend, so this time I opted to try this single-origin Guatemalan espresso. Whole bean: Sweet, tangy aroma reminiscent of peach and amaretto. Espresso: Sometimes I really enjoy single-origin espressos and sometimes I just can’t find […]

Review: Square Mile Coffee Roasters Ecuador Vitaliano Merino (London, England)

Square Mile Coffee Roasters really blew me away when I tried their Ethiopia Mormora and Red Brick Espresso last year, so I was very much looking forward to having another chance to pick up some of their beans. Due to my tight schedule on my last visit, I opted to order online and have the […]

Review: Gordon St Coffee Glasgow Roast (Glasgow, Scotland)

In early July, I was traveling for work for about a week, and I had limited access to coffee. While I was grateful that my AirBnB provided a Keurig, I found the flavor to be really depressing compared to what I’m used to having. Quality coffee is one of my little luxuries in life, so […]