Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Bella Donovan (Oakland, California)

My lovely friend Chloé recently made an order from Blue Bottle for two bags of this blend, and she graciously let me have one of them to review. When I started dipping my toe into the world of craft coffee around 5 years ago, Blue Bottle was one of the first craft roasters I tried, and […]

Review: West Oak Coffee Milk and Honey Blend (Denton, Texas)

Every time I visit Denton, Texas, I marvel at how much it’s changed since I was doing graduate work at the University of North Texas in the early 2000s. Denton has always had a counterculture vibe, with people taking pride in their differences and individuality, but the city has grown in the last 15 years […]

Review: Stumptown Coffee Roasters Sleigh Ride (Portland, Oregon)

I almost never buy “holiday blends,” but this bag was a nice surprise at a Whole Foods location in Phoenix during the Christmas holidays. Impressively, it was only 4 days off roast when I bought it! That’s exceptionally fresh coffee for retail, especially considering that the nearest Stumptown roasting facility is in Los Angeles. I […]

Review: Batdorf and Bronson Dancing Goats Blend (Atlanta, Georgia)

Before I started this blog, I had asked my Facebook friends to recommend some coffees to try out, and one of those coffees mentioned was this one – Batdorf and Bronson’s Dancing Goats Blend (thanks, Sara!). It took me close to two years to get around to trying it, but better late than never! Batdorf […]

Review: Chromatic Coffee Voyager Blend (San Jose, California)

Most of the time, when I buy coffee, I buy coffee that I haven’t tried before, so that I have stuff to write about for this blog. However, every now and then I’ll buy an old favorite, just to have an opportunity to simply enjoy the coffee without over-analyzing it. It’s sort of like when […]

Review: The Missing Bean Unbirthday Blend (Oxford, England)

This tasting is a direct result of me getting to spend a little over a week in a dream destination for me (England) so though I’m going to remain as objective as possible about the coffee, I can’t help but smile when I think about just about everything related to this journey. Rose-colored glasses alert ahead! […]

Review: 1818 Farms Celebration Blend (Mooresville, Alabama)

I would classify myself as an inquisitive coffee drinker. Coffee has become a rather serious hobby of mine, and all of my delicious “research” has given me a huge level of appreciation for the work that goes into bringing millions of people around the world their daily cup. I like being pushed and stretched and challenged […]

Review: Tweed Coffee Foxtrot Blend (Dallas, Texas)

I usually buy bags of Tweed from Houndstooth Coffee in Dallas (their home cafe), but I happened to come across fresh bags for sale while visiting Oak Lawn Coffee, so it was a win-win situation. For anyone not familiar with Tweed Coffee, they are a major player in the local craft coffee roasting scene here in […]

Review: Folgers 100% Colombian pre-ground coffee (Orrville, Ohio)

This review started out as a joke, because I woke up one morning and found a container of Folgers sitting in front of my espresso machine. The following text message conversation ensued between me and Shutterbug: I then figured, hell, why not? I was curious about how this coffee would fare in manual methods. I do […]