Headquartered in Monrovia, California, Trader Joe’s is a chain of markets with almost 600 locations across the United States. Unlike a typical chain supermarket, Trader Joe’s curates a selection of products that lean more heavily toward gourmet items and things not easily found elsewhere. Many of their products are private label, meaning Trader Joe’s strikes […]
dark chocolate
Review: Cherry Coffee Co. Hang Around Espresso Blend (Fort Worth, Texas)
I attended the inaugural Dallas Coffee Festival earlier this month and had a good time exploring the booths of many local roasters, about half of which I’d not yet heard of. Novel Coffee Roasters is a Dallas-area roaster I’ve enjoyed many times, and I was intrigued to see they were sharing their booth with a […]
Review: Ceremony Coffee Roasters Synthesis Blend (Annapolis, Maryland)
I’ve had the pleasure of trying coffee from Ceremony Coffee Roasters before; in addition to their single-origins, they offer blends with nerdy names, and I had made a mental note that someday, I wanted to try their Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis blends. The packaging makes it appear that the Thesis is light, Antithesis is dark, […]
Review: Ceremony Coffee Roasters Antithesis Blend (Annapolis, Maryland)
I’ve had the pleasure of trying coffee from Ceremony Coffee Roasters before; in addition to their single-origins, they offer blends with nerdy names, and I had made a mental note that someday, I wanted to try their Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis blends. The packaging makes it appear that the Thesis is light, Antithesis is dark, […]
Review: Tweed Coffee Two-Step Decaf, Sugarcane Process (Dallas, Texas)
Most of the time when I’m doing coffee tastings, I have to evaluate the coffee first thing in the morning because caffeine lingers so long in my system, I can’t sleep properly if I consume caffeine later in the day. It can be a little hard to properly enjoy the coffee if I’m bleary-eyed from […]
Review: Black Diesel Coffee Guatemala Huehuetenango (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
This is the second bag of coffee I received from Black Diesel Coffee. Black Diesel is a craft coffee company dedicated to quality, community, and coffee education. I haven’t had a chance to visit their shop in person yet (not surprising, since I live in Texas and the global pandemic is still going on!) but […]
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: Intelligentsia Coffee Black Cat Analog Espresso (Chicago, Illinois)
The first time I tried Intelligentsia’s Black Cat Analog Espresso was in a coffee shop. I was in Northern California for work back in 2015 and had a beautifully pulled shot at Vero’s Coffee Bar in San Jose. I enjoyed it so much, I use the photo of it that I took as an example […]
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 […]
Review: Whiskey Morning Coffee Classic Barrel Aged Coffee (Tolar, Texas)
I had the pleasure of chatting with some of the folks behind Whiskey Morning Coffee recently, and we arranged for me to try out their beans in exchange for a review. As you may have guessed from their name, what sets this company apart from most other coffee roasters is that they specialize in roasting […]