Vancouver is one of my favorite cities that I’ve ever visited, and while on a short trip to Seattle earlier this year, I made a somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to hop on a bus and spend a day in Vancouver. While there, I made it a priority to find my way to a 49th Parallel Cafe […]
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Review: Rare Bird Coffee Roasters Colombia La Hermosa (Falls Church, Virginia)

I visited the Rare Bird Coffee Roasters cafe in early January 2023. Normally, I prefer to drink black coffee, but if I see an unusual item on a cafe’s menu, I’ll try it out of curiosity. That morning, I tried their cardamom vanilla latte (very sweet, creamy, and dessert-like), and picked up a bag of […]
Review: Roseline Coffee First Flowers Spring Blend (Portland, Oregon)

Roseline Coffee is one of my favorite roasters to order from when I’m in the mood for something special. I follow them on Instagram and when I saw this coffee pop up on my feed, I knew I had to try it. It’s one of the prettiest bags of coffee I’ve seen in a while, […]
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: 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: 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 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: True Coffee Roasters Costa Rica Finca Calle Lajas (Madison, Wisconsin)

This is the second coffee I was sent by the nice folks at True Coffee Roasters. I enjoyed tasting their Ethiopia Guji, and part of the reason I opted to try it first is that Ethiopian coffee is one of my favorites – I’ve rarely met an Ethiopian coffee I didn’t like. Costa Rican coffee […]
Review: True Coffee Roasters Ethiopia Guji, washed, Grade 1 (Fitchburg, Wisconsin)

Readers in the US are probably familiar with the quasi-holiday Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, when large retailers slash prices on all sorts of merchandise to kick off the Christmas shopping season), but a slightly lesser-known quasi holiday is Small Business Saturday, when consumers are encouraged to do their holiday shopping from small businesses. […]
Review: Cuvée Coffee Stella Cometa Espresso Blend (Austin, Texas)

This bag came from a trip to our local Whole Foods. I continue to be really grateful that they feature freshly roasted beans from local and local-ish roasters like Cuvée. Whole bean: These beans were roasted very evenly and I’d classify it as a light-to-medium roast. I sometimes get questions regarding espresso roasts, as if […]