About Our Coffee

 

All of our coffee is specialty grade and ethically traded with a focus on relationships and respect for the farm and the farmer. All lots are carefully evaluated based on cup quality, farm process and sustainable practice.

We've taken things a little further than just specialty, though.  There are hundreds of specialty coffee brands but none of them can call themselves 'select'.  This is the top of the top, when it comes to quality and flavor, and consumer approval.  We select only the best tasting specialty roasts to ensure you get the absolute, finest result.

We have a tendency to take things a step or two farther than others.  Some coffee brands like to brag that their coffee is mold-free.  Well, I would hope so since it's an FDA requirement.  That's like saying, "in our part of the world, when there are no clouds, our sky is blue."   It's merely a sales ploy for targeting the unknowing consumer.

We, on the other hand, require all environments where our beans are and will be, to be absolutely incapable of mold.  From the farm, to shipping, to our roasting facility, not only are the beans mold-free, the entire environment is mold-free and incapable of mold.  To the best of my knowledge, we're the only ones who require this.

We have a personal relationship with each farmer.  We know them, their families, and their farm about as well as you could know someone.  They're a part of us, and we, of them.  This is what makes our coffee some of the best you'll ever experience.

We did exhaustive research into coffee, how it's grown, where it's grown, how it's harvested, how it's shipped and stored, how it's roasted.  We didn't want to do the same thing everyone else is doing, i.e., buying the least expensive beans from a mass seller and throwing them into a cheap Chinese-made roaster.  To do it right, you have to build a relationship with the farmer and get them to understand the quality you're looking for.  To be able to offer several different roasts, you have to do this with several farmers around the world.  You also need to have a lab to test the beans on a regular basis.  You also need a facility to sort the beans for consistent size, shape, or you'll end up with a bitter edge to the taste.  Then, you need a high-end roaster to achieve an even and repeatable end result.  It has to be exactly the same, every time. 

Then there's the availability issue.  There are times where the beans just aren't available!  Several factors play in to that but the biggest is weather.  If the weather doesn't cooperate, we're not going to get a specialty-grade product.  This company has agreements with each farmer, that they get first pick.  The beans grown when the weather wasn't right, is put out on the open market as the coffee you see on the store shelf or what most small roasters buy.  That's not what we're after.

We almost gave it up but then thought, what if we could find a roaster who would listen to us and do it the way we need it to be done?  We finally found one, after much searching.  And, in California, of all places.  It's a family-owned business that isn't woke and has been around for a long time.  They travel each year, to each farm, to make sure everything is done right AND to see what the farmer and their family needs might be!  They also fund many school programs in various countries.  That's huge, in my book.  Taking care of those you work with is what we're all supposed to do. 

I'm sick and tired of Chinese products and of low-grade coffee.  I used to only drink a cup or two a day, but now I can drink a whole pot a day and don't have a stomach ache, jitters, or sleepless nights.  I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of the coffee and any suggestions you might have.

What Are the Different Grades of Coffee?

There are essentially five different grades of coffee.

1. Specialty Grade

Specialty grade coffee beans can have zero primary defects and only 0-3 full secondary defects. This coffee can only vary in size of bean up to 5% of the entire sample. When roasted, the beans must be absent of what are called “quakers,” which are beans that are not ripe enough, are under-roasted, or both. Specialty grade coffee is considered the highest quality of coffee on the market. It results in a cup that is free of defects. In terms of flavor profile, the intended taste will come through onto the palate. The flavors that the farmer and roaster intended will be distinguishable.

2. Premium Grade

Overall, this is pretty quality coffee. It allows for up to eight (8) defects and three (3) quakers. The good news is that they are the same source of beans as specialty coffee. The main difference is that there’s greater tolerance for defects.

3. Exchange Grade

This grade has a higher tolerance for bean size variation. About half of the beans will be roughly a quarter-inch (15/64 inch, to be exact) and 5% of the beans will be smaller. After the roast, there can only be up to five (5) quakers per sample.

4. Below Standard Grade

This coffee has 24 to 86 defects per sample. It probably won’t be from a very good source either. It’ll work in a pinch but try to avoid coffee like this.

5. Off-Grade

Just stay away unless you like sour and bitter coffee. This coffee will have 86 defects or more per sample.

 

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