Made easy, finding the best online coffee company for you.

You know that the mornings would be just that much better if you had your steady supply of the golden bean to help perk you up before you brave the world.  The traffic, the public transport commute.  These actions that are a necessary part of the overall workday that you feel should be laced with caffeine, just to help with the transition from home to work, because it is not an easy one without it.  You know how much better you feel after you stop in for the first hit in the morning, chatting with the baristas is always a pleasure but being able to skip through the travel time slightly less on edge would only benefit all involved, wouldn’t it?

I couldn’t agree more, so taking a small moment of my time, I’d like to make you a list of the best, favorite and most trusted on life coffee companies out there.  It’s a big pool, so I don’t want you sinking in the deep end before you have even put your toe in, so consider me your toe, this is the best of the deep brought to you, all you must do from here is choose your favorite coffee and get started. 

This list will comprise of only roasters who have made a mark on the American palettes thus far, they may not be the biggest or have been in business the longest, but their commitment to the products that they source and roast is hands down the best in the business to date.

Before I start, might I suggest, this list is the best companies in the game today.  You may feel tied to the routine of trust as you were hurt once before, but I assure you, trust in every one of these online coffee suppliers will not be misplaced.

Cartel Coffee Lab Tempe, Arizona are where it is at for weekly or monthly coffee subscription.  New to the scene but specialty all the way.  Sign up for the newsletter or jump on their blog for all the at homebrew tips to get you ready for the day.

49^th Parallel Roasters have full starter kits for the uninitiated and offer subscriptions delivered to your door so that you are prepared for any hazy morning wake up.  Their website and blog have very detailed articles written by industry professionals, so your skill set will be pushed and prodded to improve when you need it.

Seeking an online company with a heart as big as their 60kg roaster?  Dragonfly Coffee Roasters source green beans from small farms and farming cooperatives, allowing them to contribute to the enhancement and regeneration of more localized coffee growing regions.  Dragonfly has over 25 years of experience in the industry of sourcing and roasting so you can be guaranteed a quality cup at home every time.  Now all you need to do is a shop, sip and sit back.

           

There’s nothing quite like fresh roasted coffee.

As Hugo Weaving so eloquently put it in The Matrix “It’s the smell.”  

Sure, he was talking about the stink of humanity in his machine world, but it is still apt to quote him.  Because that’s what it is with fresh roasted coffee, it’s the smell.  It’s your first encounter with the café or roasters, as you step into their little world, their lovingly produced product speaks to you through the olfactory glands and right into your heart.  Every smell is re-associated by the brain, the scent of fresh rain in the air and you can be whisked back to the rugby fields of your youth, or the musk of petrol can be having you call dad, just to tell him how much you love him.  As it is with coffee, the smell of it roasting is a heady, grassy mix of earth, wind, and fire and with it comes the visions of your two hands holding dearly to moms, on the way to school, as she rushes into a café for an espresso before work.

The roasting of green coffee beans is to garner a base, the chemically and expertly ‘drawing out’ of a simple coffee cherry the complexity and flavor profiles that the barista then works with to follow through with the effort to allow the customer to experience many years and many hands in one sip.  This phenomenon has now entrenched a large proportion of society, now hooked to its addictive and enjoyable complexity of flavors.  From fresh cherries to chocolate, lemon licorice and grassy goodness it’s amazing to imagine that each cup you down have traveled so far and passed through so many hands on a long journey from another continent, passed many societies and into your cup.

This art of coffee roasting has a long a colonial history to it, one that some purveyors of today’s burgeoning coffee scene take with them to each day’s work.  Using the knowledge gained from the past to influence the reactions of the customer today and to inspire the generations of tomorrow and we love them for it.  Everyday.

Give the gift that keeps on giving, coffee!

Ok the caffeine does wear off eventually, but like your first high school kiss and that espresso stain on your new white shirt, you never forget your first experience of great coffee, nor does it simply rub off.  The joy of coffee is about bringing people together be it in one space or over the kitchen table.  It’s about finding your personal niche, developing a relationship with local baristas and growing your knowledge then showing off what you have learned, or taking that special someone you want to impress to the latest hidden laneway coffee bar.

Coffee is a gift that can be a unique eye opening experience for the uninitiated or a catalyst to a profound love affair with a great company that will always strive to give you their best product and deliver it right to your do.  My favorite coffee gifts are the ones that arrive either at home or the office and always those that arrive with a surprise.  

A great go to site for that special gift of coffee is Market Lane Coffee from Melbourne. Shipping internationally these guys are industry leaders and not only do they offer the great gift of a coffee club subscription, but they have a vast array of equipment, coffee related items and alternative brew tools to keep even the most dedicated coffee drinking experimenting for years to come.

At Coffee Roaster you’ll find a top selection of expertly chosen brews and at home equipment from strong cafes and roasters like Sacred Grounds and Miss Ellie’s, both have very welcoming and easy to navigate websites. 

For the newcomer to the scene, a well-known favorite like Blue Bottle would be a great fit. As a veteran of the American coffee industry, you will be hard pressed (or is it cold pressed these days?) not to find an inspiring coffee gift that, when received, will enhance and develop another lover of the golden bean.

It’s Christmas time so time for the gift of coffee.

Spoiling a loved one at Christmas is always a fun thing to do.  The months of dubious study you put into their every move.  Diligently watching over their hobbies and listening in for clues about their dreams and desires.  The fun of pondering for days on end which present will be best to impress them and to put you in great stead, not just with them but with all who know of your famed gift giving abilities.  Anticipation of the recipient opening up the box of wonders that you had so meticulously picked out for them will have you bursting at the seams for month after month until the day arrives.

Or perhaps you’re more like me and you are yet to think of anybody else, yet to peruse the overstocked aisles of bookstores or to wade through bins of collected records. 

That’s ok, as daunting as it may seem now that Christmas is so close, it’s not.  Do your loved ones drink coffee?  It’s a very good chance they do as around 83% of all American adults do.  

Take a quick look online at these professional coffee roasters.  Those who have made it on this list are able to deliver to your door not only a perfectly roasted bean ready for you to share but look a little deeper and a few can even sort you out with a great selection of coffee related gifts that will brighten the morning of any Boxing Day once put to use.

Chromatic Coffee Co. – Santa Clara, CA.  Opening in 2012 this team have carved a clever niche in the booming roasting market through clever brand packaging and inventive names for the single origins and blends that they roast. Ever had ‘Unicorn Pony’ or ‘Gamut’?  These coffee kings are guaranteed to entertain and delight.

Counter Culture – Durham, NC.  Proving total dedication to the golden bean, Counter Culture do not have a bricks and mortar shopfront as they focus on wholesale only. Truly a professional roasting company, they have you sorted from purchase to first sip as their website has all the training and instruction you would need to whip up a pour over for nan on Christmas morning in no time.

Devocion – Brooklyn, NY.  The crème dela crème of coffee professionalism, just browsing over this site before you purchase and your knowledge of this global bean will be expanded.  With a firm desire to enrich the total coffee experience, from seed to roasted bean you have many single origin varietals to choose from.

So pick a bean, decide a size and have it sent to you.  Christmas gifts sorted.  Coffee for the holidays sorted.  

Happy Holidays! 

Let’s go visiting the best New York City Coffee Roasters.

It’s the crack of dawn, 5am in New York City and I need a coffee.  Most of my days start out this way, a deep heady mix of confusion from the night before, all neurons firing just a light year or two slower than I would like but I do have a cure. Coffee.  Well, caffeine to be precise. 

A major part of the journey coffee takes, from crop to cup has the little green bean pausing within the capable wall of the coffee roasters domain.  These guys and girls, some even called Master’s, are the chemists in the process of curing you with caffeine.  They know how to extract the best from each growing location the beans may come from.  The roasters now how an African bean will want a lighter roast to one from Guatemala, or how best to draw forth the berry complexities of beans from Ethiopia.  These mad hatters live for slurping, tasting, profiling and dabbling in the art of coffee roasting.  So who is the best?  And where can I stumble to now and be fed, intravenous-like if possible please, my elixir of life, coffee, blacker night and hotter than hell.

88 Orchard Street NY. NY. 10002 – Monday to Sunday 8am – 8pm the team behind Irving Farm Coffee Roasters have one of the nicest places to visit in this part of town.  Soft lighting to not strain the temperament of the weary early morning traveler, they’ll hook you up with one of the best handcrafted organic espressos you’ll find  

18 W 29^th Street NY.NY. 10001 – Monday to Friday 6am – 8pm, Weekends 7am – 8pm The Ace Hotel at this location houses the first Stumptown Coffee Roasters.  A beautiful hipster setup sees the team here offering all the varieties of caffeine you could ever need, from heat beating cold brews to long sipping brew by the cup coffee for the winter mornings 

2730 Broadway (btwn 104^th/105^th) NY.NY. 10025 – Plowshares Coffee roast up only the finest small batch single origins to delight your taste buds and tickle your imagination.  With a sustainable, social responsibility deeply rooted in who they are, this cup of joe is crafted for the benefits of many, not just the pleasures of the few.

Will I find a decent cup of joe in a commercial airport?

Commercial airports have made many upgrades since the heady days of the (80’s) where smoking was allowed in the cabins and the pilot was treated as close to an earthly god as he flew to the heavens.  And as the rules and regulations constant evolve to stay in touch with the modern traveler, be it for business or pleasure, so too has the coffee that you will find situated throughout the terminals. 

Not any longer is there only a vending machine that is willing to take your hard-earned dollars for coffee, no, nowadays you will see many chains have moved into the food court market environment of the airports and as the chains have shown steady growth, we have started to see growth in the more boutique blends of the golden bean popping up in commercial airports.  Let’s look at a few of the best:

Costa Coffee (UK) - The legends of the UK scene, not only scattered throughout most commercial airports in the UK and EU, Costa takes it to the streets and competes on all levels.  Sure, it’s a massive chain, but when the red eye lands and all you need is the caffeine embrace, it’s Costa there with arms wide open.

Guava & Java (Philadelphia) - A great global minded and ethical brand, this team source some legit beans from all over the best coffee going regions and they have even come up with a collaborative blend with actor and environmentalist Leonardo Di Caprio, almost worth a trip to the airport just for them, right?!

Metropolis Coffee (Chicago) - winning bragging rights in some of the State’s top publications (New York Times) for the last 10 years, the team at Metropolis Coffee are a must when you have that lay over to contend with or if you’ve just popped into the windy city

For the best commercial airport coffee, look no further than Joe and the Juice (Copenhagen) .  These guys have taken out top honour in the Airport Food and Beverage awards.  Great coffee and mind blowing juices that set you up for the long business day, the wild weekend or the sexy sojourn over to Amsterdam