Are you searching for the ideal holiday gift for a coffee lover in your life but feeling overwhelmed by the extensive range of options? Fear not, for we have crafted a comprehensive guide to help you pick the perfect coffee beans to make your loved ones' winter extra special.

We hear it all the time: why does it always taste better when you make it? To some extent, coffee professionals who have all of the training and equipment might always have an edge on your at-home brewing experience, but you can step up your game at home to enjoy things even more, and this is the perfect time of year to do it!

If you've ever wondered how we select the finest coffees from around the world for our latest offerings, you're in for a treat! Before we order a batch of coffee beans, we embark on a flavorful adventure known as cupping. This process is not only a ton of fun but it plays a crucial role in ensuring that your coffee experience is nothing short of exceptional.

Whether it’s music, food, or podcasts, we all have preferences and things we do or don’t enjoy. The same is then true of our taste in coffee! So how do you know what kind of coffee you are going to enjoy? Here are some helpful pointers on how to select coffees you find delicious.

No matter how you make your coffee, one of the most important elements in the brewing process is grinding your coffee beans. The best way to grind coffee depends on a number of elements, so in this post, we’re going to go over one aspect of coffee grinding—the when. That is, when is the best time to grind your coffee to maximize its flavor? The answer: right before you brew it.

I remember when I first learned about the differences in coffee grinders. I definitely always thought that it was imperative to have top-of-the-line everything: scale, espresso machine, tamp… I didn’t know that grinders could make such a difference.

We just added the Fellow Opus Grinder to our gear lineup as the perfect high-quality versatile grinder for those brewing our coffee at home. If you’re looking for a grinder to step up your at-home brewing game, we’d highly recommend this option.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a beloved machine or method–in fact, finding a way to make coffee that you enjoy and a routine that works for you is the whole point! But if your set-up isn’t quite hitting the spot and you’re looking for a change, this is for you. 

Most people choose the coffee they are getting based off the tasting notes we use in our labels. This is a great way to choose what you think you’ll like, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop there! Reading and understanding the rest of the label isn’t a crazy puzzle that takes a lot of brain power. We’ll walk through the coffee lingo and abbreviations that may help you use the label to pick out your next bag of coffee. When it comes down to it, it’s very simple—we promise!

I brought the AeroPress camping with me and everything changed. After seeing how the AeroPress preformed in the outdoors with bladders of water and minimal equipment, I am never going back. All of the things I mentioned above came into play again but even more so. I didn’t have to worry about breaking it as we tried to fit our cooking gear, cloths, tent and sleeping set up snugly into our packs.

Our newest single origin release comes from the Kanzu washing station in the Nyamasheke district of Rwanda. This is a washed coffee with bourbon varietals. The flavor notes that we picked up on from this specific coffee are blackberry, honey and custard. We are so excited to share this coffee with all of you since it has been quite some time since we’ve featured a Rwandan coffee in our lineup!

Making a lot of coffee creates a lot of used coffee grounds. In fact, it creates three pounds of used coffee grounds just to make one keg of cold brew, six pounds of coffee to make one batch of cold brew concentrate, half a pound of coffee for each batch of Ruca house blend we brew up and then there is each puck of espresso for each and every espresso drink. That adds up very quickly, especially when you’re brewing coffee from 7am until 6pm daily!

By brewing coffee at home, you can do less running in your day, you can work smarter and prepare your coffee routine for the week ahead without even going out (shout out to Coffee Club and Neighborly deliveries), and you can save money! Plus you get really delicious coffee whenever you want or need it. And you definitely need it Monday mornings, and Tuesday, and Wednesday. . . Don’t get us wrong, we love serving you coffee at the cafe, but we also understand that sometimes you want to save. We believe you should be able to save money while also enjoying excellent coffee.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been offering a naturally processed coffee from El Salvador. To be more specific, we’ve been offering a particular variety of coffee, from a particular lot, on a particular farm, from a particular famer, Mr. Johnny Lemus, located in Chalatenango. In case you missed it, everything about this coffee is particular.

Coffees from Burundi have long been a favorite of the Tala Team for the unique flavors that seldom are seen in coffees from any other African region. Where a lot of other African regions tend to be full of brighter citrus fruits, we love Burundi’s for their deeper, richer fruited tones closest to dried and cooked fruits. This one is exactly that and tasting like sweet dried golden raisin, dried apricot, date, fig, goji berry, that are all wrapped up in a lavender essenced gift basket. Trust us, this is a gift basket you’re going to want to keep receiving.

Coffees from Burundi have long been a favorite of the Tala Team for the unique flavors that seldom are seen in coffees from any other African region. Where a lot of other African regions tend to be full of brighter citrus fruits, we love Burundi’s for their deeper, richer fruited tones closest to dried and cooked fruits. This one is exactly that and tasting like sweet dried golden raisin, dried apricot, date, fig, goji berry, that are all wrapped up in a lavender essenced gift basket. Trust us, this is a gift basket you’re going to want to keep receiving.

This coffee simply put, tastes like everything we love about the fall season. It’s loaded with brown sugar, caramel, and candied pecan sweetness, soft and ripe pear and apple, as well as warm and cozy cocoa. It pairs perfectly with a hayrides, pumpkin carving, apple picking, and bonfires.

We love this coffee because it really embodies the transition of the last of the summer turning into fall. Fresh and ripe fruit flavors of raspberry, cherry, passion fruit, and guava on the front end of each sip transition and finish with warm and comforting flavors of praline and milk chocolate. This uniquely sweet coffee is perfect for cool mornings as well as warm afternoons.

This is the coffee you wait to wake up to in the morning. Altos De marfil is a fantastic balanced and approachable coffee that both a common coffee drinker and a coffee connoisseur will enjoy. This is our first offering from Ecuador and our first offering for Caravella Importers. Expect pleasant notes of fudge with a well-rounded body and a golden raisin tang acidity.

This coffee from Hambela highlights all the unique complexity of flavor that we love about washed Guji coffees. This one is full of exciting, fresh fruit and floral tones like melon, tangerine, lemon, honeysuckle, and chamomile that truly sparkle in the cup. Some weird and interesting times are upon us, but brew up a cup of this fun coffee because its sure to lighten the mood and put a smile on your face.