August is here, and we're making the most of every last bit of summer. Long evenings, iced coffee in hand, weekends spent outside, and a calendar full of reasons to gather — there's still plenty of the season left to enjoy before routines shift and fall settles in.

Read what’s brewing this month.

For years, decaf coffee has carried an unfair reputation. It’s often thought of as the coffee you drink when you have to skip caffeine — not the coffee you actually look forward to drinking. But we believe every coffee we roast should be exceptional, whether it fuels you or is simply meant for you to enjoy.

Fresh-crop African coffee season is one of our favorite times of year, and we're kicking it off with the return of a coffee we couldn't wait to roast again.

Say hello (again) to Gatuya AA from Muranga, Kenya.

Coffee is meant to be enjoyed. This kind of thing is what we set out to undermine when we started Tala. A decade ago, this kind of experience was pretty commonplace in the specialty coffee world, and although I personally do enjoy my coffee black, I always felt like the coffee-snob thing was so silly.

Although specialty coffee over the last decade has slowly embraced the merits of cold brew, there was a time when cold brew was a specialty faux pas. That was about the time when we opened Tala, and unashamedly planted our flag on the team cold brew. 

Each year, we write down the things we’d love to see happen and begin the process of prioritizing them. One item has made the list every single year since 2017, and a few weeks ago, we finally crossed it off: Launching canned cold brew.

You may know her as the icon of the summer, but to me she’s just a casual Tuesday morning latte. The coveted Funky Monkey, our banana bread-inspired latte, was whipped up in my own kitchen years before she ever entered the seasonal menu chat at Tala.

Unlike traditional processing methods, co-fermentation intentionally introduces additional ingredients during fermentation. Whether you're already a fan of fruit-forward coffees or you're trying co-fermentation for the first time, these unique coffees are a delicious reminder that every step of the coffee journey plays a role in what's ultimately in your cup.

Mel sits down with our head roaster, Keith, to have a conversation about why we do blends, how they’re dreamed up, and the reality of keeping them consistent.