Coffee 101

(ALMOST) EVERY WAY TO MAKE ICED COFFEE Some of us drink iced coffee all year long, while others keep it reserved for the hottest months (which is, unfortunately, becoming pretty much every month in Tennessee). Though iced coffee may seem like a one-trick pony, there are a number of interesting ways to brew up your cold coffee concoctions right at home. To get you started on your journey to your new favorite heat-squelching drink, we’ve laid out a different ways for brewing iced coffee. Cold Brew Instant Iced Coffee Iced Espresso Drinks (including a recipe for our Iced Cuban!) Flash-chilled...

So, you’re feeling good. After researching and asking advice from your coffee pals, you’ve procured your perfect home coffee setup. You’ve figured out your coffee brewing ratios. You’ve nailed that pouring technique. You’re cruising through those beautiful bags of Crema beans. Then, you notice that your Kalita is starting to stain a bit. Your coffee pot practically looks black inside where once shiny silver stared back at you. There are bean bits that seem to never quite leave your grinder.   “Oh, no!”, you exclaim, “what have I done wrong?!” Fret not! These are totally normal ‘side effects’ of coffee...

A COFFEE BREWING GUIDE: HOW MUCH COFFEE SHOULD I BUY? Figuring out how much coffee to buy at once so you can brew up the perfect amount doesn't have to be a guessing game or feel like math homework. (But, shout out to all the math teachers out there who we’re sure wouldn’t assign any more homework than what’s necessary. )  We crunched the numbers so you don't have to. We based these coffee brewing estimates assuming one 12-ounce cup of coffee per person per day using a 25 gram dose — what we recommend for most brewing methods. (Not sure how...

"So, is your coffee organic?" It's a question we get a lot.   And the answer is...yes? Sort of? I mean, technically it isn't? But, like, technically it is?   As you can tell, we are very eloquently equipped to address this complex issue. So we enlisted the help of Edwin Martinez, the owner of Finca Vista Hermosa in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Our friendship with Edwin dates to 2010, when he became the first farmer we ever bought coffee from.   "Organic," like any other title, carries a lot of weight, and, perhaps, a lot of false assumptions. It is perhaps a...