In an (over)saturated coffee market, where value is dictated so much through visual appeal, in both digital and physical worlds, one might wonder what makes this coffee any more special than what you would buy elsewhere. Fair question! The answer is everything and nothing. I am just an(other) coffee buyer, roaster, barista, taster, and business owner selling you just an(other) bag of coffee beans. I am only one star in the vast coffee galaxy of stars, one among many specialty coffee roasters doing my best to offer you a great product.

Yet, every coffee is unique, just like every star. In each cup, we can appreciate its complex and multifaceted nature, birthed from a beautifully versatile plant. A host of (other) factors contribute to this uniqueness – tree variety and age; soil composition; temperature; humidity; rainfall; fungi; bugs; macro–, micro–, and regional climatic variables; fermentation and processing; exporting conditions; roasting; and brewing. A sequence of small and large, controlled and uncontrolled factors all play a part in the cup’s composition. Coffee seeds (a.k.a. beans) are packed with incredible flavor potential and can taste like many things at once. This is often why specialty coffee packaging will include descriptors, such as “starfruit”, “peach”, or “spices”. Roasters and tasters are pointing to (assumed) commonly-understood flavors in order to describe what they perceive to be happening in the cup. However, taste is subjective, and I don’t want to define yours – I include a few flavor notes for each coffee to help you with purchasing decisions.

My parentheses are meant to capture two sides of the same coin and to emphasize other things of value in the coffee universe besides what we taste (although taste does matter).

Most of my business operations take place at home in Arlington, MA – roasting coffee samples and small batches (1 pound at a time) on my Huky 500T, cupping, and packaging. I also rent time on a Loring S7 from a coffee roaster in Rockland, MA, where I can roast larger batches (up to 14 pounds). I specifically sought out someone with a Loring because it has a smaller environmental footprint than traditional roasters (without getting into the weeds, it uses less gas). Doing business this way helps me keep my overhead low, allowing me to spend as much as I can on the coffees I purchase and, therefore, invest in the lives of people who have grown them. The coffee you receive from me could be roasted on either of these machines.

I sell my coffee here! I am also working on expanding wholesale accounts, which is my avenue into brick-and-mortar environments. Contact me about wholesale.

The aim of this small business is to centralize farmers and coffee workers, rather than consumers, as my primary concern. Without farmers, there would be no coffee. If you picture the solar system, I want farmers to be the sun and coffee industry workers (like myself) and consumers to be the surrounding planets. I’ve done my best to structure my operation around this ethos.

That said, I am methodical, thoughtful, and intentional about who I purchase my coffee from (not to suggest that others aren’t!). I prefer to develop close relationships with people who I believe uphold just values and equitable business practices. This means that my origin offerings may not represent some growing regions and countries, because I have not yet done the groundwork to establish trust in a business relationship. I will, however, try to offer a number of different processing methods (e.g. honey, natural, washed and some experimental processing techniques) from exporters and importers whom I trust to provide what variety I can.

I am actively working to include tasty offerings from all over the wide world of coffee. Stay tuned!