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  • ONLY FRESH ROASTS
  • ETHICAL FROM BEAN TO CUP

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La Barba Sticker

La Barba Sticker

Classic La Barba sticker to rep your favorite coffee! 

Regular price
$2.00
Sale price
$2.00
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WHOLE BEAN

-10% off on 2nd bag

QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON

Growing

Farmer’s nurture coffee plants, navigating the challenges of changing weather and the coffee market

Harvest

Farmers hand pick coffee cherries as they fully ripen, sometimes having to make many passes to pick only ripe fruit

Milling

Coffee cherries are depulped (“washed”), dried, and sorted as green

Export/Import

Coffee travels from mill to port, over ocean to North American port, and is organized in a coffee specific (temp, humidity) warehouse.

Profiling

We develop a roast profile to achieve flavor dynamics (sweetness, acidity, body etc) that showcase what we love about each specific coffee

Savouring

You get the sensory experience of a coffee’s incredible aromas and flavors as you brew and drink what we and others have worked to create.

Planning / Forecasting

We evaluate what we’re looking for in upcoming harvests as individual countries begin harvest and forecast purchase volumes

Forward Contracting

We evaluate what we’re looking for in upcoming harvests as individual countries begin harvest and forecast purchase volumes

Preship Sampling

We receive small samples of coffees to roast and cup. We choose the best coffees of all we sample to approve for purchase.

Land Freight

Coffee travels from port, usually the West Coast, to our warehouse.

Production Roasting

We batch roast the coffee to be packaged, sealed, and sent directly to you

Why Does a Coffee’s Story Matter?

The story of coffee is a story of people all over the globe working incredibly hard to create this beverage we love so much. The story of a specific coffee - how it was grown and how the people involved in farming and transporting it were treated and compensated - is deeply ethical and inextricably tied to the coffee’s quality. Farmers can’t justify the cost, time, and labor required to make the high quality coffee if they’re not compensated adequately for such a difficult undertaking. We take the stories of our coffees seriously out of concern for people and our love of coffee.

We specifically choose coffees and import partners based on quality and ethics. A wide range of ethical claims intended to offer quick peace of mind exist throughout the coffee industry, but we’ve found that the size and complexity of the supply chain don’t really fit into such convenient labels. Our approach is to work with farming and importing partners whose standards are oriented towards improving farmer well being through financial traceability, ever improving coffee quality, and sustainability.

What we're thinking about

Some of what we consider when sourcing and roasting

Why Roast matters?

Coffee is as complex as wine. It has the potential to have a wide array of flavors and aromas, varying levels of sweetness and acidity, and can possess body and flavors unique to the region and soil in which it was grown. These incredible characteristics can be destroyed by roasting or accentuated by it. We take account of many factors to roast each of our coffees with a tailored roast profile in order to develop this dynamic character in a way that creates a balanced yet interesting cup.

Washed, Natural - What Does Processing Mean?

Coffee starts as the seed of a small cherry-like fruit. Before it can be roasted coffee has to be processed - the skin and flesh of the fruit need to be fully removed and the seed dried. There are several ways that this can be accomplished. Two of the most common are “washed” and “natural” processing. Washed process coffee tends to have a more mild character because the skin and fruit are washed off of the seed before it is dried. Natural processed coffee tends to have a more wild and often very fruity flavor because the fruit is left on the seed for part of the drying process and some amount of natural fermentation occurs. We get excited about both washed and natural coffees. Have you tried both?

How elevation affects taste?

The elevation at which a coffee is grown doesn’t inherently make a coffee good or bad, though it can be used as an indicator of what quality to expect. At very high elevations, the coffee cherry is able to mature more slowly and a denser seed can develop. The density of the seed is important to us because a denser seed allows us to roast a more complex coffee. Along with the density, the elevation of coffee impacts its levels of sweetness and acidity and the flavor profile in general.

How to get the most of your cup?

What’s most important in a cup of coffee is that you enjoy it, whether brewed it with meticulously focused attention or poured it from a pot while you’re half asleep. Our coffee@home page has a lot to help you get the most out of your cup, but the first thing to do is to try a variety of coffees. Trying coffees from different origins will not only enable to you figure out exactly what you like, it will also increase your ability to perceive the complexity and nuances that make coffee such an incredible beverage. Let us know if you’d like any help selecting your next coffee to try or try out our Roaster’s Choice subscription to get a curated and seasonal variety.