There are so many options in the specialty coffee industry, and so many good options, that it can be a bit hard to choose. I frequently have people ask ‘what’s your favorite?’ or ‘what should I get?’ and there are two different and varying answers to those questions. 

People typically want a black-and-white answer or suggestion, and while I can give that to some degree, and will here shortly - specialty coffee is far more nuanced than just ‘what’s best’. 

One of the things that I think is cool about specialty coffee is the variance in coffees, tastes, and peoples preferences. I think that’s the beauty of coffee in general, be it wholesale, buying a bag for your house, or getting a drink at a cafe, there is something for almost everyone's taste preferences (unless you just hate coffee… and even then, there are some fantastic tea options!) Coffee isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing, and that’s good, if it was that one dimensional it would be extremely boring. 

To answer probably the most common question that I get from people new to specialty coffee, ‘what do you recommend?’. I will almost always recommend something that has familiar attributes, typically a washed coffee from South America, maybe a little closer to a ‘medium roast’. From our lineup, my go-to suggestion for someone who is used to grocery store coffee or chain cafes is our Colombia Huila Piatlito - it has all of those familiar ‘coffee’ flavors: Bakers chocolate, caramel, oaky/earthy undertones. Another great option is a good blend, like the Austen Blend that we serve. Starting out with something like that is a really easy way to introduce your palate to the specialty coffee world in a way that’s not jarring! Coffee like that is also going to be more versatile than some other options, it goes well on its own, with milk, sweeteners, in lattes, etc. Not every coffee realistically performs well in all of those scenarios, but this Colombian does. 

Something like this will also more forgiving when you get into brewing the coffee. Some other options like experimental process coffees, anaerobic fermentations, even full natural process  coffees, can require some knowledge and experience dialing in to get them to extract well and really pop. Whereas you can take that Colombian and toss it on a coffee maker, press ‘brew’, walk away, and you’ll have a good cup of coffee. If you don’t have a ton of equipment, you can throw it on a pour over and it’ll be tasty even without meticulously dialing it in. 

So if you’re new to the specialty coffee world, I would start there. 

If you’re looking for something different, then the second answer to ‘what do you recommend?’ is: whatever you like! If you’ve spent some time developing your palate or you just tend to be more adventurous then play around, get different coffees and see what you like! Odds are you won’t like every one you try, but in the process you’ll find some that you love. This is one of the most fun things about specialty coffee. You can get something like our natural process Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and it’ll be more juicy and fruit forward with some more crisp acidity, you can try something like we had in a Costa Rica from last season that was vibrantly light and popped with notes of lemon candy and chocolate covered raspberry. Or you can get a natural process Brazil that’s just saturated with milk chocolate and nutty notes. 

Those are just some examples, and between them there are infinite other possibilities from different producers and growing regions, with different coffee varietals and processing methods. You can explore coffee for literally your whole life and still not know all there is to know or have experienced all there is to experience. It’s an absolutely beautiful thing! 

Try stuff and find what suits your taste. And as you learn, your taste will change. I’ve seen people go from buying the darkest of dark roast, to a few years down the line only wanting fruit forward lighter cups. So the broad answer to the stated question ‘What Coffee Is The Best?’: whatever you like. :)