Happy Sunday! I haven’t done one of these in a while so I thought this post would be a nice treat for all of you (gifted, not an ad).
Advertisements
I do currently have a giveaway going on with them over on my Instagram here!
I’m here to chat a bit about Bean & Bean Coffee Roasters out of New York City. Family owned and women-led specialty coffee roaster out of NYC for over 10 years! They stand for gender equity – focusing on partnering with female coffee producers and over half of their coffee is sourced from female led farms!!!
It’s so nice to hear even in the coffee roasting community, there are companies striving for gender equity in the field!
Advertisements
WOWWW! I love the morals and values that they are bringing to the coffee community!
Advertisements
Let’s Talk Coffee
So lately I’ve been sipping on their Indonesia Sumatra. It’s a nice smooth dark roast with heavy, tart cherry undertones. It’s a nice roast to have first thing in the morning as a pick me up!
The mother-daughter team that runs Bean & Bean Coffee ACTUALLY are professionally trained to cup coffee. This means that they reallyyyy know what their doing.
Advertisements
Fun Fact: a dream of mine has always been to go to a coffee cupping and be taught how to professionally taste coffee undertones.
The Bean and Bean Coffee Partnership with the Sloth Institute
Bean and Bean Coffee Roasters also focuses on working with small coffee farms who work alongside the environment RATHER THAN deforesting it. They partner with the Sloth Institute (hint hint their adorable packaging) where % of online coffee sales goes directly to care for the sloths in need.
When they mentioned this to me I was so happy to hear as I personally didn’t even think about the deforestation aspect of coffee farming.
I sat down last night to unbox some fun new coffee roasts I got in the mail AS WELL as I think the sweetest coffee package I ever received in the mail.
Normally I don’t get into seasons this much but since I get to stay in the Northern Hemisphere for this Fall (instead of being able to move to Australia for my masters), I guess I am appreciating the change of the seasons this time around a bit more.
Stay tuned because I’ll be posting a life update in the next couple days! Just a couple things to follow up on if you’ve been following along with me for a while. Here’s my last exciting update!
This specialty coffee comes straight from the origin of the beans: Kafa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopian coffee is traditionally on the lighter side, with a balanced fruity profile. As mentioned here, Ethiopian coffees are generally heavy and winey or floral and tea like.
We at Tastykofi.com serve you premium quality coffee from where it was first discovered. We deliver to your door and offer subscription option so your coffee is taken care of.
I think it’s awesome that they strive for fair trade, good quality beans. If you’ve read this post of mine then you’d know how much I strive for good quality coffee roasters. Knowing specifically where the beans are from and that the roaster cares for a good relationship with the farmers is such a great sign.
I was able to try their “Moyee blend” which is a 100% Arabica blend. The coffee itself is about what I expected: floral and fruity. I’m excited to see what other blends and roasts they come out with in the future!
Advertisements
Thanks again to Ethiopian Kofi for sending me some of their specialty coffee to try! check them out here.
Advertisements
I hope things are starting to open up where you are. Slowly, but surely, the world is getting a bit back to normal. I will be posting my next life update soon!
I know what you’re thinking: this is insane and there’s no way coffee could ever pair well with LEMONADE out of all things. I thought the same thing at first because this truly is a crazy concept.
Advertisements
A couple days ago I tested out one of Honey & Roses coffee recipes over on my instagram stories. I was super intrigued when I saw they posted one for “Cold Brew Lemonade”. I genuinely was expecting it to be such a mess but spoiler alert: I loved it!
They described it as more of an “umami” flavor which I don’t think I’ve ever used that adjective to describe something before, but hey! here we are! The tanginess of the lemon with the pop of orange pairs super well to balance out the slight bitterness of the cold brew.
What you will need:
black cold brew of some kind (I made my own using a random ratio I found online)
2-3 lemons
1 orange *if you don’t have one it’s not end of the world*
sweetener of choice (I used agave)
water
ice
Essentially, with this recipe you basically just make your own lemonade and then add cold brew to it: it’s that easy!
Advertisements
The Recipe:
1 ½ oz (or just under 1/4 cup) of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of orange zest or juice from a fresh orange
2-3 tsp of a sweetener of choice (or more if you prefer it on the sweeter side)
1/3 cup of water
1/2 cup of cold brew
Mix the lemon juice, orange zest/fresh orange juice if you have it, your sweetener and water together.
Pour over ice and add in your cold brew.
Stir it up, top it off with a garnish and enjoy!
*tip* the lemonade to cold brew ratio can be easily adjusted so if it ends up too sweet then add in more coffee or vice versa.
Easy peasy… lemon… squeezy….okay I’m done now.
If you try this recipe let me know what you think! I have all my other socials right over here.
I recently sat down with Ella Jesmajian, co-founder of Honey & Roses Coffee Company, for a mini interview. As a customer of Honey & Roses, and a fellow coffee lover, I was really intrigued by the back story behind the business.
Furthermore, in a time like this, it’s reminded me how it’s extra important to shop small and shop sustainably!
Honey & Roses Coffee Co. is a coffee marketplace where you can find the highest quality coffee roasters from all around the United States. They also sell high quality, artisanal homeware along with other sustainable items, like there adorable travel cups!
Advertisements
But beyond what they sell, they’ve created a community based off of coffee & travel: two of my favorite things!
So let’s learn about how Honey & Roses came to be, and maybe even where they’re going in the future.
Advertisements
Tell me a little bit about the team behind Honey & Roses
At this time it’s myself and my partner Joe! We met a few years ago, as he is one of my closest friend’s husband. We are both big travelers and foodies and kept brainstorming businesses idea for fun. Somehow one day, while enjoying some Vietnamese noodles, Honey & Roses was born. Joe’s the practical one and I’m not. I come up with the ideas and he executes them unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He brings me down to earth and vice versa and that has really been the key to our success. I think having a business partnership is similar to having a successful marriage. You have to communicate constantly, trust each other, complement each others differences and have fun!
I was born and raised in NY and Joe is from England. He had spent the last five years working in finance and I have been working in the restaurant industry. I think the polar opposite career paths have helped shape our business in more ways than one and that’s been really cool to watch unfold.
Ella Jesmajian, co-founder of Honey & Roses
Advertisements
What were your goals when you first started? & was there anything specific you wanted to accomplish?
We just wanted to create a really high quality product and work with people who are passionate about their craft. I had always wanted to pursue design in someway or another. So our home line and reusable bottles were influenced heavily by my desire to create our own unique product. Joe and I really just wanted to create an online community. We want to offer more than just a bag of coffee in the mail.
Which leads me into my next question of how do you pick the roasters to include in your marketplace?
It really depends. Many of our roasters were either coffee companies I had previously tried and loved. Or ones that were highly recommended to me. At this point, some roasters will reach out to us and that’s been a really gratifying shift to see. We would love to have roasters from all 50 states, so If a roaster is from a state we don’t currently carry, it heavily influences us in reaching out to try their coffee.
Let’s talk about the Honey and Roses Aesthetic: what was the main inspiration, because you clearly have an aesthetic (boho, beachy, etc.) How would you sum it up?
It’s such a blend. I would say it’s Moroccan, tropical, bohemian and contemporary. I have been heavily influenced by traveling and exploring the world. I love incorporating pieces of art and my travels in my home and office. And I think that translates to the business.
Advertisements
I saw Honey and Roses did New York and San Francisco coffee festival last year, how was that?
It was awesome. We were just starting out and it was the first advertising and project we participated in. It was really gratifying to see something we were just creating come to life. You also get access to a very different customer base and it was amazing to see the real coffee drinkers, loving our newly founded brand and roasters coffee.
Would you do something like that again?
I think we would if it was safe. It was truly a blast and we learned a lot. I also have to give credit to Joe. I was in the hospital during the second festival and he handled it all on his own and never complained. It was really amazing to watch, even from a distance.
Advertisements
There are a couple side projects I’ve seen stemming from Honey and Roses:Travel Blog (with recipes and other travel posts) and a go fund me page for COVID relief would you mind talking about them a bit?
We really wanted to create a community and blog from the beginning. We want to share more than just products with people and we felt like recipes would be a great place to start. We have created a few series, including coffee around the world. Highlighting a different coffee and breakfast recipe from a new country each week. This has been a really fun way to give people the experience of traveling, without leaving their homes. If you look at how Dalgona coffee spread across the globe in popularity, we hope to replicate that on a smaller scale and share fun new food and coffee recipes with our customers.
Advertisements
I mean I was on it (the blog) last night and I saw one that was a maple cold foam.. I was like omg I want to try that!
It’s truly amazing. It’s such a mix between sweet and savory and really compliments a more bitter and acidic cold brew perfectly.
Anything exciting coming ahead that you can hint to? I think you mentioned maybe expanding some of the homeware?
Yeah it’s just been quite difficult with everything going on in the world and we have been hit with several delays. We are planning on expanding our home collection and improving our coffee marketplace, but it will take time and funding. We have lots of projects and ideas in the works and will be launching a kickstarter campaign in the next couple of months.
Big thanks to Ella for sitting down with me, especially with everything going on right now in the world.
I hope you guys learned something ant that it even sparked your interest to go check these guys out!
Let’s be real, making coffee at home can get intimidating. There’s so many different products and techniques to go about brewing at home. You could just go the simple route and use a keurig or another kind of machine that makes the coffee for you but where’s the fun in that?
I’m here to help make it simple.
Advertisements
My method of choice is pour over. It’s as simple as it sounds: you pour hot water over coffee grinds and that’s it for the most part. Of course there are actual techniques to do the pour over method properly (like wetting the filter before hand, letting the grinds bloom, etc). If you’re interested in a detailed post about pour over techniques let me know!!
First and foremost you’re going to need to choose if you want to tackle whole beans or already pre-ground coffee. Pre-ground coffee does really decrease the flavors and quality of the coffee (in my opinion). I chose to purchase whole beans and ground them by the cup before each use.
HA! you can tell I don’t clean mine very often… oopsies.
A battery-powered, lightweight scale that precisely weighs out my preferred coffee bean to water ratio. It is a bit pricier but after the amount of people who recommended this to me I couldn’t help but want to test it out. I didn’t use one for the longest time (as you can also weigh out your beans and water by volume) but this has been a GAME CHANGER in increasing my precision.
I felt that doing pour over by volume instead of weight was really just me eyeballing how much water to use and crossing my fingers hoping it turned out okay. Furthermore, measuring coffee by volume didn’t make much sense to me (here comes my science background) because different roasts and beans of different origins have different densities. Anyway, do what makes you happy!!! This is just my methodology of choice.
The perfect, balanced cup of coffee starts with accurate tools so I can definitely recommend this grinder for you to try. It’s the perfect durable and budget friendly grinder (its only $14 right now). With the adjustable grind settings it’s helped each bean grind consistently so the flavor gets captured evenly throughout. It’s also super quiet so it helps when I’m up early in the morning for my first cup of the day.
In the past I used a different grinder without anyway to adjust the settings so I was kinda just spitballing it. As you can guess, that didn’t turn out the greatest for me as each grind was a different size and shape…… so let’s stick to a grinder with settings shall we!!!!
Don’t you just get frustrated when you can’t get the last of the coffee grounds out of your grinder?
This cheap $5 purchase has really helped me fix that issue. It’s super budget friendly and obviously aims to clean your grinder as well! Just a little tool to help you out along the way.
When I first started really caring about the quality of my coffee at home, I got a much cheaper pour over maker to start. But once the day came where my brother accidentally shattered it, I knew it was a sign to drop a bit more money to get the one that was better quality. My thought process in choosing a Chemex is that I always saw them for sale at my local coffee shops, so I guess that planted the seed.
Nonetheless, I have only good things to say about it. Chemex does sell smaller ones (like 3-cup) and also larger ones (like 8-cup). They are made of a super sturdy glass. I’ve had mine for months now and I never ran into any issues with scratches or cracks or anything. It’s just a great classic coffee maker.
5.Pour Over Filters
After trial & error, I can whole-heartedly recommend purchasing the paper filters made, in fact, for the Chemex.
Advertisements
Unfortunately it seems they are sold out on amazon but I get mine at my local whole foods! These filters are super sturdy and I’ve never had them fall through or break in the middle of a pour (which has happened to me with other filters).
Also there is a much more sustainable route with reusable filters but I have yet to find one of those I like using. So any recommendations let me know in the comments!!
Advertisements
There you have it! My 5 must haves to make the perfect cup of coffee at home (besides the coffee)!
*NOTE* the amazon links are affiliate links! So using them does support me and my coffee addiciton.
Let me know if you’d be interested in a detailed post of my favorite roasters and blends to enjoy at home! I did a mini one over on my instagram.
Quality coffee is important to me. Also, I don’t want to waste my money on bad, burnt, and watery coffee.
We all know that coffee can get expensive too so here are some of the things I really look at before choosing where to spend my money and give my time. I especially look for all of these things when traveling.
Before I get into it, I have posted a lot about my favorite places on my instagram.
Advertisements
Advertisements
If I had to pick one thing I always always do and make of is this first thing.
Their social media presence (especially instagram)!! I know theres the whole thing about not judging a book by its cover but seriously, think about it: if you go on a coffee shop’s instagram and you see they are being tagged in a lot of photos… what does that tell you? and most importantly, if you see lots of photos of latte art… what does that tell you?
Itsure tells me that:
Customers find their experience good enough to post about.
Their baristas are well trained if they are able to get the perfect micro-foam with espresso-based beverages. If I see a lot of photos showcasing the barista’s talent & precision, I find that very appealing. I typically do not go for cafes where every coffee drink is hidden in whipped cream and syrup.
Once looking at a cafe’s aesthetic visually, I usually will then see if they have a website to look at a menu.
2. Their menu!! I know not every cafe has a menu posted, and not that it is a necessary thing either. But again, it helps me get a feel for how the shop views quality. If the menu is filled with lots of sugary syrups and other fillers to hide the quality of the coffee, I am most likely not interested. UNLESS it seems that they make their own syrups or use more natural sweeteners for their drinks.
This is a huge thing to get a feel of a cafe once you first walk into it too. What’s their menu like? What care do they put into creating their menu?
This last thing is more geared towards once you get to the cafe.
Advertisements
3. The overall experience you get when walking in!! What is the vibe you’re getting? What kind of tools are behind the counter to ensure quality? If a barista is making coffee, what are they doing? what sounds do you hear when they are frothing milk for an espresso? does it sound like a dying cat, or does it sound like a smooth hum?
I think of these things once I enter a cafe. Even if they had a great social media and online presence, if I walk in and I see, feel or hear things that don’t give me a good feeling I will save my money and go somewhere else 🙂
I just wanted to mention that this post is inspired by one I saw last week. I really enjoyed reading it so here’s my take on the topic.
Do you guys look at a shop’s social media before going? Is that important to you?
Advertisements
Advertisements
Thanks for reading. I’m hoping to post a lot more coffee guides like this one of cities and other places I’ve travelled around to.
I tried this trend a little while ago but it was definitely something different! Basically if you haven’t seen this all over social media its Dalgona Coffee/Whipped Coffee. Theres only three ingredients and it originated in Korea I think.
Advertisements
All you need is:
hot coffee (or I used hot coffee, my favorite coffee right now is Deovcion over in Brooklyn)
instant coffee (I used trader joe’s instant colombian coffee)
some sort of sweetener (I was planning on using coconut sugar but didn’t realize I was out so I used maple syrup for a more natural sweetener)
All of the recipes I’ve seen recommend equal parts of all three of those things (I did 1Tbsp each). All you do is throw it in a bowl and whip it, or if you’re lucky use an electric mixer! It took a while even with my electric mixer for the consistency to turn foamy and airy.
I used a liquid sweetener which does work but if I used normal cane sugar I easily would have gotten a thicker foam (but you do you). I was curious to see if I could take my own spin on what was going around.
I would say overall this was a successful experiment. You could easily adjust the recipe to fit your dietary preferences.
Advertisements
Although, the real question is did I actually like it?
To answer it quickly: nope!
My main reasoning is the whip itself (which they say to pour it over some kind of milk and ice) is really potent. Me using hot coffee instead of hot water definitely contributed to it, but mainly it’s cause I never put sweetener in my coffee. I’m use to either black coffee or something like a flat white but I’d have it as is with just the milk and the espresso.
If sweeter, trendier coffee is your thing, then yeah try this out.
Or even if you’re super bored and looking for an easy DIY, then yeah try this out.
Let me know if you’ve tested out this trend and if you liked it below!
This past February (before everything escalated) I met my boyfriend on the west coast of the states and explored SFO, SEA and PDX. Out of the three, I definitely was most impressed with Portland’s coffee scene. There was so much character my heart was so full. Here’s my highlight reel:
Such a cool vibe here, and obviously any coffee shop with a mural has a gold star in my book. Talented baristas and welcoming staff. A super bright space not far from Chinatown. Kind of felt like I was entering into a footlocker/michael-jordan-basketball-kind-of-vibe.
They have a couple locations but this one was super convenient to get to in center city. It genuinely took everything in my not to buy all those cute mugs. Here was a big hotspot for getting work done (one of the true giveaways of how good the coffee shop is).
Again, super talented baristas and a super bright, light space. I talked a bit more about here in an instagram post here.
If theres one thing I found the most interesting about this city is how many coffee shops and cute cafes are attached to hotels or office buildings. It makes some of them harder to find but worth the hunt. There wasn’t really any seating (aimed for more on the go, office runs) but still a treasure find.
Not my favorite oat milk latte I found, but that doesn’t demean the quality of their coffee.
THIS DECOR THO!!!! Another spot hidden in a campus of office buildings (like really hidden)! Such a sweet group of staff. They very recently just opened up and I was so happy to make the trip. It’s not far off from center city. Although it was in an office building there still was a lot of room for seating and pretty quiet too. I could see myself getting a lot of work done just hanging out here.
Let me just say that when you walk into a cafe and there is two photoshoots simultaneously happening that’s when you know it’s a cute ass spot; I can confirm it was. Lots of comfy couches, seats, and tables really filling up the space.
This spot was attached to a fancy hotel and would definitely come back here if I had the chance.
Genuinely was so impressed with Never Coffee that I recently ordered some of their coffee to brew at home during quarantine. Just LOOK at how bright and stunning their space is. The plants and the little cactus make me so happy. Coffee and plants are the best combo. Okay this is a rant but you catch my drift: I really really loved it here.
I have made multiple posts on my instagram about their coffee but I was really impressed with their specialty lattes and drink options. I tried the combo they called “Oregon” and was really into it: not too sweet or heavy. The staff was the most open and welcoming that I encountered on my trip.
If you ever go to Portland you have to come here. That’s that.
I am switching up my content a little bit (trying to get creative with being home). also i’ve been testing out my new Iphone tripod to delve into the whole flatlay world!! first try not terrible?
Advertisements
my next 90 days planner: @savorlifeplanner acts not only as a planner but a place organize my goals, self reflect and have fun with washi tape. the “90 days” is a less intimidating length of time to achieve goals
a journal: i’m still trying my best to get into the habit of journaling!! it’s taking a while but progress is being made (this one is from urban outfitters, not sure if it is still available cause I got it as a gift)
airpods duhhh: my method of choice to keep up with my fave podcasts and multitask. Some of my favorite podcasts have been Gals on the Go, Happy Hour with Gretchen and Pretty Basic.
nintendo ds: everyone talking about all the animal crossing they’ve been doing has gotten me to miss the simpler times of just chilling home on my ds. as much as i adore all my pokémon games, recently nintendogs has been my shit
pinch me: i got this for christmas and with my spiked anxiety at the moment this “therapy dough” is a great tool for me. i’m a big nail biter when it comes to being anxious and nerves and also i can never just do one thing at once. so this has been perfect to keep one of my hands busy (while driving, watching youtube, etc.) and feel 7 again playing with dough
COFFEE: genuinely the real star of my entire life but this coffee SLAPS ok. My current favorite is this “Toro” roast by Devocion in Brooklyn.
—–—> (for all the coffee content check out my instagram) <———
i hope you enjoyed this mini favorites. i’d love to hear some of yours below or dm me!! we’re all in this together ☽
