Simply put, a coffee blend combines roasted beans grown in different regions of the world to create a unique composition of flavor, acidity, and body. Whereas single origin coffees come from a specific farm, cooperative, or region within a country.
It depends on who you ask and what their preferences are. It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too are coffee preferences strictly a matter of personal taste - some coffee drinkers seek novelty and variety in their coffee (single origins), while others prefer a dependable and comfortable routine (blends).
If you're anything like us, you'll grow to love both approaches to coffee and find appropriate occasions for brewing blends and single origin coffees.
If you're still discovering your preferences for coffee, consider taking our Coffee Quiz, which will recommend up to three coffees just for you.
Single origin coffees can be exciting, dynamic, and are the best way to experience the unique flavors of a region's terroir. More often than not, however, single origin coffees are notable for distinct characteristics such as flavor notes, acidity, and body. By combining two or more coffees from different regions, a coffee blend creates an entirely new flavor profile that - when done right - is greater than just the sum of its parts.
Another reason to blend is consistency. Like other agricultural products, coffee has a specific harvest season that varies depending on where it is grown, and you just can't get fresh coffee from a country like Costa Rica all year long. Blends allow us to develop a desired flavor profile and adjust the components throughout the year as needed to create a consistent product that is available year round.
Blends are also a great way to offer a coffee for a specific brewing method such as espresso or cold brew, or for customer's looking for a reliable, consistent flavor profile.
At FreeFrom, our primary goal when blending coffees is to craft a coffee with harmony and balance that can't often be found in a single origin offering.
Blending has been a part of the craft of coffee since the cultivation of coffee spread beyond its native land of East Africa. Dutch colonists are credited with the very first blend, known as Mocha-Java, when they combined the bright, floral, and acidic coffee from Yemen (shipped from the Port of Mokha, or Mocha) with the heavy, rustic, and chocolatey coffees from Java. European coffeehouses won over tea drinkers with the balanced blend, and the global popularity of coffee began.
In the mid 20th Century, during coffee's "first wave" of mass consumption, espresso rose to fame, in no small part due to innovations in blending. Due to shortages of quality green coffee after World War II, the flavor of ubiquitous canned pre-ground coffee suffered greatly. Innovative roasters experimented blending lower-quality Robusta coffee beans with higher-quality, but more scarce, Arabica. By extracting these blends under high-pressure, concentrated espresso was found to highlight acidity in the coffee that was otherwise lacking in the lower-quality beans, making espresso a highly desirable alternative to canned coffee.
In the latter part of the 20th Century, blending continued to evolve and played an important part in coffee's "second wave," in which American companies such as Peets and Starbucks developed blends that provided a well-developed flavor profile that could be reproduced consistently across the country.
Now in coffee's "third wave", where single origin coffees often get the bulk of attention, roasters continue to lean on blends as the foundation of their offerings, and with the abundance of excellent coffee available, now have the opportunity to experiment with new and interesting combinations to create unique flavor profiles.
We're continually experimenting with blending coffees from different origins, but for a blend to make our menu, it takes months of development to get it "just right." We currently offer six blends, each suited for a unique brewing technique or flavor profile.
At FreeForm, our varied selection of seasonal single origin and year-round blend offerings are meant to celebrate the entire spectrum of flavor potential in coffee. We feel confident that there's a FreeForm Coffee to suit the tastes of any coffee drinker. If you'd like to learn more about which coffee is best suited for you, please take our brief Coffee Quiz or feel free to send us a note any time, we'd love to hear from you!
Until next time,
-Daniel
Hi! I'm Daniel Garland - co-founder, head roaster, green coffee buyer, and generally over-caffeinated coffee enthusiast of FreeForm Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee roaster in Sedona, Arizona. Email me anytime
]]>What is coffee processing and how does it relate to flavor in your brewed cup? As with so much in the craft and science of coffee, the topic is deep, complex, and nuanced, but I'll do my best here to provide a general overview of the most popular methods in the hopes of providing a solid baseline understanding of coffee processing for any coffee lover, regardless of where you are on your specialty coffee journey.
In the simplest terms, a coffee's "processing method" describes the techniques used by a coffee producer to isolate the coffee seed (also known as the coffee bean) from the surrounding fruit and prepare it for export and roasting.
Because coffee cherries are processed in large quantities (a single cup of coffee requires 100 or more coffee beans), producers have developed systems that isolate, clean, and dry the coffee seeds en masse. The technique a producer chooses to employ is called the processing method.
To some, it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that coffee is the seed of a fruit, known as a coffee cherry. Like the common cherry fruit we all love, the coffee cherry has an outer skin that protects a juicy sweet fruit layer, with a seed in the center. If you've ever tried to pit a cherry (or other stone fruit for that matter), you'll know that the seed tends to cling to the outer fruit layer (called mucilage in coffee cherries) and can't simply be removed easily, clean and free of the fruit. Since with coffee cherries, the prize of the fruit is the seed, getting the seed free from the fruit, cleanly and efficiently, is the goal of processing.
Coffee cherries have 6 main layers of material:
1. Skin - the outer layer that protects the fruit inside
2. Pulp - a watery, sugary layer attached to the inside of the skin
3. Mucilage - a sweet, goopy layer attached to the seed
4. Parchment - a final protective layer, or hull, surrounding the seed
5. Silverskin - a light, papery skin outerlayer of the seed
6. Green Coffee Seed(s) - the coffee bean we all know and love
Almost all coffee cherries have two seeds within, with the exception of "peaberry" coffee, a genetic mutation in which only single rounded seed develops inside the cherry.
In preparing coffee cherries for export, coffee seeds are processed through some or all of the following stages:
Washed Process, also known as Wet Process, is by far this is the most common processing method used because of the producer's ability to control variables, the relative ease of constructing a washing station, and the dependability of quality and flavor. Historically, the washed process has been employed in regions that have ample water supply or a climate that is too rainy for sun drying, however these days, washed coffees are produced anywhere coffee is grown.
Harvested coffee cherries are floated in water to sort for ripeness and immediately depulped, removing the majority of the skin and pulp from the seed. Depulped coffee is then typically moved to fermentation tanks to soak in water for a set period of time, typically a full day. During the soaking time, naturally occurring yeasts on the fruit and in the air (sometimes commercially developed yeasts are added too), populate in the solution and ferment the depulped coffee seeds. This fermentation process releases the remaining mucilage from the seed. The washed seeds are then drained and sometimes washed again, and set out to be dried on large drying patios, raised beds, or drying machines. The producer or mill rotates the drying seeds on regular intervals to ensure even drying and prevent molding until the desired moisture level is achieved.
Chances are that Washed Process coffees are what you are most familiar with as a coffee drinker. Washed Process coffees typically have a clean and bright character, the flavor of which is primarily dictated by the variety of the coffee plant and the terroir in which it was grown.
In the past, Natural Process coffees were the domain of East Africa and other regions with less plentiful water supply. Today, Natural Process coffees are produced just about anywhere coffee is grown.
Harvested coffee cherries are floated in water and sorted for ripeness, then spread out on concrete patios, or preferably, on raised beds of breathable material to increase airflow around the fruit. As the coffee cherries dry in the sun for up to 6 weeks, they are constantly raked and rotated to reduce the potential for spoilage and bruising of the fruit. The sun drying process allows the fruit to naturally release from the coffee seeds, while the extended time in the cherry seems to allow the seed to soak up some of the flavor from the surrounding fruit.
Natural Process coffees typically exhibit fruit-forward flavor notes and floral aromatics due to the extended contact time with the surrounding fruit. With less control over the fermentation environment, some Natural Process coffees can have "funky" fermentation flavors, which may or may not be appealing to all coffee drinkers. Many coffee lovers cite Natural Process coffees as their "aha moment," when beginning to discover the flavor potential in coffee.
At the risk of over-simplifying things, it helps to think of the Honey Process as a blend of Natural and Washed processes. Commonly employed in Brazil, Honey Process has become a popular technique for producer experimentation around the world.
Harvested coffees are floated in water to sort for ripeness and like the Washed process, they are immediately depulped to remove the skin and pulp. However, instead of following depulping with a fermentation process in water, the coffee seeds are allowed to sun dry and ferment in the open air with some of the fruit mucilage still clinging to the seed. The sticky mucilage surrounding the bean is reminiscent of honey, which is where the process gets its name.
During the drying process, the mucilage begins to dry and darkens in color. As it darkens, it becomes a golden yellow color, and if left to continue to dry, the shade becomes more reddish, and eventually black. The color of the dried mucilage at the time the producer ends the drying process is often referred to as "Yellow Honey," "Red Honey," or "Black Honey."
Honey Process coffees typically have great complexity, often requiring a lighter roast so as not to obscure the delicate flavors and aromatics. Many Honey Process coffees showcase a light fruitiness with the clean and bright character of a Washed Process coffee. Some Honey Process coffees have deeper savory flavor notes, and hints of wine-like "booziness."
If you've been paying attention to specialty coffee trends over the past few years, you may have noticed Anaerobic Fermentation as a processing method has exploded in popularity with producers and roasters alike.
Anaerobic Fermentation is more of a tweak on existing processing methods than a new method altogether. As with the Washed Process, harvested coffee cherries are placed into a water-filled container for fermentation, but in the case of Anaerobic processed coffees, this container is sealed to create a low oxygen or oxygen-free environment. The lack of oxygen in the fermentation environment encourages the population of yeasts that thrive in an anaerobic environment and discourages the growth of yeasts that thrive on oxygen. The goal is to introduce unique flavors in the coffee that would not otherwise be present in an oxygen-rich environment.
Anaerobic Fermentation typically creates bright, crisp, and clean coffees with strong fruit notes from the fermentation process.
A technique borrowed from the wine industry, Carbon Maceration is a processing method in which the whole harvested cherries soak in water in an airtight stainless steel barrel that is purged of oxygen as it is filled with carbon dioxide. The cherries are thought to ferment from the "inside-out" and it is said that Carbonic Maceration encourages the development of more aromatics.
Carbonic Maceration typically creates bright and wine-like coffees, with strong aromatics and notes of red fruit. For better or worse, Carbonic Maceration often results in coffees with lower acidity.
Like Anaerobic Fermentation, Fruit Fermented coffees are fermented in a sealed container to promote the population of yeasts that thrive in an anaerobic environment. As an added step, Fruit Fermentation (sometimes referred Anaerobic Impregnation) introduces non-coffee additives to the fermentation tank. These additions often include fruits, molasses, or spices that are grown in the same region as the coffee, such as pineapple, orange, grapes, and herbs.
Fruit Fermentation has also been experimented with Honey Process coffees, wherein the fruit is added to the coffee seeds as it is turned during the drying process.
Fruit Fermentation typically results in coffees that have pronounced fruit flavors that are instantly recognizable, due to the inclusion of non-coffee fruits. While there is some debate about whether or not Fruit Fermentation belongs in specialty coffee, there is no denying the unmistakable uniqueness of these coffees.
Coffee processing methods are one of the tools at a coffee producer's disposal that can be used to modulate and highlight the flavors that - with the exception of Fruit Fermentation - already exist within their coffee. As a roaster, I tend to think of processing methods as different expressions of the same coffee, and consider it my duty to roast the coffees in such a way so that the producer's intended expression is revealed in your brewed cup.
While all coffees will express themselves in their own unique way due to their variety and terroir, here's a broad generalization of coffee processing methods and the flavors they tend to encourage:
This is, of course, a trick question, because there is no correct answer here. Washed Process is by far the most commonly-used processing method, with Natural Process coming in as the second most used process and Honey Process at a distant third. Experimental processes are still somewhat of a niche technique, but their popularity is growing rapidly to satisfy the increasing interest from consumers in innovation.
Just like different roast levels and coffee origins, the preferences of coffee drinkers are all across the board. My recommendation is to try a lot of different coffee and different processes and decide what you're drawn to. If you're anything like me, you'll love them all!
Any specialty coffee roaster who cares about transparency will label their coffee with the processing method used to prepare that particular coffee. Not only is it preferable as a consumer to have as much information as possible about your coffee, it's also a useful shortcut to generally know what to expect before buying a coffee, and helpful to buy or avoid certain processing methods that you enjoy or dislike.
At FreeForm Coffee, all of our coffees list the processing method on our labels next to the roast level. Our website offers the option to filter our current coffees by processing method, or simply follow the links below to browse coffee by process:
Coffee processing is an important and exciting part of the coffee bean's journey from the farm to your cup. We're fortunate to be living in the golden age of coffee, with improvements to farming and new innovations in processing continually pushing the craft of coffee forward. Whichever coffee processing method you prefer, I hope this (entirely too long) article has helped you to better understand coffee processing and its effect on your cup of coffee.
Until next time,
-Daniel
Daniel Garland is the co-founder and head roaster of FreeForm Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee roaster in Sedona, Arizona.
]]>There is one downside, however... how do you choose a coffee without tasting it first? Until they develop the technology to transmit a coffee's flavor through the screen, we've got the next best thing - a quiz!
Just answer 7 simple questions about your preferences on our FreeForm Coffee Buyer's Quiz and through the magic of technology, we'll recommend up to three of our coffees just for you!
It takes just a minute or two and you don't need to jump through any hoops or share any of your information with us.
Give it spin and let us know what you think!
]]>Brew yourself a cup and get comfy, we hope it's a fun listen and that you learn a bit more about FreeForm Coffee as well as the great work Tyler is doing with Roamers Coffee Club.
If you enjoy tasting a variety of coffees and being introduced to new and upcoming coffee roasters, consider joining Roamers Coffee Club for what we consider the best curated coffee subscription on the market.
]]>AeroPress is one of the most versatile, travel-friendly, and durable coffeemakers on the market. It has developed a cult-like following, international competitions, and can brew many different types of coffee many different ways. Below we'll share 8 compelling reasons why every coffee lover should have an AeroPress in their gear kit. If you haven't already, check out our previous post on why AeroPress Go is the ultimate travel coffeemaker.
To me, without a doubt, the number one reason to own an AeroPress is its portability. Once you've fallen down the rabbit hole of specialty coffee, it's pretty tough to slug down burnt, stale coffee from hotel lobbies, ubiquitous coffee chains, or (gasp!) gas stations. As widespread as specialty coffee has become, it can still be hard to find a quality cup of coffee while traveling. Bringing a large or expensive brewer, a mug, paper filters, and a kettle with you is a lot to pack, unpack, and clean. The AeroPress can be thrown in your duffel bag, tossed in a backpack, or stashed in your glove compartment without adding much noticeable weight and all within a self-contained package.
With an AeroPress, the only additional things you need to bring are coffee and hot water. If you have the space and are so inclined, it's nice to also have a hand grinder (or pre-grind your beans) and a scale, but use the Aeropress a few times at home with scale and you'll be able to approximate pretty closely on the road with just the coffee scoop and volume markers on the tube. A water kettle is also, of course ideal, but unless you're out backpacking, hot water is usually pretty easy to find in your mother-in-law's kitchen, hotel lobbies or even those one cup brewers in a hotel room (without the coffee).
AeroPress clean up is also a breeze, which is another great feature while traveling. Simply push the plunger all the way through the tub to satisfyingly pop the coffee puck out of the end, give a quick rinse (or even a good wipe) to the rubber end, and you're good until tomorrow. Do find time to gently wash the AeroPress with warm water and soap when you can however, it will maintain the quality of your brew and extend the life of the components.
Not only is the AeroPress the most portable coffee brewer on the market, it may also be the most durable. Made entirely of BPA-free polyproylene and rubber, AeroPress is virtually indestructible in every day brewing. How many fancy glass carafes and brewers have you broken in the sink? Sadly, I've broken more than I can count, and that's what make's the AeroPress' portability so great - you don't ever have to worry about it breaking. And guess what - in the off chance that you do break (or wear out) a component of the brewer, Aeropress graciously sells each and every part as an individual replacement item at a very fair price. Which brings me to my next point...
The AeroPress is one of the most affordable brewing devices on the market, especially given the number of features it offers. With AeroPress Go, you get a brewing device, 50 paper filters, a filter carrier, a coffee scoop, collapsible stirring stick, and a coffee mug for just over $30! Did you run out of filters? Another stack of 350 filters will set you back five bucks. Pair that with the fact that due to its durability, you won't likely have to purchase one ever again, and it's easy to see why AeroPress makes so much sense from an affordability standpoint.
How many coffee brewing devices can you experiment with to produce vastly different types of coffee - from espresso to filter coffee, from full bodied to light and bright? Not many, if any. What coffees brewers can you use right side up as well as upside down? Just the AeroPress. The beauty of the versatility is that the AeroPress gives you unlimited opportunity to shake things up and to experiment with different brewing techniques. You'll never get stuck in a rut or routine with AeroPress, that is, unless you want to.
Maybe you're not out traveling, but you're busy and don't have all morning for an elaborate brewing routine. AeroPress is the fastest manual brewing method out there. Depending on your preferred method, a well-brewed cup of coffee can be made in the AeroPress in as little as 3-5 minutes - and that includes prep and cleanup!
Perhaps the most important reason to own an AeroPress is simply because it brews great coffee. To be sure, great coffee is brewed requires the right technique, but as far as manual brewing devices go, the AeroPress is a foolproof as they come. AeroPress is the coffeemaker that will grow with you throughout your process of learning to make better coffee. It can open up your palate to the unique nuanced flavors of natural processed coffees or satisfy the calling of a rich, rounded cup of comfort. Whatever kind of coffee you're interested in brewing, the AeroPress can do it.
Are you a seasoned AeroPress pro or a newcomer to specialty coffee looking to dabble in manual brewing? Either way, I believe an AeroPress is right for you. Please feel free to share your experiences and preferences brewing with AeroPress in the comments below, on social media, or directly via email. As always, we'd love to hear from you and we're here to support you in making better coffee at home any way we can.
Until next time, happy sipping!
]]>The AeroPress Go coffeemaker is somewhat of an anomaly when it comes to great manual coffee brewing equipment. It isn't exceedingly attractive, shiny, or gear-lust-worthy. It wasn't invented by a Japanese craftsman or a World Barista Champion, and its original intended use isn't really how anyone uses it these days. So, what's all the fuss about anyway? The secret lies in its portability and versatility.
Remember that part in The Little Mermaid when Ariel sang about all the human trinkets she had collected?
"I've got gizmos and gadgets a-plenty. I've got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty! But who cares? No big deal, I want more."
Well, the deeper we fall in love with coffee, the easier it becomes to amass quite the collection of coffee gear. Before you know it, your kitchen counters (and cabinets, and drawers) can to look like Ariel's cluttered underwater keepsakes cavern.
Trust me, I'm drawn to shiny new toys as much as anyone (especially if they brew coffee), but when I'm out of the house for travel, camping, or just visiting the in-laws, it just isn't practical to bring all my "thingamabobs" with me. Nor are many home coffee brewing tools easy to use in the woods, beach, or hotel room.
What if there were one brewing device you could take with you wherever you go and excels at producing just about any kind of coffee you'd want to brew? There is, and it's called the AeroPress Go.
The AeroPress has as unlikely of an origin story as any coffee-related product on the market. AeroPress is the brainchild of inventor Alan Adler, best known for his previous work with Aerobie, a manufacturer of frisbees among other sports toys - yeah, that Aerobie. Originally released in 2005, AeroPress was conceived as a simple and affordable way to brew espresso-like coffee beverages. A small, tube-shaped brewing vessel is matched with a tight fitting, rubber-ended plunger to mimic the process of espresso extraction. Think of it as an oversized syringe without the needle and you get the picture.
Mr. Adler, a tinkerer and inventor who holds 40 patents, wanted to find a way to brew a good cup of coffee with reduced bitterness and a quicker brew time. He found that a full-immersion brewing technique like a French Press created a fuller, more rounded flavor profile while the high pressure extraction from a plunger pushing the water through coffee in closed chamber could speed up the brew.
Suffice to say, the coffee industry didn't immediately embrace the strange looking plastic coffee maker from an inventor of toys. Over time, however, this started to change. As Adler and his team demonstrated the AeroPress at trade shows, the proof was in the cup and word began to spread.
As coffee geeks are wont to do, people began experimenting with the AeroPress, finding new and creative ways to use it to brew. In 2008, the first World AeroPress Championship was held in Oslo, and continues to grow in popularity every year. In 2018, our nearby friends at Ren Tao Roasting even held a well-attended regional AeroPress competition in Sedona!
Recently, AeroPress released the "AeroPress Go" model, which in the opinion of this writer, is the best AeroPress yet. The entire product - complete with paper filters, cup, stirrer, and brewing device - nests within itself for a singular, easy to carry item, making AeroPress a truly portable all-in-one solution for brewing great coffee on the go.
AeroPress is a hybrid brewing technique - part immersion brewing and part high pressure extraction, with a paper filter for a clean cup. What does that taste like? Well, unlike a French Press that will always produce full bodied and rich coffee, or a pour over that will typically highlight a coffee's brightness and acidity, AeroPress brewing techniques can be adjusted to result in just about any type of cup profile. In fact, the AeroPress can even brew outstanding iced coffee!
If all this sounds complicated, don't worry - it's not. Brewing coffee with AeroPress can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be, and with just a few simple steps anyone can brew a high quality cup.
Ironically, AeroPress was originally designed to brew espresso, but to be honest, that's not what it does best. Most coffee lovers and baristas these days use a variation of one of two AeroPress brewing methods: Standard and Inverted (upside down). We've got a section of our site entirely dedicated to coffee brewing guides, and we'll be continually updating our site with AeroPress brewing recipes, so be sure to check out our tips and tricks for AeroPress brewing, as well as our other favorite techniques. To get started, however, here's a great simple recipe to get you started from legendary Norweigan coffee roaster, Tim Wendelboe:
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- Rinse the paper filter with running tap water for a few seconds.
- Use 14 grams of freshly fine filter ground coffee
- Pour 200g of water at boiling temperature over the coffee.
- Stir 3 times.
- Place the plunger on the Aeropress in order to prevent the water from draining through the filter and let the coffee steep for 60 seconds.
- After 60 seconds of steeping time, take the plunger off and stir 3 times back to front.
- Then place the plunger on top of the Aeropress and press the contents into a large cup or pitcher by using your body weight. (Don’t over press)
"This may be a strange question, but I am gluten intolerant, a true Celiac, and I would like to know if you actually add caramel and graham crackers to the roasting of the beans," she asked.]]>
We received an amazing email this week that really got us thinking. A customer wrote for clarification on the tasting notes we've written about our Stargazer dark roast blend, which we describe as having notes of caramel, hazelnut, and graham cracker:
"This may be a strange question, but I am gluten intolerant, a true Celiac, and I would like to know if you actually add caramel and graham crackers to the roasting of the beans," she asked.
The short answer, of course, is that we would never add anything to our coffees! In fact, our primary goal in roasting is to showcase coffee as it is, and to highlight its distinct attributes through gentle and precise roasting. It is our assumption and hope that most of you reading this understand the intention behind publishing tasting notes on coffees, but this recent email was a stark reminder of the folly in making assumptions and revealed a considerable blind spot in our communication with our customers. So it seems only appropriate that we take a moment to discuss coffee tasting notes, and our approach to describing the unique characteristics of the coffees we offer.
Drinking coffee is often more of a ritual than a sensorial experience. We may drink coffee to start our day or to take a break in the middle of it. Usually our attention is invested in the goings on around us, the planning of a day, or the people with whom we are sharing a conversation. One of the many things we love about coffee, however, is that when given a bit of focus, truly tasting the coffee you drink can deepen your appreciation of the beverage and even connect you with the place it was grown in a way that few other things can.
From a technical perspective, the process of tasting coffee occurs in both our mouths and our noses. Our tongues tend to detect relatively basic characteristics such as sweetness, acidity, and bitterness, while our noses are responsible for unlocking the "flavors" of a coffee, such as chocolate, berries, or toasted nuts. For most coffee lovers beginning a deeper dive in the appreciation of coffee tasting, these two experiences are often completely intertwined, but as you taste a variety of coffees, a palate for the intricacies of coffee can develop and soon what once tasted like a cup of coffee, is now a complex array of flavors and texture.
Tasting coffee is one of the most important parts of our job; we rely on our taste analysis for purchasing decisions as well as evaluating our roasts. Before a coffee reaches your mug, it has been "cupped" (a term used for a particular, somewhat standardized, method of tasting coffee) many times in its journey from farm to cup. Cupping is a fun, educational experience, and similar to a wine tasting flight, offers an opportunity to taste several coffees at the same time, which helps tremendously in detecting the differences between coffees. We hope to open our roastery for regular public cuppings down the road, and I imagine we'll dedicate another journal entry entirely to the practice of cupping soon.
One of the best first steps in learning to taste coffee is referring to a "Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel" like the image below. This circular graphic helps in identifying the nuanced flavors of coffee by first choosing a broad category in the center, such as "fruity" or "floral." These larger categories are then refined into sub-categories, and often to an even finer, more specific description. You can find versions of this graphic online to print out for reference, or you can purchase the official Specialty Coffee Association Flavor Wheel.
There are a number of things to look for when tasting a coffee, but for our purposes, when evaluating a coffee we are assessing five main traits:
Some coffees may have more or less acidity, lighter or heavier body, fruitier or earthier flavor, and rather than judging a coffee based on these attributes and grading a coffee "better or worse" in our assessment, we like to think of it as trying to understand the coffee. We may base our buying decision on what we like, but as we tend to like a variety of flavor profiles, we try to find coffees that have a diversity of traits across the spectrum in the hopes that our customers find one that suits their preferences.
Each of our listings online and labels on our coffee bags describe the different characteristics that we've noticed while cupping the coffees. While far from complete, we hope that these tasting notes serve as a preview of what's in the bag and a starting point for your own tasting journey.
You may see a coffee from Ethiopia described as having notes of blueberry, jasmine, and chocolate, whereas a Peruvian coffee advertises Raisin, Plum, and Brown Sugar. Where do these flavors come from and why are they there?
I find that one of the easiest ways to talk about coffee tasting notes is comparing coffee to wine. The analogies between the two beverages are many, but for our purposes today let's talk about flavor. Most people are familiar with the fact that Cabernet Sauvignon has a different character than Pinot Noir. Additionally, a Pinot Noir produced in California will be different from one from Burgundy, France. Even two Pinot Noirs from the same region, but grown at different elevations, or with different viticultural techniques, or aged in different vessels will vary drastically from one another. The exact same comparisons can be made about coffee.
In very basic terms, the flavor character of a coffee relies on these general factors, in no particular order:
Just as any winemaker will tell you, "Great wine is made in the field," great coffee starts with quality production at origin. The climate, elevation, and farming techniques have a significant impact on the quality and character of a coffee. It is fair to say that, generally speaking, coffees from a particular coffee often share a similar flavor profile, though many exceptions exists and quality ranges greatly.
Like the varieties of wine in our example above, the Arabica species of coffee has many different genetic varieties that have either mutated or been selected through breeding. Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, SL-28, Gesha, Villa Sarchi, and Pacamara are a few of the most well known varieties, but there are plenty of others including wild heirloom varieties and new experimental varieties in the works. Each variety is chosen not only for its own distinct flavor characteristics, but also for its compatibility with a given climate or growing region.
Processing the coffee cherry into a green seed ready for roasting may have one of the largest impact on coffee flavor. Some regions are known for dry, or natural, processing where the coffee is left to dry in the sun, which tends to impart a fruitiness to the coffee due to keeping the surrounding fruit mucilage in tact for several days. Other countries are known for washing their coffees immediately after harvest, essentially removing the fruit right away through a process of fermentation. Countless other variations of processing have become popular, and today you will find nearly all processing techniques being used in every country.
Finally, roasting technique and the degree to which a coffee is roasted has a considerable effect on the flavor of a coffee. Many roasters have made their name by creating distinct and consistent roast profiles across their coffees - ever wonder why Starbucks always tastes like Starbucks? Other roasters, ourselves included, like to think of roasting as the act of revealing the true nature of the coffee, rather than imparting any "roast flavor" on the coffee. We find certain coffees shine when roasted light, and others perform well under more heat and darker profiles. Each decision made while roasting can have an impact on the resulting flavor of the coffee, and we take this very seriously in our attempt to showcase the coffee and tell its story.
I find coffee tasting notes to be helpful and even fun at times, but no tasting note can fully describe such a complex and interesting beverage. Placing too much focus on a nuanced flavor may lead to missing the big picture. Some roasters go so far as to describe a coffee as tasting like kumquat, Dutch baking chocolate, or mossy tree bark (I've tasted it!), but what if you've never had a kumquat or are allergic to the food it is purported to taste like? There's a limit to the value of overly specific tasting notes.
Another area where tasting notes fall short is the fact that every person has a different palate. What tastes good to one, may taste bland to another; one man's bittersweet chocolate is another man's black tea. I've had cupping sessions where one person couldn't get the taste of cherry cola out of their head, while the other couldn't detect it. Tasting is an individual journey.
Tasting notes in coffee are also typically very nuanced and subliminal. Does our Congo Twende taste like orange juice? Absolutely not. But, somewhere deep in the depths of the coffee's complex chemical makeup there seems to be a compound that reminds us of something we've tasted in fresh squeezed orange juice. That is all. The coffee still mainly tastes like coffee, with a few unique hints of other recognizable flavors for interest.
For these reasons and more, we try to publish broad, generally agreeable, tasting notes as a starting point for diving deeper into the coffee. We try to refrain from specific and *** descriptions, and prefer rather to note a category such as chocolate, berries, citrus, or floral when we can.
The beauty of coffee is you can take it as seriously as you want, or don't want. It's a wonderful beverage that wakens the mind, stirs the soul, connects you with the wonders of our environment... or it's just a warm, comforting start to your day. How deep you dive into the journey of tasting coffee is up to you!
We'll keep on tasting and sharing our thoughts on the coffees we offer, but please take them or leave them as you see fit, and know that in the end it's still just coffee after all. Just remember one thing, we will never put anything in your coffee other than the beautifully complex and interesting coffee bean we love to roast.
Have thoughts on coffee tasting notes? We'd love to hear them! Leave a comment below or shoot us an email anytime to start a conversation.
Happy sipping!
-Daniel
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Twende CooperativeOrigin: Democratic Republic of CongoRegion: South KivuProducer: Twende CooperativeVariety: BourbonProcess: WashedElevation: 1480-2000 meters above sea levelCertifications: Organic, Fair Trade |
Shop Twende Co-op |
If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll know that while we’ve rarely met a coffee we didn’t like, we have a particular affinity for coffees grown in Africa. East Africa, and Ethiopia in particular, is commonly regarded as the original birthplace of coffee, and perhaps there’s something about that ancient connection to coffee’s origins that makes African coffees so special. Perhaps more quantifiably, however, specialty grade coffees grown in Africa are widely praised for their complexity of flavor and depth of nuance. There’s also such a wide variety of flavor profiles to discover – from the iconic berry notes of natural processed Ethiopian coffees, to the bright tangy acidity of Kenya, the full body and deep fruit notes of Burundi, and the bittersweet chocolate and spice tones of Yemen. So, it may come as no surprise that we were quite excited about our first foray into coffee from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Once a thriving industry, coffee production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (or DRC for short) was nationalized in the 1970s and grew to an annual production of 120,000 tonnes per year in the early 1990s[1]. Post-colonial civil wars that have claimed up to six million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition[2], understandably affected the earning potential for coffee farmers and thus greatly reduced the production of coffee in the DRC.
Near constant war eliminated producers' ability to export their coffees, and those that continued to work in coffee often their unprocessed beans to neighboring countries for processing and export. Not only was this less profitable, but also dangerous – many farmers in the Lake Kivu region resorted to transporting their beans to Rwanda via a two-day trip on a wooden canoe, and an untold number have drowned while attempting the crossing.
Recently, however, the Congolese-led international peace movement to end the mineral conflicts has led to a shift: local economies are slowly transitioning from conflict, returning to ethical and sustainable business practices. Several coffee cooperatives and agencies have formed to help reduce the risk for coffee farmers and to share the burden of processing and export-related expenses. Mighty Peace Coffee, who has brought our Twende Coopertaive lot into the states, is one such organization.
Mighty Peace is a women- and minority-owned social impact coffee company serving 15,000 independent coffee farmers in the DRC, and is directly involved in the country's peace movement. By providing support, education, and sustainable economic opportunities for DRC coffee farmers, Mighty Peace unites communities previously divided by violence and armed conflict.
Our Twende Cooperative offering is certified Fair Trade and Organic, but Mighty Peace is taking the certifications one step further, by creating what they call “Peace Trade.” Peace Trade is defined by three pillars of ethical practices:
Supporting Peace Trade coffees helps stimulate local economies, raises the living standards of farmers, and helps end the cycle of poverty, conflict, and injustice. While the end result is a specialty grade coffee with a relatively high price tag, we think you’ll agree the cause is well worth the increase in costs.
The Coffee
Formed in 2011, Twende Cooperative is comprised of over 2,000 members, exclusively growing the Bourbon variety of coffea arabica at high elevations around the Lake Kivu region of the DRC. Twende is improving the quality of life in the region by creating jobs at newly built washing stations and employing over 150 men and women during the harvest and processing season.
In the cup, Twende Cooperative is spectacular! We find hints of classic tasting notes shared by nearby African countries of Burundi and Rwanda, but also a unique character of its own. There is an astonishing complexity to this coffee, with flavors ranging from notes of toasted malt to sweet orange juice. Soft aromas of vanilla are accented by the sweetness of white chocolate and a finish that reminds us of a great black tea. This coffee seems to unfold as it cools, offering new nuanced flavors each sip.
We’re so pleased to be able to play a small part in supporting positive change in the lives of hardworking Congolese farmers by offering this unique coffee to our friends in Sedona and around the country. This being our first-time sourcing from the DRC, we were only able to secure a limited quantity of Twende Cooperative this year, but having now experienced the delightful specialty coffee from this origin, we know it certainly won’t be the last.
We can’t thank you enough for your support of our roastery, which has not only provided us an opportunity to pursue our passion, but together we are also truly making a difference in the lives of those whose efforts make the simple pleasure of coffee possible. If you enjoy a light-medium roast, complex character, and positive social impact, you may want to treat yourself to a bag of this unique coffee!
[1]https://www.csis.org/analysis/coffee-providing-economic-jolt-eastern-congo
[2]https://perfectdailygrind.com/2019/05/understanding-the-democratic-republic-of-congos-coffee-industry/
]]>"Creativity always seemed to be the North Star when it came to my life directions,” said Andrew Reiland, the creative artist behind our fresh FreeForm Coffee branding and beautiful bag designs. We had admired Andrew’s work for years: as the former Creative Director at Cafe Imports, an independent importer of fine specialty green coffees, we’d come across his work on big burlap coffee bags, promotional posters, informational maps, videos of coffee farmers at origin, and more.
Andrew’s style is unique and soulful, and after meeting him in person on his trips through the southwest to soak up some sun during long Minnesota winters, we knew he was the right guy for the job. We talked yoga, Ram Dass, sacred geometry, communing with nature, and of course, coffee. To find a talented artist with whom we shared so many personal values, and who had the professionalism and follow through to complete our rebranding was a blessing. Just as Andrew was setting out to chart a new path in his career, we, too, were looking to shift the direction of our work and our brand. It was a match made in Sedona.
“I had a fairly artistic background growing up, mainly drawing and playing with clay and such mediums in the raw studio arts. When the communities and places I found myself engaging in started working with new ideas, there would most always be a visual art medium necessary to promote the development of that idea,” described Andrew. “There was a need for artwork, and in the spirit of exploring the ideas, I would apply my basic art background to the concepts.”
Andrew’s creative process was honed as a practice during his teenage years working as a camp counselor at Camp Minikani, a YMCA Camp in southeastern Wisconsin. Tasked with developing games and activities centered around various themes and objectives, innovation and originality were emphasized -- a unique type of problem solving for the summer camp environment. Beyond the scope of summer camp, Andrew found himself developing more artistic skillsets depending on the needs of his community: designing T-shirts, making signs, learning graphic design, making team uniforms, running his own screen-printing company, painting murals, making logos, developing brands, building websites, and producing photos, videos, and packaging for various people and projects.
“I designed a shirt for a high school dance, and a couple months later for the camp that I worked at. This experience kind of compounded a gravitation toward the application of visual arts,” recalled Andrew. “I was intrigued how design and imagery could serve as messaging or branding for an idea, place, or thing. It was art that also had a direct function: it served and communicated ideas. If done right it could communicate something -- feelings or energy -- without words, and sometimes beyond words.
“At the same time, as a bonus, it was something that served the communities and organizations that I was involved with. It was a fulfilling type of connection,” he continued. “This practicality, more subconsciously than intentional, led me to take on both a business degree and a studio art degree in college… two ends of the spectrum that can take a long time to harness, but I have found can be a valuable pairing.”
Merging his artistic abilities with his desire to uplift, enhance, and actively participate in community seems to be a theme for Andrew’s creative work and life path. “I appreciate the connection that creativity makes for in community,” he explained. “Any creative process between two parties is a collaboration, and I view collaboration as a service in community. Working and creating together makes our experiences evolve, and hopefully for the better! This reality that we are creating together through our degrees of collaboration also is the notion of co-creativity.” Aptly, Andrew has recently launched his own design and branding studio: Superwell Co-Creative.
After working as Creative Director at Cafe Imports for five years, a position he playfully refers to as a master’s program for his creative career, he will be able to put to use the valuable photography, videography, and marketing skills he learned on the job to help clients beyond the scope of the coffee industry. “I was thrilled by the opportunity that I had to immerse myself in the industry and tap into the tremendous landscape of culture and global-sociodynamics that coffee co-creates,” he said.
Telling the stories of the people behind the coffees at Cafe Imports was enriching both professionally and spiritually, but Andrew reached a time in his life when he was ready to broaden his horizons. “While I developed to the point where I can wear several different hats in visual design and marketing, my one through-line specialty from the beginning has been creativity itself,” he stated. “I have allowed this broader interest to dictate the directions and mediums of the expression -- which has led to a wide path. Creativity as a North Star makes for a wide path, which means it can have many switchbacks, rugged terrain and uncharted territory, and that’s part of the design… it can't be done solely at a desk.”
Leading a FreeForm life, one of creative expression, means that Andrew merges creativity (imagination and ideas) with expression (application, structure, or form). He unites the free with the form to create something beautiful that serves a purpose. “I feel I have followed intuition, and have worked to bring form to whatever it is that life is presenting to me,” he reflected. “Sometimes I've been a little too free, and other times I’ve had a bit too much rigid form. As I've grown through more experience and awareness in that spectrum, I’ve found more of a foundation on which to be centered. My work reflects this directly, because I have made my livelihood from wielding wild creative imagination into thought and form.”
Coffee still factors into his creative process. While he is methodical when it comes to scanning and arranging notes/reminders, lists, and Post-its on a daily basis, he says these systems of keeping track of and developing ideas is on stand-by for when inspiration strikes. “My follow through is more regimented—it requires me to intentionally create space to examine and organize the imagination coming through, and to determine what I should pursue further,” he described. “I create the space to connect with that idea, with as little distraction as possible. The goal is to get lost in the exploration a bit… asking ‘how should I bring this into form?’ I’ll play with it, in whatever medium it calls for -- writing, graphic design, story boarding, etc. At this stage of the game, coffee is a helpful tool (and sometimes a prerequisite) in setting the stage for creativity, and bringing some comfort in my battles with resistance.”
At home, he brews coffee on a Hario V60 and at local cafés, where he sometimes escapes to for an energetic break during work sessions, he enjoys a house blend espresso. “I always will try the blend first at any coffee roaster; I view it as the prime creative expression from a roaster since it has so many variables,” he said. “It typically comes with a good creative name, too.”
Outside of his work life, Andrew makes time for self-inquiry and growth by regularly attending men’s retreats. “Men’s work is a very important component of my self-knowing and integration processes and I believe it to be an invaluable ‘medicine’ for our collective at this time,” he explained. “Beyond the power that the connection and mirror of community and relationships can drive in shadow work, pattern breaking and accountability, it has helped me develop a more expansive understanding of creatorhood as well as masculine and feminine principles, which are ubiquitous to all aspects of the human experience.
“All along the way, I could not help but see the parallels between the creative process and the processes that men’s work, and many other methods of self-inquiry and integration, reflect,” he mused. “I've been working to articulate the through line between these realms and I intend to explore this more formally in the work I will be putting out with Superwell Co-Creative.”
His advice for someone who feels called to create but doesn’t know where to start? Examine and question the very meaning of creativity and what it may look like in the particular circumstances of your own life. “Too often ‘creativity’ is segmented into a box, most often artwork and nothing else,” he suggested. “Art in any form -- whether it’s visual, physical, audible, etc. -- it is perhaps the most direct case study of creativity, but limiting the idea of what creativity is can lead many people to feel that they aren’t ‘creative’ because they don’t also identify as an artist. I've got news for you: You are creative whether you like it or not… and I’ll even go as far as saying that every human being is an artist!
“To me creativity is in everything we do, even if what we do is unintentional—our lives are a product of creation, and we are contributing to that. Enter an attitude of empowerment into that equation and it can help inspire more intention to how we co-create with life.”
He recommends following whatever it is that inspires you: “That doesn’t have to look any specific way. Whatever way it is will be unique to you as long as it is true to yourself,” he reflected. “That’s why if you are still stuck, I encourage people to do more self-inquiry… the better you know yourself, the better you may be aligned to your gifts from which you create.
“Creations carry the consciousness of the creator, so if your work is feeling stagnant, suffocated, or uninspired… provoke your own awareness. Where are you feeling stagnant or confined? Where are you giving your attention and energy that aren’t serving your authentic self? Do you have limiting beliefs? What are you consuming physically or energetically that might not be serving you? Are you exercising discipline and accountability or do you need to regenerate?”
He continued: “It may be worth walking away from the blank canvas and seeking answers to those questions. I have found that connecting to the body through movement, making space for thoughts and emotions, seeking reflection and support through relationships and community, and connecting to nature are all fruitful paths to finding clarity to these questions. I have learned to view working on myself as a valuable part of my creative process, and the more I've associated the idea of creativity with self-understanding, the more aligned I have felt with empowerment and inspiration in my process.”
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Visit superwellcocreative.com to view Andrew’s latest projects
Instagram: @superwellcocreative @andyreiland
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“So many dreams die before they start. We’ve seen this over and over,” mused Jillian Speece, who alongside her husband, Nathaniel Paul Hoff, are the faces of the acclaimed indie folk-pop band The Bergamot.
It all started with an email. They were passing through Sedona en route to perform at South by Southwest, when nationwide quarantine orders went into place. With the music festival canceled and future tour dates postponed, The Bergamot was sheltering at a friend’s home among the red rocks, and Jillian was looking for a locally roasted single-origin coffee to gift to Nathaniel. Next thing we knew, we were going over to their place for freshly baked sourdough bagels, soul-stirring conversation, and of course, coffee.
Their energy is vibrant -- Jillian’s catch phrase is “Shine On” -- and their hospitality is characteristically Midwestern. Like the dreamy, perfect harmonies of their music, these highschool sweethearts from Indiana inspire joy and instantly give you the feeling that their love, dedication, and a dose of grit have guided them into a freeform way of life they revere.
“We’ve met thousands of people all over the world, and conversing… my number one thing I like asking people, instead of ‘What do you do?’ I ask them, ‘What lights you up? What’s your passion? What makes you happy?’ And oftentimes their response is, ‘I don’t know, exactly,’ ” Jillian continued.
“In our culture, we’re taught to be a part of this homogenized structure. We both came from Indiana: the cornfields and family. You go to school, you find a partner, you get married, you get the house, you have kids. And that can be beautiful if that’s your dream,” she described. Yet, it didn’t take long for Nathaniel and Jillian to realize that that wasn’t their dream, and in order to fulfill their true calling, they’d have to break free from the expectations of their loved ones and chart their own course, no matter how painful it may be.
“When you break away from that form, there’s a ton of distance because people think, ‘What do you mean? This is a good life,’ ” added Nathaniel. “When you let go of that, or you put your foot up against it and say, ‘This dream isn’t for me,’ there’s tons of friction.”
Nathaniel reflects on that time of youthful rebellion and individuation, and the backlash and anger they felt from their friends and family, and he wonders how they persisted. “People say brash things and we realized, this is not actually what they think about me, they’re actually saying this about themselves,” described Nathaniel. “They might be saying this to me, but they wake up and tell themselves this in the mirror every day.”
“That whole thing, the friction, we call that the crab theory,” Jillian added. “If you ever watch someone capturing crabs in a net, there’s always a couple of crabs that try and get out of the net, but the rest of the crabs pull them back in. So it’s the exact same thing. They're like ‘What are you doing? We’re all supposed to be doing this together, we’re all in this together.’ And you say, ‘No, I’m trying to escape.’ With both of us individually and together trying to get out and to pursue a career in music, which is foreign… we had a lot of that… the force of crab grabbing us back, telling us ‘You guys can’t do this.’”
"Love yourself, because if we don’t love ourselves it’s very difficult to create art and to fully come to life in that art form."
So much of what feeds our souls requires blind faith and unwavering confidence, traits The Bergamot display in spades. As a self-described “people pleaser,” Jillian had to grow into the bold woman she is today by pushing against the people she loved the most: her parents.
They had just graduated college with degrees in Media and Public Communications and Finance and Accounting, respectively, and as the summer came to an end, their parents started asking when they were going to start looking for work. Unbeknownst to their parents, Nathaniel and Jillian had hired a booking agent and were about to set out on a cross-country tour to perform 43 shows.
“Honestly, being a people pleaser my whole life, this was probably one of the scariest moments of my life,” recalled Jillian. “In that moment, I had such conviction. With tears in my eyes and in my throat I just said ‘I am called to do this. I have to do this.’ My mom was crying, my dad was crying and I just said, ‘I’m leaving in two days. I have to do this. This is a calling. This isn’t something that I think I need to do. I have to go.’ From that day it took me seven years of self individuating away from my family for my mom and dad to finally come around. It took seven years of me out on the road, pursuing this dream, all over the world. They were persistent in their ways of trying to get us to come back.”
After settling in Brooklyn in 2014 and becoming immersed in the creative culture there, Nathaniel and Jillian were able to return to Indiana to perform, and enjoy their hometown on their own terms. “You learn to love everybody for ultimately who they are and what they represent,” Nathaniel said. “A beautiful culture always has to be represented by a diverse set of opinions. And that’s beautiful thing. But when you’re young, that’s a horrible thing. And then you go through that individuation process and you come out on the other side and then you can ultimately appreciate its beauty. That’s where you want to be.”
Appreciating the beautiful tapestry of people and places they’ve encountered on the road has led to creative songwriting and incredible opportunities for The Bergamot. In 2016 they won an Emmy for their part in a piece on the Grotto Network, which is associated with University of Notre Dame, called Trailblazers: The Bergamot, about a band spreading a message of hope. Now they’re creating a documentary called State of the Unity, some four years in the making, which is set to drop later this fall or early next spring. Both pieces chronicle their life on the road during their 50-state Unity Collective tour.
"Because we swam upstream for so long, that is how we got so strong."
As constantly touring artists, The Bergamot have been immersed in a culture of musicians connected by their passion and their craft, and presumably by the Internet. And although they’ve been touring for a decade with no permanent residence, they seem to always be at home because they’re so comfortable in who they are. “I think it’s about a reckoning,” Nathaniel posited. “Are you willing to go to that space where there’s uncertainty? There’s a group of people. And you want to get into that flow… the artistic flow, the cultural flow because then you can exist and you don’t always feel like you’re going upstream. Find the current and ride that for awhile.”
“We were always going upstream,” Jillian described. “We were the black sheep. But because we swam upstream for so long, that is how we got so strong. Our muscles got so big swimming against the current. If you’re just going down, there’s a season for that; and there’s a season for going against that. When you’re swimming for 10 years against that current, that’s how you get the calluses, that’s how you grow into a confident person.That’s how you learn to listen to people and their words and identify that this has nothing to do with me at all. That’s how you develop confidence in yourself. And that’s how we got so strong.”
Conviction, following their calling, and developing calluses helped propel them along their path, but what about inspiration? Turns out Jillian and Nathaniel go about finding inspiration and living creative lives in different ways. Jillian, who Nathaniel playfully calls “the mystic biscuit,” says, “I pull a lot of inspiration from the spiritual realm, like angels, Christ, Mother Mary, but in an unconventional way, not in a classical religious way.” She added: “Coffee and tea time always proceed songwriting and recording. It's our daily ritual.”
On the other hand, Nathaniel, the primary songwriter for The Bergamot, has more of a structured approach. He says he relates to composers like Beethoven who is said to have counted out precisely 60 coffee beans to brew his morning cup. “My day consists of waking up, three hours of rehearsal, break for coffee for an hour, talking about direction and big overview stuff. Then two hours of exercise, nothing more than making sure the body is in good shape. Then after that, clean up, and then I have the clarity of mind to compose,” he shared. “But I have found that it’s fun to throw in some really weird things, like one day just get up, throw on a bathing suit, sit by the pool, and then write a song. That’s going to procure a totally different emotion for me than this regimented routine.”
Taking a one- or two-hour coffee break during the workday sounds wonderful, indeed. During that time, they go over their journals and discuss ideas. This break in the creative process, Nathaniel says, helps to rejuvenate the mind. “What happens is you finish the coffee and then you go back into the songwriting with fresh ears.”
“The thing is to remember that we have the power inside of us but we spend most of our lives giving that power away."
Their freeform lifestyle is evident in the music they create: “The biggest thing for us is number one, as artists we question everything and in questioning it allows us to thoroughly examine our intentions for our life and our motives for our art and what we create,” said Jillian. “We came to a realization that we are really drawn to the alternative lifestyle and we are expressing ourselves through the music in a way that is free spirited. A lot of times when people listen to our music they say, ‘Wow I feel really free spirited, I feel really uplifted,’ and that’s a direct reflection of our lives and what we create. So as freeform as we can be, we are. We go out into the world and follow our heart and that looks very different from the normal status quo.”
So how does one start to cultivate creativity? Jillian mused: “Each of us have the power within to create new realities. But most people don’t realize they have this power and they sleepwalk through life never feeling deep meaning or happiness. But the truth is, we all have the power inside us to create a life we dream of. The problem is we are too afraid and busy giving our power away to notice it.
“The thing is to remember that we have the power inside of us but we spend most of our lives giving that power away. We give it away to all sorts of things. We give it away to other people, ideas, and beliefs that are limiting that don’t serve us. We give it away to politics, and to everything in between. Oftentimes there’s some sort of resistance or block within that needs to be addressed and then there’s really five ways to awaken the artist within.
“The first is to realize that we are spiritual beings having a human existence. Second is to love yourself, because if we don’t love ourselves it’s very difficult to create art and to fully come to life in that art form. The third thing is to question everything. Question the status quo. Question the media you’re consuming. Question the tools you’re using… the digital tools, social media, all that stuff. Question everything. The fourth thing is not only to engage the imagination but to bring the imagination to life. Finally, begin to intentionally create the life you want to live. Those are the five things that we’ve found help live a freeform life, a life of creativity and a life you love.”
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Visit https://www.thebergamot.com/ for tour dates + more
Instagram @thebergamot
]]>What differentiates a creative person from the rest of the pack? Is it inherent in her nature? The influence of a nurturing parent, teacher, or mentor? We believe that inside everyone is a unique drive to create, unbounded, in a free-flowing state that leads the creator to fulfillment both in their craft and in the larger sphere of their lives.
We recently sat down with our friend Rachelle Martinez to chat about the creative leap she made in starting Viridian Jewelry -- beautifully handcrafted beaded earrings -- in the heart of Sedona, AZ.
Growing up in Colorado and Alabama, Rachelle was exposed to the outdoors as a girl, but it wasn’t until her adult life that she embraced more extreme outdoor sports like mountain biking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting and stand-up paddle boarding. During her twenties and early thirties she held jobs as a yoga and group fitness instructor, working in coffee shops, and owned a couple of successful businesses with her partner, Jon.
Rachelle’s creativity initially was channeled through movement, creating innovative yoga sequences and personal training regimens for her clients. But balancing that outlet with her business life had its drawbacks.
“When I was doing what I loved and moving more creatively I felt satisfied, energized, and inspired,” she recalled. “When Jon and I were running a business that was more structured, it had high stress and was not what I truly wanted to do. I found myself much less inspired, with decreased energy, and more stressed even when I wasn't working.” It was time for a change.
In October 2018, Rachelle experienced a devastating injury, falling from a cliff on a Colorado River trip in Grand Canyon. What could have been a fatal accident left her with limited mobility after three surgeries. Although she recovered spectacularly quickly, thanks to her years of physical training, she says, “Feeling a little restricted in my body movements led me to do something different that fulfilled that creative need in my life.”
“When I was doing what I loved and moving more creatively I felt satisfied, energized, and inspired.”
We often romanticize an “aha moment” when we realize our creative calling, but perhaps simply being open and curious leads us to the next step on our paths toward greater fulfillment. Such is the case with Rachelle, who observed a friend beading jewelry on a 2019 summer trip up the West Coast, just a few months after her final surgery. “I was in Bellingham visiting one of my friends that made earrings and she showed me a couple of things. Then I just started watching 'how to' videos and wanted to start exploring what I could do with beading on my own,” she said. “My first earring was not encouraging in how it looked, but I kept trying.”
Perhaps Rachelle’s drive and determination, skills she’s honed while scaling rock walls and mastering advanced yoga postures, had primed her for the inevitable setbacks one experiences when learning a new craft or artform. It takes bravery, humility, and perseverance to reach the next level.
Now, she finds inspiration everywhere. “It is very satisfying to think of a color pattern or style and actually make it come into a tangible piece that others might enjoy as much as I do,” she described. “I believe this has affected me in how I see the colors of nature in a different way. Before I made earrings, I loved seeing the colorful world around me, but now I feel like I can translate it into something we can wear to accentuate our style or beauty. I feel super proud of myself for learning a new form of art and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.”
In fact, she seems to thrive outside of her comfort zone. Whereas some people might shy away from river trips after a traumatic fall like she experienced, Rachelle has transformed that fear into insight, going back whenever she has the chance: “Being on the free-flowing water opens idea after idea,” she shared. “Watching the water and how it moves through the rocks, trees, and canyons is truly inspirational. It can be a little scary sometimes but overall, I’m happy to be on the river at the end of each day.”
"If we can open to more 'freeform' ideas of how things work, then we create endless possibilities of how to solve some of the world’s bigger issues or to make our lives better, and in turn help the whole human experience."
Movement and nature seem to be the common threads that weave through Rachelle’s life to fuel her creativity. “Some of the best pieces I have created came from when I was moving in nature and got a color palette idea,” she mused. “Then I come to my beads, turn on some good music, and either sketch out what I want to create or I just start making it. Good food and good drinks always make it easier to create!”
Her morning coffee ritual, along with moving her body before sitting down to her beadwork, helps set the scene for her creativity to flow. “The ritualistic process to grind, pour, and drink it is one of the things I love most about coffee, not to mention the amazing taste,” she said. “That meditative process helps me get into my work the same way. It also gives me the little extra boost to get things done and move through my day to create, be a mom, and run a business.”
Now, her days flow in a more unstructured way, letting her lead a freeform life on her own terms: “It’s free-flowing in creative expression and possibilities. That can feed into mothering, being a partner, friend, being a part of my small community, and also in the larger picture of the collective.
“If we can open to more 'freeform' ideas of how things work, then we create endless possibilities of how to solve some of the world’s bigger issues or to make our lives better, and in turn help the whole human experience. I believe that if we create with the intent of love and happiness for all beings, then that will multiply in my own life and in the whole of consciousness.”
“I love to have some structure to life but it really is beautiful when you can let go of the reins and see what magic can come about.”
Her advice for someone who might want to create, but doesn’t know how to start? “I suggest just playing with it and not having a lot of expectations. I had some big expectations at the beginning and found it made my experience less than desirable. Also, be OK with it not being exactly what you want it to look like at the beginning as it’s a process to get your complete idea out exactly like you envisioned it. I’m still working on that and hope to continue that process as I believe it makes our expression more unique and ever evolving.”
For most of us, bucking the structure of our day jobs or our responsibilities at home isn’t immediately attainable. Still, Rachelle’s transition to a freeform lifestyle didn’t happen overnight, and it’s not all river trips and jewelry making. She’s a mother and Real Estate investor with obligations like the rest of us. “I love to have some structure to life but it really is beautiful when you can let go of the reins and see what magic can come about,” she described. “Most of my most precious moments in life were when I had little agenda and allowed myself to be taken down the stream of life.”
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Visit https://www.viridianjewelry.com/ to see Rachelle’s latest earrings or @wearviridian on Instagram for a look into her creative process.
Photos by Doug Berry http://www.dougberryimages.com/
]]>Freeform: Having or being an irregular or asymmetrical shape/design. Created or done in any way you choose. Not required to have particular patterns or forms. Not conforming to a regular or formal structure or shape.
With great obstacles come great opportunities for growth and change. The world we knew in early 2020 has shifted swiftly and dramatically as we’ve experienced unexpected obstacles from the global pandemic to an economic crash and a resurgence of civil rights demonstrations at home and abroad. Collectively, we’ve had time to reflect and reassess how we live our lives. Whether it’s how we show up for our communities, how we prioritize our personal well-being, or how we put food on the table, we know we aren’t alone in questioning the previous structure that drove our daily lives before.
We know there is still so much work to be done to achieve a more just, peaceful, and healthy existence for all of us on this planet, but we also know that personally we needed a shift to invite more fun, freedom, and creativity into our lives.
In this spirit of growth, new beginnings, and creative living outside of our comfort zones, we are transitioning Garland Coffee Company to a new name: Freeform Coffee Roasters.
Rest assured that other than the name and the energy behind it, nothing else will change. It’s still the same great coffee roasted by the same great folks, but with a renewed sense of passion and creativity.
We feel that the new name, Freeform Coffee Roasters, will allow us to explore and add to our current specialty coffee offerings with the freedom of creativity that comes with new beginnings. Intentionally nebulous, we look forward to creating a Freeform fellowship with you -- serving you and growing together, all while focusing on the responsibly sourced, delicious, hand-roasted coffees you’ve come to expect from us.
We look forward to hearing stories of how you find ways to embody the Freeform spirit in your lives, and sharing stories of inspiring people and businesses who prioritize creative living. We look forward to continuing to create positively charged coffee in Sedona and uplift our community in new, exhilarating ways. We look forward to giving back in our local neighborhoods and global networks. And we look forward to sharing this Freeform journey with you.
With gratitude,
Monica and Daniel Garland
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