Our Coffee
What makes coffee so good?
High-quality coffee should balance acidity, sweetness, and bitterness in one sip, with a smooth flavor, and no off-notes.
Inside that small coffee bean are the same natural components that make flowers smell so good, the same ethers that let you know when a piece of fruit is ripe. Coffee has twice as much going on, molecularly speaking, as red wine (there are over 1,000 compounds in coffee).
We get to know each bean we work with over an exhausting period of trial and error till we find the sweet spot where the bean’s unique character is expressed with clarity.
We roast all of our coffee fresh per order and then let the coffee sit, protected from air, light and any flavor compounds that might effect it, so it can degas for 24 hours. We then package it in a heavy weight foil-lined bag that has both a one-way valve (to let residual gas release from the beans) as well as a resealable pocket zip (to help you store and keep the beans at their optimum).
BUY FRESH.
The easiest way to brew good coffee at home is to start with good beans. The oils that drive those fruity, toasty, beautiful flavors start to degrade in quality the minute the beans are ground, much like spices. Making the switch from pre-ground to whole-bean will put more flavor, aroma, and energy in your cup, which is exactly what we want first thing in the morning. You want beans that were roasted no longer than two weeks ago. Once they pass that stage, they start to lose flavor.
GRIND DAILY.
After a roast the bean goes through two phases – degassing and oxidation. In the degassing stage, CO₂ which accumulated in the bean during roasting, is released. This explains why when you open a box of coffee from Wellborn the aroma out of the box is intoxicating. The oxidation stage begins when the coffee is exposed to oxygen. This is the phase in which coffee begins to go stale. Oxidation is why you should never pre-grind a bag of coffee. Plus you get more control in your brewing methods.
Single Origin Roast Profiles
This chart gives you an idea of the origins we have roasted, the temperature range of our profiles as well as how the origins (loosely) relate to each other along the roast spectrum.
Quite a bit of variation can happen at the farm, harvest, processing and roasting levels. This guide is for reference only.
Meet some of the farmers we work with.
Our coffees are curated through direct relationships with producers or in-country partners who work with the farms and the farming communities.
Arbeláez, Colombia
Diamo, Ethiopia
Finca El Naranjo, La Paz, Honduras
Chiapas, Mexico
Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala
Shakiso, Ethiopia
Browse our coffees to discover more farmers – or learn about the women producers we work with.
Our freshest coffee. Guaranteed.
Different coffees hit their optimal peak of flavor at different times and stay in that optimal range for two to three days. You’ll find your own sweet spot though, as the flavors change over time - we fine the coffee often settles in to itself and mellows with a little aging.
Coffee is best enjoyed within two weeks of roast date.
Please don’t put your coffee in the fridge or freezer. The cold, humidity and moisture can disturb the oils and fibers that lead to full, flavorful coffee. Instead, store the beans on your counter or in a cupboard, out of direct sunlight, sealed in the same bag they came in.
Coffee is good. But is it good for you?
The science is real, coffee has many benefits.
“The evidence is pretty consistent that coffee is associated with a lower risk of mortality,” said Erikka Loftfield, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute who has studied the beverage.
In addition, experts say some of the strongest protective effects may be with Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and liver conditions such as cirrhosis, liver cancer and chronic liver disease. For example, having several cups of coffee a day, instead of none, is correlated with a 30 percent decreased risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a meta-analysis of 30 studies.
The potential benefit from coffee might be from the polyphenols, which are plant compounds that have antioxidant properties, according to Dr. Giuseppe Grosso, an assistant professor in human nutrition at University of Catania in Italy and the lead author of an umbrella review in the Annual Review of Nutrition.
Plus, as importantly, if not more… it helps with mornings.
