Blog — Direct Trade

When we talk about flavor in coffee, we’re never talking about just one factor. From the varietal of bean to the soil it grew in—all the way to how it fermented and dried, and how it was roasted—flavor is a journey, a story in the making. And it ends, most deliciously of all, with a sip from your very own cup.True, we talk a lot about coffee processing: the factor we’ve found to have the most pronounced impact on flavor. And no process is richer in history and tradition than the natural process. An age-old technique mastered first in Ethiopia,...

Olympia Coffee and Moonrise Bakery are proud to announce that we have just been certified as a Living Wage for Coffee Employer! And not only that, but we've been awarded the highest tier, Living Wage Leading Plus. In our mission to improve the quality of life for our staff, our coffee producers, and and our communities, this independent certification is a huge step towards the kind of transparency and accountability we believe in and advocate for.

All love stories begin with that little tug on the heartstrings, that tiny inkling that one might have found something truly special. A little sappy, maybe, but for us here at Olympia Coffee, that “something special” has always been our relationships with our farmers and our commitment to improving quality of life for them, their communities, and the entire sourcing pipeline. And so, when it comes to our Sweetheart Blend— a mainstay on our coffee lineup— our farmers are at the very heart of it. With a certain notoriously saccharine holiday peeking around the corner, we’re waxing sentimental about the...

For the last five years we have been working with producer Juan Diego De La Cerda at the farm El Socorro Y Annexo's in Palencia Guatemala. I first met Juan Diego in 2011 while I was on the juror for the Guatemala Cup of Excellence, that year his Maracaturra varietal would go on to win 2nd Place in the Competition. The Maracaturra a hybrid cross of varietals Maragogype and Caturra, it's a rare and very special varietal that truly dominates the character and flavor found in this coffee. We have also seen that the soil found a El Socorro combined...

I've been in love with coffee from the Adame Garbota Cooperative for many years. Actually I've loved their coffee before they were even called Adame Garbota. You see I first tasted their coffee in 2006 when the Coop was called Kelo, and the Kelo Cooperative had just won the Africa Taste of Harvest Competition. I worked for a roaster that bought their winning lot, and I never forgot about it. After the competition, the cooperative received some loans and big financing that sadly organizationally they were not prepared for. In 2008 the Coop defaulted on loans and closed. In 2011...