Blog — coffee in good spirits

Three fast-paced rounds of competition, three info-packed presentations, and five impeccably-crafted coffee cocktails. That's what Olympia Coffee's Reyna Callejo pulled off this past weekend, April 12–14 at the U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship in Chicago, Illinois. With cool composure and a small amount of (actual) fire she crushed the competition, becoming our nation's reigning Coffee in Good Spirits Champion! Reyna takes the torch from our own Sam Schroeder, who stood by as her coach over the course of the weekend. This makes two years in a row that the Olympia Coffee team has claimed the national title for Coffee...

It's a big week for specialty coffee. Specialty Coffee Expo week, to be precise—a multi-day gathering of friends and partners from across the coffee industry. This time around, it's taking place in Chicago, Illinois. Olympia Coffee's sending a crew of fine folks to represent. If you'll be there too, please come say hey! Whether slinging coffee with our pals or stirring up the competition in Coffee in Good Spirits, here's where you can find us all week(end) long: Thursday, April 11: Necessary and Sufficient Coffee, Printer's Row.What: A guided Q&A session with Oliver Stormshak and some of Olympia Coffee's producers...

When our 2023 U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits champion Sam Schroeder concocted the Coffee Sherry, we all knew it was an instant winner: a smoothly-sweet, sumptuous coffee cocktail worthy of a romantic après-dinner lounge. Then along came Reyna Callejo, who just last weekend secured first place in the 2024 Coffee in Good Spirits Qualifiers. Hardly one to leave good enough alone, she’s taken Sam’s Coffee Sherry and done the unthinkable: removed all the booze.Instead, she’s crafted her very own NA sherry and absinthe (yes, from scratch), mixing them in place of their alcoholic counterparts. And the result is, stunningly, almost...

Sam and Reyna have been in Taiwan for a week now: seeing the sights, eating the food (jealous), and drinking the tastiest of drinks (again, jealous). And—most importantly—they've been preparing for Sam's final showdown on the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship stage! Competition officially begins Friday, November 17th and runs through Monday the 20th. It's worth noting that Taiwan is a day ahead of us, time-wise. But we've done the math, and we're ready to share the competition excitement... with you!Please join us on Instagram Live where Reyna will be live-streaming Sam's performances each day. Here's the competition schedule...

In case you missed it, last week (September 18-23) was Negroni Week. But is it too late to participate? Never!Last weekend, we celebrated in true Olympia Coffee fashion: by creating our own spins on the classic bitter-sweet, equal-parts cocktail. Typically a spirit-forward drink, the Negronis we crafted in our Columbia City cafe were distinctly missing the booze. Yet not missing out on deliciousness — thanks to a flavor-rich, flash-brewed coffee concentrate made with our Big Truck blend. Oh, and a few noteworthy favorites from our non-alcoholic spirits cabinet. Our U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Sam Schroeder is off to...