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Cupping and the Coronavirus: an Update
Well, who’d have thought that just over a month after wondering publicly whether the novel coronavirus would put an end to public cuppings, nearly the entire world would be thrust into an unprecedented lockdown. Here in the Bay Area, we’ve been sheltering in place since Tuesday March 17, and it...
Oleo Saccharum — Assume Nothing! A Year of Recipes
"Assume Nothing!" A mantra for The Crown as we worked towards opening our doors in March of 2019, the phrase became a Menu section, encouraging our visitors to drop their preconceptions and be open to new and delicious experiences. And now, it's the title of a recipe series, for you to recreate at...
COVID-19 Updates from Royal’s Coffee Supply Network: Peru
Editor's note: Updates from our suppliers keep flying in, and we're doing our best to stay informed and level-headed. We'll be sharing information from our extensive network as the coronavirus situation continues to develop both domestically and abroad. Updates from Peru Perhaps one of the areas...
Discrimination Cupping and the new Royal Production Cupping Form
Editor's Note: We’ve made a PDF available to you, as well as uploading it as a publicly available Cropster form, so you can choose it—it’s called “Deviation Production Cupping (Royal).” Cupping: Time Honored and Honed for Purpose Cupping coffee is one, if not, the best-known methods for evaluating...
COVID-19 Updates for Coffee Buyers
We are updating this blog entry weekly. Last update was April 13th, 2020. These weeks have been a whirlwind, but we’ve managed to keep coffee flowing in and out of our warehouse and handle QC responsibilities, albeit with a skeleton crew to minimize contact points among our staff. We thank those...
Comparing Common Coffee Brewers – Part I
By Nate Lumpkin, The Crown Barista As you all know, everything’s closed down for a little while to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, and the Crown is doing its part by staying closed. In the meantime, I have a lot of time on my hands. I’ve been curious about all the different drippers and...
Extolling the Virtues of Dark Roasts
Extolling the Virtues of Dark Roasts By Nate Lumpkin with illustrations by Elise Becker, Crown Baristas Man, I really love dark roast coffee. I love walking into a place and asking for a “coffee” and getting a cup that burns the heck out of my mouth and tastes like tar smoke. I love diner coffee,...
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates: Orders & Safety Precautions
To our Royal Coffee customers, Amid the concerns about COVID-19 and the statewide shelter in place directive, we want to keep you updated on the steps that we are taking to safeguard our operations, customers, and team. The safety and well-being of our community are, as always, our priority. Our...
A Taste of Perception: Examining Bias in Side-by-Side Coffee Tastings
A Taste of Perception: Examining Bias in Side-by-Side Coffee Tastings By James Scott, Crown Barista Over here at The Crown, we taste a lot of coffee--so much that we probably spit out more than we swallow (can you believe that?). Between slurps, we describe each coffee in as much detail as...
Could COVID-19 Put an End to Public Cuppings?
Editor's Note: This article first ran on March 9, 2020, in Daily Coffee News. It is reprinted here with permission. As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been capturing headlines worldwide, the Specialty Coffee Association last week announced a series of new hygiene practices to be implemented...
International Women’s Day
We're fortunate to have team made up of incredible humans at Royal Coffee. In honor of National Women's Day, we are featuring some of them here, and sharing their career advice. Amanda Amato Junior Trader, 3 years with Royal Coffee Favorite Coffee: Colombia (Huila specifically) and Rwanda ...
What’s Brewing?
New panel discussion at The Crown: What's Brewing? March 27th, 2020 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm What’s Brewing is part of our "Understanding Extraction" series at The Crown, which brings experts together from adjacent industries to relate their experience with issues of sustainability, supply chain...
Guatemala: Hardship & Hope
Editor's note: This article was first published in Volume 74 of Coffee T&I Magazine in January 2020. It is reprinted here with permission, and you may download it in its original format here, courtesy the publisher. The only time I’ve ever actually sprinted through an airport to catch a...
Grading Green Coffee for Physical Defects
Editor's Note: This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2020 edition of Roast Magazine under the Column "Technically Speaking" and is reprinted here with permission. You can view and download the article in its original format here. Sections of the article also appeared in Part III of our Green...
March 2020 at the Crown: Classes & Events Digest
Identifying Defects in Coffee March 5, 2020 09:30 AM (PST) Learn to grade coffee in this class focused on identifying both visual and taste flaws in the green beans. This class will cover both physical defects in green coffee and primary sensory defects. (Yep, we’ll be tasting them!) Coffee...