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TCHO and Royal Coffee Meet with Ghanaian Cocoa Delegation
By Chris Kornman and Rosi Quiñones On Tuesday the 29th of March, Royal Coffee had the distinct pleasure of hosting a delegation of cocoa scientists from Ghana. Our friends at TCHO, a Bay Area based “New American” chocolate maker, reached out to us with this special opportunity. TCHO is...
Celebrating the Middleman
As you walk around the SCAA Atlanta show today, you will likely see a group of Royal Coffee traders, suppliers, and roasters wearing green shirts proudly emblazoned with the word MIDDLEMAN. While this is undeniably tongue-in-cheek, there is an underlying message we hope to convey. Over the past...
Catracha Coffee Quality Project Reflections from Arvin Juan
by Kevin Stark Editor's Note: This is part of a continued series on our commitment to the Catracha Quality Project. Look for further articles and for the arrival of these coffees in the coming months. We have a few of these coffees available SPOT in both Oakland & Seattle. See the previous...
How are Catracha Coffee Producers Fighting Leaf Rust?
Editor's Note: This is part of a continued series on our commitment to the Catracha Quality Project. Look for further articles and for the arrival of these coffees in the coming months. We have a few of these coffees available SPOT in both Oakland & Seattle. ___________________ When I was...
Colombian Micro-Lot Cupping
by Chris Kornman Royal Coffee’s The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room may not yet be open, but that hasn’t stopped the crew from undertaking a number of projects that are increasingly becoming available to the coffee industry. We opened the use of our space recently for an event that...
Visiting Santa Elena & Many of the Catracha Farms
The municipality of Santa Elena in Western Honduras is located in the department of La Paz, at an elevation of 1,800 meters above sea level and is very near the border with El Salvador. Most of the Catracha farms are located in this region, and many with long views down the valley below. If you...
Royal Coffee is Now in Houston!
At Royal Coffee, we’ve been lucky enough to watch the specialty coffee sector grow from an esoteric niche to a full-throttled industry. One of the most exciting developments is in the heartland of the country, roasters across the Midwest and South chiming in with their own ideas and innovations. ...
The Case Against Bad Coffee
To: Keith Pandolfi and SeriousEats.com From: Max Nicholas-Fulmer and Royal Coffee, Inc. RE: The Case For Bad Coffee, 10/29/15 There is a real and very relevant conversation which can be had about the merits of “high-end” coffee. The point of view espoused by Mr. Pandolfi, and echoed on blogs like...
Beyond Conflict: Winning Micro-Lots from the Tolima Cupping Contest
In the earlier September edition the Royal News, we told you about a cupping event in Tolima, Colombia being hosted by Inconexus Coffee. The results are in, and we can say with a great deal of certainty that Tolima is loaded with outstanding coffees. Cradled to its south and east by Huila and...
The Containers are Stacked Against Us
The Containers are Stacked Against Us by Evan Gilman In the July edition of the Royal News, I wrote briefly on the topic of shipping delays and some of the root causes. If you have ever experienced a shipping delay, however, you know just how widespread the effects of even a small delay can be. I...
We’re all in the Same Boat
Shipping is just like the coffee industry – the closer you look, the more complex it seems. Royal is currently experiencing some delays in shipping, and although delays on imports are not a rare occurrence, wait times and frequency of delays are increasing for some very interesting reasons. The...
Hambela: A New Ethiopian Origin by Evan Gilman
Hambela: A New Ethiopian Origin by Evan Gilman Aman and Michael Adinew of METAD Agricultural Development have spent many years improving the coffee business in Ethiopia. Their family farm, Hambela, produces some of the best naturally processed coffee we have tasted, and is an example of great...
Organic Coffee in the Time of Roya
In anticipation of this year’s Central American harvest, I have been reflecting on last year’s trek from Costa Rica to Mexico. From the start, the impact of leaf rust (roya) on organic coffee was foremost on my list of inquiry. One of the first visits was to Hacienda La Amistad, located in Coto...
Direct Trade Facilitation
As we rapidly approach harvest season in much of the world, planning begins for squaring away new crop commitments. What to buy forward? How much to contract to make it worthwhile? How to get it where it needs to go? Royal Coffee regularly provides import facilitation and warehousing services for...
Email Alerts Explained
On any coffee's product page you can now set up custom email alerts to be sent to your inbox. Right below Additional Order Information you will see three checkboxes. By checking any one of these, entering your email, and clicking submit, you can recieve notifications when: 1. The coffee ships from...