The Royal Blog
RSS-
Coffee NewsCoffee grows throughout Colombia, with fresh harvests available nearly year-round. More than half a million coffee producers contribute to the country’s status as third in global export volume. Farmers grow traditional varieties, engineered hybrids, and even bespoke “discovered” coffee plants, and demonstrate uncommon innovation in production, processing, and fermentation.Read now -
Coffee NewsUnderstanding Decaffeination: Methods, Logistics & Quality Impacts
Read nowArticle Summary There are two main types of decaffeination processing, indirect and direct solvent. Indirect solvent method uses Green Coffee Extract (GCE) which draws out caffeine through diffusion. GCE molecules then become saturated with caffeine while the green coffee is essentially free of caffeine. Filters remove the caffeine from the solution and...
-
Coffee NewsUnderstanding The IEEPA Tariff Refund Process: What Coffee Roasters Need to Know
Recent court rulings around tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) have created understandable confusion across the coffee industry. In this article, we break down what the Supreme Court ruling actually means, where the government refund process stands today, and what coffee roasters should realistically expect as the situation develops.Read now -
Coffee NewsScoring Specialty Coffee - What do the Numbers Mean?
This article outlines how coffees are graded and scored under commonly used systems, and works to define “specialty” coffee while examining the nuance and complexity of cup score values. Sections of note include definitions of individual attributes, a breakdown of what cup scores mean, and a discussion of recent, controversial updates to the tools professional graders use to evaluate a coffee’s quality.Read now -
Coffee NewsGreen Coffee Is Exempt From the New Tariffs. Here’s What Roasters Need to Know
Two major trade actions landed in under a week, and they created a lot of noise. Here’s the piece that matters for green coffee buyers: unroasted coffee (green) is explicitly excluded from the new Section 122 import surcharge currently being collected. If you’re buying landed green coffee from Royal Coffee, there will not be any […]Read now -
Coffee NewsPhyllis Johnson on Leadership, Belonging, and Building a More Creative Coffee Industry
Editor’s Note: I first encountered Phyllis Johnson’s mind in 2020, working behind the scenes on Royal Coffee’s webinar Race & Specialty Coffee. I sat in on some of the earliest conversations that would eventually become the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity. I left those calls changed. There’s a quality to the way Phyllis thinks and […]Read now -
Coffee NewsTrending Downwards, Coffee Upcycling
Coffee pulp is one of the industry’s most overlooked byproducts and with the right infrastructure, one of its most recoverable.Read now -
Coffee NewsNotes Between Cuppings Entry 2
Notes between cuppings 2/4/2026 Offer samples flooded my desk these past few weeks. Tanzania, Guatemala, Brazil… a bit of an unusual crowd for early February. These are the doldrums, the dead of winter, the quiet hours of waiting. With Brazil tariffed much of 2025, purchases from the country plummeted for the US market and large volumes of anticipated arrivals in the winter […]Read now -
Coffee NewsCoffee Market Recap
This article is a summary of market commentary originally created by StoneX with contributions from our Trading Team. All market data and primary analysis are attributed to StoneX unless otherwise noted.Read now -
Coffee NewsIs Frozen Coffee the New Fresh?
Read nowEditor’s note: This article in its entirety is published in the January/February 2026 issue of Roast magazine. Below is the author’s expanded cut of the introductory paragraphs, plus a short summary of the research project. Chris and Isabella also recorded a podcast on our findings that you can view here on YouTube or listen to here. Author’s Expanded Introduction ...