Category

News

Scoring 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. 

Green 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...
Phyllis 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...

Popular Categories

The Crown

Coffee News

Crown Jewels

Education + Resources

The 2023 Crown Jewel Year In Review

The 2023 Crown Jewel Year In Review

We'd like to give our sincere thanks to our Crown Jewel customers. With your support, we're able to continue to explore the boundaries of specialty coffee and highlight innovative producers around the globe. Here's a look back at the year in Crown Jewels: We released 33 Crown Jewels from 16...

Honey, We Spiced the Miel – Assume Nothing

Honey, We Spiced the Miel – Assume Nothing

by Taylor Brandon "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...

Royal Coffee 2023 Holiday Ordering Info

Royal Coffee 2023 Holiday Ordering Info

Dear Royal Coffee Customer, As the holidays approach, we want to help prepare you with information on LTL freight and outbound shipments. During the holiday season, carriers always expect higher than normal volume, but driver and dock staffing shortages have never been so severe as they are this...

Landmark Pricing Change: Fair Trade and FLO International

Landmark Pricing Change: Fair Trade and FLO International

John Cossette, Vice President of Green Coffee Purchasing at Royal weighs in on the pricing change and shares his take on our best Fairtrade Organic offerings.  Since 1995, Royal Coffee has been an active participant and importer of Fairtrade and Organic coffee. Starting with a few tentative...

50 lb Royal Gem Q&A + FAQs

50 lb Royal Gem Q&A + FAQs

Recently, Royal Coffee's Director of Business Development, Richard Sandlin, caught up with Sprudge to discuss our newest line of boxed green coffees, the 50 lb Royal Gem. Here is the Q&A and FAQ for the new product line.  Can you tell me a little bit about the conceit behind Royal Gems?  We...

2023 Freight Outlook

2023 Freight Outlook

Royal Coffee’s Inbound Traffic Specialist, Jodi Louws, shares her thoughts on market forces that will affect shipping costs in 2023.  TLDR; Shipping costs are not back to pre-pandemic lows, and we do not expect them to be. Freight rates are improving, but not “plunging”, and low East –West rates...

Royal’s 2022 Colombia Lineup

Royal’s 2022 Colombia Lineup

Back in April of this year, our cofounder Bob cupped some of the offer samples with Natalia from Mastercol, the Crown's roaster Doris, and our Colombian green coffee buyer Amanda, and he was blown away by some of the most unique coffees we have ever encountered. We’re proud to feature an array of...

You’re Missing Out: the Case for Ecuador Coffee

You’re Missing Out: the Case for Ecuador Coffee

The past few years have included, along with the launch of our Crown Jewel program, our first real sustained sourcing effort in Ecuador. Both of these projects reflect Royal’s stance as buyers, or curators, as much as we are traders. All of us here who contribute to the spot position are capable...

Introducing Ghats Specialty Coffees of India

Introducing Ghats Specialty Coffees of India

When coffee buyers in the United States think of Indian coffee, there are basically four types that come to mind. For arabicas it’s Monsooned Malabar, Mysore Nuggets, and (for the sophisticated) Chikmalagur Karnataka – the Baba Budan giri – and of course robusta.  The stereotype of homogenous...

Inspiration through Education

Inspiration through Education

It’s been a rough month, amid what feels like a really, really long time since any of us caught a break. On many of our minds most recently is the unspeakable violence, particularly in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX, and even at the time of writing this, the breaking news in Tulsa, OK, where we mourn the...