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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...
 Trending Downwards, Coffee Upcycling 

Coffee pulp is one of the industry’s most overlooked byproducts and with the right infrastructure, one of its most recoverable.

Notes 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,...

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Our Top Picks for Espresso + Good for Espresso Webinar

Our Top Picks for Espresso + Good for Espresso Webinar

Looking to learn all about Espresso? Join us for our first-ever webinar "Good for Espresso", a deep dive into one of our favorite brew methods on Thursday, October 8th at 11 AM PST. The Crown’s Alex Taylor, Candice Madison, Chris Kornman, Elise Becker, and Sandra Elisa Loofbourow will chat,...

A Note from Our Tasting Room Director on Reopening The Crown

A Note from Our Tasting Room Director on Reopening The Crown

I’ll be honest – I was nervous about reopening the Tasting Room.   Of course, I had good reason. The pandemic was (and is still) in full swing – in fact cases in the Bay Area are on an upswing. Our block of Broadway has also been the stage for some of the biggest protests against police violence...

Royal Coffee Says Goodbye to Ron Garrigues 1930-2020 

Royal Coffee Says Goodbye to Ron Garrigues 1930-2020 

Part: 1 By Robert Fulmer Ron Garrigues just might have been the first hippie in the coffee business. When I first got to San Francisco in 1976, still dazed by the tall buildings and trying to figure out how to tie my new Macy’s work-required tie, Ron presented an appealing alternative. He was...

July 3rd Royal Coffee Office and Domestic Warehouse Closures

July 3rd Royal Coffee Office and Domestic Warehouse Closures

Please be advised that Royal Coffee will be closed Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th in celebration of Independence Day. Carriers are also closed on Friday, July 3rd. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our main office at 510.652.4256 or email us at info@royalcoffee.com....

We’re Getting to Work

We’re Getting to Work

This has been a particularly difficult and emotional time for many of us, particularly for our Black and Brown employees and communities. We all know the coffee industry in the United States is overwhelmingly white. I cannot imagine how weird it must be for a Black person working in this industry....

My Visit to Mayan Harvest

My Visit to Mayan Harvest

By Rosi Quiñones Coffee production has a legacy of inequality and abuse, so projects like Mayan Harvest that shake up the legacy power dynamics by rewarding the hard work of small scale farmers and giving women a platform to provide for themselves really excite me. When you empower a woman, you...

How Does a Coffee Become a Crown Jewel?

How Does a Coffee Become a Crown Jewel?

The Crown Jewel program started humbly in August of 2016 with a small suite of coffees we'd grown familiar with and were proud to share, and a small-scale version of our current analysis project. For all the years, the hundreds of coffees and thousands of analysis since then, the most common...

Cupping and the Coronavirus: an Update

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...

COVID-19 Updates from Royal’s Coffee Supply Network: Peru

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...

COVID-19 Updates for Coffee Buyers

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...

Could COVID-19 Put an End to Public Cuppings?

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

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  ...

Royal Coffee Will Be Closed on Presidents’ Day 2020

Royal Coffee Will Be Closed on Presidents’ Day 2020

The Royal Coffee office and Oakland warehouse will be closed on Monday, February 17th in observation of Presidents' Day. Please note that Caffeinated Cargo, Costa Oro and Dupuy Warehouses will also be closed and adjust your ordering schedule accordingly. Please email or call your trader for more...