Twelve Days of BonLife: Day 3
On the Third Day of BonLife we’re talking specialty coffee beans! During the Twelve Days of BonLife we’re dropping daily blog posts to share with you twelve of our favorite specialty coffee products to make your holiday shopping a little easier.
Today’s specialty coffee product might sound like a no-brainer: it’s coffee! But the truth is if you’re shopping for someone who loves coffee, thoughtfully buying them some new specialty coffee beans is the perfect gift. Coffee-lovers are big fans of trying different coffees, and this gift is sure to bring much joy!
Coffee is what it’s all about right? It’s the thing that makes someone want to buy a nice travel tumbler to keep their drink hot; it’s the thing that makes the home barista want to collect different brew methods like the V60; and it’s the thing that all of our upcoming gift suggestions center around. So we thought we should give you a guide on the all-important specialty coffee bean on the Third Day of BonLife.
If you’re shopping for someone else, buying them beans can be intimidating! But keep this in mind: if they’re a coffee nerd, they will just be overjoyed to receive a new coffee to try. So don’t stress, and use these shopping tips to choose the perfect beans.
Roast level: specialty coffees typically come as a light or medium roast or somewhere in between. Dark roasts tend to be rare in the world of specialty coffee. So check that roast level! Light to medium allows the most tasting notes to come through in a cup of coffee— something that is important to specialty coffee lovers. If you want to do a deep dive on this subject and learn all about how roast levels affect the taste of coffee, read our blog post on the subject.
Country of origin: where a coffee was grown in the world influences the taste. If you know what region of the world your loved one likes their coffee from, look for beans from there; they’ll be delighted you remembered they love African coffees, for example. If you have no idea, choose a coffee from a country you’re excited about! Maybe you traveled to Mexico last year and loved the coffee you drank, grab them a bag of Mexican beans and relate it back to your personal travels.
Processing method: the way in which a coffee was processed at the farm changes the way it tastes. Though there are lots of new methods on the market today, the traditional ones are natural, washed, and honey processed. If you’ve ever heard your coffee nerd wax poetic about why they love naturals, look for that method. If you have no idea what they like don’t sweat it: natural tends to be a bit funkier with more of a heavy body, washed is clean-tasting with a light body, and honey is somewhere in between. You can read all about this complicated subject here.
Tasting notes: if all else fails just read the tasting notes provided by the roaster. Maybe you’re not a coffee drinker yourself and the above information is too in-depth. That’s totally fine! Look for tasting notes from the roaster you’re shopping. We provide ours in the descriptions of our coffees online; some roasters stamp it right on the bag. Just choose something that sounds like the person you’re shopping for: maybe you know they love chocolate, and you see a coffee that lists dark chocolate as a tasting note. Go for it!
Obviously we are big fans of our own coffee here at BonLife. (And why shouldn’t we be? It has won a handful of awards!) We have a variety of origins, processing methods, and tasting profiles available right here on our website, and we offer free shipping on orders over $30!
But there are so many quality specialty coffee roasters these days! Choose one you’re excited about to share with the specialty coffee lover in your life.
We started the Twelve Days of BonLife a bit too early for it to end on Christmas. That’s because we want to give you a few extra days to finish up that last minute shopping with our specialty coffee gift guide in mind. If you order beans from our online store today (the day this post published) we’ll ship them out tomorrow, giving them plenty of time to arrive to you by Christmas.
Need more inspiration? Check out days one and two of the Twelve Days of BonLife blog series!
