Readables

What is the most important tool to own for brewing a great cup of coffee at home? We thought you'd never ask.

If you are just starting your coffee snobbery journey, and are wondering where you should begin investing your hard-earned money for that great cup of Joe, you might be wondering what you should get first. Chemex? French Press? A high-end drip pot? Aeropress? Electric Water Kettle? Grinder? Scale? Air Tight Canisters? WHEW!

While any of the above mentioned items are worthy investments over the long haul, we believe the journey begins with the most fundamental item - a...

One of the most popular questions we get here at Humble Beginnings is "what is your favorite roast"?

While we certainly understand the nature of the question, it is extremely difficult to answer without a very thorough explanation. 

In general, coffee can be classified into 3 roast levels: light, medium, and dark. The first thing to understand about these roast levels are the characteristics of each, the expected flavor/ experience associated with each, then pairing that knowledge with your personal palette preference. So lets dive right in...

• A light roast can be best described as fruity, floral, acidic, and...well...light...

For some, this may be a new concept. We have spoken with people who know very little about the process of coffee to the point where some even thought the coffee came off the plant in it's roasted form. We aren't here to insult or make fun of the uninformed - just educate. 

Roast to order means exactly what it sounds like. The coffee remains in its harvested, "green" form until you order it. THEN it gets roasted. This level of freshness is what many coffee drinkers simply aren't accustomed to. Coffee is actually full of unique flavors in it's...

We get it. Sometimes the price of coffee is the most important factor in a purchase. Why would anyone spend $20+ on a bag of coffee when you can get it for a third of the price elsewhere? Although we know there are many answers to this question, we decided to break it down mathematically to make more sense of it.

The first thing to do is establish a common unit of measurement. Some coffee brands use "scoops" or "tablespoons" as a measuring unit, but since those can be subject to slight errors, we prefer to use "grams". It is...