Choosing coffee can feel easier when you start with something you already know. For me, wine is a useful place to begin.
Coffee can be approached a lot like wine. Both have a sense of place, a range of textures, and room for fruit, sweetness, structure, and depth. If you tell me what you enjoy in wine, I have a useful starting point for helping you choose a coffee.
What wine do you enjoy?
Here are three places I often start.
Crisp white wines — think Riesling
Washed, or wet-processed, coffees are going to be more similar to white wines like a sweet Riesling: crisp, clean and vibrant. Look for citrus, floral or stone-fruit notes.
Lighter-bodied reds — think Pinot Noir
Honey-processed coffees tend to fall in the middle between those two. I think of Pinot Noir here: fruit, sweetness and a rounded feel. Despite the name, no honey is added.
Fuller-bodied reds — think Cabernet
Natural-processed coffees are going to be more like red wines, particularly Cabernets, because they’re deeper, rounder and fuller-bodied. Look for ripe fruit, berry notes and a full body.
I taste every coffee and choose its place in our collections by the brightness and body in the cup. Here’s where I’d send you based on the wines you enjoy.
Find your coffee through the wines you enjoy
- Bright & Lively: If you enjoy crisp white wines like Riesling, start here for brightness, lift and a lighter feel in the cup.
- Smooth & Balanced: If you enjoy lighter-bodied reds like Pinot Noir, start here for softer acidity and a rounded, easy-drinking cup.
- Rich & Full-Bodied: If you enjoy fuller-bodied reds like Cabernet, start here for depth, gentle acidity and a fuller feel in the cup.
Use flavor, body and acidity to refine the match
I choose each coffee for the flavors I taste, then roast it to bring them forward. Cherry, honey, chocolate, citrus—those notes come from the coffee itself.
Flavor is what you notice first: citrus, flowers, stone fruit, chocolate, berries or caramel-like sweetness. Body is how the coffee feels in your mouth—light and tea-like, rounded, or rich and substantial. Acidity is the lively quality that can make a cup feel juicy, crisp or refreshing, much like the brightness of ripe fruit.
If you like lift and clarity, look for bright fruit and a lighter body. If you prefer a smooth middle ground, look for round sweetness and balanced body. If depth is what you enjoy, look for fuller body, cocoa, ripe fruit or a longer finish.
Processing: a useful clue to the cup
Processing describes what happens to the coffee cherry after harvest and before the coffee is dried. It can shape flavor and texture alongside variety, origin, fermentation, drying, roasting and brewing.
Washed coffees often feel clean and clearly defined. Honey-process coffees often bring rounded sweetness and body while keeping good clarity. Natural-process coffees are dried inside the coffee fruit and can bring ripe fruit, berry character and a fuller texture.
I use processing to understand the coffee, then taste for sweetness, brightness and texture. That tasting determines where it fits in our collections.
About cream and sugar
Drink your coffee the way you enjoy it. If you normally add cream or sugar, try one small sip first. Let the coffee cool for a minute or two, then taste it again. Cooling can make sweetness and fruit easier to notice. Then add what you like.
How to choose your next bag
Think about what sounds good today: crisp and lively, deep and comforting, citrus and florals, caramel and stone fruit, or chocolate and ripe berries. Bring those answers to us, or use them while you browse the fresh-roasted coffee collection.
Tell me what you enjoy, and I’ll help you find a whole-bean coffee to try.
Coffee with Tony · Learn your coffee
Next: Washed, honey, and natural processing
Processing is another useful clue to the flavor and texture in your cup. See what those three words can mean.
— Tony
