Bingo. That’s cause it is. We’re just two ordinary people with zero experience in business, learning as we go. We are balancing Good Enough while being parents, having one full time job outside the home, and homeschooling. That’s a lot. We bring our kiddos to markets, they come with us when we deliver orders, we roast in a DIY facility in our backyard. And we make it work! Do we have big dreams of one day being able to solely rely on coffee to bring in bagillions of dollars? You bet. But we’re also realistic, and that means that we’re taking it as it comes, one step at a time. The coffee gets the job done, is a warm hug in a mug like coffee should be, and cures a caffeine headache. Those are the expectations to have, and if we exceed them, even better!

A lot of people seem to think we’re selling ourselves short with the whole “good enough” thing, and you may agree. But we think it captures the essence of daily life. No one does it perfectly. No one is an expert on all things. Very few are the BEST, and we think it’s okay to admit that to ourselves and others. We found a lot of freedom in accepting that we’re good. We are confident that when you sip on cups of our coffee, you’ll at least be able to say “it’ll drink!”

Good question, good question. While we tend to joke around, we take two things very seriously: people and planet. If you are a human who enjoys drinking coffee, we believe that you should know the negative history of the world’s favorite beverage and how it has contributed to colonization. We also suggest reading up the ways in which the coffee industry exploits men, women and children all over the world in what is now recognized as modern day slavery. Aside from growing the beans ourselves, there is no real guarantee that the people who pick coffee beans are being paid well for their time and treated with the dignity and respect that all humans deserve. HOWEVER, there are steps that we take to lessen those possibilities. One of which is buying our beans from importers who pay above Fair Trade standards and have direct relationships with the farmers who supply said coffee beans. This is, as you would expect, more expensive than just any old bean from any old place and we pay that price happily. In the case of a few of our beans (ie our Kenyan and Colombian, when available), we buy from the farmers themselves. Without the financial capacity of an importer, we buy in smaller quantities, which is more expensive. Again, it is a price we are glad to pay.

It was also important to us to use bags and labels that are earth friendly, which also costs more than just any old bag from any old supplier. Our bags and stickers from PURE Labels are 100% compostable and you can learn more about them here. In addition, all of our single use items for markets are 100% compostable.

And also, worth repeating, your coffee is roasted by at stay-at-home-mom…where time is limited and it's precious. We are not a factory that churns out hundreds of pounds at a time. It is a small scale, timely process. We think it’s only fair to compensate for that.

Speaking of fair compensation, you might notice a slight increase in price at some of our wholesale locations. Please understand that in those instances, the business that is carrying our coffee takes a cut because business apparently works that way…who knew? But think of it like this: if you buy our beans anywhere else, you are supporting us AND them! Your dollars have the ability to stretch all over the community and that’s exciting!

Of course! As mentioned above, all our single use products are completely compostable. In addition to that, we will be offering refill systems at our summer markets to encourage our customers to use containers they already have. By reusing containers for beans, cold brew or your own cup for hot coffee, that saves us one more bag or one more cup. And every bag or cup saved is one less we have to order, which saves fuel (even compostable bags have to ship!). It’s just a better system to reuse and recycle what we already have. And with a product like coffee, which has already comes with a high carbon footprint, we are trying in any way that we can.

Speaking of carbon footprint, the roaster that we proudly use (an Aillio Bullet) is one of the greenest on the market! And to further that, we roast exclusively on solar power (during the sunny months) and as much as possible during the winter ones.

We are trying our best to run this business in a way that benefits our local community and the coffee community as a whole. Every step is just that….a step!

Wellllll, it means that we only do small batches of coffee at a time (small being 1000 grams or less).

This is beneficial to us, as our business is small. It also allows us to find the complexities of each bean, while being able to maintain consistency from roast to roast.

Because there are so many brewing styles and they all work best with specific grind types, we recommend grinding your own coffee right before brewing. That way you can tailor it for your perfect brew! Coffee beans release all their oils and aromatics when they are ground and are at their best when enjoyed sooner rather than later.

HOWEVER, if none of that matters to you and you are just looking for some….good enough….coffee to get you through your morning, let us know. We are happy to grind those beans up for you! Please specify at checkout!

Coffee is subjective and that makes it hard to suggest the perfect, (or decent) cup. For a lot of people, coffee is coffee, and so the whole rage over single origin, specialty coffee is kind of overrated. We understand and in that case, we might not be the coffee for you. However, you won’t know if you like it until you try it and we’re always advocates for adventure around here.

A safe place to begin is one of our blends, when available. We experiment with a lot of combinations to highlight the best parts of two or more flavor profiles, and we think they usually turn out pretty good! We get a lot of positive feedback on our blends, and they’re always changing, based on what we have at the time. Give one of those a shot and if you DON’T love it, we’ll find you one that you can at least tolerate!

We’re glad you asked!

There are lots of ways to enjoy coffee, and we all have our favorites. Here are some of them.

Firstly, the Coffee Maker: Unassuming, dependable, gets the job done. There’s no shame in coffee makers. We suggest a 1:15 ratio for your best cup of our adequate coffee.

Next, the French Press: Slightly fancier, looks like you know what you’re doing, wildly fun (pressing the plunger down, you know what I mean, don’t deny it). 1:12 ratio.

The Pour Over: Now you’re in league with the big dogs, weighing and sniffing and being all smug with your mug. We suggest a 1:15 ratio, and we HIGHLY suggest using a kitchen scale. Precision makes all the difference here!

The Aeropress: Underrated. Portable. For the serious and on-the-go types. Built in measuring system capable of anything from an espresso-like consistency to a typical brew cup. Your choice!

The Espresso Maker: Look at you pulling shots. You know what you’re doing, don’t you? And you really don’t need our guidance here. In fact, you should be teaching US.

You can check out a quick chart from the knowledgeable people at Roasty here.

Yup. Our success is only possible because of all of the many, many people who paved the way. We know the ugly history of slavery in coffee, the negative ways that farming practices can affect the earth, and the exploitation of men, woman and children to this day. For those reasons, we choose to give to charities that are seeking to heal and restore in these particular areas.

1% of sales from our blends goes to UNHCR. Learn about their work with refugees here.

1% of sales from our Nicaragua goes to Agape International Missions. Learn about their fight against human trafficking here.

1% of sales from our Decaf goes to First Nations Development Institute. Learn about their work to strengthen native communities and economies here.

1% of sales from our Guatemala goes to Conservation International. Learn about how they are fighting to protect rain forests and indigenous communities here.

1% of sales from our Ethiopia goes to Kiva. Learn how their crowdfunded loan programs help small businesses thrive here.

These are small steps. They will not rectify or undo any damage that has been done, but we are committed to starting somewhere.

Music is important to our family. So much so, that when faced with the daunting task of naming our blends, all we could come up with were song titles! We think it’s a fun way of combining two of our favorite things: coffee+tunes.

Here’s a list of what we’ve done so far:

1. “Golden” inspired by Harry Styles. Listen here.

2. “Dandelion Wine” inspired by Gregory Alan Isakov. Listen here.

3. “Alabama Haint” inspired by Penny and Sparrow. Listen here.

4. “Stick Season” Inspired by Noah Kahan. Listen here.

5. “Winter” inspired by Matt Corby. Listen here.

6. “Shake the Frost” Inspired by Tyler Childers. Listen here.

7. “Vagabond” inspired by Camp. Listen here.

8. “Get Happy” inspired by Matt Maeson. Listen here.

9. “Sleep Deprivation” inspired by Chance Pena. Listen here.

10. “Daylight” inspired by David Kushner. Listen here.

You can find these tunes and more on our Spotify Playlists!

Firstly, THANK YOU!

Really, we mean that. The main reason that we turned this hobby into a business is to supplement as much of our “out of the home” income as possible, in hopes of eventually roasting as a family, permanently. Every bag of coffee sold is one step towards that goal. We appreciate your help.

Now, if you’ve already bought some and the coffee has already arrived, we humbly suggest following our Spotify account, brew a big ol’ steamy cup of your new coffee and taking a few moments to savor its’ goodness. The mail can be slow (they’re doing their best, don’t be mean), so if your coffee has NOT arrived….be patient.

The coffee is good, but the music on our Spotify is excellent. The Cinnamon Roast playlist is mostly acoustic, strummy kind of things. Light Roast is punchy, happy and upbeat. Medium Roast is smooth and laid back. Dark Roast is more punky and ragey. French Roast gets a little alt rock, a little electronic, a little mish mash. American Roast is bluegrass, folk, Appalachian type tunes.

*Some songs may contain explicit content.

Please let us know if you have any feedback, comments or concerns about the coffee you drink. That matters to us.

And if you made it to the end of all these questions, let us know, because that takes dedication and time and frankly, we’re not sure why you did it. But, to thank you, here’s 5% off a 12oz bag of coffee. Use code: betterbegood at checkout!

Thanks again, friends!