🔥 Our first Oak Barrel Aged Coffee!

We’re so excited to finally share with you something we’ve been working on behind the scenes since January this year… our first Oak Barrel Aged coffee!

Naturally, we chose our highest impact relationship - Poaquil - for this very first special limited edition! It all began when we met Christian Lugo, of Lugo’s Craft Distillery, late last year. We instantly connected over a shared passion for our craft, for quality, and for creating something that’s truly one-of-a-kind. The moment he showed us a beautiful American Oak barrel, holding their first barrel-aged spiced rum (which was almost ready to be bottled for the Holiday season)… we saw an amazing opportunity to give it a second life as our first barrel-aged (aka. “secondary post-harvest fermentation vessel”) experience! Jolian has been personally rotating the green beans inside barrel every week, and we’ve been sampling and testing different parameters every few weeks. The beans have now completely transformed, and feature a beautiful golden color, a delightful smell (reminiscent of a distillery - yet, no worries - any traces of alcohol from the barrel will be completely evaporated during the first stages of roasting), and most importantly, a very unique, new flavor profile once they’re roasted. We believe we have achieved a memorable, surprisingly sweet and complex cup experience; one that features strong hints of stone fruits and a persistent honey sweetness in the palate.

It will be available online only, and roasted fresh, on order as all our other beans (there’s also some special touches on the packaging, which we hope you’ll love!). Our first official roast will be this Monday, Oct 17th, and we will roast orders every Monday and Friday until the barrel is empty! If you are a subscriber, you can request it as part of your November box, or as an add-on, by logging into your plan at subscriber.ethosroasters.com (using the email associated with your account) anytime before your next shipment; or by replying to this email if you prefer!

We truly can’t wait to hear your thoughts, and we’re already working on some more surprises for our favorite Holiday (Thanksgiving!) next month. Thank you for continuing to make our Ethos possible every day… getting to be in this journey with all of you is the greatest adventure of our lives, and it means the world you have chosen to share it with us,

Jolian & Lisbeth

AN ETHOS OF GIVING

Happy Holidays, Ethos family! We’d like to close the year with an invitation to reflect and be grateful for one more year of challenges and triumphs, of misadventures and adventures, of life and possibilities!

This year we wanted to reflect on the joys of giving as the ethos that gave us the courage to continue, and even take risks, in the midst of so much uncertainty this year. We truly believe that our deep desire to give - to our farmers and to our customers - is the invisible bond that holds us together, and ultimately makes our roastery different from any other. So, we want to invite you to make this Holiday season all about the giving - not about how much you give, but how much thought and love you place into your giving… through the years we’ve discovered the best gifts are not the most expensive, the best gifts are those that have an element of something the recipient can’t really “buy” - i.e. it’s always thoughtful and deeply personal - it’s perhaps a new product or experience they have never tried (or always wanted to try!). May your season be full of amazing gifts, and above all, full of thoughtful, joyful giving!

As you know, we post an inspirational quote on our Instagram (@ethosroasters) every Monday - and, as is now a tradition, here are our 12 favorite quotes this year:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?” (Martin Luther King Jr. | Posted Jan 20, 2020) - always, and forever a favorite to live by!

“Not all those who wander are lost” (JRR Tolkien | Posted Feb 17, 2020, along with a picture of us visiting our Poaquil farmers in Guatemala!)

“ Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, we can be that generation” ( Nelson Mandela | Posted Mar 23, 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic)

“Life is measured by love” ( Pope Francis | Posted Apr 6, 2020, as stay-at-home orders were being implemented throughout the US)

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” (Confucius | Posted May 25, 2020, as we began a Summer of uncertainty)

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that” ( Martin Luther King Jr. | Posted Jun 1, 2020, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd)

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” (John Lewis | Posted Jul 27, 2020, a few days after his passing)

“Don’t count the days, make the days count” (Muhammad Ali | Posted Aug 10, 2020, as pandemic fatigue began to set in, and we decided to take a risk with our new “Umoja” from D.R. Congo)

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Posted Sep 21, 2020, in the wake of her passing)

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world” (Desmond Tutu | Posted Oct 5, 2020, as we were creating our new Red Swan Blend!)

“How do you say thank you for sunshine or health… for clear days or gentle rains… for happiness, joy, or love? You say it by sharing what you have. You say it by making the world a better place in which to live” (Thomas Willhite | Posted Nov 23, 2020, the week of Thanksgiving)

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give” (Winston Churchill | Posted Dec 7, 2020, overjoyed by your giving spirit, and experiencing our busiest holiday season yet! About half those orders are gifts… which we’re especially grateful for, since most of us only share products, missions, and stories we love and are proud of! Thank you for all the love… we’ll always strive to make you proud!

Every single day, we’re grateful for the opportunity to get to roast for you, to get to live this dream and make an impact, and most of all, for each of you who continue to make it all possible!

Always wishing you much joy and blessings this Holiday season - and a New Year full of possibilities to realize your dreams and Brew Greatness in the world,

Jolian & Lisbeth

P.S. We have a bonus guest blog post this year! Enjoy these Holiday Coffee Recipes written just for us by Blogger Jessie Bayer (a fan generously sharing her talents with us!).