Ho ho ho and spro spro spro to all of you in Sprudge land. Merry Christmas from everyone at Sprudge Media. We present to you the latest edition of our beloved year-end tradition: a compendium of the best holiday coffee blends of the season.
We have been publishing such a story every year since 2013 (!), and each issue brings modern surprises and delights. This year’s version features the best coffees from Sprudge Roasters Village, which is a who’s who of quality-focused, manufactured coffee roasters we proudly work with. There’s so much to love here: multi-bean fiestas, single-origin gobwhallops, unique melanges from origins near and far, and much more. Take a look inside and shop further – from stockings that haven’t been stuffed yet to a holiday breakfast that needs a fresh brew, we guarantee you’ll find the perfect holiday coffee among the selections below.
Like the immense, green, year-round trees that tower over the Pacific Northwest, Stumptown’s annual Evergreen event is a much-loved event and a favorite of the Portland-based Sprudge Media crew. This year’s blend includes two classic Stumptown coffees: Honduras Finca El Puente (“purple princess, man!”) and Rwanda Huye Mountain. This coffee from Honduras, from producers Moisés Herrera and Marysabel Caballero, is a legendary proposition from Stumptown and here it tastes delicious combined with washed Rwandan coffee. Order yourself a bag and stay nippy on chilly days.
Savannah (and Atlanta), Georgia’s Perc Coffee has crafted a seasonal blend as mysterious as that massive, wrapped gift under the Christmas tree. The Holiday Blend touts the origins of “Gobbler’s Village” and the rise of “Way Up There”. The process is “unnaturally vile” and the variety is “terrifying.” Honestly, I’m not sure what any of this means, but brewing that first cup makes it even more electrifying.
When is a mixture not a mixture but still a mixture? When there are two coffees of the same origin. And that’s exactly what Equator Coffees has on offer this year. Their certified organic holiday blend includes two Ethiopian coffees sourced from Suke Quto, a farm located in the Guji Highlands of Ethiopia. The med-light roast is dominated by notes of chestnut, candied citrus and fig cookie, and 5% of sales will go towards the purchase of desks as part of the Suke Quto school project.
A perennial favorite here at Sprudge, Novel York’s Joe Coffee takes us all the way to Manhattan with their seasonal Rockefeller Blend. This year’s blend uses coffees from Guatemala (Miriam Florence Aguirre Wyld De Urruela & Florence Aguirre De Fanjul) and Burundi (Turihamwe Women’s Group) for coffee with notes of dried dates, papaya, candied nuts and baking chocolate. $1 from every bag sold goes to support 9 million reasonsa charity fighting food insecurity in the Novel York area.
It’s the season for something cozy and homey. It’s the season for mulled wine and all its warming glory. With Miracle on North 6th Street, Partners Coffee’s newest blend, mulled wine flavors come in coffee form. Notes of sweet orange, honey, ginger, cinnamon and Malbec complete Partners’ blend of natural and processed Honduran laundry. All the cozy warmth, none of the hangovers.
It’s always nice to share a little California Christmas with the folks at Verve – in our opinion that means the beach, some fresh winter citrus, maybe something like that, a laid-back cousins walk after dinner with good local produce if you know what I mean, and of course the steamy annual Chemex of Verve Christmas Mix. This year, the cup includes coffees from Ethiopia, India and Rwanda, offering notes of cherry cordial and persimmon. Sounds pretty perfect.
Many holiday coffee blends offer a pretty protected approach – crowd-pleasing flavors, a slightly more intense roast in case Grandma (or Jordan) wants to add a little milk. But that’s not the case in Nightswim. Their blend combines two truly unique coffees: Idido Anaerobic Natural from Yirgacheffe and Kuta Peaberry from Papua Novel Guinea. Think clear, think fruity, think expressive, like a cup of Christmas fruit punch instead of a bowl of logic. This sounds refreshing to us!
There is nothing wrong with being absorbed in the dim arts from time to time; a medium-dark roast can be attractive in the right hands and even grandma and grandpa will love it. We have Klatch Coffee, which has been producing high-quality coffees at various degrees of roasting for several decades. And with their Dancing Reindeer Blend, they lean toward growth. Full-bodied, with notes of dim chocolate, spices and butterscotch, the Dancing Reindeer Blend pairs perfectly with a sugar cookie, in case you want to skip something sweet and caffeinated for the man in the red suit who’s pulling an all-nighter.
Let’s get straight to the point: The Barn’s holiday coffee is simply called Christmas Coffee, and perhaps that’s a nod to the brand’s no-nonsense Berlin roots. This year it is Huye District red bourbon coffee from Rwandan producer David Rubanzangabo. In the cup you will find notes of praline, candied fig, orange and warming winter spices, perfect for this time of year.
I think the packaging for Dune’s Holiday Blend is very cute – look at those ribbon-tied packages! – and the ingredients in this mix are pretty electrifying too. It’s 50% Ethiopia Gygesa, 25% Ethiopia Sewda and 25% Honduras Olvin Fernandez, a three-grain blend that brings joy and delicious flavors to your holiday cup. Ho, ho, ho!
Don’t focus on nomenclature. This year’s Olympia holiday coffee blend is actually a blend of daytime coffees sourced from Daye Bensa’s Kontoma car wash in Sideman, Ethiopia. Look for “flavors of good news, comfort and joy” and classic Ethiopian washed coffee notes with floral sweetness and complexity. This is not to be missed.
The basis of this year’s Framily offer from Onyx is washed coffee from the notable Ethiopian Chelbesa car wash. “This coffee is designed to please everyone from coffee geeks to in-laws with weighty cream and sugar,” which sounds about perfect for the next few weeks. Another timeless hit from Onyx.
There are plenty of snow days in Calgary, but this year’s Snow Day special is extra special for Phil and Sebastian. That’s because it comes from legendary Honduran coffee producers Moises Herrera and Marysabel Caballero, whose coffees at Finca El Puente have been delighting specialty coffee lovers around the world for decades. Look for notes of sugar cookies and almonds and see if you can detect a distinct “purple” tint to the flavors.
A medium roast blend of coffees from Mexico and Colombia, this year’s Holiday Roast from Portland Coffee Roasters doesn’t just taste good – it’s good. This is because $1 from every bag sold goes to support growing gardens, An Oregon nonprofit that grows edible gardens in schools, backyards and correctional facilities across the state. This unique organization has a track record of good work and is a great way to take your holiday coffee routine beyond the cup this season.
I have personally been drinking this coffee for the last week and can attest that it is delicious and very seasonal – a perfect way to end this year’s guide to our blends. Sightglass Winter Solstice is proudly and boldly medium roast, composed of Colombian and Kenyan coffees and perfectly evocative of chilly nights and roaring flames. There’s so much to like here – give it a try and you’ll agree that this could be the perfect blend for the holidays this year.
