TONX TUMBLES

Valentine's Day coffeegrams to show your love and support a worthy cause.

Candies are nice. Flowers are fine. But if you really want to impress your loved ones and Valentine, give the gift of fresh roasted coffee. For a limited time, we’re offering this set of five small coffeegrams, each with 2oz of fresh beans and a special Valentine’s Day message.

The origin that makes professional coffee tasters smile.

People always ask me where the best beans come from. It’s a tough question, and there are no wrong answers, but I’ve got to say Kenya. Here’s why.

Announcing the Tonx Better Coffee Exchange.

One company is practically synonymous with coffee in America. Their stores are so ubiquitous, they’ve become the most reliable bathroom option for the residents of NYC. This company has done more to popularize coffee than any other: Starbucks. We are greatly indebted to them.

Share your photos and videos, win weekly prizes, all this month.

December is a month of celebrations, so we’re adding our own. Each week this month, we’ll announce a vaguely holiday-related theme. All you have to do is upload a photo or video on the theme and tag it with “#tonxidays” to enter. One winner per week will receive fabulous prizes!

Happy Tonxidays! Post photos/videos and win prizes, all of December. Each week, we’ll announce a theme. Upload a photo or video based on the theme and tag it with “#tonxidays”. Our favorite will receive a fabulous prize.

A closeup of the Tonx Kitty Sweatshirt we're selling for Black Friday (sale ends at 11:59PM PST tonight)! http://tonx.co/qS

Get your paws on this fuzzy Tonx Kitty Sweatshirt. Only available on Black Friday (sale ends at 11:59PM PST, November 29)! http://tonx.co/qS

A helpful guide to making coffee without losing your mind.

When I became a barista, there was a universal understanding in my family that, from here on out, I would always provide the holiday coffee. It was a role I cooly accepted, but I soon realized I had no idea what I was doing. It turns out that making coffee for hundreds of people a day doesn’t really translate into making coffee for a couple dozen of my closest friends and family. I tried a few different approaches...

A peek inside the mind of a roaster at work.

A decade ago, I thought “blending” was the art of sourcing enough green coffee to last a few months, while leaving wiggle room to roast the coffees that were getting a little long in the tooth. Of course, back then I also thought that a “trip to origin” meant partying until the sun came up or the rum ran out.

Now a trip to origin doesn’t just mean a travel party, it’s real work.

To create the perfect flavor, we had to outdo ourselves.

Someone once told me that the difference between a single origin coffee and a blend is like the difference between a single color and a detailed painting. A single origin is beautiful and lovely, but it’s ultimately one-dimensional and lacks depth. A blend is like a gorgeous painting, taking many single origin colors to create a picture that has depth and story. I’m still not sure if this is insightful or glib eloquence, but I want to find out.

A career coffee nerd's take on an old tradition.

A question I'm asked a lot is why hasn't Tonx done a blend? Other coffee roasters offer them, and most of the time they outsell their single-origin offerings.

There are a couple of honest answers. The first is that one of the things that makes Tonx unique is our intense focus on doing one thing and doing it really well. We're always cautious when taking on new projects and never want to compromise our commitment to delivering the best possible experience to our customers. The second is plain old perfectionist tendencies – not wanting to commit to something unless it is going to be supremely awesome.

But for the longer answer, I'm dusting off a few coffee nerd hats to try and make sense of my conflicting attitudes toward blends.

Join the incredibly slow coffee movement.

Unlike other drugs that may bring the DEA rappelling down from helicopters, coffee is perfectly legal to grow. Plus it makes a lovely houseplant! All it requires is patience. Here’s how to grow your own.

The best beans in Central America may come from Huehue.

Every coffee region has its unique attributes and devoted fans, so any claim that one might be even slightly ahead of the rest can cause a ruckus among professionals. But I have to get this off my chest: Huehuetenango produces many of the very best coffees in Central America.

Francisco Javier Valle on growing coffee in Nicaragua.

I had a chat with Francisco Javier about his family, his farm, and how the US coffee culture looks to a Nicaraguan coffee farmer. He is vibrant, intense, and has a great sense of humor, but above all else, he loves coffee. I swear it must be pumping in his veins.

How Yukro made good on Ethiopia's vast coffee potential.

A properly prepared cup of coffee from Yukro, Ethiopia, is exquisite. In it you can taste juicy peaches, blueberries, and candied lemon peel. But it wasn’t always this way.

Like many other cooperatives in and around Jimma, Ethiopia, Yukro used to produce nearly undrinkable coffee. It was detested by green coffee buyers and traded at low prices resented by hardworking farmers.