How many of the things that you eat and drink can you trace back to its very beginning? Are you a part of the "eat local" movement? Are you proud of fact that you met the guy who grows your kale, the gal who gathers your eggs, the folks who brew your beer? How about that cup of coffee (or three) that you drink every single morning?

We think it is a big deal to know where your coffee comes from and what it takes to get it to your cup in the morning; that is why we are beginning a series of coffee education events like the one we had last night in partnership with SlowFoodRVa and Alchemy Coffee.

Take a look at some of the pictures from the event!

We started the evening off with a tasting of the first recorded coffee blend, Mocha Java - a blend of Indonesian and East African beans - as Eric Spivek of Alchemy Coffee walked us through the historical origins of coffee and how it came to be a beverage enjoyed worldwide.
Stephen Robertson of Blanchard's Coffee Co. walked us through farming, harvest, processing and procurement practices and how that all relates to the Slow Food Movement and the world economy.
We then took the class down to the Roast Lab where Stephen demonstrated coffee roasting and Eric talked about brewing techniques. With Press Pots, Chemex, Clever Drippers and Melitta Drippers, we tasted Ethiopian Harrar, Papua New Guinea, Guatemalan Huehuetenango and Sumatra Mandheling.

There were tons of questions, answers, laughs and everyone went home with a bag of freshly roasted Dark Roast Ethiopian Harrar; and hopefully a better understanding of how they get that cup of coffee that starts their day.

Sign up for our email newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get information on our next Coffee Ed. event!

Virginia is going to have some freakishly warm weather for the middle of January this weekend. It is a foregone conclusion that some folks may be thinking about a nice refreshing glass of iced coffee after enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

PRO TIP: Go ColdBrew. You'll be glad you did.

Here's your handy how-to for an easy, delicious batch of ColdBrew for the weekend:

Pick your favorite fresh roasted coffee and grind it as you would for your French Press--you're going to use about double the amount of ground coffee as you would for a normal press pot of hot coffee.

Put your ground coffee in your press pot and stir in cold or room temperature filtered water until the press pot is full.

Cover the press pot with plastic wrap and let it steep in the refrigerator over night.

In the morning, insert the press pot's plunger and plunge as far as you can.

Pour off the coffee you have brewed into a separate pitcher and then add cold, filtered water to double the volume. Now you have delicious, low acidity, high-test ColdBrew to pour over ice and enjoy until its gone!

Happy brewing everyone!

There are so many coffee lovers out there who are drinking several cups of pricey specialty coffee a day and have absolutely no idea what it takes to get that coffee from where it was grown to  their cup.

I'll be the first to admit, I spent the first several years of my career in coffee not knowing that information, and when I finally learned, it was an eye opening experience that totally changed my outlook on this product that is so deeply intwined in so many of our lives.


Please join us Tuesday, January 15th at 6:30pm in the Blanchard's Coffee Co. Roast Lab as we team up with Slow Food RVA and Alchemy Coffee to present Coffee: Farm to Cup; an exploration of what it takes to get our morning coffee, who is affected and how to make the best of the whole process for everyone involved.

We'll also have roasting and brewing demonstrations with some samples for you to take home as well as any of our coffees available for purchase if you're looking for something specific. 

Please RSVP here as space is limited and we need an accurate head count to make sure the event is best for everyone who attends. We hope to see you there!

Well folks, not only have we survived another holiday season, but a Mayan Apocalypse as well; we'll call that an overall success!

We truly hope you all have had a wonderful holiday full of friends, family, good food and, of course, great coffee.

We couldn't be more thankful for all of our family and friends who support Blanchard's Coffee Co. and all of the awesome businesses and coffee lovers who help people enjoy a great cup of fresh roasted coffee every day. With all of your help, we can proudly announce another record breaking year here at Blanchard's, including over 2,100 pounds roasted in a single day during the week before Christmas! Yes, if you're wondering, that is a ton of coffee--literally.

Its easy to fall into a deep winter slump after all the excitement of the holidays wears off, so we're working on a few things to keep you pumped, in the least, about coffee.

First up, this was a HUGE year for our seasonal Holiday Blend, but even good things must come to an end. Before we wrap up the Holiday Blend for this season, we wanted to offer you the chance to pick up a few more bags at a great sale price as a thank you for all your support. Starting January 1st, for a limited time, you can pick up as many bags of Holiday Blend as you like from our website for $7.00 per bag--as a loyal blog reader, you can get a head start by buying here:

Holiday Blend  12oz Bag

We're also going to start a Blanchard's Newsletter to which you can subscribe for email alerts about cool happenings at the Roast Lab and beyond. You can subscribe here--we promise, we will not spam you.

We'll be announcing stuff like new blog posts, coffee events, featured coffees, coffee specials and awesome partnerships like the ones we have with the James River Association or Road Holland, so be sure to sign up!

If your home is anything like mine, a morning isn't complete without a great cup of coffee--especially during the holidays. Coffee has a social, conversational effect that brings people together in that soul and body warming kind of way, so its a great treat to share when the family is around.

Coffee also makes a great gift, not just for family and friends, but for officemates, clients, business contacts--even the mailman!

Blanchard's Coffee Co. has everything you need for holiday coffee, starting with our yearly release of our Holiday Blend. The 2012 Holiday Blend is a delicious blend of Indonesian and African coffees that is bold and spicy with a slight hint of dark fruits.

We also offer a wide range of gift options from single bags of a coffee of your choice to our Signature Gift Boxes to custom gift sets for corporate giving.

You can order Holiday Blend 2012 along with the rest of our coffees and Signature Gift Boxes here at the online store.

Contact Stephen at 804-516-5213 or stephen@blanchardscoffee.com for custom corporate gift questions and/or orders.