Coffee History
Just like a dark roast’s flavor profile, coffee has a rich background. If you’ve ever typed “coffee history” or “where does coffee come from?” into a search engine, you’ll find varying answers. Though it’s unknown how or when we discovered the bean juice we know and love, we’re just really friggin’ glad it exists in the modern day. Where would we all be without it?
Coffee Sourcing
If you talk to any of us Cartel-ians, you’ll notice our excitement when we get to geek out over our beans. But where do we get them from?
Mercanta supplies us and other specialty roasting companies around the world with incredible green coffees.
Mercanta: Setting a Higher Standard for Green Buying
Since 2010, just two years after Cartel opened its doors, Mercanta has been a remarkable partner to procure our green coffee from. They focus on providing ethically-sourced beans; honing in on traceability, quality, and sustainability. They create personal relationships with growers, make frequent origin visits, and incorporate quality control measures. Furthermore, keeping climate change at top of mind, Mercanta prioritizes climate-smart agricultural methods to lessen its effects. For all these reasons and more, collaborating with Mercanta allows us to deliver exceptional coffee to our customers, sourced with care. You can learn more about the hardworking team behind Mercanta here.
Specialty Coffee Grading
Before a coffee comes into our warehouse, it goes through a meticulous grading process. Essentially, coffees are judged on a number of criteria relating to defects, size, and taste. Developed by the Specialty Coffee Association, scores go from 0 to 100, and coffee earning an 80 or above are classified as specialty. All the coffees on our shelves rate 84 or higher on the scale, meaning customers are drinking something truly special when they choose CRC.
Our Dedication to You
What’s important to you is what’s important to us. Quality, transparency, and passion for coffee and the people who drink it will always be at the center of who we are. We’ll forever be intentional with the coffee we purchase as our organization continues to grow.
Cartel Roasting Co.: Better Today Than Yesterday
One of our core values is to be better today than yesterday. Every cup of traceable, exceptional coffee at Cartel is a testament to the efforts of a team of people dedicated to their craft, who continuously strive to improve each day in all facets of our business.
Discover Your Coffee
Are you new to the coffee world? Let us help! We created a coffee quiz intended to guide you toward whole bean coffee that’ll fit your unique tasting preferences. Take the coffee quiz today and begin your journey with us.
