I’ve gotten these questions a lot, and likely you’ve already been asking yourself the same ones: “Why is your coffee better? What’s the competitive advantage? Why sell coffee when there’s so many other companies?”
Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you today!
Simply put, the reason why C·UP is here, and why we’re starting our company off is all due to: Top Quality Coffee.
Think about your current coffee situation.
What brand of coffee do you typically drink? What’s in your cupboards at home? Where do you enjoy going out to drink coffee?
Most people are fairly set in the coffee they drink, in both the branding and where they like to get it.
But, what I’ve found most people don’t know is what goes behind the coffee they drink. More importantly, most have no idea to the kind of quality of coffee they drink.
Why does grocery store coffee taste different from a large coffee chain? How does that differ from specialty coffee companies?
Sure, you’re paying less at the grocery store…but what exactly goes behind the pricing and why is there a taste difference?
Though there are a few different reasons as to why the taste will differ between brands, the main difference will always come down to the quality of your coffee.
I’ve been drinking coffee avidly for over a decade, and in this time I have tried all kinds of coffee. Coffee that made me want to drink more, and coffee in which I couldn’t even finish the full cup.
After working in a Top Commercial coffee company for over 3 years, I’ve become so interested in what makes quality coffee, and really, how can we get this to more people!
By the end of this article, you will not only be educated about what goes into the quality of your coffee, but you’ll see how we’re bringing you Top Quality Coffee with C·UP’s coffee.
What goes into the quality of your coffee?
Here are some of the most common items that go into making up the overall quality of your coffee:
Grade of Coffee: Grade 1 & 2 are the highest you can get, with Grade 3 being the Top Commercial.
The most common Top Commercial coffee you’re drinking should be averaging around Grade 3, while a majority of the cheaper grocery store brands are likely under Grade 3.
With C·UP we’re bringing you Grade 1 coffee, which immediately sets us apart from the majority of all coffee companies.
Type of Beans: Arabica beans are the best quality beans you can get in the world of coffee, and all of the Top Commercial companies and higher will have 100% Arabica Beans as their coffee ingredient. C·UP included in this as well.
Processing: Washed and Natural are the two different types of processing when it comes to the coffee you drink. Washed leaves your coffee more uniform and constant in its taste from batch to batch, and will be what Top Commercial brands use.
Natural tends to have more fruity and rich flavoring, due to the processing methods, but will be less uniform in taste and likely differ between each batch. Most often small batch coffee companies will use this method.
C·UP uses Washed Processing for our beans, to ensure that the same great taste will be in every coffee purchase you make and enjoy with us.
Location: Did you know that there are only specific regions that can grow coffee?
Did you also know that The United States of America is not one of those regions? (More on this soon!)
The location and specific region your coffee comes from will affect both the taste and quality of your coffee.
C·UP sources all our coffee from Ethiopia, which is where coffee was first discovered and still remains to be one of the most coveted locations to get your coffee.
The specific region our beans are from is Sidamo, and these beans are known as Strictly High-Grown beans due to the high elevations they’re grown at. This adds great flavor to the beans and sets them up to be a highly sought after bean.
Farming: Your coffee farmers and the methods in which they grow your coffee will directly relate to the quality.
I’m ecstatic to share that C·UP is bringing you coffee that is just as good and even better than Fair Trade Certified and Organic coffees.
I’ll share more specifics on this very soon, but the important elements you need to know: No fertilizer or chemicals are used on the coffee plants or beans, and C·UP is doing everything Fair Chain. (See below on Fair Chain.)
Roast: When it comes to the quality of your coffee, roasting will typically be a personal preference between people.
This referring to whether you like light roast, medium roast, or dark roast coffee.
Roasting is a part of the production process for your coffee beans, and the different roasts are dependent on how long the coffee beans are roasted.
Light roasts are the shortest roasted with high acidity and caffeine levels, while dark roasts have the least amount of roasting and low acidity and caffeine levels. Medium roasts will be right in between light and dark roasts, having a well balanced level of acidity and caffeine.
Overall the quality of your coffee will be dependent on your roaster, and the specific roast given to the beans.
At C·UP our introductory coffee will be: Medium Roast as it’s the most friendly and best tasting for both beginner and avid coffee drinkers alike.
How does Fair Chain factor into your coffee quality?
I cannot wait to share more about Fair Chain with you in the near future, but wanted to make sure we introduced the topic to you as soon as possible with how it relates to the quality.
Fair Chain is not the same as Fair Trade, simply put.
Fair Trade relates to paying the producers of your product/goods fairly.
Fair Chain, however, not only pays your producers fairly, but it creates a chain of business that directly and positively impacts multiple businesses in the production region and country.
A coffee company that has Fair Trade certification means that they likely just: purchase the raw beans at a fair price to the farmers.
(Please note: raw beans do not sell for much and their sale very minimally gives back to the farmers, the economy, and the community that produce it.)
From there, they would export the raw beans to either Germany or the US to roast, package, and sell the finished beans.
C·UP Coffee will be Fair Chain though, which relates to: Purchasing the raw beans from Ethiopian farmers, paying for it to be transported to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, paying for it to be processed, roasted and packaged in Addis Ababa, paying for the labels to be printed by a local print shop, and finally paying for it to be packaged up, transported, and shipped via Ethiopian Airlines to the United States where it will then be sold.
In our upcoming article on Fair Chain vs. Fair Trade Coffee, I’ll share about how awesome the social impact is of Fair Chain, but for now here’s a quick way to sum up how Top Quality Coffee relates to Fair Chain Coffee:
Your coffee is being grown, transported, processed, roasted, and packaged right where it is grown and in a region where they’ve been doing it since the beginning of coffee itself.
How awesome is that, and really–how can you get any better and more authentic quality than that!?
In Closing.
I hope this has been both helpful and insightful as to how and why we’re breaking into the market with Top Quality Coffee.
There is so much to coffee that I have even learned in these last few months, that I cannot wait to share with you in future articles.
On top of that, I am even more excited to have you get your hands on this coffee.
I tried the first samples of it back in October 2022, and it is SO GOOD. Hands down the best coffee I’ve had to date.
To summarize everything though, C·UP is bringing you Top Quality Coffee that encompasses:
- Grade 1 Coffee
- 100% Arabica Beans
- Washed Processing
- Sidamo Region
- Chemical and Fertilizer Free
- Medium Roast
- Fair Chain
I hope that after reading this you are dying for as good of a cup of coffee as I am, and that we’re about to be bringing you with C·UP!
All the best, and until next time!
Michael White
COF·FEED UP CUP BLOG 
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