2026 State of Coffee
January is the month we take a look back at the year behind us as well as look forward to the things to come. 2025 was a hard year for buying coffee! As you are likely aware, there were continuous tariff policy changes that dramatically changed how and from where we bought green coffee. The biggest example was the 50% tariff on Brazil, the world's largest coffee exporter. This sent shockwaves through the industry as roasters scrambled to find other sources for beans. Instead of thinking about which coffees were coming in season, we also had to keep tariff implementation dates (and percentages) in mind. It added a new and entirely unnecessary step to our purchasing process.
We finally met some relief when coffee became an exempted product for tariffs at the end of the year. This is good news, but the fact that this policy could be reversed at any moment keeps us on our toes.
Despite all these challenges, y’all have continued to support us, and for that we are deeply appreciative.
As we look ahead to a new year and do our best to plan and strategize, things feel murky and unpredictable. After a turbulent 2025, we are hesitant to forecast with confidence, but we have a few things we are keeping our eyes on:
Coffee prices have looked steady since Brazil tariffs were lifted. We are hopeful this will continue to be the case.
There has been an increase in demand for decaf coffees. Decaffeination plants only have so much capacity, and therefore decaf has been harder to buy (and more expensive when it is available). We are keeping a close eye on decaf prices this year.
We have also been considering a “half-caf” blend perfect for afternoon/evening brewing, and would love your input.
As promised last year, we are planning to review our blend prices each year. At this time, we anticipate that we will be able to continue to buy high quality coffees for our blends around the same prices as last year, and therefore we don’t intend to increase blend pricing.
Producers continue to innovate with coffee processing. We are excited by many of the results and will continue to look for exciting, cohesive cups.
We are testing a new way of releasing very small quantities of very exceptional coffees. These will be roasted on a different roasting machine than the rest of our lineup. Our first coffee is out now, but look for more of these limited high end micro-lots this year.
We do have some exciting plans and changes as we start the year. Jarrod Smith has become a partner, buying out founder Jay Sycip. We appreciate Jay’s vision that began our journey 10 years ago, and will miss his presence around the roastery. Jarrod has been running most of the Portland operations as well as roasting all our coffee for the past few years, and we are very excited to have him in a larger role. We have some other exciting things happening that we will share in the next few months!
In uncertain times, we will stay grounded to our core values: finding exceptional green coffees, roasting them carefully, caring for other people, and always working to improve. Thanks for your continued support.