featured – dragonsandflowers

a bright orange hand peeling back sticker on decaf coffee bag

Decaf coffee marketing is pretty archaic. For all the developments the coffee industry makes technologically and culturally, this niche might as well be in the stone age!

Coffee marketing in general aims to provide several critical values in a single package. On average, a coffee bag will boast its environmental sustainability, ethical sourcing commitment, and/or specialty bean cultivation. Where decaf coffee marketing often stumbles is its missed opportunities. When today’s approaches are not spouting tired catchphrases, they’re failing to stress the physical or mental health benefits.

Falling back on clichés may be easier, but they won’t make your business stand out from the competition (and may even turn buyers off entirely).

How can you improve your decaf coffee marketing to raise awareness or clinch more buyers? I’m going to share a few tips on how to promote your coffee business, from my perspective as both a coffee marketer and a passionate decaf drinker.

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coffee

Coffee Marketing Tips (and Predictions) for Ten Growing Industry Trends

April 12, 2022April 13, 2022 Ashe

What new standards do you think the coffee industry will have over the next ten years? Working on coffee marketing over the next three months seems like a tall order in the pandemic.

If we can rely on anything, it’s the fact that coffee comes in waves. First wave coffee was as simple as could be, focusing on introducing this plant to a mainstream audience. The second wave completed the deal and turned coffee into an everyday beverage. Third wave is what Western coffee drinkers – particularly those interested in the specialty space – are most familiar with, focusing on environmental sustainability and cultural growth.

The fourth wave of coffee is still in the air, but current trends are already setting the stage. I’m going to look at ten coffee trends set to become standards over the next ten years and what that means for the cards in your deck – your coffee marketing strategies.

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a gold hand reaching out to a red cup and a pink cup

coffee

Roasters And Cafes Should Raise Their Coffee Prices…And Keep Them That Way

October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 Ashe

Cold snaps, endless shipping delays, and a global pandemic. Caring about anything these days feels like juggling plates.

Why are coffee prices up? Well, the Brazilian cold snap compromised millions of tons of coffee bags earlier this year, setting a record for the coldest harvest in over two decades and cranking up prices to almost double what they usually are. With the pandemic causing shipping delays and the food and beverage industry struggling to retain workers, it’s small wonder coffee prices have skyrocketed.

Roasters, cafes, and roaster-cafe hybrids are understandably concerned about customer retention. Raising prices on an already expensive daily commodity is a surefire way to drive the end consumer into the arms of the competition, right?

The question isn’t whether prices should stay raised: it’s whether or not the end consumer will be willing to pay them.

As someone who has been on both sides of the fence as a coffee buyer and a coffee worker, now’s the best time to get used to what will be a new standard. Roasters and cafes should not just raise their coffee prices, but keep them that way.

Here’s why.

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coffee

Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: La Colombe’s Luna Azul

December 4, 2020October 6, 2021 Ashe

It’s kind of tough to advertise flavor notes, isn’t it? We just have so much variety in our tastebuds.

I’m sensitive to complex flavors myself. I adore being able to get several notes in one cup and can even find myself disappointed if a drink is straightforward (not even bad, just…simple). I also have a massive sweet tooth. The science behind our tongue is a fascinating subject, involving subtle taste receptors located in different areas of the muscle to sort bitter from savory and sweet from salty. That doesn’t stop some people from having overpowering or underwhelming tastebuds, granting them sometimes contradictory experiences with the same product.

Diversity is one of the many beauties of the human condition…so imagine my shock when my mother tried La Colombe’s Luna Azul without knowing its flavor notes and nailed every single one. I had to double-check my phone to make sure I was reading it right! While I’ve long since accepted I can try out a new coffee and not quite get the flavors it was promising, La Colombe has clearly narrowed down its beans’ personality to a razor edge.

If you haven’t read my previous specialty decaf reviews, check out my Decaf, Decaf Everywhere series.

Let’s see what makes this coffee special:

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coffee, review

Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. Huerta Del Rio Decaf

November 20, 2020June 25, 2021 Ashe

Do you blank out when asked about your favorite coffee origin? It’s all right. I did, too.

It’s a common enough reaction when a cheap coffee bag advertises its convenience or its smoothness more than where it comes from. Whether or not origin is worth knowing about is another source of contention depending on the kind of drinker you are. More casual drinkers might dip into a cafe once in a while. Others may brew daily for a morning caffeine boost. Yet more might use coffee as a warm and cozy pick-me-up, not unlike a mug of tea.

No matter where you land on the coffee aficionado scale, this is a topic you’ll want to brush up on. Learning about coffee origins and what, precisely, they offer each harvest has been one of the most enjoyable and illuminating parts of my journey.

What makes Mexican coffee so good? We’re going to get another showcase on what this origin, and region, have to offer with PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. If you haven’t read my previous reviews, check out my directory for all things specialty decaf coffee.

I’m excited to talk about this bag, so let’s go:

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coffee, signal boosting

Five Fundraisers And New Businesses To Support On National Coffee Day

September 29, 2020February 20, 2021 Ashe

Coffee tastes even better when it’s paired with a good cause. In fact, it’s pretty rare I see a bag, can, or bottle without a supplementary positive.

Eco-friendly initiatives. Paper recycling. Supporting women-owned farms. It’s so common it can be a little overwhelming at times (and according to the commonly cited USDA, these promises can even be unreliable). It helps to go straight to the source by supporting a smaller business with less middleman and smokescreens. People who live close by. People you can see.

We have newly founded black-owned businesses, we have charities, we have fundraisers. Take a look at the list below and put your money toward a good cause:

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coffee, guide

Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: Boon Boona Coffee’s Decaf

July 27, 2020June 25, 2021 Ashe

I’ve been wanting to try Ethiopian coffee for a while. I mean, it’s the birthplace of coffee and all that.

Every time I search for a decaf coffee bag I take my time reading about every little detail. The goals of the roasters bringing this bag to my shelf. The benefits for the farmers toiling away behind-the-scenes, often unseen as the backbone of the industry at large (aside from a few candid photographs). It’s a lot to think about before clicking that purchase button, but it’s important.

Boon Boona Coffee ticks off several of those high points for me: it’s a local roaster, a black-owned business and an Ethiopian origin all in one.

Let’s take a look at Boon Boona Coffee‘s single origin decaf variety and how it stacks up against all the coffee reviewed so far. If you’ve missed out on my previous posts, check out my recent review of Onyx Coffee Lab’s Decaf Colombia Huila or Sightglass Coffee’s Hunky Dory.

It’s time to dip into the world of classic Ethiopian coffee:

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coffee, music

A Coffee Playlist With An Untwist: Five Catchy Songs About Coffee

June 22, 2020February 20, 2021 Ashe

Listening to the Top 40 radio station can be a lesson in madness.

The same predictable chord progressions. The same exact drops. The increasingly small pool of influences that blurs musicians together and makes the very rare unique single stand out like a slap to the mouth. I don’t work a conventional nine-to-five, nor do I constantly tune in to my local radio, so the Top 40 station has become something of a niche for me. I prefer to dig for songs through YouTube recommendations or Soundcloud autoplay, enjoying good surprises and stumbling across lesser-known artists who deserve more love.

A relaxing cadence for your ears melting into the delicious flavors on your tongue. Coffee and music go hand-in-hand, and I found myself wanting to see just how much they overlap. The brew is a daily staple for millions around the world, helping people get through their day with a much-needed moment of comfort or caffeine buzz. Unsurprisingly, that love of coffee seeps into art. The media we consume, the language we speak or the ways we look at one another. It shapes us as much as we shape it.

I’m nothing if not a multitasker. I’ve got five songs that don’t just go great with coffee, but talk about coffee, with enough variety in genre to ensure there will be at least one song that speaks to you:

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