Small anoyances are the normal state of life, and as a general rule, I try not to let them suck me into their vortices. This of course doesn’t apply to our ability to get really top quality coffee from around the world for you, so I was bummed when I found this in my newsfeed today:

Reuters reports a frost AND shipping problems from Brazil (https://apple.news/ALM3jf_JbTPOjSsZWc0uB2g) expected to severely impact coffee availability and price. The frost is more worrying than the temporary global shipping slowdown for me. Coffee bushes take up to seven years to start producing once planted.

At the same time, Colombia is experiencing political and labor tensions with the government that resulted in the government’s order to hold all export ships in port. As far as I know, they are still arguing, and the coffee isn’t shipping yet.

We have seen COVD-19 disrupt all phases of the supply chain, and the supplies in stock are reaching the bottom. Still, suppliers have some new stock. What I worry about is quality. And cost, too.

I just want to say to my wonderful customers that I’ll continue to be picky about which coffees I roast for you, and if I have to get creative to get what you want to taste in your cup, I’ll let you know. This might be, for example, running out of a fruity dry process Ethiopian and substituting a similar tasting coffee from Uganda or East Timor. What will rule is the taste profile, not the origin name.

As always, I consider it a privilege to roast for you, and I am very thankful for you, my dear customers. I’m always happy to hear your feedback, too. Please stay safe until this dumb pandemic is over at last.

To better days…

susan

Yeah, COVD. And wildfires. And shipping and logistics issues for getting your top-quality coffee beans from the farm to me. Arrgh. This has been a hard year for everyone.

I wanted to share a little peek behind the curtain as to how 2020 affected NanoRoast, and more importantly, your coffee availability. Basically, everything is taking twice as long to get to me from around the world, and when it gets here, some of it doesn’t quite measure up due to the extra time sitting in port. Good news is that I still have some great beans to roast for you, and though I had to metaphorically kiss more frogs to find a prince this year, we have still found some really great coffee. The bad news is all the links in the chain have raised prices on the good stuff. It’s not really a surprise given the kink in the supply chain, but it’s caused me to rethink pricing structure and how to keep you in good coffee while still being able to pay the mortgage. You’re welcome.

The bottom line is that I’m discontinuing the smaller 12 oz orders to focus on 16 oz, 24 oz and 32 oz options where the economics are more cost-effective for us both. When you factor in our move to FREE SHIPPING on orders, it’s less hard to swallow, pardon the pun. I’m also putting a few offerings on sale every month to encourage you to try something new. Finally, I will continue to make sure every bag of NanoRoast has at least the stated amount or more, and I will continue to do random upgrades and random samples of things I think you might like to try.

After a difficult year for all of us, my appreciation for all my wonderful customers who continue to support us overflows. I wish you all effective vaccines and a happy end to the pandemic.

Thank you so much. Enjoy your coffee!

susan

UPDATE: As of January 27, 2021, we are making shipping FREE for all orders in the Continental USA of up to 5 lbs to the same address. Yay. However, the USPS just instituted a fairly large price increase in shipping, so I’m re-balancing in order to keep you supplied with the really primo stuff while not going broke. Life is full of trade-offs, so we are increasing the minimum quantity you have to buy, but I’m giving you FREE SHIPPING. 16 oz will be in one bag (unless you arrange otherwise), 24 oz and 32 oz will be in two bags. They will stay fresh a couple of months if left unopened in a cool, dark place. You should store opened bags in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the pantry, not the freezer. I appreciate each and every customer, and I hope you will roll with this with me. However, if you have feedback, I’m listening. Please email me:  [email protected].

ORIGINAL POST:

As of January 21, 2021, we are turning the page. Among the changes coming about, we are experimenting with FREE SHIPPING. Depending on postal rates, volume, etc., we hope to just make this aspect of purchasing great custom coffee easier–one less thing to worry about. We will still ship USPS 3-day (at most), or local customers can arrange pickup, contact-free if you like, masked and distanced otherwise.

You’re probably thinking, “she’s going to raise prices to cover shipping.” There is a point where the economics don’t work if I don’t, but I’m going to try very hard to hold the line. That said, I’ve been looking at purchasing patterns, and I may tinker with quantities, such as phasing out the 12 oz option, to keep it all in balance. Please let me know if there is an option I DON’T offer that you would like to see. If it makes sense, we’ll try it. Your feedback is welcome. We live to make you happy with your coffee.

Watch this space for upcoming developments, and thank you again for supporting this tiny, tiny business. Please take care of yourself, and

Enjoy your coffee!

s

Happy Holidays, Coffee Lovers!

You all know by now that I really despise the webmaster part of my job description — I’d really rather make lovely coffee art for you to enjoy — but that’s life. To make more room for blend experimentation and tasting lots of new offerings, I’m going to be migrating my website to another web host and shuffling my offerings a little differently. Stay tuned!

One thing I have not enjoyed is that, though my SSL certificate is and remains in place, the majority of browsers insist on unhelpfully telling my customers that their shopping is “not secure.” Arrrrgh! This is due to an old version of the programming language they use on the server, blah, blah, blah. I can’t get them to upgrade, so I’m moving. I sincerely hope that you don’t notice when it happens, but in case Murphy’s law is in force when I do, you can always order via email ([email protected]), text, or phone. The price sheet will be updated this week, so hang onto it just in case.

One good thing you will notice is that I’m going to group my full-caf offerings into Lighter Roasts, Medium and Darker Roasts and maybe even a special section of Reserves that are special interest due to superior rating, nonstandard but cool processing or an unusual coffee varietal. Your feedback is always welcome.

Till then, Enjoy Your Coffee!

s

So, what is NanoRoast doing to ensure your safety and health (besides sending you delicious custom-roasted coffee) in these virally-challenged times?

You have no doubt heard from every business you are in contact with, and this is laudable, but what we are doing is simply taking the CDC’s advice and using the common sense practices we use anyway when handling anything for human consumption. I am well stocked with bleach and alcohol, and I know how to use them on surfaces. I use soap and water at least twice when roasting and the same when packaging every batch. I don’t roast when I am sick, And I am STAYING AWAY FROM SICK PEOPLE.

Customers should be aware that we are well-stocked at this point and unlikely to run out of your favorite origin or blend. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy as well. Thank you for continuing to support a very tiny business. I deeply appreciate you. Hang in there—We will pull through this. Until then, check out our Current Offerings, and

Enjoy your coffee!

susan

We are always looking for new ways to maintain the high quality of NanoRoast coffees while they are being shipped to you and until you enjoy the last of the order. If you hoard your stash (and I’m certainly not judging), it might last longer than if it is viewed as fair game for the folks you live with. However, maybe the easiest and best solution is to request smaller packages.

NanoRoast offers a 12 oz package with a one-way valve that will allow the CO2 gas to escape (good) but not let air in (bad.) But once you open the package, you need another strategy. Recently, we have been taking requests from some of our long-time customers to break down that 16 oz package into smaller packages. Because we are all about customizing to what you want, we will totally do this. If this idea appeals to you, here’s how you go about getting smaller NanoRoast packages:

1) Email [email protected] and request whatever coffee selection(s) and custom size packaging you want.

2) I will respond with the additional cost, usually $1-3 dollars, depending on complexity.

3) You email me your approval of the order.

4) I’ll send you a PayPal invoice that you pay (don’t need a PayPal account) and get your order going.

Who else will do this for you?

Enjoy your coffee!

susasn

Now There is Help for Coffee Choice Overwhelm

Ok, you’ve been scanning our long list of single-origin coffee offerings, and you suddenly realize: “ I don’t know what to order first!” Never fear; we have an option for you–sampler packs.

NanoRoast Samplers are smaller packages (12 oz each) of our current offerings that are bundled together so you can try several before investing in a larger quantity, or just because it’s fun to try something new every day or so. Please note that you can choose the standard sampler, in which the choices of coffee selections is mine, OR you can choose a custom sampler, in which you choose the specific components.

How this works:

Custom Sampler:  Please email me the specific coffees and roast levels you want ([email protected]). I’ll invoice you.

Standard Samplers: Choose from the options below (4 pack) 

Tour of Coffee Sampler  This sampler consists of 4 @ 12 oz packages (3 lbs total) of coffees from each major coffee-producing region of the world–Central America, South America, Asia, Africa. Roast level will vary according to the particular coffee included, but you can state a general preference for lighter, medium or darker roasts. We want you to be happy, so your preference will guide the specific selections chosen. In any case, we will endeavor to amaze you with the best of each region.

Dark Roast Lover’s Sampler This sampler has 4 @ 12 oz coffees that will delight a dark roast drinker. While dark roasts tend to emphasize the chemical processes of roasting over inherent unique characteristics, we can roast darker while still maintaining variety. These will all come to you roasted dark enough to emphasize the roasty flavors, but they will not look particularly oily (this is a good thing) or be overly bittering on the palate.

Lighter Roast Lovers‘ Sampler This pack has 4 @ 12 oz of coffees that shine at lighter roast points. Usually, we try to include a variety of origins to showcase the distinctive flavors of different varietals and processing methods. These are roasted dark enough not to be sour or grassy but light enough to show off the best of the bean.

Susan’s Stash Sampler (2 pack, 1.5 lb total) This sampler is the one where I share two 12-oz packages of really top-quality coffees I save for my own enjoyment, e.g., the really good and pricey stuff. All are rated over 90 points by the SCAA rating standards, and all have come from award-winning farms or processors. They are expensive, but I think they are worth it! Obviously, I can’t know ahead of time which will be worthy of this group. If you want to explore the best of the best, email me ([email protected]) and I’ll send you a proposal with cost.

enjoy your coffee!