2020 has brought about so many changes. One of those changes is that Wanderlust Coffees has come into existence! We are so glad to be here and to be able to serve you and your loved ones a delicious cup of coffee. We’re writing this blog in case you’ve seen us around, and wondered “Why Wanderlust?”

Why did we choose to call our company “Wanderlust Coffees”? Well, we love to travel. Being stuck at home for the majority of 2020 has left us missing the opportunity to travel and experience the excitement that visiting new places brings. This longing is one of the reasons that we launched Wanderlust Coffees and named it such. Wanderlust, to us, is much more than "a strong desire to travel" (the dictionary definition). We resonate well with Pico Iyer’s take on wanderlust when he wrote, "A person susceptible to wanderlust is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.” So while we can't go to the places we used to, or see the sights of new places, we can still learn about our world through a drink found around the world: coffee. We invite you to wanderlust (in both senses of the word) with us!

Maybe you’re wondering what’s so great about Wanderlust Coffees? We strive to bring the best, freshest coffee to our customers, so our coffee is organically grown, fairly traded, and air roasted in small batches. Wanderlust Coffees drinkers’ health is important to us, so we purchase only beans that have been organically grown. Our coffee broker, Intercontinental Coffee Trading, travels across the globe to bring the best beans to roasters like us. It is very important to us that the farmers who grow our coffee receive fair compensation, so we only purchase fairly traded beans. We are determined to deliver freshly roasted beans, so we only roast in small batches, several times each week. That means that we only roast what we need to fill the orders that we have, and roasted coffee does not sit on our shelf for weeks waiting to be shipped. As a result, unless there’s a glitch in shipping, when you open and brew your organically grown, fairly traded Wanderlust Coffees, the coffee hitting your lips was green and unroasted just a few days ago. We invite you to savor our freshly-roasted organic coffee and feel the peace of having fairly paid those who worked so hard to grow it for you.

Have you followed us on Instagram? If so, you may be curious about our Instagram story, which appears on many weekday mornings, and seems to have absolutely nothing to do with us, or even with coffee. Why do we do that? Well, naturally, part of Wanderlust Coffees is the coffee. But another part of our name (and our goal as a company) refers back to that Pico Iyer quote about learning and transformation that comes through awareness of the broader world and the people with whom we share this planet. So these morning stories on Instagram, which we call "First Cup of Wanderlust" posts, offer you a chance to have a glimpse of the world beyond your morning routines. The current pandemic has forced most of us into a mundane cycle of daily life, and it is our hope that these “First Cup” posts will add a little travel - and a little growth - to your morning coffee routine! We invite you to join us as we sip coffee and expand our horizons through a quick trip to another part of the world.

Why are we excited about our roasting process? What is the big deal about it? We roast with a method of roasting called air roasting. Most coffees are processed in drum roasters, in which the coffee beans are in contact with hot sheet metal, which can burn the chaff and the outside of the bean. Air roasting (also known as fluid bed roasting) keeps the beans floating in a circulating fountain of air, which heats them evenly through, to their center. This method was invented by the late Michael Sivetz, who explained some of the benefits of air roasting like this: "The significance of this procedure is that any and all loose chaff is immediately swept away from the beans into the cyclone collector. The chaff is unsinged. Whereas, in a drum roaster most of the chaff rides on the tumbling beans and burns and smokes. This smoke fumigates all other beans, giving them a harsh bitey taste. The smoke also deposits on the surface of all other beans, resulting in darker bean surfaces than interiors, and oil surfaces. This carbonization of the drum roasted chaff creates volatile products similar to those found in cigarette smoke and charcoal preparation from wood." (Sivetz, Comparing Drum to Hot Air Fluid Bed Roasters, 2002) Roasting on a bed of hot air instead of in a drum is why our coffees tend to be sweeter, less bitter, and even healthier than most other available coffees. We invite you to try our air roasted coffee and taste the difference!

Why are our blends attached to nonprofit organizations? As we mentioned before, here at Wanderlust Coffees, we do coffee with a purpose. So not only do we buy organically grown beans and roast them in a healthy way, we buy them from fair-trade co-ops, which benefits the farmers. But how can we provide purpose to the beans once they are roasted? That's why we have partnered with nonprofit organizations! Currently, we work with eight different nonprofit organizations. Each nonprofit has their own blend, and we send them a portion of every sale of their blend! Especially during this year of tough sacrifices, we believe nonprofits should have an ongoing way to fundraise and connect with their supporters. At Wanderlust Coffees, we are here to facilitate that connection through coffee! We invite you to try our amazing blends and support nonprofit organizations as you do so.

Where can you find out more about Wanderlust Coffees? Our website is the one-stop shop for all things Wanderlust Coffees. Whether you have a favorite country of origin, a nonprofit you wish to support, or if you want to take a little trip around the world with one of our flights (a small bag of each country of origin coffee), you’ll want to check it out. Our coffees make a great gift idea, as well, and we will attach a gift message to your recipient’s bag at no extra cost to you. (Note: if you give one of our nonprofit blends, you’re giving a gift that gives multiple times: to the farmer who has been fairly paid, to the nonprofit organization, and to your gift recipient!) You will find us online at wanderlustcoffees.com. Our site offers all of your coffee options, as well as information about our non-profit partners alongside details about each co-op (and country) from which we source our coffee. We invite you to find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wanderlustcoffees; on Instagram at www.instagram.com/wanderlustcoffees; and on your kitchen counter soon after you order coffee from us!