As you gather to enjoy this coffee with family and friends this season, pause and reflect on the remarkable journey it has taken to reach your cup — a journey rooted in care, skill, and dedication at every step.

Though coffee feels ubiquitous — something we rely on daily, often without a second thought — farmers are confronting existential challenges like a changing climate and rising costs of production. Coffee's future is anything but certain. Quality coffee, especially, is not guaranteed. It demands time, specialized knowledge, intention, and prices to farmers that respect the labor invested.

Each lot we release represents the collective effort of thousands of people who uphold the production of specialty coffee: farmers, agronomists, exporters, container ship crews, truck drivers, and our own teams at the Roasting Works, Coffeebars, and home offices around the world. We’re part of a vast, intricate network, and each of us at Intelligentsia plays a crucial role in presenting the coffees we source in the best way possible. It’s a responsibility that we do not take lightly, fueled by the connections we have at each step of coffee’s complex journey; these connections, rooted in a shared love for coffee, are truly worth celebrating.