white tale coffee

let us discuss coffee on this splendid friday. it is one of my favorite beverages and well, things. i wouldn't call myself a coffee addict. i don't guzzle the stuff just for the caffeine buzz. i don't need to mainline the stuff just to keep going. for me, coffee is all about the enjoyment, the experience. i love the story behind the beans. i love the packaging. i love the coffee shop people. i especially love the aroma. and then, there is of course the best part: the taste. i do consider myself a bit of a coffee connoisseur. not a snob. but an aficionado. i like the classics like a simple espresso in a minimalistic white mug, a café au lait with a flaky pastry, and even a solid americano. i don't like to get too fussy with a bunch of add-ins unless i am whipping up some bulletproof coffee. i lean toward being a coffee purist. keep it simple. keep it about the source and roast and quality.

but just because i like the classics, it doesn't mean i don't like to play and experiment. there is such fun in trying new things like nitro coffee or sparkling coffee (a shot of espresso with some tonic over crushed ice. try it. it's excellent.). and even though i have my favorite local roasters that are on heavy rotation in our grinder, i love to branch out. try new things. discover super cool folks who are sourcing well and paying attention to details and all about the soil to cup experience. yes to that.

when my awesome pal sarah contacted me and asked if i wanted to act as a taste-tester for a company that her husband is working with, it didn't take much to twist my arm. one look at white tale coffee and i was in. the beans are gathered from the best sources on earth. fair trade. many varieties are organic. and after the big bags of beans arrive from all over the globe, they are roasted in colorado and packaged up to be sent out to coffee lovers. as fresh as fresh can be. the (super cute looking) bags are paired with the story behind the beans so you know all you could ever want to know about the source and process behind your cup of coffee.

and the other excellent part is that they do subscriptions! that's right, a coffee subscription. you can choose a sample pack, let me choose, or roaster's choice and the bags are delivered right to your door on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. never running out of beans is excellent. i hate it when that happens.

for those of you on snapchat, you probably saw my taste-testing over the past few weeks. so, that's been a blast! i tried out a light roast, a light/medium roast, a medium roast, and a dark roast. here's the thing, i am totally a dark roast kind of gal. one hundred percent. but i was pleasantly surprised by the lighter roasts. they were fruity and bright without that bitterness that i dislike about many light roasts. they had nice depth and tasted rich. they were creamy and delicious in my morning mug but really made for a refreshing iced coffee in the afternoon. excellent summertime selections.

but that dark roast. oh my yum. it was decadent. chocolate tones and so satisfying. i felt like i was sipping dessert at 6am. always a good thing.

as an aside: while the aroma and taste of coffee are important, i am also interested in the way the beans grind and pull. and white tale knows what they are doing because every single variety i tried yielded not only a tasty cup of coffee, but perfect pucks. just the right balance of oiliness and dryness. a thing of beauty. #coffeenerd

needless to say, i will be grabbing myself some more bags of this goodness. and if you are a coffee lover or know one, i suggest you do the same. and white tale gives killer discounts and free shipping options so it is more than worth it.

thank you white tale coffee and awesome awesome sarah for hooking me up. here's to more collaboration and coffee consumption!