I am a coffee lover, and my family knows it. 

What they don’t know is that I wish they’d stop buying me coffee beans as a gift.

My family does their best to give a thoughtful gift (it really is thoughtful!), but as a super enthusiast who’s tried coffee from nearly every country and every kind of brewer out there, I’m very picky when it comes to the beans.

Pickier than they could ever know.

So I’m going to tell them they need to stop.

If you like to buy coffee beans for your family, maybe you should stop too. 

Let me explain why.

What I Wish My Family Knew About Gifting Coffee

Few things delight me more than opening up a new bag of coffee that’s exploding with fresh aromas. It’s one of those completely normal things that brings coffee lovers like me an unreasonable amount of joy. It’s intoxicating in its own way. 

Unfortunately, the beans that well-meaning family members often give folks like me rarely lead to that experience. When I open the bag in front of the family, I still smile with gratitude, but deep down I can already tell the beans aren’t up to par.

The hard part is, it’s totally possible to gift coffee in a way that produces that bright-eyed enthusiasm from the more snobby enthusiasts like myself.

All it takes is understanding three key things.

• One, coffee beans are at their peak flavor for only 1-2 weeks after roasting. The apex of coffee flavor—what super enthusiasts chase—is only available for a short window of time. After that, we can taste the coffee’s most nuanced flavors breaking down, slowly but surely.

• Two, there is a huge difference in quality from one roaster to another. Roasting is an art, and some artists are just better at their craft than others. My family is not made up of art dealers who can spot incredible roasters. They struggle to pick beans from the best roasters out there—I’ll show you how to spot them in a moment.

• Three, if it’s not sustainably sourced, that’s a real bummer. Now, you can’t actually taste sustainable sourcing, but it’s just not as satisfying drinking coffee with a questionable backstory. We love knowing our coffee is making the world a better place for farmers, so buying ethically sourced coffee is important to us.

If you can learn to spot these three markers of quality, you’ve got a lucky loved one!

Gift away. Gift as much coffee as you want—they’ll give you a genuine smile every time.

And you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing you’re handing over a thoughtful gift that truly matches the passion and tastes of your special someone.

The Best Way to Gift Coffee Beans to Snobs, Connoisseurs, and Super Enthusiasts

If you accept the challenge, and you still want to give coffee beans to your loved one, bravo. You can do it. I believe in you.

Let’s discover how to hit the bullseye on all three keys to giving great coffee:

• Fresh beans
• A skilled roaster
• Ethical sourcing practices

I’ll keep this short. 

Must-Have #1: How to Tell if Coffee Beans are Super Fresh 

Nothing beats whole bean coffee that’s roasted in the last two weeks. That’s where the magic happens. Unfortunately, grocery store coffee beans are already weeks or months old—avoid supermarket beans if you can help it.

Buying coffee that’s roasted to order online is actually a great way to ensure the beans are super fresh. These roasters don’t store old beans and only ship coffee right after it’s roasted.

To make sure your special someone gets the coffee at peak freshness, you can have the coffee roasted and shipped right on time, or even right to their home instead.

Must-Have #2: How to Tell if a Coffee Roaster is One of the Best

We coffee snobs are judicious about which roasters we buy from. It’s not that we don’t respect all craftsmen and women—it’s that we’ve already done our part buying good beans for years. Now we want exceptional beans.

You can identify the top tier of coffee roasters by finding three things:

• Roasting to order with “roasted on” dates on coffee bags (instead of “best by”)
• Nuanced tasting notes—for example: candied nuts, citrus, smooth chocolate
• Origin and farmer transparency (the best roasters want farmers to get glory too)

You can often see this manifested on the packaging. Here's an example of what a coffee label will look like from a quality-focused brand.

The easiest thing to look for is a powerfully obvious passion for their beans.

Must-Have #3: How to Tell if Beans Are Sustainably Sourced

This one is harder. 

All roasters say they sell sustainable coffee. Few can back up that claim.

Roasters that prioritize ethical and sustainable practices support farmers who are already making an impact in their communities. Beware of roasters who tout their own efforts. The real changemakers of coffee sustainability are the farmers themselves.

Look for stories of farmers doing the work, where the roaster takes a back seat to the efforts, vision, and impact of the farm partners. 

Certifications like Fair Trade and Certified Organic are less important in the coffee world than they are for other products.

Here’s a Coffee that Super Enthusiasts Love to Recieve

The magic of opening that super fresh, skillfully roasted, sustainably sourced bag of coffee… nothing beats it. Nailing that incredible moment is our only goal here at JavaPresse.

And we want you to nail the gift too.

Here’s how we’re going to help you do it:

• Coffee roasted and shipped TWO HOURS later. As far as we know, we’re the most fresh-focused coffee company out there. Our goal is to roast beans to order, then get to you ASAP when they’re still at peak flavor.

• 15 years of roasting experience and passion. Our roasting team is made up of mad scientists, artisans, and unyieldingly passionate coffee lovers. We get it right the first time, or we start over—everything we ship out is among the best.

• We partner with the farmers who are already doing amazing sustainability work. From empowering farmers in Colombia to convert cocaine farms into coffee farms, to helping the first all-women co-op in Guatemala access healthcare, our mission hinges on one fundamental idea: when we care, happiness flows and everyone wins. Including you.

You deserve an opportunity to rock the socks off the coffee lover in your life with exceptional coffee. We’d be honored to help you get there.

Check out our JavaPresse Coffee Gifts.

I’m going to tell my family to stop giving me coffee beans.

And to just buy JavaPresse coffee instead.