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Who’s on Your List? The Oren’s Coffee Gift Guide

Some of the best gifts are the ones that actually get used. Coffee is one of them. We’ve helped you match our coffees, gear, and merch to the people on your list, so you can skip the guesswork and get back to the good part of the holidays. You’re welcome. HAVE BEANS, WILL TRAVEL For the friend who packs an Aeropress before a toothbrush. Good coffee doesn’t get left behind for life’s greatest adventures. New Kenya Tekangu Tegu ABblackberry, juicy citrus, full body, round, sweet Sweet strawberry fragrance, winey, complex$24.00Quick View Select options Kenya Tekangu Tegu AB blackberry, juicy citrus,

November 2, 2026

Why “Fresh Roasted” Coffee Doesn’t Mean Much (And What to Look For Instead)

Fresh roasted is one of the most familiar phrases in coffee, on bags, menus, and ads alike. It sounds like a promise, but here’s the catch: all coffee is fresh when it comes out of the roaster. It’s exactly why Oren has never been a fan of that saying. The question was never whether your coffee was fresh when it was roasted. It’s how long ago that was. What Fresh Roasted Coffee Leaves Out Coffee roasted in large volumes sit in warehouses, distribution centers, and on store shelves for weeks or months before anyone buys it. It was fresh once.

October 29, 2026

The Oren’s Program

There was a morning in Colombia when I almost did the wrong thing. It would have saved me a lot of money, and no one would have known. Let me back up. Most Colombian coffee is a blend. You’re rarely drinking one farmer’s work. It’s a few of them, sometimes dozens, mixed together. For years we bought from an exporter who had, in my experience, the best cupping coffee in all of Colombia. Then the owner retired. His partner, a subsidiary of a big multinational, took over, and from that day on, the quality declined. We were bringing in five

September 25, 2026

What’s the Difference Between Cold Brew and Iced Coffee?

Both are cold. That is where the similarity ends. The two can sometimes get used interchangeably on menus and in conversation, but they are made in completely different ways, and the difference shows up in the cup. The difference between cold brew and iced coffee comes down to how each is made. Cold brew is steeped, not brewed Cold brew never touches hot water while it steeps. Coarsely ground coffee sits in cold or room temperature water for somewhere between 12 and 24 hours, then gets filtered out. What’s left is always a concentrate, which you dilute with water or

July 29, 2026

Before they called it specialty

How the first coffee Erna Knutsen ever sold found a permanent home on our shelf. Before specialty coffee had a name, it had a woman in San Francisco quietly building the trade that would define it. Erna Knutsen was a secretary at a coffee importer called BC Ireland. She wanted to do more, but the men at the company wouldn’t let her into the cupping room. So she found another way in: selling coffee to the small roasters the industry largely ignored, the ones who only needed a few bags at a time. The industry called them the “small trade.”

June 19, 2026

Where Your Coffee Comes From Matters

The story behind our May Coffee of the Month, and the partnership that makes it possible. Oren has always said that buying the best coffee is a very expensive operation. That belief has shaped every sourcing decision since the shop opened in 1986. It also shapes who we choose to work with. This month, our Coffee of the Month is the Burundi Turihamwe, a new washed crop for 2025/2026 sourced through our partner JNP Coffee. If you have been following us for a while, Burundi coffees are not new to our shelves. Oren visited the country nine years ago and

May 19, 2026

Single Origin vs. Blend: What Your Coffee Bag Isn’t Telling You

Most people assume single origins and blends are just two styles of coffee. They’re actually two different approaches. And depending on who’s roasting, one of them is a lot more transparent than the other. What single origin means A single origin coffee comes from one defined place: a country, a region, sometimes a single farm. That specificity matters because where a coffee grows shapes how it tastes. An Ethiopian coffee can carry wild, almost jammy fruit notes like blueberry and jasmine that you simply won’t find anywhere else. A Sulawesi brings a full, earthy depth rooted in its volcanic soil

April 17, 2026

What Makes Indonesian Coffee So Full-Bodied?

Indonesian coffee tastes different Indonesian coffees are known for their full body. Compared with many African or Latin American coffees, they often have lower acidity, with earthy or herbal notes that give them a unique character. The wet-hulled process A big part of that character comes from a method called giling basah, or wet-hulled processing. After harvesting, the beans are pulped and partially fermented, then dried to about 30-35% moisture before the hull is then removed. They’re dried again to reach stability. This careful, largely Indonesian method produces beans with depth and complexity. Both Sumatra and Sulawesi coffees use wet-hulling,

March 9, 2026

Finding Specialty Coffee in America

1984 to February 12, 1986 I learned many things while working at Saks Fifth Avenue during the first six years after college. The most important lesson and the one I carried with me into starting my own business was simple. Selling a best-quality product was easier for me than selling something average. That meant that for what was then only an idea of a new business, I had to offer the very best. That became my bedrock principle, guiding every decision along the way. And it still rings true today. What was the best-quality coffee? I had no experience in

February 10, 2026

Why We Roast Our Own Coffee — and Why It Matters to You

At Oren’s Coffee, roasting isn’t just a step in the process; it’s where coffee goes from good to genuinely memorable. We roast our own beans because it gives us control over freshness, flavor development, and consistency. These are three things that matter deeply to people who care about what’s in their cup. That control starts and ends with Oren. Why Roasting Matters for Your Cup Coffee doesn’t taste like much straight from green beans. Roasting transforms it, unlocking the oils and aromas that give great coffee its character, making it vibrant, nuanced, and enjoyable. But not all roasting is created

January 23, 2026

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