Oren's Journal Archives - Oren's Coffee NYC

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

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

How Coffee Processing Affects Flavor

Today I would like to tell you a little about coffee preparation at origin. There are two major (and some minor) processes to get the fresh coffee cherry to the exportable ‘green’ stage. One is called Washed and the other is called Natural or Dry process. There are also, currently, about a dozen other new preparations done with or without oxygen, with different microbes, different temperatures, and more. Mostly these processes are confined to very small quantities of from just ten to a couple of hundred pounds. We won’t be concerned with these for the moment (if ever). The Washed

May 10, 2023

How a Severe Frost in Brazil Catalyzed Specialty Coffee Today

When there were 5 consecutive nights of very cold weather in August of 1975, it not only killed the coffee cherries (where our coffee beans come from) but it also killed the leaves and even the coffee trees themselves. This caused not only an immediate shortfall of coffee but a shortage for years to come as it takes new coffee trees 3 to 5 years to be productive. This became known in the world of coffee as the Black Frost of ’75.

April 24, 2023

Why I Roast My Own Coffee

It was 1979 and I was working at Saks Fifth Avenue. I had already decided that working corporate wasn’t for me…

March 7, 2023

10 Intriguing Presidential Coffee Habits

In honor of the upcoming President’s Day, we thought we’d share with you some really intriguing coffee habits of our American Presidents.

February 20, 2023

Trips to Origin: Where I go to find the finest coffees.

Another question I am asked is where have I gone in the world to find the finest coffees? Well, all over…

February 8, 2023

What is your favorite coffee?

I have been asked that question countless times since we opened in February of 1986. And I always have to qualify my answers. Are we talking about my favorite coffee of all time? Or my favorite coffee this season? My favorite type of process of the coffee? My favorite characteristics? What?

January 24, 2023

Orens is now Certified Kosher

We are happy to share we are now certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union. In the coming weeks you will see our labels incorporating the OU symbol. While coffee is intrinsically kosher, it is nice to finally be able to assure all our customers that our entire roasting facility has been inspected and certified able to produce kosher coffees.

January 11, 2023

Oren’s tips for great brews

Here are a few tips to making great coffee at home. If all these are already in your repertoire I applaud you and look forward to sharing more with you later (just check them out to be sure you are doing them all). For the rest of us, here are some easy, yet crucial, tips on brewing at home.