If you are looking to pull a shot that tastes less like bitter dirt and more like dessert, this seasonal medium roast is the move. It offers a sweet, inviting profile that hits your palate with distinct notes of milk chocolate and ripe fruit, ultimately tasting a whole lot like chocolate-covered cherries. It is complex enough to drink straight but bold enough to stand up to milk if you are making a latte. This limited run is now available via TradeCoffee.com while supplies last.
Why It’s Special: This is a historic drop for the Lake Tahoe roaster! It is their first-ever single-origin bean roasted specifically for espresso extraction. Founded by pro snowboarder Nick Visconti, the company roasts their beans at 6,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas, so they specialize in high-altitude roasting designed to fuel an active, outdoor lifestyle.
2. Ethiopia Idido
via Trade Coffee
Roaster: Kuma Coffee (Seattle, WA)
This light-medium roast is the perfect way to test your machine’s ability to handle delicate, nuanced flavors. It captures the essence of a classic washed Yirgacheffe, trading heavy roast notes for a refreshing, tea-like body packed with citrus and sweet apricot. It is subtle and complex, tasting surprisingly like a high-end sweet tea rather than your standard morning mud. Now available via TradeCoffee.com, which also has a wonderful selection of Ethiopian coffees.
Why It’s Special: Kuma is named after the founder’s massive rescue dog. It’s a Seattle staple that evolved from a garage project to a top-tier roaster using eco-friendly tech. And if there’s one thing Seattle knows, it’s coffee. This specific coffee comes from the Idido cooperative in Yirgacheffe, a region legendary among coffee snobs for producing beans with distinct floral and spicy characteristics that you just can’t get from a standard blend.
3. Costa Rica Tirra Honey
via Trade Coffee
Roaster: Steady State Roasting (Carlsbad, CA)
If you want to sound like a pro while showing off your new machine, tell your guests you’re brewing a “honey process” coffee. This light roast delivers a killer combination of rich almond sweetness paired with bright cherry notes, making for a incredibly drinkable cup that feels substantial without being heavy. It is sweet and inviting, perfect for the morning drinker who wants distinct flavor without the bitterness of a dark roast. Now available while supplies last via TradeCoffee.com.
Why It’s Special: The “Honey Process” isn’t just a marketing buzzword; it means some of the sticky fruit mucilage is left on the bean during drying, imparting a natural sweetness you don’t get from standard washed coffees. Steady State embodies the Southern California dream—founder Elliot Reinecke started roasting in a shed behind his rental house and grew the brand into a Carlsbad staple that perfectly mixes high-end coffee standards with a laid-back coastal vibe.
4. DOMA Oberon’s
via Trade Coffee
Roaster: DOMA Coffee Roasting Company (Post Falls, ID)
If your main goal is to get that thick, syrupy crema that looks good on Instagram, this organic espresso blend is the “cheat code” you need. It is designed specifically to make home brewing easy, delivering a massive body with dessert-like notes of milk chocolate, sweet vanilla, and ripe fruit. Because it uses beans from three different regions (Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Sumatra), it offers a depth and balance that stands up perfectly to milk, making it the ideal choice for your morning cappuccino.
Why It’s Special: DOMA is a family-centric roaster based in Post Falls, Idaho—named after the founders’ sons, Dominic and Marco—that has built a cult following for its hyper-sustainable practices and eco-friendly packaging. While they take their environmental impact seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously; the roastery is known for hosting epic wood-fired pizza parties for their community.
5. Panther East Coast
Roaster: Panther Coffee (Miami, FL)
If you want your kitchen to smell like the coolest café in Miami, this bestseller is the bag to grab. It is a confident, syrupy espresso blend that balances the classic comfort of milk chocolate and nuts with a subtle ripe fruit finish, designed to be as multifaceted as the coast it’s named after. It pulls a shot that is “sweet yet serious,” making it a perfect daily driver that won’t bore your palate after the third morning. Go grab it at TradeCoffee.com, where it’s one of their best-sellers.
Why It’s Special: Panther Coffee is widely credited with kickstarting the specialty coffee scene in Miami, setting up shop in the Wynwood Arts District back in 2010 before it became a global creative hub. They are a cultural staple in South Florida, known for sourcing heavy-hitting beans—including many from legendary producer Aida Batlle, and roasting them to match the city’s vibrant, high-energy vibe.
6. Atomic Holiday Blend
via Trade Coffee
Roaster: Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabody, MA)
If you are looking to keep the holiday spirit alive—or just need something strong to power through the post-Christmas cleanup—this big-bodied medium roast is the ultimate winter warmer. It is rich and comforting, delivering heavy-hitting notes of dark chocolate, walnuts, and sweet vanilla that taste best when the weather outside is frightful. It’s a “crowd-pleaser” in the best sense of the term: complex enough for snobs, but approachable enough to serve to your dad. This is also one of TradeCoffee.com’s seasonal bestselling blends.
Why It’s Special: Atomic is a second-generation family business run by brothers Spencer and Logan Mahoney, who are former competitive cyclists. They originally launched the brand to keep themselves busy during “retirement” from the sport, but their obsession with high-quality energy turned a side project into a coffee powerhouse.
7. Sightglass Toketee
Roaster: Sightglass Coffee (San Francisco / Los Angeles, CA)
If you want to turn your kitchen into a high-end Third Wave coffee shop, Toketee is the bag that will get you there. This organic medium blend is designed to be an “elevated take” on your classic morning cup, smoothing out the edges with a sophisticated profile of milk chocolate and crisp apple. It is a seasonally rotating blend that proves you don’t need wild, experimental fruit bombs to have a truly exceptional coffee experience. Sometimes you just need the perfect balance of sweet and smooth. It’s another Trade Coffee bestseller.
Why It’s Special: Founded by brothers Jerad and Justin Morrison in a San Francisco warehouse, Sightglass has become synonymous with West Coast cool. The brothers originally nicknamed themselves “coffee toasters” because of their preference for lighter, cleaner roast profiles that highlight the bean’s natural flavor rather than burning it out. Their no-frills, “quality over everything” attitude has made them a staple from the Bay Area to Hollywood
