A luminous coffee that's as fleeting as the season

Our Holiday Blend, Neighbor, marries two glorious coffees grown by neighboring communities in southern Ethiopia. The raw materials—a washed coffee and a sun-dried natural—could not be better. But combining them in a way that each component complements the other requires the lightest touch of our coffee roasters and the expert palates of our entire coffee team.

We could say the same about any of our more standard blends, which run the gamut from rich and chocolatey to radiantly fruited. After all, a blended coffee is more than the constituent parts: Each demonstrates the roasters’ ability to ace the “recipe” every time, matching the levels of caramelization that are the signature of each blend. Whether drinking a cup in New York or Tokyo, our Bella Donovan is true to its avuncular reputation.

Two Coffees from Yirgacheffe Make Friends

Once a year, during the holiday season, we create a blended coffee that's ephemeral like a single origin, but bears the creative imprint of our coffee team and is available everywhere we serve coffee, from our cafes to our webshop. This year, Neighbor sparkles as radiantly as any high-quality coffee from Yirgacheffe should, and the combination of two coffees grown by farmers who live in adjacent communities gives us a richer experience of the heirloom Arabica fruit native to the world's most revered coffee origin. In the words of the Bay Area’s Training Department Manager, Pele Aveau, “Neighbor bursts with cherry fruit flavors, from dried cherry to fresh sour cherry, and more tropical fruits like mango. It’s a balanced cup with rich body and an aroma that makes me think of mulling spices, like clove and star anise.”

Were it not for the differences of processing methods for the two coffees comprising Neighbor, we’d consider it a single origin. But thankfully, the coffees, which one member of the coffee team described as “our freshest and brightest from Ethiopia this year,” are distinct, and when combined, create a seductively nuanced final cup.

Sweet Treats for Your Coffee

Like any neighbor, this coffee deserves a companion. Drop by our cafes for a pour over and taste the Almond Cardamom Snowball, a cookie whose subtle warm spice complements the coffee's aromatics.

Or purchase Neighbor as a gift and add a bag of delectable Almond Brittlemade by one of Brooklyn's oldest confectioneries, JoMart Chocolates. However you choose to enjoy it, our holiday blend shows how differences between neighbors can lead to beauty and delight.