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FAQs & Tips

How clean is your grinder?

How clean is your grinder?

You'll be surprised the difference a clean grinder makes

Most of us don’t pay attention to this and don’t clean our grinder regularly. Over time, coffee oils and residue build up and can start to affect both the taste and performance of your grinder. Darker and oilier coffee beans are especially bad for gumming up your grinder. (Take note Globetrotter fiends!)   

The good news is that cleaning a grinder is quick and easy. Read on for our tips - and we've got you covered, whether your grinder is blade or burr. 

Fair Trade or Fairly Traded Coffee?

Fair Trade or Fairly Traded Coffee?

What is the difference between FairTrade Coffee and Fairly Traded?

Is your coffee a commodity crop? Or is it a specialty product?

Traditionally, coffee has been a commodity product almost exclusively grown in poor tropical countries. Farmers sell their crops to local cooperatives or wholesalers who then sell them on for commodity coffees. Farmers of commodity crops are usually paid poorly and their workers can be in dire economic circumstances.
(click on the title to read more)

My order is on Autopilot - how do I make an adjustment?

How do I adjust a coffee order?

Knut, one of our loyal Sparkplug Coffee customers, emailed:

I don't see a place on the website where I can go in and adjust my shipping date. Can you move up the next shipment by a week?

No problem! Anytime you need a coffee subscription order changed - the date shifted forward or back, an extra order, skip an order, we can do it. Just call or email Kara and she'll take care of it.

Is there a DIY option?

You can update your contact info or payment method, so long as you've created an account in the Sparkplug Coffee store. Just use this link to login to your account and make the changes:

https://sparkplugcoffee.foxycart.com/cart?cart=updateinfo

Other DIY options are to cancel a coffee subscription or transfer it to someone else. These options are available from the personalized link contained in your emailed coffee order receipt.

For any other changes, just give us a call or send an email and we'll get it done. Easy peasy!

Is it OK to reboil my kettle?

Is it OK to reboil my kettle?

Is it OK to reboil water... or do I need to refill and start fresh with cold water each time?

At a recent coffee class, Meghan asked about reboiling water and if it is OK to reheat a still warm kettle. Good question!  Read on for the answer... (note that the link is ABOVE this intro - yes, that seems wrong to me, too!)

Brew A Great Cup Every Time coffee class #1

What fun! 10 people signed up for the first ever session of our Brew A Great Cup Every Time coffee class and 12 people showed up! Including a lovely and patient 5 year old who sampled the double chocolate banana bread but didn't partake of the coffees.

We made coffee using a pourover AKA cone filter or dripper, French press, then the AeroPress 3 ways. And sampled coffee made with the Espro press at the end. The coffees were all tasty. I remembered almost all the tips I wanted to share. The feedback forms say that everyone learned something new and enjoyed themselves. 100% would recommend this to other coffee lovers so we may make this a regular thing. I also learned some helpful tips for making future sessions run more smoothly. Overall, a great success!

Thank you to The Healthy Road for donating the lovely kitchen space! And thanks to all you coffee lovers who joined me for this session!

A New Year & A New Feature Coffee

Fireside Blend

Happy 2015! The new year seems like the perfect time to announce our new feature coffee: the Fireside Blend.

Based on a dark and delicious coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia, the Fireside Blend will warm you up on these cold January days. 

The rainforests of the northern Sumatran highlands produce wonderful coffees with earthy, smoky characteristics that subtly evoke some of the same tastes as mulled wine - clove, dried fruit, maybe even a bit of pepper.

The beans in our Fireside Blend are naturally processed - the whole coffee cherry is dried in the sun before the fruit is removed. The natural process (also known as the "dry process") can be tricky to get right. While it is drying, the crop is carefully monitored to make sure it doesn't over ferment. The payoff is a coffee with amazing flavour and aroma baked in from its time in the sun. Click here to give it a try. 

Cheers to the New Year! May yours be filled with happiness and great coffee!

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