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For well over a century, Stow Lake has been a San Francisco landmark, a gorgeous piece of the Golden Gate Park scenery. In 1893, this man-made lake was created as a way for people to escape the city, relax and enjoy the scenery–and it continues to be that oasis to this day.

Golden Gate Park is home to a huge variety of songbirds, and has long been an important stopping place for migratory birds on their way up and down the West Coast. This little shelter in the sprawling metropolis of the Bay Area is vital to their journey, and Stow Lake offers the cover they need to rest their wings as they travel. This also makes it a great spot for Bay Area birders to spot more rare species passing through.

Stow Lake Boathouse

The park is also home to the Stow Lake Boathouse, managed by the excellent folks at Ortega Family Enterprises, who operate cafes and concession stands on a number of properties, including the majestic Muir Woods. It only made sense that the Stow Lake Boathouse chose vendors that reflect the values of their unique landscape and substantial bird populations, so as of last month, they are now serving Thanksgiving’s Songbird Coffee lineup! They chose the coffees that would benefit birders and birds everywhere, through the American Birding Association.

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Stow Lake, and Golden Gate Park as a whole, offer a chance to put aside stress and worries, take a boat out on the water, and just relax. Thanksgiving Coffee is wholeheartedly a believer in connecting with nature, and Stow Lake lines up with our principles in every way!

On your next visit to San Francisco, grab a cup of coffee at the Stow Lake Boathouse Cafe, and meander around the lake at your leisure. Slow down, enjoy the scenery, and tell them thank you from us for serving Thanksgiving Coffee Company.

Stow Lake Boathouse

50 Stow Lake Dr E
San Francisco, CA 94118
Phone: (415) 702-1390

Cafe Hours:

11:00 am – 5:00 pm Daily

Boat Rental Hours:

10:00 am – 6:00 pm Daily

Songbird Coffee

Our partnership with the American Birding Association has been a decades long project, promoting the importance of shade-grown coffee, and care for migratory birds at coffee origins in Central and South America. Our current lineup includes coffees from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico, at farms that have been certified ‘Bird-Friendly’ by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Click the image below to learn more!

Tom and Jerry, Bonnie and Clyde, Chips and Salsa, Mulder and Scully… some things are just meant to be paired up. We have one more duo to add to that list this week: Doughnuts and Coffee. June 1st is National Doughnut Day!

Clearly, there is only one way to commemorate National Doughnut Day, and that’s by stopping by your local bakery. We can help you out with one aspect of this celebration though, and that’s the type of coffee to enjoy alongside your doughnut.

It’s time for a doughnut and coffee pairing.

Beaujolais Blend + Maple Bacon Doughnut

Ahhh, the maple bacon doughnut. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that the collision of savory and sweet has made this dessert one of the most popular choices at the corner doughnut shop. Our Fairtrade and Organic Beaujolais Blend is also a balance of unique flavors, with coffees sourced from Africa, Central America, and Indonesia. This Medium Roast is full-bodied and complex, and holds its own alongside the contrasting flavors of bacon and maple.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe + Beignet

Our Ethiopian Gedeb Yirgacheffe is a light roast, with rich notes of ripe cherry and golden raisin. This coffee alone can be a sweet treat, so pairing it with something overly sugary isn’t the right choice. Instead, we chose the beignet. A simple fried pastry with a dusting of powdered sugar can enhance the flavors of this award-winning single origin.

Noyo Harbor French + Apple Fritter

No Doughnut Day blog post can go by without mentioning the over-the-top apple fritter. This glazed explosion of sugar will go great with your dark cup of Noyo Harbor French this morning. The hint of roasted nuts in this coffee and that classic smoky french roast flavor enhances every sweet bite of the apple fritter, making these two the perfect companions.

Whatever pastry or roast you choose this morning, all of us here at Thanksgiving Coffee wish you an excellent National Doughnut Day!

National Trails Day – The First Saturday of June
Pelican Bluffs Trail Work Day: June 2, 2018 from 10am-12pm
hosted by the Mendocino Land Trust

A mile south of the town of Point Arena, a beautiful new addition to the California Coastal trail has been created at the 70 acre Pelican Bluffs Preserve. Owned and maintained by the Mendocino Land Trust, this epic landscape is free and open for the public to enjoy. Because the Land Trust is not funded by taxes like other parks, the work and energy it takes to maintain open spaces is a burden carried by community members, whether through monetary donations or ‘sweat equity’. Over the past year, volunteers from near and far, in addition to service organizations like the California Conservation Corps, have all come together to build over two miles of trail along this breathtaking blufftop.

From the parking lot, the newly completed loop trail leads visitors up through a coastal prairie that climbs to a crested hill. At the top, the wide expanse of Pelican Bluffs is revealed. Wildflowers speckle the bluff top, while dramatic white cliffs drop away to the rocky beach below. The sound of the waves tumbling over the shore and the smell of the ocean breeze is a feast for all senses. Continue to follow the trail along the coast and you might see seals resting on the beach and whales spouting in the distance, while an osprey soars overhead. Home to Peregrine falcons and the endangered Point Arena Mountain Beaver, Pelican Bluffs is a beautiful place for people and wildlife in equal measure.

This National Trails Day, spend some time helping to take care of the trails and the wild places you love. It’s time well spent, and always worth the effort.

Mendocino Land Trust and Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Thanksgiving Coffee and the Mendocino Land Trust have collaborated to create Fog Dodger, a Cause Coffee benefiting the MLT and their efforts building trails all over our county.

Members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club got something really special this month. April’s fresh micro-lot selection is our Sulawesi coffee in a Medium Roast, from the North Tana Toraja Regency of the island. The coffee that comes out of this particular region is fully washed, giving it a cleaner cup and a more refined flavor profile than most coffees from Indonesia, which typically use the wet-hulled method (for instance, our Sumatran coffees).

Altitude Grown: 1400 – 2000 meters
Processing: Fully washed and sun dried
Producer: Pedamaran Farm & PT Toarco Jaya
Region: North Tana Toraja, Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia

A Summary from Royal Coffee:

Sulawesi Toarco Jaya Peaberry is sourced from the Toraja people, an indigenous group from the central mountain region on the southern part of Sulawesi Island (formerly known as Celebes), Indonesia. The coffee is processed at the PT Toarco Jaya Estate, a joint Japanese and Indonesian coffee venture established in 1976. PT Toarco Jaya Estate is one of just a handful of Indonesian producers that utilizes a fully-washed process. PT Toarco Jaya Estate also has a long history of contributing to the region’s economic development and social improvement programs.

We have a limited amount of this coffee available, and are making it exclusively available to members of our Coffee Club. Interested in snagging a bag of our Sulawesi coffee? Join the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club. You can cancel at any time by giving our office a call at (800) 648-6491. Make sure you place your order before the end of the day on April 30! Once May rolls around, we’ll be shipping out a new single origin to club members.

Spring has arrived on the Mendocino Coast. The wildflowers are blooming, the rains have brought green grass, and there is new life everywhere. With the advent of Spring comes the opening of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden’s seasonal restaurant: Rhody’s Garden Cafe!

Rhody’s is one of the many gems that Fort Bragg offers. Their lunchtime specials include locally sourced veggies, often grown right there in the garden! They use products from here in the community like bread from the Fort Bragg Bakery and Roland’s Bakery, and treats from Bolliver’s Fine Foods, Cowlick’s Ice Cream and Costeaux Bakery. And of course, the cafe serves up locally roasted Thanksgiving Coffee, alongside all of their excellent menu items.

Visit the Garden Cafe in Fort Bragg

Rhody’s Garden Cafe
Open from 11am – 3pm at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens every day of the week.
18220 North Highway 1
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 964-4352
www.gardenbythesea.org

Since 1970, people have taken to the streets to celebrate Earth Day. Whether we’re promoting zero waste living, picking up trash along the highways, planting trees or saying no to plastic straws, Earth Day is a special event for all of us who live on this planet, and we love celebrating it.

20% Off Organic Coffee This Weekend

code: EARTH2018

In honor of Mother Earth and the weekend celebrating her, we are offering a 20% discount on an entire category of our artisan-roasted coffees. Each of the coffees in our Organic category has been certified by the USDA National Organic Program, is shade-grown and pesticide-free. These are the coffees that protect the earth, and that’s why they’re the perfect coffee for our Earth Day Sale.

Celebrate spectacular Mother Earth with us this weekend by picking up a bag of Organic coffee, artisan roasted by Thanksgiving Coffee Company. And after you’ve ordered a bag, go outside and participate in an Earth Day event! We have a great one locally here in Fort Bragg, but fun events and volunteer opportunities are available all over the place. Even if there’s nothing in your area, take the time to pick up trash on your next hike, or donate to an environmental nonprofit that is close to your heart.

Check back on this page on Friday morning to get your code to participate in this sale. Any orders that come through without this special code will NOT receive their 20% discount.

code: EARTH2018

Free Shipping

Don’t forget – all orders that pass the $50 mark (after the discount) get free shipping! And have we mentioned that bags of Organic Thanksgiving Coffee make great Earth Week gifts for your friends and family? They do!

Rules and Restrictions

* This promotion cannot be combined with any other discounts, sales or offers.
* This promotion is only valid from April 20 – April 23.
* This promotion is is only valid on products currently in our ORGANIC category.
* This promotion is only valid when the specific Earth Day promo code is used during the order.

CODE: Check back this weekend to reveal your 20% discount code!

10483 Lansing Street in Mendocino has been serving Thanksgiving Coffee a long time, through the different phases of ownership and names that have cycled through. As a matter of fact, Thanksgiving Coffee once operated a coffee shop and bakery in that very location. These days, you’ll find the Goodlife Cafe & Bakery there–a cafe that is consistently #1 on Tripadvisor’s restaurants of Mendocino.

This cafe is an excellent place to eat… but it’s even better when you order a coffee drink. Every Goodlife barista has been personally trained by Thanksgiving Coffee’s Roastmaster, Jacob Long – and you can taste the difference, whether it’s a shot of espresso or a vanilla latte.

Goodlife Cafe’s New 12oz Bags

Recently, Goodlife Cafe and Bakery made the switch to carrying their own personalized coffee bags, with beans roasted by Thanksgiving Coffee Company. These new bags, featuring the Goodlife mug logo, are available for purchase smack-dab in the middle of the cafe, and they look spectacular.

Pick up a bag of Goodlife’s House Blend, and be sure to tell Goodlife thanks for serving locally roasted Thanksgiving Coffee.

Visit the Goodlife Cafe in Mendocino

Goodlife Cafe & Bakery
10483 Lansing Street
Mendocino, CA 95460
Phone: (707) 937-0836
goodlifecafemendo.com 

This past weekend, Thanksgiving Coffee had the opportunity to sample our coffees at the Taste of Mendocino event in San Francisco! This annual event highlights the many wineries, resorts, restaurants and food producers of beautiful Mendocino County. No Mendocino foodie event is complete without Thanksgiving Coffee, and we were happy to be among fifty of the best food and drink purveyors of Mendocino County.

A few of the restaurants and hotels featured at the event also happen to serve Thanksgiving Coffee at their locations:

Kemmy’s Pies

299 E Commercial St
Willits, CA 95490
(707) 367-5498
www.kemmyspies.com

Inn at Newport Ranch

31502 CA-1
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 962-4818
www.theinnatnewportranch.com

Mendocino Botanical Gardens (Rhody’s Garden Café)

18220 CA-1
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 964-4352
www.gardenbythesea.org

Noyo Harbor Inn

500 Casa Del Noyo
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 961-8000
www.noyoharborinn.com

Winesong

September 7 and 8, 2018
www.winesong.org
Winesong is an annual charity auction and tasting at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, featuring local restaurants and vendors! Check out our Winesong 2017 blog post for more information on how Thanksgiving Coffee participated.

Thanks to everyone who came out for Taste of Mendocino 2018. We were honored to participate, and we hope to see you all when you visit our fine Mendocino coast.

Earlier this month, we got the opportunity to host an excellent freelance photographer based here on the North Coast of California: Dusty Study! He came by to get some behind-the-scenes shots of the Thanksgiving Coffee Roastery, and we were more than happy to lead him on a tour of our headquarters.

Dusty lives here in the Fort Bragg area, but travels throughout Northern and Central California for a variety of film and photography projects. We were lucky to catch him between travels and get some beautiful photographs of the roasting process.

We also spent some time in the cupping lab, making coffee and practicing our latte art skills, which made for some stunning shots, poured by our Roastmaster Jacob Long, and photographed by Dusty.

Dusty was awesome to work with, and if you’re looking for someone to handle product photography here in Northern California, we definitely recommend him! You can check out his website for more examples of his work, and follow him on Instagram for more.

dustyroadphoto.com

At the end of 2017, Kim Westerman of CoffeeReview.com published an excellent report of the state of Nicaraguan coffees, comparing a few of the Nicaraguans that she’d had the opportunity to cup and score, including our Songbird Nicaraguan.

That article was recently published in the latest edition of Roast Magazine, and we’ve included the final paragraph from that review here on our blog.

From Roast Magazine and CoffeeReview.com:

“Perhaps the only coffee presenting a classic Nicaragua profile among the nine highest scorers is Thanksgiving Coffee’s Organic Shade-Grown Nicaragua (reviewed online at 92), a blend of the respected maracaturra, caturra and catuai varieties, meticulously processed by the traditional wet method. It is also the only coffee we reviewed that is certified Bird Friendly by the Smithsonian Institution, hands-down the most uncompromising and rigorous of environmentally focused certifications. The idealism and passion that drove the growing and farm management that produced this coffee clearly went into its processing as well: It is an impressively pure coffee. Of all nine coffees we reviewed this month, it most clearly represents the classic Nicaragua cup of tradition, with its inherent balance, quietly juicy acidity and buoyant, satiny mouthfeel.”

We want to say thank you to Kim for writing this article and featuring the country of Nicaragua as an origin. We also want to thank Roast Magazine for publishing it in their most recent magazine. You can find this entire article on pages 78 and 79 of the March/April edition of Roast Magazine, and online at CoffeeReview.com.

Our Songbird Nicaraguan is a Medium Roast that is part of our partnership with the American Birding Association. You can find this coffee at a number of supermarkets and Wild Birds Unlimited outlets across the United States (see our Store Locator), as well as online on the Thanksgiving Coffee store.

SongBird Nicaraguan
Benefiting the American Birding Association
$16 • 12oz
92 Points
Nutty, Smooth, Milk Chocolate
Songbird Nicaraguan

If you love good food and live in the Los Angeles area, you’ve probably already heard of this restaurant chain providing excellent Mexican food with the highest quality ingredients. Tocaya Organica currently has five locations through LA, with four more coming soon throughout Southern California. This month, Tocaya Organica started serving Organic and Fairtrade Thanksgiving Coffee espresso. We are so excited to have them on board.

If you’re in the LA area, there are a number of great cafes and restaurants to visit, but you’ll want to make sure that Tocaya Organica is at the top of your list! They’re serving up iced and hot espresso drinks of all kinds, alongside some of the yummiest looking food we’ve ever seen. Don’t believe us? Check out their Instagram page and you’ll be planning a trip in no time.

Visit Tocaya Organica in Los Angeles

These are the five locations of your new favorite Mexican restaurant chain currently open in Los Angeles, but keep an eye on their Locations Page for more coming soon. Be sure to stop by and tell them thank you for serving Fairtrade and Organic coffee!

TOCAYA ORGANICA WEST HOLLYWOOD
8720 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
(424) 288-4871

TOCAYA ORGANICA VENICE
1715 Pacific Ave., Venice, CA 90291
(424) 744-8692

TOCAYA ORGANICA SANTA MONICA
507 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(424) 268-8219

TOCAYA ORGANICA PLAYA VISTA
12150 Millennium Dr #101, Los Angeles, CA 90094
(424) 289-6105

TOCAYA ORGANICA CENTURY CITY
10250 Santa Monica Blvd #2300, Los Angeles, CA 90067
(424) 255-6956

One of the newest additions to the Thanksgiving Coffee Store Locator is the Wild Birds Unlimited of Santa Monica! This great little shop on Wilshire Boulevard just celebrated their grand opening this past Saturday, and they’re carrying the full line-up of Thanksgiving Coffee’s Songbird Coffee.

If you stop by this Wild Birds Unlimited on any given Saturday, you’ll have the opportunity to taste Songbird Coffee, as well as purchase a bag. They’re serving up coffee inside the store to customers (and employees!) alongside the usual array of exceptional bird watching and bird feeding equipment.

On their opening day, this WBU store partnered with a local bird rescue group to bring in an owl and falcon as a rare treat for the folks shopping. To stay in the know for future events happening with the birding community of Santa Monica, be sure to follow them on Facebook.

Visit Wild Birds Unlimited in Santa Monica

Wild Birds Unlimited of Santa Monica
12433 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (424) 272-9000
Website: https://santamonica.wbu.com

Songbird Coffee, Benefiting the American Birding Association

Songbird Coffee is the result of the partnership between Thanksgiving Coffee and the American Birding Association. For every bag of Songbird Coffee purchased, a portion of the proceeds (10-25%) is donated directly to the ABA, benefiting their efforts to promote birding and environmental stewardship.

Every coffee in our Songbird lineup is Certified Bird-Friendly by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, a program put in place to protect the Neotropical Migratory Birds that live in coffee growing countries during the winter months. Coffee farms that are certified by the SMBC use a combination of foliage cover, tree height and biodiversity to provide quality habitat for birds and other wildlife. Keep an eye out for that gold seal to make sure that your coffee is doing the most for our birds!

Every once in a while, there’s a coffee in our Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club that really stands out. Our March coffee for the club has been the Enjambre Cafetalero, a micro-lot from the Mexico/Guatemala border that has the potential to become one of our favorites from the region. As a matter of fact, Paul Katzeff called it “the best Mexican coffee” he’s ever tasted.

This coffee is exclusive to members of the club, but if you sign up as a member before the end of the month, you’ll have the opportunity to be one of the few to enjoy this excellent cup.

Balanced medium body, syrupy-sweet, notes of chocolate resonate in a lasting finish.

Enjambre Cafetalero Origin Specifics

Founded: 2010
Total Members: 250
Average Farm Size: 2.08 hectares
Total Size: 520 hectares
Elevation: 1200-1700 meters

Enjambre Cafetalero is a cooperative society located in the region known as “La Franja de Oro” or “the Golden Belt” of coffee, located in the municipio of Amatenango la Frontera in the borderlands with Guatemala. The organization was founded in 2005 and legally incorporated in 2010. For years the farmers of Amatenango had sold their coffee to intermediary middlemen, who would in turn then sell their coffee to the national subsidiaries of transnational commodity brokerage houses for export. With the objective to bypass the predatory practices of local middlemen, Enjambre was founded in order to provide direct avenues of sale to national buyers. However, after having allied themselves with the non-profit Impacto Café, they were able to join the secondary-level organization Cafemex S.C., and develop the capacity to sell directly to international buyers while maintaining the traceability of their product.
The organization has for a long time promoted soil and water conservation as well as environmentally friendly production practices. With the accompaniment of Impacto Café they were finally able to achieve organic certification for the 2017 crop year. The cooperative has made it a goal to improve the incomes of its members by offering a higher quality, differentiated product.
Information courtesy of Impacto Café.

Want to try this coffee from Mexico? Join the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club!

Earlier this year, a Point Reyes staple celebrated their 44th anniversary, and we got the chance to have a quick meal there on a visit to Marin County. This great little spot is located in downtown Point Reyes, and is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a great meal on the Marin coastline. This is the Station House Cafe.

The Station House Cafe has been serving Thanksgiving Coffee for over 21 years now, and we are honored to be a part of this excellent establishment. Station House Cafe serves up coffee by the cup as well as espresso, and you can even order a Thanksgiving Coffee affogato (that’s a scoop of ice cream with an espresso shot)!

For a town with a population under a thousand, this place is serving up something special. With entrees ranging from Wagyu to Risotto, it’s hard to make a decision on just what to have for dinner. Not to mention the fact that these folks also serve breakfast and lunch, six days a week! Just make sure you’re not planning your visit on a Wednesday, the one day they close up shop.

On our most recent visit to Station House Cafe, the temperature was almost seventy degrees, so an iced latte was a necessity. We also ordered their excellent Point Reyes Mac and Cheese, which made for the perfect lunchtime stop before heading out to the National Park just next door.

Visit the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes

Don’t miss having a meal at the Station House Cafe next time you pass through Point Reyes Station, and be sure to order a cup of Thanksgiving Coffee while you’re there.

Station House Cafe
11180 CA-1
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Phone: (415) 663-1515

Visit this Point Reyes restaurant online at stationhousecafe.com

March 12 marked the official opening of the new coffee service at Adventist Health in Clear Lake, featuring Thanksgiving Coffee Company! We’ve been working with the team at the Mountain View Cafe (inside the hospital) to create an excellent espresso bar for employees, visitors and patients at Adventist Health in Lake County.

At the new espresso bar, you’ll have the opportunity to choose from your regular cafe drinks, like lattes, cappuccinos, americanos and more. If you’re looking for just a regular cup of coffee, the Mountain View Cafe has chosen some excellent coffees: Gorilla Fund, Songbird Colombian and Songbird Decaf. Each of these Cause Coffees is a testament to Adventist Health, making a difference there in Lake County, and around the world with organizations like the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and the American Birding Association.

Visiting the Roastery

Back in February, the Adventist Health team took the time to visit the Thanksgiving Coffee headquarters, and get to know the coffee roasting industry. They toured our roastery and learned the fine art of steaming milk and pulling espresso shots from our Roastmaster, Jacob Long. We got them caffeinated and introduced them to the behind-the-scenes details of coffee roasting.

Shane, Tracy, Mary and Rachelle from Adventist Health pose outside the Thanksgiving Coffee headquarters.

The Adventist Health team has done a marvelous job of setting up the new coffee station, and Thanksgiving Coffee is proud to be a part of bringing great coffee to the people of Adventist Health Clear Lake. Be sure to tell their new barista Mary hello from all of us! The coffee counter is open Monday through Friday, from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Adventist Health Clear Lake
15630 18th Ave
Clearlake, CA 95422

The past year went by in a flash, and it’s hard to believe that we are already three months into 2018. Now that it’s March, we are celebrating the one year anniversary for a coffee that is very special to us: our Congo Coffee, benefiting the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International!

Check out our original post from 2017, launching the Congo Coffee.

With a year of supporting the Grauer’s gorillas of the Democratic Republic of Congo under our belts, we wanted to take a look back and see what’s happened in the past year with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

The DFGFI Turned Fifty

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International celebrated their fiftieth anniversary this last September; this milestone is an tremendous accomplishment for wildlife conservation. Dian Fossey was a true visionary and pioneer, and the team working for the DFGFI now has held up her legacy in a huge way.

Grauer’s Gorillas Numbers are Higher than Originally Thought

In the middle of 2017, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International was thrilled to learn that there were more Grauer’s gorillas living in the Democratic Republic of Congo than originally estimated. This is an uplifting discovery for the non-profit, which has just begun surveying Congo’s enormous Maiko Park where these gorillas live. Read more about this Grauer’s gorilla discovery.

New Research Center in Rwanda

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi made a commitment to build a new research facility in Rwanda to further the work of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Check out Ellen and Portia’s video here.

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We are so excited to move into our second year of supporting the Grauer’s gorillas, and our fifteenth year of partnering with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. We want to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased our Gorilla Fund and Congo Coffees. Your Cause Coffee subscriptions are the reason we are able to help these organizations that do so much for the wildlife of our planet.

As you’re cruising along Hwy 1 through Mendocino and Sonoma County, you are most often looking west, toward the brilliant cliffs and headlands of our coastline. We’re challenging you to take an eastward turn on your next trip to the northern Sonoma coastline, because a new cafe has opened that you do not want to miss.

The all-new Ranch Cafe is just a quick turn inland from the highway onto Annapolis Road in Sea Ranch. We’ve been anxiously awaiting the opening of the newest coastal cafe in Sonoma County, and we are so excited that their doors have opened. And as a bonus, they are serving up Thanksgiving Coffee alongside some delicious sandwiches, pastries and desserts.

Ranch Cafe Reviews

Take a look at some of the amazing reviews they’re already getting on The Ranch Cafe Facebook page:

“Great service with a smile! Delicious coffee!”
Charmaine

“The Ranch Cafe is The Hot Spot for breakfast and lunch ~ yummy food with lots of selection, great prices and top notch customer service.”
Jami

“We happened to find this cute little cafe while visiting Sea Ranch. It’s an awesome family owned business and I got a wonderful Latte! We will be back!”
Adela

Visit the Ranch Cafe in Sea Ranch, California

The team at the Ranch Cafe is bringing excellent service and delicious food to the Sonoma coastline, and we are proud to be their coffee of choice. You can bet we’re planning to stop by every chance we get!

The Ranch Cafe
35590 Verdant View
Sea Ranch, California
Phone: (707) 785-4529

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Nope, that’s not the pi(e) that we care about. The pie we care about is filled with sugar and fruits, and wrapped up in a warm yummy crust. We’re talking about pie. It may be Pi Day (3/14), but we’re celebrating good old pie today.

You can find Thanksgiving Coffee at two different pie shops in Northern California, Petaluma Pie Company and Kemmy’s Pies! Both of these companies are blow-your-mind good, and use organic, local, wholesome ingredients. Plus, they can serve you a cup Thanksgiving Coffee alongside a slice of your favorite pie.

Visit Kemmy’s Pies in Willits, in the Skunk Train Depot, and Petaluma Pie Company in downtown Petaluma, in the Helen Putnam Plaza.

Petaluma Pie Company is open from 9am to 7pm on 3/14: 125 Petaluma Blvd. N. Petaluma, CA 94952

Kemmy’s Pies is open from 6am to 2pm on 3/14: 299 E Commercial St, Willits, CA 95490

Daylight Savings Time began on Sunday, and we are feeling it. If your office is anything like the Thanksgiving Coffee headquarters, there will be a lot of coffee consumed this week to make up for that lost hour.

Need that extra kick of caffeine? Our Pony Express is called The Jackhammer of Coffees for a reason. Pick up a bag, and get ready to take on your day with a lot more gusto.

March 3 is World Wildlife Day

This Saturday is the perfect opportunity to spread the word about how wildlife inspires you. It’s also a chance to raise awareness for organizations that are doing the work to protect these creatures. Because of your support, we are able to partner with these groundbreaking non-profits, who are making a difference for wildlife all over the world:

Click the links below to learn more about each of these organizations:

American Birding Association

American Wild Horse Campaign

Baby Rhino Rescue

Defenders of Wildlife

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

Friends of the Earth

Need some coffee? Head on over to our World Wildlife Day coffee category to order a bag of coffee benefiting one of the organizations above!

If you’ve ordered our classic Mocha Java in the past few days, you may have spotted a difference in our packaging. Our new label design features a map that illustrates the story behind Mocha Java. In this blog post, we’re going to give you a little history lesson—so pour a cup of java (or grab yourself a mocha?) and have a seat.

While the word “mocha” may also refer to your favorite chocolate-y drink, that is not what we’re referring to in today’s post. Mocha Java is a historic blend of two origins an ocean away from each other: Indonesia and Yemen.

The History of Mocha Java

Back in the 1400s to 1600s, the majority of Europe’s coffee intake came out of the Red Sea, from the Port of Mocha [Makha or Mokha]. This coffee was grown in the country of Yemen, but was referred to by the name of the port from which it came. In the Pacific Islands, it was the same story. Most Indonesian coffee was coming out of a port on the island of Java, controlled by the Dutch East India Trading Company. This led to the term “java”, which has remained as slang for coffee to this day.

These two ports caffeinated most of the coffee-drinking world in those days, and trading ships passed through both on the same trip. Although 5,000 miles separated them, coffee from Java and Yemen lived together on the sailing vessels that made their way across the Indian Ocean and back to Europe. These two origins came together as the very first blend in the world of coffee, and it’s a combination that roasters continue to emulate.

Mocha Java Today

These days, your typical Mocha Java has a few slight variations. Most roasters (and coffee enthusiasts) prefer Indonesian coffee to be sourced from Sumatra, the next island over from Java. On the Middle Eastern side, buyers will often source their “mocha” from the African country of Ethiopia, across the Red Sea from Yemen.

This is the case for our own homage to Mocha Java. For the Thanksgiving Coffee Mocha Java blend, we source our “java” from farmers in the the Takengon region of Sumatra, Indonesia. Our “mocha” is a natural-processed coffee that comes from farmer cooperatives in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. Our Mocha Java is a coffee that we’ve perfected over decades of roasting, and we strive to maintain its consistency.

The history of Mocha Java is a history of the coffee world as a whole. The coffee industry has changed significantly over the past five centuries, and we love looking back and researching where it all came from. Next time you brew up a cup of our Mocha Java, take your time drinking it, because you are sipping a truly historic coffee.

Mocha Java, Deconstructed

Now that you know the background of the Mocha Java, you have the opportunity to create your own. Our organic Sumatran Coffee is available in two roast colors, and we have three different organic Ethiopian coffees that you can choose from online. You can mix up the “mocha” and “java” to create your own perfect blend.

Just a mile away from San Francisco’s crookedest street is a classic old-school diner on Lombard that has graced the city of San Francisco for over thirty years. Home Plate in San Francisco has long been the breakfast choice of Bay Area locals, and they have now grown into a new location.

Thankfully, they haven’t moved far. This homage to the baseball years of old has shifted their location to a block west on Lombard Street, into a larger space. With the added area, they’re almost doubling their sitting area, and will be able to accommodate many more visitors for breakfast and lunch.

Coffee at Home Plate San Francisco

Thanksgiving Coffee has been Home Plate’s coffee provider since the very beginning, and they’re one of our favorite accounts to visit in the city. The coffee at Home Plate also received an upgrade during the move; a new brewer was just installed, and we had took some time to train their new in-house barista on espresso drinks, as well.

The Bay Area continues to offer some of the best food in the country, and we are so happy to provide coffee for the leading breakfast spots.

Home Plate San Francisco is open now in their new location:

2150 Lombard St
San Francisco, CA 94123

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has been one of Thanksgiving Coffee’s longest partnerships, and we’ve had the pleasure of donating over $40,000, with the help of our customers and wholesale partners.

The DFGFI has been working tirelessly for fifty years to continue the legacy of Dian Fossey, in protecting the magnificent mountain gorillas of Africa. First in Rwanda, and now expanding into the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has changed the way the world thinks about gorillas, and has preserved and documented five decades of gorillas in the mountains of the Virungas.

Now, they are going to be able to do even more, with the extraordinary donation from Portia De Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres. On January 26, Ellen’s 60th birthday, Portia gave Ellen the gift of furthering Dian Fossey’s legacy and joining the DFGFI by establishing a permanent research center in Rwanda.

You can see the video on YouTube, of Portia surprising Ellen on her show with this spectacular gift.

This is a huge step forward for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, allowing them to expand their research in this specially-designed facility. President and CEO Tara Stoinski, Ph.D. said this about the gift:

“It’s impossible to overstate what this remarkable news means for the protection of these magnificent animals. We have continued Dian’s legacy for 50 years, and this new campus will serve as a brilliant focal point for our efforts to protect wild gorillas over the next decades.”

We are so excited to be able to watch as this new partnership grows and matures. Portia De Rossi also set up a Wildlife Fund in Ellen’s name: the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund. This fund will begin by supporting the Karisoke research facility, and will continue to take on projects for other wildlife preservation causes in the future.

Thanksgiving Coffee wants to give a huge thank you to Ellen and Portia for this amazing donation to the future of Rwanda’s mountain gorillas.

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About the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

The DFGFI was established in 1967 by Dian Fossey. She set up a research facility in the country of Rwanda, dedicated to the preservation and documentation of the mountain gorillas living in the Virunga wilderness. After her death in 1985, the organization continued her work in monitoring and protecting the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, and later the Grauer’s gorillas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Thanksgiving Coffee and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International partnered in early 2004 to create the Gorilla Fund Cause Coffee, using Fairtrade Rwandan coffee. In 2017, we launched our Grauer’s Gorilla Coffee, using Organic and Fairtrade coffee grown in the Congo. Through the fourteen years we’ve worked with the DFGFI, we’ve raised over $40,000 to support these gorillas.