You open a bag of coffee and see “orange, honey, and chocolate” on the label. You make a cup, take a sip, and think, I taste… coffee. That is a perfectly good place to start. Learning to taste coffee takes a little practice, but you do not need special training to begin. Give yourself a few minutes, try a couple of coffees side by side, and pay attention to what comes to mind. You might be surprised by what you notice. Does “chocolate” mean there is chocolate in it? This comes up a lot. On a...

You’ve probably seen the words “micro-lot” on a bag of coffee and thought, Okay…but what does that actually mean? A micro-lot is a small batch of coffee that has been kept separate because there is something distinctive about it. It might come from one section of a farm, one particular elevation, a specific coffee variety, or even a single harvest. Basically, instead of mixing it with the rest of the farm’s coffee, the producer says, “This one is special. Let’s keep it separate.” Why keep...

Looking for a quiet coffee shop to work or study in downtown Charleston? Tracer Coffee offers comfortable seating, charging stations, Wi-Fi, and thoughtfully prepared Colombian coffee—all just a short walk from the College of Charleston.