Blog

Dreaming Big: A new Chapter for Metric's Future in Avondale! →

 (Outside renderings are subject to change) If you've been following our work for the last (almost) 10 years, you may have heard the story about our Probat debacle- the one where we blindly purchased a roaster sight unseen to later...

Introducing Mexico Ernesto Perez! →

Amigos, We are beyond excited to launch our first Direct Trade Mexican coffee of the season from third generation coffee producer Ernesto Perez, owner of Finca Fatima in the Coatepec municipality of Veracruz, Mexico. Before I take you guys on...

Introducing-Modicum Coffee Series →

As many of you may have already noticed, over the course of this last year we have introduced what feels to us to be an entirely different brand; one which we feel represents the level of quality and integrity of...

Introducing Source Code Number 01- a Publication by Metric on... →

What is Source Code? Throughout the pandemic, we’ve had a lot of time to internally reassess our vision, core values and direction. We concluded that as important as it is for us to source quality coffee, providing context to the...

Introducing El Rejo by Jose Rivera →

My story with Jose began back in 2016 on a visit to a few of my roaster friends back at my former employer Intelligentsia. While standing there on the production floor talking to (if my memory serves me correct) Stanley...

We're-with-al(l)! →

Pictured here are our friends, wholesale partners & James Beard Award Winners Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim, owners of Parachute and Wherewithall. I first met Johnny back in 2015 after a brief call about our wholesale program and soon after...

From Beaujolais to Gedeb- How coffee producers in Ethiopia are... →

How coffee producers in Ethiopia are pushing the envelope with wine techniques.

Racism, Coffee & Transparency! →

Edit: Due to the sensitive nature of this subject, we decided to take the time to reflect on the feedback we received on our original post in order to ensure that we are listening to our friends in the black...

Covid-19 and how we have managed operations through it all. →

Hello friends. It’s been a little while since we last blogged, but as you can imagine, we have spent the past few days, weeks and months adjusting on the daily and doing our best to stay healthy and grounded. We...

El Brujo's Destiny →

With X currently in Guatemala and heading down to Honduras in the coming weeks, we thought it was time to post a little op-ed he recently penned about an update from one of our closet producing partners and friend, Benjamin Paz.

Friends of Metric: Bow & Hammer →

Bow & Hammer is one of those partnerships we love. A unique chamber duo specializing in playing and modernizing early 20th-century pieces of chamber music. [We're all about merging classical tools with the contemporary, i.e. our restoration of Black Diamond (our...

Holiday Mall →

Thank you to all who made it out for our Metric & Friends Holiday Mall! We had an absolute blast and here's just a little album to prove it:

The La Comunión Project →

One of our most recent releases is a radiant single-origin, Honduras La Comunión. In addition to being a delicious cup full of dried fruit and lemon-lime acidity, there's a beautiful story of collaboration and humanity behind it. Check out Xavier's (Metric Coffee...

Field Report: Coffee with Nelson Chaves →

A couple of weeks ago Harris (Wholesale Manager & Educator) joined Xavier (Co-founder & Green Buyer) for an origin trip down to Colombia! While there, the two spent time with several of our producing partners. Harris had a special encounter...

David Flores Lot #2 →

Years ago David Flores’ grandparents moved from the southern, Andean area of Cajamarca north, settling near the San Ignacio region. They established a little pocket of their own where they raised livestock and various crops. Now, remaining in the secluded...

Crossing the Damen Divide: Goose Island x Metic Coffee →

This Saturday (3.23.19), we’re excited to tap into our latest coffee-beer collaboration: Damen Divide! This Dunkelweizen coffee-beer is especially exciting because it marks our first time teaming up with friends and neighbors, Goose Island, not only to produce a coffee-beer...

Subscription Spotlight No. 3: Bernardo Chaves →

Similar to our last subscription spotlight, our latest Roaster’s Choice and Single Origin sneak peek also comes from the steep hills along the Andes Mountains— even coming from the same family! We’re excited to share with you: Colombia Bernardo Chaves....

A Full Bouquet: Lonesome Rose Pop-Up →

How we partner with others is a common theme at, here, Metric Coffee. As an eclectic group of individuals, you can usually find us discussing our various interests. A through-line, connecting our idiosyncratic tastes, is the humans who unabashedly express...

TNK x Metric Coffee Co: 2019 Reissue →

As they have it, Tomorrow Never Knows Fest is a celebration of “rising local indie artists as well as acclaimed national acts, including both musicians and comedians… a city-wide event, uniting six independent venues.” From its 2005 inception onward, TNK...

Subscription Spotlight No. 2: Nelson Chaves →

In November, we launched our first subscription spotlight highlighting a pair of experimental lots from our friend, Alma Pineda. Today we’re excited to share the newest entry in our ongoing series of previews for Single Origin and Roaster’s Choice Subscribers, Colombia...

A Time for Humans: Metric & Chicago Community Raise over... →

With a lot of us wrapping up holiday travel and time with others, your Metric humans find ourselves reflecting on our recent Holiday Throwdown. On December 18, 2018 at Caffe Streets, as the cafe’s day concluded, we made our way...

Field Report: Yacuanquer, Colombia →

Like a lot of us traveling to family or friends' this season, Xavier (our co-owner and green buyer) is visiting the homes of our coffee family. Exercising our direct trade philosophies, X is currently in Ethiopia. Just a couple weeks...

Subscription Spotlight: Pineda Pack →

This blog is the first entry in what will be an ongoing series highlighting a unique group of special-release coffees. Before making their way to other avenues, these especially radiant and limited coffees will be available to our coffee subscription...

Introducing Harris Nash, Metric's New Sales Manager →

A couple of weeks ago, Metric Coffee grew a little bigger. Harris Nash joined our team as our new Sales Manager! His role will focus on bridging, and tending to, ongoing Metric relationships. The following is a recap of a...

Finding the Line: A Conversation with Jourdon Gullett →

With our special-release El Brujo live and decked out in commemorative artwork, we recently sat down with one of the artists involved in the project, illustrator Jourdon Gullett, and talked about his process: ~~~~ Humbly Gullett described himself and his...

Introducing Mark Mann, Metric's Director of Operations. →

To help introduce our newest Metric family member, we sat down with Mark and asked him a series of hard-hitting questions about Chicago, his love for coffee, and Malort: ~~~~ What are you most excited about living in Chicago? Just...

Destination Unknown →

Recently Xavier Alexander, Metric's Co-Owner and Director of Coffee, traveled to Peru. While visiting David Flores' farm, he was particularly affected. Below is a short travel note Xavier wrote processing his journey:  ~~~~ "About 3 hours north from Jaen lies...

Metric x Hopewell: Deluxe, an Imperial Coffee Stout. →

We are (and have been) big admirers of Hopewell appreciating how they balance quality and design harmoniously with their small-ness. So when they reached out several months ago, we jumped at the opportunity to collaborate on a coffee beer. The collaboration...

Metric Coffee Partnering with Beans for Puerto Rico →

When unfathomable destruction is faced in every direction, when over two-thirds of Puerto Ricans still have no electricity, when infrastructure has been compromised, when wells have been contaminated…how can something like coffee possibly matter? The answer is: at least a...

Cardinal's Direction with Metric Coffee →

Metric Coffee Co. is happy to announce an amazing collaboration with our neighbors to the south at Cardinal Spirits! Located in Bloomington, Indiana, these artisans have developed a notable reputation for crafting stunning spirits. Cardinal Spirits opened in 2015, and...

TDWP X METRIC COFFEE COLLAB! →

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the fine folks of The Devil Wears Prada. Via a mutual friend (and photographer), Anthony Barlich, Mike of DWP and myself quickly started communicating and dreaming up our collaboration.  After...

Goddess and the Baker Everything in Between →

 “It seems like most people walking out the door have a smile on their face, and that’s really all I want. A feel-good experience.” Tami Mizrahi, Co-Owner of Goddess and the Baker With seven locations all across the city, it...

Spilt Milk Tavern: A Place to Hang Our Hats →

“Our work definitely comes from a place of honest enthusiasm. It’s what we do for a living. ” Matty Eggleston, Co-Owner/Managing Partner of Spilt Milk Tavern Matty Eggleston is a big fan of an underrated word in the world of...

Part of a Process, Chapter V: Buying Green Coffee →

“The truth of the matter is, if you know a thing or two about connecting with people, chances are you will get to work with people that will make positive contributions to the buying process.” Xavier Alexander, Co-Owner of Metric...

Part of a Process, Chapter IV: Sourcing Coffee →

“The real treat is finding coffees that are unique and colorful which I know our customers will love and also the story tied to those coffees. That is, in my opinion, the epitome of relationship coffee.” Xavier Alexander, Co-Owner of...

Part of a Process, Chapter III: Dry/Natural and Honey Process... →

 Pictured Above: Pre-sorted coffee cherries; dark, ripe cherries will be hand-selected to undergo the dry/natural process Photo Credit: Ryan Lodge   Dry/Natural Process At one point avoided because of perceptions of cloying sweetness, overly floral notes, and even vinegar-like fermented...

Part of a Process, Chapter II: Wet/Washed Process Coffee →

Pictured Above: Coffee cherries just about to begin the washing process Photo Credit: Ryan Lodge After the cherries are plucked from the branch at the peak of ripeness, they find their way to the mill. Each mill is unique, operating with...

Part of a Process, Chapter I: Coffee Cherry Anatomy →

  Here’s a fun fact: coffee starts out as a cherry!  If you already knew that, this post might not have a lot of new information for you. If your mind is warped over that zinger of a fact, buckle...

Metric in the Mix with Mistobox →

 “We do things a little bit differently than a lot of other specialty coffee companies.” Seth Mills, Director of Coffee at Mistobox  In a world of blonde, medium, dark, light, French, “black silk”, Italian, and a hundred other convoluted and...

To Peaberry or not to Peaberry →

Pictured above: Top row are standard coffee beans of the Pacamara varietal. Bottom row is our Guatemala Hunapu Peaberry.  For those interested in the details of coffee horticulture, “peaberry” is a term that rings out as something special, something unique....

An Ultra-Exclusive Interview with the Hellion Cold Brew Team →

“The fact that you can go and get a bottle of something that tastes as good as any third-wave quality coffee beverage you get in a café is pretty attractive.” Benjamin Houtkamp, Hellion Cold Brew Manager Hellion Cold Brew grew...

Pinhole Coffee + Metric Coffee: Coffee through a Creative Lens →

“It’s kind of a playground for other people’s creativity.” JoEllen Depakakibo, Owner of Pinhole Coffee  Pinhole Coffee, opened in 2014, is owned and operated by JoEllen Depakakibo.  JoEllen has worked with some of the biggest names in the coffee industry....

Good Beer Hunting: Uppers and Downers Monday Night Dinner Series →

On Monday, May 20th, Metric Coffee in collaboration with Good Beer Hunting kicked off their Monday Night Dinner series with our friends and wholesale partners Lula Café at the Hopewell Brewing space. The creators of this event, Michael Kiser and...

Comfort, Quality, and Coffee: A Conversation with Lula Cafe →

“We want to be able to have really quality ingredients, but we also want to be accessible to the general crowd.” Daniel Piquard, Bar Manager at Lula Cafe Most of the time, the ideals of a comfortable local café and...

Caffe Streets and Metric Coffee: The Darko Side →

“We do it because we love it. Something you love, you want to last. I just want to enjoy the process, having the best coffee we can.” Darko Arandjelovic, Owner of Caffe Streets  Roadblocks come in all shapes and sizes....

Metric + Foxtrot = A Recipe for Goodness →

“There’s just something about the café that can bring everybody in.” Spencer Young, Coffee Program Head at Foxtrot Market People know that Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and nestled within those neighborhoods is most likely a little grocery store...

Music to Metric's Ears: A Conversation with Audiotree →

“We just want to keep perfecting what we’re doing, ensuring that we’re giving artists a place to shine and to showcase their work.” Nikki Hartel, Sponsorship and Events Director If you’re active in Chicago’s music scene, you’ve probably heard of...

Cafe Regina: The Art of Following the Heart →

“I’ve been pushed a lot, and I’ve learned a lot, and now I’m working towards something that I really care about. Something I’m really passionate about.” Kali Solack, Owner of Café Regina From beaches, to mountains, to rainforests, Puerto Rico...

Trip to Origin Part II: Guatemala →

The second leg of our recent sourcing trip took place in Guatemala, made possible with the generosity and help of Mr. Juan Carlos Chen, a local producer. The remote farmlands of Honduras were traded for the more populated cityscape of...

Trip to Origin Part I: Honduras →

“Made by Humans” is a phrase we keep coming back to. It’s on the bottom of our coffee bags, and is something that constantly reminds us what effort goes into this amazing product we call coffee. We consider the craft...