December is fast approaching, and it seems that everywhere you look, there is a new Advent coffee calendar popping up on the market. We look into five of these great calendars.
BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT
Featured photo by Getty Images
In my family, Christmas celebrations have always been very heartfelt: decorations all over the house, carols played 24/7 for over a month, gingerbread trays baked week after week … the whole nine yards.
At the end of each November, my grandmother would have me find a new Advent calendar, with 24 little windows filled with fantastic candies and chocolate bars, ready to be opened day after day until we reached Christmas Eve morning.
As I grew up, I started skipping the candy in favor of calendars that really followed my passions at the time. I had a tea calendar, a fancy chocolate bar calendar, and a few from my favorite toy building bricks.
My love of Advent calendars (and everything Christmas-related) is part of the reason I was so happy when some of my favorite roasters started releasing their own Advent calendars. I decided to dig deeper and find five of the most beautiful Advent calendars available on the market this year.
The Barn (Berlin)
The Barn, one of Europe’s most renowned coffee roasters, presents two different and surprising Advent calendars this year. The first, called Inspiration, looks like an artistic version of classic Advent calendars, with 24 beautiful little boxes to open day by day; the second, Geisha Masterpiece, follows a different format, with 12 rare and precious Gesha beans from around the world contained in a black designer box.
Ralf Rüller, founder of the German coffee roaster, says that while it is not a new idea to have an Advent calendar dedicated to coffee, for this year they decided to have something more special.
“I wanted to connect the calendar experience to our work and our vision for the Barn by creating two calendars that are somehow not exclusive to the holiday season. It is the perfect gift for a coffee lover who wants to be more deeply connected to what we do at the Barn, and in that sense, it can also be a birthday gift or a special gesture for someone you love.”
Ralf goes on to explain the process of choosing 24 coffees for the calendar that go well together in a logical flow.
“The Inspiration calendar is basically my story in a box: with all these growers I have personal relationships and each of them has helped change my mind about the way I look at coffee,“ Ralf says. “This box set is like the DNA of the Barn, taking you through 10 different countries, different terroirs and processes, to discover coffee farmers focused on producing clean, high-quality coffee. That’s why for me the Inspiration calendar is really exciting, and it’s a beautiful box designed by the artist we now have in-house, which also includes a notebook where you can record all your brewing experiments and a few little surprises in some of the boxes.“
The Masterpiece calendar, though, is very different, according to Ralf: ”It’s the most exclusive thing we have, which includes exclusive beans from 12 Gesha farms around the world. We have beans from Granja La Esmeralda and Lamastus Estates, Brazil, and Yemen; and the box comes with a unique mug handcrafted in Berlin.”
Onyx Coffee Lab (Rogers, Ark.)
Onyx Coffee Lab, one of the top U.S. coffee roasters, presents its seventh Advent calendar in an elegant box that looks like something out of a fairy tale.
Niki Weegens, creative director of Onyx, tells how the idea came about: “We wanted to offer a unique and engaging experience for coffee lovers during the holiday season. Coffee is such a personal and evolving journey, and we wanted to bring this sense of exploration and discovery into a structured and celebratory format. The idea of an Advent calendar was perfect for showcasing the diversity of coffees from around the world, allowing us to highlight a variety of origins, processes, and flavors, and to share the stories behind the beans.”
She then goes on to explain more about the selection of featured coffees, a thoughtful and intentional process that takes place throughout the year: “We start by identifying coffees from our producer partners that represent a wide range of origins, varieties, and processing methods: We want each day to be distinct but also complementary to the overall journey. It’s about a balance of presenting different flavor profiles, creating variety in the experience while still creating a natural flow, so that each coffee feels like a step in the larger exploration of specialty coffee. It’s about telling a cohesive story of what coffee can be, and we want to create a unified experience for both beginners and more experienced enthusiasts.“
“We want everyone to feel like they’re learning and discovering something new every day,“ Niki concludes, “which means our brew guides, stories, and videos need to be engaging and accessible to everyone.“
Drop Coffee (Stockholm)
Drop Coffee, one of Sweden’s oldest specialty-coffee roasters, presents a beautiful pink box for its fifth Advent calendar, which includes 24 colorful tins and as many coffees. Joanna Alm, managing director of Drop Coffee (who is also gracing the cover of our October + November 2024 issue) explains the idea behind the calendar.
“Here in Sweden, every child has an Advent calendar. Every day leading up to Christmas, there is a show on national television where they open a trapdoor in the box that shares an image from the show. One day my British partner, Stephen Leighton, looked at the previous tasting box he had made for his roasting company, Has Bean, with a Christmas selection box. In my opinion, this could not have been translated to Sweden; we would have preferred to have something to open day after day. We laughed at the idea, but I couldn’t let it go: I already knew I wanted to do it, presenting each coffee personally, so that the customer would get the watch and open-the hatch-experience as I had in my childhood.”
She then goes on to explain the process of selecting the coffees, all of which come from farms they have personally visited over the years. “We have been in business with most of our producer partners for many years and are constantly working together to improve the quality of the coffees they produce, so building a portfolio of 24 different coffees and sharing our knowledge about them comes very naturally,” Joanna says.
In the end, Joanna shares the challenges of creating such a calendar: “We don’t have an exhaust valve on the cans we use for packaging, and because our roasting profile is light, oxygen often gets trapped in the beans for some time before it eventually escapes. Normally this extra gas should be allowed to escape from the package, making it very important that each day’s dose of coffee be dispensed immediately after opening. Also, for the first few calendars, we stress-produced our accompanying videos on the same day (for each of the 24 days). We now pre-record them in a more relaxed environment where we can stay connected and talk freely, just sharing fun information about these coffees we love so much.”
Klatch Coffee (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)
Klatch Coffee, the popular family-owned coffee roaster in Southern California, celebrates its second Advent calendar with the release of a beautiful box whose design is inspired by the constellations that guide travelers.
Justin Christopher, manager of marketing and ecommerce for Klatch Coffee, shares the idea behind the calendar: “At Klatch, coffee is all about conversation: Our name comes from the Dutch term ’kaffeeklatsch,’ which means small talk or gossip over coffee. What better way to start a conversation with friends or family than by sharing 12 special coffees during the holidays? ’Making Spirits Bright,’ our 2024 edition, is a real conversation starter, perfect as a gift to introduce someone new to specialty-coffee appreciation. Also, there is a huge variety of coffees to taste and explore, but tasting them all can be cost- and time-prohibitive, so we wanted to give our customers a way to try a huge variety of styles, varieties, and roasts in small quantities to keep things affordable, so they don’t have to commit to buying huge bags of a new and unfamiliar coffee.”
Next, Justin explains more about the selection of coffees chosen for this year’s calendar.
“Our team chose coffees that highlight different regions and processing methods. We included favorites such as Panama Elida Catuai Natural, some of our limited-time festive coffees, and a special Gesha for the last day, El Salvador Jasal Orange Geisha Anaerobic Natural.”
Finally, he shares the challenges involved in making such a beautiful object: “The Advent calendar has a deadline and must arrive in a specific window so that the coffee can be enjoyed before Christmas Eve. To meet these criteria, we chose to roast the included coffee, build and ship the boxes at once to those who pre-ordered them. Unfortunately, this means that it is not possible to order one at the last minute! Also, putting the boxes together is manual labor that cannot be easily automated, but we are OK with that. … It’s really a labor of love for our team, and it’s our once-a-year opportunity to deliver something really special to our most passionate customers.”
KaffeBox (Scandinavia)
KaffeBox, the specialty-coffee subscription featuring roasters from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, is well-known in Europe. Their monthly boxes feature different coffees chosen specifically for their light “Scandinavian roasting style.” With the arrival of November, the Kaffebox team is redoubling their efforts, releasing a beautiful Advent calendar, shipped in two separate boxes that include 12 canisters each, to ensure maximum freshness of the beans.
Tyler Olson, founder of KaffeBox, tells us about the calendar, which was born 11 years ago, initially at the request of some customers. “We embraced the idea and made the first edition with 12 Scandinavian roasters, and it has grown every year since. The roasters featured in the calendar are all based in Scandinavia and specialize in a Nordic, light roasting style that preserves the original flavors of the beans and highlights their unique characteristics.”
Then, Tyler goes on to explain what is included in this year’s calendar: “For the coffee selection, we invite each roaster to choose two coffees that truly stand out, ones they are excited to share with a wide audience. With two coffees for each roaster, they have room to be creative with one while choosing a reliable and delicious option for the other. This approach allows us to offer a wide range of beans, representing different origins, varieties, and roasts. In addition, we offer customers exclusive selections: This year, we are excited to introduce five Gesha coffees and one Wush Wush.”
Tune in tomorrow for more details and photos, and to learn what makes each of these Advent calendars unique.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.
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