I love coffee.

I’m definitely not a coffee snob, but I enjoy a good whole bean I can grind up and press to perfection in my little apartment.

So when Kate and I headed over to Craft Coffee to taste some of their finest fruits (the coffee bean is, in fact, a fruit pit), I was excited. Craft Coffee is a monthly subscription box that includes samples of some of the best coffee from around the world. I had been spending my mornings mostly with Trader Joe’s dark roast, so was ready to introduce my palate to some finer sipping.

But seriously. These guys are sent coffee from various roasters constantly, yet 90% don’t make it to the box (and are donated instead). Their picking process is intense; after smelling its aroma (both the dry bean, right after it’s brewed, and after its “crust” is broken), each coffee is tasted (or rather violently slurped back with a spoon to splash all those taste buds) and scored based on acidity, flavor, body, after-taste, balance, and over-all goodness. It the bean passes all those tests, it moves on to the next round, which includes more sniffing and slurping. As you can see, we slurped quite a few brews. I thought they all were more or less amazing.

Apparently, they all were pretty bad. None made it to the next round, and I began to question my ability to taste the finer things in life (or I guess just coffee). “This one tastes like gasoline,” said Sam, who is the premier judge of which coffee beans make it into their monthly box. I guess I had missed something.

But beyond the coffee, their story is what inspired me to write this post. Because more so than the taste or the fact that it (almost always) keeps me from falling asleep on the subway, I love the act of drinking coffee: from waking up and stumbling out of bed, putting on the hot water before I barely open my eyes, to taking that first sip. My mornings are just me and my mug, and I wouldn’t change it for a thing. And when talking with Patti from the biz, she explained that Craft Coffee’s mission is to transform the way people experience coffee — to have people take the time to slow down and sip on something simply wonderful.

“Hundreds of hands are needed to produce that small bag of beans,” explained Sam, “and then we bring them to you. You can literally sit down and experience the best cup of coffee in the world.”

And with that, me and my Craft Coffee will take a few extra moments to think about this — sipping extra slowly before getting on with life.