Why I Read the Label
Coffee, land, and the record of things worth keeping.
Twenty years in a classroom will do something permanent to the way a person reads. I spent most of those years teaching students the difference between a primary source and everything else. A primary source is the document itself: the treaty, the letter, the census record. Everything else is someone’s interpretation of that document. The interpretation might be brilliant. It might be wrong. The only way to know is to go back to the source.
I retired. The habit did not.
Most coffee bags in most shops are selling a feeling. Words like “bold” and “smooth” and “artisan” describe nothing verifiable. They are marketing language dressed as product language. A bag that says “bold” is making a claim it cannot support with a document.
The claims worth reading are the ones that point somewhere.
“Roasted [date]” points to a roast log. Either the roaster printed the date or they did not. The date is the primary source. Its absence is also information.
“SCA 80+” points to the Specialty Coffee Association’s 100-point scale. Ten attributes evaluated blind by a licensed Q Grader: aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, overall impression. Roughly five percent of the world’s coffee production scores 80 or above. The number is the document.
“Lab tested by FoodChain ID” points to a specific report. FCID 22210A-1, Lot #12983284, dated July 14, 2025. Heavy metals, mycotoxins, mold, yeast. Tested using FDA-validated HPLC and mass spectrometry. All compounds returned Not Detected. The report is accredited by PJLA under ISO/IEC 17025, recognized internationally by ILAC-MRA. The lab’s name is the citation. Without it, the claim is not verifiable.
“georgecoffee.eth” points to Ethereum Mainnet. A permanent record independent of any website or platform. The ENS identifier on the back of the bag resolves to a record that will outlast the bag itself.
These are the things I read before I buy anything. Twenty years of teaching students to find the document behind the claim trained a habit that does not turn off.
The George blend is a medium roast. Brazil Cerrado and Mexico Chiapas. Available through December 31, 2026. The 250th anniversary ends and so does the coffee. The 17.76% subscription savings is not an accident.
The George is in the cup now. Ground ten minutes ago, bloomed for forty seconds, water at 196. The molasses is in the first sip. Not sweet exactly, but present the way good molasses is present in anything it touches. The toasted almond comes in behind it. The citrus is in the finish, bright enough to notice, gone before I can name it precisely. The morning is cold. The cup is not.
George — Medium Roast Blend, America's 250th Anniversary officialfellowcitizen.com/products/george-regular