Recently, I was walking our board through what goes into a cup of Sur Coffee. We talked about where the coffee is grown, how it is harvested and processed, the skill behind roasting, and the precision it takes to make a great espresso.

As we got into the details, they were struck by how much work and nuance were involved. They started comparing it to the production of a high-end whiskey.

That comparison stayed with me. There is serious craft in a great beer, too. What I like about the whiskey comparison is the curiosity it brings to the drink. You want to know where it came from, who made it, and why it tastes the way it does. I think exceptional coffee deserves that same attention.

The story starts at the farm,

A coffee bean is actually the seed of a fruit. Before it can become someone’s morning espresso, a farmer has to grow a healthy tree, care for it, and bring that fruit to harvest. A newly planted coffee tree typically takes around three to four years to begin bearing fruit. 

Some of the coffees we love come from mountain farms in places like Guatemala and the highlands of Ethiopia. The variety of the plant and its growing conditions help shape the coffee’s character. Origin means something because the place and the crop influence what can eventually show up in your cup. 

For me, that is where the appreciation should begin. By the time a roaster receives the coffee, producers have already invested years of work and made decisions that matter. They deserve a place in the story every time we talk about quality.

Every stage shapes the flavor

Harvesting is its own skill. Selective picking means returning to the trees to harvest ripe cherries as they are ready. Then comes processing. Some coffees dry inside the whole fruit. Others have the fruit removed before drying. Fermentation and careful drying add more variables that can change the result. 

A whiskey develops character through decisions about fermentation, distillation, and maturation in a cask. Coffee has its own sequence of transformations. The connection is the judgment required along the way and the way those decisions show up when you taste it. 

Roasting brings another level of craft. Heat transforms green coffee into the aromatic beans we recognize, and the roast influences the balance of flavors in the finished cup. A roaster has to decide how to develop that particular coffee for the experience they want to create. 

That is a lot of responsibility in one step. You are working with something that other people have spent a season producing. Our job is to do their work justice.

Espresso puts the final craft in the café

Espresso adds something especially interesting to the story. The final drink is made when you order it.

The amount of coffee, the grind, the water temperature, the time it takes to extract, and the amount of espresso in the cup all matter. Baristas taste and adjust those variables to get the result they are looking for. The coffee can be sourced and roasted beautifully, and the way it is prepared still has a real effect on the experience. 

When someone hands you a great espresso, you are tasting the result of all of that work coming together. The person behind the bar is carrying the efforts of the farmer, the processing team, and the roaster into that final cup.

That is what makes the whiskey comparison useful to me. It invites you to slow down enough to notice the aroma, the texture, and what stays with you after a sip. You can enjoy those details without knowing all the technical language.

Why this matters at Sur

At Sur, we have chosen to be involved well before the coffee reaches our cafés. We build relationships with producers, source our coffees, and roast them ourselves. That gives us a direct role in choosing and developing the coffee we serve. 

There are excellent cafés that work with roasting partners. Our approach means the sourcing and roasting are part of Sur’s own craft, alongside the work happening behind the bar. When we talk about a coffee, we can tell the story of why we chose it and what we wanted to bring out in it.

Our coffees have also won awards at the Global Coffee Awards. We’re proud of that recognition, and we share the credit with the producers behind those coffees and our roasting team. 

Take Uppers, the blend behind our espresso drinks. It brings together coffees from Guatemala and Ethiopia, with a chocolate base, fruit notes, and sweetness. Those are qualities we want people to enjoy in the coffee they order every day. 

That fits the brand we’re building. We want great coffee to be part of the life we love, whether we’re heading out for an early surf, meeting friends, or taking a bag along on the next trip.

The conversation with our board reminded me how much more there is for us to share. Once people understand what goes into the cup, they have more to appreciate about what comes out of it.

Next time you order a coffee, ask where it came from. Take a moment with that first sip. There is a whole journey in it.

Article by Mark Bell