When I first jumped on board with PROTEIN BAR last year, I knew I wanted to help take our coffee program to a whole new place. Coffee being something that a lot of our customers drink each day—but not a lot of people think about beyond that morning buzz. As we began looking for our ideal coffee, our goals were to find something flavorful, organic, sustainable, and to partner with a coffee roasted that shared our values and commitment to them.

We were really fortunate to find everything we wanted—and more in Counter Culture Coffee. Counter Culture is a North Carolina-based company that focuses on finding and bringing the the most exciting, authentic coffee to market. Their style of doing it includes some other great benefits like focusing on organics, sustainability, transparency, and education. In my research, I was really surprised how often coffee roasters treat their beans like a generic commodity—even some of the most acclaimed roasters. What really drew me to Counter Culture initially was their approach to treating coffee like fresh produce. It was easy for us to select their Farmhouse blend as our full-time house blend at PROTEIN BAR as the fresh produce, seasonal angle is played out elegantly in this blend.

Over the next two weeks, we will take you on a little coffee education tour with stops in Ecuador, Peru, and Ethiopia. Join us and “taste the difference” that quality, education, and a commitment to a better way can make in your cup of “joe”.

Happy sipping,

Mike Ganino
Operating Partner