"Like wine, coffee reflects terroir." “We’re essentially trying to show our customers every version of excellent coffee that exists in the world,” he says. “We’re very pluralistic in what we think is a great example of quality coffee.” Ahhh okay. Welcome to California. First thing to consider in choosing a good cup of coffee is whether it is reflecting terroir and you are being pluralistic. California might want to put more time and energy into identifying future crops that- unlike coffee- do not require a massive amount of water. Just sayin. Eighteen dollars is already pretty steep for a cup of coffee- could go higher.
Coffee Crisis Sixty percent of the world's coffee species are on the brink of extinction. These are wild coffee species, and the two (yes, only two) species that we brew are not directly under threat. However, experts say we will eventually need to use genes from wild species to maintain the viability of the Arabica and robusta beans that we use; tricky to do if they've gone extinct. BBC