Help/FAQ

About Our Coffee

• Are whole bean and ground coffee available? How much coffee is in the package?

  Yes, whole bean as well as ground coffee is available for Misty Morning, S'more coffee and Campfire Roast in 340g sizes. There are generally two different sizes/formats: the smaller bag has 12oz/340g (roughly 45 cups per bags) of coffee and the larger bag has 2lbs/908g (roughly 120 cups per bag). All our 2lb coffees are only available as whole bean.

• What is the difference between the different types of coffee?

  Each type of coffee has a different flavour profile based on the origin of the coffee and its roast level. Darker roasts will be smokier, bolder, and more robust whereas medium roasts are lighter, brighter, and crisper. The lighter the roast, the more you will taste subtle flavour notes that would otherwise be overwhelmed if drinking a dark roast.

  Campfire Roast is a dark roast. Tasting notes are smokey with notes of molasses.

  S'mores Coffee is a medium-dark roast. Tasting notes are chocolatey and nutty notes (no actual nuts are in the coffee!)

  Misty Morning is a medium roast. Tasting notes are classic and familiar with notes of vanilla.

  Trailblazer Espresso is an espresso medium roast. Tasting notes are sweet, smooth, and silky.

  Knot Caffeinated is a medium roast. Naturally decaffeinated. Tasting notes of milk chocolate.

• What are “tasting notes”?

  “Tasting notes” is a term the coffee industry uses to describe the natural flavours that are detectable in the taste of the coffee. These are naturally occurring flavours; nothing is added to the coffee, these are not added flavours.

• Is it the coffee Organic? Is it Fair Trade?

  Our coffee is supplied by Equator Coffee Roasters and they are proud to offer 100% Organic, 100% Fair Trade coffee.
  

  “Fair Trade” is a loaded term; but at it's core, it is an alternative way of doing business with the goal of improving life for the producer who has historically gotten the short end of the stick (to put it mildly). Improving life can mean a variety of things: better trading conditions, higher wages, and improved social and environmental standards are a good place to start.

  Equator wants to create a healthier planet with healthier farmers, families, and communities from Canada to Peru to Ethiopia to Sumatra. That is why 100% of the coffee they roast is certified organic. From the farmer’s field to Equator’s production facilities, the coffee is produced, processed, and handled according to international organic standards. Equator’s organic certification is renewed each year after an audit by Ecocert Canada.

• What are the ingredients? Are there any allergens?

  100% organic coffee. Nothing has been added to the coffee other than organic coffee beans! The production facility where the coffee is produced has no other products other than coffee being produced anywhere near the coffee production site.

• Is the coffee gluten free?

  Yes, all of Equator's coffee is gluten free (not certified).

• What is the shelf life?

  The shelf life is 1 year from the roast date. While coffee doesn’t “go bad”, it definitely tastes best when it's fresh. We like to think of it like bread: nothing beats getting it straight from the source - the aroma, the flavour, that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you take that first bite/sip...priceless and this is why fresh coffee is enjoyed within 1 month of the roast date (you can find that information on the back of our bags) but the shelf life on our packaging is for 1 year.

• How do I keep it fresh?

  The best way to keep your coffee fresh is to purchase whole beans and store them in an airtight, non-reactive (glass) container in a cool dark place. If you like to purchase your coffee in bulk, keep a weeks-worth of coffee in the cupboard and keep the rest in the freezer! You can read more about keeping your beans fresh here.

• What is the difference between whole bean and ground?

  Whole beans are exactly as they sound - beans! Beans are the freshest way to store coffee at home using a coffee grinder (burr grinder or blade grinder). If you order whole bean coffee, your coffee will stay fresher, longer, just make sure you have a way to grind it when it arrives!

  Ground coffee is pre-ground and ready to brew. Our coffee is ground to a medium grind, ideal for a pour-over or drip coffee brewer. You can read more about the different brewing methods here.

• What grind type is it? What type of brewing method is it for?

  Our coffee is ground to a medium grind, ideal for a pour-over or drip coffee brewer. You can read more about the different brewing methods here.

• Is the decaf coffee (Knot Caffeinated) natural? How is it processed?

  Yes, the Knot Caffeinated is 100% naturally processed with the CO2 Process. There are two forms of decaffeination that are natural (as in no nasty chemicals) and acceptable to organic certification: the well-known “Swiss Water Process” and the less well known but just as natural Carbon Dioxide Process. Equator’s decaf coffee is processed almost 100% in the CO2 process. We prefer this to Swiss Water because we have found that it helps preserve the flavour of the coffee better than the Swiss Water process where the flavour components are often removed and then put back in again at the end of the process.

   The way the CO2 process works is that the green coffee beans (the raw, pre-roasted product) are soaked in compressed carbon dioxide, which acts more like a liquid than a gas in that state. Carbon dioxide, when compressed, combines with caffeine so that when the CO2 is filtered, the caffeine is removed. Because carbon dioxide is what we humans produce and what plants need to survive, it is obviously a natural product thereby making this process of decaffeination natural!