90% of the work in the coffee industry happens out of the country in remote areas many will never see in their lifetime. We here at Sagebrush go to these places 3-5 times a year. What we call "the lab" is a collection of the knowledge we've accumulated at origin condensed into hand-written, digestible articles. A happy buyer is an informed buyer and with what feels like continual increases in pricing all throughout the supply chain, we feel it mandatory to do our due diligence in helping you feel as confident in our product as you can feel.

Ten years ago, I had lunch with Perry Czopp, a local Phoenix barista trainer. He brought along Nella Montero, daughter of Carlos Montero who owns Don Eli farm in Costa Rica. That lunch was so helpful in my setting the direction of my online garage coffee roasting business. Perry ended up marrying Nella and moving to Costa Rica. Now he runs Selva Coffee, connecting Costa Rican producers with U.S. roasters. Don Eli annually delivers coffees in the Costa Rican Cup of Excellence coffee auction, but that's not why we buy from them. We buy from them because of the relationship that started over Portillos in Tempe.

Most people never think about coffee importers, but they're the glue holding the supply chain together. From building relationships with producers at origin to financing harvests and managing risk during transit, importers do far more than move a product from one country to another.