American Alpha Tee

Yes, we offer freshly roasted whole-bean coffee, and we also are happy to grind your coffee to order.

We searched the world over for great tasting coffee. Through our relationships and years of business, we are able to choose the best beans from almost anywhere in the world. We source great tasting, high-end arabica beans for our blends and single-origin coffees. In a couple of our blends, we use a very small amount of high-end robusta beans for balance, flavor, and increased caffeine content.

Our sources for great coffee come from places as far away as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, to Ethiopia and Kenya, to Central America and Columbia and Brazil, and of course we love our U.S.-grown Hawaiian beans!

So the sources for our coffee lie in the premier coffee-growing highland regions of the world, close to the equator. These suppliers are usually small producers with great soil and big hearts, who care deeply about the land that provides them with awesome coffee and the ability to earn a good living and take care of their families.

Organic and fair-trade certifications are often used by consumers to discern whether the items they are purchasing match their values. We applaud “ethical consumerism.” In fact, it is a cornerstone of our company, and we are big supporters of organic agriculture and of fair and livable wages for workers who are the backbone of the coffee system.

Our coffee and cocoa products all meet these high values we believe deeply in. However, not all of our coffee and cocoa is certified as organic or fair trade. We have clearly marked those that are certified, both on the website and on our packaging. The reason for this has to do with the requirements and processes for both the organic and fair-trade certifications by third-party organizations based in the mature economies of the more economically developed countries.

Getting certified as organic is a highly stringent process that requires years of soil testing and documentation, as well as a very segregated processing and transportation regimen. Not every small specialty coffee grower is equipped or inclined to pay for this process. Their motivation for doing so is to charge a higher price for their coffee. But in many cases, they are already receiving top dollar for their delicious coffees, so they have no motivation to get an organic certification, even if they are already using organic growing methods.

The fair-trade explanation is a little more complicated but similar. To be certified as fair-trade, there are 30+ pages of standards you must meet. These requirements range from detailing member farm size and meeting prescribed electoral processes and democratic organization, to contractual transparency and reporting, to environmental standards, and many others we have not included here. Most small farmers and business owners do not welcome that kind of prescriptive overhead from a third-party, first-world perspective or the costs associated with it. In the case of some cooperatives and family-owned farms, the requirements for fair-trade that go beyond compensation can make it untenable.

In short, while we support the concepts and goals of the organic and free-trade certifications, we feel that the real-world results of these certifications are far from perfect. And we know from personal experience that just like the best wines and cheeses, the best coffee is not always certified organic or fair-trade.

We are proud members of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), and we strongly support its ongoing programs to promote coffee worker safety, fair compensation and livable wages, and health and environmental protections for a strong sustainable coffee industry beginning at its origin. At the end of the day, we feel great about the coffee we buy, the people we buy it from, and what we provide to our customers.

We offer FREE SHIPPING within the continental U.S. on all orders over $75. Most packages will arrive within two to three business days of being shipped.

All orders between $35 and $75 are shipped for a flat rate of $3.95, and all orders under $35 are shipped for a flat rate of $6.95. For AK, HI, U.S. territories, and all APO/FPO/DPO orders, we have a $5.00 surcharge due to the significantly higher costs we are charged to ship to these locations.

We are currently working to find a cost-effective solution to ship outside of the U.S.

We typically ship within a day or two of the order being placed so you get the freshest coffee possible.

At times, we may ship the same day of the order if we have a fresh batch available. At other times, we will wait until a freshly roasted batch is available.

If we are not able to ship within a couple of days of your order, we will proactively reach out to you to let you know the status of your order.

Absolutely! We've been there and done that, so we make sure to support APO/FPO/DPO order addresses and ship a ton of coffee overseas to these addresses.

All you have to do is put APO/FPO/DPO in the “City” field. Put AA, AE, or AP in the “State” field, and then put in the zip code. We ask that you please double-check your address. The APO system is very strict about proper addresses and will simply reject the package and return it to us as "undeliverable" if it is even off slightly. We pay for the shipping whether it is deliverable or not, and it often takes weeks for us to get the “undeliverable” package returned to us.

Unfortunately, we do not have a good way to provide tracking for APO shipments as once it leaves the USPS and enters the military/diplomatic mail system, we have no visibility.

For military service members, veterans, we offer a 10% discount on every order. We also offer a 10% discount for law enforcement, first responders, nurses, government workers, and teachers.

Additionally, we have a different pricing structure for wholesale accounts. If you make purchases of 20 bags or more at a time, contact us to become a wholesale customer.

Being on a subscription plan also results in an additional 10% off.

Deployed service members can purchase coffee through the Coffee for Troops page. Once the purchased coffee is in the cart, the matching coffee donation promotion will automatically be applied. Due to the program guidelines, orders placed through the Coffee for Troops page can only be shipped to APO, FPO, or DPO addresses.

It depends on what method you use to brew your coffee. For conventional drip, you will use one measurement and for French press another. Espresso and cold brew are completely different as well.

A general starting point is as follows:

Drip Brew – 2 Tbsp or 10 grams of coffee for every 6 oz. of filtered water
French Press – 55 grams of coffee for a 48 oz. French press
Pour Over – 22 grams of coffee to 12 oz. of filtered water
Cold Brew – 12 oz. of French press grind coffee to 7 cups of water; extract for 18 hours

We highly recommend using a simple, inexpensive kitchen scale. We recommend you experiment with our different coffees to dial them in to your taste preference beginning with the guidelines above. For a consistently awesome tasting cup, it is important to be precise with your coffee and water measuring standards. We also suggest using filtered water and a consistent grind type.

That’s a little like asking, “Who is your favorite child?” We love all our children, and we love all our coffee.

The better question is this: Which coffee best fits the favor profile I like best? This is personal preference. Often people believe the darker the coffee roast the better and that darker is more flavorful and robust. This is a misconception. In general, we are known for smooth, bold, full-flavored, delicious coffee—whether it is light, medium, or dark roast.

When it comes to specialty coffee like ours, the darker roasts can sometimes cover the nuances and special characteristics of the beans.

To give you a starting point, our most popular blend is Warrior Select – Combat Roast, which is a well-balanced, non-bitter, bold, and delicious special medium/dark roast.  

Our Smooth Operator – Special Blend and Dawn Patrol – Breakfast Blend are extremely popular and are on the lighter side, like "blonde roasts"—easy drinking and delicious. Another customer favorite is the Medium-roastCharlie Don’t Surf – Kona Blend. It offers those who love the great Hawaiian flavor profiles a cost-effective way to enjoy that amazing island coffee taste.
 

Our Double Barrel Black – Midnight Blend is a dark French Roast and has our highest caffeine content. If you truly like dark and more astringent coffees, this is your blend.

We also offer a fantastic medium-roast organic blend—Task Force Zulu, which is both tasty and delicious. Our Task Force Victory blend is another organic blend in a darker roast that makes a great non-bitter cup of black coffee. To give you a starting point, our most popular blend is Warrior Select – Combat Roast, which is a well-balanced, non-bitter, bold, and delicious special medium/dark roast.  

Our Smooth Operator – Special Blend and Dawn Patrol – Breakfast Blend are extremely popular and are on the lighter side, like "blonde roasts"—easy drinking and delicious. Another customer favorite is the Medium-roast Charlie Don’t Surf – Kona Blend. It offers those who love the great Hawaiian flavor profiles a cost-effective way to enjoy that amazing island coffee taste.

Our Double Barrel Black – Midnight Blend is a dark French Roast and has our highest caffeine content. If you truly like dark and more astringent coffees, this is your blend.

We also offer a fantastic medium-roast organic blend—Task Force Zulu, which is both tasty and delicious. Our Task Force Victory blend is another organic blend in a darker roast that makes a great non-bitter cup of black coffee.