When Coffee Review launched the world’s first-ever 100-point coffee ratings in February 1997, we posted them on the Internet, a novel idea at the time. We didn’t bother emailing a newsletter because, well, most of our potential readers didn’t have email addresses. To make sure a least a handful of people read those early tasting reports and reviews, we printed and mailed paper copies to a hundred or so coffee industry professionals to see whether we might be able to gain some traction. The idea of a 100-point rating system applied to coffee caught on.
Now, nearly two decades later, Coffee Review has reached an exciting milestone. Over the past year, more than one million unique coffee lovers visited CoffeeReview.com to learn about coffee and seek guidance by way of our buying recommendations.
We’re obviously pleased that so many people seek our advice about coffee. A major part of our mission is to help bring recognition to farmers and roasters who invest their passion, time, and financial resources into producing exceptional coffees that earn high scores and drive consumer demand for better and more distinctive coffee experiences. We feel that our efforts help create a virtuous circle – a win, win, win situation – in which consumers win by buying and enjoying coffees they love; roasters win by sourcing and selling more superior coffees at higher prices; and an increasing number of farmers win by earning the recognition and income that improve their quality of life.
We’re proud to be part of a community of over one million coffee lovers from around the world. Our readers live in 229 countries and territories, which we think may be all of them. Collectively, based on an market average consumption of three cups per day per person, coffee lovers who visited our site drank well over one billion (that’s with a “B”) cups of coffee in 2015, along the way consuming more than 30 million pounds of coffee beans worth hundreds of millions of dollars at retail.
As we head into the new year, we thank our readers, subscribers, and advertisers who have supported us in our growth. We look forward to continuing and expanding the virtuous circle in 2016 and beyond.
