Coffee Cupping & the Bochica Bean: How Keats & Co Coffee Came to Be

How an afternoon of conversation, education, and coffee cupping led to the coffee I enjoy daily. | By LJ Joukovski

Sucafina Coffee farm in Colombia.

I drink coffee every day. Not in an aspirational, latte-art sort of way—just in the very practical sense that coffee is how my mornings begin. A warm mug. A few quiet minutes. A pause before the day gets busy.

Because it’s such a constant, I don’t often stop to think about how much care and coordination go into a truly good cup of coffee. But last year, thanks to a bit of lucky timing, I got the chance to slow down and pay closer attention.

I was in St. Louis for a family reunion when it happened to line up with an open house at First Crack—the family-run roastery that roasts and bags our Keats & Co. coffee. Even better, the team from Sucafina, who source our beans, was there too. What followed was an afternoon of conversation, education, and coffee cupping with the people who quite literally make this coffee possible.

If you’ve never experienced a coffee cupping, it’s both simple and surprisingly thoughtful. Coffees are brewed, tasted side by side, and discussed openly. No sales pitch. No flashy equipment. Just careful attention. You taste. You listen. You give the coffee the time it needs to show you what it has to offer.

Coffee cupping at First Crack.

That process felt very familiar to me.

At Good Store, we try to listen first—to customers, to our team, and to the artisans behind our products. Coffee cupping, it turns out, is a pretty good metaphor for how we like to work: slow down, notice the details, and respect the craft before making decisions.

The coffee we were cupping that day included the Bochica Bean, which sits at the heart of our Keats & Co. coffee. Sourced from Colombia and named for Bochica—a teacher and guide in Andean tradition—this bean reflects a balance we care deeply about. It’s a high-quality bean.  Well-rounded, but never boring. Also, Bochica is part of a sourcing model that gives back. Through Sucafina’s sustainability work, Keats & Co. coffee supports community initiatives like access to clean drinking water in coffee-growing regions. That matters to us—not as a headline, but as a responsibility.

Coffee farm in Colombia.

What stayed with me most from that afternoon wasn’t a single tasting note. It was the shared sense of pride. The team at First Crack brings deep expertise to roasting, paired with a genuine love of coffee and collaboration. Sitting alongside them, the Sucafina team brought the same depth of knowledge—sharing how much care goes into sourcing and handling the Bochica Bean so it arrives ready to be roasted to perfection.

That care shows up in the final cup.

Keats & Co. coffee exists because of a long chain of people who care deeply about what they do—from farmers, to sourcers, to roasters, to packers. They’re artisans, educators, and collaborators, and we’re grateful to work with them.

So when you brew a cup of Keats & Co. coffee in the morning, I hope it feels like what it is: something made with intention. Something rooted in real relationships. Something that connects a small, everyday ritual to a much bigger story.

For me, that makes the coffee taste even better.