I’m sitting here in my favorite patio chair on Sunday afternoon all comfy with my brand new favorite coffee, all blended up. From here I can see the new habitat for my daughter’s tortoise, which apparently I’m babysitting indefinitely.

At this moment, I’m pretty much convinced that I’m drinking the absolute smoothest and most satisfying coffee on the planet.

I’ve had a lot of favorite coffees over the years. When I was young(er), I loved a raspberry cream my mom made me daily during the last month of my pregnancy in Chicago. Then over the years I’ve gone through about a hundred different flavor favorites, all kinds of creamers, different sweeteners, and various types of coffee makers. A friend once called me a coffee snob after I declared I only like “good” coffee and said it’s not worth the effort to make something that might taste like mud.

But it’s true!

With one daughter who’s a Starbucks barista and another who loves taking me to local coffee shops, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to evaluate truly good coffee. Then there’s also the fact that I’ve been working in an office for the past 17 years. You go through a lot of coffee, good and not-so-good, when you work with a bunch of ladies that long.

Needless to say, we also go through a lot of coffee in my house.

When I was gifted a pound of Roastin’ Ratzy’s coffee last year, I let it sit on the counter for a week.  In no hurry to open “just another bag of coffee,” I finally absentmindedly tore it open one morning.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I instantly caught the aroma of some AMAZING beans, fresher than anything I ever recall inhaling! Of course, that makes sense, because it was roasted at home by my friend and co-worker, Shannon, who calls herself and her husband homeroasters.

There’s something just delicious about that word homeroasters, don’t you think?

I’ve known Shannon for years. She’s a high school history teacher (she taught both my girls!), a coach, and fine arts enthusiast with a passion for good coffee. She actually does roast the coffee in her own kitchen, which totally impressed me, putting this whole amazing-coffee-thing into a category all it’s own.

I mean, she’s officially a coffee roaster!

The morning I opened my first bag of Roastin’ Ratzy’s coffee, my mother-in-law happened to be visiting. To please (and of course impress) her, I ground the beans in my little grinder, percolator-brewed it, added my favorite (non-dairy) Nutpods and a pinch of Stevia, whipped it up with my immersion blender, and poured each of us a cup of pure deliciousness.

I’m not being dramatic. It tasted OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

If you decide to try out my little recipe up there, I’m pretty sure you’ll never stop thanking me—or Shannon, obviously. I’ve tried a few of the Ratzy’s blends now, and my favorite so far is the Ethiopian Single-Origin Coffee. It came in a bag like this, with little stickers and stamps on the back, which made me happy. Just plain happy.

So I’m still sitting here with Starling the Tortoise, and my coffee cup has needed a refill for awhile. I just want to add that I am completely head-over-heels about how Shannon and her husband Brock (he’s a history teacher, too, by the way) are coffee lovers who allowed themselves the time to fly with a passion and set up shop doing something they enjoy, right there in their home after long days of teaching.

Well, I didn’t set out to do a commercial here, and Shannon doesn’t know I’m writing this review yet, but if you’re interested, you can read more of their story on their FB page or buy for yourself at her Etsy shop. Oh, and if you add a drop of orange essential oil to your coffee, you’ll practically be in heaven.