It doesn’t get much more female-powered than this: A mother-daughter duo has pioneered the first-ever coffee roastery in Queens, NY, and they make a point to source more than half of their coffee from women-led or -owned coffee farms.
Rachel and Jiyoon Han, the Korean American mother-daughter team behind Bean & Bean, are both certified Q Arabica graders ― which means they’re basically coffee sommeliers who can taste nuances in coffee that you and I could only dream of. While they’ve always only sourced organic and fair-trade-certified coffee to ensure environmental sustainability and fair worker wages, they didn’t feel that went far enough to compensate for the fact that despite making up more than 70% of the coffee labor force, women earn significantly less than male counterparts in the coffee sector. As such, the Hans been working to bridge the gender gap in coffee to help women get their fair share, from origin to your cup.
“We have close relationships with coffee farms and coffee mills that are owned and/or operated by women coffee producers in Costa Rica and Guatemala, all of which pay their workers a living wage,” Jiyoon told HuffPost. “Mom and I prioritize relationships with coffee farms that involve women in leadership roles and farms where women have an active voice in making important decisions.”
When Rachel and Jiyoon aren’t busy lifting up women around the world, they master the art of making the perfect cup of coffee at home.
“My coffee ritual in the morning is a little moment of prayer and meditation for me,” Jiyoon shared. “I am a big believer in mini moments of self care and celebration. Picking out which coffee to drink, which brewer to use, smelling the coffee being ground, waiting for the water to boil, brewing myself some coffee, seeing the coffee bloom inside the dripper ― this step-by-step process is my time, entirely mine. I indulge in my daily ritual, and set my intentions for the day.”
And though the Hans have fancy-pants coffee experience, they believe that some of the best tools are the most affordable ones. “A few simple brew tools can really enhance your home brew experience,” Jiyoon said. “Reliability and consistency are what I look for in home brewing tools!” Below are some affordable brewing tools that Rachel and Jiyoon recommend.
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Get the Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder for $139.99.
"The Clever Dripper combines the best of both worlds from traditional pour-overs and immersion brewing, but doesn’t have any of the clean-up or mess that a French press would!" — Jiyoon
Get the Clever Coffee Dripper for $34.95.
Get the Kalita Wave 185 Dripper for $40.
Get the Sloth MiiR Eco Camp Cup for $29.
Get the The Big Dipper Umeshiso Rainbow Cupping Spoon for $12.50.
Get the Bean & Bean Downtown Blend for $21 (12 ounces).
(You can buy Bean & Bean’s coffees by the type of grind you like: whole bean, cold brew, French press, Chemex, automatic drip, Aeropress, Kalita Wave/V60, espresso/moka pot or Turkish.)
Get the Bean & Bean Decaf Coffee for $21 (12 ounces).
(You can buy Bean & Bean’s coffees by the type of grind you like: whole bean, cold brew, French press, Chemex, automatic drip, Aeropress, Kalita Wave/V60, espresso/moka pot or Turkish.)
