Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have questions?

We offer answers to the most frequently asked questions here. Perhaps you have questions about our coffees, suggested grind levels, or suggested brewing methods? We’re here to help! We’d never tell you how to enjoy your coffee, but we’re happy to help you learn more about brewing and coffee geekery. Curious to learn about putting your order on auto-ship? You’ll find instructions here. Looking to gift coffee? We offer the steps for gifting coffee, coffee cards and gift certificates. You’ll even find an answer to the meaning behind the name Caffe Ladro. If you can’t find your answer here, please Contact Us.

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What are coffee tasting notes?

Coffee tasting notes are flavor descriptors that our roasters use to help guide customers towards the flavors most commonly tasted in a cup of coffee.

They are NOT added flavors.

Rather, our roasters taste a coffee and use different words to describe what the coffee brings to mind. The flavors inherent in the coffee come from the soil, the climate and the husbandry of the farmers. You can learn more about coffee tasting notes by exploring the image below and by visiting SCA, for their coffee flavor wheel explanation.

SCAA Flavor Wheel of coffee tasting notes

What type of grind should I use for which brewing method?

Type of Grind for Brewing Method

Whole Bean: Please don’t try to brew coffee with whole coffee beans. It’ll taste bad. Do you need a grinder? We like this one.

French Press Grind: Use this Coarse Coffee Grind for French Press, Chemex brewers, and for professional coffee cuppings.

Drip Grind (Brewer): This Medium Coffee Grind works best with automatic drip brewers.

Fine Drip Grind (Pour Over): This Medium Coffee Grind should be used with pour-over methods, like the Bonavita Immersion Dripper.

Espresso Grind: Use this Fine Coffee Grind for your AeroPress Brewer.

You can find more information on our “Choose Your Grind” post on this topic.

What’s the difference between a Coffee Card and an Online Gift Certificate?

A Coffee Card is a physical card we either mail to you or you purchase at one of our store locations. It’s only usable for purchases at our physical store locations.

An Online Gift Certificate is an online code you can purchase as a gift. We’ll email a code to the email you give us and the recipient may use that code as credit on our online store for whatever amount you purchased. This is only usable for purchases on our online store and cannot be used at our physical store locations.

Did you purchase the wrong one? Were you gifted a Coffee Card but live too far away to use it at a store location? Contact us! We can help. (FYI, if you purchased an Online Gift Certificate by mistake and wanted a Coffee Card, try using the gift code to purchase a Coffee Card instead. It works!)

Both options make great gifts!

What brewing recipes do you recommend?

Our blog’s Brewing Category is a great place to start. These posts will give you insight into the brewing methods and tools commonly used in the coffee world. Our Recipes Category is where you’ll find specific recipes for everything from coffee cocktails and AeroPress coffee brewer to cold brew popsicles.

How do I set up a Coffee Subscription?
  1. To schedule your coffee subscription, go to our online store.
  2. Find the coffee you wish to add to your Subscription. (Example: Ladro Espresso 12oz)
  3. Select the Grind and Ship To, then check the box next to Click For Auto-Reordering. (See image below)
  4. Specify how often you’d like your Subscription to arrive (Every Week, Every 2 Weeks, or Every Month).
  5. Specify the number of bags you want to ship each time with your Subscription.
  6. Add To Cart.
  7. If you wish to have more than one type of coffee on your Subscription, add others following the same steps as above.
  8. Check out as usual. You’ll receive immediate confirmation of your Subscription and an email every time the next shipment is set to ship.
  9. Find help on editing a Subscription here.
  10. We would love it if you told your friends they could set up a coffee subscription and put that part of their day on auto-pilot.

 

Check box for subscription

How do I order coffee?
  1. To order coffee, go to our online store.
  2. Find the coffee you wish to purchase. (Example: Ladro Espresso 12oz)
  3. Select the Grind and Ship To.
  4. Specify the number of bags you wish to purchase.
  5. Add To Cart. You’ll see the coffee added to your cart on the right side of your computer screen.
  6. If you wish to have more than one type of coffee in your order, add others according to the same steps above.
  7. Check Out by clicking on the orange button at the bottom of your cart.
  8. If you have an online account with us, you’ll be prompted to sign in. If you’re a new customer, you can follow the instructions on the left side of your computer screen to create an account.
  9. Check over your addresses in the Ship-To Information and Bill-To Information. Please note that we will ship to the address you provide. Errors on either the Ship-To or Bill-To address may delay your order or cause it to go astray.
  10. Continue to Secure Payment Page.
  11. Confirm you’ve selected the shipping option you prefer.
  12. Enter your Payment Information and any Comments and Special Instructions. (Example: If you’d like to include a gift message on the order, this is where you specify the message.)
  13. Submit Order.
  14. After this, you’ll receive immediate email confirmation of your order and our fulfillment team will begin readying it to ship.
  15. We’d love to have you tell your friends how easy it is to order coffee!
Do you offer wholesale pricing?

Yes! Ladro does offer wholesale pricing because we are a full service wholesale coffee roaster? If you represent a café, restaurant, hotel, retailer, or office interested in finding out more about how Ladro Roasting could help your coffee program, learn more here.

What does Caffe Ladro mean?

Caffe Ladro is Italian and literally translates to mean coffee thief. The Ladro man in our company logo represents this thief. It all started with Jack Kelly. But that’s a story for another day.

Compare your blends for me. Which one do I want?
  1. Choose your roast level. Do you prefer Light, Medium, or Dark roasted coffee? We Light roast all our Micro Lot coffees, to better coax out their unique flavor profiles. Most of our Caffe Ladro blends are Medium roast, bringing forth rich flavors without bitterness. We don’t believe in roasting coffee as dark as some companies, so you’ll find that even our Dark roast skews lighter than you might expect (it’s certainly lighter than Starbucks).
  2. How will you be brewing your coffee? While this won’t yield a dramatic difference to your experience, we do tend to prefer Micro Lot coffees in pour over or Chemex brewers, Ladro Espresso in espresso machines or regular drip brewers, and Queen Anne, Fremont, and Diablo in regular drip brewers or French Press.
  3. That’s nice and all, but seriously: Which Ladro Roasting coffee do I want? Let us break them down for you:
    1. Ladro Espresso (Medium roast) – You can’t go wrong with this coffee. It’s our most versatile blend, used for espresso in all our cafés and often brewed as drip as well.
    2. Diablo (Dark roast) – Do you love a little milk or cream in your coffee? Maybe some sugar and chocolate too? Delicious Diablo will hold its bold flavor and it’s certified Fair Trade Organic as well.
    3. Fremont (Medium roast) – An excellent choice for any lover of a classic flavorful drip coffee. Also certified Fair Trade Organic.
    4. Queen Anne (Medium roast) – Do you like tea almost as much as coffee? This coffee has a delightful tea-like quality, while remaining one of our favorite drip blends.
    5. Decaf (Medium roast) – Is caffeine a little too much for you, especially in the evening? But you miss really good coffee because most decaf is just… okay? Try this. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
    6. Micro Lots (Light roast) – Our seasonal selection of Micro Lot coffees are always distinct, despite their diversity of flavor. Read through the online notes and choose the one that sounds the most interesting. We’ve already guaranteed they’re delicious. You just have to find your ultimate favorite.
What do you mean by Light, Medium, and Dark roast?

We Light roast all our Micro Lot coffees, to better coax out their unique flavor profiles. Most of our blends are Medium roast, pulled midway past first crack to bring forth rich flavors without bitterness. We don’t believe in roasting coffee as dark as some companies, so you’ll find that even our Dark roast skews lighter than you might expect (it’s certainly lighter than Starbucks). We pull our Dark roast from the roaster just past second crack.

Still not sure? Try reading our comparison of our blends.

How should I store my coffee?

Many customers ask, “How should I store my coffee.” This is an important question because if you store coffee properly, it will maintain freshness longer. All our coffee is packaged in vacuum-sealed bags to preserve freshness. Your coffee will maintain an excellent shelf life if you dose out only the coffee you need for any batch, then keep the rest tightly sealed inside its package with minimal air contact. For optimal storage, we recommend a tightly sealed opaque container like an Airscape canister. No, you really don’t need to store your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer. Though if you’re living on a boat for the next year and won’t be able to buy fresh coffee during that time, the freezer might not be a bad idea.

What’s your roasting schedule? How fresh is my coffee?

We roast every day, Monday through Friday, and sometimes on the weekends. Our 12oz bags are shipped out for online orders almost as soon as they’re packaged, so they’ll arrive to you within just a few days of roasting. Our cafés receive coffee deliveries from our Roastery twice a week, ensuring the coffee at those locations is also always fresh. In short: we pride ourselves on the freshness of our coffees because we know it affects your cup experience. We want you to always drink the best. That’s why you’re here, right?

How do I edit an order or a subscription order?

1. In the menu at the top of the page, click on Account.

Edit-Account

2. Select Your Account (log in first, if you haven’t already).

3. Scroll down the page to view your options: either click on an Order Number to view and Order’s details or click on a Subscription Number to view and edit Subscription details.

Order Number

Subscription Number

4. Once an order has been placed, you can view tracking information and your invoice, but you cannot make changes. Please contact us immediately with the order number if you require changes to an order and we’ll do our best to catch the order before it’s shipped.

Order Actions

5. Active subscriptions can be edited or suspended. Only some parts of an active subscription may be edited here. If the edit you require isn’t available to you, please contact us immediately with your subscription number and request and we’ll make the change for you.

Subscription Actions

 

 

What does Fair Trade and/or Organic (FTO) Mean?

Some of our coffees are certified Fair Trade and/or Organic (FTO when both certifications apply to a coffee). This means that the farmers’ growing and labor practices meet the requirements for Fair Trade and/or Organic certification and that the farmers have paid a fee to use that certification on their coffees. When we roast and package Organic certified coffees, we follow WSDA Organic requirements, using separate storage containers for those coffees and purging our roaster and packaging equipment before we roast, grind, or package the Organic coffees.

While not all of the coffees we use are certified Fair Trade and/or Organic, we intentionally purchase high quality coffees from trusted sources at prices that ensure the farmers and workers at each stage of the coffee’s life are paid fairly. When possible, we work cooperatively with farmers to better their agricultural practices and pay fair prices to them directly for their coffee beans. We develop relationships that benefit farms and mills that produce excellent quality coffee.

Our Fair Trade, Organic (FTO) blends are Fremont and Diablo.

What caffeine extraction method do you use for your decaf coffee?

The decaf coffee that we sell online and in our retail stores is all decaffeinated with Swiss Water Process. Caffeine is water-soluble, so this non-chemical process is effective in removing caffeine from the coffee beans while maintaining lower toxicity for the consumer as well as the environment. Time and carefully monitored temperature result in coffee that is 99.9% caffeine free.

What is Ladro’s Shipping Policy?

Shipping Policy
Ladro requires one business day for processing from the time your order is placed. For freshness of micro-lot orders, that window may extend for a new roast batch.

Any shipments of more than 10 bags, merchandise and/or brewing equipment will ship FedEx Ground service.

All other orders will ship priority service with either USPS or FedEx.

Orders that do not meet the $60 threshold will incur a $9 shipping charge.

Due to packaging and size, merchandise and brewing equipment are exempt from free shipping.

What is Ladro’s Return Policy?

Return Policy
Ladro is proud of our coffee and products. We work with customers to resolve any issues that may arise. If for any reason you are unsatisfied with your purchase, please contact us by emailing orders@caffeladro.com or calling 206-257-1869.

How much caffeine is in our coffee

How much caffeine is in our coffee?

Are you curious about how much caffeine is in our coffee? We were too! Here’s a quick reference chart to help you out:

  • 6 oz cup: 71 mg
  • 8 oz cup: 95 mg
  • 12 oz cup: 143 mg
  • 16 oz cup: 190 mg
How much caffeine is in decaffeinated coffee

How much caffeine is in decaffeinated coffee?

Our decaf coffee beans come from Swiss Water Process, the leading decaffeination company in specialty coffee. The coffee they deliver has had 99.9% of its caffeine removed. A cup of decaf coffee should have caffeine content as follows:

  • 6 oz cup: 0.071 mg
  • 8 oz cup: 0.095 mg
  • 12 oz cup: 0.143 mg
  • 16 oz cup: 0.190 mg

 

Excellent cold brew. Friendly baristas. And they have a nice patio to sit on as well.

Vincent M, Pine Street Caffe Ladro

A great place to grab coffee. They always have single origin coffee available. The scones are good too. Make sure to ask for it warm ?

Chris LaBarre, Fairview South Lake Union Caffe Ladro