From early cafe experiments to a beloved holiday tradition, this is the story of our signature Holiday Blend.
Building the Blend: The Early Days of Compass
Let me take you back to December 2014—our first holiday season at Compass Coffee. We had just opened our first cafe on 7th Street in Shaw, and everything felt like both a sprint and a dream. The cafe was buzzing, but truthfully, so were we—on a lot of caffeine and sheer adrenaline. I was working every single shift, pulling shots, chatting with customers, roasting coffee, and tweaking the roasts late into the night. Repeat the next day. And the next.
I didn’t know it at the time, but those chaotic months would define the DNA of Compass Coffee: listen, experiment, adapt, and keep showing up with everything you’ve got.
That December, the holidays snuck up on us, as they often do. But something about the season felt special—like a chance to do more than just serve coffee. We’d already built this incredible community of regulars. They weren’t just customers; they were the heartbeat of our cafe. They came for their morning coffee, stayed for a chat, and somehow turned our little shop into a gathering place.
We wanted to give them something extra—something they could bring home, share with their families, or savor on a chilly morning. That’s how the idea of our first-ever Holiday Coffee—our signature Holiday Blend Coffee—was born.
From Trial to Tradition
Back then, I wasn’t the roaster I am today (if I can even call myself “seasoned” now). Crafting that first Holiday Blend coffee was pure trial and error. Roast. Brew. Taste. Listen. Adjust. Repeat. It wasn’t about chasing perfection—it was about finding the flavors that felt right for the season and the people we were serving.
We kept it simple: take the flavors our customers loved most and blend them into something special. That first Holiday Blend coffee wasn’t flashy, but it captured the heart of what we were trying to build—a coffee that brought people together.
And year after year, the tradition stuck. Each winter season, we release a new seasonal coffee blend. It changes every year, shaped by the coffees we source and the flavors our customers love most—flavors chosen to celebrate the season and the people who make Compass special. It’s our way of saying, “We see you, we appreciate you, and we’re so glad you’re part of this journey with us.”
This year’s holiday coffee is a symphony of carefully curated coffees, each adding its unique note to celebrate the warmth and joy of the season. Leading the mix is the Nicaragua Las Mercedes, a washed coffee that anchors the blend with balanced sweetness and earthy tones. Joining it is the Indonesian Trenggiling, wet-hulled to contribute bold, deep flavors that evoke cozy winter evenings. A vibrant note comes from the Kenyan Swara, a natural coffee bursting with cheerful brightness and spicy undertones, perfectly matched by the Honduran Comayagua’s natural process, which adds a bright, mulled-fruit complexity with a hint of nippy acidity.
Together, these components harmonize to create a coffee that feels like a festive embrace in every cup—perfect for sharing or savoring solo as you soak up the magic of the holidays.
- 35% Nicaragua Las Mercedes - Washed
- Balanced sweet earthy
- 35% Indonesian Trenggiling - Wet Hulled
- Bold depth of flavor
- 20% Kenyan Swara - Natural
- Cheery full bright spices
- 10% Honduran Comayagua - Natural
- Nippy acidic bright mulled fruit
A Celebration of DC: Holiday Magic in Every Tin
If you’ve ever spent the holidays in Washington, DC, you know it’s pure magic. I grew up here, so I might be biased, but I’d put our holiday vibe up against any Hallmark movie. There’s something enchanting about this city in December—the National Christmas Tree lighting on the Ellipse, skating at the Sculpture Garden, ZooLights at the National Zoo. It’s like the city gets dressed up for the season, wrapping itself in lights, warmth, and nostalgia.
That’s why our Holiday Blend tins are more than just packaging—they’re a love letter to DC during the holidays. Every year, we showcase iconic traditions and landmarks that capture the season’s spirit. Over time, these tins have become a kind of time capsule, reflecting both the city we love and Compass’s journey through the years.
When I think of these spots, I’m reminded of how the holidays in DC are the perfect backdrop for a date adventure (you can check out those details in our other blog post!) But really, one particular date stands out to me: ZooLights. Specifically, the time I took Sofia—my now-wife—there on what turned out to be a very memorable first date:
ZooLights felt like the perfect spot. There’s something romantic about walking around in the cold, surrounded by twinkling lights and holiday cheer. Things were going smoothly—we were talking, laughing, soaking in the atmosphere. Then we saw the slide. You know the one: huge, fun, and completely closed for the night.
Naturally, I saw an opportunity for some harmless rule-breaking fun, and a chance to test Sofia to see how she’d react. “What do you think—should we do it?” I asked, testing her. She stared at me, wide-eyed. “Are you serious? I can’t break the rules.”
I grinned. “Come on, it’ll be fun. We’re not hurting anyone.”
At first, she hesitated, but to my delight she hopped the fence with me. We scrambled up the slide, laughing the whole way, and took one big, glorious ride down. That’s when I knew she wasn’t too much of a nerd—she could break the rules when it really mattered.
The night didn’t end there. After the slide, we headed to this dumpy little hole-in-the-wall in Adams Morgan that used to be one of my favorites, where the donburi was so good it made you forget about the peeling paint and wobbly chairs. Since dinner went so well, we decided to keep the night going at a cozy French wine bar in Shaw. That’s when Sofia got a work emergency.
Back then, her job was Head of Policy Partnerships and Social Impact for Snapchat. It was everything from content moderation (yes, even that kind of content), to high-level relationships with political figures, and she had to deal with a raunchy midnight crisis right in the middle of our date.
I could tell she was nervous about interrupting the date—trying to test how I’d react, but I was impressed. She was grinding just as hard as I was in those early Compass days, and I loved it. We ended the night with a kiss. Nothing more—just a kiss. I headed home kicking myself a bit, feeling like I hadn’t sealed the deal, but really, she was a lady, and it was the perfect first date.
Chaos, Marshmallows, and Finding Our Groove
Now, let’s talk about the chaos of those early days. Because, let’s be honest, the holidays weren’t exactly smooth sailing at first. We were experimenting constantly, trying to delight customers in every way we could think of. Some ideas worked. Others… not so much.
Case in point: the Great Marshmallow Experiment of 2014. We decided to take hot chocolate to the next level by making our own marshmallows in-house. Sounds fun, right? It was—until we started blow-torching them to give them that perfect golden toast. Customers loved them. In fact, they loved them so much that they started grabbing marshmallows straight from the jar before we could even serve them. Meanwhile, we were frantically trying to manage a busy café and wield blowtorches.
Safe to say, that idea didn’t stand the test of time. But it’s moments like that—messy, chaotic, slightly ridiculous—that built the foundation of who we are today.
Fast forward to today, and so much has changed. I’m no longer roasting every batch of coffee myself or sketching training guides at my kitchen table. We have an incredible team of roasters, baristas, and creatives who bring passion and expertise to everything we do.
When I look back at that first blend in 2014, I’m reminded of how far we’ve come—from those long nights roasting in our Shaw café to where we are now. The coffee we source is better than ever, our technology is state-of-the-art, and the expertise of our team is light years ahead of where I started. But what hasn’t changed is the passion and hard work that goes into every single batch of coffee we roast.
For me, the Holiday Blend is more than a seasonal coffee. It’s a marker of time. Each year, it tells the story of where we are as a company, the coffees we’re loving, and the people we’re serving. And it makes me think about everything that’s ahead—the new coffees we’ll discover, the new stories we’ll share, the new traditions we’ll create. That’s the spirit that carries through to the Holiday Blend every year.
