FAQs

Why Nordic?

We proudly refer to ourselves as the American Nordic roastery. For us, this entails a complete and enduring commitment to the Nordic roasting philosophy, which we define as an approach to sourcing and green buying, which prioritizes hyper-local, single-producer, single-variety lots of outstanding quality and uniqueness of flavor profile. These are lots whose intentional cultivation and careful processing in the hands of the producer yield beautifully clean cups with high flavor differentiation, transparency, and traceability to its given variety and terroir. This approach demands that the producers we work with be compensated fairly for the high degree of skill and labor required on their part to produce the high degree of quality of the lots we purchase.

Our approach to roasting, then, goes hand and hand with our approach to sourcing; we calibrate each of our offerings individually to highlight refined sweetness, complex acidity, and delicate tea-like body, and accomplish this by roasting in our own truly minimal Nordic-style: just to development and not a degree more. Our priority at Mirra is always to allow the innate flavors of each offering full and open expression in the cup, in perfectly-orchestrated balance, without the negative interference of overly-involved processing methods and over-developed roasting styles.

Where Can I Find Mirra?

Check out the map.

Rest Time?

We find that, due to how we structure our roast profiles and build pressure during roasting, rest time is a bit less important with our offerings than it would be with similarly light coffees form other roasteries. With this in mind, for filter you can expect a positive experience 5 days off-roast, but an optimal cup between 3-10 weeks. For espresso, you can expect a positive experience 10 days off roast, but an optimal cup between 4-12 weeks off-roast.

When Will My Order Be Roasted and Shipped?

We roast to order every Wednesday, and QC and ship orders every Thursday. The cut-off for orders each week is on Tuesday at 22:00 NYC time. If an order is placed after this time, it will be roasted and shipped the following week.

Shipping times vary depending on destination, but you will be given an estimate when prompted to select a shipping method at checkout.

Free and International Shipping for Retail Orders?

Ground shipping within the USA is free for all orders with a value totaling over $55, otherwise the cost of shipping your order will be automatically calculated at checkout. We ship internationally for a flat-rate fee of $25.

What Do You Roast On?

We roast on a Loring S15 Falcon — our dream machine.

How Do You Source Your Coffee?

So far, approximately 80% of our offerings released in 2026 have been sourced directly from our partner producers. The 20% or so of our releases that aren’t sourced directly, however, do come to us through the hands of a few very discerning and passionate small importers, several of whom are producer-importers, meaning they both grow their own coffee as well as export what they grow, and the coffee of a few collaborating farms. The biggest gap in our direct sourcing abilities is without a doubt Africa; sourcing quality coffee from the three African nations that we source from — Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania — remains incredibly difficult to do without traveling to origin. We recognize this gap, and as Mirra's available resources grow, so will our direct sourcing efforts in Africa grow.

Each and every offering that has made it onto our menu has undergone extensive quality testing, and occupies a unique position with relation to the others, regarding its flavor profile and characteristics.

What Do the Label Colors Signify?

We have color-coded our labels for ease of browsing and selection. The following is the meaning of each color you will find present on our labels:

African Coffee - Blue

Asian Coffee - Purple

North American Coffee - Yellow

South American Coffee - Red

Limited Release Coffee - Gold

Low Caffeine Coffee - Orange and White

White Coffee (Pairs with Milk) - Green and White

Brewing Recommendations?

Buying quality coffee is a great step towards the perfect cup of coffee — fortunately we have you covered there. Brewing that coffee correctly, however, is just as important to the quality of the resulting cup. To that end, we recommend that you check out our equipment recommendations below to ensure that the tools you’re using are up to the task of brewing exquisite coffee. We have also made a brew guide available for your use—simply access it by clicking on the button which reads, ‘Brew Guide'.

Water Recommendations?

In the Mirra lab, we use Lance Hedrick/Lotus Water’s ‘Light & Bright’ water recipe across the board, whether for brewing or cupping. This water composition has a general hardness of roughly 60 ppm, and an alkalinity of roughly 25 ppm. If you’re unable or simply don’t feel the need to mix up your own water however, we recommend simply using filtered, clean-tasting tap water.

Brewing Equipment Recommendations?

Some brewing methods, while popular, may not yield the best results in the cup in terms of flavor clarity, sweetness, and body. Having tested a myriad of coffee preparation methods, these are the methods we recommend, and the makes of brewing equipment that we find best suited to brewing specialty coffee.

Home Espresso Machine:

(Entry-Tier) — Gaggia Classic Pro

(Middle-Tier) — Rancilio Silvia, 9Barista Espresso

(High-Tier) — Strietman CT2, Slayer Single Group

Drip Coffee Machine:

xBloom, Ratio Six, Technivorm Moccamaster

Flat-Bottom Brewer:

Orea O1, O2, Big Boy

Flat-Bottom Filter:

Orea Wave, Sibarist Fast Flat, Sibarist Wave Fast/B3

Conical Brewer:

Hario V60

Conical Filter:

Sibarist Cone, Cafec T-90

Zuppa:

Oxo Rapid Brewer

Kettle:

Timemore Fish Smart/Pro

Scale:

Acaia Pearl, Lunar

Timemore Basic

Grinder Recommendations?

Grinding your coffee fresh, just before brewing, is integral to the complexity of the resulting cup of coffee. Although you can’t see it, coffee oxidizes faster than avocados, so in only a few hours, it loses most of the volatile aromatic compounds that make each coffee so interestingly unique to taste. The most significant improvement to cup quality can be made by investing in a decent burr grinder. Below are our at-home grinder recommendations for different price points.

(Entry-Tier) — Lagom Mini 2, Kinu

(Pro-Tier) — Zerno Z1/Z2

Where Can I Learn More About Coffee?

Whether you’re new to the world of specialty coffee or an old hand, there is always more to learn. Fortunately for us there is a wealth of resources available, created by talented and knowledgeable individuals who share our passion for coffee.

We highly recommend checking out James Hoffman and Lance Hedrick's channels on Youtube, as well The Real Sprometheus to learn more about any coffee-related subject you can imagine. Christopher Feran's blog is THE source for immediately relevant topics in the world of specialty coffee.

We also find the following books to be excellent guides for the coffee-curious:

Coffee: Production, Quality and Chemistry — Adriana Farah

Terroir — Jem Challender

The Craft and Science of Coffee — Britta Folmer

The Fundamentals of Excellent Coffee — Coffee Collective

The Physics of Filter Coffee — Jonathan Gagne

The Professional Barista’s Handbook — Scott Rao

Water for Coffee — Maxwell Dashwood & Christopher H. Hendon

The World Atlas of Coffee — James Hoffmann

Who Does Your Photography?

The majority of our beautiful photos are taken by the veritably talented Jacob Zucker - littlegreenarthouse on Instagram.