In 2003, when Zingerman’s Coffee Company first started roasting coffee, small, specialty coffee roasters were few and far between. A decade ago, specialty coffee was beginning to find a foothold, but it was still a nerdy, niche product with a limited audience. Today, the story has changed. Even a small town is likely to have at least a couple of offbeat coffee shops serving locally roasted brews. (In the rural town of 30,000 I call home, we have four.) A big city may have dozens of independent coffee roasters.

Across the nation, specialty coffee follows certain trends.

As specialty coffee has become more ubiquitous, in many cases it’s also become more generic. Many roasters make similar boasts: they source directly from small growers, sharing details like the name of the farms or farmers, the type of coffee beans grown, and the processing methods. That transparency is great, and it’s wonderful to see the hard work of coffee growers celebrated. But for all the specificity, it’s often hard for someone who isn’t a professional coffee cupper to tell the difference between one brew and another. These days, specialty coffee tends to be synonymous with lightly roasted beans that produce highly acidic, fruity brewed coffee. If jammy coffee isn’t your jam, you may be stuck with the one token dark roast that a shop offers.

Zingerman’s Coffee Company has never been about the trends.

While the specialty coffee landscape around Zingerman’s Coffee Company has changed significantly in its 21 years in business, the operation here in Ann Arbor has largely remained the same. That consistency plays out in many ways. For one, from the beginning, the Zingerman’s roasting crew have selected a wide range of beans, with a few offerings hitting lighter, medium, and darker roast profiles. As flavor fads have come and gone, the Zingerman’s crew have continued serving a range of tastes.

Behind that range of flavors, we have long standing relationships with many of the folks who grow our coffees. While other shops may not have much to share about a grower beyond their name and a photo or two, we focus on building long-term relationships with our growers. We’ve sold coffee from Hacienda Miramonte in Costa Rica every year for a decade. It’s been even longer since we started working with the DaTerra Estate in Brazil. Over those years of partnership, we’ve traveled down to visit the estates—and they’ve come up to visit us in Ann Arbor, too. Together, we’ve worked on experimental microlots to discover the impacts of very specific terroirs. We’ve tried out different processing methods to tease new flavors out of coffees. These aren’t the kinds of partnerships that spring up overnight. Our long, strong relationships have given us deeper understanding of the coffees, and better access to exceptional beans.

A decade from now, I can’t predict how the specialty coffee market will have shifted. But I can bet that the coffees from Zingerman’s Coffee Company will continue to produce excellent, easy to love brews.