Words by Katie Burnett
(All photos from Instagram accounts mentioned)
As we enter the 3rd quarter of 2023, I’m taking a look back at the coffee content of the year. There have been a couple of great moments and leaps forward. On Instagram, there have been a couple of accounts that came to define my personal coffee-content consumption. Whether you’re a dialed home barista, interested in learning more or just here for the latte art pics, there’s a coffee Instagram account for you. Make your scrolling count! Over 2023, I’ve been following a range of coffee-centric Instagram accounts. Roastery’s, producers, people, equipment manufacturers and more. I narrowed it down to my 7 most recent favourites. Here they are:
@onyxcoffeelab (208k followers)
Onyx Coffee Lab is a roastery that is home to many a barista champion and influential-coffee-person. Other than having one of the most heavily armed teams in coffee (Morgan Eckroth, Lance Hedrick, Andrea Allen, Dakota Graff and Elika Liftee (current World number 5 Barista) to name a few), Onyx is heavily focused on education, fun and bright colours on their Instagram. You’re guaranteed to learn how to make a few new coffee-based drinks, a bit more about how coffee is produced and recognize a few faces along the way. Onyx is doing some truly exciting things in the coffee space, one of which is the recent collaboration with Jimmy Butler, star of Miami Heat, on a coffee release. And a blend that celebrates Annie Leibowitz (pictured above). The team have done an exceptional job of bringing interests outside of coffee into their product and their content, but always bringing it back to what they do, which is the coffee.
@lacabracoffee (95.5k followers)
This one’s for the aspiring minimalist in you. La Cabra’s Instagram is inspiring and aesthetically pleasing. You’ll find film-style photography, old-school video clips and some stunning cups of coffee. La Cabra is focused on sharing more about their partners at origin, you’ll definitely learn something new from their exceptionally beautiful feed. La Cabra have 4 cafés in Denmark, 2 in Thailand and 2 in the United States. This is a coffee business on the move - bringing beautiful, modern coffee to a wider audience.
For anyone interested in the baked goods that go into these cafes, check out @lacabrabakery.
@lapalmayeltucan (32.6k followers)
La Palma Y El Tucan is a specialty coffee producer in Colombia. La Palma is all about innovation. Over the past year, they have installed a new wet mill and launched a new Education Centre (and they’ve captured it all on their Instagram). For anyone looking to learn more about coffee processing (and who also loves pink), La Palma’s Instagram is the place to be. They are focused on producing exceptional coffees and specialize in processing.
@nbattefeld (16.9k followers)
Nicole Battefeld-Montgomery has too many international competition badges to count, including 7th at the World Brewer’s Cup in 2021. Her content is education focused and fun. She is always sharing brewing videos, her adventures as a coffee pro, funny reels and insightful information. If you’ve ever wondered what life is like for coffee pros at the peak of their game, you’ll get lost on Nicole’s page. Her page incorporates so many different aspects of coffee – from brewing to roasting to origin trips to equipment to competitions -it is probably the most balanced account I will recommend today. Plus, you’re pretty much guaranteed a laugh as she scatters hilarious reels into her feed.
@lancehedrick (84.6k followers)
Lance’s content is a dangerous place for the coffee nerd. A couple of warnings, you are going to lose hours of your life and you are going to spend at least a little bit of money because of Lance’s YouTube and Instagram pages. Known as the “burr man”, Lance’s content is based around coffee equipment. It is heavily researched and heavily tested (think an hour-long video analyzing different grinder options for home). Lance’s page is the place to go if you’re looking to start building out a coffee setup at home or to learn something new about coffee brewing and equipment. If there was ever a place for equipment fanatics to meet, it’s on Lance’s page.
@morgandrinkscoffee (938k followers)
Credited with putting specialty coffee on the social media map, Morgan’s social media channels exploded over 2020 and the pandemic. With almost 1 million followers, Morgan has captured the hearts of people inside and outside of the coffee industry. Find beautiful drinks, interesting ingredients and barista humour on Morgan’s page. Morgan shares high-quality, thoughtful content about life behind the bar of a café and interesting drink recipes (including a couple of tea and chocolate based recipes).
Specialty coffee needs the youth to be interested in it to survive, so kudos to Morgan for making relatable content.
@lamarzoccohome (293k followers)
This one’s for the dreamers. The La Marzocco Home page is the coffee enthusiast’s vision board. There’s something for everyone and the designer in you will be fed by this page. Want to see some beautiful home espresso setups? Of course you do. The content from La Marzocco Home is sure to inspire your scrolling.
These are a couple of the pages that have been my favourites this year. I hope that some of you go and check them out and maybe learn or laugh or dream a little from these accounts! If you know of any we should have our eyes on, let us know!
