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Monday 10am - 5pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm

George Howell Coffee

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United States
Acton, MA
George Howell Coffee

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Specialty coffee roaster since 1975, located in Acton Massachusetts with cafes in Downtown Crossing, Boston Public Market, Back Bay, and Newtonville, MA.

10/24/2026

Recent moments we've loved sharing with you. 💙

Maryanne Fu, Joanna Tsai | World Traveler, Katrina Martin, brianna reardon, Alexa Gagosz, author of The Food Club newsletter

10/21/2026

There is no better time to walk through Back Bay than right now. We’ll have your cup ready. ☕

📍 Lyrik Back Bay, 400 Newbury Street

10/17/2026

Coffee is one of the world's most complex beverages, and everyone should have a chance to understand it better.

Every week at our Downtown Crossing and Boston Public Market locations, we host free, drop-in classes designed to close the gap between the cup and everything that went into it, from how the bean was processed at the farm to how your brewing method shapes flavor. How to read a tasting note and actually taste it.

These classes are conversation-driven, led by people who have spent years in the industry and genuinely love sharing what they know.

Upcoming topics include French Press brewing, home espresso, coffee processing, farm and origin highlights, Coffee in Color, Taste Like a Pro, the History of Pumpkin Spice, and Tasting Around the Wheel.

Link in bio to see the full schedule and register.
📍 Downtown Crossing — 505 Washington St
📍 Boston Public Market — 100 Hanover St

10/15/2026

🍂 We’re celebrating the harvest season with the Boston Public Market!

Join us at the Boston Public Market’s annual Harvest Party for an evening of unlimited tastings from our fellow Market vendors, local b**r, w**e & spirits, live entertainment, a silent auction, and plenty of opportunities to celebrate our incredible local food community here.

As a Boston Public Market vendor, we’re proud to be part of an organization that brings together local farmers, fishers, food producers, artisans, and our community every day—and this event helps support that important nonprofit mission.

🎟️ Individual tickets are now on sale!
🍁 Sponsorship opportunities are available, too.

Come raise a glass, taste your way through the Market, and support the Boston Public Market! 🥂

Learn more & get tickets at Boston Public Market | eat, drink, shop’s link in bio, or visit bostonpublicmarket.org.

10/14/2026

The 2026 Daterra Masterpieces auction brought together 15 specialty microlots, each named for an educator who has spent their life transforming what education can look like in Brazil. Teachers, researchers, school leaders, and thinkers who chose to do things differently, and whose names now live on bags of some of the most carefully produced coffee in the world.

Coffee and education have a longer shared history in Brazil than most people realize. The Paraíba Valley was the heart of Brazilian coffee production in the 19th century, and for a child born there, the path to school was not guaranteed. Most schools did not exist. What existed were manor houses, plantation quarters, and the labor that kept them running. The story of how Brazil built an education system is inseparable from how it reckoned with that history.

Daterra has carried that awareness into the Masterpieces series for years. Located in the Cerrado and among the world's most rigorously sustainable farms, their work has always been shaped by the relationship between coffee farming, research, and education.

The Masterpieces collection makes that relationship visible. 🫘

10/09/2026

Your morning espresso is only as good as the method behind it. ☕

Pulling a great shot at home comes down to a few fundamentals: the right dose, an even tamp, and knowing when to stop. Get those right, and everything else falls into place.

A few things worth knowing before you brew: Start with 18g of coffee and a fine grind. An even surface in the basket matters more than most people realize. When you Tamp, do so with consistent pressure, not brute force. And stop your shot 1 gram before your target yield; it will drip to the final volume.

Bitter shots pulling slowly? You're likely over-extracting; try a coarser grind. Sour shots pulling too fast? Go finer and slow it down.

Espresso rewards curiosity. These are starting points; your water, grinder, and machine will all have something to say, too.

Find our full espresso brew guide and more at the link in bio.

10/08/2026

"You'll never find it. That's the point."

Thank you to Alexa Gagosz and the Boston Globe for this beautiful piece on George and the pursuit that has defined his life's work.

George Howell has spent more than five decades chasing the perfect cup of coffee. He founded The Coffee Connection in Harvard Square in 1975, helped establish the Cup of Excellence, and has been pushing the industry toward transparency, freshness, and traceability long before any of those words were common in coffee. At 81, he is still tasting a new coffee every morning and recording his notes.

Link in bio to read the full story. ☕

📷 Michele McDonald & David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe

10/05/2026

Not all coffee ages gracefully. In fact, most don't.

Even the most extraordinary microlots, coffees that scored at the top of their class, sourced from producers we've spent years building relationships with, begin to fade within months of harvest. The brightness dulls. The complexity flattens. What was once remarkable loses its palatability.

We began freezing our unroasted green coffee at just below -10°F, the same temperature used for ice cream, and what we found changed everything. Coffees that would have lost their spark by spring were still tasting exactly as they did at harvest, months and even years later. By 2005, we were freezing our entire inventory.

In 2017, at the yearly Specialty Coffee Association of America Symposium, we successfully presented tastings of three of our coffees that were over three years old. That was the turning point.

Freezing preserves coffee, exactly as it was meant to be tasted, exactly as the producer intended. This is how we source seasonally and share exceptional coffees year-round.

09/30/2026

What does it take to make the perfect cup of coffee? It starts with knowing what to look for.

A huge thank you to Kwani • TV Host and Hannah Donnelly for celebrating the day with us. Jenny Howell and Kevin Aidan Brady joined The Hub Today at NBC10 Boston for a live tasting on National Coffee Day, walking through flavor notes, brewing methods, and the small details that make a meaningful difference in what ends up in your cup.

Whether you're new to specialty coffee or deep into your morning ritual, understanding quality changes everything.

Watch the full segment at the link in bio. ☕

09/29/2026

Calling all coffee lovers! ☕

The pursuit of the perfect cup of coffee is lifelong, and we're grateful to celebrate over 50 years of that journey with you.

Today only, enjoy $1 Drip Coffee (small hot, iced, or cold brew) at all four of our locations. Brewing at home? Buy one bag, get the second 25% off; available in stores and online.

📍 Newbury Street, Downtown Crossing, Boston Public Market, Newtonville

Only on Tuesday, 9/29.

Address

312 School Street
Acton, MA
01720

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+19786359033

Website

http://www.georgehowellcoffee.com/

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