Discover Tower Empire Blend Coffee

At Tower Roasting, we’re always looking to bring out the best flavor in our coffee varieties. Our blends are carefully roasted, paired, and blended to bring out each bean’s unique flavor and terroir. That’s how we deliver Flavor Above All.

Our Empire Blend was inspired by two dynamic empires — the Royal Abyssinian (Ethiopian) and the Incan (Peruvian) Empires.

Brew yourself a fresh cup of Empire Blend, and discover the story behind Empire Blend.

The Royal Abyssinian Empire

This African Empire began in the thirteenth century with the ruling Solomonic Dynasty. Its members claimed lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Historically, the empire ruled through present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, expanding through some neighboring territories. It developed and preserved a kingdom based on its ancient form of Christianity.

The Abyssinians used a barter system consisting of currency of various kinds. The principal trading commodities of the empire included tobacco, sunflower, and coffee. In fact, it wasn’t until the 20th century that the empire established a monetary system.

The dynasty lasted all the way until the 20th century, ended by a coup d’etat and the deposition of Haile Selassie, one of the last descendants of the Solomonic Dynasty.

Ethiopia is believed to be the cradle of mankind and the birthplace of coffee, so they have had over a millennium to build a coffee empire.

Yirgacheffe Ethiopian beans are borne from the mineral-rich clay of the Adema community in the Gedeo Zone, where over 800 producers organize around the Idido washing station.

Raised in Southern Ethiopia’s perfect coffee-growing environment, Yirgacheffe’s small, jade bean is harvested cleanly without any agronomic chemicals. The plants thrive naturally in warm, higher elevations abundant in fertile soil blanketed with jasmine, poinsettia, and a variety of trees. This helps to produce deliciously opulent, complex flavor notes.

The Dynamic Incan Empire

The Incan Empire was the largest in pre-Columbian America, rising during the thirteenth century. What made the empire unique was that the Incans were able to construct monumental architecture, an extensive road network, and other features of old-world civilizations without the use of the wheel, knowledge of iron or steel, or a system of writing.

Machu Picchu is just one example of this pure genius. Many archeologists believe that The Lost City of the Incas was constructed for Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the “reformer of the world” who transformed Cusco from a hamlet into the center of the Incan Empire. While the Incans were eventually conquered by the Spanish, the conquistadors never found Machu Picchu.

One of the first countries in the Americas to receive coffee plants, Peru, began growing coffee in the mid-1700s.

Throughout most of its history, its beans were consumed locally. In the first decade of the 1900s, Peru began exporting beans on a large scale. Coffee quickly made up 60% of Peru’s exports.

Cusco is one of the oldest and largest coffee-producing areas of Peru. Cusco coffee is among the most consistently balanced Peruvian brews—and the most award-winning.

Empire Blend’s Distinct Heritage

Our Empire blend is a mix of our organic, fair trade Peruvian Single Origin and our Yirgacheffe Ethiopian Single Origin heirloom cultivar roast.

This noble, mild-bodied, medium roast is a regal blend fit for royalty. At first, it seemed impossible to improve on either of these exquisite single-origin coffees. Then we married them, and magic happened.

By combining the delicate fruity and floral notes of both beans, it has a creamy smoothness, an intoxicating jasmine aroma, maple syrup, cocoa and strawberry notes, with a satisfying caramel finish.

Now you can enjoy this regal blend at home -- try Tower's Empire Blend in whole bean or Empire Blend in SuperPods.