Every year, just after Valentine’s Day, we start getting the same question in from customers: Will there be a Passover Box this year? Sometimes the pleas are more direct, sometimes more colorful. The glories of the mushroom Chopped Liver and romesco spread on matzoh are a common theme. An NYC-based friend of mine, Sarah, often DRIVES UP TO BOSTON to claim one! So I’m happy to report, yes, the box is now live! We’ll be delivering 2 days this year – March 30 and March 31.

March is a magical, delicious, sticky, snowy, sunny time of year. Even though a lot of produce isn’t in season yet, we get maple sugaring season, when nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, but the days begin to feel balmy. That’s when the sap begins to run and the boiling-down begins. Family-run Sugar Shacks open their wooden doors and set out their checkered tablecloths, and we launch our Maple Box.

Last week, Derek from Speedwell Coffee came to our weekly General Manager meeting to teach us all about espresso via a cupping session. “Cupping” is a methodical way of learning about the flavor, aroma, and body of coffee beans and involves smelling and tasting the espresso through a series of precise steps: pouring perfectly-temperatured water over dry grounds, creating a crust at the top of the cup; breaking the crust and raking a spoon through the crust just so; slurping (and thus aerating) the finished brew. Roasters will often use cupping to test out new beans. My favorite part was Derek’s fervent…