Coffee prices have surged more than 20% year-over-year, forcing local roasters to get creative with their sourcing strategies to keep costs manageable for customers.

At Beast Master Coffee in Hillsborough County, owner Jeremy Denny made the difficult decision to drop his Brazilian beans after facing a 50% tariff. Instead, he's turned to Nicaragua, where tariffs are a more manageable 18%.

"Right now, we are on a Brazil hiatus," Denny said. "The one that has really come in to replace Brazil for a lot of us is Finca COA out of Nicaragua. Right now, they have an 18% tariff, which is much more palatable than a 50% and then they work personally with us, like they will avoid shipping costs if they can deliver the coffee directly to us by hand, even if it's 1000 pounds or plus."

At Blind Tiger

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