Our staff writer Alex Bernson greets the new year with a look back at his favorite coffees of 2012.

Looking back on 2012, it was definitely a great year to be a coffee nerd / enthusiast / professional / what-have-you. The industry keeps growing, shops and roasters keep popping up or expanding, and there’s pretty much more information on the subject today than there ever has been in human history. But 2012 was also just a great time just to be a coffee drinker, and here’s some reasons why (with the clearly stated caveat that I’m making some pretty sweeping generalizations, and I know it, so don’t queen out).

Many of the Central American coffees I enjoyed in 2012 were bursting with complex acidity, yet unbelievably clean and at times startling in their depth. 2012 was the year that so many Western Hemisphere coffees challenged my preconceived notions and exceeded my expectations. Meanwhile, many of the coffees I enjoyed from Africa in 2012 harvests were full of delicate nuance, demanding and fascinating in their complexity, with big-time standouts coming out of the cooperatives in Kenya and the mish-mash of cooperatives and privately owned washing stations in Rwanda. Exceedingly light roasting ...