About us & Links to the Founder's Published Articles

Hi, I'm John Noakes the Founder of Grateful Coffee & Wellness, and For years, the readers of my Hartford Courant Wine Walkabout column followed me through vineyards and villages — chasing bottles, flavors, and stories that lived in the cracks between culture and chaos. We drank under Mediterranean suns, argued about terroir, and learned that wine isn’t about perfection — it’s about place, people, and persistence.

Now, I’m inviting you to join me at the other end of the day — the quiet hours before the noise. The Java Journals is the next chapter in that same story. It’s where the sommelier meets the roaster, where wine’s romance gives way to coffee’s clarity. Different drink, same soul.

Because the same dirt that grows vines grows beans. The same hands that pick grapes pull cherries from coffee trees. And the same obsession that drives winemakers drives roasters — those maniacs and poets who turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.

So if you’ve ever read Wine Walkabout and thought, “I wish I could taste the morning the same way I taste a glass of Bordeaux,” — welcome. You’re in the right place.

The Java Journals and Grateful Coffee & Wellness are about more than caffeine — they’re about ritual, reverence, and gratitude in motion. From the vineyard to the roastery, from the cork pop to the first pour, it’s all one continuous conversation about craft, terroir, and the moments that matter.

Check out my published Wine, Food & Coffee Articles that run in The Hartford Courant Newspaper & Online Edition.

  1. A ‘soul-searing, palate-lifting’ idea from a CT chef. And leave your wine snobbery at the door
  2. Let’s jump back on the Wine Walkabout bus: Summer recipe and what goes with it
  3. CT wine expert shares Loire Valley delights and easy recipe to go with your choice
  4. Wine Walkabout—Santa Barbara, ‘Sideways’ style
  5. Wine Walkabout: Piedmont and a journey through Italy’s wine heart