The Human Bean Expanding In New Jersey, Here’s Where

What started as a tiny one-off drive thru location in Oregon is now a company caffeinating people across the country. Coffee franchise The Human Bean is expanding in New Jersey to second location.

"The Human Bean believes in making even the smallest of exchanges memorable, kind, and sincere — and ensuring every customer has their day brightened for the better as they drive away," they explain. One of the things they are referencing when saying "smallest of exchanges" is the chocolate covered espresso bean that sits atop each coffee cup that is served to their customers.

Sure the clever coffee shop name of "The Human Bean" sound delightful and engaging as a spot to grab your morning cup of Joe. However, there is also a greater intent behind the name. Part of the companies mission is to consistently give back to the local communities and raise awareness on a wide-range of issues. For example, certain organizations are selected throughout the year to receive $1 of each Human Bean drink purchased on a given day.

There are three of these days ahead still this year. They include a give back to St. Jude on June 21, and help fight hunger food drive on August 16. An Earth Day collaboration was just completed last month.

Another big Human Bean day is Coffee For A Cure on Friday, October 18. To date they have raised over $3.6 million in donations to help fund treatment, cares, and research for breast cancer. On this date 100% of sales goes to this cause.

The first The Human Bean location in New Jersey to visit was set up in Dumont on Washington Avenue. Now we have another spot to visit.

Located at 101 Midland Ave, the River Edge shop opened on April 16. They are open everyday from 5AM to 9PM. You can read the franchise's full back story here. Currently, these two New Jersey locations are the only Human Beans in the entire northeast region of the country.

This Human Bean coffee menu includes frozen favorites, fresh brewed coffee, and classic teas. Staying on trends, they are also offering three different bobo drink options this spring for a limited time. Energy drinks also grace this menu as does "little bean" options such as hot chocolate, steamers, and Italian sodas.

Overall, The Human Bean says their mission is always to "inspire authentic human connections with a bean on top."

Ben and Jerry's new flavors couldn't be more different from each other. The popular New England based ice cream brand has added three options to their creative family so far this year, and here I will rank them all.

Coincidentally, I tried each of these in one sitting. This was an unplanned taste test. With a house full of young kids, a visiting friend recently stopped by and knew the way to quickly win over the youngsters. Pints of ice cream.

Before I get into explaining which was best, I should note I am not an ice cream (or dessert) enthusiast by any means. Dare I say, I hardly seek out ice cream, even in the summer months. However, if it is put in front of me, I will eat it if it's one of my favorite varieties.

If I'm going for ice cream, though, Ben and Jerry's is easily my brand of choice. Being a New Englander, I have toured their Vermont location a handful of times. Their half-baked in a cone is my go-to choice.

If you are not familiar, these are the Ben and Jerry's new flavors that have rolled out in 2024. Impretzively Fudged, PB S'More, and Marshmallow Sky. Now, it's important to note that Marshmallow Sky is new just to pints. Meaning, it was available in their scoop shops only.

Another flavor entitled Strawberry Cheezecake was also unveiled earlier this year. This did not qualify here as a new flavor ranking because it had been an ice cream flavor (branded "cheesecake). The new "cheeze" version is a vegan dairy-free dessert.

Upon seeing these at my house, I realized they were new. So, instead of selecting one pint to scoop, I took one for the team and realized I needed one proper scoop of each.

My process was to try one at a time and not have all three in the same bowl. Blending flavors might compromise the intended taste.

As a result, there was a flavor where one bite was enough. Another where I couldn't get enough, and the third was somewhere in between.

Here is my official ice cream ranking of Ben and Jerry's new flavors.

It's chocolate ice cream with fudge covered pretzel pieces and pretzel swirl. The problem here is that I do not like chocolate covered pretzels. Oddly enough, I love pretzels alone. Dip them in sugar and ice cream and it either compromises the flavor or classifies as "too much." So, this was my least favorite.

Here we have toasted marshmallow ice cream with peanut butter cups, graham cracker pieces, and marshmallow swirl. The graham crackers are the star of this show. They pair better with the ice cream and chocolate than the typical marshmallow of a S'More. This was certainly a tasty delight, but I feel if the marshmallow swirl did not need to be invited to the party.

Admittedly, I was a little cautious about the blue ice cream color thinking it could suffer from cotton candy syndrome (where too much equals upset stomach city). That is not the case here. It's marshmallow ice cream with swirls, and then chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. The latter of the cookie dough bites just brings this to another level. Some sweets get forced together and some just belong together and make each other better. That's the case here. It's no wonder Ben and Jerry's decided to promote this flavor. It tastes as cheerful as it looks.