Maya Ellington

Maya Ellington is the senior editor of Coffee Alternatives. She spent eight years covering nutrition, primary care, and public health for a mid-Atlantic daily newspaper before moving fully into consumer editorial work.

She approaches every article the same way she approached a newsroom beat: cite your sources, don’t overclaim, and assume your reader is smart. Maya quit coffee in 2019 after a reflux scare, came back to decaf a year later, and is now a quiet evangelist for chicory — “if you can get over the idea that it’s supposed to be coffee, it’s really good.”

Based in Portland, Oregon. Writes standing up. Prefers single-origin chicory from Leroux, a Teeccino French Roast when she wants something fuller, and a ceremonial-grade matcha on slow Sundays.