2026-06-01 to 2026-06-07

Week of 2026-06-01

7 daily files

Summary

seylance2897

On subscriptions and menu construction, he said SEY is not selecting coffees randomly: they deliberately choose for quality and diversity, with seasonal weighting such as more Ethiopians in summer and more Colombians in winter.
On Colombian Chirosos, he pushed back against bias against the variety, saying people should taste blindly; he described SEY's Chirosos as among Colombia's highest-scoring and hardest-to-access coffees, helped by roughly five years of relationship-building.
On roasting transparency, he said SEY's roast approach is not secret, that they are "fully transparency," and that the basic target is full coffee expression without burning off character or leaving cereal-like underdevelopment.
On roast color, he repeatedly defined SEY's current development window as roughly 135-140 on the DiFluid color track: below that he often tastes cereal or underdevelopment, above that he starts to taste roast, though a few coffees can go lighter without cereal.
On roasting philosophy, he said SEY has intentionally moved lighter over the last year, away from a solubility/max-extraction philosophy toward preserving raw-material character while avoiding cereal.
On data and tasting, he said SEY is building a large dataset correlating density, moisture, and development, aided by the fact that he sample-roasts about 100-200 coffees weekly; he also argued that roasting, brewing, buying, and processing are limited by how well one can taste.
On Ethiopia, he discussed the decline or transformation of old Agaro/Kata Muduga-era coffees, citing higher historical moisture, later drying to 8-9%, eco-pulpers, reduced fermentation, and export systems built around larger washing-station lots rather than tiny separated lots.
On Peru and logistics, he said refrigerated containers "100% worked" for Peru because not a single coffee landed aged, contrasting this with Colombia's fast logistics and Ethiopia's tendency to benefit from rest; he is considering refrigeration for places like Burundi and Rwanda.
On varieties and genetics, he was skeptical of "orange Gesha" claims without genetic confirmation, distinguishing Peruvian yellow Gesha as a Gesha-Bourbon cross and red Gesha as 100% Gesha, while guessing the orange type may also be some kind of Bourbon cross.
On roasting equipment and technique, he said dense Ethiopians can be hit hard with energy and dropped fast, while less dense coffees such as Geshas need gentler ramping; he praised the Loring for consistency, said drum roasters make internal development without scorching difficult, and argued espresso should not be roasted darker.

lancehedrick

On tasting work at SEY, he said the recent visit involved an enormous amount of tasting across cupping, AeroPress, "soup," V60, Orea Z1/V3, espresso, and other methods, totaling at least 20 hours over four days.
On SEY's data work, he echoed that correlations are already appearing between data and sensory results, with "exciting theories" being developed and tested.
On diagnosing underextraction, he said it is subjective but commonly presents as excessive sourness, saltiness, unbalanced acidity, or, in espresso, possibly channeling from grinding too fine.
On filter brewing advice, he told one user to move to about 16-17 clicks, keep other variables similar, maybe lower water temperature slightly, and not obsess over TDS/EY when taste says the brew needs adjustment.
On the Brew-Along coffees, he said Duber was awesome, preferred Duber to Ortiz Aji, described Aji as fruit-heavy, intense, and likely to be a fan favorite, and said Marlene has variance that can be tamed with lower temperature.
On Kambarare, he found it mind-blowing despite not being his preferred style, emphasizing that it came from 20-brix cherries and was still washed.
On specific coffees and varieties, he called SL9 "omnipresent," praised Dwight's yellow Gesha as floral and balanced, said Rift was a strong Chiroso, and joked that more Chiroso was "the way."
On brewing style and preference, he discussed very thick brews, "soup," low extraction yields for soup, and a strange broth-like Weber Bird result involving little immersion and quick percolation that he had not replicated with other coffees.
On product work, he mentioned still needing to finalize something, being unhappy with basket hole size, and working on both airlock and basket-hole sizing, while hesitating to post a survey because of likely Reddit backlash.
On places to drink coffee, he recommended Hakko and Protest Kitchen for food and coffee, and SO Coffee Roasters plus Von and Vonnie for coffee only.

opp4004

On Corral Pampal Eduardo's SL9, he described lemon candy, lime-like acidity, white currant, buttery aromatics, Chardonnay-like texture, and white-tea delicacy, saying this is the type of coffee he points to when explaining SL9's complexity beyond florality.
On natural Ethiopians, he said many naturals now trend funkier even when marketed as classic naturals, while praising clean/refined examples from Sheka/Kawo Kamina, Tesfaye Tibebu Roba, and Sookoo.
On Burundi and Rwanda-like profiles, he noted that many drinkers dislike the distinctive "terroir" or spice-like character, but he personally enjoys those spice notes when they refresh the palate; he praised one Burundi for berries, dried apricot, Central Asian spice, white tea, clove, Valencia orange, and a strong finish.
On old Ethiopian coffees, he said legendary Jimma/Agaro-era coffees such as Nano Challa, Yukro, Duromina, and related Kata Muduga coffees feel like a passed era, and argued it is probably more productive to look to high-elevation Guji, Gedeb, Sidama, Bekele coffees, and Murago than to chase the past.
On Kenya, he found Ibonia AB unexpectedly dulce-de-leche-like with hibiscus, rambutan, red currant, and pomegranate, then speculated that Kenya's profile shifts may relate to single-washed versus traditional K72 double-washed methods, estate versus factory lots, and changing regional standouts such as Kiambu, Murang'a, Nandi, and surrounding areas.
On Nicaragua and Central America, he argued Nicaragua is underrated, especially Maracaturra/Maragogype and Parainema, naming producers and groups such as Ana Maria Albir Sotomayor, Fabio David Rodriguez, Abner Samuel Zavala Gonzalez, Enrique Ferrufino, Mary Elsy Caldera, Finca Libre, Best of Marago, and Gold Mountain Coffee Growers.
On Panama Gesha, he said classic benchmarks like Esmeralda, Elida, and Takesi are less definitive now because the category has fragmented; he found a Chevas Estate Dark Room Washed Gesha classic but marred by a faint savory/marine ferment note, and said Panama Gesha often fails to justify its price premium versus great Peru or Bolivia.
On Chiroso, he argued Chirosos outside Urrao can feel completely different, praised William Ortiz for vivid acidity and definition, said non-Urrao Chiroso from Tolima, Huila, or Santander interests him, and proposed multiple possible causes for Urrao's cedar-like profile: Bourbon/Caturra Chiroso differences, processing, older seed populations, or genetics.
On brewing with the OXO Rapid Brewer, he uses a non-bypass style; for a 22 g recipe he recommends fine-sugar grind, paper filters top and bottom, no tamping, about 240 g water first, slow pressing, adding another 120 g once half remains, stopping at the gas/hissing sound, and about 85C water around 100 ppm.
On the global roaster scene, he argued the old Nordic style has largely faded, with Coffee Collective and La Cabra becoming more approachable or mainstream, while newer Chinese roasters such as Big Sur and AOKKA and some Canadian roasters now better capture the aggressive green sourcing and bright, light roasting role the Nordics once held.

Cross-thread takeaways

The week's strongest shared thread was roast development: seylance2897 defined SEY's practical color/development window, lancehedrick reinforced taste-first calibration over metrics, and opp4004's tasting notes repeatedly showed how sensitive perceived clarity, intensity, and structure are to roast and brewing choices.
Chiroso became a major cross-user topic: seylance2897 defended the quality of SEY's Chiroso allocations and clarified Bourbon versus Caturra Chiroso uncertainty, lancehedrick preferred Duber to Ortiz Aji, and opp4004 explored why non-Urrao Chirosos may taste radically different from Urrao examples.
Ethiopia was treated as both legendary and unsettled: seylance2897 described the practical changes behind the decline of old Agaro/Kata Muduga profiles, while opp4004 mourned the passed Jimma era and pointed toward Guji, Gedeb, Sidama, Bekele, Murago, and newer processing trends as the future.
Peru emerged as a major strategic unlock for SEY: seylance2897 said refrigerated containers solved aging problems and that SEY bought nearly 300 bags from Peru, while opp4004 repeatedly praised Peru as a compelling alternative to expensive Panama Gesha.
Brewing discussions were concrete rather than abstract: lancehedrick advised coarser grinding and taste-led adjustment, while opp4004 gave a detailed OXO recipe built around no tamping, top-and-bottom paper filters, slow pressing, and staged water addition.
There was broad skepticism toward prestige labels without cup evidence: seylance2897 demanded genetics before trusting Gesha color/variety claims, opp4004 questioned whether Panama Gesha premiums are consistently justified, and both treated famous regions or producers as insufficient proof on their own.
Several messages connected changing coffee quality to logistics and processing rather than just terroir: Ethiopia's moisture and fermentation changes, Kenya's washed-method shifts, Peru's cold-chain improvement, and Nicaragua's competition-driven quality gains all came up as explanations for evolving cup profiles.
A new roasting channel was effectively requested by the conversation itself: seylance2897 spent much of June 7 giving detailed roasting advice, discussing Loring versus drum constraints, batch consistency, density/moisture-dependent heat application, development times, and the limits of copying curves.

Full weekly Markdown preview

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2026-06-01 to 2026-06-07

seylance2897

2026-06-01

5:33 PM #current-menu: Yeah totally!

Its not just random, we look at all the coffees that are coming in and we purposely select the coffees for quality and diversity. This varies greatly depending on the month and time of year. For example, through the summer the subs will be heavier Ethiopians because this is prime Ethiopian season, and through the winter it will be heavier Colombian coffees for the same reason. But, overall, they are hand-selected for the widest diversity of profiles we can create with the coffees we have available.

As for Chiroso's, I'd encourage you to taste blindly, haha. Bias can be exceptionally strong... But I can promise you, these are literally some of the highest-scoring coffees in Colombia, with maybe the most intense competition for allocations in all of Colombia. We are exceptionally lucky to get as many as we get of the quality we get... but a lot of that is because of the project we've been building for the last 5 or so years.
5:35 PM #origins-and-producers: haha its not a mystery. I'm happy to talk about how we roast coffee. I've even shared our curves with people like flower child and thankfully. haha it is very much not a secret
5:35 PM #origins-and-producers: we are fully transarency 😂
5:38 PM #origins-and-producers: the secret - roast coffee so you get full development = full expression of the coffee without burning off anything.

We've defined this as 135-139 on the color track... anything under 135 i start to taste 'roast on' or 'muted' things on. Anything over 140 (with the exception of a very few coffees) i taste cereal on.
5:41 PM #origins-and-producers: We are working on building out a very insane data set on how density, moisture content, and development all correlate. I.e does higher desnity mean you can develop ligher. or does higher moisture mean you can develop lighter.

Because we roast soooo many coffees we're in a pretty unique position to get an intense amount of data around this. Especially if you add in all of the coffees I sample roasts... which is something around 100 to 200 a week.
5:42 PM #origins-and-producers: i personally have no tasted anything over 140 that has zero cereal. If you like cereal thats a subjective preference IMO... i personally concider it a 'roast defect' beacause it is a flavor created by roasting - or in this case, lack of roasting ha.
5:42 PM #origins-and-producers: we'll share all the info we gather.
5:44 PM #origins-and-producers: BUT - this is what I tell everyone who asks me for advice on roasting.... or anything in coffee... you will only be as good as what you can taste. If you can't taste it you can't make it. You can randomly get lucky... but you will only roast, brew, buy, and process as well as you can taste. the better you can taste the better you can roast
5:45 PM #origins-and-producers: But our roasting has intentionally lighted over the last little while... I used to be highly motivated by sustainablity and the 'philosophy' of getting literally as much out of a coffee as possible. which means roasting for solublity. I've changed our philosophy and approach a ton over the last year.
5:47 PM #origins-and-producers: the goal now is to try to keep as much of the raw material as intact as possible with zero cereal in the cup. so, as light as we can figure out, while still no cereal. I do hope that we can figure out how to get coffees into the 145+ and i fuly believe we will get there.. but alot of that has to do with figuring out what it is about the green coffee that will allow it... or what needs to happen with heat transfer
5:51 PM #origins-and-producers: Thats what this discord is for! I know there has been a lot of mystery aroud sey in the past... a lot of that is because i didn't feel like i was ready to start sharing things publicly... i take coffee very seriously and I believe our industry needs people to take things seriously to help progress it along. So, i wanted to make sure I was good enough and knew enough to start sharing things. Also, generally someone who feels more comfortable behind the curtain haha. But, 10 years and god only know how many coffees later, I'm starting to feel like we have something to share ❤️ Its beyond meaningful that there are so many of you that are interested
5:54 PM #origins-and-producers: actually working on this idea with Hedrick. it would include kind of a glossery of definitions, how we define certain profiles as we start getting more and more sophisticated... stuff like that... for example, one of the things I'm going to really try to do this year is try and map all the unique but fully identifyable/definable profiles in Kenya
5:54 PM #origins-and-producers: then take that and do it with pinks in southern huila, Sl9s in amaybamba, etc
5:56 PM #origins-and-producers: that way we can be like this Pink from palistina has x profile and you'll actually know what that means. Right now its very basic like this pink has that kenya esk profile, or this one has that red profile...

For buying purposes this is enough for producers and exporters to calibrate around... but doesn't translate outside of that pretty small world
6:03 PM #origins-and-producers: Ha, that's very kind... Trust me, there have been extremely generous people in my life as well. I'm honored for the opportunity to pass these things along
6:09 PM #origins-and-producers: ha k back to cupping tables... but, just want to add... this is a place for full transparency and conversation... so secrets or mysteries here... so definitely ask any and all questions and we'll do our best to answer them! or admit when we don't have an answer and do our best to find one!
6:09 PM #origins-and-producers: ❤️

2026-06-02

6:37 PM #current-menu: Did you get a chance to taste the Chiroso from William Ortiz? Also i'd be very curious if you could articulate why you don't like chirosos... haha I know trying to put words to experience/flavor can be quite challenging. But, would be interested to know!
6:51 PM #Brew-Along: Who let these two brew coffee on video
6:51 PM #Brew-Along: 😂
6:51 PM #Brew-Along: ❤️
8:33 PM #origins-and-producers: I think this is true to some extent. I've trained so many people how to taste coffee over the years... its quite easy to get someone to like 90% getting higher than that is just practice. and the higher you go the harder it gets. Aslo the higher you go there is probably some genetics in there... but, I've literally never tried to teach someone to taste coffee that couldn't get to at least around 90% - obviousy using % here as a relatively undefined metric ha

2026-06-03

12:01 AM #current-menu: This is super interesting. do you also get this in any Ethiopian coffees? curious specifically about coffees from Uraga?
4:53 PM #origins-and-producers: everything is being recorded in a google doc we've created. Once we start getting enough data<@839279408057024512> will do what <@839279408057024512> does with data ha. Certainly not my scope of exertise.
4:56 PM #origins-and-producers: Ture does make really beautiful natures. We've been trying to work on a lot together for years. But, we still haven't quite figured out how to make the natural as clean as i'd like it to be. But hes an exceptional producer
5:09 PM #origins-and-producers: Coffees from Agaro are interesting.. I think theres a couple things there.

1 - they use to be shipped at higher moisture. like 12%ish... This, I think, added a significant amount of life and complexity to the coffees, but they died so, so fast. Now they dry down to 8-9%

2 - I need to go back to remember exactly the timeline of what happened... but they moved to eco pulpers and completely stopped fermenting the coffee.
5:21 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah for sure.. but I'm with you.. my memory of some of those duromina and biftu gudina lots i will remember those coffees forever
5:26 PM #origins-and-producers: <@421132246536159232> might have more insite here... i can also see what tim hill has to add. Its certainly one of the greater mysteries in the last 10 years of coffee IMO
5:32 PM #origins-and-producers: oh nice... I honestly haven't tasted those coffees in awhile. I know Mike mamo is doing some pretty good work with the tulia stuff.... but, they just don't have whatever those old Kata Maduga coffees had
5:37 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah, i honestly don't work in the west any more... its been years... so, i'm really unfamiliar with those coffees. I moved from the west down to the south guji/uraga for a number of years.. and now i'm primarily only working in Gedeb and Bensa/Abergona
5:38 PM #origins-and-producers: I still do buy a handful of coffees from Uraga though... back to redfox.. Aleco did a ton of work developing those coffees
5:41 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah way harder... I do agree that there is still soooooo much coffee really all over the world to discover haha..
5:44 PM #origins-and-producers: its also hard because the systems in Ethiopia are not set up for smaller lots. Its set up to export containers of the same coffee from large washing stations
6:01 PM #origins-and-producers: hahah believe me... i talk to them ALOT about washed coffees
6:01 PM #origins-and-producers: I did manage to get a number of really amazing washed lots from teddy this year.
6:22 PM #current-menu: hahah this was green coffee.

I believe we do have a couple accounts in Mexico city

2026-06-04

2:11 AM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, I'm definitely not an expert at the actual logistics of the supply chain. But Ethiopia is a nightmare. I happily let others handle this part of things 😂
4:37 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, the processing method hasn't changed. This is just a more nuanced explanation of it.

It does lead to cup variability, or for obvious reasons, I personally really like it.
4:39 PM #origins-and-producers: we'll see if we end up participating in the Sophia auction. We did taste through nearly all the washed lots... there were only 2 lots still on drying beds that we didn't taste. there were a couple really, really stunning lots. But, we'll have to see what the auction actually does ha.

We will definitely have a few other lots. We managed to get a very small allocation of Los Cenezos and Nuguo, they are very small and very expensive. We also have a couple other lots as well.
4:51 PM #what-are-you-brewing: What producers have you tatsed good Maracaturra in Nic from? I can't get anything thats washed thats any good. Some pretty amazing naturals... but they come with pretty natural profiles
4:52 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah yields were insane. Last year Sophia produced around 1200 kgs. This year they produced less than 200kgs
4:52 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, we also did a lot with Franz this year. They're always fun and we learn alot
4:54 PM #origins-and-producers: ha sorry Los Cenizos
4:54 PM #what-are-you-brewing: seriously? I'll reach out and get a sample set
4:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: washed?
5:03 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I really struggle with Parainemas... I've only tasted like 1 or 2 from Honduras that I thought were okay ha.
5:04 PM #what-are-you-brewing: But this is interesting. i'll look a little deeper into Nic
5:07 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha interesting... I go and cup through all of Honduras every year... I have definitely not found this to be true. But, I have very very little experience with coffees from Nic. Traditionally they haven't haven't been able to to produce the profiles I'm at least looking for. I am curious if something has changed
5:08 PM #what-are-you-brewing: We almost buy nothing in Honduras any more, unfortunately
5:16 PM #what-are-you-brewing: huh, i'll definitely reach out. All so i
5:17 PM #what-are-you-brewing: 'll definitely try and taste the coffees in the best of marago comp
5:17 PM #origins-and-producers: The Yellow Gesha is a gesha cross with Bourbon. the red Gesha is 100% gesha... I haven't seen any genetics on the 'orange gesha,' nor did I see it when I was on his farm. So, I have questions
5:38 PM #origins-and-producers: can you get a photo?
5:49 PM #origins-and-producers: interesting.. yeah I don't know.. i personally don't trust anything until i've seen genetics ha
6:01 PM #origins-and-producers: I'm guessing it's probably some kind of Gesha cross. I'll try to get some leaves next time I'm in Peru
6:01 PM #origins-and-producers: Hows it taste? whats its cup profile?
6:19 PM #origins-and-producers: In Peru the yellow gesha was like one of the best coffees i've ever tasted. the red was also very, very good.

when they landed the red out cupped the yellow - next year we will be flying this coffees in signifcantly faster. I'm suspecting that they yellow lost some of hits quality by the time it arrived
6:22 PM #origins-and-producers: I mean it was on an absolutely insane table and the yellow gesha like exploded.. i was properly like wtf.

It happens though.. Neto's coffees also lost about a point in milling and export.
6:22 PM #origins-and-producers: haha sorry Carlb, this is definitely 100% not true
6:23 PM #origins-and-producers: But its year one for at least us working with these coffees. So, we'll definitly do better on the logistics side this coming harvest
6:25 PM #origins-and-producers: haha yeah, the roast profiles are dialed in completely at origin and in brooklyn. Also, i've never lost quality out of the loring, like ever, 90% of the time you gain quality out of the loring.
6:27 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah, its definitely a valid question... some labs we have to work in have very very basic set ups. But these lots were properly dialed in
6:29 PM #origins-and-producers: you would really think it would matter. But, honestly you can get really, really good at tasting quality through a number of different variables
6:31 PM #origins-and-producers: looks pretty orange to me!
6:37 PM #origins-and-producers: coffee can absolutely moph colors. which is why i was actually hoping it was really Yellow Gesha.. We've just never seen it happen with Gesha.

I'm guessing this is another Bourbon x
6:37 PM #origins-and-producers: we'll get genetics on it
6:39 PM #origins-and-producers: based on moisture, desnity, color, taste - its honeslty quite easy to roast a coffee exactly the way you want to. So, yeah our sample roasting also changed.

Also table bias is very, very real. I.e if you have 7 coffees roasted to 120 and you have 3 coffees roasted to 135. The 135 coffees will 100% taste 'under developed'

If you switch this, then the 120 coffees will taste roasty as hell. So, you have to calibrate each table depending on what you're trying to accomplish
6:40 PM #origins-and-producers: you're guess is as good as mine!
6:44 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah totally! roasting use to be a lot more mysterious...even just going back 3 years or so. But, now everything I'm doing on the roasting side is very, very intentional... and also pretty easy to manipulate depending on what I want to do
6:45 PM #origins-and-producers: Also its no secret that I personaly believe that coffee is 99% the quality of the green. the roasting i believe will get easier and easier as we learn more.. and hopefull will nearly completely go away as a variable
6:46 PM #origins-and-producers: ha also this
6:49 PM #origins-and-producers: the refigerated container?
6:50 PM #origins-and-producers: it 100% worked. Not a single coffee landed aged. We've been trying to work in peru for like years and years...we just couldn't because every coffee i tried to buy arrived aged
6:51 PM #origins-and-producers: Colombia doesn't need this because the logistics are so good. I can ilterally get a coffee to my roastery from milling to port in like 2 weeks.

Ethiopia actually wants the rest as I believe the coffees improve.

Burundi/rwanda/ etc... I might totally look at using refigerated containers
6:55 PM #origins-and-producers: you should start a coffee roasting company and see just how hard this actually is😂
7:12 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah this is just cross pollinated
8:16 PM #origins-and-producers: wtf is this???

2026-06-05

1:05 AM #current-menu: don't sleep on Duber Mejia... definitely the best chiroso i've tasted this year. We'll see how La Casita does. But Duber Mejia's coffee is ridiculous
1:07 AM #current-menu: first time yeah
1:10 AM #current-menu: frustratingly no. I was suppose to go to Urrao last month but i had to cancel due to the elections
1:11 AM #current-menu: literally no one knows.... but I absolutely will get to the bottom of it
1:11 AM #current-menu: rephrase... I don't know anyone who knows and I know most people who would know haah... But maybeee someone out there does actually know and I don't tknow them. its within the realm of possibility
1:13 AM #current-menu: There is a tall stature tree that is 'bourbon chiroso' and a short stature tree that is 'caturra chiroso' Most of it is 'caturra chiroso' very little 'Bourbon Chiroso' we did do a separation once. but its really, really hard to get
1:15 AM #current-menu: no the herbal thing didn't show up in either of them IMO
1:18 AM #current-menu: no no, there are definitely chirosos that have herbality.. for me it reads as spring onion or scallion, very similar to some coffees in Guji.
1:19 AM #current-menu: I also don't hate these profiles and think they are quite unique and cool. I just prefer the ones that don't have it
1:20 AM #current-menu: But, chiroso's can be a polarizing variety... they are <@1504523316864749676> 's favorite though so don't hate on em while she is around 😂
1:20 AM #current-menu: I loveeee Sidra
1:21 AM #current-menu: its more like eucalyptus though
1:23 AM #current-menu: haah we are peak chiroso season
1:23 AM #current-menu: pepe's coffee just landed in the roastery
1:24 AM #current-menu: yup very soon
1:28 AM #current-menu: normally they are... this one is very clean
1:29 AM #current-menu: there are 2 lots. one is a sidra wave and one is a sidra washed
1:30 AM #current-menu: ha yes, you have a crazy memory for coffees
1:30 AM #current-menu: <@908458585728630836> hyped it too much
1:31 AM #current-menu: ha the sidra wave - its presold
1:34 AM #current-menu: <@908458585728630836> knows how to kill a vibe
1:35 AM #current-menu: hahahaha
3:25 PM #current-menu: This coffee was from Pedro's own farm who owns and operates the exporting company pergamino. The farm plays a secondary role to the exporting company
3:29 PM #current-menu: This hopefully going to get ALOT better this year. I'm trying to 'define' profiles with certain words so consumers can have basically a very good understanding of what they're buying. I.e what are the 5 different profiles we can really define and describe in Kenya. Same in Southern Huila and Urrao and Peru. As we continue to buy in new places and from new farms there will obviously be some profiles we've never come across... But, i think we can start to do a very good job of actually defining profiles in coffee. Its just never really been done before with the one excpetion of gesha from Panama.

2026-06-07

8:25 PM #origins-and-producers: Haha it really depends on the coffee and how well it takes heat - Dense coffees take heat better/ more effiently than less dense coffees. For example a coffee from 2500+ from bensa we just smash. basically straight to the amount of enery we're going to give it straight off. and then decline as it goes into crack.

coffees that aren't as dense, i.e Geshas from just about anywhere... we start slow and ramp up then also slowly pull back - similar to that piramid shape... but all our cuves will get to peak energy faster than the pull back.. so lop sided piramid i guess ha.

but every coffee depending on its density and moisture will get a slightly different approach
8:29 PM #origins-and-producers: But, there are so many ways to roast coffee. its all just figuring out how you get to where you want to go and there are alot of ways to do it. For me, at the end of the day, no roast, no cereal = well-developed coffee... from there it gets very much into diminishing returns, and I'd almost argue that cup variance is probably more of a factor than what you're tasting in the roaster... Obviously we still endlessly debate cupping tables and development/curves because it's fun and also we exist in the land of diminishing returns... but, it also important to be able to step back and not miss the forest
8:30 PM #origins-and-producers: haha thats what I'm here for! trying to lift any and all frustrations as much as I can 😂
8:35 PM #origins-and-producers: We can now confidently say that for us, development exists between 135-140ish on the fluid color track. Anything darker than that we taste roast on any thing lighter than that we taste cereal on... figuring out how to get there is the key... So go back to when sey was literally a 'coal' mean and i was mostly interested in zero waste full solubility/extraction (still am in a lot of ways) but we were roasting more like 120-125. We've managed to take a hanful of coffees lighter than 140 without cereal - Danche for example is 141.2 and also dwight's red gesha is 141.1.. So, we are trying to push it... but its very very hard
8:36 PM #origins-and-producers: but this has been mainly figuring out how coffee takes heat and how efficently and how hard you can or can't hit it
8:38 PM #origins-and-producers: nope all coffees get developed the same. We think of espresso as just another way to extract coffee. Also when roasted 'darker for espresso' i taste roast on the espresso, even in milk. We've done probably 1000s of blind AB tests around this an the espresso without roast on it always tastes better. Its just getting past a lot of old dogma that espresso needs to be darker IMO
8:39 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah we use a Difluid. its differnet than an agtron, they will give you differnet numbers... i think on an agtron we're closer to like high 90s? maybe? don't quote me on that
8:40 PM #origins-and-producers: haha all the trade secrets
8:41 PM #origins-and-producers: it really does depend on the coffee and also this changes all the time as we test and move
8:41 PM #origins-and-producers: but right now we're something between 30seconds and 45 seconds depending
8:42 PM #origins-and-producers: but thats obviously in 'ratio' to total time in roaster... For examle I roast coffee in 4ish minutes on my sample roaster with deveopmet time of like 15-20 seconds
8:42 PM #origins-and-producers: so its really understanding the wholistic approach
8:42 PM #origins-and-producers: both
8:43 PM #origins-and-producers: ha any other roasters in here?
8:43 PM #origins-and-producers: oh man, drum roastesr are so hard IMO
8:44 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah just got to treat them a little differnetly and also change expectations a little
8:46 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah with drum roasters I find that its really really hard to get internal seed development without scorthing the outside... Alot of the time you end up with actuall both slightly over develped and underdeveloped coffee... I hella respect anyone that properly develop coffee on a drum roaster
8:46 PM #origins-and-producers: <@421132246536159232> might have more to say on drum roasters.. I believe he has more experience. I roasted on an Probat L12 when i frst started... but that was almost over 10 years ago now
8:47 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah exactly... sooooo hard to get the green out on a drum roaster
8:48 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah basically trying to get as much 'air' roasting as possible in the drum
8:49 PM #origins-and-producers: this was also my experience.. i was roasting 5# batches in my 12kg...
8:50 PM #origins-and-producers: i'm just curious why i wasn't invinted to be one
8:51 PM #origins-and-producers: 😂 jk
8:52 PM #origins-and-producers: hahah
8:53 PM #origins-and-producers: I am stoked for this though. Can't imagine the work that went into it
8:55 PM #origins-and-producers: haha everyone always asks me for roasting advice/consulting... the first thing i say is that there are no short cuts... you can't just copy and paste cuvres from other roasters... you have to learn your. machine and you have to learn how to taste coffee haha
9:00 PM #origins-and-producers: apparently we need a 'roasting' chennel hah
9:01 PM #origins-and-producers: haha this is everything
9:09 PM #origins-and-producers: All of this is making fall in love with my loring all over again
9:10 PM #origins-and-producers: haha i'll talk to admin about getting a roasting channel... see what i can do
9:11 PM #origins-and-producers: once you figure it out.. its insane how consistant it is
9:12 PM #origins-and-producers: it does take alittle more attention though... you do have to baby the curve... we use u to like 20+ gas changes where you can get away with 3-5 changes on a drum
9:12 PM #origins-and-producers: of course
9:14 PM #origins-and-producers: what coffee is this for?
9:14 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah those moistures should be in the like 8s
9:14 PM #origins-and-producers: maybeeeee 9s
9:15 PM #origins-and-producers: This is danche
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9:16 PM #origins-and-producers: 35k with a 23kg batch
9:17 PM #origins-and-producers: we keep it hella consistant
9:17 PM #origins-and-producers: consistantly is literally everything in roasting... between batches, batch size everything needs to be like hella the same
9:18 PM #origins-and-producers: even if you do one between batch differently it will take 3 roasts to get back on track
9:18 PM #origins-and-producers: oh its wayyyyyyy worse with drums... but its still bad with lorings
9:19 PM #origins-and-producers: we do more steps with less dense coffees. With more energy up front we can develop ligher with no cereal... so we push ethiopians hard
9:20 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah ethiopians take energy extremely efficently
9:21 PM #origins-and-producers: its the only way i've found out how to roast over 140 color without cereal
9:21 PM #origins-and-producers: I have other ideas on how to get it closer to 145... but, i'll test them before sharing them hah
9:22 PM #origins-and-producers: for sure! chelbessa produces extremely good very uniform/dense coffees. they should be the easiest to roast in drums... put the coffee in blast it and drop it fast... you should get internal development just based on how efficently the seed takes heat
9:25 PM #origins-and-producers: yeh this 100% especially for ethiopians
9:28 PM #origins-and-producers: I'll get a channel made haha sey admin doesn't admin on sundays 😂
9:29 PM #origins-and-producers: Also, Ethiopia = best coffee ever
9:38 PM #origins-and-producers: working on it
9:40 PM #origins-and-producers: Freezing works very, very well IMO /experience
9:41 PM #origins-and-producers: we'll be adding a very large freezer in our new roastery. this isn't to fully remove seasonality... because I love that in coffee... but it is to help make sure we have coffee to roast and really help raise the floor of what we release. So every coffee we release will probably be amazing
9:42 PM #origins-and-producers: Sourcing the amount of coffees we release at the qualty that I'm shooting for is ..... really hard
9:42 PM #origins-and-producers: so the freezer will help shoulder some of that... if i have 300 bags of insane coffee in a freezer it really take so much of the stress off my shoulders
9:43 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah transition seasons are soooooooo hard
9:47 PM #origins-and-producers: It's a self-created problem to some extent... at we do talk internally about capping our wholesale and subscription....because the sourcing
9:47 PM #origins-and-producers: not really actually
9:47 PM #origins-and-producers: we've grown a little... not alot and that growth has been intentinal/thoughtful
9:49 PM #origins-and-producers: Also peru has really opend a lot of doors
9:49 PM #origins-and-producers: We bought nearly 300 bags of Peru this year that literally didn't exisit a few years ago
9:50 PM #origins-and-producers: that changes A LOT
9:50 PM #origins-and-producers: we bought a little less from colombia.. but not alot
9:51 PM #origins-and-producers: We didn't get as much from Kenya as I was hoping this year
9:51 PM #origins-and-producers: haha no i bought everything that hit our quality threshold
9:54 PM #origins-and-producers: Henry teaching worshops!
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9:55 PM #origins-and-producers: yup
9:58 PM #origins-and-producers: i think peru is going to be like actually insane next harvest
10:00 PM #origins-and-producers: oh we will

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lancehedrick

2026-06-01

6:01 PM #origins-and-producers: Echoing Lance, there have already been some interesting correlations in the combination of data and taste across what we have been cupping. Loads of work going into this with some exciting theories we will be working on and testing.
6:06 PM #origins-and-producers: The amount of tasting we did while I was in town was unbelievable. From cupping, of course, to aeropress, soup, v60, orea (z1 and v3), espresso, etc. At least 20 hours over 4 days.
6:10 PM #Brew-Along: Reynaldo brewing and SEY visit
6:11 PM #Brew-Along: Reynaldo brewing and SEY visit
6:12 PM #Brew-Along: Reynaldo brewing and SEY visit
6:38 PM #Brew-Along: Reynaldo brewing and SEY visit
6:58 PM #what-are-you-brewing: underextracted is def subjective. But, if you feel it needs more extraction, you are likely experiencing excessive sourness (not balanced- though with espresso this could also be due to grinding too finely and evidencing lots of channeling), salty, and underdeveloped acidity presentation in general.
There are other markers, but these i find are quite fool proof.
6:59 PM #filter-focused: do like 16 or 17 clicks and all else same. maybe touch lower water temp
7:04 PM #filter-focused: Don't worry about TDS and EY. Worry about taste (i know that is a tired response).
Go coarser and let it rip.

2026-06-02

6:45 PM #Brew-Along: woooo
6:45 PM #Brew-Along: duber is awesome
6:45 PM #Brew-Along: can't right now! kids just got home
6:47 PM #Brew-Along: marlene has variance but if you brew with lower temp, it really tames it.
6:47 PM #Brew-Along: kambarare is insane. not my preference, but blows my mind that it is simply 20brix cherries then washed.
6:49 PM #Brew-Along: i prefer duber to ortiz aji, for sure. aji has been interesting and i am hopeful for one to have a cleaner representation
6:49 PM #Brew-Along: but aji is still going to be a fan fav, i think. it is fruit heavy and intense.
6:50 PM #Brew-Along: 200F i believe
6:50 PM #Brew-Along: SL9 is omnipresent
6:50 PM #Brew-Along: dwight yellow was so floral and balanced. sad i only got to brew it at SEY house. should have nabbed a bag.
6:51 PM #Brew-Along: btw- this is the greatest duo in history
6:51 PM #Brew-Along: they bicker like a married couple and i LOVE it.
6:52 PM #Brew-Along: what are you brewing? sorry. missed it.
6:52 PM #Brew-Along: lance looks like he hopped out. probably on his 87th sample roast of his 200 weekly lol
6:53 PM #Brew-Along: rift- that is a dang good one.
6:53 PM #Brew-Along: my favorite chiroso of the year. tho, the duber is second. i believe.
6:54 PM #Brew-Along: oh yes. more chiroso.
6:55 PM #Brew-Along: 4 kamavindis
6:55 PM #Brew-Along: this is the way
6:56 PM #Brew-Along: Takesi is a weird one. they have specific roasters they work with
6:56 PM #Brew-Along: like collective, monogram, seven seeds, etc
6:56 PM #Brew-Along: water in delicious out is the only way
6:58 PM #Brew-Along: teehee
6:58 PM #Brew-Along: most don't
6:58 PM #Brew-Along: it's ok
6:58 PM #Brew-Along: he used to only brew "25%" V60s with melodrip only
6:59 PM #Brew-Along: did it on season 2. it was rough.
7:00 PM #Brew-Along: cup tasters you are at least just picking out which is not the same. this is a different form of torture
7:00 PM #Brew-Along: it was me. i did passionfruit coferment.
7:01 PM #Brew-Along: i love coferments. they are the best
7:01 PM #Brew-Along: my biggest role in SEY is to bring more coferments
7:02 PM #Brew-Along: my favorite sitcom
7:03 PM #Brew-Along: toss him over your shoulder
7:03 PM #Brew-Along: why do you want us to go out of business
7:04 PM #Brew-Along: teehee jkjkjk
7:04 PM #Brew-Along: working on it
7:04 PM #Brew-Along: sal from impractical jokers probs
7:04 PM #Brew-Along: knew it
7:05 PM #Brew-Along: just need it in time for panama drops
7:05 PM #Brew-Along: hahahaha so excited
7:05 PM #Brew-Along: like doug gave him a bouquet of roses
7:06 PM #Brew-Along: brew it
7:06 PM #Brew-Along: yes
7:06 PM #Brew-Along: would be like 16ish in the bigger
7:07 PM #Brew-Along: TEA
7:07 PM #Brew-Along: what is said in SEYcord stays in SEYcord
7:08 PM #Brew-Along: where is our PR team
7:08 PM #Brew-Along: oh we are going down in flames
7:09 PM #Brew-Along: do i need to come on and moderate this bickering couple
7:09 PM #Brew-Along: sub 9% or gtfo
7:09 PM #Brew-Along: river rocks
7:10 PM #Brew-Along: the slight correction
7:10 PM #Brew-Along: such a couple
7:10 PM #Brew-Along: "11.5"
7:10 PM #Brew-Along: massively. brewing loads of cawfee
7:11 PM #Brew-Along: oh you mean bird like weber bird hahaha
It was more like broth
7:11 PM #Brew-Along: that was weird. a mixture of very little immersion with quick percolation.
7:11 PM #Brew-Along: but i have not been able to replicate it with other coffees
7:13 PM #Brew-Along: tbh i should have known. he likes much thicker brews. heavy stuff. just personal preferences
7:13 PM #Brew-Along: like he does pourovers at like 1.5-1.6 or something wild like that. similar to matt winton
7:14 PM #Brew-Along: he also liked what i brewed. just wanted more intensity. doesnt mind if accompanied by bitterness
7:14 PM #Brew-Along: hahahahah!
7:14 PM #Brew-Along: this is the best live of the year
7:15 PM #Brew-Along: i did, too
7:15 PM #Brew-Along: queens man
7:15 PM #Brew-Along: thru and thru
7:15 PM #Brew-Along: but doug needs his hao-yung
7:15 PM #Brew-Along: thankfully, hao-yung is moving to nyc
7:16 PM #Brew-Along: normal soup is low EY
7:16 PM #Brew-Along: hahaha
7:16 PM #Brew-Along: 15 is low EY for pourover, true
7:17 PM #Brew-Along: but for soup
7:17 PM #Brew-Along: gimme 8-13
7:17 PM #Brew-Along: this is a mandatory weekly. Doug and Hao-Yung brew and bicker
7:18 PM #Brew-Along: please let's name it Brew and Bicker with Doug and Hao-Yung. This would be such a good podcast
7:18 PM #Brew-Along: ew
7:19 PM #Brew-Along: sound suppression is trying to hold them out
7:19 PM #Brew-Along: a cover photo for this pod just be Hao-Yung over Doug's shoulder
7:20 PM #Brew-Along: bye
8:35 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Tbf my notes are quite strikingly different. But, different strokes! I have not come away from that coffee with lots of yellow fruits. There are tropical fruits, but largely hiding behind more heavy red themed. Sticky sweetness and almost waxy like when eating white chocolate. Heavy raspberry candy. So much fruit that it is not in my flavor preference overall. Tastes almost like a natural, even tho it is just washed with all cherries selected at or above 20 brix. Super wild coffee. Also, all of my brews were with sub 1 week rest lol.
But this is exactly why this discord exists. Different takeaways from different people with different taste perceptions!
8:36 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Shouldn't need loads imo. I was banging out brews at 2 weeks. But it def will change and become more subdued and floral over time.
8:36 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Lol that will take a while. If it ever happens as a separate purchase.
8:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Super easy..column of water over tamped puck. Slow and gentle saturation then high flow rate thru puck. Ratio at user's discretion lol
8:45 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Also need to play chess again
8:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Still need to finalize
8:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Not happy with hole size
8:51 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Working on airlock and on basket hole size
8:52 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Missed the live. Maybe on another brew approach or something. It comes out for sureeee. Glad you 4 it up haha
8:53 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Oh ofc
8:53 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I would consider posting the survey but even with people asking me to make a premium oxo, there will be reddit threads assassinating my character if I post about something to get a product made lol
8:57 PM #current-menu: Just wait. We have so much more haha
8:59 PM #current-menu: I'm beyond stoked
11:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Tbh i have been in a long rut with blitz. Been pushing rapid up. Almost at 1600. Peaked at like 1591 yesterday.
11:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: [attachment only]
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11:58 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Let's say 5min and cut it hahaha
11:58 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Give me a bit of an advantage 🤣

2026-06-03

12:08 AM #current-menu: Caffeine is heavily connected to extraction yield. Secondarily, time

2026-06-04

5:21 PM #Brew-Along: Brewing Ibonia!
6:03 PM #Brew-Along: Brewing Ibonia!
8:34 PM #origins-and-producers: Gross
8:39 PM #origins-and-producers: Food and coffee
Hakko (they use my ACS vostok on bar)
Protest Kitchen

Just coffee:
SO Coffee Roasters
Von and Vonnie (they have my 01 on bar lol)

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opp4004

2026-06-03

1:34 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking this one right now. Corral Pampal Eduardo’s coffee was actually included in the subscription last year as well, and I remember being pretty blown away by it.

I’m getting notes of lemon candy, lime-like acidity, white currant and buttery aromatics that seem to bloom right at the tip of the nose, a texture reminiscent of Chardonnay, and a delicate tea-like quality similar to white tea.

When people ask me what SL9 tastes like, this is the kind of coffee I tend to point to. The florality is wonderful, but what really stands out to me is that it offers something more complex than just floral character alone
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1:57 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I think last year’s version had even more complexity. It was one of those coffees that felt almost impossible to fully understand — there were so many different things going on in the cup.

Then again, it could just be that my brewing has changed. I’m using an OXO Rapid Brewer now, after all, so that might have something to do with it too
2:49 AM #origins-and-producers: Natural coffees… I’m not sure whether there are any samples available in the U.S., but when it comes to Ethiopia, some of the cleanest and most impressive naturals I’ve had were from Sheka (specifically Kawo Kamina) and Tesfaye Tibebu Roba(Gedeb-Yirgacheffe)
2:50 AM #origins-and-producers: These days, natural coffees seem to be moving toward the extremes. Even coffees that are marketed as classic naturals often feel a bit funkier than they used to
2:52 AM #origins-and-producers: Or the coffees from Sookoo. Even their naturals feel incredibly refined and well-structured
3:01 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It could also be that I’ve just drunk so much SL9 that I’ve become accustomed to it lol

For example, those Catucaí 785 coffees from Brazil that SEY used to send fairly often but doesn’t seem to feature much anymore — if I drank them now, I’d probably find them somewhat simple
3:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Because when I first started drinking SL9 — excluding Nuevo Progresso, since Lucio Luque’s coffee genuinely tastes quite similar to real gesha — it was honestly a bit of a cultural shock for me, haha
6:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking a Burundi coffee I just brewed. Interestingly, quite a few people seem not to be particularly fond of Burundi. More people than I expected — both in the U.S. and in Korea — seem to dislike that distinctive ‘terroir character’ often associated with coffees from Rwanda and Burundi.

This coffee, however, feels like it goes beyond that profile. I suspect it’s because more care was taken with the processing. I’m getting notes of berries and dried apricot, a cool, refreshing quality that reminds me of Central Asian spices, a white tea-like texture, a hint of clove, and Valencia orange. What I especially love is the finish, where the Valencia orange and subtle clove notes weave together beautifully.
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6:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Once a coffee starts showing notes that people associate with spices, quite a few drinkers tend to lose interest. I think that’s just one of those things you can’t really do much about — it comes down to personal preference
6:23 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I actually quite enjoy those spice-like notes. They seem to refresh the palate and keep the cup feeling lively
3:43 PM #what-are-you-brewing: 🤣 Yeah that’s me
3:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, that's kind of embarrassing... thanks for the compliment though. I'll keep at it 😎
3:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, not everyone uses IG, and I find it much easier to have actual conversations here. So I came over just to hang out for a bit… and somehow got recognized 🥸
4:00 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, I’ll do my best to write twice a day. And hopefully it won’t be just SEY all the time — there are plenty of other coffees worth talking about too
4:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ha, alright then — every time I drink a SEY, I’ll come here and leave 🙂‍↕️
5:00 PM #origins-and-producers: Exactly. He used to produce coffees that made me think, ‘Wait, this is actually a natural?’ The cups were that clean and refined. These days, though, I’ve had the impression that he’s lost his way a little bit.

That said, he’s still making very good coffees, and he’s clearly still quite popular
5:02 PM #origins-and-producers: Well, it happens everywhere. There’s such a strong demand for ‘funky’ coffees these days that anaerobic-fermented coffees keep finding their way into Korea. They’re not bad, but…
5:04 PM #origins-and-producers: Well, it is what it is, haha. I’ll just keep doing what I’ve always done — tracking down clean, high-quality coffees wherever they show up.

I used to love coffees like Dumerso and Duromina, but not so much anymore. Tastes change, preferences evolve, and that’s just part of the journey, I guess
5:13 PM #origins-and-producers: What I do know is that the old Kata Muduga Union is gone now. A lot has changed, hasn’t it? Ha

One of the people involved with Duromina was producing natural coffees through a single-farmer project a few years ago, and Yukro seems to be in a rather strange situation
5:14 PM #origins-and-producers: Nano Challa, Yukro, Duromina, and the rest. The legendary coffees of Jimma are gone now. Sadly, a whole era has passed
5:16 PM #origins-and-producers: Who was it again… the producer who used to export Sadi Loya? Habtamu Fikadu Aga. His coffees are still pretty good, at least
5:18 PM #origins-and-producers: As much as I miss those coffees, it’s probably more efficient to look toward high-elevation Guji or Gedeb now. As sad as it is, chasing the past rarely works in coffee
5:30 PM #origins-and-producers: A friend of mine once spoke with Klaus Thomsen, and from what I heard, Habtamu Fikadu Aga does a really good job of supporting the farmers he works with.

That’s one of the reasons, as I understand it, that Coffee Collective ended its relationship with METAD (which had some issues of its own) and started working with Habtamu instead. The quality has been consistently quite good as well
5:31 PM #origins-and-producers: From what I’ve heard, Habtamu was extremely proactive when it came to transparency
5:33 PM #origins-and-producers: The coffees that Mike Mamo and Ture worked on together were really good. I just wish they’d produce more washed coffees
5:34 PM #origins-and-producers: I think the lot was called something like Sonkolle Kallato — or at least that’s how I remember it. I’ve heard that in recent years it’s developed a reputation for being a bit funkier than it used to be
5:39 PM #origins-and-producers: I still think the future lies in the less-explored parts of Sidama, or in the high-elevation coffees that are only now starting to emerge — the Bekele coffees, for example. There’s still so much left to discover there.

Especially places like Murago
5:39 PM #origins-and-producers: Uraga has changed a lot too, haha. It’s become much harder to figure out these days
5:41 PM #origins-and-producers: It’s true that all these exporters and more finely separated lots are improving quality. But honestly, it’s getting hard for me too, hahaha. There’s so much information and so many names now that I can barely keep track of it all
5:42 PM #origins-and-producers: 🤯
5:47 PM #origins-and-producers: Well… I guess we just have to keep reaching out to well-known producers and try to piece it all together, haha. At least people like Alo, Elto, and Teddy put a lot of effort into what they do
5:48 PM #origins-and-producers: (Though I’d be even happier if they put a little more attention into washed coffees, haha.)

2026-06-04

12:12 AM #origins-and-producers: Tewdros Niguse, Karamo Coffee
12:58 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This coffee is a Sidra from Lugmapata, a farm operated by the Enrique family. SEY used to release this coffee regularly, though they don’t anymore. To be honest, after tasting it, I think I can understand why.

It’s not that the coffee is bad — but it doesn’t taste quite the way it used to, for better or worse.

The cup opens with a pronounced lemon-like acidity. There’s that characteristic cool, refreshing aroma that I often associate with Sidra, along with an oolong tea-like quality, hints of eucalyptus, and notes of blood orange. On paper, those descriptors sound very similar to the Sidras of the past.

What’s missing, though, is the intensity and separation. The flavors don’t have the same level of clarity or definition that I remember, and the overall experience feels less striking than it once did
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1:00 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, this profile doesn’t really remind me of Lugmapata. If anything, it brings back memories of the Guillermo Lomas Sidra I had years ago.

Ironically, I think the Sumergido – Anaerobic Honey lots I had from Lugmapata in the past were considerably better. My guess is that some of the lots I rated most highly may have been allocated to those processing styles instead.

There’s a noticeable difference in quality. It’s not that this coffee is lacking in flavor — the citrus, tea-like character, and cooling herbal notes are all there — but it doesn’t have the same level of intensity, clarity, or overall impact that I remember from those earlier processed lots
1:57 AM #origins-and-producers: It turned out to be more complicated than I expected… I had no idea there were so many factors behind washed coffees, ha
5:00 AM #origins-and-producers: Looking at the processing description for the latest release from David Berrio, it’s pretty easy to see why people feel his coffees are different.

I’ve had coffees with that kind of layered character before. In the description, he refers to ‘cochadas’, and I think I’ve encountered something similar in coffees from Chelbesa. If I remember correctly, they were using a somewhat comparable approach
5:04 AM #origins-and-producers: Of course, the Chelbesa coffee I had wasn’t exactly refined. But it was definitely unique, haha. It actually reminded me a bit of a lactic-washed coffee.

That’s probably why I’m so curious about this new release from David Berrio. If he’s working with a similar concept but executing it at a higher level, it could be really interesting
5:07 AM #origins-and-producers: Maybe it’ll be quite different, honestly. The processing description on this new release isn’t exactly the same
5:08 AM #origins-and-producers: Or maybe Lance just decided to write a much more detailed processing description this time, haha(just kidding)
6:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking Ibonia AB right now, and it’s turning out quite differently from what I expected, which makes it a pretty interesting cup.

The first thing that hits me is a brown-sugar type of sweetness that reminds me of Costa Rican coffees. But rather than praline or molasses, it comes across more like dulce de leche — creamy, rich, and smooth.

There’s also the bright aroma and acidity of hibiscus, an unusual tropical fruit character that reminds me of rambutan, a touch of red currant aromatics, and an acidity that brings pomegranate to mind.

I come across buttery Kenyan coffees fairly often, but a dulce de leche character like this is something I haven’t experienced in a long time. It actually reminds me of the kind of creamy sweetness I used to find in El Campo from Honduras years ago
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6:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I used to be a big fan of coffees from Embu — especially because I loved that deep, weighty currant-like fruit character that Embu coffees often had.

I still enjoy them, to be fair. But these days, I find that coffees from Kiambu tend to be a little closer to my personal taste
6:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I use my own recipe, built around the OXO and Long Soup
6:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’ve been using non-bypass brewers — things like the Tricolate and NextLevel Brewer — for a very long time. Because of that, I tend to approach the OXO in much the same way
6:14 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I think part of the difference may come from processing as well. Much like what happened in Ethiopia, Kenya has gradually moved away from some of its more traditional washed methods and, in many cases, now uses a more conventional washed process.

My guess is that this has had an impact on the cup profile. Most of the Kenyan coffees that SEY buys are processed as single-washed coffees, whereas many other producers and exporters still use the traditional double-washed method — the classic Kenyan K72 style
6:17 AM #what-are-you-brewing: There’s also the classic distinction between factory coffees and estate coffees.

And this is just my own speculation, but I think the ‘best’ coffee-growing areas in Kenya may have shifted over time. Years ago, places like Nyeri and Embu were often considered the standout regions. These days, though, I find myself increasingly drawn to coffees from parts of Murang'a and Kiambu, as well as coffees coming out of Nandi and the surrounding areas
6:17 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I have a lot of respect for coffees from Kirinyaga, but in my personal ranking, Kiambu still comes out on top
6:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That said, like you mentioned, there really is something special about coffees that are separated out as pure SL34. I was lucky enough to try one years ago, and it left a lasting impression on me. It had a character that felt genuinely unique
12:59 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ah, Takesi… There was a time when it felt like the ‘value-for-money Gesha,’ but the price has gone up so much. To be fair, prices have risen across the board, but now it’s on a completely different level, haha.

As far as I know, the distribution for Takesi Gesha is fairly structured. A release showed up through GGET a year or two ago, but that felt more like an exception than a long-term change.

Most of the coffee seems to go to a relatively small group of roasters, such as Coffee Collective, Monogram, Maruyama Coffee, Seven Seeds, and Intelligentsia.

Because of that, it may be difficult for SEY to get access to it even if they wanted to. That said, the coffee landscape has changed a lot. These days there are plenty of Geshas that can compete with, or even surpass, Takesi depending on what you're looking for in the cup
4:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ah… picking just one is impossible, haha.

If I had to name a few of the most memorable coffees, I’d probably start with Isidro Orosco’s SL9 from last year, Diego Hoyos’s Pink Bourbon, and, going further back, Maria Lunid Ascencio’s El Pino, VC, Renjifo's Gesha, would be up there as well.

As for what I’d love to see from SEY in the future, I keep coming back to one idea: a great Maracaturra or Maragogype, or Parainema from Nicaragua.

Right now, I honestly think Nicaragua is one of the most underrated coffee-producing countries in the world, and Maracaturra/Maragogipe are among the most underrated varieties. The quality coming out of some farms today is dramatically better than many people realize.

And SEY has always been particularly good at uncovering coffees that the wider market tends to overlook. If there’s a roaster that could make people pay attention to Nicaraguan Maracaturra again, I think it might be them
4:53 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ana María Albir Sotomayor, Fabio David Rodríguez, Abner Samuel Zavala González, Enrique Ferrufino, Mary Elsy Caldera De Cooperativa
4:54 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Interestingly, ever since Coffee Libre’s founder, Seu, became involved with Finca Libre, an impressive number of genuinely outstanding coffees from Nicaragua have started making their way into Korea
4:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: They also support competitions within Nicaragua itself, such as Best of Marago, and I absolutely love the kinds of coffees that come out of those events
4:56 PM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s actually a mix of different processing styles — washed, honey, natural, anaerobic, and so on
4:56 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Of course, I still think washed coffees are the best
4:58 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Personally, one of the most impressive coffees I've had recently was the washed Maracaturra from Bethania, produced by Ana María Albir Sotomayor.

What surprised me most was how much it reminded me of the Mejorado from Reyes that you included in the subscription, or Arashi
5:01 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ...Or the Parainema coffees coming out of Nicaragua. There aren't many of them, but as far as I know, producers like Dr. Enrique, 5 de Junio (Mary Elsy Caldera's cooperative), and Finca Libre are among the few working with it
5:04 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, I've mostly moved on from Santa Bárbara Parainema. My tastes have changed a bit. If I'm looking for Parainema these days, I'm much more interested in what producers in El Paraíso are doing — especially farms like El Laurel
5:05 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I think a big part of that improvement comes from the fact that Mr. Seu has been actively supporting competitions in the region — things like Best of Parainema. Those kinds of events seem to have pushed quality noticeably higher.

You can see it not only in El Paraíso, but also in places like Intibucá. The overall standard has improved quite a bit
5:07 PM #what-are-you-brewing: He really does love his ‘Best of Something’ competitions, lol
5:12 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Yeah, Honduras definitely isn’t what it used to be. I think that’s part of the reason so many people are starting to look toward new regions.

I remember when people used to say that producing truly exceptional Gesha in Comayagua was incredibly difficult. These days, though, you seem to see high-quality Geshas coming out of the region far more often. The same goes for places like Francisco Morazán.
5:12 PM #what-are-you-brewing: That said, in regions like those in Honduras, I think only a very small number of producers are likely to meet your standards. There are plenty of good coffees, but the truly exceptional ones still tend to come from a handful of farms and producers.

Also, there’s a Nicaraguan exporter called Gold Mountain Coffee Growers. You might want to get your hands on some samples if you ever get the chance. I’ve heard some very positive things about the quality of the coffees they’re working with
5:13 PM #what-are-you-brewing: To be fair, their transparency isn't exactly their strongest point... but the coffees themselves have a pretty good reputation. I've heard from several people that the quality in the cup is genuinely impressive

2026-06-05

1:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: For me, as the coffee cooled, that brown-sugar-like sweetness started to fade
1:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is making me miss El Campo
1:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking a Gesha from Chevas Estate right now. It’s listed as a Dark Room Washed process — which, if I understand correctly, refers to a very slow drying phase in a dark or controlled environment. I always thought the idea originated with Mauricio Shattah, though I’ve also heard people attribute it to Elida Estate, so who knows, haha.

That said, Chevas isn’t one of the farms I’ve traditionally used as a benchmark for Gesha. To be completely honest, this is actually my first time drinking one of their gesha.

My old reference points used to be Esmeralda, Elida, and Takesi. Nowadays, though, the category has become so fragmented and diverse that those benchmarks feel less meaningful than they once did.

As for the cup itself, it’s a very classic Gesha profile. I’m getting jasmine, lemongrass, a texture that reminds me of green tea, plenty of umami, and a touch of lychee. What stands out most, though, is the finish. There’s an interesting combination of tropical fruit and minerality that lingers after the sip
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1:35 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That said, toward the end of the cup, I started noticing something that reminded me of another Dark Room coffee from Chevas I had before — I think it was a caturra.

There’s a faint ferment character that I personally find a bit off-putting. It’s difficult to describe precisely, but it has that slightly savory, marine-like quality that can sometimes come across as reminiscent of overripe fermentation or even the faint smell of spoiled shrimp.

It’s not dominant enough to ruin the cup, but once I notice it, I can’t really ignore it.

And honestly, it does make me wonder whether that’s part of the reason Chevas hasn’t quite broken into the top tier of mainstream Panama producers
1:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, and this is exactly why I’ve never been the biggest fan of Panama Gesha.

It’s not that I think it’s bad — far from it. But once you factor in the price, I often struggle to find enough coffees that feel so much better than everything else to justify the premium. There are certainly exceptional examples, but they’re fewer than people sometimes assume.

Honestly, a lot of the time I’d rather drink a great coffee from Peru, or Bolivia
2:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Well, it varies depending on the region — and even the country — but in many cases, the water tends to be low in magnesium. That's especially true when people are using bottled water
2:26 AM #what-are-you-brewing: And water... once you start messing with water chemistry in coffee, you're entering a special kind of hell 🔥
2:35 AM #what-are-you-brewing: You're right. If you're already enjoying the coffee, there's really no reason to start changing your brewing parameters
3:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: The funny thing is that great Panama coffees are often expected. Great Kenyan coffees still feel discovered. That's part of what keeps pulling me back 🔥
4:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: One thing I'll say about Lance is that he has a knack for spotting coffees before everyone else catches on
4:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: The funny thing is that Los Cenizos is already well known, so it’s not like Lance is discovering completely unknown producers. But some of the coffees he finds — Don Benjie comes to mind immediately
4:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Or take the very first Lost Origin coffees they released.

I remember when SEY started offering them and the reaction was basically, ‘What is this? I've never even heard of it.’ Then, a few years later, suddenly everyone was buying from them or talking about them
4:44 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Exactly, haha. That's one of the main reasons I keep my subscription
4:52 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Well, that's fair, haha. If someone tells me they're bored of Gesha, I actually tend to recommend Elida Estate. Their coffees are genuinely a bit different.

I've been lucky enough to try a ridiculous number of Panamanian Geshas over the years thanks to friends, and when I think back on the coffees that immediately come to mind, Elida is still one of the first names I think of, or Finca Deborah
4:53 AM #what-are-you-brewing: But honestly? I wouldn't be surprised if, few years from now, people start saying they're tired of SL9 too 🤣
5:10 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Oh? Then what about Colombian geshas? Things like the coffees that have competed in Copa de Oro, or producers such as Aníbal Sánchez
5:13 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I've noticed that José Joaquín Bolaños's gesha have become pretty popular lately
5:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, I mean, you were the one who said geshas were boring
5:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Of course, SL9 has an incredibly broad flavor spectrum and a huge amount of diversity. But I still think that, eventually, people will get tired of it too
5:24 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Although, to be honest, I have a feeling SL9 will become increasingly expensive and harder to find before people ever get tired 🤣
5:26 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Oh, wasn't it? That's what I thought you meant
5:28 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Ah, I see
5:30 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That said, those farms are producing and releasing so many different lots and processing styles these days that I do think some of them are genuinely worthwhile.

Sure, it's easy to dismiss it all as expensive marketing from famous farms. But when you actually taste the coffees, I think some of the results justify the effort. Not every experiment works, of course, but every now and then you come across a lot that feels meaningfully different rather than simply different for the sake of being different

At the same time, if someone says they're bored of those farms, I don't think that's an unreasonable opinion either
6:00 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, I just brewed a Kenyan coffee called Chania.

Naturally, I assumed it was a coffee from Boyce Harris's Chania, but apparently the name actually comes from the Chania river in Nyeri. What's strange is that there doesn't seem to be a factory name or cooperative name attached to it. At that point, I'm not entirely sure how we're supposed to classify it as specialty coffee, but anyway...

It's labeled as a peaberry lot, though the beans look noticeably larger than most peaberries I've come across. The cup itself is quite impressive. There's a dense brown-sugar sweetness, blueberry-like fruit, floral notes that remind me of chamomile, a touch of grapefruit, and a bright citrus finish that lingers after the sip.

More than anything, it reminds me of the peaberry from Spikes that I had from heart years ago
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2026-06-06

1:17 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I subscribe to the 6-bag option and split it with a friend. Honestly, that’s probably been the best arrangement for me so far
1:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: The biggest advantage of the 6-bag subscription: you might end up receiving something a little more mysterious or limited
1:41 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is what I'm drinking right now. It really confirms something I've been thinking for a while — Chirosos from outside Urrao feel completely different
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1:44 AM #what-are-you-brewing: To be honest, Pitalito has always been a slightly suspicious region in my mind. Not because the coffees are bad, but because it seems to be the place where all the unusual varieties, unusual producers, and unusual processing methods end up
1:46 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, here's what I'm getting from the cup:

A floral character intertwined with lemongrass — the kind that oddly reminds me of scallions or shallots at times (which, in my experience, is usually a sign of a good Chiroso, haha). There's also lychee, bergamot-like aromatics, and a floral quality that carries all the way through the finish alongside a bright, lively acidity
1:49 AM #what-are-you-brewing: What strikes me most is the acidity. It's so bright and energetic that it reminds me of a handful of coffees I still remember years later — Rumudamo COE #2, Esmeralda from Coffee Collective, things like that.

Maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but every now and then a coffee takes me straight back to that era when it felt like every Coffee Collective release was something special
1:51 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is my second time drinking a Chiroso from William Ortiz, and compared to the first one I had, the flavor feels much more vivid and sharply defined 😚
1:54 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is one of the reasons I love Colombian coffee. Every now and then—maybe even quite often—you get to experience a coffee that has genuinely improved since the last time you had it, of course, that's not true of every producer...
1:55 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Takesi
1:56 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, I wouldn't be so sure. Monogram has changed quite a bit over the years
1:58 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, my friend said he was going to send me the 1st-place coffee from Copa de Oro Western, but I haven't heard anything since..
2:01 AM #what-are-you-brewing: The problem is that I already have a mountain of coffee waiting to be brewed. First there's the 24 boxes from SEY... then all the samples my friends have sent me... then the Chinese coffees... Honestly, I don't think I'll be buying any coffee for a while. 😭
2:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Takesi is season now, so.....
2:03 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, Takesi was a time when that was basically a holy grail coffee. Funny thing is, it never seemed to become that huge in the US
2:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm basically trying to line everything up and figure out where it all belongs. At this point, I've tasted most of them anyway
2:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Scenery is actually pretty good at sourcing coffee. Especially Ethiopian
2:12 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Maputo!
2:13 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Maputo was originally known for sidra
2:13 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, there was a period when Maputo was better known than Lugmapata
2:14 AM #what-are-you-brewing: At some point, though, it more or less disappeared from the market. Whether that was due to quality issues or something else, I honestly don't know
2:15 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, Maputo is still important to me because it was one of the coffees that helped put Ecuador on the map. In a way, it's one of the reasons people started paying attention to Ecuador as a source of truly exceptional coffee
2:16 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I don't remember the details anymore, but I'm pretty sure SEY sold Maputo at some point a long time ago. Lance would probably remember better than I do
2:18 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Those mysterious varieties, L1 and L2... if I remember correctly, the Cup of Excellence submission listed them as Timor Hybrid-derived varieties. But honestly, I've always wondered if they might actually be something closer to batian or ruiru 11 😆
2:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Takesi. If you'd asked me a few years ago to name my top three Geshas, it would've been on the list without question. These days, though... I'm not so sure
2:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: At some point, Takesi started putting a lot more emphasis on separating and selling different varieties individually.

They began offering things like Java, multiple gesha selections, and a range of other varieties as distinct lots. I remember hearing quite a few people argue that this was actually a mistake — that once they started dividing everything into smaller varietal lots, the overall quality wasn't as consistently exceptional as it had been before
2:23 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Maragogipe was actually really good, that was once known as the ‘Mystery Gesha,’ or sometimes ‘Maragesha'
2:24 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Takesi insisted they had never, ever planted Maragogype. 😂

For years, they were adamant about it. Then, in the end, it turned out to be Maragogype after all
2:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is the one, called Giant Gesha, 🥸
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2:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, it tasted exactly like the marago I remembered from Takesi. Pineapple, a touch of jasmine, that sort of thing
4:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: 😶‍🌫️
4:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: There are certainly some outstanding Chirosos coming out of Urrao, but there have also been plenty that carry that distinctive cedar-like character.

It seems less common these days—either producers have improved, or maybe SEY just isn't sending those coffees in the subscription anymore
4:34 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ...Or maybe things have simply improved since Antioquia Mágico. Looking at the results from Copa de Occidente and Copa de Oro, I honestly think that's a real possibility
4:36 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, whenever my roaster friends come across a chiroso from outside Urrao, I always tell them to buy it. Tolima, Huila, even Santander—I don't really care where it comes from. If it's a non-Urrao Chiroso, I'm interested
4:41 AM #what-are-you-brewing: There are a lot of theories.

Some people point to the distinction between Bourbon-chiroso and Caturra-chiroso. Others think it's simply a result of the more traditional processing methods that have historically been common in Urrao. Another possibility is that the Chiroso populations in Urrao are older and more established than those found elsewhere. The truth is that it's difficult to say with any certainty. There are too many variables, and I don't think anyone has a definitive answer yet..

What I can say is that the best Chiroso I've ever had wasn't from Urrao at all. It was El Mirador, produced by Jose Javier Canacue in Aipe, Huila. It was like 'Takesi' 🤣
4:58 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That said, the Caro family's coffees are an interesting case.

They're not from Urrao, yet every single one I've tried has had that same cedar-like character. Luis, Santiago, Daniel, Jose—regardless of who produced the coffee, I kept finding a similar aromatic signature - 'CEDAR'

If all of them are working with the same Chiroso seed stock, then the explanation might actually be fairly simple. In that case, what I'm perceiving could have more to do with genetics than with processing or origin
5:00 AM #what-are-you-brewing: For what it's worth, Daniel's was my favorite of the Caro family coffees.

It was the one where that cedar-like note felt the least intrusive. In fact, there were moments when I could almost interpret it as tamarind rather than cedar. The cup was also absolutely packed with tropical fruit, which made the whole profile much more compelling
5:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Yeah, that's probably
5:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Tamarind can be wonderful when it shows up in the cup. It's exotic, vibrant, and adds a really distinctive character. Cedar, on the other hand... I really don't like
5:45 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Yeah, exactly
5:48 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, I don't have any of the old Coffee Collective Takesi bags anymore, but this is the first Takesi I ever drank
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5:48 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I think it was around 2020, if I remember correctly
5:49 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Back then, it wasn't nearly as expensive as it is today
5:52 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Coffee Collective was genuinely great back then. I feel like things started to shift when a lot of the Nordic roasters began adjusting their roasting styles to be a bit more approachable and mainstream. Coffee Collective is one example, but the same thing happened with La Cabra
5:54 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That's why, when people who never experienced the old Coffee Collective or La Cabra hear others calling them ‘legendary,’ they're often confused.

Their reaction is basically: ‘Wait, these guys? What's all the hype about? I'd rather just drink UL, haha' 😆
5:57 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Believe it or not, I actually think Big Sur (are you listening? 👀) comes closer than anyone else to recreating the flavor profile of the old Coffee Collective
5:58 AM #what-are-you-brewing: In La Cabra's case, there had already been periods where the roasting felt a bit inconsistent, so the changes weren't entirely surprising. With Coffee Collective, though, it was much more of a shock
6:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I guess it's the middle of the night for you guys, so it feels like I'm talking to myself over here, haha... Anyway, this is what I'm drinking right now. I'm getting honeysuckle-like florals, ripe apricot, acacia blossom, a slightly powdery cotton-like aroma, and a touch of lemon
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6:20 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I think it was around 2022 or 2023. At some point, the change felt very sudden
6:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Tbh I'd already tried most of the famous mejorados from Ecuador, so I thought I more or less knew what to expect. But then I had Maritza Dota from SEY, and it completely changed my perspective again. After that, as more new producers started being discovered, I found myself rethinking Ecuador. It reminded me that, despite all the attention it's received in recent years, Ecuador still feels like a hidden gem in many ways
9:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I only use the OXO, with more of a non-bypass style extraction
10:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Haha, all the veterans are showing up now... Anyway, it really was an amazing roastery — both in terms of taste and the coffees they brought in
10:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I felt the same way… but about two years ago, at a competition held during the Nordic Coffee Festival, I tasted Coffee Collective’s coffee, and honestly I thought, ‘this is not it.’ And after that… well. Really miss their Kieni
10:39 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Well… new roasters are always emerging anyway, haha. Right now I actually think there’s a new wave happening in China, and I’ve been exploring that side a bit more
10:44 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’d recommend Big Sur and AOKKA. I don’t know if it’s because of China’s food culture or something, but roasteries based in southern China tend to favor very light, bright roasting. It honestly reminds me a lot of the old Nordic coffee scene, which feels a bit surreal
11:27 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It depends on how much coffee you’re using… but how many grams do you usually use? If it’s under 20g, I’d go coarser on the grind and higher on the temperature (above 94°C). In that case, you also need a metal AeroPress filter, which helps create a bit of backpressure in the basket. If it’s over 20g, it’s much simpler
11:30 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm currently trying a single bag of Terraform. In my setup, the structure seems to collapse starting from the mid-palate (I used an Ethiopian Hure, Red Honey), so… it's not bad, but it doesn't feel particularly dramatic or mind-blowing, haha. I'll probably try Mobydick after I clear out some of my current coffee stock first
11:32 AM #what-are-you-brewing: OXO is actually more interesting than I expected. I use two different recipes. For 14g doses, I use a Femobook grinder, and for 22g doses I use an X54 with BG burrs. The 14g recipe has a higher ceiling in terms of flavor, while the 22g one is more stable and consistent. Which one should I share?
11:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: For reference, I’ve mostly been on a fixed 22g dose recently
11:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: 22, good.

Grind size: around fine sugar.

Use a paper filter on both top and bottom.

The most important part of my recipe is no tamping—that’s the key.

So: 22g dose, fine sugar grind, filters on both sides, no tamping. Fill the chamber with water all at once—about 240g.

Start pressing very slowly. When roughly half the water remains in the chamber (~120g left), pour in another 120g of water and continue pressing slowly as before.

The extraction is done when you start hearing the gas escaping / hissing sound.

For water, I recommend around 85°C (my water is about 100 ppm)
11:54 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, that old nordic style has almost disappeared. If anything, only a few roasters like Prolog or Johan & Nyström still feel somewhat close to it
11:55 AM #what-are-you-brewing: For better or worse… that classic style where, if it goes wrong, you end up with something that tastes a bit grassy…
11:57 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Of course, a lot of new roasteries have also popped up there, and I don’t follow them as closely as I used to, so it’s hard to say anything too definitive, but at least the well-known ones have definitely changed
12:01 PM #what-are-you-brewing: GOOD LIFE really reminds me of SEY in that 2020–2021 era. And Kaffibrugghúsið was surprisingly good as well. Kaffebox is probably a good way to explore a lot of that stuff, And yeah… Kaffebox would probably answer a lot of my curiosity, but at this point even SEY alone is already more coffee than I can realistically keep up with
3:22 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Frukt—that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while… I haven’t had their coffees recently, so I honestly can’t say how they’re tasting these days
3:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, the criticism I have toward Nordic roasters isn’t only about changes in roasting style. As a long-time fan of Tim, I’ve tried his coffees almost every year, and there have definitely been moments where the cups felt a bit ‘heavy’ or muted, while at other times they felt much brighter. Like coffee always does, there’s a fair amount of variation between batches. La Cabra is similar in that sense. Sometimes I’ve even found the extraction a bit tricky or frustrating. That said, the recent coffee I had from Tim was genuinely excellent.
3:51 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Tbh, since Tim started his own projects (El Suelo, El Vikingo), the range of coffees he works with has noticeably narrowed. In the case of Coffee Collective, they talk a lot about ‘sustainable coffee,’ but in practice it often feels like they’re sending very similar profiles year after year. La Cabra is probably the one that still shows a bit more variety in comparison. And April as well. But if we’re being honest about green coffee sourcing, some of the Nordic roasters these days can feel a bit ‘less active’ compared to what you see in the US scene..
3:51 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Saying ‘the old days were better’ isn’t just about roasting profiles. I guess my previous comments ended up focusing a lot on roasting style, haha
4:03 PM #what-are-you-brewing: And with Canadian roasters emerging that are more aggressive on green coffee sourcing, I feel like they’ve essentially replaced that role the Nordics used to play. It’s a bit unfortunate, but that’s how it seems now. Of course, Coffee Collective is clearly making a lot of effort to change. Even looking at what they’re offering these days, you can see they’re trying to bring in more ‘aggressive’ or ambitious coffees compared to before. But I still think it’s going to take a lot of work for them to fully compete in that space again

Anyway, that’s basically my most recent way of mapping out the global roastery scene. It ended up getting a bit long, haha
4:19 PM #what-are-you-brewing: In the case of Maritza, I heard that her neighbor Arashi encouraged her to get into coffee, and she received a lot of support along the way. That makes her an even more exciting producer to watch in the future
4:22 PM #what-are-you-brewing: She really ended up with a great neighbor, haha
4:35 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Yeah, I think their changes were intentional, and in some ways they might even be successful.

It’s also possible that my own taste has changed over time, and those roasteries are still great as entry points into specialty coffee.

But still… I can’t help it—I prefer their earlier 😞
4:41 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I think this is also connected to the evolution of brewing tools and the pricing of coffee gear.

And honestly, I also think it’s partly because the US specialty coffee scene has just developed so quickly
4:44 PM #what-are-you-brewing: As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like things really started accelerating around the time Scott Rao introduced that ‘Kalita Wave with a metal mesh’ idea. That’s kind of when the pace of brewing development really took off
4:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: We’re now in an environment where you can roast much lighter than before and still extract coffee in a stable, repeatable way. As we discussed earlier—better burrs, better brewers, better extraction theory, and so on
4:47 PM #what-are-you-brewing: So in a sense, Nordic roasters might have just stayed where they were. It’s possible that we were the ones who changed too quickly, ha

2026-06-07

1:30 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This coffee I’m drinking right now is probably the kind some people would absolutely hate, haha. It’s Gaharo Hill, and honestly it’s one of my favorite Burundis. I’m getting blood orange, tropical fruit, marmalade, and a hint of gooseberry
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3:49 AM #origins-and-producers: https://sucafina.com/na/offerings/aurora-java-natural
3:49 AM #origins-and-producers: Has anyone else tried this coffee?
5:52 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This coffee is SNAP’s Buku Sayisa, produced by Esayas Bariso and roasted by a friend of mine. I actually just learned that it’s a single-farm lot, haha. There’s a decent chance people like Lance or Doug may have tasted samples of it at some point..

The processing is what SNAP calls ‘Modified’—essentially that fairly complex washed process that Feran has written about before. In the cup, I’m getting peony-like florals that remind me of Kenya, bergamot, yuzu-like citrus, a touch of Chinese black tea, and layered tropical fruit notes that emerge through the finish. Ethiopia has been exceptionally good this year
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5:59 AM #what-are-you-brewing: With the results i've seen this year, I don't think this is something that will remain limited to SNAP. If anything, I expect more regions in Ethiopia to start producing coffees at a similarly high level.. Processing trends spread incredibly quickly in coffee. Once producers see that a particular approach is delivering both quality and recognition, it doesn't usually stay isolated for long

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GPT-5.5 Thinking Summary

seylance2897

On subscriptions and menu construction, he said SEY is not selecting coffees randomly: they deliberately choose for quality and diversity, with seasonal weighting such as more Ethiopians in summer and more Colombians in winter.
On Colombian Chirosos, he pushed back against bias against the variety, saying people should taste blindly; he described SEY's Chirosos as among Colombia's highest-scoring and hardest-to-access coffees, helped by roughly five years of relationship-building.
On roasting transparency, he said SEY's roast approach is not secret, that they are "fully transparency," and that the basic target is full coffee expression without burning off character or leaving cereal-like underdevelopment.
On roast color, he repeatedly defined SEY's current development window as roughly 135-140 on the DiFluid color track: below that he often tastes cereal or underdevelopment, above that he starts to taste roast, though a few coffees can go lighter without cereal.
On roasting philosophy, he said SEY has intentionally moved lighter over the last year, away from a solubility/max-extraction philosophy toward preserving raw-material character while avoiding cereal.
On data and tasting, he said SEY is building a large dataset correlating density, moisture, and development, aided by the fact that he sample-roasts about 100-200 coffees weekly; he also argued that roasting, brewing, buying, and processing are limited by how well one can taste.
On Ethiopia, he discussed the decline or transformation of old Agaro/Kata Muduga-era coffees, citing higher historical moisture, later drying to 8-9%, eco-pulpers, reduced fermentation, and export systems built around larger washing-station lots rather than tiny separated lots.
On Peru and logistics, he said refrigerated containers "100% worked" for Peru because not a single coffee landed aged, contrasting this with Colombia's fast logistics and Ethiopia's tendency to benefit from rest; he is considering refrigeration for places like Burundi and Rwanda.
On varieties and genetics, he was skeptical of "orange Gesha" claims without genetic confirmation, distinguishing Peruvian yellow Gesha as a Gesha-Bourbon cross and red Gesha as 100% Gesha, while guessing the orange type may also be some kind of Bourbon cross.
On roasting equipment and technique, he said dense Ethiopians can be hit hard with energy and dropped fast, while less dense coffees such as Geshas need gentler ramping; he praised the Loring for consistency, said drum roasters make internal development without scorching difficult, and argued espresso should not be roasted darker.

lancehedrick

On tasting work at SEY, he said the recent visit involved an enormous amount of tasting across cupping, AeroPress, "soup," V60, Orea Z1/V3, espresso, and other methods, totaling at least 20 hours over four days.
On SEY's data work, he echoed that correlations are already appearing between data and sensory results, with "exciting theories" being developed and tested.
On diagnosing underextraction, he said it is subjective but commonly presents as excessive sourness, saltiness, unbalanced acidity, or, in espresso, possibly channeling from grinding too fine.
On filter brewing advice, he told one user to move to about 16-17 clicks, keep other variables similar, maybe lower water temperature slightly, and not obsess over TDS/EY when taste says the brew needs adjustment.
On the Brew-Along coffees, he said Duber was awesome, preferred Duber to Ortiz Aji, described Aji as fruit-heavy, intense, and likely to be a fan favorite, and said Marlene has variance that can be tamed with lower temperature.
On Kambarare, he found it mind-blowing despite not being his preferred style, emphasizing that it came from 20-brix cherries and was still washed.
On specific coffees and varieties, he called SL9 "omnipresent," praised Dwight's yellow Gesha as floral and balanced, said Rift was a strong Chiroso, and joked that more Chiroso was "the way."
On brewing style and preference, he discussed very thick brews, "soup," low extraction yields for soup, and a strange broth-like Weber Bird result involving little immersion and quick percolation that he had not replicated with other coffees.
On product work, he mentioned still needing to finalize something, being unhappy with basket hole size, and working on both airlock and basket-hole sizing, while hesitating to post a survey because of likely Reddit backlash.
On places to drink coffee, he recommended Hakko and Protest Kitchen for food and coffee, and SO Coffee Roasters plus Von and Vonnie for coffee only.

opp4004

On Corral Pampal Eduardo's SL9, he described lemon candy, lime-like acidity, white currant, buttery aromatics, Chardonnay-like texture, and white-tea delicacy, saying this is the type of coffee he points to when explaining SL9's complexity beyond florality.
On natural Ethiopians, he said many naturals now trend funkier even when marketed as classic naturals, while praising clean/refined examples from Sheka/Kawo Kamina, Tesfaye Tibebu Roba, and Sookoo.
On Burundi and Rwanda-like profiles, he noted that many drinkers dislike the distinctive "terroir" or spice-like character, but he personally enjoys those spice notes when they refresh the palate; he praised one Burundi for berries, dried apricot, Central Asian spice, white tea, clove, Valencia orange, and a strong finish.
On old Ethiopian coffees, he said legendary Jimma/Agaro-era coffees such as Nano Challa, Yukro, Duromina, and related Kata Muduga coffees feel like a passed era, and argued it is probably more productive to look to high-elevation Guji, Gedeb, Sidama, Bekele coffees, and Murago than to chase the past.
On Kenya, he found Ibonia AB unexpectedly dulce-de-leche-like with hibiscus, rambutan, red currant, and pomegranate, then speculated that Kenya's profile shifts may relate to single-washed versus traditional K72 double-washed methods, estate versus factory lots, and changing regional standouts such as Kiambu, Murang'a, Nandi, and surrounding areas.
On Nicaragua and Central America, he argued Nicaragua is underrated, especially Maracaturra/Maragogype and Parainema, naming producers and groups such as Ana Maria Albir Sotomayor, Fabio David Rodriguez, Abner Samuel Zavala Gonzalez, Enrique Ferrufino, Mary Elsy Caldera, Finca Libre, Best of Marago, and Gold Mountain Coffee Growers.
On Panama Gesha, he said classic benchmarks like Esmeralda, Elida, and Takesi are less definitive now because the category has fragmented; he found a Chevas Estate Dark Room Washed Gesha classic but marred by a faint savory/marine ferment note, and said Panama Gesha often fails to justify its price premium versus great Peru or Bolivia.
On Chiroso, he argued Chirosos outside Urrao can feel completely different, praised William Ortiz for vivid acidity and definition, said non-Urrao Chiroso from Tolima, Huila, or Santander interests him, and proposed multiple possible causes for Urrao's cedar-like profile: Bourbon/Caturra Chiroso differences, processing, older seed populations, or genetics.
On brewing with the OXO Rapid Brewer, he uses a non-bypass style; for a 22 g recipe he recommends fine-sugar grind, paper filters top and bottom, no tamping, about 240 g water first, slow pressing, adding another 120 g once half remains, stopping at the gas/hissing sound, and about 85C water around 100 ppm.
On the global roaster scene, he argued the old Nordic style has largely faded, with Coffee Collective and La Cabra becoming more approachable or mainstream, while newer Chinese roasters such as Big Sur and AOKKA and some Canadian roasters now better capture the aggressive green sourcing and bright, light roasting role the Nordics once held.

Cross-thread takeaways

The week's strongest shared thread was roast development: seylance2897 defined SEY's practical color/development window, lancehedrick reinforced taste-first calibration over metrics, and opp4004's tasting notes repeatedly showed how sensitive perceived clarity, intensity, and structure are to roast and brewing choices.
Chiroso became a major cross-user topic: seylance2897 defended the quality of SEY's Chiroso allocations and clarified Bourbon versus Caturra Chiroso uncertainty, lancehedrick preferred Duber to Ortiz Aji, and opp4004 explored why non-Urrao Chirosos may taste radically different from Urrao examples.
Ethiopia was treated as both legendary and unsettled: seylance2897 described the practical changes behind the decline of old Agaro/Kata Muduga profiles, while opp4004 mourned the passed Jimma era and pointed toward Guji, Gedeb, Sidama, Bekele, Murago, and newer processing trends as the future.
Peru emerged as a major strategic unlock for SEY: seylance2897 said refrigerated containers solved aging problems and that SEY bought nearly 300 bags from Peru, while opp4004 repeatedly praised Peru as a compelling alternative to expensive Panama Gesha.
Brewing discussions were concrete rather than abstract: lancehedrick advised coarser grinding and taste-led adjustment, while opp4004 gave a detailed OXO recipe built around no tamping, top-and-bottom paper filters, slow pressing, and staged water addition.
There was broad skepticism toward prestige labels without cup evidence: seylance2897 demanded genetics before trusting Gesha color/variety claims, opp4004 questioned whether Panama Gesha premiums are consistently justified, and both treated famous regions or producers as insufficient proof on their own.
Several messages connected changing coffee quality to logistics and processing rather than just terroir: Ethiopia's moisture and fermentation changes, Kenya's washed-method shifts, Peru's cold-chain improvement, and Nicaragua's competition-driven quality gains all came up as explanations for evolving cup profiles.
A new roasting channel was effectively requested by the conversation itself: seylance2897 spent much of June 7 giving detailed roasting advice, discussing Loring versus drum constraints, batch consistency, density/moisture-dependent heat application, development times, and the limits of copying curves.

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Week of 2026-06-01

Summary

seylance2897

lancehedrick

opp4004

Cross-thread takeaways

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Index

seylance2897

2026-06-01

2026-06-02

2026-06-03

2026-06-04

2026-06-05

2026-06-07

lancehedrick

2026-06-01

2026-06-02

2026-06-03

2026-06-04

opp4004

2026-06-03

2026-06-04

2026-06-05

2026-06-06

2026-06-07

GPT-5.5 Thinking Summary

seylance2897

lancehedrick

opp4004

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