2026-07-20 to 2026-07-26

Week of 2026-07-20

7 daily files

Summary

seylance2897

Huehuetenango sourcing: Asked for direct experience with San Marcos and San Mateo, Guatemala, believing their extreme elevations may still contain exceptional old Bourbon. He had bought from the area more than five years earlier, suspected much of its coffee entered large Counter Culture blends, and planned to investigate the region again despite worsening climate conditions and limited current relationships.
Ethiopian preferences: Ranked Banko Gotiti especially highly, expected Siti to improve with rest, and acknowledged Bombe from Alo as the numerical high scorer while personally favoring Chelbesa-style peach, peach-tea, and candied-peach-ring profiles. He called Ethiopia the world's best coffee origin and expected the season's coffees to improve progressively.
Espirito Santo potential and scarcity: Said washed Catucai from smallholders in Espirito Santo can reach an unusually high ceiling - he had scored Joselino's coffee as high as 91 - but the best nano-lots are tiny, often reserved for numerous local competitions, and extremely difficult for outside buyers to secure. He noted that the profile can become savory or vegetal, but can be exceptional when sweetness remains intact.
Castillo and roast diagnosis: Found one Castillo sample too darkly roasted for a proper green-quality assessment. He said the critical question for Castillo is whether it shows green-pepper vegetality, which the roast obscured, although the coffee's sweetness surprised him.
Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Pacamara: Actively wanted to obtain Nicaraguan Maracaturra. He considered Takesi's Pacamara one of the best Pacamaras he had tasted, with no herbality, but criticized much of Bolivia for excessive Catimor planting and found the Rodriguez coffees overprocessed.
Central Kenya focus: Said Kiambu has historically produced many of his highest-scoring Kenyan coffees, alongside exceptions such as Gerald, Kamavindi, Mamuto, and Guchienda. He also described Kiambu's difficult economics and colonial estate structure, but said SEY would release a coffee from an exciting small Kiambu farm and was concentrating investment in Central Kenya rather than western regions.
Zero-fermentation lots: Praised Alo's zero-fermentation coffee as exceptional. He described it as mechanically eco-pulped, calibrated to remove all mucilage, and moved directly to drying beds; with mucilage left behind it would resemble honey processing. He said several very small DRD zero-fermentation lots were forthcoming.
Roast-development findings: Said recent experiments had intentionally pushed development to find the boundary. Their internal targets suggested Latin American coffees performed best around 136-138, while Ethiopians could reach the low 142s, although they intended to move Latins back toward roughly 135-136 and Ethiopians toward 138-142 depending on density. He agreed some recent coffees had become too light, sometimes sacrificing acidity and structure or becoming cereal-like.
Measurement and community feedback: Reported that standardized cupping bowls consistently landed around 1.25-1.30 TDS with fixed grind, water, and agitation, making solubility comparisons useful. He welcomed critical brewing feedback as part of a farm-roaster-brewer feedback loop, while emphasizing that final roast decisions remained his responsibility.
Long-term variety research: Described a catalogue of more than 40 rarely or never commercialized varieties that may have exceptional cup potential, including Ethiopian landraces and multiple SL selections. As one speculative example, he cited ET-59, a low-yield Bonga Forest landrace catalogued with phosphoric, elderflower, and white-currant potential. He stressed that these descriptions remain unverified until the varieties are found, planted in test plots, genetically checked, and tasted - a project likely to take years.

lancehedrick

Preinfusion mechanics: Clarified that the Breville Dual Boiler actively pressurizes during preinfusion, unlike machines such as the Rancilio or Gaggia that merely wet or "sprinkle" the puck.
Linea Micra modification: Approved of an equipment setup but said a "Jake G" modification to the Micra would complete it.
Temperature stability: Reaffirmed that ordinary users often overemphasize small brew-temperature changes and machine temperature stability. His point concerned changes such as 91C to 92C on machines already offering several temperature settings, not every possible temperature-related question.
Research context: Said his temperature comments were contextual to a specific video and may also have referenced UC Davis work on dripper geometry and roast level, possibly alongside Morten Munchow's work.
Alpha dripper stalling: Investigated an unusual lack of stalling with T90 filters, noting that he normally has to induce stalling in his Alpha. He proposed two likely causes: the filter being pushed too aggressively into the bottom and blocking the dripper's chutes, or excessive pouring turbulence moving fines into the filter. After hearing more, he requested grind size and a view of the seated filter because the behavior remained strange.
SEY roast experimentation: Said SEY had conducted extensive comparative cuppings of the same coffees at slightly different roast levels, intentionally pushing roasts to an extreme and then backing off. The remaining challenge was mapping appropriate ranges across varieties, elevations, and starting moisture levels.
Green-coffee emphasis: Framed the roast project as an attempt to make roasting cease to dominate the conversation, allowing green quality to become the focus. He cited large-scale data collection, many cuppings involving multiple coffees and roasters, and systematic parameter changes.
Targeted rather than wholesale adjustment: Rejected the idea of a broad roast-profile reversal. He expected coffees such as Pepe's Sidra and perhaps a few others to receive slightly more development, while leaving successful areas alone and making coffee-specific adjustments.

opp4004

Ethiopian reference material: Recommended an illustrated guide to Ethiopia's forest coffees and the *Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia*, calling both old but valuable for understanding the origin's extraordinary geographical and institutional complexity.
Georgina versus Dwight: Scored Georgina's coffee 89 and Dwight's 88.5. He appreciated Dwight's complexity but found it insufficiently intense and too dominated by tea-like flavors; Georgina's superior balance justified the higher score.
Bombe from Alo: Initially scored Alo's Bombe around 89, with room to improve after resting. He described Taiwanese Qing Xin high-mountain oolong, Jonathan apple, ripe dragon-fruit sweetness and acidity, and soft florals - an unexpectedly Guji-like profile for Sidama - but still found the cup somewhat low in intensity.
Cupping-record format: Preferred a simple collaborative spreadsheet or discussion thread over heavily produced videos for shared subscription cupping. His proposed fields were score, tasting notes, and free-form comments from participating members.
Nicaraguan Maracaturra: Strongly advocated trying Maracaturra from Nicaragua, comparing it to Ecuadorian Mejorado. A honey-processed La Picona lot from Martha Lucia Albir Sotomayor in Dipilto showed apricot, lemon acidity, green grape, and elegant florals, though its extremely light roast exposed more fermented honey-process character than he wanted.
Zero-fermentation terminology: Argued that "zero fermentation" usually means no deliberate fermentation after pulping, not literally zero microbial activity from harvest onward. He described the common Jimma method as eco-pulping followed by immediate drying, noted that remaining mucilage can make the result functionally honey-like, and suggested brief rinsing or soaking as a possible route to cleaner cups.
Supply-chain transparency: Criticized parts of the Chinese specialty market for unclear or incorrect coffee identities and said Korean buyers often depend heavily on importers rather than producer relationships. He contrasted this with respected US roasters - including Counter Culture, Metric, Passenger, B&W, and others - that explain what they bought, the producer context, and the story behind the coffee.
Espirito Santo, Brazil, and alternative origins: Considered Espirito Santo's reputation partly mythologized: only a few competition coffees had matched the region's historic promise, with Flavio Salles's Catucai 2SL being his last truly great example. He found recent Rodriguez coffees from Bolivia merely acceptable, retained interest in Java from Bolivia and Nicaragua, and enjoyed some fermented Brazilian coffees and Arara despite disliking its hazelnut character.
Gesha genetics uncertainty: Relayed preliminary genetic-testing claims suggesting that some Mario/Esmeralda and Abaya "Gesha" samples were not pure T2722 but hybrids involving JARC 74 or Ethiopian-landrace markers; other visually distinct beans appeared to be Bourbon. He repeatedly noted that the full report was not yet available, that his technical expertise was limited, and that comparison against a confirmed T2722 reference would be necessary.
Brewing, roast profile, and standout cups: Found Windrush AB unusually Ethiopian-like, with bergamot, hibiscus, berries, and white currant, though its one-day-old ultra-light roast showed grain and possibly low-green-quality or underdevelopment-related fermentation. By contrast, he rated Gilber's Llaqta Pata around 92-93, praising its wisteria, oolong, Moscato d'Asti, honeysuckle, apple blossom, lemon, lemon balm, and layered lactic acidity. He generally liked SEY's current roast profile because his ORB brewing and high extraction handled it well, while accepting that a more forgiving roast would serve more brewers.

dougssg

Kamavindi and Ndwiga: Joked that every day can be "Kamavindi day" for someone buying 100 pounds and drinking it continuously, then countered that people should not ask about Kamavindi before buying Ndwiga.
Purchase encouragement: Congratulated another member on a coffee choice and said he was eager to hear their assessment.
Box-set history: Noted that SEY had not released a box set in many years.
Subscription strategy: Called the subscription selections consistently strong and argued that SEY's volume and quality standard make some fear of missing out unavoidable.
Six-box versus cherry-picking: Presented two viable approaches: use a six-box subscription as a low-effort way to receive consistently strong coffees, or follow releases closely and select individual coffees.
Addon shipping: Recommended the ADDON code as a way for subscribers to add selected releases without additional shipping charges.
Nginda preference: When asked to choose, said he had not cupped Kamavindi from the production roast and therefore tentatively favored Nginda.
Ethiopian season: Said Ethiopia's 2026 coffees were so strong that the weekly arrivals remained consistently exciting, while reassuring members that temporarily unavailable offerings would return.

naomi (car7iern)

Limited captured activity: Only two messages from Naomi were captured this week.
Current cafe and retail availability: Reported that Georgina had sold out as a retail box but was still being served as filter coffee alongside Boneya and Duber. She recommended Rolando Ramirez as an underhyped retail option.
Release timing: Said upcoming coffees would reach the retail shelf in roughly two weeks but probably would not appear as filter or espresso offerings until closer to one month after roast.

Cross-thread takeaways

The central disagreement was roast development, not whether the coffees were good: Some members found recent SEY coffees too light, cereal-like, less structured, or unnecessarily difficult to extract; others using aggressive extraction methods preferred the current delicacy and clarity. SEY acknowledged overshooting on some coffees but described the correction as targeted calibration rather than a wholesale darkening.
SEY's working model is coffee-specific: Latin American and Ethiopian coffees appeared to tolerate different internal development ranges, and even within those groups the appropriate roast depended on variety, density, elevation, moisture, and desired expression. Pepe's Sidra was repeatedly identified as a likely candidate for slightly more development.
Shared cupping could improve calibration: seylance2897 wanted the community's brewing observations to inform roasting, opp4004 proposed a simple score-and-notes spreadsheet, and later discussion suggested a focused subscriber session on acidity because participants often use that term differently.
Several threads tried to move attention from roast toward green quality: Both seylance2897 and lancehedrick described extensive roast experimentation as a means of making roasting more transparent and less dominant, leaving more discussion and economic value for producers, varieties, processing, and raw-coffee quality.
Processing labels require skepticism: The zero-fermentation discussion distinguished literal absence of fermentation from the more practical meaning of no intentional post-pulp fermentation. Eco-pulper calibration, residual mucilage, rinsing, cherry-stage conditions, and immediate drying can materially change whether a coffee behaves more like washed or honey.
Genetic variety names remain less reliable than they appear: Preliminary reports about T2722, JARC 74, Bourbon, Ethiopian landraces, and Abaya or Esmeralda samples suggested that visual identification and commercial labels may not match genetic results. The participants treated the claims as provocative but incomplete pending full reports and authenticated reference samples.
Ethiopia dominated enthusiasm: Banko Gotiti, Siti, Bombe/Alo, Demeka Becha, Layo Teraga, Basha-area coffees, Gonjobe, Murago, and Bona Zuria were discussed with particular excitement. Peach, oolong, black tea, florals, and occasional berry profiles were recurring reference points, while old-style blueberry naturals were treated as rarer and possibly partly defect-derived.
Access depends heavily on relationships and information quality: Whether discussing tiny Espirito Santo competition lots, Central Kenyan farms, opaque Asian import chains, or experimental varieties, participants repeatedly emphasized that exceptional coffee is rarely found by chance; it requires producer relationships, accurate identity and processing information, logistics, and years of repeated tasting.

Full weekly Markdown preview

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2026-07-20 to 2026-07-26

seylance2897

2026-07-20

3:23 PM #cupping: uhm... would like to record them.. i'll think on it
3:33 PM #origins-and-producers: is anyone here familiar with / have experience with coffees specifically from San Marcos and/or San Mateo in Huehue?
3:35 PM #origins-and-producers: yeah same
3:39 PM #origins-and-producers: I feel like there has to be some amazing old bourbon there.. and the elevations get crazy
3:44 PM #origins-and-producers: i don't really know anyone who works there.. but, i haven't been working in Guatemela for a number of years now
3:44 PM #origins-and-producers: i believe that alot of that coffee still goes into very large blends for counter culture...
3:45 PM #origins-and-producers: i've reached out to a few people.. .thought i might as well ask here ha
3:46 PM #origins-and-producers: i've cupped through those for years...
3:46 PM #origins-and-producers: its harder and harder there as climate changes
3:49 PM #origins-and-producers: use to buy quite a bit 5+ years ago
3:52 PM #origins-and-producers: I'll defintely be exploring there this year
3:53 PM #cupping: haha just what i need, more platforms... ha

not bad idea though
4:08 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, i reached out to her actually... we'll see what she says
4:13 PM #cupping: yeah we'll probably just have to try some stuff and make adjustments as we go
4:15 PM #cupping: also the timing of it gets weird cause everyone gets their subscriptions on different weeks
4:20 PM #what-are-you-brewing: haha that, to the best of my knowledge, is Gesha...but things get a little tricky down there
4:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah, that coffee is amazing
4:44 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha honestly, banko gotiti

i think Siti will also be up there once rested

Bombe is the highest of the scores, but weighted differently for me because Bensa just hits different than chelbesa... and i really love those peach chelbesa profiles
4:45 PM #what-are-you-brewing: they are stunning
4:45 PM #what-are-you-brewing: i mean, Ethiopia will generally always just continue to get better as the season goes on ha
4:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: best coffee in the world hands down... just so much of it that its easy to take it for granted
4:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: oh same
4:47 PM #what-are-you-brewing: the like peach tea profiles.. sometimes go into candied peach ring type profiles.. all day
5:00 PM #what-are-you-brewing: take that, Aeropress haters 😂 😂
5:03 PM #cupping: I'm guessing it has something to do with how something in the Ethiopian coffee changes your preception of the latin coffees... honestly, i have no idea ha. <@421132246536159232> ?
5:03 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha fine
5:05 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha now were talkin
8:36 PM #cupping: we don't actually work in Brazil... use to buy coffees in Espirito santo, specially catucai.... those coffees have a very high cieling, i've scored the coffee from joselino as high as 91... they are just impossible to actually get... and don't always exisit
8:49 PM #cupping: its challenging because the lots are super super small, and there are tons of very small regional competitions.. so the producers hold their best nano lots for all thse little competitoins and theres no way to buy them unless your actually at every single little competition which is basically impossible ha
8:50 PM #cupping: also there is a lot of buyers in brazil who buy them! which is actually very cool! Isabela buys alot of them
8:50 PM #cupping: Paulo also buys a few
8:56 PM #cupping: oh amazing!
8:56 PM #cupping: ha yeah, those coffees can be very, very good
8:57 PM #cupping: they can also lean slightly savory/ vegetal... but when they stay sweet... they can really sing
9:04 PM #cupping: for sure, sample roasting right now.. but, as soon as i get a minute i'll share a little

2026-07-21

12:10 AM #cupping: hah same
12:15 AM #cupping: i actually cupped it today!
12:43 AM #cupping: Its a little to dark to get a proper read on the coffee for me... the question that needs to be asked of castillo is if it is vegetal or not, specifically green peper vegetal... roasted to this level its pretty hard to get a read on it... I am pretty suprised at the level of sweetness though actually
5:06 PM #origins-and-producers: this is super interesting... we'll be participating in scoring the BOP next year hopefully
5:07 PM #cupping: i've never found Bolivian coffees and or Nic coffees that have the same qualities as those top lots from ES. maybe they're out there
5:08 PM #1513307859658477568: Idido! Tim Hill classic
5:38 PM #cupping: yeah, i am very interested and am definitely actively looking to get my hands on some maracaturra from Nic.

I did cup the pacamara from Takesi this year and itwas definitely one of the best Pacamara's i've ever tasted... zero herbality.

But other than Takesi, there is just too much catimor in Bolivia and all the rodriguez coffees are way over processed for me.
5:39 PM #origins-and-producers: guayabito?
6:37 PM #origins-and-producers: I have tried it... also believe the potential is quite good. I certainly have never tasted a 94pt version of it... but certaily 89 maybe 90
6:41 PM #origins-and-producers: what do you mean by this exactly?
6:46 PM #origins-and-producers: Gesha and the JARC 74 have completely different genetics
6:48 PM #cupping: Espirito santo, a region in Brazil!
6:53 PM #origins-and-producers: do you have the report?
9:05 PM #cupping: I honestly taste very few coffees from Brazil! Most coffees from there are not the profiles I'm particularly looking for! ES is very specific region in brazil of small holder producers going and processing washed Catucai that can have a really cool and specific profile
9:08 PM #origins-and-producers: oh so its actually a cross of gesha and jarc 74
10:15 PM #cupping: yes 100% Paulo brought me as sample of Rodrigo's catucai 2 years ago.. it went slightly savory for me, but still the profile and expression was very, very good
10:19 PM #origins-and-producers: lemme know.. Also, it's weird that it doesn't specify which jarc 74 it actually is
10:20 PM #cupping: i have not!
10:23 PM #1513307859658477568: This is a pretty challenging question to answer... I think it depends on what the overall goal is. If your talking about roasting specifically, its very help to define exactly how you want the coffee to taste from a roast perspective. the best way to do that is to taste a lot of different roasters coffee figure out where you want to live from a development perspective and learn how to taste that really well.. then you try to match that development in your roaster... so if it tastes dark when tasting next to the development your shooting for then you lighten the development, if it tastes to light, i.e cereal, grass, etc, then you develop more.. until you start to get closer to the level of development your shooting for... when its ready to sell is entirely up to you!
11:45 PM #cupping: I still believe in those coffees and believe they can be exceptional... i just think navigating how to get them and motivating producers to make them is exceptionally challenging and at the end of the day it will be a ton of effort for like 10kgs of coffee. I'm still working on trying to figure something out there though

2026-07-22

12:05 AM #cupping: hah i think i've tasted like 5 coffees or less from there... so can't comment. But, i assume if they were cupping out 88+ I would know
12:16 AM #cupping: are you working with green coffee in brazil?
12:17 AM #cupping: where do you find the best washed coffees coming from there?
12:17 AM #cupping: ha this conversation has fully moved out of the cupping channel and into the origin channel
12:32 AM #origins-and-producers: thats amazing
12:41 AM #origins-and-producers: Honestly I've tasted very few! I have heard from a few people that they can be very good. I just haven't tasted them yet
12:42 AM #origins-and-producers: thomas from motors has told me he tasted one that was very good
1:08 AM #origins-and-producers: that coffee did have a little nut in it. but that was also before we had a color sorter. That coffee would have been a point better without the quakers
1:11 AM #origins-and-producers: we re roast them darker and donate them to shelters and things
1:15 AM #origins-and-producers: ha I haven't but i believe doug tried it while he was in LA
1:16 AM #origins-and-producers: windrush circa 12 years ago was dougs favorite coffee of life
1:20 AM #origins-and-producers: kiambu traditionally has produced my highest scoring coffees with the excpetion of Gerald, Kamavindi, Mamuto, and Guchienda.

but, Kiambu is very complicated, they are mainly dominated by extremely massive estates steeped in English colonialism.. and now because its so close to Nairobi the land is becoming extremely expensive making coffee farming really not viable
1:21 AM #origins-and-producers: we will be releasing a coffee this year from a small farm in Kiambu that i am very excited about though
1:34 AM #origins-and-producers: i don't buy coffees from the west of kenya
8:08 PM #origins-and-producers: it is!
8:09 PM #origins-and-producers: We haven't we're really focusing on investing in coffees from Central Kenya. When good they are among my personal favorite profiles in all of coffee!
8:10 PM #cupping: can't speak to the roasting... but the zero fermented alo lot is very good
8:13 PM #cupping: its eco pulped and calibrated to remove all mucilage and put on to drying beds immediately after pulping.. would be like honey if any mucilage was left on.. but its all removed
8:14 PM #cupping: its exceptional.. we'll be releasing a number of very small DRD zero fermentation lots soon

2026-07-23

3:08 PM #1513307859658477568: seriously?
11:50 PM #current-menu: haha i buy them all! i love them all equally for different reasons

2026-07-25

10:08 PM #what-are-you-brewing: We've definitely been trying to push development over the last few months to actually see what is possible... This obviously isn't going to stop, we'll always continue exploring roast development.

What I can say that we've learned is - latins seem to be happiest at around 136-138. Ethiopians can push into the 142s.

Latins can go lighter without cereal, but what we've noticed is that you lose acidity and structure to some degree (depending on the coffee). Pepe's sidra is definitely on the lighter side of where we're taking latins. But our cupping bowls of that coffee are still of appropriate strength. So, it shouldn't be a solubility issue.
11:19 PM #what-are-you-brewing: oh for sure! ha wasn't taking it as negative.. although certianly very open to critical feedback.. ya'll actually brew the coffee a ton of differnet ways and we actually learn a ton from everyones experiences!

Definitely interesting to see what coffees can get pushed lighter than others... very much making some progress on figuring this out!
11:21 PM #what-are-you-brewing: we do take TDS of a lot of cupping bowls... we've taken so many measurements over the years and also our own ability to taste TDS is remarkably consistent at this point that we don't really need to measure everything any more... but everything all our cupping bowls are within 1.25 -1.3 tds.

Everything stays the same for the cupping bowl, grind, water, agitation etc... so gives a pretty good look on solubility
11:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: We're also finding that some of the latins, specifically, not as much with Ethiopians, the coffees have been slightly lighter than our preferences as well... But, gotta cross a line to find a line.
11:49 PM #what-are-you-brewing: currently our roast / development goals are go pull back the latins closer to 135 / 136 and the Ethiopians between 138- 142 depending on density
11:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Shade will always take longer to dry. I have no experience of being able to correlate shade dried specifically = more sweetness. theres about a million variables in there that could be doing that.

Also, there are a ton of variables happening in brewing as well.
11:57 PM #what-are-you-brewing: fully agree... i think its just important to keep it an open dialogue... sooo much experimentation is taking place at the farm, at the roaster, and at brewing.. part of the goal of this discord is the attempt to close that feedback loop and to open conversation between the parts of coffee that don't really get a chance to speak to each other
11:59 PM #what-are-you-brewing: haha ultimately, i will be making the decision of how the coffees will be roasted. But I do love community and conversation that is critical and constructive. We all know that you can't please everyone.
11:59 PM #what-are-you-brewing: haah also wine has a few thousand years on us of study and feedback

2026-07-26

12:00 AM #what-are-you-brewing: i'd say we have a solid 5 years... maybe?
12:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: hahahahaha
12:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I can say i agree the coffees have been trending too light.. I'm just trying to shed some light on the why. We will definitely be moving things back
12:03 AM #what-are-you-brewing: trust me, I've moved coffee far enough that I'm more than comfortable telling you i know more about coffee than you and I will, at the end of the day, be doing it my way... and will fully allow you to catch up at your own pace 😂 😂
12:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: i'm also extremely grateful for all i've learned from everyone here as well. Its an honor to share in a community of people who love coffees this much
12:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: but, please keep the feedback on roast development coming
12:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: we'll be looking at it super closely over the next month or so as we move some things back.. I'll be curious what ya'll notice
12:07 AM #what-are-you-brewing: hahaha never thought i'd see the day where SEY coal turned into SEY cereal
12:07 AM #what-are-you-brewing: haah sorry, thats just language we use inthe roastery.. pull it back means more development, push it means lets to lighter
12:08 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ha this is ultimately the goal...
12:10 AM #what-are-you-brewing: if you taste these next to each other, you'll probably notice that our chelbesa has more articulation and clarity. and prodigal's has more acidity
12:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: true but i'm interested in this as a calibration practice with everyone here... as an expiriemt as much as anything else... its really cool to me
12:13 AM #what-are-you-brewing: also, my entire world revolves around green quality conversations... and, at the end of the day, i'm curiosu if there is ever a world in which roasting is just a necessary part, and not a dominate piece of the conversation.. then we can move more conversation and therefore value to the producers and the actually coffee itself
12:15 AM #what-are-you-brewing: yup, i don't think we're there yet.. but i do think we are clsoer than ever
12:17 AM #what-are-you-brewing: haha well... its taken me a really long time to finally feel like I have things I can share... I'm not someone to say things just to in a year find out I was fully wrong
12:18 AM #what-are-you-brewing: its also why i'm interested in sharing what i have learned... there are no short cuts.. no one can steal what I've learned... I can give you access to everything and it will still take 10,000 hours of actually practicing to get good enough to do anything meaningful with it
12:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: i'm just trying to help give access to information that has been very, very guarded
12:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: oh for sure
12:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: hah yes this
12:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: haha tbh, sey is doing quite well... i feel very privilaged to have learned what i have learned and to be able to do what i love and get paid for it... thats all thanks to everyone here and around the world that supports that. I'm more than happy to give baack in any way i can
12:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: just given my position in this industry, i get access to things most people just don't get access to
12:23 AM #what-are-you-brewing: green quality will come... a lot of it is knowing where to look but also building something actually meaningful that quality will be able to improve upon... its very hard to just randomly come across and 88pt washed coffee (outside of Ethiopia)
12:24 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ha yup... coffee and the supply chain really is A LOT of relationship building and communication
12:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ha yes, this is potentially going to change everything
12:26 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ha we'll see... pretty supply constrained at this point... there is sooooo much I'm working on.. mostly with varities .... so we'lll see if any of that actually pans out
12:27 AM #what-are-you-brewing: we did a pretty crazy deep dive on varieties
12:28 AM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah, there are over 40 varities that I've never tasted that seem to have insane cup quality.. but were never grown for some reason or another... so we'll be exploring all of these this year
12:29 AM #what-are-you-brewing: So many.. i'll start talking more about this soon
12:29 AM #what-are-you-brewing: currently in theory, they are all planted at CAITE
12:30 AM #what-are-you-brewing: these never went into production for a wide range of reasons - non-uniform ripening, stature too tall, not resistant to some diseases, etc, etc, etc,
12:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: here is a random Ethiopian variety for example

16
ET-59
Bonga Forest Landrace
Piercing Phosphoric & Elderflower
Low-yield canopy channels massive nutrient energy into a tiny crop, creating a blindingly bright phosphoric and white currant profile.
12:32 AM #what-are-you-brewing: never was cultivated because yyields were too low
12:32 AM #what-are-you-brewing: this is a question haha
12:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: not hybrids at all... all selections wild varieties
12:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: i have a list of over 40 of these I have to explore haha
12:34 AM #what-are-you-brewing: lots of different SLs as well
12:35 AM #what-are-you-brewing: i'm definitely assuming as mcuh... but literally haven't tasted any of them nor do i know anyone who has tasted any of them... just catalogued for years and years ago
12:36 AM #current-menu: they will both definitely be in the cafe to try and to buy a box!
12:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: gotta taste them, find test plots. to plant them in.. lots of work ahead ha
12:39 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ha yes
12:39 AM #what-are-you-brewing: but i plan on still being here in 10 years... not sure about the rest of you... but if we start now we'll be drinking and talking about them
12:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: yes there is a genetic data base that things get figerprinted from... then when a new sample comes in they match that genetic code against the data base of fingerprints
12:41 AM #what-are-you-brewing: RD2 has a better on IMO
12:42 AM #what-are-you-brewing: https://rd2vision.com/the-arabica-coffee-cultivars-network/
12:42 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Time for dinner here on the east cost... much love to everyone here ❤️
5:10 PM #what-are-you-brewing: thats such beautiful color
5:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Bombe from ALO is a monster of a coffee ha
5:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha thanks! always a work in progress - coffee is a journey and i'm here for the ride
5:50 PM #what-are-you-brewing: we're definitely ligher than we were back in 2021-22, pretty significantly actually
5:57 PM #what-are-you-brewing: No no, the goal is to get increasingly more specific. Some coffees can go lighter than others, and the goal is to never miss, so collect enough information to know exactly where a coffee should be developed
6:22 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Layo produced one of my favorite coffees 10 years ago
6:23 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah, when it hits, it hits real hard ha
6:24 PM #what-are-you-brewing: can go straight candy peach.. we have a candy here in the states called peach rings and it can really remind me of that
6:26 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah, you can also get this profile in chelbesa...

Layo 10 years ago is tough to compare cause its just memory haha
6:28 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Blueberry it pretty tough to find in Ethiopian coffee... but defintiely in washed ethiopinas
6:29 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yup, this is all things coffee
6:32 PM #what-are-you-brewing: ha also probably not from SEY... I personally always hated those big blueberry naturals from harar
6:34 PM #what-are-you-brewing: similar to some of the best kenyans over the years? or different kinda blackberry
6:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: hahah you and me both
6:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: we have one extremely small natural gesha from Estella
6:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: same
6:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: some of the SL9's from Peru this year pushed levels of fruit that could almost be considered on the cleaner side of naturals
6:39 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ha its very small and very expensive 😂
6:39 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah exactly
6:40 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah that coffee can be very, very good
6:42 PM #what-are-you-brewing: we will definitely do some honeys and potentially a natural with her next year.

next year we're already planning for the natural experiment with sophia
6:42 PM #what-are-you-brewing: there just wasn't any volume to do an expiriments with this yaer
6:43 PM #what-are-you-brewing: yeah they have been some of my personal favorite coffees
6:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: oh most top lots in Panama are dried in dark rooms at this point
6:47 PM #what-are-you-brewing: its hard to know what they are actually adding because its very hard to actually AB test. Also, most of the best coffees are just going into dark rooms so it makes sense they are going to to be the top lots

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lancehedrick

2026-07-20

9:24 PM #espresso-focused: BDB actually pressurizes during PI. So, that one is diff than rancilio or gaggia, which just sprinkles.

2026-07-21

6:21 PM #filter-focused: most annoying thing ever

2026-07-22

3:15 PM #equipment: love this set up. just need to Jake G mod the micra and chefs kiss haha
4:49 PM #Brew-Along: Let's brew
5:44 PM #Brew-Along: Let's brew

2026-07-23

11:26 AM #current-menu: Yes i will

2026-07-24

7:51 PM #filter-focused: Need context lol
7:52 PM #filter-focused: Yeah has to be
7:57 PM #filter-focused: If espresso, yes..still valid. For people with normal machines. Always assume I speak tk the every person unless I specify otherwise. My point with temp is people unnecessarily obsess over temp stability and minor temp changes on their machine that can do 5 diff temps.
8:10 PM #filter-focused: Oh yes. Still true.
8:10 PM #filter-focused: Within context of the video
8:11 PM #filter-focused: I believe it also included the paper from UC Davis on dripper geometry and roast level (maybe bringing up Morten munchow)
8:11 PM #filter-focused: Brew temp refers to small changes like 91 to 92, etc.

2026-07-26

11:01 AM #filter-focused: You get stalling? I have to stall my alpha with t90s. Interesting. Only two culprits
One could be you are being somehow too aggressive setting the filter by pushing it down the hole and disallowijg the chutes to do their job or pouring with too much turbulence causing excessive fines to clog up the filter
11:09 AM #filter-focused: What grind size are you currently at
11:15 AM #filter-focused: Hmm that is weird. Cannot imagine it is the pour/fines. Can you send a Pic of the inside of your dripper once filter is set?
5:51 PM #what-are-you-brewing: To be sure, we have done loads of cuppings even of same coffee, slightly diff roasts. The goal was always to push to extreme and back off to where we want. I would say we are close and are in kind of a finalizing state.
The issue comes in with all the diff varieties, elevations, starting moisture content, etc. Figuring out ranges for them all has been a multi month endeavor but we are close! And stoked on how they are tasting.
The goal is to remove roast as part of the convo and focusing on green. Hence the insane data collection, mongo cuppings with multiple coffees and roasters, and messing with parameters in roasting.
5:56 PM #what-are-you-brewing: No
5:56 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Not necessarily.
5:57 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Some like pepe sidra will get a touch more. I noted that as under. A couple others maybe a tickle more. But overall there are areas we are stoked on and others we will tweak in one way or another.
5:57 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Never a wholesale switch

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opp4004

2026-07-20

12:26 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s literally a one-minute walk from my place. I think they’ve been open for about four years now? I’ve only been there twice, and I don’t really go anymore 🫩
12:34 AM #origins-and-producers: TechnoServe used to have a digital version of the map, but it doesn’t work anymore… 🫩
12:42 AM #origins-and-producers: https://www.scribd.com/document/936845495/Ethiopias-Forest-Coffee-an-Illustrated-Guide
12:43 AM #origins-and-producers: It’s a pretty old reference by now, but I still find it incredibly helpful for understanding Ethiopian coffee—especially just how unbelievably complex the whole system is 😂
1:10 AM #cupping: Since subscriptions came up, I’ll mention this—I actually scored Georgina’s coffee higher than Dwight’s. I gave Dwight an 88.5, while Georgina got an 89.
1:12 AM #cupping: I really liked Dwight’s complexity, but I felt it lacked intensity. In particular, the flavor spectrum leaned a little too heavily toward tea-like characteristics for my taste. Georgina, on the other hand, had outstanding balance, and that’s ultimately why I scored it higher than Dwight’s.
1:45 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Right now I'm drinking Bombe from Alo. Bombe used to be one of my favorite regions, but over the years I became disappointed as the quality seemed to decline. Alo, on the other hand, is one of my favorite producers/exporters, so I decided to trust them and give it a try. The first person I know who received it through their subscription thought it was fairly average. But a friend of mine who went to the PLAY pop-up a couple of days ago told me, "This was the one coffee that really stood out." That was enough to make me curious, so I brewed a cup.

When talking about SEY coffees, I often end up saying they taste like a certain kind of tea. It's honestly not the best way to describe coffee, because most people can't really relate to those comparisons, so I usually try to avoid it. But this coffee genuinely reminds me of Qing Xin Oolong from Taiwan—just classic high-mountain Taiwanese oolong. Alongside those tea-like qualities, there's fruitiness reminiscent of jonathan apple, plus the sweetness and acidity of very ripe dragon fruit, finished with soft floral notes. This is the kind of flavor profile I'd normally expect from Guji rather than Sidama, so it really surprised me. It seems Alo really does produce some exceptional coffees.
2:42 AM #origins-and-producers: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317898089_Coffee_Atlas_of_Ethiopia
2:43 AM #origins-and-producers: This is another resource that's quite helpful. If you're interested in Ethiopian coffee, I'd definitely recommend giving it a look at least once
2:46 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, I find this coffee really difficult to score
2:55 AM #origins-and-producers: that's exactly the one I saw 😂
3:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I just decided on a score. For me, it's around an 89
3:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I do think it has the potential to improve with more resting time. Right now, though, it still feels like it’s lacking intensity
4:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: My "tea master" sends me tea directly, so I don't really know the retailer. 😂 There are also importers that ship directly from Taiwan, though. Give me a moment.
4:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: https://lapsangstore.com/
4:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is where I got into tea originally. They specialize in Chinese black teas, but their selection is actually quite broad. I think they probably ship to the US as well.
4:08 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I haven't tried their raw Pu'er yet, but raw Pu'er is actually my favorite type of tea
4:09 AM #what-are-you-brewing: or iron goddess
4:24 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I only drink tea when I'm sick. Especially when I catch a cold, I can't really taste coffee at all, but strangely enough, I can still pick up the flavors of tea quite clearly
4:37 AM #what-are-you-brewing: So when I catch a cold, it feels like my sense of taste gets blocked by a certain "wall", if that makes sense. It actually became much more noticeable after COVID... but strangely, when I drink tea, that wall just isn't there. 😂 The flavors come through almost exactly the same way they normally do
3:21 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, I saw Maura Pineda too
3:30 PM #origins-and-producers: Nah! 😂 Since you brought it up, I'm sure someone will get curious and end up buying it
3:35 PM #origins-and-producers: Just once—Counter Culture's Sipacapa, from San Marcos
3:42 PM #origins-and-producers: Isn't their greens pretty hard to get?
3:45 PM #origins-and-producers: Take a look at Antigua too. I think there have been some pretty good coffees coming out of there lately
3:51 PM #origins-and-producers: Have you ever been interested in La Paz, Honduras?
3:51 PM #origins-and-producers: I heard Caballero's coffees are supposed to be absolutely incredible this year
3:54 PM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, especially Santiago de Puringla. It's one of my favorite region
4:00 PM #cupping: I do watch Tim W's videos every time they come out, but honestly, I feel like putting that much effort into making YouTube videos is a bit excessive. Google spreadsheet or even discord threads might actually be a better format for something like this
4:02 PM #cupping: I think it could just be a simple spreadsheet where people who want to participate can join. Write down the score, tasting notes, and whatever comments they want to add... wouldn't that work? 😂
4:21 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I genuinely believe it's a gesha. I love that gesha as well. It has such an elegant flavor profile
5:04 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Orb 💪🏻
5:30 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I think Siti will probably taste like the Danche or Chelbesa coffees I had when I first discovered them
5:32 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Demeka Becha was my favorite
5:38 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Honestly, I feel like Chelbesa has always had that signature profile. Peach, a bit of black tea, some oily, and a touch of citrus. I wonder if this one was any different though. I wish I had gotten the chance to try it too—I missed it as well. 😂
5:43 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m looking forward to seeing it show up in the subscription 👀
5:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: https://youtu.be/7JISZNixkeA?si=Y7Qee7cuRb3Y6UAN
5:55 PM #what-are-you-brewing: This was my AeroPress bible

2026-07-21

1:12 AM #cupping: Find Nic and Bolivia instead lol
1:26 AM #origins-and-producers: I’ve been wondering this for a while… why do you almost never use coffees from Costa Rica? Is it because of the quality?
1:29 AM #cupping: I’m looking forward to seeing your reaction after you try it, for a lot of reasons. 😂
2:02 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm not trying to put anyone down, but many Chinese roasters don't even seem to fully understand what they're selling. With the exception of places like Big Sur, that's especially true
2:03 AM #what-are-you-brewing: You have to keep in mind that, in general, their understanding of coffee still has a long way to go. Their specialty coffee market has only really started to develop in recent years
2:05 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Zero Fermentation itself isn't anything particularly unusual. The cherries are depulped using a mechanical Eco-Pulper. While it's often said that this removes most of the mucilage, in reality it usually leaves about as much behind as a White Honey process. The coffee is then dried immediately, without any fermentation step. It's actually one of the most common processing methods around Jimma, but interestingly, you don't see it very often outside of Jimma
2:07 AM #what-are-you-brewing: If you really think about what "fermentation" means, then true Zero Fermentation doesn't really exist—except for the very small number of producers who pulp the cherries immediately after harvest.

Strictly speaking, there's almost always some degree of what people nowadays would call reposado before pulping. I think they're simply trying to say that there's no fermentation after pulping, which is probably why they use the term "Zero Fermentation"
2:09 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, I think a big part of what made Jimma coffees so beautiful was that combination of mechanical depulping with the Eco-Pulper and drying the coffee immediately afterward. If producers in Sidama start adopting that process more widely, maybe we'll get to see an even greater variety of beautiful coffees. Let's stay optimistic. 😂
2:12 AM #what-are-you-brewing: If I were to suggest an approach that might actually improve it... they could do something similar to these recent modified washed processes—briefly soaking the coffee in water and then taking it out(or just submerged). I'm really curious how that would affect the cup
2:22 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, right now I'm drinking a Maracaturra from Nicaragua. The farm is La Picona, the producer is Martha Lucia Albir Sotomayor, and it's from Dipilto. Interestingly, it's a Honey process. As you can see from the photo, it's roasted incredibly light—by the old terminology, you'd probably call it a cinnamon roast. 😂

Nicaraguan Maracaturra always reminds me of Ecuadorian Mejorado. It almost always carries those characteristic apricot notes, bright lemon-like acidity, and elegant florals. This coffee is no exception. The first sip opens with apricot and lemon, then from the mid-palate onward a fresh green grape character takes over and lingers all the way through the finish. There are delicate floral notes woven throughout as well, making it a really enjoyable cup. My only complaint is that, because of the roast level, it doesn't quite manage to hide the fermented character of the Honey process. That's a little unfortunate—but it's still a coffee I can happily enjoy.
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3:09 AM #what-are-you-brewing: When I was buying coffee from China, I was trying to find a coffee called “Oiran Coffee.” It was labeled simply as Guji Goyo, so I assumed it was the Tirtira Goyo that I knew. But something felt off. This place isn't particularly famous, yet they were claiming things like it had won awards at ToH and so on, so I asked them directly what the coffee actually was. I didn't get an immediate answer. Eventually, someone higher up replied that it was simply Hambella Buku Abel. But they called it Goyo, right? 😂

My friend recently bought a coffee advertised as a ToH #1 coffee as well, but when they asked for the exact information, the response was basically, “Actually, we’re not sure what we bought.” That’s the reality of the specialty coffee market in China. Unless they are directly working with the farms themselves, the green coffee supply chain is often extremely opaque.
3:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Korea is a bit different, I guess. They do try their best to provide accurate information, but it's not always easy. Recently, there was even an incident where a very famous Tamiru coffee arrived with a completely different label, and the green coffee importer failed to catch it, which caused quite a bit of trouble. Korea is a market that generally prefers communicating directly with green coffee importers rather than building direct relationships with producers.
3:14 AM #what-are-you-brewing: The roasters I follow—meaning not just SEY in the US, but many excellent roasters—at the very least provide a thorough explanation of what they purchased and what story they want to tell with the coffee. That’s where I think there’s a difference. In the US, roasters are often better at explaining the local context and the situation behind the coffee. In Korea, the focus tends to be more on “what coffee they bought and how it was processed.”

I think one reason might be that anaerobic fermentation coffees entered the Korean market earlier than in the US, so there’s been a stronger demand for transparency around processing methods. The problem is that this has created a structure where those details are often expected from the green coffee importers rather than developed through direct relationships with producers.
3:19 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Counter Culture, Metric, Blanchard's, Vivid, Carrier, duck-rabbit, Brandywine, Passenger, B&W, Boon Boona, New Math, hex, and many others... these are the roasters I truly respect. It's not just about the taste of their coffee. They have a deep understanding of coffee and origins, and most importantly, they genuinely know what they're selling.

They're basically my green coffee teachers too. 😂
3:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, if we're talking about the Korean coffee community, I think it's a bit extreme.

People tend to focus either on specialty coffee itself or on equipment and gear. The most interesting thing is that there are very few people who are deeply involved in both at the same time. I think that's one of the biggest differences compared to the US.
3:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I honestly feel like B&W actually enjoys creating that kind of controversy on purpose. 😂
3:33 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is something of an open secret, but when coffee is imported into Korea, it's actually very rare for companies to buy directly from farmers. Most of the time, they have no choice but to purchase through the well-known figures in that region, and in the case of Panama, the entire distribution chain is controlled by just one person. Can you believe that? The reason green coffee importers seem to hold such enormous power is because the structure behind them is even more complicated and influential. 😂

Thankfully, things have been changing recently. The coffee industry structure in Africa is shifting, and in Latin America, improvements in air freight have made it easier for importers and producers to communicate and trade directly. So compared to the past, the situation is a little less centralized.
3:39 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Exactly, ha..
3:44 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is actually a very common thing. For example, there was a Colombian coffee I became interested in recently. The farm name was listed as Pergamino, and the producer was simply written as “Arnulfo.” Arnulfo who? 😂

I eventually looked into it myself and figured out who he was, but it still feels like green coffee importers aren't always that interested in building a clear connection between the coffee and the actual producer—at least not yet.
4:00 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm actually quite positive about Vietnamese coffee. 😂 I really hope I get the chance to try a proper Vietnamese Arabica someday. Honestly, it's a region I'm even more excited about than Thailand. I've never actually tasted one yet, but Vietnam is always one of those origins where I find myself thinking, "Should I buy it or not?"

The reason is simple: Vietnamese chocolate is really good. And I believe places that produce great chocolate often have the potential to produce great coffee as well. Places like Lam Dong especially seem very promising. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can produce.
4:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I remember seeing a farmer on Reddit a while ago asking people to pay attention to his coffees because he was growing varieties like gesha and pacamara. I wonder how things are going there now. I'm not sure if anything has changed recently.
4:07 AM #what-are-you-brewing: If someone asked me to describe that process precisely, I would probably call it a hybrid washed process: a first-stage fermentation is induced under a low-oxygen environment, followed by a Zero Fermentation process.

The fact that they rinsed it once to avoid pushing it toward a honey-style profile was actually a clever choice
4:10 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Exactly. When people hear terms like “anaerobic” or “low-oxygen fermentation” in relation to the coffee cherry fermentation stage, they often get intimidated, so producers and roasters tend not to emphasize that part. Instead, they usually describe the final processing method that was applied.

SEY’s La Arboleda and David Berrio coffees are also examples where low-oxygen fermentation is induced during the cherry stage.
4:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: That's why Zero Fermentation doesn't actually need a cherry fermentation stage at all. I think in Safo's case, they probably did it intentionally as an experiment rather than as a necessary part of the process
4:15 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Ah, I misunderstood it. 😂 It’s not being rested in a stainless steel tank—it’s being filtered once through a stainless steel mesh. So yes, this is definitely a Zero Fermentation process, and they simply washed it once to prevent it from developing into a Honey-style profile. It might actually result in a cleaner processing style. I'm curious to see how it turns out
4:18 AM #what-are-you-brewing: On the other hand, if the coffee isn't washed after the Zero Fermentation stage, that means some amount of mucilage remains during drying—so those coffees are essentially the ones that should be called Honey. Because of that, they often show much stronger fruit-driven flavors and tend to have higher intensity as well
4:27 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Lance actually said that Banko was his favorite 😂
5:16 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Not bad. It’s exactly that level
7:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Right now I'm drinking Musumba Lot 1 from Burundi. It's filled with flavors of longan honey, red tea, blood orange, and a hint of mace, all wrapped up in an incredibly exotic aroma. I absolutely love it
5:11 PM #cupping: I think ES has become almost mythical at this point. I was lucky enough to taste some of the ES competition coffees before, and honestly, only two of them really lived up to the reputation. The rest weren’t anything like they used to be.

There was one that really stood out, though—it was from a different producer who worked through Fazenda Um
5:14 PM #cupping: Flávio Salles, Catucai 2SL. That was the last truly great ES coffee I drank
5:16 PM #cupping: And I still think you should try a Nicaraguan Maracaturra. 😂 I’m serious—it really reminds me of Ecuadorian Mejorado.

As for Bolivia… I tasted a few coffees from Los Rodriguez this year, and they were just okay, not good 🫩
5:32 PM #cupping: That said, I still have faith in Java from both Bolivia and Nicaragua. They really remind me of ES.
5:45 PM #origins-and-producers: I don’t know if this will help, but the Gesha growing at Mario in Esmeralda was also found to carry the JARC 74 genetic markers
6:51 PM #origins-and-producers: The original goal of the genetic analysis was actually to show that T2722 is relatively rare. Ironically, though, the results also revealed the presence of the JARC 74 genetic markers alongside it
6:57 PM #origins-and-producers: The information is actually coming from a Korean YouTuber, a roastery, and a green coffee importer who commissioned genetic testing in Taiwan. Once the full report is released—and it sounds like a much more detailed breakdown should be coming soon—I’ll share it with you.

That’s why I found it interesting that, just a few days ago, I saw Elida (I think it was Elida) promoting one of their Geshas on Instagram as pure T2722
7:07 PM #origins-and-producers: A natural translation would be:

The results turned out to be really interesting.
The elongated green beans that looked like Gesha were identified as T2722 × Ethiopian Landrace, while the smaller, rounder green beans were identified as pure Bourbon.

The results matched exactly what I had predicted just by visually sorting the beans.
(Of course, with a larger sample size, this hypothesis could be confirmed more convincingly.)
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7:09 PM #origins-and-producers: Anyway, once the full report is released, I’ll definitely show it to you
7:27 PM #origins-and-producers: It actually all started with a simple question: “Is Abaya Gesha really Gesha?” To investigate that, they ran genetic tests on Esmeralda Mario Gesha, Esmeralda Bourbon, two Abaya Geshas, and two Ethiopian landrace samples.

The results showed that—at least for the samples from Mario—the Gesha wasn’t pure T2722, but rather a hybrid. It definitely sparked a lot of discussion… but yeah, that’s basically what happened
7:34 PM #origins-and-producers: By the way, one of the Abaya Geshas was identified as 74, while the other showed a hybrid profile between 74 and Sidama heirloom lol
11:00 PM #origins-and-producers: I think they had to do some amplification because there wasn’t enough sample to work with. I’m not really an expert on that stuff though. 😂 Either way, it’s causing quite a stir
11:03 PM #origins-and-producers: the only way to know for sure is to compare it against a genuine T2722
11:25 PM #cupping: Hmm, it doesn’t have the best reputation. It’s sold as ES, but a lot of people believe it’s actually MG
11:35 PM #cupping: When I tasted samples that actually came from ES, they definitely had that distinctive ES character. The problem was that, after they became famous, the quality of the coffees they started selling fell well short of what expected from ES. A lot of people also said the flavor profile and overall quality were much closer to what they'd associate with MG's terroir. Because of that, I've kept a bit of distance from them. There have also been a few other negative rumors floating around, so I'd rather just stay cautious.
11:52 PM #cupping: What do you think of Bahia? Melbourne Coffee Merchants seem to be promoting coffees from that region quite a bit

2026-07-22

12:18 AM #cupping: lol
12:22 AM #origins-and-producers: What's even more interesting is that, among the Ethiopian landrace samples they tested, there was one that showed a genetic profile very similar to the Mario sample. T2722 x JARC 74 hybrid, so I asked him about it, and I'm still waiting for his reply. I have a feeling this might be the key to figuring it all out.
12:32 AM #origins-and-producers: Let's continue the Brazil discussion we started on the cupping channel. 😂 It even looks like Joselino Meneguete does his own roasting now
12:40 AM #origins-and-producers: Haha, I’m actually a fan of fermented Brazilian coffees, so I don’t mind them at all. 😂 Lately I’ve been exploring arara. It does have that characteristic hazelnut profile, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how good it is
12:43 AM #origins-and-producers: That said, the fermented coffees coming from MG are a bit… hard to explain. They taste good, but I don’t really get the feeling that they’re progressing or evolving, and that’s the part I find a little disappointing. Now that I think about it, the Paraiso variety was actually quite impressive as well
12:45 AM #origins-and-producers: Ha, guess what? I’ve already got a Chinese coffee that was processed with 'double anaerobic fermentation' sitting on the way. 😂 I might be the one in SEYcord who drinks the most crazy fermented coffees
12:49 AM #origins-and-producers: You know what? Alex actually told me about a variety called Dere 132. I got so curious that I started digging into it, and eventually discovered Lizuk Estate in China. The fact that they cultivate it themselves and even roast it themselves using IMF was really interesting to me — plus, they’re part of one of China’s ethnic minority communities — so I had to try it.
12:50 AM #origins-and-producers: Haha, seems like we’re into the same kind of thing. I’ve tried a Catimor P3/4 processed with double anaerobic fermentation before. But surprisingly, it wasn’t bad at all. 😂
12:52 AM #origins-and-producers: Maybe it’s because I’ve had some pretty extreme processed coffees before… Honestly, these days I’m not bothered by anaerobic fermentation at all. After trying Project Origin’s “Supernatural” Uraga a while back, I feel like my palate was completely… hardened
12:59 AM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, Fine Robusta is definitely one of the trends right now. Unfortunately, whenever I drink pure Robusta, my stomach gets really acidic
1:04 AM #origins-and-producers: I just saw the chat now. That Arara was good too, but the distinctive hazelnut aroma bothered me a little. 😂 Maybe it’s because I’m such a nut hater…
1:10 AM #origins-and-producers: Yeah, I think that was probably what happened. I later tried a sample from Right Side, and it definitely showed a much stronger Kenyan profile
1:14 AM #origins-and-producers: Have you tried the new Windrush yet? I think Intelligentsia carried the AA lot, and I’m actually getting the AB sample today
1:18 AM #origins-and-producers: Windrush is from Kiambu right? Lately, Kiambu has been my favorite
1:26 AM #origins-and-producers: How about Nandi
1:26 AM #origins-and-producers: I actually think Nandi and the neighboring regions are pretty interesting as well
1:30 AM #origins-and-producers: and Kericho
4:49 AM #origins-and-producers: Gesha, forming a Gesha “cluster”. However, 37% of samples had
an unrelated genetic background; some were old East African
varieties such as SL34, and some were Typica/Bourbon mix. Those were the results from comparing it against the 88 samples in the WCR database
Attachments:
- Representation-and-genetic-conformity-evaluation-of-the-88-Gesha-samples-in-the.png (image/webp 850x1165)
4:50 AM #origins-and-producers: Oh, the image got really compressed. I'll upload the original PDF instead
4:50 AM #origins-and-producers: https://scispace.com/pdf/authentication-of-coffea-arabica-varieties-through-dna-2nwstvc1zm.pdf
6:10 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm drinking Windrush AB right now. It was roasted just yesterday, so it's extremely fresh, which probably means I'm not getting the full picture yet. It's roasted on the UL profile, so there's a bit of an overall grainy character, but it's not distracting enough to affect drinkability. Interestingly, it actually tastes closer to an Ethiopian coffee than a Kenyan one. The bergamot, hibiscus, and berry notes remind me a lot of an Ethiopian washed coffee, while the white currant note is probably the only thing that really comes across as Kenyan.

That said, either the green quality isn't particularly high—or it could simply be a roasting issue (I suspect it would be resolved by pushing the roast a bit further). There's a slight fermented note that reminds me of what you sometimes get from lower-quality Kenyan coffees.
Attachments:
- IMG_1569.JPEG (image/jpeg 1536x2048)
4:55 PM #Brew-Along: Georgina gesha is just amazing

2026-07-23

2:07 AM #current-menu: Basha 💓
2:10 AM #current-menu: I’ve seen a few of Basha’s farms before, and they seriously look like coffee plantations on a massive scale
2:14 AM #current-menu: Kamavindi?
2:16 AM #current-menu: Imagine if Kamavindi decided to separate the Mocha and release it as its own lot… And what if they’re planning to do that next year…?
2:17 AM #current-menu: No botanic sidra
2:18 AM #current-menu: It’s definitely something different. 😂 I just haven’t tasted it enough to describe it
2:19 AM #current-menu: That used to be the common belief, but I think it’s been identified as Ethiopian
2:32 AM #current-menu: It's probably just a typo
2:47 AM #what-are-you-brewing: My first coffee of the day is a coffee from the DRC—it's been a while. It's called Asili and comes from the Ngoma region... and honestly, that's about all the information I have. 😂 Kind of a funny situation. That said, it feels like a noticeable step up in quality compared to the DRC coffee I had from SEY before. It actually makes me wonder whether DRC could end up overtaking Burundi and Rwanda in terms of quality.

The cup is absolutely beautiful, with lemon and black tea intertwined in a really elegant way, followed by aromas of cardamom and nutmeg. It also has that saffron-like note that I love in great African coffees, with lingering florals in the finish. Not a bad way to start the morning (it's morning over here, by the way).
3:00 AM #current-menu: My sixth subscription slot is ready
5:46 AM #what-are-you-brewing: A friend of mine kept telling me how good Llaqta Pata was, so I finally brewed it today. He was absolutely right—it's fantastic. Whereas Albino had a more fermented character, this coffee feels much lighter and more transparent. Honestly, I'd put it up against an Esmeralda Gesha without hesitation. It opens with wisteria-like florals and an elegant tea-like quality that reminds me of oolong, but it also brings to mind the Moscato d'Asti note I found in Georgina Puma. From the mid-palate onward, the coffee evolves again. Layers of honeysuckle and apple blossom florals unfold together, before finishing with bright lemon fruit, accompanied by a subtle botanical note reminiscent of lemon balm. One of the most fascinating aspects is the acidity. A gentle lactic acidity slowly builds from underneath the tongue and gradually spreads across the palate in layers, filling the mouth in a remarkably elegant way.

I much prefer Gilber's Llaqta Pata over Albino's coffee. It feels considerably more refined.
5:47 AM #what-are-you-brewing: If I had to put a score on it, I'd honestly rate it around 92–93. I really mean it.
8:44 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It was roasted on July 7
8:45 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I usually find that most coffees are good to go after about two weeks anyway

2026-07-26

2:47 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m actually a fan of current roast profile
2:51 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I guess it's time for a long palate calibration session with SEY drinkers
2:56 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I'm drinking something pretty interesting right now: a natural Laurina roasted by MOMOS. The coffee comes from El Turpial in Nariño, a farm some of you might recognize. Last year I had another fascinating coffee from the same farm—a Gesha grown at 2,700 meters. Technically it was a grafted tree with a Caturra rootstock and a Gesha scion, and it was a really enjoyable experience. (Using a different rootstock is actually quite common in places where Gesha doesn't perform particularly well. For example, Santa Lucia in Honduras has used Robusta rootstock)

This time it's Laurina, although I do wish it were washed instead of natural. Then again, when I try to imagine what a washed Laurina would taste like, I end up thinking the natural process might actually be the better choice. This is only my third experience with Laurina—the previous two were from CGLE and Daterra.

Flavor-wise, it's a very "boozy" Colombian natural. There's that familiar cognac-and-rum character alongside dried raspberry—pretty classic for a Colombian natural. But from the mid-palate onward, it starts to distinguish itself. There's a eucalyptus-like botanical quality, bright Valencia orange acidity, and the finish gradually shifts into something that reminds me of a Malbec. It really makes me think Laurina has some genuine strengths as a natural process
Attachments:
- IMG_1582.JPEG (image/jpeg 1536x2048)
3:35 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I think there have definitely been some changes since they adjusted their roast profile last year. But because I brew with the ORB and usually push extraction fairly hard, I honestly don't relate to a lot of the complaints people have been mentioning. Danche H is a good example. A lot of people seemed to struggle with both the extraction and the flavor, whereas I really enjoyed it.

From the roastery's perspective, though, I think it makes perfect sense to aim for a roast profile that's easier to extract and more forgiving, so a broader range of people can get good results instead of only those brewing under very specific conditions.
3:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: More than that, though, seeing the discussion above about acidity got me thinking. Acidity is such a difficult topic to talk about because everyone seems to mean something slightly different by it. Honestly, I think it'd be worth setting aside some time and making acidity the sole topic of discussion over a single coffee. Among subscribers, I mean. A survey could work, or even a long-form discussion.

It's such a broad aspect of coffee that I think the only way to really understand each other is to have lots of conversations about it.
9:34 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I don't mean that in a negative way, though. I just think the Peruvian Geshas they brought in this time have a pretty wide range of profiles, and some of them aren't the easiest coffees to understand. Dwight's Gesha, for example, leans heavily toward flavors that people can easily misinterpret—especially all those tea-like characteristics. I think someone who mainly enjoys fruit-forward cups could easily come away with the wrong impression. On the other hand, I actually find Luis Salas's Gesha a bit challenging because the fermentation character is a little too pronounced for my taste.
9:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Georgina's Gesha is probably the most balanced of the three. That said, it has a distinctly wine-like texture. I personally think of it as Moscato d'Asti, although a friend of mine who's much more knowledgeable about wine insisted it reminded him of Pinot Grigio
9:38 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I also feel like Dwight may have been hyped up just a little too much. 😂
9:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Of course, I'm only talking about the red. I'd definitely like to try the yellow
5:24 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Alo has a more straightforward flavor
5:54 PM #what-are-you-brewing: That’s pretty interesting. 😂 I actually like the current roast profile, but I guess it’ll probably get a little darker from here?
5:57 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Love ya
5:59 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m really impressed with this month’s roast profile—especially Llaqta Pata. It’s incredibly delicate
6:02 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Go buy some Basha instead. 😂
6:06 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Basha’s quality is absolutely incredible
6:08 PM #what-are-you-brewing: If you ever see a coffee from Gonjobe or Murago, just buy it. Those places are absolutely incredible. Especially Gonjobe
6:13 PM #what-are-you-brewing: They may have entered the Chinese market first, but I think opportunities are still pretty evenly distributed. There are plenty of exciting regions that haven’t been featured yet—Bona Zuria being one of them
6:15 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Mofa Forest was also China-exclusive last year, but that’s not the case anymore
6:17 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, I’m waiting for SEY to release Demeka Becha. I think I’ll finally use an addon code again after a long time….
6:21 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Duromina, Demeka Becha, and Layo Teraga — remember these names 💓
6:23 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I still can’t forget that intense peach and oolong profile from Layo
6:26 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ethiopian peach notes are always fascinating. The way peach develops in the cup can be absolutely magical depending on the coffee. A lot of people chase jasmine, but personally, peach is always my first love
6:28 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Christopher Feran actually wrote about this really well on his blog. The old-school blueberry Ethiopian coffees were probably the result of defects, at least to some extent
6:31 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I think around 2020, the exceptional natural processing coming out of Sidama really spread worldwide. Since then, it’s actually become much harder to find those classic blueberry notes in naturals. Honestly, you might have better luck looking for them in Geshas from other regions. 😂
6:33 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Sometimes it honestly reminds me more of slightly overripe blackberries than anything else
6:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I think the blackberry I was talking about is probably a more negative kind of note — something a bit heavy, dull, and almost spoiled. It’s quite different from the blackberry people talk about in Kenyan coffees
6:37 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Blackberry in Kenyan coffees is the best. 😂 After that, mango. Those two notes are what make a Kenyan coffee truly exceptional for me
6:40 PM #what-are-you-brewing: This is actually why I started calling myself “Mango.” It was heart’s roast of Nyawira AB from Embu — an incredible coffee with unforgettable blackberry, mango, and butterscotch notes
6:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Elida did

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dougssg

2026-07-22

2:54 PM #current-menu: Every day is Kamavindi day if you buy 100 lbs and just drink it daily.
2:55 PM #current-menu: But can anyone really ask about Kamavindi day if they haven’t bought Ndwiga yet?

2026-07-24

2:52 AM #current-menu: You did well
2:53 AM #current-menu: Can’t wait to hear what you think

2026-07-25

3:52 AM #what-are-you-brewing: We haven’t done a box set in many years!
3:54 AM #current-menu: That coffee is fiiiire
3:56 AM #current-menu: Honestly the sub has fire selections. We release so much coffee and have such a high standard for quality there’s no possible way to not FOMO at some point.
3:56 AM #current-menu: You can easily set it and forget it with a 6 box and never feel like you missed anything or you can stay attached to our releases and cherry pick.
4:02 AM #current-menu: Great thing is you can use code ADDON and get free shipping for things you want to cherry pick with.

2026-07-26

4:42 AM #current-menu: Tough call and I haven’t cupped Kamavindi off production roast. I’d probably go Nginda though.
8:10 PM #current-menu: All good! We’ll be back soon
8:10 PM #current-menu: Honestly Ethiopia is so incredible this year every week it’s amazing.

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naomi (car7iern)

2026-07-25

12:54 AM #current-menu: Georgina is sold out (but is being served on filter right now, alongside Boneya and Duber), but we do have retail boxes of Rolando Ramirez which in my humble opinion has not been hyped enough by the proper hype man

2026-07-26

2:59 AM #current-menu: Yeah we'll have them on the retail shelf in like 2 weeks. Probably won't hit filter/espresso until closer to a month off roast

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-------------------

GPT-5.6 Thinking Summary

seylance2897

Huehuetenango sourcing: Asked for direct experience with San Marcos and San Mateo, Guatemala, believing their extreme elevations may still contain exceptional old Bourbon. He had bought from the area more than five years earlier, suspected much of its coffee entered large Counter Culture blends, and planned to investigate the region again despite worsening climate conditions and limited current relationships.
Ethiopian preferences: Ranked Banko Gotiti especially highly, expected Siti to improve with rest, and acknowledged Bombe from Alo as the numerical high scorer while personally favoring Chelbesa-style peach, peach-tea, and candied-peach-ring profiles. He called Ethiopia the world's best coffee origin and expected the season's coffees to improve progressively.
Espirito Santo potential and scarcity: Said washed Catucai from smallholders in Espirito Santo can reach an unusually high ceiling - he had scored Joselino's coffee as high as 91 - but the best nano-lots are tiny, often reserved for numerous local competitions, and extremely difficult for outside buyers to secure. He noted that the profile can become savory or vegetal, but can be exceptional when sweetness remains intact.
Castillo and roast diagnosis: Found one Castillo sample too darkly roasted for a proper green-quality assessment. He said the critical question for Castillo is whether it shows green-pepper vegetality, which the roast obscured, although the coffee's sweetness surprised him.
Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Pacamara: Actively wanted to obtain Nicaraguan Maracaturra. He considered Takesi's Pacamara one of the best Pacamaras he had tasted, with no herbality, but criticized much of Bolivia for excessive Catimor planting and found the Rodriguez coffees overprocessed.
Central Kenya focus: Said Kiambu has historically produced many of his highest-scoring Kenyan coffees, alongside exceptions such as Gerald, Kamavindi, Mamuto, and Guchienda. He also described Kiambu's difficult economics and colonial estate structure, but said SEY would release a coffee from an exciting small Kiambu farm and was concentrating investment in Central Kenya rather than western regions.
Zero-fermentation lots: Praised Alo's zero-fermentation coffee as exceptional. He described it as mechanically eco-pulped, calibrated to remove all mucilage, and moved directly to drying beds; with mucilage left behind it would resemble honey processing. He said several very small DRD zero-fermentation lots were forthcoming.
Roast-development findings: Said recent experiments had intentionally pushed development to find the boundary. Their internal targets suggested Latin American coffees performed best around 136-138, while Ethiopians could reach the low 142s, although they intended to move Latins back toward roughly 135-136 and Ethiopians toward 138-142 depending on density. He agreed some recent coffees had become too light, sometimes sacrificing acidity and structure or becoming cereal-like.
Measurement and community feedback: Reported that standardized cupping bowls consistently landed around 1.25-1.30 TDS with fixed grind, water, and agitation, making solubility comparisons useful. He welcomed critical brewing feedback as part of a farm-roaster-brewer feedback loop, while emphasizing that final roast decisions remained his responsibility.
Long-term variety research: Described a catalogue of more than 40 rarely or never commercialized varieties that may have exceptional cup potential, including Ethiopian landraces and multiple SL selections. As one speculative example, he cited ET-59, a low-yield Bonga Forest landrace catalogued with phosphoric, elderflower, and white-currant potential. He stressed that these descriptions remain unverified until the varieties are found, planted in test plots, genetically checked, and tasted - a project likely to take years.

lancehedrick

Preinfusion mechanics: Clarified that the Breville Dual Boiler actively pressurizes during preinfusion, unlike machines such as the Rancilio or Gaggia that merely wet or "sprinkle" the puck.
Linea Micra modification: Approved of an equipment setup but said a "Jake G" modification to the Micra would complete it.
Temperature stability: Reaffirmed that ordinary users often overemphasize small brew-temperature changes and machine temperature stability. His point concerned changes such as 91C to 92C on machines already offering several temperature settings, not every possible temperature-related question.
Research context: Said his temperature comments were contextual to a specific video and may also have referenced UC Davis work on dripper geometry and roast level, possibly alongside Morten Munchow's work.
Alpha dripper stalling: Investigated an unusual lack of stalling with T90 filters, noting that he normally has to induce stalling in his Alpha. He proposed two likely causes: the filter being pushed too aggressively into the bottom and blocking the dripper's chutes, or excessive pouring turbulence moving fines into the filter. After hearing more, he requested grind size and a view of the seated filter because the behavior remained strange.
SEY roast experimentation: Said SEY had conducted extensive comparative cuppings of the same coffees at slightly different roast levels, intentionally pushing roasts to an extreme and then backing off. The remaining challenge was mapping appropriate ranges across varieties, elevations, and starting moisture levels.
Green-coffee emphasis: Framed the roast project as an attempt to make roasting cease to dominate the conversation, allowing green quality to become the focus. He cited large-scale data collection, many cuppings involving multiple coffees and roasters, and systematic parameter changes.
Targeted rather than wholesale adjustment: Rejected the idea of a broad roast-profile reversal. He expected coffees such as Pepe's Sidra and perhaps a few others to receive slightly more development, while leaving successful areas alone and making coffee-specific adjustments.

opp4004

Ethiopian reference material: Recommended an illustrated guide to Ethiopia's forest coffees and the *Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia*, calling both old but valuable for understanding the origin's extraordinary geographical and institutional complexity.
Georgina versus Dwight: Scored Georgina's coffee 89 and Dwight's 88.5. He appreciated Dwight's complexity but found it insufficiently intense and too dominated by tea-like flavors; Georgina's superior balance justified the higher score.
Bombe from Alo: Initially scored Alo's Bombe around 89, with room to improve after resting. He described Taiwanese Qing Xin high-mountain oolong, Jonathan apple, ripe dragon-fruit sweetness and acidity, and soft florals - an unexpectedly Guji-like profile for Sidama - but still found the cup somewhat low in intensity.
Cupping-record format: Preferred a simple collaborative spreadsheet or discussion thread over heavily produced videos for shared subscription cupping. His proposed fields were score, tasting notes, and free-form comments from participating members.
Nicaraguan Maracaturra: Strongly advocated trying Maracaturra from Nicaragua, comparing it to Ecuadorian Mejorado. A honey-processed La Picona lot from Martha Lucia Albir Sotomayor in Dipilto showed apricot, lemon acidity, green grape, and elegant florals, though its extremely light roast exposed more fermented honey-process character than he wanted.
Zero-fermentation terminology: Argued that "zero fermentation" usually means no deliberate fermentation after pulping, not literally zero microbial activity from harvest onward. He described the common Jimma method as eco-pulping followed by immediate drying, noted that remaining mucilage can make the result functionally honey-like, and suggested brief rinsing or soaking as a possible route to cleaner cups.
Supply-chain transparency: Criticized parts of the Chinese specialty market for unclear or incorrect coffee identities and said Korean buyers often depend heavily on importers rather than producer relationships. He contrasted this with respected US roasters - including Counter Culture, Metric, Passenger, B&W, and others - that explain what they bought, the producer context, and the story behind the coffee.
Espirito Santo, Brazil, and alternative origins: Considered Espirito Santo's reputation partly mythologized: only a few competition coffees had matched the region's historic promise, with Flavio Salles's Catucai 2SL being his last truly great example. He found recent Rodriguez coffees from Bolivia merely acceptable, retained interest in Java from Bolivia and Nicaragua, and enjoyed some fermented Brazilian coffees and Arara despite disliking its hazelnut character.
Gesha genetics uncertainty: Relayed preliminary genetic-testing claims suggesting that some Mario/Esmeralda and Abaya "Gesha" samples were not pure T2722 but hybrids involving JARC 74 or Ethiopian-landrace markers; other visually distinct beans appeared to be Bourbon. He repeatedly noted that the full report was not yet available, that his technical expertise was limited, and that comparison against a confirmed T2722 reference would be necessary.
Brewing, roast profile, and standout cups: Found Windrush AB unusually Ethiopian-like, with bergamot, hibiscus, berries, and white currant, though its one-day-old ultra-light roast showed grain and possibly low-green-quality or underdevelopment-related fermentation. By contrast, he rated Gilber's Llaqta Pata around 92-93, praising its wisteria, oolong, Moscato d'Asti, honeysuckle, apple blossom, lemon, lemon balm, and layered lactic acidity. He generally liked SEY's current roast profile because his ORB brewing and high extraction handled it well, while accepting that a more forgiving roast would serve more brewers.

dougssg

Kamavindi and Ndwiga: Joked that every day can be "Kamavindi day" for someone buying 100 pounds and drinking it continuously, then countered that people should not ask about Kamavindi before buying Ndwiga.
Purchase encouragement: Congratulated another member on a coffee choice and said he was eager to hear their assessment.
Box-set history: Noted that SEY had not released a box set in many years.
Subscription strategy: Called the subscription selections consistently strong and argued that SEY's volume and quality standard make some fear of missing out unavoidable.
Six-box versus cherry-picking: Presented two viable approaches: use a six-box subscription as a low-effort way to receive consistently strong coffees, or follow releases closely and select individual coffees.
Addon shipping: Recommended the ADDON code as a way for subscribers to add selected releases without additional shipping charges.
Nginda preference: When asked to choose, said he had not cupped Kamavindi from the production roast and therefore tentatively favored Nginda.
Ethiopian season: Said Ethiopia's 2026 coffees were so strong that the weekly arrivals remained consistently exciting, while reassuring members that temporarily unavailable offerings would return.

naomi (car7iern)

Limited captured activity: Only two messages from Naomi were captured this week.
Current cafe and retail availability: Reported that Georgina had sold out as a retail box but was still being served as filter coffee alongside Boneya and Duber. She recommended Rolando Ramirez as an underhyped retail option.
Release timing: Said upcoming coffees would reach the retail shelf in roughly two weeks but probably would not appear as filter or espresso offerings until closer to one month after roast.

Cross-thread takeaways

The central disagreement was roast development, not whether the coffees were good: Some members found recent SEY coffees too light, cereal-like, less structured, or unnecessarily difficult to extract; others using aggressive extraction methods preferred the current delicacy and clarity. SEY acknowledged overshooting on some coffees but described the correction as targeted calibration rather than a wholesale darkening.
SEY's working model is coffee-specific: Latin American and Ethiopian coffees appeared to tolerate different internal development ranges, and even within those groups the appropriate roast depended on variety, density, elevation, moisture, and desired expression. Pepe's Sidra was repeatedly identified as a likely candidate for slightly more development.
Shared cupping could improve calibration: seylance2897 wanted the community's brewing observations to inform roasting, opp4004 proposed a simple score-and-notes spreadsheet, and later discussion suggested a focused subscriber session on acidity because participants often use that term differently.
Several threads tried to move attention from roast toward green quality: Both seylance2897 and lancehedrick described extensive roast experimentation as a means of making roasting more transparent and less dominant, leaving more discussion and economic value for producers, varieties, processing, and raw-coffee quality.
Processing labels require skepticism: The zero-fermentation discussion distinguished literal absence of fermentation from the more practical meaning of no intentional post-pulp fermentation. Eco-pulper calibration, residual mucilage, rinsing, cherry-stage conditions, and immediate drying can materially change whether a coffee behaves more like washed or honey.
Genetic variety names remain less reliable than they appear: Preliminary reports about T2722, JARC 74, Bourbon, Ethiopian landraces, and Abaya or Esmeralda samples suggested that visual identification and commercial labels may not match genetic results. The participants treated the claims as provocative but incomplete pending full reports and authenticated reference samples.
Ethiopia dominated enthusiasm: Banko Gotiti, Siti, Bombe/Alo, Demeka Becha, Layo Teraga, Basha-area coffees, Gonjobe, Murago, and Bona Zuria were discussed with particular excitement. Peach, oolong, black tea, florals, and occasional berry profiles were recurring reference points, while old-style blueberry naturals were treated as rarer and possibly partly defect-derived.
Access depends heavily on relationships and information quality: Whether discussing tiny Espirito Santo competition lots, Central Kenyan farms, opaque Asian import chains, or experimental varieties, participants repeatedly emphasized that exceptional coffee is rarely found by chance; it requires producer relationships, accurate identity and processing information, logistics, and years of repeated tasting.

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Week of 2026-07-20

Summary

seylance2897

lancehedrick

opp4004

dougssg

naomi (car7iern)

Cross-thread takeaways

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Index

seylance2897

2026-07-20

2026-07-21

2026-07-22

2026-07-23

2026-07-25

2026-07-26

lancehedrick

2026-07-20

2026-07-21

2026-07-22

2026-07-23

2026-07-24

2026-07-26

opp4004

2026-07-20

2026-07-21

2026-07-22

2026-07-23

2026-07-26

dougssg

2026-07-22

2026-07-24

2026-07-25

2026-07-26

naomi (car7iern)

2026-07-25

2026-07-26

GPT-5.6 Thinking Summary

seylance2897

lancehedrick

opp4004

dougssg

naomi (car7iern)

Cross-thread takeaways

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