Our twice-monthly dispatch: what's coming off the roaster, how to brew it, and the occasional honest account of something we got wrong. No fluff — usually a three-minute read.
Past issues
The Gakundo AA landed and we couldn't wait to roast it — blackcurrant, grapefruit, and a cane-sugar sweetness that practically jumps out of the cup. It's a small lot, so it's a "while it lasts" coffee. Inside this issue:
After two years of saying no, Nightshift Decaf is on the shelf. We walk through the Sugarcane EA process, why it keeps the sweetness intact, and how we roast decaf differently from everything else on the drum. Also in this issue:
Our seasonal transparency report. We publish the FOB price we paid per pound on every contract this season, what that means relative to the C-market, and why the Yirgacheffe cost more this year. A longer read than usual — worth it if you care where your money goes.
An honest post-mortem on the Tuesday we dumped twelve pounds of Huila into the chaff bin. A stuck damper, a misread color, and the lesson we keep relearning about roasting by time instead of by eye. Plus: