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Calibration, Quality and the Myth of Infallibility

Day 1 of the Copa de Oro competition in Huila, Colombia in November 2023 hosted by Osito Coffee This piece is inspired by curiosities surrounding the process of sourcing Aviary’s release 003: Gildardo Lopez, as well as my history buying from the Cup of Excellence-winning producer of 004: Lino Rodriguez. Both of these coffees will […]

Now roasting: Aviary

A brief personal note: After a few restless months, my roasting project, Aviary, is live. I funded Aviary using a crowdfunding mechanism and without any outside investment (save an equipment loan through the Small Business Administration) with the intention of keeping the company unencumbered from financial influence or expectations of a return on investment. I […]

Roest: Best Practices

In the months since I published my post on sample roasters, I’ve heard from countless Roest users who shared my experience—and perhaps a few frustrations—and who hoped I’d be willing to shed a little more insight into best practices for getting optimal results from the roaster. Every coffee that comes through my lab is roasted […]

Sampling Sample Roasters

I hope that by providing a nuanced look at each of the four roasters on my bench—an Ikawa Pro, Kaffelogic Nano 7, Arc S, and Roest L100 Plus—you’ll have sufficient context and insight about each of these roasters and how I approach them to guide your own selection toward a machine that best suits your needs.

Aviary: A roastery for the 21st century

Since leaving Phoenix in August (after leading the company through a rebranding, a renaissance in quality, the pandemic, a retail expansion and restructuring into a worker-owned cooperative), I’ve thought a lot about what I might do differently if I were ever to start my own roastery. Over my 13 years as a roaster, coffee buyer […]

March Forward, Dear Mother Ethiopia

My head hurts, my legs ache, I’m thirsty. For everything else it is, Ethiopia isn’t an easy place to travel—not how we do it, anyway. We drive into Jimma, five of us packed into a Land Cruiser, a vehicle that is as much a symbol of success as a way of saying, “I need no […]

The one about soda rehydration

rehydrating coffee with soda

I don’t drink soda. Guy Fieri It was my fourth and final cupping of the day, and staring down at the mess of spent grounds and spilled coffee wrecking the table like seaweed at low tide or forgotten treasures unearthed in the snowmelt of spring, I dipped my spoon and set to work. I had […]

A sort-of glossary of coffee processes

“Since the rise of the coffee shop, culture has disappeared, don’t you think? People are horrified that they have to pay for music. Music! But $20 for two coffees, oh, absolutely.” Noel Gallagher (singer, guitarist and frontman of Oasis) I didn’t plan to end up in coffee.  It’s one of those ice breakers that you […]

Kenya: A brief follow-up

Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed. Mwai Kibaki, third president of Kenya In the weeks since I published my post on the coffee industry in Kenya, I’ve had conversations with countless coffee producers, agents, and exporters in Kenya as well as roasters and […]

Kenya and “the decline of the world’s greatest coffee”

The sun never sets on the British empire. attributed to John Wilson, 1829 During one of his “yes or no” Instagram Q&As, Scott Rao lamented the declining quality of Kenyan coffees over the last three years—a sentiment I’ve heard echoed by buyers across Europe, the US, and Australia. He kicked a different question over to […]

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