One bean or brewing experiment per week — honest notes from our cupping table
First Pour: Why We Started This
Introduction
Every great obsession starts with a single cup. Ours was a washed Yirgacheffe from a tiny roaster in Brooklyn — the kind of place where the barista tells you the farmer's name and the altitude before they'll pour. That cup tasted like jasmine and lemon and absolutely nothing like what we'd been calling "coffee" for years. This blog is our weekly journal: one new bean or brewing experiment, one honest paragraph. No sponsorships, no affiliate links. Just the search for the next cup that stops us mid-sip.
Ethiopia Hambela Natural — The Blueberry That Changed Everything
We've had a lot of natural Ethiopians, but this Hambela lot from the 2025 harvest hit different. The dry fragrance smelled like a blueberry pie cooling on a windowsill — not subtle, not hiding behind roast character, just pure fruit. Brewed on the V60 at 94°C with a 1:16 ratio and a 40-second bloom, the cup opened with a wave of blueberry jam that transitioned into peach tea as it cooled. The body was syrupy without being heavy, and the finish lingered for what felt like a full minute. At $22 for 12oz, this is the best value-to-amazement ratio we've found this year.
The James Hoffmann French Press Method — Was He Right?
We finally committed to the full Hoffmann French Press technique: no stirring after the pour, four-minute steep, skim the crust and foam, then wait another five minutes before the gentlest plunge you've ever done. The result? Night and day versus our old method. The cup was cleaner than any French Press we've made — still that full, round, chocolatey body that immersion gives you, but without the gritty sludge at the bottom. The Guatemala Antigua was the perfect test bean: dark chocolate, cinnamon, and brown sugar, all presented with a clarity we didn't think French Press could deliver. Patience is a brewing variable. Hoffmann was right.