Coffee Journal: A Lookback at My Year of Brewing Chemex & Espressos 2024-2025

Back in 2024 my friend Jay got me a Field Notes journal pack to keep track of all the coffees I've been drinking. So over the past year and a half I've kept a handwritten coffee journal about every bag of coffee we've brewed at home. We use a Chemex for pour overs and Barista Pro espresso machine.

Just about every bag of coffee that came through our kitchen got an entry: the roaster, origin, tasting notes, grind settings and my thoughts on how it came out.

The Setup

My set up is a Chemex for pour overs and a Breville Barista Pro espresso machine. Generally during the week we do pour over and on the weekends we do espresso drinks. I use a Baratza Encore burr grinder and note the grind settings for each bag of coffee.

Equipment:

Grinder: Baratza Encore (40-step burr grinder, #1 = finest, #40 = coarsest)
Pour Over: Chemex 6-cup with Chemex bonded filters
Espresso: Breville Barista Pro
Water Temp: 205°F default for pour over, varies from roast to roast
Pour Over Dose: 42g coffee to ~650g water

There are usually dialing in that happens so I make a note of the grind settings I used and what the outcome of those settings were. This helps me narrow down what works with what type of roast.

The Rating System

Each coffee gets a simple 1-5 star rating. These are how I feel about the roast or how much I enjoyed drinking it. A perfectly roasted, expertly sourced Ethiopian might get 2 stars if I couldn't figure out how to brew it without bitterness. Meanwhile, a straightforward Honduras that made Katie smile every morning gets 5 stars.

The Roasters

Most of my coffee comes from a Verve Single Origin subscription. But I also explored local Minneapolis roasters like Dogwood, Spyhouse, Five Watt, S.K. Coffee and Minimum Wage Tim. There were some out of state roasters like Tandem that came through as well.

The Complete Coffee Journal

Here's every coffee I brewed over the past year and a half, chronologically. Each entry includes grind settings, tasting notes, and my honest assessment of what worked and what didn't.