Coffee roastings notes - August 2026
The brewing cheat sheet from the back of the 2026 journal
#coffee
62 posts tagged coffee.
2026
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/coffee-roastings-notes-august-2026
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/there-is-no-best-coffee-roaster
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-byron-hernandez
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-juan-jimenez
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/coffee-collective-bombona
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-daysi-munoz
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-ibonia-estate
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-vilma-miranda
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/port-2050-carlos-cadena
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-david-munoz-las-flores
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/onyx-monarch
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/onyx-geometry
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/northern-coffeeworks-evergreen-espresso
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/archers-ethiopian-bito
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-eduardo-quispe
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/merge-coffee-apps
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-tagel-alemayehu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-ramon-hernandez
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-jhonoton-pinto
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-sermon
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/dak-poppy-soda
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/preheat-porta-filter
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/heart-gerba-wogo-sodu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-granitos-de-ortiz
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/tandem-west-end-blues-2026-01-29
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-street-level
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/dogwood-bear-hug
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/northern-coffeeworks-ladys-slipper
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/coffee-journal-intro
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/merging-nyc-coffee-mn-coffee-phase-1-database
There Is No Best Coffee Roaster
For years I've been trying to find a single roast to become my house coffee. I've had some really great roasts, and I end up chasing those flavors. When the bag is gone I try to find more of it again.
Byron Hernandez from Heart
Hotter water for a high elevation washed bean, and a cold brew batch that worked
Juan Jimenez from Sey
Flat and watery on the first pour, but the potential is right there under it
Bombona from Coffee Collective ⭐
Carried this one home from a Nordic cafe in Pioneer Square and it is the best espresso of the year
Daysi Munoz from Heart
Days of dialing without finding the sweet spot, and a thought about what that costs
Ibonia Estate from Sey
Too much of a fruit bowl for me, though it found its audience in the house
Vilma Miranda from Heart
Opened a week early at three weeks off roast and it held up fine
Carlos Cadena from Port 2050
A well roasted bag that is just not my flavor, picked out by someone paying attention
David Munoz Las Flores from Heart
Never found the setting for this one, and I am not sure the bean was the problem
Monarch from Onyx
A 23 second pull that seems extreme on paper and tastes rich and bold in the cup
Geometry from Onyx
Three sour pulls before reading the bag and finding out Onyx wants a much longer ratio
Evergreen Espresso from Northern Coffeeworks
Looking for one house espresso, because there are already too many variables to track
Ethiopian Bito from Archers ⭐
Best cup of coffee of the year, from a UAE roaster that came with a magazine
Eduardo Quispe from Sey
Left this bag for three weeks while we were in Belize and it was worth coming home to
I merged my three coffee apps into one codebase
This is my blog post about how I'm merging the MN Coffee Map, NYC Coffee Map and Chicago Coffee Map into a single Expo codebase.
Tagel Alemayehu from Heart
Opened this one a week off roast, which was too soon, and week two proved it
Ramon Hernandez from Heart
The whole entry is one sentence, and it says everything it needs to
Jhonoton Pinto from Sey
A dense pink bourbon that needed a finer grind and hotter water than anything else this year
Sermon from Verve
A medium roast blend that finally got me thinking about temperature as a dial, not a constant
Poppy Soda from Dak
An Amsterdam roaster that arrived with a magazine subscription and made one of our best brews
Why I preheat my portafilter when making espresso
I couldn't dial in my espresso consistently until I discovered that I should be preheating my portafilter. Here's why preheating your portafilter changes everything for home espresso on the Breville Barista Pro.
Gerba Wogo Sodu from Heart
First bag from Heart, and two brews spent learning this bean wants a much coarser grind
Granitos De Ortiz from Verve
A light roast that tasted dark no matter what I did to it
West End Blues from Tandem Roasters
A second bag of West End Blues, and preheating the portafilter changed every number I had
Street Level from Verve
Chased a too-dark pour from 22 all the way out to 26 and still could not fully shake it
Bear Hug from Dogwood
A short entry on a chocolatey Dogwood espresso, two weeks off roast
Lady's Slipper from Northern Coffeeworks
The best roaster still open on a Sunday afternoon, and a barista who actually helped
Coffee Journal: A Lookback at My Year of Brewing Chemex & Espressos 2024-2025
Introducing my 2024-2025 coffee journal of 26 bags of coffee brewed at home with a Chemex and Barista Pro espresso machine, documented in a Field Notes notebook.
Merging NYC Coffee + MN Coffee Phase 1: Database
The first phase of combining NYC Coffee and MN Coffee into a unified platform, starting with database consolidation and schema design.
2025
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-juan-benitez
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-bishan-wate
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-gogojo
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/new-york-city-coffee-map
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/dogwood-snow-emergency
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/silver-bird-super-nova
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/minimum-wage-tin-finca-la-guadalupe
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sk-coffee-mantos-juntas
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/mn-coffee-web
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/minimum-wage-tin-nicaragua
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/crema-infusu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/five-watt-cortado
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/mpls-coffee-mn-coffee
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sey-el-casino
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/tandem-west-end-blues
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/huckleberry-never-coffee
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/dogwood-mixed-tape
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-banko-taratu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-mustefa-abakeno
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-montes-de-oro
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-manuel-vallecillo
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sk-coffee-guatemala-huehuetenango
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-bella-vista
Juan Benitez from Verve
A New Year's Eve bag brewed on AI instructions that told me to go way coarser than I would have
Bishan Wate from Sey
Asked an AI how to brew Ethiopian beans and finally got one I liked
Gogojo from Verve
An Ethiopian washed heirloom that finally came out smooth after a week of dialing in—used ChatGPT for help and cracked the Ethiopian code.
NYC Coffee - A New York City Coffee Map
After launching MN Coffee I decided to create the New York City version of the app to display all the coffee shops around New York City.
Snow Emergency from Dogwood
Used to be better at the Askov Finlayson café—couldn't capture that magic brewing at home, still a little bitter.
Super Nova from Silver Bird
A hyped Minneapolis roaster that didn't live up to what I thought it was going to be. Dark roast, bitter notes, and an underwhelming shop experience.
Finca La Guadalupe from Minimum Wage Tim
A Honduran with huge beans that made an okay cup—solid but unremarkable, not blow-you-away territory.
Mantos Juntas from S.K. Coffee
A Colombian natural process roast
Find Coffee Anywhere You Are In Minnesota
An overview of the web application that I built to display all the coffee shops in Minnesota. Complete with open hours, directions and Google AI summaries.
Nicaragua from Minimum Wage Tim
Solid, consistent South American beans—sometimes the best compliment is reliability without surprises.
Infusu from Crema
A Southern Italy dark roast that was too dark for pour over but made excellent lattes and cortados with full rich chocolatey notes.
Five Watt Coffee Cortado
A cortado that taught me more about barista interactions than espresso extraction—sometimes the people-watching is the real brew.
MPLS Coffee is now MN Coffee
This month I'm releasing a big set of updates to MPLS Coffee. The biggest is a facelift and a name change from MPLS Coffee to MN Coffee.
El Casino from Sey Coffee ⭐
A Pink Bourbon from Colombia that made the best cold brew of the year—red fruit and blueberry notes that I could drink all day.
West End Blues from Tandem Roasters
A Portland Maine traditional espresso that didn't match my first bag—switched to primarily espresso as I figured out milk was leaving me bloated.
Huckleberry & Never Coffee Roasts
Two dark roasts—Blue Orchid and Boomerang—that confirmed I'm a light-to-medium roast person. Good reminder about personal preference.
Mixed Tape from Dogwood Coffee
A Minneapolis roaster that's fine but not great—chocolate and corny notes couldn't justify specialty prices for the weekly rotation.
Banko Taratu from Verve
An East African cold brew with blood orange and black tea notes—saved my Verve subscription after too many fruity African blends.
Mustefa Abakeno from Verve
An East African light roast that made outstanding cold brew with pear and marmalade notes—one of the best cold brews I've made in some time.
Montes De Oro from Verve ⭐
A Costa Rican with green apple, plum, and butterscotch notes—earned five stars even when espresso ran thin. Might be my favorite Verve coffee.
Manuel Vallecillo from Verve ⭐
The first five-star coffee of my journal—smooth, chocolatey Honduran that made wonderful cortados and flat whites once dialed in.
S.K. Guatemala Huehuetenango
A Guatemalan coffee that made excellent pour overs but gave me trouble on espresso—some coffees just prefer one brew method.
Bella Vista from Verve
A Latin American coffee with cherry, hazelnut, and dark chocolate notes—redeemed the new year after machine maintenance fixed extraction issues.
2024
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-esperanza
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-holiday-blend
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-san-juan
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sk-coffee-kiambu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-chelchele
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-baide
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/sk-coffee-wahgi-valley
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-kerehaklu
Esperanza from Verve
A Costa Rican light roast that gave me weird espresso results on Christmas Eve—grind settings made no sense and frustrated the holiday morning.
Holiday Blend from Verve
Verve's seasonal Holiday Blend made really great eggnog lattes—perfect for seasonal drinks without being gimmicky.
San Juan from Verve
A Peruvian single origin with fudge notes—a sweet morning treat that Katie loved and could have easily been four stars.
Kiambu from S.K. Coffee
A Kenyan single origin that the barista called a banger—he was right. Powerhouse coffee that earned five stars for Thanksgiving.
Chelchele from Verve
My first encounter with Ethiopian beans taught me that small beans need different grind settings—a one-star result that started a year-long learning curve.
Baide from Verve
A Honduran single origin from Verve that was really good and easy to brew in the Chemex—tasted more dark than the light roast suggested.
Wahgi Valley from S.K. Coffee
My first bag from S.K. Coffee—a Papua New Guinea single origin that delivered solid three-star territory.
Kerehaklu from Verve
An Indian single origin from Verve that kicked off my coffee journal—solid but unremarkable, a fine way to begin tracking home brews.