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.
#coffee-journal
27 posts tagged coffee-journal.
2026
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/coffee-journal-intro
2025
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/verve-gogojo
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/minimum-wage-tin-nicaragua
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/crema-infusu
https://clintmcmahon.com/blog/five-watt-cortado
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
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.
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
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.
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.