• Beans: Decaf Huila (single origin)
  • Roaster: Sophomore Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
  • Origin: Huila, Colombia
  • Roast level: Medium
  • Roast date: 11/20/2025 (bag #1); 12/11/2025 (bag #2)
  • Purchase date: Late November 2025 (bag #1); late December 2025 (bag #2) at Atwater’s Café (Catonsville, MD)
    First cup: Early December 2025 (bag #1); 1/1/26 or 1/2/26 (bag #2)
    Last cup: Late December 2025 (bag #1); around 1/25/26 (bag #2)
  • Process: Ethyl Acetate (EA) decaf
  • Tasting notes: Dates, cinnamon, molasses
• V60 with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 6
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 1 cone, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses – finishes 04:00-04:15
• Switch with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water at 95°C
  • Ode: 9
  • Close drain / pour to 60g and agitate / pour to 300g and agitate again / steep until 02:30 / open drain; finishes around 04:30

I didn’t have any full cups of bag #1, but I have had 1 cup (and counting) of bag #2. This has one of the slowest draw-down times of any coffee I’ve brewed in the V60 with my single-cup recipe. It takes over 2 minutes, even with a rather coarse grind. Flavor-wise, it is fine, but there’s something slightly “off” about it that I don’t like. I suppose it could be getting over-extracted while it sits there forever draining. I am wondering if this would work best with the French press, so I may try that the next time I brew it.

1/4: The Switch recipe above seemed to produce a better cup (based on the 2 or 3 sips I had of it). I used the same grind I use for French press, and it seemed to speed up the brew (the draw-down took 2 minutes for the entire volume of water, vs however much is left in the cone after finishing the pour-over). It seemed like a smoother-tasting cup without the “off” flavor that I noticed with the V60. I still may try the French press the next time I brew 2 cups’ worth, but the Switch seems like a winner for single cups.

• Beans: Holiday Roast MMXXV
  • Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
  • Origin: Mexico, Honduras
  • Roast level: Says medium (4/8) but beans look dark roasted
  • Roast date: 12/15/2025
  • Purchase date: 12/20/2025 from Green Valley Marketplace in Elkridge, MD
    First cup: 12/30/2025; Last cup: 2/13/2026
  • Process: n/a (blend)
  • Tasting notes: Chocolate, almond, lemon
• V60 with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 6
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 cone, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses – finishes 02:30-02:40
• AeroPress with JX grinder:
  • 17g coffee / 250g water (1:14.7)
  • JX: 16
  • Water at 99°C
  • Travel AeroPress Recipe with 50g/45s bloom; steep until 02:45
• AeroPress with Ode grinder:
  • 17g to 19g coffee / 250g water (1:13 to 1:15)
  • Ode: 3
  • Water at 99°C
  • Same recipe as above (3x coffee weight to bloom)

This one is a little confusing. The web site shows two versions of this blend: “Naughty” with roast level 4/8, and “Nice” with roast level 3/8. The bag I bought is labeled “Nice”, but shows roast level 4/8. The beans themselves are dark roasted and oily. I’m almost wondering if the bag is mislabeled (it was the last bag on the shelf at the grocery store, not that that really means anything). It brews like a dark roast (coarse grind, fast draw-down, lots of fine bubbles) and tastes like a dark roast (perfectly fine; could maybe stand a tiny bit more tweaking).

1/5: AeroPress (see above) was the best cup I’ve had so far. It was quite tasty at JX grind 16, which tells me it might be good with a finer pour-over grind as well. It didn’t have that burnt/ashy flavor that turns me off to a lot of dark roasts. I brought enough to the office to make 6 cups, and I’m wondering if I should just make this my “office coffee” for a while (if I do, I’d need to freeze some of it).

1/27: I still have quite a bit of this, and never got around to freezing any, so I’m going to be looking to use it up. I tried brewing a cup in the Switch with my usual immersion method, using (I think) grind size 4 and steeping until 02:30, and it was reminiscent of my earlier pour-overs: OK, but lacking something. I had brought my AeroPress home ahead of last weekend’s snow/ice storm and ensuing cold snap, so this morning, I went back to that. It had been quite a while since I last used the AP at home (I’m thinking it might have been December 2024). I brewed 19g/250g and used grind setting 3, and the cup had the flavor I was looking for. 1:13 was a tad stronger than I like, but it worked on a cold morning. If I end up taking the AP back to the office, I’ll probably work on tweaking the method I use with the Switch, so that I can keep brewing it at home as well as at work.

2/11: I am down to my last 18g of these beans, and will likely finish them up at the office on Friday 2/13. For some reason, I could never get this to taste quite as good at home as at the office. The only significant difference was the grinder: Ode at setting 3 at home, and JX at setting 16 at the office. I’ve never gotten a real good sense as to how the settings on the 2 grinders correlate. In other words, I’m not sure if Ode at 3 is finer than JX at 16, or vice versa, or if they’re roughly the same. Of course, the Ode uses flat burrs and the JX uses conical burrs, so in a way, it’s apples and oranges. But, one of these days, I should try doing a more scientific comparison.

• Beans: Entre Rios (12 ounces)
  • Roaster: Huckleberry Roasters (Denver, CO)
  • Origin: Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua
  • Roast level: Light to medium
  • Roast date: 12/2/2025
  • Purchase date: 12/9/2025 at Huckleberry Roasters (Laramer St location) in Denver, CO
    First cup: 12/21/2025; Last cup: 12/30/2025
  • Process: washed; Producer: Alberto Ramos, Finca Entre Rios
  • Tasting notes: Pear, macadamia, cocoa, black cherry
• Switch with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 4
  • Water at 100°C
  • Close drain / pour 60g and agitate / bloom until 0:45 / top up to 300g and swirl / steep until 02:30 / open drain
• French press (2 cups):
  • 40g coffee / 600g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 9
  • Water at 100°C
  • Preheat French press / add coffee / pour 120g and stir / bloom until 0:45 / top up to 600g and stir / steep until around 05:00 / press and pour

I initially tried this with V60 pourover and grind settings ranging from 2 to 3, but it was a little subpar. Immersion worked out better, and the Switch and French press (details above) both produced similar cups. I may try brewing a cup with the AeroPress at some point as well.

12/30: After settling on grind 4 and immersion using the Switch, I brewed all of my subsequent cups like that and they were all pretty good. I’d call it medium body and medium acidity (I often find stated tasting notes to be a bit of a stretch, but I think I did notice some pear). I never got around to trying it in the AeroPress.

• Beans: Gundikhan Natural (12 ounces)
  • Roaster: Huckleberry Roasters (Denver, CO)
  • Origin: Karnataka State, India
  • Roast level: Light
  • Roast date: 11/25/2025
  • Purchase date: 12/9/2025 at Huckleberry Roasters (Laramie St location) in Denver, CO
    First cup: 12/13/2025; Last cup: 12/21/2025
  • Process: natural; Producer: Saif Ulla, Gundikhan Estate
  • Tasting notes: Chocolate-dipped strawberry/pastry/mulled wine
• V60 with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 3
  • Water at 100°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 cone, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses – finishes 02:50-03:00
• AeroPress with JX grinder:
  • 17g coffee / 250g water (1:14.7)
  • JX: 16
  • Water at 99°C
  • Travel AeroPress Recipe

This is the first of 2 bags that I bought from Huckleberry Roasters in Denver. It’s also the first time I’ve tried coffee from India. This was pretty good at grind setting 4, and maybe a tiny bit better at 3. It is fairly acidic, but has enough body to balance out the acidity. I suspect I could go a little bit finer still with the grind, but I may just keep it at 3 unless I start getting cups that aren’t quite as good. It had been going on a couple of months since I last had a light roast, so this is hitting the spot.

12/18 and 12/19: I brewed two AeroPress cups per above, and they were quite good. While the V60 cups have been very acid/fruit forward, the AP cups seemed better balanced, with the acidity toned down a bit and a little more body/roastiness. It kind of makes me wonder if there’s a way I can vary my pour-over technique somehow to produce similar results. I may read up on this when I have a few minutes.

12/21: The acidity seems to vary proportionally to the fine-ness of the grind. I brewed several cups at 2+2 and 2+1 last week, and they seemed even fruitier than 3. I brewed my last couple at 3+1, and they were well balanced. I have a feeling I could have stuck with my initial setting of 4 all along. All in all, though, I definitely enjoyed this.

• Beans: Brazil Peaberry (1 pound)
  • Roaster: Amity Coffee Roasters (Greenwood, DE)
  • Origin: Brazil
  • Roast level: Medium
  • Roast date: 10/15/2025
  • Purchase date: 10/24/2025 at T. S. Smith Orchard Point Market in Bridgeville, DE
    Freeze date: around 10/25/2025; Thaw dates: 11/21 (4oz), 11/26/2025 (remaining 12oz)
    First cup: 11/24/2025; Last cup: 12/06/2025
  • Process: honey
  • Tasting notes: Milk chocolate/molasses/smooth finish
• V60 with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 4+2
  • Water at 95°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 1 cone, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses – finishes 03:00-03:10

As we often do, we stopped at T.S. Smith on the way home from the beach, and these bags were pretty fresh, so I couldn’t resist buying one. Since I already had a bunch of coffee, I put all of this in the freezer and brewed my first cup exactly a month after I bought the bag. The first cup at grind 4 and 99°C water tasted a little over-extracted, so I backed off to 4+2 and 95°C, and have brewed 2 or 3 good cups at those settings. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the bag goes, and compare it with my notes for Amity Brazil Daterra, another medium roast that I had some trouble dialing in last summer.

12/6: This is probably my favorite of the 4-or-so Amity coffees I’ve tried over the past couple of years, although it may not be a fair comparison, as my first bag was in 2023 when I was still new to brewing, and I brewed most of my second bag with the AeroPress at the beach with inexact settings. 95C/grind 4+2 produced very consistent, good cups.

• Beans: Mexique/Mexico (single origin) 250g bag
  • Roaster: Cafés Didier Boulet Torréfacteur (Arques, France)
  • Origin: Mexico
  • Roast level: Looks like medium
  • Roast date: unknown
  • Purchase date: unknown
    First cup: 10/29/2025; Last cup: 12/11/2025
  • Tasting notes: Fragrant/floral (per cafe-boulet.com)
• AeroPress with JX grinder:
  • 17g coffee / 250g water (1:14.7)
  • JX: 16
  • Water at 99°C
  • Travel AeroPress Recipe

A friend had some exchange students from France who brought several bags of these, and he gave me one. 250g is only around 9 ounces, but I’ve been keeping them at the office and only brewing about a cup per week, so it’s taking a while to go through them. I’m planning to take them to Denver with me in a couple weeks, and will likely use them up then.

I’m not sure how fresh these are or how they were stored before I got them, but the cups I’ve been getting with the AeroPress have been decent, if not stellar. I think “floral” is a reasonable description. There’s not much in the way of roastiness or acidity, and the cups haven’t been weak or bitter. Nothing really distinguishing, but it’s pleasant and drinkable enough, and has been working fine for my afternoon cups at the office.

12/10: I brewed my last 6 or 7 cups in my hotel room in Denver, with mixed results- some of the cups were really good (I dare say better than how they had been turning out at the office) but some were bitter. I heated the water with the drip coffee machine in the hotel room, so it was likely not as hot as the water from the electric kettle I use at the office. After 2 bitter cups, I backed the grind off from 16 to 20, which was a little bit lacking. I then split the difference at 18, and that was good, so I’m going to keep that setting for my final cup tomorrow morning. Ironically, it seems like the better cups were the ones I brewed with tap water vs bottled water.

• Beans: Sumatra (single origin)
  • Roaster: Rise Up Coffee Roasters (Easton, MD)
  • Origin: Gayo Mountain, Sumatra, Indonesia
  • Roast level: Medium+ (4/5)
  • Roast date: 10/3/2025
  • Purchase date: 10/21/2025 from Rise Up in Easton
    Freeze date: around 10/25/2025; Thaw date: 11/12 or 11/13/2025
    First cup: 11/14/2025; Last cup: 11/23/2025
  • Elevation: 1500 MASL; Certifications: Organic
  • Tasting notes: Rich, malty, earthy, with low acidity
• V60 with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 5
  • Water at 99°C
  • Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 V60 and 60g pulses (finishes 02:40-02:50)

First, a confession: I put these in the freezer at the same time as a bag of Amity Brazil Peaberry. The 12oz Rise Up bag all fit in a single large mason jar, but the 16oz Amity bag took up a large jar plus part of a smaller jar. At the time, I was sure I’d be able to tell them apart, so I didn’t label the large mason jars. You can probably see where this is going. I’m pretty sure I pulled the Sumatra jar out of the freezer, but not absolutely 100% sure, and I likely won’t know until I brew the beans in the small jar. 😀 I started these at grind setting 5, and I really liked the first two cups, so I guess that’s all that really matters.

11/21: I just took the smaller jar of Brazil Peaberry beans out of the freezer, and they are not the same beans as these. So, I’m now 99% sure that these are the Rise Up Sumatra beans. I’d probably rank this up there with Pura Vida as one of my favorite coffees from Rise Up. It has been consistent from cup to cup, every cup has been good, and I have not made any changes to my initial brew settings.

• Beans: Rwanda (single origin, pre-ground)
  • Roaster: Bugeye Coffee Roasters (Solomons, MD)
  • Origin: Rwanda (Ruli Mountain)
  • Roast level: Full City (Medium/Dark)
  • Roast date: 10/1/2025 (batch 254)
  • Purchase date: 10/23/2025 from Bugeye stall at Sunfest, Ocean City, MD
    First cup: Around 11/1/2025; Last cup: 11/14/2025
  • Tasting notes: Black cherry, dark chocolate, red currant
• V60 (1 cup):
  • 20g to 21g coffee / 300g water (1:14-1:15)
  • Water at 95°C
  • Single Cup V60 Pourover with 60g bloom and 60g pulses – Finishes around 02:50
• AeroPress:
  • Around 17g coffee / 250g water
  • Water heated in Keurig
  • Travel AeroPress Recipe

This is the first time I have ever tried coffee from Rwanda, either single origin, or as part of a blend, so I was curious to see how it tasted. For some reason, this is only sold pre-ground, which doesn’t make sense to me, as it seems like people who buy single-origin coffees are going to be more likely to want to grind the beans themselves. Case in point: had I realized it was pre-ground at the time I bought it, I likely would have taken a pass. However, the grind seems pretty consistent, and worked well for both pour-over and AeroPress, so I have no regrets. It looks like a middle-of-the-road grind: not too fine, not too coarse. As of this writing, I’ve brewed it a couple of times with the V60 at home, and a couple of times with the AeroPress on a recent trip. The mouthfeel is smooth and buttery, and the taste is roasty and full-bodied — pretty much how I like dark roasts to taste. I think the V60 cups were slightly superior, but it would be interesting to try AeroPress under more controlled circumstances. Not sure if I’ll get around to that, though.

• Beans: Organic Maryland Coffee (blend)
  • Roaster: Rise Up Coffee Roasters (Easton, MD)
  • Origin: Honduras, Guatemala
  • Roast level: Medium (3/5)
  • Roast date: 9/25/2025
  • Purchase date: 10/21/2025 from Rise Up in Easton
    First cup: 10/22/2025 or 10/23/2025; Last cup: 11/8/2025
  • Tasting notes: Charming, clean, smooth
  • Previous bags: November 2023, June 2024
• V60 with Ode grinder (1 cup):
  • 19.5g coffee / 300g water (1:15.4)
  • Ode: 6
  • Water at 95°C
  • Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 cone, 50-60g bloom and 60g pulses – Finishes around 02:50

Although my local grocery store carries Rise Up coffee, they don’t sell a lot of it, and as a result, the bags tend to sit on the shelf for a long time. Every so often, I get lucky and find fresh bags, but it’s becoming more the exception than the rule. I bought this (and a couple of other bags) at the Easton location, which is where they roast the beans.

I brewed my first couple of cups at the beach using the AeroPress and JX grinder, and the first cup at grind 16 with boiling water was unpleasantly bitter. Actually, these were the first beans I’ve brewed with that recipe and those settings that didn’t turn out good. I brewed a couple more cups, experimenting with a coarser grind and cooler water, but couldn’t quite dial it in before we went home. I’m not sure if I ever brewed beans from either of my first two bags in the AeroPress. If I did, it must not have been memorable enough to add to my notes. 😀 At home, I switched to V60 with the Ode. Grinds 3 and 4 had a touch of bitterness, but today, 4+1 worked well, and produced the best cup I’ve had so far. I’ll see how it works tomorrow with the same settings. At some point, I may also try again with the AeroPress at the office.

11/3: I eventually ended up at grind setting 6 with these, which finishes around 02:40-02:45. The beans seem to like a coarser grind, as anything finer than this has a touch of bitterness. My most recent cup was 22.5g/350g, and I have enough beans left at home for one more cup of that size. I also have about 34g at the office, which I may brew there in the AeroPress, or I may bring home and do in the V60. Haven’t decided yet.

11/8: I never got around to brewing any more AeroPress cups. The last few pour-overs, all at grind setting 6, were fine, but tasted a tiny bit under-extracted. If I end up buying this blend again, I may try a coarse grind with a full-immersion brew in either the French press or the Switch.

• Beans: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Worka Sakaro – Natural Processed
  • Roaster: Gracefully Coffee Roasters (Baltimore, MD)
  • Origin: Worka Sakaro, Gedeb District, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
  • Roast level: Light
  • Roast date: 10/2/2025
  • Purchase date: 10/7/2025 from Gracefully curbside café
    First cup: 10/16/2025; Last cup: 10/27/2025
  • Milling process: natural; Drying process: sun dried, raised beds; Elevation: 2000 MASL; Varietal: Ethiopian Heirloom
  • Tasting notes: Peach syrup, pineapple, blueberry
• Switch with Ode grinder (1 cup):
  • 21g coffee / 300g water (1:14.3)
  • Ode: 2
  • Water at 100°C
  • Single Cup V60 Pourover with 50-60g bloom and 60g pulses – keep drain closed until end of bloom – Finishes around 03:15-3:20

I’m brewing this exactly the same way as Gracefully Ethiopia Sidamo Durato Bombe, except at a slightly lower ratio (21g/300g vs 22g/300g). To me, the two taste very similar, which didn’t really surprise me, although it’s been a few months since I’ve had the Sidamo Durato. Neither struck me as particularly fruit-forward, in spite of the stated tasting notes. I started these out at 22g/300g, but it seemed a little too overpowering at that ratio. I brewed the first 2 or 3 cups in the size 2 V60 before trying the Switch. I’m not sure I could tell in a blind taste test, but I believe that I prefer the Switch cups, so I’m sticking with that for now. I’ll also be brewing a couple of AeroPress cups this week, so it’ll be interesting to see how they turn out.

10/24: I brewed two AeroPress cups this past week using my usual recipe, one cup with sub-boiling water from a drip coffee machine, and another using boiling water from a microwave. The latter was better, but neither was anything to write home about — I’m sure I could tweak things one way or another to get better cups, but I suspect that as with a lot of other top-shelf light roast coffees, I’m probably better off sticking with pour-over. This afternoon, I went back to brewing with the Switch, and it was quite good. It seems like more of the fruity/acidic flavors are starting to come out as the beans age — they are right around 3 weeks past roast date now.