2026-08-17 to 2026-08-23

Week of 2026-08-17

0 daily files

Summary

seylance2897

Very few captured messages this week. In #origins-and-producers on Aug. 18, seylance2897 treated a comparison between two coffee varieties as genuinely unresolved: he said he did not know anyone who had tasted pure strains of both side by side under the same growing conditions, and said he wanted to investigate it further.
In #origins-and-producers on Aug. 23, he pushed back on an apparently skeptical question about Rwanda, saying coffees from Rwanda can be exceptional.
He specifically highlighted Bourbon from Rwanda and Burundi as producing some of the coolest and most distinctive profiles in coffee.

lancehedrick

In #water on Aug. 20, Lance discussed very low-mineral brewing water, mentioning 50 ppm, and said the appropriate amount depends on the purity of the salts being used.
He said he prefers AC over Third Wave Water because he does not like the citrates in TWW.
For filter brewing, he said he personally likes roughly 90-92C. He also endorsed using a Flair-style approach with a temperature step-down, saying it can work very well.
On agitation, he said that with sufficiently coarse grinds, very gentle agitation is not a major problem; later, when diagnosing someone's brew, he thought they were using too much agitation and advised against it.
He strongly criticized the Pulsar for his own tastes, saying it mutes aromas and acidity.
He repeatedly emphasized adequate post-roast rest. He told one user that three weeks off roast should be excellent, advised against waiting excessively longer, and elsewhere said a new drop may need roughly three to four weeks to really open up. He clarified that such rest recommendations are not precise rules, but partly a reaction against the 2000s-era "fresh is best" tendency to drink coffee only days after roasting.
When users reported rubbery or medicinal cups, Lance said a single phenolic bean can make an entire dose taste medicinal and may be visually indistinguishable from normal beans. However, if multiple brews show the same problem, he thought an isolated phenolic bean was unlikely. He also said rubbery/medicinal character is not normally a roast defect and wanted to investigate whether the green coffee had phenolic tendencies.
He actively investigated complaints about specific SEY coffees and roast batches, including Halo, Chorso/Chorso, Boneya, and Berrio. He acknowledged that some Halo batches had skewed too light but did not think Chorso and Boneya generally had; he asked for roast dates and cup descriptions rather than assuming a roast fault.
On Aug. 22, he warned that some drinkers were treating current coffees as unusually light and therefore pushing extraction yield too hard, which he thought was ruining cups. His suggested correction was lower temperature and coarser grinding; for objectionable flavors he even suggested experimenting down around 80C because temperature is a powerful way to suppress unwanted extraction.
For coffee storage, he recommended sealing/taping valves and putting the coffee inside a reusable plastic bag as a cheap second barrier. He also mentioned missing a coffee called Rolando, describing it fondly, and on Aug. 23 described another coffee as extraordinarily syrupy: at only 1.2% TDS, he thought it tasted as concentrated as a 1.4-1.5% cup.

opp4004

opp4004 temporarily changed his tasting routine to three coffees per day. He used the first cup as a palate/self-check rather than for formal review, and reduced his normal dose from 22 g 2 daily brews to 14 g 3 because he had many coffees to review. He found the smaller-dose grind setting unexpectedly successful.
He thought switching to the A4Z grinder was the right decision, although he later said it was harder to dial in than expected. After comparing it with an A68, he still preferred the A4Z for brewing, while noting the A68 was good and especially good for espresso.
William Ortiz's Chiroso gave him white peach, lemon, tropical fruit, and an unusual pine-needle-like aroma. More broadly, his first impression of the latest SEY subscription was that acidity seemed sharper and the coffees perhaps "a little more roasted" than before, though he explicitly withheld judgment because he had tasted only three coffees and was still changing his brewing setup.
He found Fritz's Costa Rican Los Madrigal, a Catuai Natural Reposado, excessively funky relative to his usual appreciation for Reposado processing. He described grape, black raspberry, tropical fruit, and fruit-punch flavors but thought the natural processing may have gone too far.
Yabitu Koba was a major highlight. He compared its jasmine, green tea, and lemon character to the old Gesha profile of Lerida Estate in Panama, while later in the cup finding more recognizably Ethiopian tropical fruit, caramel, yogurt, and herbal aromas. He brewed it earlier than usual on a friend's recommendation and thought it was exceptional.
He was surprised by Basha Honey because it did not taste like what he expected SEY to buy: pre-brew aroma seemed a little funky, but in the cup he found it very good, with florals, Gatorade-like aromatics, tropical fruit, and white-tea character. This expanded into a strong sourcing recommendation: buy essentially any Basha coffee, any Aklilu Admassu coffee, and especially coffees from Gonjobe in Sidama. He said Gonjobe produced the best Sidama naturals he had tasted, while he preferred Arbegona for washed coffees.
He gave very specific flat-bottom brewing advice: roughly 14-16 g doses; maintain the intended brew ratio; if under-extracted, split the water into two or three pours; and use tools such as a Gabi A or Timemore Assist if helpful. Elsewhere he gave typical grinder settings of around 75-90 clicks for 14 g and 115-125 for 22 g, depending on setup.
On resting, he said aromatics naturally fade over time. He does not personally prefer very long rest, although he acknowledged that longer rest can simplify flavor and make coffee more straightforward. He grinds each dose fresh rather than pre-grinding.
He praised several distinctive coffees in detail: an Ethiopian Echemo as very high quality but slightly lacking clarity, with white tea, stone fruit, tamarind, concentrated citrus and an unusual milk-like opening texture; Octavio Rueda as intensely tart and vibrant with hibiscus, pomegranate, lemon, tropical-fruit jelly and strong passion fruit; and Big Sur's Faysel Abdosh Project 2, a Triple Fermentation Natural, as shockingly clean and refined despite the complex process, with peach, jasmine, oolong, apricot, loquat and a fresh-fruit-like aromatic release.
He was skeptical of several roasting-machine choices. He said only the Stronghold S9/S9X was trustworthy in his view, noted Carrier Roasting planned to use an S9X, and criticized a roaster's detours through Wille, IMF and Stronghold before eventually settling on a Loring. He described older Tim Wendelboe-style coffee as very Nordic, and contrasted Tim's coffees with SEY by saying Tim's flavors seem chunkier and harder to separate into fine notes, but have greater overall flavor impact.
On Aug. 23, he highlighted Anacafe 14 as a variety worth attention. His prior example, from Raul Perez in Guatemala, reminded him of an excellent El Salvador Pacamara, with sweet-tart kiwi, pineapple and lime. He said he would ask friends whether any samples were available.

dougssg

Very few captured messages this week. In #filter-focused on Aug. 18, dougssg described "Lot 1" as showing a great deal of grapefruit.
In #current-menu, he said an item or program had always been intended to run for the entire month, while also admitting on Aug. 20 that he genuinely did not yet know exactly what SEY would be releasing.
He reassured the channel that weekly releases would continue regardless of Lance being away: Lance was on vacation in Ecuador and visiting the Galapagos, but, in dougssg's phrasing, rain, snow, sleet, or hail would not stop a SEY release every week.
He said SEY had both coffees being discussed in one menu exchange, but noted that its Nuguo lot was extremely small.
He quantified how limited one coffee had become: the biggest lot the prior year was 10 kg, while this year their only lot was 2 kg.
In #what-are-you-brewing on Aug. 21, he urged another user to cup a coffee rather than relying only on whatever brewing result was under discussion.
In #equipment, he believed someone's priority was the metal MD rather than "column 2.0." He separately said he loves his own "colum," apparently referring to that equipment line, though the text does not make the exact model clear.

naomi (car7iern)

Very few captured messages this week. In #current-menu on Aug. 18, Naomi identified Digna Nunez, apparently in response to a question about a current or upcoming coffee.
On Aug. 19 she provided a concrete current-menu list: Mbature Family Field Blend Lot 1 from Kenya; Florence & Jessica Marigi from Kenya; Felix Morocho's Mejorado from Ecuador; Esayas Beriso from Ethiopia; Siti from Ethiopia; and Diana Arboleda Tabares's Chiroso from Colombia.
She cautioned that the list was not a guarantee of availability because Siti, Diana, and Felix were already running quite low.
Her message therefore distinguished between what SEY had in the current assortment at that moment and what customers could reliably expect to remain in stock.

Cross-thread takeaways

Rest and extraction were the week's clearest technical through-line. Lance repeatedly argued for roughly three to four weeks of rest for many SEY coffees, lower temperatures, coarse grinding, and restraint on agitation, while opp4004 independently said he dislikes very long resting because aromatics fade and flavors simplify. The disagreement is more about degree than principle: both treated coffee age as a major flavor variable rather than a fixed "freshest is best" rule.
Several users were diagnosing whether disappointing cups came from roast, green defects, processing, or brewing. Lance resisted attributing medicinal/rubbery cups directly to roast and raised phenolic beans as one possible cause, while also warning that excessive extraction can make current SEY coffees taste worse. opp4004 similarly encouraged people not to be afraid of alternate brewing approaches because most SEY coffees are already quite clean.
Grinder and brewer choice mattered substantially in opp4004's reports. He preferred the A4Z over the A68 for filter despite the A4Z being finicky to dial in, while Lance disliked the Pulsar because he felt it suppressed aromatics and acidity. Both were effectively optimizing for aromatic clarity rather than maximum extraction alone.
Ethiopian and East African coffees dominated the strongest endorsements. seylance2897 singled out Rwandan and Burundian Bourbon as uniquely compelling; opp4004 praised Yabitu Koba, Basha coffees, Aklilu Admassu, Gonjobe-area naturals, and Arbegona washed coffees; Naomi's menu list also included Esayas Beriso and Siti from Ethiopia plus two Kenyan offerings.
Processing cleanliness was repeatedly challenged rather than treated categorically. opp4004 found Los Madrigal Natural Reposado too funky, yet Big Sur's Triple Fermentation Natural remarkably clean and almost washed-like. His Basha Honey also smelled funky before brewing but tasted much cleaner and more compelling in the cup.
Menu scarcity was a practical theme alongside tasting discussion. dougssg described a Nuguo lot of only 2 kg versus a 10 kg largest lot the prior year, and Naomi warned that Siti, Diana Arboleda Tabares, and Felix Morocho were already running low. Availability could therefore change quickly even when a coffee appeared on the current menu.
The week's tasting notes repeatedly favored high-acid, floral, tea-like, and tropical profiles: jasmine, white/green tea, bergamot, citrus, passion fruit, peach, apricot, loquat, hibiscus, pomegranate, kiwi, pineapple, and grapefruit appeared across multiple coffees. By contrast, "funk," medicinal/rubbery character, and muddled clarity were the main negative descriptors under discussion.

Full weekly Markdown preview

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2026-08-17 to 2026-08-23

seylance2897

2026-08-18

4:45 AM #origins-and-producers: That's actually a super interesting question… ha, I don't know anyone who can claim that they have actually tasted pure strains of both of those varieties side by side, grown in the same place. I'm going to actually look into this one though.. its a good one

2026-08-23

12:29 AM #origins-and-producers: Yo! Not sure I understand the question! Coffees from Rwanda can be exceptional IMO
12:30 AM #origins-and-producers: Bourbon from rwanda and burundi are some of the coolest, most unique profiles in coffee imo

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lancehedrick

2026-08-19

7:38 PM #espresso-focused: You would have to ask them haha
7:38 PM #espresso-focused: I have no clue
7:38 PM #espresso-focused: The one currently workshopping is called "soup test "

2026-08-20

6:33 PM #Brew-Along: afternoon brewwww\
7:23 PM #Brew-Along: afternoon brewwww\
7:39 PM #water: Down to 50ppm
7:39 PM #water: Up to you. Depends on purity of the salts
7:40 PM #cupping: Let that landrace restttttttt hahaha
7:41 PM #water: I prefer AC. The citrates in TWW not a fan
7:43 PM #filter-focused: I like 90-92 area, personally!
7:44 PM #filter-focused: Flair and step down can be money.
7:45 PM #filter-focused: With how coarse you go, it isnt a big deal if really gentle.
7:46 PM #espresso-focused: And less caffeine so more cups daily hahaha
7:46 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Still missing my Rolando. Twas so nice.
7:47 PM #what-are-you-brewing: What info/access is needed for this? I'm sure i could do it.
7:49 PM #current-menu: Should be under a month or so
9:18 PM #what-are-you-brewing: On just one brew? Or every brew?
9:19 PM #what-are-you-brewing: If one brew, it is not impossible to have a phenolic bean pop up. Impossible to rid all lots of all as they are not different in color or visuals. One bean can cause a full dose to taste medicinal. But, if more than one dose tasted that way, def not that.
9:53 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Rubbery and medicinal is odd outside of phenol. That is not a roast thing, really. I never got to try that coffee so cant speak to it. The other seems to have enjoyed earlier dates with it, with it "dying" further off roast.

Need to see if there were phenolic tendencies in this green. As of now, not too sure.
10:05 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Hey! Curious what you were tasting! This was no where as short of a roast or light as a few other Eths as we dialed back. Curious what you found in the cup and if you had other eth to compare to! Thanks!
10:05 PM #what-are-you-brewing: The 1st harvest?
10:06 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Dang! Lucky!
10:06 PM #what-are-you-brewing: 3 weeks off roast should be great.
10:06 PM #what-are-you-brewing: But if you wanna wait longer, you can. Just would not advise too much.
10:07 PM #what-are-you-brewing: But you did enjoy it quite a bit earlier off roast, yeah?
10:08 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Another shot. See what you did there. Lol
10:08 PM #what-are-you-brewing: How do you brew
10:12 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Ah yeah too much agitation. Would not recommend that tbh.
10:17 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Tbh I don't like pulsar haha. Mutes aromas abd acidity
10:19 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Do it.
10:19 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Have you tried sealing, taping valves AND tossing in a plastic baggy? Can just reuse plastic baggies but a good second barrier that is cheap and super efficient as a double layer.
10:43 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Right after receiving? Interesting. Tbf i have not gotten to try this coffee so no idea how it ages or anything.
Hope it turns back to baller
10:52 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Let me know how it goes! Watching with bated breath
11:16 PM #what-are-you-brewing: From like Feb haha

2026-08-21

9:31 AM #what-are-you-brewing: And I appreciate it! Trying to figure out what is going on for you! I know some batches of halo skewed too light but chorso and boneya, not so much. I am looking at that roast date of chorso. You have one for boneya? Thank you!!
2:13 PM #equipment: yes! Fried my a5 which was my kitchen grinder for batch
2:13 PM #equipment: just don't use like a 45w charger. something weaker
4:21 PM #what-are-you-brewing: What is the issue on berrio? That is roasted almost identically to chirosos in april. I quite enjoyed it but want to ensure you have a good experience! Curious to know! Cheers!
4:49 PM #Brew-Along: afternoon brew with me
5:55 PM #Brew-Along: afternoon brew with me
10:49 PM #current-menu: Yoooooo!
10:49 PM #current-menu: Welcome!
10:49 PM #current-menu: Need to let that drop rest like 3/4 weeks to really open up!

2026-08-22

11:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Play with it! Go down to 80! Temp is such a crazy powerful variable when it comes to pulling less than ideal flavors.
12:40 PM #what-are-you-brewing: Should be good at 3 weeks. Not really lighter than others tbh. Some are thinking this and reacting with pushing EY and it is ruining cups. Approach with same low temp and coarse grounds.b
12:43 PM #current-menu: It is more of a call in response to fresh is best claims that littered the 2000s and people wanting to consume days off roast. It is not a precise amount of time.
12:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: For sure
12:48 PM #what-are-you-brewing: And processing and bean size and variety etc
6:19 PM #Brew-Along: SEYturday Brews
7:07 PM #Brew-Along: SEYturday Brews

2026-08-23

10:25 PM #what-are-you-brewing: So wildly syrupy. I ran mine at 1.2 tds and tasted like 1.4/1.5. Wild coffee.

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opp4004

2026-08-17

1:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’ve decided to drink coffee three times a day for a while. I brew the first cup not for reviewing, but to check my palate and how I’m feeling that day.

Today’s first coffee is William Ortiz’s Chiroso. I’m getting white peach, lemon, tropical fruit, and, interestingly, an aroma that reminds me of pine needles. I think switching to the A4Z was definitely the right choice
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1:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: This is one of the coffees I’m planning to review. Dang… look at how oily and shiny it is lol
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1:49 AM #what-are-you-brewing: And it’s funky…🫩
2:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: And this coffee is Los Madrigal from Costa Rica, roasted by Fritz. It’s Catuai and was processed as a Natural Reposado. Reposado is a process I’ve always quite liked, but this time it feels like the natural process went a little too far. Because it’s funky… The flavors are all over the place within that “funky” character—grape, black raspberry, tropical fruit, and fruit punch. Dang…
4:15 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Anyway, about this SEY subscription… I haven’t tried everything yet, but overall, the acidity seems sharper, and it does feel like the coffees are “little more roasted” than before.

That said, I’ve only tried three of them, and I’m still adjusting my brewing setup as well, so it’s hard to say anything definitively. I don’t have any complaints about the roasting, but… yeah, that’s just how it feels to me 🤔
6:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: [attachment only]
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6:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: ❤️‍🔥
6:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s f-ing incredible 🤯
6:09 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s incredibly impressive. I’m getting rosehip, the fruitiness of cranberry, something like rose oil, red currant, white peach, and a white tea character, all intertwined in a really beautiful way. There’s even a finish that reminds me of Fruition’s Piura Peru bean-to-bar chocolate. This is seriously an amazing coffee
6:11 AM #what-are-you-brewing: As it cools, I’m also getting a subtle interplay of citrus and bergamot coming through ❤️‍🔥

2026-08-18

4:57 AM #origins-and-producers: Exactly. Why did no one think to grow G1931? 😂
6:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s been a really long time since I last had Yabitu Koba. The first time I tried it was through SEY back in 2020, and I enjoyed it so much that I started exploring coffees from the Uraga area. What’s even more surprising is that this subscription is even better. I used to love the Gesha profile from Lerida Estate in Panama back when their coffees were still affordable, and this reminds me of it a lot.

The way the jasmine, green tea, and lemon intertwine in both the aroma and flavor really makes me think of Lerida. From the middle of the cup onward, though, I start getting more of what I’d expect from an Ethiopian Yabitu Koba—tropical fruit, a little caramel, and aromas of yogurt and herbs. Jose said it was really good, so I decided to brew it a little earlier than I normally would, and wow… it’s absolutely fantastic.
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8:57 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I couldn’t get the Chiroso, so my friend said they’d send me some. I did write a review of the Mejo above, but I’m going to brew it again with my current setup… I wasn’t really happy with it

2026-08-19

2:06 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Listen to me… lol. You can’t trust Stronghold except for the S9(X)!
2:08 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Carrier Roasting is going to use the S9X
2:09 AM #what-are-you-brewing: They were probably using a Diedrich back then
2:16 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Today… I drank the Burundi you hate lol
2:21 AM #what-are-you-brewing: No, Ninga lol
2:25 AM #equipment: But the A4Z is actually harder to dial in than I expected lol it’s definitely a good grinder, though
9:14 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I had the Basha Honey at my friend’s cafe. I was surprised because it doesn’t really taste like something SEY would use. It feels like a really high-quality natural… I really like the floral and Gatorade-like aromas, tropical fruit, and that white-tea-like character
9:20 AM #what-are-you-brewing: honestly, the aroma before brewing was a little funky and put me off, but once I tasted it, it was actually pretty good
9:45 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Yeah… regardless of how it tastes, I was still pretty surprised
11:34 AM #filter-focused: As time passes, the aromatics naturally fade little by little, and that can affect the coffee in various ways. I don’t personally prefer resting coffee for a long time, though there are benefits to doing so. One of them is that the flavor becomes simpler and more straightforward
12:18 PM #filter-focused: If you mean pre-grinding, then no, I grind it each time
1:33 PM #filter-focused: My friend brewed two light-roasted coffees today, but I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with them. The flavors will change over time, though

2026-08-20

12:53 AM #filter-focused: It depends on the brewing setup, but I usually use around 75–90 for 14g doses, and around 115–125 for 22g
12:54 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Ha
1:15 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It reminds me of the old Tim W. Very Nordic
1:24 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Ready
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1:25 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Tim said Echemo was the best one this year, so I went to my friend’s cafe yesterday and got some lol
1:26 AM #filter-focused: Clicks
1:56 AM #what-are-you-brewing: It’s a pretty unusual Ethiopian coffee. I’m not sure I’d call it the best, but the quality is definitely very high.

I’m getting a white-tea-like character, stone fruit, a touch of tamarind, and something almost like a concentrated ball of citrus. Interestingly, it comes into the mouth with a texture almost like drinking milk, then gradually opens up as it dissolves, which is really fun.

The reason I wouldn’t call it “the best,” though, is that it’s lacking a little in clarity. It’s definitely not bad, and it’s certainly a very good coffee
1:57 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Ha, in the end, he was always going to settle on a Loring, so all those adventures with Wille were kind of silly. I did like the Neutek era too, but I really don’t understand why he went through an IMF or Stronghold phase in between…
2:23 AM #filter-focused: My situation is a little unusual… I used to drink 22g × 2 doses of coffee a day as my normal routine, but I have so many coffees to review right now that I increased it to 14g × 3 doses. That’s when I discovered this grind setting, and I’m actually happier with the results than I expected
2:33 AM #filter-focused: This is hard to explain. When you turn a funky coffee into espresso, it can become incredibly tropical-fruit-like, but I feel like soup couldn't cross that line and produce something “super funky” lol
2:34 AM #filter-focused: Still, give it a try at least once. It might actually surprise you and be really good
3:09 AM #equipment: [attachment only]
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3:10 AM #equipment: I tried a coffee brewed with the A68 yesterday, and the A68 was pretty good too. But for brewing, I prefer the A4Z
3:33 AM #filter-focused: All I can say right now is: buy every Basha coffee you can get your hands on, and if you see any coffee from Aklilu Admassu, buy it immediately lol
3:37 AM #filter-focused: Or… this is a top-secret tip… if you see any coffees from the Gonjobe area in Sidama, buy them all
3:40 AM #filter-focused: Basha, Aklilu, Yututie, whoever it is… if it’s Gonjobe, it’s an absolute must 💸
3:41 AM #filter-focused: I’m not even joking—I’ve had naturals from pretty much every area in Sidama, and Gonjobe was the best. For washed coffees, I’d go with Arbegona
3:43 AM #filter-focused: Or… Airworks is taking orders for Doan right now, and there are some good ones there too
3:45 AM #filter-focused: 😱
3:47 AM #filter-focused: Momos and Fritz are the two most famous, right? They’re probably a bit too coal-like
3:52 AM #filter-focused: Underbean is literally right behind my place, like a one-minute walk away. I went once and never went back
3:52 AM #filter-focused: 🫩
3:53 AM #filter-focused: There are only about three places in Korea that I’d really consider worth mentioning. First, there’s doan…
3:55 AM #filter-focused: Ha, I have some Aery Chelbesa… Should I try it today? lol I have a pretty good idea of what Aery is capable of, so…
3:56 AM #filter-focused: Aery is pretty close to being under. I can vouch for that… seriously
4:39 AM #current-menu: I like Santa Maria pb
5:30 AM #equipment: It’s especially good as espresso
7:27 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Tim’s coffees are a bit more “chunky” in flavor. It’s hard to pick out those more finely differentiated tasting notes. That said, the overall flavor impact seems stronger than Sey
7:40 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking a coffee from Octavio Rueda. It’s incredibly tart and vibrant. I’m getting hibiscus, pomegranate, lemon, tropical fruit jelly, and especially a very pronounced passion fruit character in both the flavor and aroma. It’s really impressive

2026-08-21

2:18 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m drinking Big Sur’s Faysel Abdosh Project 2, a Triple Fermentation Natural. It isn’t listed for sale on their international website; it was only sold through Taobao and a Korean pop-up where my friend bought it this time. They gave me some to try.

It’s a natural coffee that went through a pretty complex processing method. I’m honestly surprised by how incredibly clean and refined it tastes—so much so that I’d almost think it was washed or a white honey. I’m actually considering buying a whole bag.

I’m getting peach, jasmine, oolong, apricot, and loquat. What’s especially surprising is that it genuinely gives me the sensation of the aroma being released when you bite into fresh fruit. The only thing that really sets it apart from the actual fruit is that there’s this jasmine-like floral character woven into it. It’s an absolutely fascinating coffee
4:44 AM #equipment: I’m not really sure lol. A68 isn’t even mine—I was just comparing the tastes
5:20 AM #what-are-you-brewing: Adjust the grind size—go a bit finer
1:52 PM #equipment: Exactly… most important thing
6:00 PM #what-are-you-brewing: I’m a little cautious about saying this because we could easily end up falling into the “what even is clean?” debate… but most of the coffees you guys drink from SEY are already “pretty much clean.” Don’t be afraid—try different brewing approaches

2026-08-22

2:00 AM #filter-focused: Oh, I really like that 🤤
2:02 AM #filter-focused: Booze 😂
2:06 AM #filter-focused: 14g be nice
2:06 AM #filter-focused: 14-16
2:14 AM #filter-focused: https://youtu.be/KSjb9nRMeGw
2:14 AM #filter-focused: I always recommend this recipe for flat-bottom
2:15 AM #filter-focused: You should be fine as long as you keep the ratio
2:19 AM #filter-focused: If it’s under-extracted, try splitting the pour into two or three pours
2:26 AM #filter-focused: It’ll be a little easier if you have a Gabi A, or something like the Timemore Assist
5:41 AM #what-are-you-brewing: I didn’t even know I had a coffee like this lol. I really didn’t enjoy the coffee I had this morning, so I picked this one because I wanted to end my day of drinking coffee on a good note. It has incredibly intense stone-fruit and yellow tropical fruit flavors, along with peach and sour candy-like notes. It’s such an uplifting cup
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2026-08-23

3:12 AM #origins-and-producers: https://www.intelligentsia.com/products/honduras-la-tortuga-anacafe-14
3:12 AM #origins-and-producers: I thought I should post this here, lol. I’m sharing it because it’s a really interesting coffee. I’ve only had Anacafe 14 once myself, but I had a very positive impression of it—it was a coffee from Raul Perez in Guatemala
3:16 AM #origins-and-producers: It was really good. I’m not usually a big fan of Guatemalan coffees, but this one really reminded me of a “really delicious Pacamara” from El Sal, if that makes sense. It had those mouthwatering sweet-and-tart flavors—kiwi, pineapple, lime, things like that
3:17 AM #origins-and-producers: I’m not sure if my friends have any samples, but I’ll ask around and see if I can get some from them

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dougssg

2026-08-18

3:14 AM #filter-focused: Lot 1 is tons of grapefruit

2026-08-19

3:21 AM #current-menu: Leaks what?

2026-08-20

3:07 AM #current-menu: Always was planned to make it the whole month.
3:56 AM #current-menu: I truly don’t know what we’re releasing yet!
4:15 AM #current-menu: Haha Lance is in Ecuador!
4:16 AM #current-menu: On vacation
4:16 AM #current-menu: Hitting the Galapagos
4:16 AM #current-menu: No release? Rain snow sleet hail you’re getting a SEY release every week
1:52 PM #current-menu: We have both but our Nuguo lot is tiiiiny.
6:42 PM #current-menu: Last year our biggest lot was 10kg. This year our only lot is 2!

2026-08-21

3:04 AM #what-are-you-brewing: <@747659560420114473> cup that!
3:21 AM #equipment: I think the metal MD is his priority, not column 2.0
4:01 PM #equipment: Love my colum

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naomi (car7iern)

2026-08-18

9:35 PM #current-menu: Digna Nuñez 🙂

2026-08-19

4:57 PM #current-menu: Mbature Family Field Blend* Lot 1 - Kenya
Florence & Jessica Marigi - Kenya
Felix Morocho (Mejorado) - Ecuador
Esayas Beriso - Ethiopia
Siti - Ethiopia
Diana Arboleda Tabares (Chiroso) - Colombia
4:58 PM #current-menu: Can't promise they'll all be in stock because we're running pretty low on Siti, Diana, Felix. But as of now that's what we have!

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GPT-5.6 Thinking Summary

seylance2897

Very few captured messages this week. In #origins-and-producers on Aug. 18, seylance2897 treated a comparison between two coffee varieties as genuinely unresolved: he said he did not know anyone who had tasted pure strains of both side by side under the same growing conditions, and said he wanted to investigate it further.
In #origins-and-producers on Aug. 23, he pushed back on an apparently skeptical question about Rwanda, saying coffees from Rwanda can be exceptional.
He specifically highlighted Bourbon from Rwanda and Burundi as producing some of the coolest and most distinctive profiles in coffee.

lancehedrick

In #water on Aug. 20, Lance discussed very low-mineral brewing water, mentioning 50 ppm, and said the appropriate amount depends on the purity of the salts being used.
He said he prefers AC over Third Wave Water because he does not like the citrates in TWW.
For filter brewing, he said he personally likes roughly 90-92C. He also endorsed using a Flair-style approach with a temperature step-down, saying it can work very well.
On agitation, he said that with sufficiently coarse grinds, very gentle agitation is not a major problem; later, when diagnosing someone's brew, he thought they were using too much agitation and advised against it.
He strongly criticized the Pulsar for his own tastes, saying it mutes aromas and acidity.
He repeatedly emphasized adequate post-roast rest. He told one user that three weeks off roast should be excellent, advised against waiting excessively longer, and elsewhere said a new drop may need roughly three to four weeks to really open up. He clarified that such rest recommendations are not precise rules, but partly a reaction against the 2000s-era "fresh is best" tendency to drink coffee only days after roasting.
When users reported rubbery or medicinal cups, Lance said a single phenolic bean can make an entire dose taste medicinal and may be visually indistinguishable from normal beans. However, if multiple brews show the same problem, he thought an isolated phenolic bean was unlikely. He also said rubbery/medicinal character is not normally a roast defect and wanted to investigate whether the green coffee had phenolic tendencies.
He actively investigated complaints about specific SEY coffees and roast batches, including Halo, Chorso/Chorso, Boneya, and Berrio. He acknowledged that some Halo batches had skewed too light but did not think Chorso and Boneya generally had; he asked for roast dates and cup descriptions rather than assuming a roast fault.
On Aug. 22, he warned that some drinkers were treating current coffees as unusually light and therefore pushing extraction yield too hard, which he thought was ruining cups. His suggested correction was lower temperature and coarser grinding; for objectionable flavors he even suggested experimenting down around 80C because temperature is a powerful way to suppress unwanted extraction.
For coffee storage, he recommended sealing/taping valves and putting the coffee inside a reusable plastic bag as a cheap second barrier. He also mentioned missing a coffee called Rolando, describing it fondly, and on Aug. 23 described another coffee as extraordinarily syrupy: at only 1.2% TDS, he thought it tasted as concentrated as a 1.4-1.5% cup.

opp4004

opp4004 temporarily changed his tasting routine to three coffees per day. He used the first cup as a palate/self-check rather than for formal review, and reduced his normal dose from 22 g 2 daily brews to 14 g 3 because he had many coffees to review. He found the smaller-dose grind setting unexpectedly successful.
He thought switching to the A4Z grinder was the right decision, although he later said it was harder to dial in than expected. After comparing it with an A68, he still preferred the A4Z for brewing, while noting the A68 was good and especially good for espresso.
William Ortiz's Chiroso gave him white peach, lemon, tropical fruit, and an unusual pine-needle-like aroma. More broadly, his first impression of the latest SEY subscription was that acidity seemed sharper and the coffees perhaps "a little more roasted" than before, though he explicitly withheld judgment because he had tasted only three coffees and was still changing his brewing setup.
He found Fritz's Costa Rican Los Madrigal, a Catuai Natural Reposado, excessively funky relative to his usual appreciation for Reposado processing. He described grape, black raspberry, tropical fruit, and fruit-punch flavors but thought the natural processing may have gone too far.
Yabitu Koba was a major highlight. He compared its jasmine, green tea, and lemon character to the old Gesha profile of Lerida Estate in Panama, while later in the cup finding more recognizably Ethiopian tropical fruit, caramel, yogurt, and herbal aromas. He brewed it earlier than usual on a friend's recommendation and thought it was exceptional.
He was surprised by Basha Honey because it did not taste like what he expected SEY to buy: pre-brew aroma seemed a little funky, but in the cup he found it very good, with florals, Gatorade-like aromatics, tropical fruit, and white-tea character. This expanded into a strong sourcing recommendation: buy essentially any Basha coffee, any Aklilu Admassu coffee, and especially coffees from Gonjobe in Sidama. He said Gonjobe produced the best Sidama naturals he had tasted, while he preferred Arbegona for washed coffees.
He gave very specific flat-bottom brewing advice: roughly 14-16 g doses; maintain the intended brew ratio; if under-extracted, split the water into two or three pours; and use tools such as a Gabi A or Timemore Assist if helpful. Elsewhere he gave typical grinder settings of around 75-90 clicks for 14 g and 115-125 for 22 g, depending on setup.
On resting, he said aromatics naturally fade over time. He does not personally prefer very long rest, although he acknowledged that longer rest can simplify flavor and make coffee more straightforward. He grinds each dose fresh rather than pre-grinding.
He praised several distinctive coffees in detail: an Ethiopian Echemo as very high quality but slightly lacking clarity, with white tea, stone fruit, tamarind, concentrated citrus and an unusual milk-like opening texture; Octavio Rueda as intensely tart and vibrant with hibiscus, pomegranate, lemon, tropical-fruit jelly and strong passion fruit; and Big Sur's Faysel Abdosh Project 2, a Triple Fermentation Natural, as shockingly clean and refined despite the complex process, with peach, jasmine, oolong, apricot, loquat and a fresh-fruit-like aromatic release.
He was skeptical of several roasting-machine choices. He said only the Stronghold S9/S9X was trustworthy in his view, noted Carrier Roasting planned to use an S9X, and criticized a roaster's detours through Wille, IMF and Stronghold before eventually settling on a Loring. He described older Tim Wendelboe-style coffee as very Nordic, and contrasted Tim's coffees with SEY by saying Tim's flavors seem chunkier and harder to separate into fine notes, but have greater overall flavor impact.
On Aug. 23, he highlighted Anacafe 14 as a variety worth attention. His prior example, from Raul Perez in Guatemala, reminded him of an excellent El Salvador Pacamara, with sweet-tart kiwi, pineapple and lime. He said he would ask friends whether any samples were available.

dougssg

Very few captured messages this week. In #filter-focused on Aug. 18, dougssg described "Lot 1" as showing a great deal of grapefruit.
In #current-menu, he said an item or program had always been intended to run for the entire month, while also admitting on Aug. 20 that he genuinely did not yet know exactly what SEY would be releasing.
He reassured the channel that weekly releases would continue regardless of Lance being away: Lance was on vacation in Ecuador and visiting the Galapagos, but, in dougssg's phrasing, rain, snow, sleet, or hail would not stop a SEY release every week.
He said SEY had both coffees being discussed in one menu exchange, but noted that its Nuguo lot was extremely small.
He quantified how limited one coffee had become: the biggest lot the prior year was 10 kg, while this year their only lot was 2 kg.
In #what-are-you-brewing on Aug. 21, he urged another user to cup a coffee rather than relying only on whatever brewing result was under discussion.
In #equipment, he believed someone's priority was the metal MD rather than "column 2.0." He separately said he loves his own "colum," apparently referring to that equipment line, though the text does not make the exact model clear.

naomi (car7iern)

Very few captured messages this week. In #current-menu on Aug. 18, Naomi identified Digna Nunez, apparently in response to a question about a current or upcoming coffee.
On Aug. 19 she provided a concrete current-menu list: Mbature Family Field Blend Lot 1 from Kenya; Florence & Jessica Marigi from Kenya; Felix Morocho's Mejorado from Ecuador; Esayas Beriso from Ethiopia; Siti from Ethiopia; and Diana Arboleda Tabares's Chiroso from Colombia.
She cautioned that the list was not a guarantee of availability because Siti, Diana, and Felix were already running quite low.
Her message therefore distinguished between what SEY had in the current assortment at that moment and what customers could reliably expect to remain in stock.

Cross-thread takeaways

Rest and extraction were the week's clearest technical through-line. Lance repeatedly argued for roughly three to four weeks of rest for many SEY coffees, lower temperatures, coarse grinding, and restraint on agitation, while opp4004 independently said he dislikes very long resting because aromatics fade and flavors simplify. The disagreement is more about degree than principle: both treated coffee age as a major flavor variable rather than a fixed "freshest is best" rule.
Several users were diagnosing whether disappointing cups came from roast, green defects, processing, or brewing. Lance resisted attributing medicinal/rubbery cups directly to roast and raised phenolic beans as one possible cause, while also warning that excessive extraction can make current SEY coffees taste worse. opp4004 similarly encouraged people not to be afraid of alternate brewing approaches because most SEY coffees are already quite clean.
Grinder and brewer choice mattered substantially in opp4004's reports. He preferred the A4Z over the A68 for filter despite the A4Z being finicky to dial in, while Lance disliked the Pulsar because he felt it suppressed aromatics and acidity. Both were effectively optimizing for aromatic clarity rather than maximum extraction alone.
Ethiopian and East African coffees dominated the strongest endorsements. seylance2897 singled out Rwandan and Burundian Bourbon as uniquely compelling; opp4004 praised Yabitu Koba, Basha coffees, Aklilu Admassu, Gonjobe-area naturals, and Arbegona washed coffees; Naomi's menu list also included Esayas Beriso and Siti from Ethiopia plus two Kenyan offerings.
Processing cleanliness was repeatedly challenged rather than treated categorically. opp4004 found Los Madrigal Natural Reposado too funky, yet Big Sur's Triple Fermentation Natural remarkably clean and almost washed-like. His Basha Honey also smelled funky before brewing but tasted much cleaner and more compelling in the cup.
Menu scarcity was a practical theme alongside tasting discussion. dougssg described a Nuguo lot of only 2 kg versus a 10 kg largest lot the prior year, and Naomi warned that Siti, Diana Arboleda Tabares, and Felix Morocho were already running low. Availability could therefore change quickly even when a coffee appeared on the current menu.
The week's tasting notes repeatedly favored high-acid, floral, tea-like, and tropical profiles: jasmine, white/green tea, bergamot, citrus, passion fruit, peach, apricot, loquat, hibiscus, pomegranate, kiwi, pineapple, and grapefruit appeared across multiple coffees. By contrast, "funk," medicinal/rubbery character, and muddled clarity were the main negative descriptors under discussion.

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