When we tell people we rotate the espresso bean every six to eight weeks, the most common reaction is mild alarm. People find a coffee they like and they want it to stay. We understand that. But there are good reasons for rotating, and once you understand them, the change starts to feel like a feature rather than an inconvenience.

Coffee has a harvest season

Coffee is an agricultural product. Each origin has a harvest window. Ethiopia picks in October and November, Colombia picks twice a year, Guatemala picks from December through March. After harvest, the beans are processed, dried, shipped, and rested before roasting. By the time a bag reaches a cafe, it's typically four to eight months after harvest. Buying seasonally means buying coffee that's as fresh as possible relative to its harvest date, rather than running the same lot until it's a year old and stale.

Single origin means the flavour is specific

A blend is designed to taste consistent regardless of what's in it. The roaster adjusts the components to hit the same profile every time. A single-origin espresso tastes like that specific farm, that specific harvest, that specific process. The washed Yirgacheffe we're pulling right now has a citrus brightness that a natural-process Sidama wouldn't have. When the Yirgacheffe runs out, we'll move to something different, and the coffee will taste different. That's the point.

How we choose the next lot

We work with two main importers. Addis Trading Co. For Ethiopian lots and a second importer for Central and South American origins. When a lot is coming to an end, Mara tastes samples from whatever is available and picks the one that's most interesting at that moment. It's not a formula. Sometimes it's a bean she's been waiting for. Sometimes it's something new from a farm we haven't worked with before. The decision usually takes about a week of sample tastings.

What to do if you loved the last one

Ask us. We keep notes on every lot we've run, including the importer, the farm, and the approximate harvest date. If a particular coffee was exceptional, we'll try to source it again the following year when the new harvest comes in. We've done this twice. Once with a natural Guji from 2023 that we brought back in 2024, and once with a washed Sidama that a regular asked about specifically.

The current bean is always written on the chalkboard above the bar. If you want to know more about where it's from or how it's processed, ask whoever is on the bar. They'll know.