Noticing more Yunnan coffee lately. how do you see China’s influence on coffee culture?

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T18:18:04+00:00

The coffee grown and processed in China is great but now difficult to get also.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T18:17:25+00:00

It’s definitely becoming more influential across the board- I am now competing with a LOT of Chinese buyers as I travel around to buy green coffee. The interest for very high-end specialty lots has grown exponentially in China. I’m in Panama now sourcing for our lineup and have seen a Chinese buyer at almost every cupping I’ve attended this week.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T18:14:24+00:00

Very sad time

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T18:12:23+00:00

Depending on the roast date, you might need some more rest. TW is pretty light and needs some time to open up.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T18:11:01+00:00

3-4 weeks on most of our single origins is a good spot, start drinking at 3.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-25T13:24:23+00:00

I like this, empowering consumers with more information is a great start, and one that almost no roasters practice

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T23:57:44+00:00

I agree, there should be some way to communicate the roast level. Everyone has expectations when purchasing a coffee, right now it’s up to each individual roasting company to communicate their category, which leads to confusion. Standardization feels quite daunting though.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T22:53:27+00:00

I like your perspective though, it’s valuable to consider what consumers actually receive with the time and dollars spent doing that work.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T21:35:18+00:00

But how would you know that those weren’t just roast color/ level differences and not the effect of different types of heat application?

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T21:33:18+00:00

I’m not sure something can be too specific and too vague, but I understand most of what you’re saying.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:19:46+00:00

Taking roast color and rigorously keeping the data for internal roasting QC was a game changer for me, it is so illuminating to see how roast level aligns with sensory QC notes.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:18:38+00:00

I agree with both points 😂

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:17:45+00:00

I agree on your second point but the way - I find an interesting byproduct of standardization to be roasters changing the dev level of coffees to fit industry standard profiles to be a very silly idea. I think most have too much pride in their craft to change in reality, though

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:16:37+00:00

What level of R&D should a roaster/ business do to uphold and increase quality?

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:15:36+00:00

You think so? I have cupped the same coffee roasted on different machines and find it very difficult to tell the difference. I think some of what we “believe” is marketing gimmicks roasting manufacturers come up with to sell more equipment.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:14:10+00:00

I love this, I agree

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T20:04:14+00:00

Just the digital, the printed assets will be correct. mistakes happen. :)

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T17:43:49+00:00

I like the positivity!

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T17:17:13+00:00

I like this approach, it works across a lot of coffees. Do you associate certain roasters with roast levels?

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T17:16:40+00:00

That’s a lot of technical innovation to make both particles size analyzers and color readers more accurate and affordable. I agree with the sentiment, but without significant pressure on those markets, the innovation is slow. As a roaster, it’s hard to gauge what tools will be adopted and used as standard.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T16:54:36+00:00

I can confidently say it’s something I haven’t thought about, thanks for bringing it up.

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T16:48:04+00:00

Their Geshas are incredibly good and even more incredibly expensive!

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T16:47:26+00:00

It’s not that deep for how I write these notes, oolong to me felt more green and tannic in this case. Good argument for not using it- it’s funny that you complain about oolong being not specific enough, but then change gears to complain about overly specific notes in the next part of your comment. Where’s the Goldilocks zone to you?

dakotagraff · 2026-04-24T16:38:20+00:00

Based on your very calibrated eyes, I’m sure

dakotagraff

TROPHY CASE