The Coffee Guide
Origins, brewing, and the fundamentals — everything the Beanlytics roastery in Richmond, BC knows about specialty coffee, from the farm to your cup.
Origins & Sourcing
Where our coffee comes from — the countries, farms, and producers behind every bag, and how origin shapes what ends up in your cup.
The origin guides
One growing country at a time: the regions, the altitudes, what the place does to the cup, and which of our lots came out of it.
- Ethiopian Coffee Guide: Origin, Flavor & Sourcing
- Colombian Coffee Guide: Origin, Flavor & Sourcing
- Brazilian Coffee Guide: Origin, Flavor & Sourcing
- Ecuadorian Coffee Guide: Origin, Flavor & Sourcing
- El Salvador Coffee Guide: Origin, Flavor & Sourcing
- Ethiopian vs Colombian Coffee: What’s the Difference?
How we buy
Who we buy from and what we hold out for. The short definitive version is on our sourcing page; these are the buying decisions written out at length.
Every country described above has a page of its own — coffee by origin, with the farm, region, altitude and process listed on each lot we have roasted from it.
Brewing Guides
Ratios, grind sizes, and step-by-step methods — pour-over to French press — to get the best out of fresh-roasted coffee at home.
All of this assumes a coffee that suits the method. The lots we roast for pour-over and drip are on coffees for filter brewing.
Coffee Varieties
The cultivars behind the cup — Sidra, Gesha, Pacamara and more. What each variety is, how it tastes, and why it's prized.
Of the varieties above, Sidra is the one on our shelf right now — Sidra coffees, from El Diviso in Huila, Colombia and Finca Terrazas del Pisque in Pichincha, Ecuador at 2,100 masl.
Coffee 101
The fundamentals: roast levels, processing methods, tasting notes, freshness, and what “specialty” actually means.
- How Long Do Coffee Beans Stay Fresh After Roasting?
- How to Taste Coffee at Home: A Q Grader’s Method
- Fruity vs Chocolatey Coffee: What Makes the Difference, and Which to Buy
- What Is Specialty Coffee? A Q Grader’s Definition
- How to Choose Coffee Beans: A Roaster’s Guide for Canada
- How Coffee Processing Shapes Flavor in Specialty Coffee
Vancouver BC & the Roastery
Two subjects share this journal. One is the coffee scene around Metro Vancouver and where to buy beans that were roasted this week; the other is what happens inside our own roastery.
Around Vancouver
Where to find fresh-roasted specialty coffee across Metro Vancouver, and what the city's roasting scene looks like from inside it.
Inside the Roastery
How we choose, roast and judge a coffee, told one decision at a time. The short definitive version is on our roasting page; these are the long ones.
All of this happens in one roastery in Richmond, BC. If you are nearby, fresh-roasted coffee in Metro Vancouver is delivered free with no minimum.
Reading done — ready to taste the difference?
Shop Fresh-Roasted Coffee