Everyday Beans Podcast - Mostly About Coffee and Other Stuff

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I gave up on a Nicaraguan coffee — and I'm so glad I did, because that mistake led to one of the most surprising brewing discoveries I've had in years. In this episode, I walk through my experience with a strictly highly grown, European-prepared, organic Nicaraguan coffee that simply refused to cooperate at every ratio I tried. I tested it as a light roast, a medium roast, and a dark roast. I pushed the water chemistry, I switched brewers, I adjusted grind size — and nothing worked. So I moved on.
One morning, brewing a cup for my wife without measuring, I took a sip and was completely stopped in my tracks. The coffee I had written off was suddenly alive — clear, lively, and telling me everything I'd been trying to hear from it. The culprit? A 1:10 brew ratio, something I had long avoided because it typically produces an overpowering, brute-force cup. But for this particular coffee — washed, high-altitude grown, with slow-developing sugars — the 1:10 ratio was the key that unlocked everything. By listening to this episode, you'll learn why some coffees actually need a stronger brew ratio to reveal their best flavors, and how one unexpected accident reminded me to always push past brewing comfort zones before giving up on a coffee.
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For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

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In this episode, I dive deep into a topic that I avoided for years—blending and mixing coffees. For the longest time, I was a purist, strictly dedicated to single origin coffees. I romanticized the origin stories, the soil, the elevations, the farmers, and the unique characteristics of each coffee. Single origins felt sacred, like something I shouldn't alter or mess with. But as I've pushed my understanding and love for coffee further, I've discovered that blending isn't cheating—it's an art form that allows us to mold and shape coffee into exactly what we want it to be.
I share my journey from single origin devotion to embracing the creative freedom that comes with blending. I explain how mixing coffees lets us manipulate flavors intentionally—adding sweetness to sharp, fruity coffees with a dark roasted Brazilian, or creating complexity by combining multiple light roasts. By listening to this episode, you'll learn why blending might be the key to rekindling your excitement for coffee, how to think about flavor profiles when creating your own blends, and why it's perfectly okay to make coffee your own way, regardless of what the coffee geeks say.
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For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

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In this episode, I dive deep into the paradox of precision in coffee brewing and question whether my obsession with exactness has actually robbed me of the joy I once felt. I reflect on my journey from the simplicity of the French press—just ground coffee, water, and time—to the world of scales, refractometers, temperature-controlled kettles, and my Timemore Sculptor 78SS grinder. I talk about how precision tools like scales and kettles transformed my brewing from experimentation into science, allowing me to replicate good cups and eliminate bad ones. But somewhere along the way, I realized I stopped trusting my palate and started trusting the numbers instead. If the extraction wasn't "perfect" according to the tools, I questioned myself, the coffee, or the brewer—never the possibility that precision might be getting in the way of presence.
I explore this tension between being an engineer who cares about repeatability and being a coffee lover who just wants to enjoy the moment. While I acknowledge I'll never abandon my tools completely, I'm challenging myself to loosen up, to remember that my palate and taste are what matter most. By listening to this episode, you'll gain insight into how precision can both enhance and complicate your coffee experience, and you'll learn why being present with your brew—smelling the beans, feeling the steam, truly tasting the coffee—might be more valuable than any refractometer reading. You'll walk away questioning whether you need that next precision tool or whether you already have everything you need: good coffee, a few reliable tools, and your own unique palate.
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For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

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I recently put the ZP6 grinder to the test with a dark roast Honduras coffee—a bean I know intimately with its orangey top notes that fade into mellow chocolate. Most people claim this "clarity king" grinder only works well with light and medium roasts, but I wasn't convinced. What I discovered changed how I think about grinders entirely. I went finer than the recommended sweet spot, pushing down to a 2 on the dial when most people stay between 4 and 5.5, and the separation remained clean without getting offensive. Then I tried the same coffee through my Fellow Ode grinder at a slightly coarser setting, and something magical happened—those orange notes lingered and danced with the chocolate in a way that made me want to keep drinking.
Through this experience, I realized that every grinder has its own profile, its own way of telling a coffee's story. The ZP6 brings crisp separation and expressiveness, while the Fellow Ode creates lingering, layered complexity. I used to blame my old Baratza for muddy coffees, but the truth is the coffee was probably fine—it was the grinder's profile I was tasting. In this episode, I share why owning two different grinders can unlock entirely new dimensions in your coffee, how to stop being judgmental about which grinder is "better," and why the real magic lies in understanding what each device brings to your cup. You'll learn that it's not about chasing one perfect grinder—it's about discovering which profile resonates with what you're looking for in that particular coffee.
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For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

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In this episode, I dive deep into the one piece of coffee equipment that changed everything for me—a simple TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter. For less than $10, this unassuming device has unlocked flavors in my coffee that I didn't think were possible anymore. I talk about how understanding water hardness through this meter has made my lightly roasted Kenyan coffees finally show their sweetness, made my Brazilian coffees more expressive, and eliminated the inconsistency that used to plague my brewing. I share why we fixate on grinders, brewers, and technique while ignoring the fact that coffee is 98% water, and how this inexpensive tool gets you 95% of the way to perfect water without diving into complex chemistry.
By listening to this episode, you'll learn why a TDS meter is the most underrated piece of coffee gear you can own, how it empowers you to manipulate acidity and sweetness beyond just brewer choice, and why understanding your water is the key to unlocking the true potential of every coffee you brew. I'll explain how finding my sweet spot around 110 PPM transformed my daily brewing and why this $10 investment might be more valuable than your next grinder upgrade.
Support the show
For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans