01/08/2026
This journey of improving from last year started, pretty much a year ago. A work in progress, trying to chase sweetness, flavour clarity, a better cup. We got coffees earlier in the year perhaps, had more runway than the previous year to calibrate our roast, rest days, coffee, put in so many hours & weekends, even more so for barista.jeneece of course, getting overdosed on sipping espressos both at our place & hers. Changing the script towards the end… The work behind that 15min on stage really goes beyond imagination.
We were hoping to get into the finals this year again, but the competition ended earlier than expected. This year we thought we went in better prepared - we had more input, we had people incl judges trying the flight, we managed to have a station to taste the coffee that morning, but in all of it there were no red flags. No one really saying this is not balanced enough, it needs to be smoother, I need this taste, maybe you should try this, etc. We did our best, but sometimes maybe best in the wrong direction is not enough. Maybe it was this, maybe it was that, maybe this is just too much for us, my (C’s) thoughts goes on post comps. Definitely feelings of inadequacy & disappointment that despite our best efforts it wasn’t enough to make it.
Still, this pushes us to pursue further. Was it the coffee? Did we need to have a panama gesha? If the coffee was good enough, what could we have done better? Roast? Ratios? Resting? Each time, we’ll always catch a glimpse of what could be better. Drives me/ us nuts but after a break we will, perhaps, be back.
Meanwhile, find our competition marageshas stocked in 150g batches for espresso & filter on our link in bio. and watch out for Jeneece’s showcases + the launch of our Luis Anibal Marageshas too 🫰🏻Buy two marageshas side by side to try them together! Our next roast is 7th August so be sure to catch it before the following one on 27th August. Limited roasts left esp for Jardines (competition feature) so grab them before it’s too late 💪🏻👌🏻.
