224 | Are coffee flavor notes on bags unnecessary?

As coffee enthusiasts and baristas, we're always trying to raise the bar for what our coffee tastes like. Most of the time, that comes down to brewing really good coffee, but what makes someone good at making coffee? In this episode, we boil it down to 3 traits that we notice in people who are exceptional at brewing coffee.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Coffee tasting notes on a bag of coffee helps us understanding what the coffee will taste like, but what happens when we don't taste those flavor notes in the cup? This is a common struggle we hear from people and it can be frustrating, but the conversation around coffee flavor notes is a little bit more nuanced. In this episode, we try to unpack the nuance and explain why it sometimes okay not to taste what is written on the bag.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Coffee’s popularity keeps growing and the coffee industry keeps evolving. With 2026 here, we sit down and talk about where we see and think the industry is going for the year and beyond. We’d love to hear where you think the coffee industry is going in 2026 down in the comments.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Komakase is a coffee omakase experience unlike anything you’ve experienced before. Extraordinary coffee paired intentionally with sweets. After my visit to Komakase, I wanted to get a behind the scenes look into this fascinating coffee project. This is my conversation with Josh from Komakase. Check out Komakase: https://komakase.coffee/Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Every year, Sprudge runs their famous Sprudge Awards. It's their way of honoring the best in the coffee industry in categories including roasters, cafes, producers, creatives, and more. We go through all the nominations and share who we think should win every category.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

We're approaching the end of the year, and wanted to take a moment to reflect back on our coffee journey this past year. In this episode we talk about our favorite coffees of 2025, big lessons of the year, and the one thing you need to do to master any skill in coffee.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Coffee gear is meant to make coffee taste better and your life easier. In this episode, we each share our top 3 coffee tools that have impacted our coffee journey the most this past year.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

There's a lot of new coffee gear being released and it feels like it's more than ever which is exciting. New gear is a step in the right direction, however, does new gear make coffee taste better or is it simply making brewing coffee more convenient?Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

We take 3 common phrases we heard around the coffee community and rate them as overrated, underrated, or properly rated. We talk about why grinding finer isn’t always helpful, the benefits of properly resting your coffee, and why you might not want high clarity burrs.Pick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA

Coffee roast color is one of the biggest variables in taste. We often choose the coffees we drink by roast development level, however, how do we measure that? Light, medium, and dark roast are broad terms that are difficult to quantify and that have a wide range. How can a roaster communicate their roast level in a way that is helpful to coffee drinkers? We talk about the challenges of defining development level, color readers, and a simple database that might help.Google Sheet With Color Readings: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GkIjVVj6_PW9_JavwixluRgKK1U2ZLT-xXFs1ZmzSWE/edit?usp=sharingPick up our coffee here: https://mirrorcoffeeroasters.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirrorcoffeeroasters/Mirror Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster located in Bellingham, WA