Roast library

How to read a tone. bag

Every bag has the same five things on the front: name, origin, process, roast level, roast date. The back has the brew guide and the producer. That's the whole label. We don't dress it up.

Roast levels, demystified

We roast across a narrow band — nothing super light, nothing scorched. Here's what each level actually means at tone.

Light

Acidity forward. Fruit and florals. Built for filter brewing (pour-over, AeroPress, Chemex). Will taste sour as espresso unless you really know what you're doing.

Try: Bright Tone — Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.

Medium-light

Origin character still loud. Sweetness rising, acidity softening. The sweet spot for most single-origin filter coffees.

Try: High Tone — Kenya AA.

Medium

Balanced. Approachable. Reads sweet and clean across most brew methods. Our default recommendation if you're not sure.

Try: Half Tone — Colombia Huila.

Medium-dark

Caramel and chocolate forward. Built to read sweet through milk — the espresso roast we'd pull at home.

Try: Low Tone — house espresso blend.

Dark

Deep, low, heavy bodied. Bittersweet, not burnt. For drinkers who want weight in the cup.

Try: Dark Tone — Indonesian-forward blend.

Processes

Washed

Cherry pulped, fermented, washed clean. Result: brightness, clarity, acidity, "cleaner" cup. Most of what we carry.

Natural

Cherry dried whole, fruit pulp left on the bean. Result: fruit-forward, jammy, sometimes wild. Think strawberry, blueberry, wine.

Honey / black honey

Pulp removed but mucilage left on. Result: sweetness of natural, structure of washed. Quietly excellent.

Anaerobic

Fermented in oxygen-free tanks. Result: bigger, weirder, more polarizing. Tropical fruit, sometimes funk. Reserved for our numbered series.

Origins we keep coming back to

Ethiopia — Birthplace of arabica. Florals, citrus, tea-like. We source mostly from Yirgacheffe and Guji.

Colombia — The dependable middle. Sweetness, balance, body. Huila is our home region.

Kenya — SL28, SL34, volcanic soil, big fruit and acidity. Blackcurrant, tomato, citrus.

Costa Rica — Micro-mill country. Honey and black-honey processes done well. Stone fruit, cane sugar.

Panama — Where the Geishas live. Floral, delicate, ethereal. Almost always numbered drops.

Flavor notes — what they actually mean

We try to keep tasting notes to three words and to use things you've eaten. "Plum, dark chocolate, brown sugar" means we'd expect you to taste those things. Not metaphors. Not feelings. Actual flavors.