Christopher Feran

The Lost Origins of "Inca Gesha" Link in bio - new on the blog // Nearly everywhere it grows, coffee is a stranger in a strange land. Native only to Ethiopia (or perhaps South Sudan), much of the history of the transmission of Coffea arabica around the world exists only in lore and legend, unsubstantiated by evidence; much has been lost or left unreported or undocumented; much has otherwise been forgotten. Tales of deception, subterfuge and intrigue are central to the mythology behind its dissemination: seeds smuggled by Baba Budan from Yemen to India in the 17th century; or cuttings smuggled by Peter van der Boecke to Amsterdam in 1616 which went on to Indonesia; or French Naval Captain Gabriel De Clieu, who, according to legend, in 1723 seduced the daughter of the head of the Jardin Royal des Plantes to steal a cutting, smuggling it to the island of Martinique; or Imam Al-Mahdi of Yemen gifting 60 seedlings to the French that would go on to be planted on the Island of Bourbon—though Yemen prohibited the export of viable seeds to protect their monopoly—reportedly due to the Imam’s relationship with a French agent, Imbert, who had, according to the Imam, relieved his distress resulting from an ear abscess. Even in the modern era, I’ve heard similar tales—of bolt cutters and ski masks and seedlings being taken, seeds stolen in the night. One story goes that Sidra and Mejorado came from an abandoned Nestle farm in Ecuador—and in Guatemala, “Bourbon Chocolá” was taken from Finca Chocolá before the plantation was converted to production of corn. But the rediscovery of Gesha at a farm in Panama and the subsequent gold rush at auction set in motion the modern era of specialty coffee; a tree out of Ethiopia, rather than descended from one from Yemen. I’ve long been fascinated by these stories—as well as the potential qualities or cup impacts that result from different cultivars. I’ve mused about a few: Castillo and Caturra, Ruiru 11 and Batian, and Pink Bourbon and Chiroso. And, of course, I have my favorites—one of them being a cultivar known as “Inca Gesha,” that grows in the highlands along the Andes in Peru.

During @lancehedrick 's recent video, Lance and I talked about common processing terminology and the ideas that we attach to the most-used processing descriptions. "Washed," of course, doesn't always mean the same as "washed," and "anaerobic" might reference one or two different fermentation stages. In the comments of the video, many people asked for a flowchart to better explain processing decision-points and transformation steps; I am more than happy to oblige. The full flowchart is available for free as a high resolution, printable PDF on my blog at the link in bio.

The trading of commodity futures dates back millennia to ancient Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome as a way to buffer against pricing volatility stemming from disruptions to supply or demand. The first modern exchange, Japan's Dojima Rice Exchange, began in 1730, preceding the founding of the United States and our own exchanges—including the predecessor to the NY Board of Trade, where coffee futures are traded. While the modern specialty industry holds that direct trade is an alternate paradigm of buying and selling coffee disconnected from the commodity market that recognizes coffees and producers for their distinct identities, the recent record run of the c-market has laid bare the truth: specialty is simply a niche existing wholly within traditional commodity markets. In other words: Specialty coffee is really just commodity coffee that we think tastes better. As such, it's more important than ever that roasters, buyers, and specialty importers understand the way the market functions and why it functions that way. If we wish to invent a new way of doing business, we can't beat the game until we know the rules. I've done my best to explain the market here. Note that there are additional complexities—I chose to simplify some concepts in an effort to keep this piece detailed yet accessible. I am a specialty coffee buyer, not a commodities trader, and my own understanding has been shaped by friends and collaborators across the industry who have been generous with their time—thanks to @ferrarajoseph of @uniquecoffeeroasters , @timothybhill and Ilya Byzov.

Aviary x ROEST at World of Coffee San Diego  Whilst we are sad that @christopher.feran will not be joining us at World of Coffee San Diego this week, we are going to be brewing a couple of coffees from @aviary.coffee on the brew bar that were roasted on the ROEST P3000 ⚡ We’re excited to share these 2026 Season coffees:  ☕ 022 - Sergio Caro - the first release of the 2026 season from a young, award-winning producer in Caicedo, Antioquia. A multi-stage, extended fermentation washed chiroso that bursts with juicy, jammy, vibrant notes of mango, pink peppercorn, raspberry, tangerine, and pineapple.  ☕ 025 - Maria Nieves - the fourth release of the 2026 season is an Aviary-exclusive, and the third from the producer of one of Aviary’s earliest releases: Maria Nieves. A complex, mouth-filling, bright, vibrant coffee with notes of bergamot, rosehip, passionfruit, raspberry, and tangerine.  🗓️ April 10-12, 2026 📍 Booth #3323 / San Diego Convention Center 🎟 @worldofcoffeeusa

I didn't have the best time in middle school or high school, and so now, working in coffee, I do my best to avoid the worst tendencies of the industry to relive those days (RIP Coffee Twitter). But when I saw I would be going head-to-head with my friend @botzcoffee in the @reviews_coffee March Madness roaster popularity tournament, I couldn't resist. When you go to cast your vote today, remember: you can't trust robots. Vote no on robot. 🚫🤖 🤖 =📉 🙅 🤖 VOTE FOR @aviary.coffee FOR A BETTER FUTURE (and NO robot overlords!!!) #putabirdonit (This is the closest I get to getting into sporps. Honored to go toe to toe, @botzcoffee . it's okay if you lose this one, Danny, since we all know you're going to win the yearbook award for "Best Thrifter")

We let the P3000 speak for itself. The result? “Wildly consistent” Have you read the latest blog post by Christopher Feran? Head to his profile for the link and read about his experience with the P3000. #ROESTcoffee #coffeeroasting #productionroasting

Scenes from the first-ever Cleveland Brewer's Cup seen through the lens 📸 of @racheljapple . // Specialty coffee in Cleveland turns fifty this year, dating back to the founding of Arabica Coffee in 1976. What it lacks in population, Cleveland makes up for in enthusiasm for specialty coffee: today, the city of Cleveland is home to nearly two dozen specialty roasters as well as 60+ shops within city limits—roughly 22 shops per 100,000 residents, or more per capita than San Francisco or Denver. But in spite of this legacy, the coffee scene in Cleveland still feels both young and full of potential, yet insular and somewhat disconnected from the industry writ large. And so, I've dedicated a large part of my career to growing the ambition of our local scene. A year ago, Cal from @duckrabbitcoffee brought me his idea for a Brewer's Cup. We wanted to find a way to bring baristas from across the city together to focus on the craft of extraction. This past weekend, we brought that vision to life and launched the Cleveland Brewer’s Cup, a collaboration between duck-rabbit and @aviary.coffee . Twenty competitors—professionals and enthusiasts from Cleveland, across Ohio and across the country—joined us at duck rabbit’s roastery in Cleveland to demonstrate their brewing prowess. With two guest judges— professionals with deep pedigrees in specialty coffee (Phil from @algrano and @schmecky.schmeeves )—we chose our favorite cups.
 I'm thrilled both that the winner was an enthusiast, and that the runner-up was a barista in Cleveland—hailing from the company that I once led and where, years before, I got my start in coffee.
 In 2027, we look forward to expanding the competition to include more opportunities for coffee pros and enthusiasts alike to learn, cup and exchange ideas. Thank you to our incredible sponsors, without whom we wouldn't have been able to make this event a success. Through your generosity, we were able to make sure that everyone who poured got to bring something home: @algrano @fellowproducts @oxo @baristagazine @sibaristcoffee @baristahustle @raisethebar_coffee @mahlkonig @sweetmarias @minorfigures @slowpoursupply @showroom.coffee @coffeewaterpro

@christopherferan 's recent blog post about his experience with the @roestcoffee P3000 is a masterpiece. Our experience with the machine is nearly identical, and I found his comparison to the Stronghold S9x quite insightful. This mighty little tabletop roaster can roast through 24+ kg of green per hour with precision and world-beating consistency. Check out Christopher's chart of weight loss variance; that's what a proper BBP should accomplish. The P3000 makes that process quick and simple. While Christopher has no financial ties to Roest, I am a shareholder. I bought shares when I saw not only how great their machines were, but how interested the Roest team is in nonstop improvement. Prodigal uses the L100 ultra and the P3000 not because I am a shareholder but because those machines are best in class.

New on the blog (link in bio) Batch to the future: the @roestcoffee P3000 // Early in the planning stages for @aviary.coffee , I decided that I wanted to roast using an electric coffee roaster. It’s a somewhat unconventional proposition: though there’s no discernible cup difference between coffees roasted using gas versus electric, burning fossil fuels is an efficient way to produce heat, and most of the roasters on the market at the time were—and still are—built to use them. And, in the state of Ohio, fossil fuels are inexpensive. Natural gas, the primary fuel used in the U.S., flows in capillaries buried deep beneath the state’s shale bedrock. But hydraulic fracturing is destructive to local ecosystems, contaminates groundwater, causes earthquakes, and is part of a wholesale political effort to sell off public lands for oil extraction. Plus: the burning of fossil fuels is a direct cause of climate change—and has been shown to increase respiratory ailments such as asthma, leading to states like New York banning the use of gas as a heating fuel in new residential construction. The fossil fuel industry is, suffice to say, problematic. So Loring—which I’d roasted on for most of my career and love to use—was out. Ohio’s deregulated energy economy, though, meant that I could select my own energy generation supplier and cheaply purchase electricity generated only using clean energy sources like wind and solar, making the prospect of my idealism more economically viable. At the time, there were scant options available for commercial-scale electric coffee roasters, let alone with the feature set that I desired in a production roaster. I opted for a Stronghold S9X, a Korean-made air roaster with an unusual design and footprint, notable quality of life features, and multiple means of controlling and manipulating heat transfer. From March 2024 until December 2025, I used that roaster as Aviary’s sole production machine. But now, entering Aviary’s third year and forecasting 50% year-over-year growth in roasting volume, I’ve sold it, replacing it with a much smaller machine: the Roest P3000. // Full post at the link in bio

I asked @christopherferan to help brainstorm my newest round of coffee doodles They started as a way to feature some of the unfortunate things that can show up in green coffee, but maybe not all surprises are so bad 🍿 So here are some things that can happen to or be found in green coffee, with a special shoutout to our favorite green coffee “defect” the corn kernel Maybe the real 87+ lots were just the kernels we ate along the way 🥲

¡Cómo disfrutamos de la zona del Roasters Village este CoffeeFest 2026! Cada año contamos con los mejores roasters del mundo que nos traen su mejor café para deleitarnos con el sabor del mejor tostado. Además, este año hemos disfrutado de ponencias con destacados profesionales del sector y algunos campeonatos que han dejado el listón muy muy alto. ¡Hemos visto muchísimo nivel en el Roasters Village! Y estamos convencidos de que el año que viene será mejor porque nos superamos año a año, ¡os esperamos en CoffeeFest 2027! #CoffeeFestMadrid #CoffeeFest26 #CF26 #RoasterVillage

Empires, Fungus, and Wars: An Intimate History of Liberica & Excelsa - a guest post by @lacrymamosa on @christopherferan blog The first time I saw the name Chari was in this striking picture, titled “1920-1929 Phú Tho - Caféier Chari". Next to the intensely-staring Vietnamese man is the unmistakable sight of an Excelsa tree. My efforts to understand the word Chari has taken me on an unexpected journey, full of convoluted forces, colourful characters, and painful stories. After three years of trying to connect the dots to understand the rise and fall of Liberica (Coffea liberica) and Excelsa (Coffea dewevrei), I have come to learn more about this forgotten chapter of coffee. But more importantly, to know coffee history is to be faced with the history of empires, of colonialism, of forces big and small, systematic and individual, that shape the landscape we are living in today. Like cinchona, rubber, sugarcane, or tea, the story of coffee is that of colonisation, exploitation, and commoditisation. The history of Arabica and Canephora and how they spread across the globe has been told numerous times, but what is lost in the narrative is the story of other coffee species, how they were brought from their birthplace in Africa to the other side of the earth, their fleeting moments of glory in world commodities, the spark of hope they briefly lighted up, and their swift demise in planters' dreams and practice. These transient stories are more than a curiosity devoured by coffee nerds to impress other nerds at parties (me being one), but function as a tale, cautionary and inspiring in equal measures, for our modern coffee landscape. For the past few years, interest in Liberica and Excelsa has been growing, yet the pop-culture story of these species is shrouded in murky speculation and hasty copy-and-paste sources with little primary research. This piece is my attempt to help you understand these species better, and perhaps, help you embark on a journey to love and understand Coffea even more. ➡️ /2026/02/08/excelsa-history-96b/