What I Learned From Dozens of Single-Origin Coffees
After logging 63 coffees and 84 reviews, Memolli's founder shares his ratings, tasting notes, favorite single-origin coffees, and honest takeaways.
Written by: Charlie Murphy
Over the last couple of years, I have tried dozens of single-origin coffees. By July 2026, my “Coffees” list in Memolli had grown to 63 coffee records across 84 review entries. I intentionally sought out coffees that were likely to be unique, especially single-origin coffees with light or medium roasts and natural or honey processing. I bought bags from different roasters and retailers, took photos, wrote down ratings and tasting notes, and paid attention to origins and processing methods.
My honest conclusion is a little awkward for someone who built Memolli partly to help me track coffees I tried: most good coffee tastes more or less the same to me. My rough estimate is that only 10–15% felt truly distinctive and exciting. Most were good, but only a few were memorable enough that I wanted to buy them again.
Recently, I decided to take a break from trying so many different coffees. My everyday cup is now a container of instant coffee that costs about $15 and lasts me roughly two months. It is not the best coffee I have ever tasted. It is simply pretty decent, and I get a surprising amount of satisfaction from knowing I am getting good use out of my money.
What I learned from 63 coffee reviews
- I enjoy good coffee, but most of the single-origin coffees I tried tasted broadly similar to me.
- My rough estimate is that only 10–15% were distinctive enough that I really wanted to buy them again.
- Ratings helped me spot preferences, but tasting-note language was often more precise than my own experience.
- My home brewing technique and palate are obvious limitations. This is a personal journal, not a controlled tasting experiment.
- A $15 container of instant coffee now covers about two months of everyday drinking, and the value is part of the pleasure.
Why I started tracking every bag
The main reason I started tracking coffee was very practical: I wanted to remember what I tried and whether I liked it. I like trying new coffees, but after a while it became difficult to remember which ones I liked or disliked. Re-buying a coffee I forgot I disliked is annoying.
Before creating Memolli, I tried keeping an Excel spreadsheet. It worked in theory, but opening the file, adding a row, filling in several columns, and dealing with photos became tedious, especially on my phone. Eventually I stopped updating it consistently. I had the same problem with general note-taking tools: they were flexible, but they required too much setup for something I wanted to record quickly. I wrote more about that tradeoff in my comparison of Memolli and general note-taking apps.
The system that has worked better for me is simple: take a photo of the bag, add a rating, and write a short note if there is anything worth remembering. The photo is important because I recognize the packaging more easily than the coffee’s name. I also like being able to open a gallery and see everything I have tried. The collage at the top of this post contains the preview photo for all 63 coffees in my list.
Most coffees were good, but few felt unique
The table below shows all 63 coffee records. Their mean per-coffee rating is 3.67 out of 5 stars, with each coffee record counted once. Most coffees were good, but a large number occupied the same broad middle: pleasant and easy to drink, yet difficult for me to distinguish from one another later. A few really did stand out as especially distinctive:
- Pantan Sinaku by Dune Coffee Roasters: cherry, milk chocolate, and malt notes
- Mexico Typica Natural from Kaka’ako Farmers Market: nutty, fruity, and strawberry-like notes
- Haro Wachu by Blueprint Coffee: a particularly clear blueberry character
This is my Memolli data through July 2026. When I reviewed the same coffee more than once, I used its average rating so that its record still counted only once in the overall average. The roaster or source column shows what I recorded in Memolli, and the tasting notes combine the unique structured tags from each coffee’s reviews.
The 63 coffees I tried
From 84 review entries with an average rating of 3.67 out of 5 stars.
Rating (1–5 stars)
- 1.0–1.49 stars: 0 coffees
- 1.5–1.99 stars: 0 coffees
- 2.0–2.49 stars: 6 coffees
- 2.5–2.99 stars: 1 coffee
- 3.0–3.49 stars: 17 coffees
- 3.5–3.99 stars: 3 coffees
- 4.0–4.49 stars: 23 coffees
- 4.5–5.0 stars: 13 coffees
Showing all 63 coffees
| Photo | Coffee | Average rating | Roaster or source | Tasting notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Bookkisa | 5.0 | Small Planes Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Brazil | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Brazil Ipe Amarelo | 3.0 | Broadcast Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Brazil Minas Gerais | 3.5 | Doma Coffee Roasting Company (opens in a new tab) | Not recorded |
 | Buena Vista Natural | 2.5 | 8&R Coffee Co. (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Burundi | 5.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Burundi Kibingo | 3.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Burundi Ngozi Highlands | 2.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Cajamarca | 4.0 | Blueprint Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Co-optiva | 3.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Colombia | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Colombia familia calambas | 3.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Colombia Nayler Reatiga | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Debensa | 4.0 | Steady State (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Del sol | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | El Pedregal | 4.0 | Kaffebrenneriet dept (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia - Bookkisa | 4.0 | dae day coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia Anderacha | 3.0 | Methodical Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | ETHIOPIA HARO BEDESSA | 3.0 | PERC (opens in a new tab) |
|
 | Ethiopia Natural | 3.0 | Wonderstate Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia Qunquana Honey | 4.13 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia Sawana | 5.0 | Perc (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia SCFCU | 3.83 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ethiopia Worka | 4.0 | Red Rooster Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Fresh Perspective | 3.0 | Greater Goods Coffee Company (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Ghost Town | 3.0 | Partners Coffee Roasters (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Guatemala - Juana Escobar Gaspar | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Guatemala Colibri | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Guatemala Guaya'b | 3.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Guatemala Mountain of Flowers | 5.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | happy coffee | 4.0 | happy coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Haro Wachu | 5.0 | Blueprint Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | iced cappuccino | 4.0 | Ristretto Cafe |
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 | India pearl mountain | 5.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kawo Kamina | 3.0 | Blueprint Coffee - Washington Ave (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kenya AA Embu Nyeriville | 3.0 | Porto Rico Importing Co. (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kenya Kabngetuny | 3.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kenya Kericho Highlands | 3.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kenya Kericho Highlands | 2.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kochere Natural | 4.5 | Airship Coffee Roasters (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Kulaktik | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | La Reina #11 | 4.0 | Kaffebrenneriet dept (opens in a new tab) |
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 | light roast dripped coffee | 4.5 | Coffee TAB (opens in a new tab) | Not recorded |
 | Mexico Triunfo Verde | 4.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Mexico Typica Natural | 5.0 | Kaka'ako Farmers Market (opens in a new tab) |
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 | ORGANIC FT MEXICAN HG EP | 3.5 | Porto Rico Importing Co. (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Organic FT Vienna Mexican HG EP | 3.0 | Porto Rico Importing Co. (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Pantan Sinaku | 5.0 | Dune Coffee Roasters (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Pearl Mountain - Peaberry | 3.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Peru | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | PERU | 2.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Peru Sol y Café | 4.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Rambagirakawa Washed | 2.0 | Huckleberry Roasters (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Santa Ana | 5.0 | Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Session coffee | 3.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Space Cowboy | 4.0 | Sightseer Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Sprout | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Sumatra | 4.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Sumatra Gayo Highlands | 2.0 | Gimme! Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Sun dried natural | ethiopia guji | 4.5 | Equator Coffees (opens in a new tab) |
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 | There and Back Again | 4.0 | Stone Creek Coffee (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Velo | 2.0 | Colectivo (opens in a new tab) |
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 | Wild Forest Coffee | 4.5 | Devoción (opens in a new tab) |
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The tasting notes are my own records, not a transcription of every flavor printed on each bag. This rough, personal journal is more useful to me than trying to write polished reviews for strangers. That is one reason I think your own opinion can matter more than a public average.
Why the coffees may have tasted similar to me
There are at least three possible explanations for why so many coffees tasted similar to me.
My technique: I did not methodically control variables such as water temperature, grind size, freshness, or coffee-to-water ratio. I have a good grinder, use a decent pour-over technique, and generally brew with water between 195°F and 212°F. But I usually make coffee in the morning when I am still tired and have other things on my mind.
My palate: I probably do not have the most sensitive taste buds. Someone with more tasting experience or a more developed palate may find the contrast between two single-origin coffees obvious.
My expectations: The tasting notes on some coffee bags are much more specific than anything I can perceive. One bag described flavors such as “sweet and juicy muffin batter” and “raspberry ice cream.” I could not detect anything that specific.
So this is not a claim that single-origin coffees are all the same. It is a record of what happened when one fairly ordinary coffee drinker tried to pay attention.
What I learned about my coffee preferences
Trying dozens of single-origin coffees made me realize my preferences are simpler than the marketing around them. I like coffee. I like trying new things. I like the occasional cup that tastes surprisingly different. But much of the nuance described in specialty-coffee marketing did not show up clearly in my own cups.
If you want to learn your own preferences without turning them into public reviews, try Memolli for free. Add photos, ratings, tasting notes, prices, or just “buy again” and “skip next time.” Your coffee journal only has to make sense to you.