The Reserve Mixtape

Roaster’s Reserve · 2026

The Reserve
Mixtape

Every Roaster’s Reserve is chosen and roasted by our head roaster, Marie Marsh. And every one of them arrives with a song — not a literal pairing, but a soundtrack for the feeling of the coffee.

We’re collecting them here, one release at a time. At the end of the year, the songs become a mixtape.

Play the tape 2 tracks laid down · Side A

The person picking the songs

Marie Marsh

Head roaster. She chooses the lot, roasts it in small batches on the Probat in San Clemente, and signs the bag. Then she picks the song — whatever the coffee reminded her of that week. Every quote on this page is hers.

Marie Marsh, head roaster at Bear Coast Coffee, standing beside the roaster
Marie dropping a finished batch of coffee into the cooling tray

Roast day: a finished batch dropping into the cooling tray.

Side A

Two coffees. Two songs. Pour a cup, press play.

02
Bag of Finca La Amistad, Bear Coast Roaster's Reserve No. 02

Coto Brus, Costa Rica · Fully Washed

Finca La Amistad

Honeydew Melon · Raspberry Tea · Lemon Zest

Songlines album cover, The Derek Trucks Band

Marie’s song

“This Sky”

The Derek Trucks Band · Songlines, 2006

“The first time I heard it, I was driving through Big Sur, and the whole experience felt almost ethereal. It made me feel free and genuinely happy — like I was floating through the landscape like a bird. The melodies have the same delicate quality as this coffee: sweet, smooth, beautifully mellow.”
Marie Marsh, Head Roaster
01
Coco-Peach, Bear Coast Roaster's Reserve No. 01

Armenia, Quindío, Colombia · Honey Co-Ferment

Coco-Peach

Coconut · Sweet Peach · Piña Colada

Love Is Strange cover, Mickey & Sylvia

Marie’s song

“Love Is Strange”

Mickey & Sylvia · 1956

“Think vintage summertime, summer camps. This song is weird but in such a good way — like the coffee. The unique guitar riffs match the weirdness of the co-ferment world, but the danceable percussion underneath is that traditional coffee taste that balances everything out.”
Marie Marsh, Head Roaster
03

Unrecorded

The next Reserve is still on the roaster.

New releases land a few times a year. Get the song the day the coffee does.

One note per release. Nothing else.

How the tape gets made

  1. 01

    Marie picks the lot

    A single lot she wants people to taste. Roasted in small batches in San Clemente, signed and stamped with its roast date.

  2. 02

    Then the song

    Not a match on the nose — a match on the feeling. Sometimes it’s a place, sometimes a memory, sometimes just the shape of the melody.

  3. 03

    You scan the card

    Every Reserve sits behind a card in the café. Scan it, press play, drink the coffee the way she heard it.

  4. 04

    December: the mixtape

    At the end of the year, every song lands on one playlist. A year of Bear Coast, in order.

A toucan in the shade canopy at Finca La Amistad, Costa Rica
Finca La Amistad is the only Smithsonian Bird Friendly certified estate in Costa Rica — a diverse native canopy stands over every parcel of coffee.
Bear Coast Coffee

Hear it the way she heard it

Reserves are limited and rarely repeat. When one’s gone, the song stays.

Shop the current Reserve