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.
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.
Roast day: a finished batch dropping into the cooling tray.
Side A
Three coffees. Three songs. Pour a cup, press play.
Quindío, Colombia · Washed Co-Ferment
Green Apple
Caramelized Green Apple · Dark Chocolate · Lime
Jairo Arcila’s Santa Mónica Castillo brings candy-like apple sweetness to the Reserve. Processed with green apple and wine yeast, it pairs playful fruit character with dark chocolate and a bright lime finish.
Marie’s song
“Tomorrow Never Knows”
I chose this song because a coffee that doesn’t follow the status quo of what a “normal” coffee is supposed to be like deserves a song and band that did just that.
The crazy amount of studio experimentation in “Tomorrow Never Knows” redefined what a pop song could do. It challenged listeners to open their minds, because it didn’t follow the routine of what a stereotypical “good” song was supposed to sound like.
Co-fermented coffees challenge the coffee world in a similar way, broadening our perspective on what a good quality coffee can taste like and represent. This coffee is bright, eccentric, in your face, but the sweetness is what keeps you hanging around.
Co-fermented coffees changed the coffee world for the better, in my opinion, similar to how The Beatles changed the music world forever.
Coto Brus, Costa Rica · Fully Washed
Finca La Amistad
Honeydew Melon · Raspberry Tea · Lemon Zest
Marie’s song
“This Sky”
“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.”
Armenia, Quindío, Colombia · Honey Co-Ferment
Coco-Peach
Coconut · Sweet Peach · Piña Colada
Marie’s song
“Love Is Strange”
“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.”
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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04
December: the mixtape
At the end of the year, every song lands on one playlist. A year of Bear Coast, in order.
Hear it the way she heard it
Reserves are limited and rarely repeat. When one’s gone, the song stays.
Shop the current Reserve