The Daily Grind: Brick by Brick ☕

January didn't feel like decompression. It felt like landing. The transition was real but my body and mind hadn't quite caught up yet, still moving at the same speed, still proving to myself this was actually happening. It wasn't bad, just unresolved. And right at the end of it, quietly, I flipped on the subscription feature for Three Points. No announcement, no launch post. Just a new door opening. That felt right.

February was different. February was the first month that actually felt like mine.

The Colombia Pink Bourbon finally landed where I'd been trying to take it. Medium light but full, florals without being fussy, fruit without being loud, that blackberry and strawberry giving way to sangria complexity. I'd been developing this one for a while and something about finishing it in February felt fitting. Like closing a chapter I'd been writing for months. I let myself sit with that for a minute. The Ethiopia I pushed slightly lighter this time around, not stripped down, just more clarity in the cup while keeping the full footprint intact. The two together felt intentional. Complexity and clarity, meshing rather than competing. That was kind of the whole theme of the month honestly.

I spent time reconnecting with former colleagues, checking in on each other, asking what's new, how's the family, how's the kid. In person, over meals, over coffee, wherever it happened. No agenda. Just good energy every single time. Those relationships go a long way. People don't keep showing up out of obligation, they do it because they actually care, and that reminds you of who you were before the title and what you carry with you after it.

The gym became non-negotiable too. Not training for anything, not optimizing anything, just maintaining the foundation that makes everything else possible. You can't roast great coffee, be present for your kid, or build something real if you're running on empty. February was the month I stopped running on fumes and started running on something solid.

Then February 25th happened. My wife came to CoRo with me for the full thing, roasting, sorting, packing, labeling, all of it. She stood next to me in the heat and the noise and the concentration this work requires. Saw the chaos and the intention at the same time. I've talked about this journey a lot. She's lived it with me. But there's something different about having someone you love actually inside the work, not watching from the sidelines but in it with you. That day meant more than I have the right words for.

February also handed me something I didn't expect. I got invited to my first ever cupping event at CoRo with Unblended, then a few weeks later with Ally Coffee. Two separate experiences, a few weeks apart, and both completely new territory for me. We went through the full spectrum: washed, natural, honey processed, co-fermented, and some of the more experimental trend-setting coffees being pushed by producers right now. Tasting that many coffees side by side, understanding how processing affects everything in the cup, was a different kind of education. The kind you can't get from a roast log. It sharpened something in me and quietly pointed toward what's next for Three Points.

February wasn't about milestones. It was maintenance. Recalibration. The steady attention that keeps everything on track when nobody's watching. Nick calls it calm, steady momentum. That's what February was. That's what I needed.

And the next brick? It's not washed. It's not natural. Stay tuned.

To everyone who grabbed a bag, sent a note, or just kept showing up, obrigado. The brick-by-brick approach only works because you're here for it.

Caffeinated, grateful, and slightly covered in Ethiopian chaff

Simon