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Oliver Buchannon
Oaks the Coffee Guy

Calm coffee notes from Everyday Beans. Real brews, honest experiments, better daily rituals.

I Don't Get Geisha's

Jul 6, 2026

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5 min read

I Don't Get Geisha's

On paying two and three times the price for a coffee that's only okay.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
The gap is where it happens

Jun 29, 2026

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4 min read

The gap is where it happens

Why the gap between smell and taste is where coffee actually lives.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
Hario lied to me

Jun 22, 2026

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4 min read

Hario lied to me

I had the right tool for years. I just wasn't paying attention.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
We're adjusters

Jun 15, 2026

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3 min read

We're adjusters

You're already adjusting your coffee. You just didn't know that was the skill.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I made it sweet. It died.

Jun 8, 2026

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5 min read

I made it sweet. It died.

How I engineered exactly what I wanted from light roast, and why it tasted like nothing.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I almost stopped caring about coffee this year

Jun 1, 2026

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4 min read

I almost stopped caring about coffee this year

There's a difference between knowing what you like and knowing why. It took me a year to find it.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I wrote off washed coffee

May 25, 2026

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3 min read

I wrote off washed coffee

Turns out I wasn't bored with washed coffee. I just wasn't paying attention.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
It isolates everything

May 18, 2026

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3 min read

It isolates everything

The ZP6 isn't better than other grinders. It just shows you something different.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I can tell you exactly why I don’t like this

May 11, 2026

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5 min read

I can tell you exactly why I don’t like this

I used to live for this exact cup.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I hoarded a dying coffee

May 4, 2026

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5 min read

I hoarded a dying coffee

I knew it was dying. I kept brewing it anyway.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
My wife’s coffee maker humbled me

Apr 27, 2026

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5 min read

My wife’s coffee maker humbled me

Why the Mr. Coffee sits next to my Olympia Cremina

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I’ve been selfish with this coffee

Apr 20, 2026

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5 min read

I’ve been selfish with this coffee

Sometimes the quiet coffee is the one that won’t leave you alone

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
You are the variable

Apr 13, 2026

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6 min read

You are the variable

You have more control than you think. Just not as much as you want.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I didn't know what I liked

Apr 6, 2026

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6 min read

I didn't know what I liked

How chasing sweetness taught me what I actually like.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I bought the thing. It works. Now what.

Mar 30, 2026

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6 min read

I bought the thing. It works. Now what.

Sometimes the best brew you make is the one where you forgot to use your gear.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
The coffee that cured boredom got boring

Mar 23, 2026

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8 min read

The coffee that cured boredom got boring

Some coffees fight you. This one didn't. I'm still thinking about that.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
You're cooking the brisket like a steak

Mar 16, 2026

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7 min read

You're cooking the brisket like a steak

And what a stubborn Ethiopian coffee taught me about it

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I'm trying to master coffee in a year (and I might fail publicly)

Mar 9, 2026

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9 min read

I'm trying to master coffee in a year (and I might fail publicly)

Why We All Need Something to Push Us Forward

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I owe this Nicaraguan coffee an apology

Mar 6, 2026

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8 min read

I owe this Nicaraguan coffee an apology

And what an unmeasured cup taught me more than years of expertise did

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
Fuck The Recipe. Here's What Actually Matters.

Mar 2, 2026

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7 min read

Fuck The Recipe. Here's What Actually Matters.

It's not the recipe. It's that you don't know yourself yet.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
Coffee Doesn't Care About Your Gear

Feb 27, 2026

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10 min read

Coffee Doesn't Care About Your Gear

What are we actually chasing?

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
I Mixed Two Coffees Together

Feb 23, 2026

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10 min read

I Mixed Two Coffees Together

Here's what happened when I stopped respecting the rules

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
Ground coffee, water, and time. That's it.

Feb 20, 2026

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8 min read

Ground coffee, water, and time. That's it.

How I got every tool to make perfect coffee and forgot to taste it.

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
This grinder made me question everything I thought I knew

Feb 16, 2026

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9 min read

This grinder made me question everything I thought I knew

Why I had to unlearn everything to use it

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
The roaster who hates his own coffee

Feb 9, 2026

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11 min read

The roaster who hates his own coffee

And why you don't have to love everything in your field either

Oaks the Coffee Guy
Oaks the Coffee Guy
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It Smells Better Than it Taste
A Newsletter for Everyday Beans Coffee

© 2026 It Smells Better Than it Taste.
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