B sides is a platform for coffee producers to market small lots and experiments directly to commercial roasters and home roasters as differentiated lots, returning a larger share of the profits back to the producer.

Many of the coffees on the platform come through direct collaboration with producers we work with through the season. We may design experiments to improve the sensorial performance of a coffee, or may simply be looking to improve the speed of processing, or may just have a curiosity we wish to explore. Other times, producers in our network will conduct experiments based on their own curiosities and needs.

B sides is a project from Christopher Feran.

What are B sides?

We share with you a coffee producer's "B sides"—unreleased material, deep cuts, experiments, rarities, and other exclusive releases you can't find elsewhere.

How we work

  1. When a coffee is ready, we pay a producer the local price upfront to buy the complete lot, which typically ranges anywhere from 2-30kg.
  2. We arrange for shipment to the U.S. Upon arrival, we conduct a full evaluation of the coffee: physical and sensorial as well as extrinsic/external criteria (rarity, novelty, exclusivity, etc.) to determine its value and marketability. Coffees of particularly high quality or high marketability will sell for more; coffees that suffer from quality issues or otherwise are less marketable may sell for less (even at cost).
  3. Once the coffee sells, B-sides splits the profits from that sale 50/50 with the producer (less our operating costs).

Why

Most often, when a coffee producer wants to conduct a processing experiment, it comes at their own risk. At best case, they're often sold locally at the market price, blended away into obscurity. At worst, the coffee has no buyer—disincentivizing experimentation that might lead to improvements in the cup or process efficiency.

Through this two-payment structure—immediately upon delivery, and a second profit share after the sale—we can create liquidity for producers and add value to coffees that would normally be sold for lower prices and blended away. 

For roasters, this gives you the opportunity to get exclusive lots that no one—even the biggest roasters who have more buying power—have on their menus.