COFFEE CYCLE ROASTING DEVELOPS THE COFFEE SENSEI EDITION BLEND COFFEE WITH ROAST! WEST COAST.
Coffee Sensei is a blend of Sumatra and Colombia beans, and available now on www.coffeecycleroasting.com.
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
San Diego, CA—Coffee Cycle Roasting has partnered with the Roast! West Coast coffee network for Coffee Sensei—one in a series of small business roaster collabs meant to uplift the community aspect of coffee and promote cooperation among roasters.
Editor’s note: The audio above is from one of our earlier Coffee Smarter Episodes featuring Chris O’Brien, Coffee Sensei.
Your order will be roasted fresh on the Monday following your order! Coffees are shipped ASAP after roasting to ensure you receive the freshest possible roast.
Coffee Sensei is a collaborative effort between Coffee Cycle Roasting, helmed by Chris O'Brien, and Ryan Woldt, the founder of the Roast! West Coast newsletter and host of the Coffee People and Coffee Smarter podcasts. These two friends have been collaborating since the early days of Chris' Pacific Beach cafe opening, where Ryan was his first barista employee, business advisor, and creative influence.
Since the beginning of the Coffee Smarter podcast, Chris has appeared as an expert on the show, whom Ryan affectionately refers to as his "Coffee Sensei." This coffee serves as a tribute to this long-standing creative and collaborative partnership.
"When I asked Chris if he'd teach me coffee, I didn't realize he knew what he was doing. Turns out I stumbled onto one of the great coffee minds in our community," said Ryan Woldt. "He was opening his first cafe and offered a trade—come work as a part-time Coffee Cycle barista, and I'll teach you on the job while learning how to manage employees. I couldn't turn it down. Very quickly, one morning a week turned into two, three, and sometimes even more. I spent a full year stoking my fire for coffee and the coffee community. That experience has directly led to my efforts with the Coffee People and Coffee Smarter podcasts."
When asked about the collaboration, Chris ruminated, "My relationship with Ryan over the years has had an incredible impact on the way I run my business and manage staff. More importantly, Ryan is possibly my greatest success! We started working together, and Ryan was a die-hard' diner coffee' drinker. He wouldn't believe me when I told him what different tasting notes could be present in coffee. Now, he has judged roasting competitions and promotes specialty coffee's growth and appreciation at a national and even international level. I like to think I really helped get him started on that path."
DESCRIPTION OF COFFEE SENSEI:
Coffee Sensei is a medium blend crafted from two coffee origins that were featured prominently on the Coffee Cycle menu in its early days—Colombia and Sumatra. The Colombia is a coffee that brings balance to the blend, with tasting notes of milk chocolate and caramel. The Sumatra adds a savory roundness and full body to make the cup truly satisfying. The Ethiopia Natural finishes the blend by contributing a hint of gentle acidity and sweetness.
These coffees create a blend where the disparate parts complement and enhance each other, much like Ryan and Chris's collaborative efforts. Fans of delicious coffee can order the Coffee Sensei Edition coffee blend at www.coffeecycleroasting.com.
When asked about future collaboration plans, the coffee roaster replied, "Hopefully, we go for a bike ride and end up drinking coffee somewhere in San Diego the next time he's [Ryan] in town!"
Roastar, Inc., a coffee packaging company based in Wausau, WI, provided the recycled packaging. The gusseted bag's all-HDPE film is store drop-off recyclable (#2) and has excellent moisture and oxygen barriers. Coffee Sensei is offered in a larger-than-normal size, allowing customers to fine-tune this coffee on their home brewing setup. Roastar packages are produced in Wisconsin.
Coffee Cycle Roasting is a roaster and cafe with locations in the Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach neighborhoods of San Diego, CA. Founder Chris O'Brien is a veteran coffee professional who honed his skills at Phoenix Roasters in the Midwest and then spent the better part of a decade serving the neighboring community at the original Bird Rock Coffee Roasters before launching Coffee Cycle. The core of the Coffee Cycle Roasting business is the community surrounding the shops that find themselves engaged in conversation over a cup of coffee day after day. They also offer wholesale and white-label coffee services for other local businesses and host numerous events at both locations.
Ryan Woldt is the founder of Roast! West Coast, a coffee newsletter that is the home of the Coffee People and Coffee Smarter podcasts. He fell in love with the community and stories of coffee while dreaming of being allowed to pull an espresso at Coffee Cycle Roasting. With R!WC, he shares the stories of coffee professionals as they explore the entrepreneurship, creativity, passion, science, and innovation found in the expansive world of coffee.
IMPORTANT LINKS
Buy the coffee: https://coffeecycleroasting.com/products/coffee-sensei-blend-coffee-cycle-roasting-x-r-wc-collab
Website: https://coffeecycleroasting.com/
Newsletter: https://www.roastwestcoast.com/
Coffee People on Apple Podcasts
Coffee People on Spotify.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roastwestcoast/
Packaging: https://www.roastar.com/
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Shout out to our Presenting Sponsor Roastar, Inc. and our friend Nick Schmitt who is YouTube coffee famous.
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