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Prodigal Coffee

Chelbesa One — Espresso

WashedMedium-Light78Strong
Chelbesa One — Espresso by Prodigal Coffee
Origin
Gedeb, ET
Farm / Co-op
—
Process
Washed
Altitude
—
Varietals
heirloom
Harvest
—
Weight
285g
Bag price
$27.00
Price / oz
$2.69/oz
Brew
—

from the roaster’s storeread by Cherrybook from the listing“estimated” below = inferred, not stated

As cupped

apricot · grape · black tea · mandarin orange · pomegranate · pineapple · lemon

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Price and availability set by the roaster.

Cherrybook last checked this listing today.

Cherry's Index

Evidence-of-quality score, not a cup score. Methodology

78

Strong

Preliminary

Confidence33% coverage / 3 of 7 signals

Score is partially shrunk toward a neutral 50 — read directionally until more source families land. Coverage is signal availability, not cup quality; missing sources are dropped, the remaining weights are renormalized, and the result is shrunk toward a neutral 50 baseline by 18% so a single thin signal can’t carry the score on its own.

Missing: SCA grade, Coffee Review, Buyer reviews, Cherrybook tastings

  • Reddit sentiment
    Sentiment across specialty-coffee discussion
    85/ 55% weight
  • YouTube reviews
    Sentiment from third-party YouTube reviewer mentions
    85/ 30% weight
  • Roaster transparency
    Producer / farm / lot disclosure depth
    75/ 15% weight

Renormalized base 83.5 shrunk to 77.6 at 83% confidence = 78.

Sensory profile

Flavor wheelestimated

Comps & alternatives

Tasting flight

Taste this against three others Cherry picks.

Brew a set side-by-side. Cherry varies the picks along axes that pair with this lot; origin, process, roast, or producer; so you learn the difference, not just drink four good cups.

Build the flight

Reference · About the varietal & origin

About Prodigal Coffee

Community reputation · Reddit

Cult favorite· sentiment 85/100

Prodigal is highly regarded by enthusiasts, frequently mentioned alongside other top-tier roasters like Sey and Black & White. Users appreciate their high-quality, light-roast offerings, and the roaster is noted for being transparent and communicative regarding business practices like shipping costs. While one user found a specific bag underwhelming, they acknowledged that adjusting their brewing method significantly improved the result, which is common with high-end light roasts.

high-end light roaststransparent business communicationfrequently grouped with top-tier roastersrequires dialed-in brewingpremium pricing
Threads cited (5)

On YouTube

4 videos · 16k combined views

Outside coverage characterizes Prodigal Coffee as a highly technical and process-oriented roastery. Reviewers emphasize the brand's focus on precision, particularly regarding roasting speed and equipment optimization. The roastery is portrayed as a space where scientific rigor and data-driven methods dictate every aspect of production.

High-speed roasting workflowsTechnical focus on burner capacityData-driven bean temperature monitoringMeticulous green coffee preparationEmphasis on equipment-specific batch sizing

Coverage from others

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Prodigal Coffee

$2.69/oz· $27/bag

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