BeanShelf

Problem Space

I enjoy speciality coffee, specifically single origin coffee that is roasted local to me. Most often this is imported in small lots and is is usually only available for a set time period or until sold out. Depending on when i purchase this coffee and how long i rest the coffee beans, its usually no longer available by the time i go to consume it and its not always easy to find similar products.

How we solve this

BeanShelf is Coffee Database & Discovery tool first, everything else second. The focus is on helping you keep track & understand the coffee you are enjoying without having to manually enter all the details to keep track of them.

Data Collection & Provenance

There very little consistency in the way that these products are presented to customers through these online stores. In order get information we need we need to process a mix of simple product descriptions, custom web components and product packaging photos. Given the complex nature of this and the expectation that we would be extracting different data from these product listing over time (when the is expanded to include fields as well as new types such as farms) as a result significant work has been undertaken to build a flexible system to store, retrieve and re-process this data as required

No single comprehensive reference source exists for any of the fields we map top (Coffee Varieties, Processing methods, flavor profiles etc) and as a result we have to define and maintain this ourselves. This is a continuous process to build an ever evolving reference data model based on this data to ensure consistency of this data

While this reference data model is not currently publicly available it will be in the future

What’s Next

BeanShelf will evolve slowly over time based on user feedback