Taste & See

“I grow sideways and not towards the sun.”

Jak Michael Ryan won the 2026 US Barista Championship as himself: a former professional dancer from Melbourne who spent years believing that doing things his way meant he’d never get his time in the sun. He sat down with Kevin Bohlin at the Saint Frank roastery in San Francisco, before leaving for the World Barista Championship in Panama.

Jak won with a coffee grown by Benjamín Paz in Honduras. Saint Frank’s Jason Yeo placed second with the same coffee, and Jake McFarland competed with it too.

Taste & See is a podcast from Saint Frank Coffee in San Francisco.
Produced by Christian Brown and Kevin Bohlin. Music by Tony Anderson.

Write to us at tasteandsee@saintfrankcoffee.com

Saint Frank Coffee: https://www.saintfrankcoffee.com/
2026 USBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pXblLUif9k&t=203s

Noah Dorrance left a winery that was working in order to start a smaller one. Kevin Bohlin did the same thing in coffee. They sat down under the old live oaks at Reeve Wine in Healdsburg and talked about terroir, loneliness, why the best things can only be made once a year, and what it costs to stay small on purpose.

Noah makes wine at Reeve and Bloodroot in Sonoma County. Kevin founded Saint Frank Coffee in San Francisco in 2013.

Recorded at Reeve Wines, Healdsburg, California. Music by Tony Anderson. Produced by Christian Brown.

New conversation every month. www.saintfrankcoffee.com