Who's behind the scores
The people behind the bench.
Every score on BrewBench comes from named people, a written protocol, and products we bought ourselves. Here is who does the work.
Mara Lindqvist
Lead Tester
Since 2024
Ran a five-seat café for six years before joining BrewBench, and still pulls every shot by hand rather than trusting a robot. Mara leads the espresso and grinder test programs and writes the bench notes in the Journal.
Credentials
- Q Grader (Arabica), 2019
- Sensory judge, Coffee Quality Institute
- Former owner-operator, 5-seat café
Covers
- Espresso machines
- Grinders
- Sensory analysis
Daniel Okafor
Lab Manager
Since 2024
Materials engineer who runs the instrumented side of the lab — particle-size analysis, thermocouple logging, and the flow-capture rig — and is the reason our numbers can be reproduced by anyone who owns the same gear.
Credentials
- MSc Materials Science
- Laser diffraction particle analysis (partner lab)
- Instrument calibration lead
Covers
- Measurement systems
- Kettles
- Scales
The BrewBench Blind Panel
Nine home baristas
Since 2024
Nine volunteers with mixed skill — from week-two espresso drinkers to café staff — taste every product blind. Cups are coded and randomized, and the panel reports margins, so you can see how close a call was.
Credentials
- Nine panelists
- Coded and randomized cups
- Preference margins reported
Covers
- Blind tasting
- Preference pooling
Read the testing methodology for the full protocol, or the editorial standards for how we keep scores independent.
Editorial record
How this page was made
Who wrote and reviewed it
Written by the BrewBench editorial team — named testers who buy every product at retail. Reviewed by Daniel Okafor, Lab Manager, and fact-checked against our published protocol before publication.
| Published protocol | How we test |
|---|---|
| Bench work | Every published score follows the written protocol |
| Products graded | 12 products with published reviews |
| Last updated | See each guide or review for its own test date |
Scope & limitations
This page is for home baristas and anyone comparing coffee gear. We cover the products and methods we have tested on our own bench; we do not cover gear we have not measured.
- We only tested the products listed in our published reviews; out of scope means no BrewBench score.
- We did not test long-term reliability beyond each review window.
Sources & corrections
- BrewBench Testing Methodology — primary source for sampling, instrumentation and the scoring rubric.
- Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy — our review process and how corrections are recorded.
- The BrewBench Team — named testers, credentials and the nine-person blind panel.
Corrections: if a measurement or verdict is wrong, we correct the page and note the change in our editorial standards. Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission on purchases through links here; it never changes a score or a pick.