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Show HN: We're two coffee nerds who built an AI app to track beans and recipes

(beanbook.app)
59 points rokeyzhang | 6 comments | 30 Jun 25 18:38 UTC | HN request time: 0.988s | source | bottom

It’s available on iOS now: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id6499280064

We got into specialty coffee during COVID and, like many others, fell deep down the rabbit hole. Along the way, we ran into the same frustrations:

- A drawer full of empty coffee bags.

- No simple way to track grind size, rest dates, notes—by bean.

- My coffee history scattered across photos, screenshots, notebooks, and half-memories.

- The unique traits, people, and stories behind each coffee disappearing from the internet once it sold out (since coffee is an agricultural good)

- In our opinion, no coffee tool really captures the flavor, emotion, and aesthetic of great coffee—from a design perspective.

So we built BeanBook—a coffee notebook log beans, extract recipes, and organize your coffee life in one place with just a snap, powered by AI

Here’s what it does:

- Snap a bag → Auto-detects roaster, origin, process, roast date, notes, producer, farm, and more

- Paste a YouTube link or photo → Extracts a structured recipe automatically

- Log grind size, roast timeline, ratings & notes → All saved in a clean, elegant UI

- See your coffee year in review → Track habits, trends, and favorites

- Ask BeanBook AI → From brew temps to bean facts, get instant answers

My co-founder and I built everything ourselves—branding, code, and UX design. If you’re into coffee (or trying to get more into it), we’d love your feedback.

- Rokey & Eric

1. spiralcoaster ◴[01 Jul 25 00:58 UTC] No.44429533[source]▶
If I were drinking coffee at the time, this line would have made me spit it out in a fit of unbelievable laughter:

"- In our opinion, no coffee tool really captures the flavor, emotion, and aesthetic of great coffee—from a design perspective."

What does it mean to capture emotion in a coffee tool from a design perspective? You can't make this stuff up! Actually, I guess you can.

But anyway, I'm sure this comment section will be full of exclamation points (!) about how exciting this is and good luck and can't wait and this is amazing and wow thank you's and so on. Carry on.

replies(2): >>44429671 #>>44429954 #
2. rokeyzhang ◴[01 Jul 25 01:20 UTC] No.44429671[source]▶
Haha, fair enough! Totally see how that line might come across as a bit too “crafted.” What we meant is: many tools are great on data, but few feel fun, delightful, or reflect how expressive coffee culture really is.

But yep, emotions are tricky to “design for”—we’re trying anyway

replies(1): >>44430250 #
3. ladidahh ◴[01 Jul 25 02:13 UTC] No.44429954[source]▶
I think the "My Tasted Notes" section captures it, that is a really nice looking screen
replies(1): >>44430387 #
4. leetrout ◴[01 Jul 25 03:17 UTC] No.44430250[source]▶
Em dashes in responses with tone like this are a hallmark of AI generated content these days.
replies(1): >>44430392 #
5. rokeyzhang ◴[01 Jul 25 03:45 UTC] No.44430387[source]▶
Thanks for point this, we highlighted lots of features from individual perspective. Because coffee is very personal
6. number6 ◴[01 Jul 25 03:45 UTC] No.44430392{3}[source]▶
Not Op, but I liked the em dash; I read an article here some years ago on when to use which and it is quite accessible on the phone; even made a Linux shortcut for it. I hope the semicolon won't be flagged as well ;)