Just finished a month in Indonesia travelling in Flores, Java and Bali.

There's a coffee scene happening there I wasn't expecting and even in fairly remote areas we found some 'hip' coffee shops. They all had small roasters and it seemed like the local farmers were growing some more unusual varieties of coffee like Juria and Yellow Caturra. One shop even had a variety of processes available from similar beans. It was amazing to try the same coffee washed and natural.

The equipment they had in most of these shops was VERY modest by our standards. They had very simple espresso machines and inexpensive grinders YET I had some of the best coffee I've ever had.

We flew back through Singapore and I had a piccolo and a pour over at Common Man Roasters with the same ultra high end gear that I've become accustomed to seeing in my NYC cafes and I have to admit, I preferred the coffee I had in some of the modest Indonesian cafes.

Upon reflection, it really does seem like the bean does most of the work for a good coffee. It's fun playing around with gear, but I was surprised to realize the best coffees I had on the trip were definitely more about the bean than the gear.

I'm a bit surprised about that conclusion since you mention liking Sey.

I have had some incredible espresso and pourovers with Sey, even with basic gear. Though perhaps their green selection isn't what you prefer.

Perhaps it is more about them being masters at the greens produced right there instead of trying to dial in coffee from all origins and processes like many consuming-country roasters do. For example, I've never had a better peach cobbler than the ones made by the peach orchard near me.

We (Indonesian) have so many coffee culture that even Indonesian won't be able to experienced them all. So many single origins like Gayo, Luwak, Toraja, Papua, (this is just a small sample) and they all have full gradient from darkest robusta to lightest arabica.
We even mixed coffees with corns here! And it's delicious.

Perhaps the further away from the grower in relation to distance and time, the more capable the grinder, espresso machine and barista has to be.

The one story I've heard over and over again from importers and roasters is "the magic sample and the ordinary shipment." You get a coffee sample that makes the heavens open and angels sing; then you take delivery of a very ordinary shipment. This means there is a matter of course and substantial degradation between origin and roaster.

So in coffee growing areas that also have a coffee culture; you are quite likely to get a lot more magic samples and a lot fewer ordinary shipments.