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  • What’s in your cup this morning ?

dfk41 now they are all in plain packets yet the contents vary but smokers know what they like and are not influenced

But they know what they like having been attracted by the marketing originally.

Tobacco was pushed by some of the biggest (and most iconic) ad campaigns in history. Silk Cut didn’t taste like torn purple silk and plenty of my friends smoked Marlboro reds yet none were cowboys.

But when everything just tastes like smoke and tobacco leaves you have to differentiate yourself in other ways.

I agree most of the stuff printed on coffee packaging and websites is nonsense but it’s just one extra way to encourage people who can’t try before they buy (99% of customers these days) to buy into their brand.

I’ve known the Dark Arts founder since he started the company and theirs is a great example of the above. Their original marketing video made fun of all the coffee related bs. Their coffee is pretty good these days but early on they leant heavily into the ‘dark arts’ imagery with a firm tongue in cheek and it led to big success and rapid growth. And that wasn’t because of the quality of their coffee.

La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

Ikawa Roaster

    ST30B Excellent. Let us know what you think. I’m quite enjoying the El Salvador honey “You can foam your own way”. Drinking it as straight espresso as I don’t do milk drinks much.

      New Ethiopian from Hard Lines subscription
      Cracked open day 7…had a flat white this morning-very nice. Reminds me of Foundry Rocko Mountain.

      2 months later

      Bought this from a coffee shop I was in yesterday. Not familiar with the roaster but they’re from Seville. Notes are Plum/banana/white choc. Googling them it seems like they might’ve been part of Dog and Hat subscription at some point so perhaps people here have tried it.

      Tried it as a V60 this morning.

      Wildest tasting coffee I’ve ever had… not sure if I like it or not. Huge stone fruit notes, strangely balanced for what could easily be too acidic. Fairly thin mouthfeel but no astringency or unpleasant aftertaste.

      I’m quite keen to try it as a flat white, it’s certainly got enough oomph to cut through milk.

      La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

      Ikawa Roaster

      21 days later

      Don’t know why but when ever I get a roast from Amsterdam they are always grassy wtf

      Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

        Cuprajake when ever I get a roast from Amsterdam they are always grassy

        From the wrong part of Amsterdam 🫣🤪

        Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

        About Me

          Foundry, Kenya, Karimikui AA washed SL14 SL28 - A solid Kenyan, a bit like a trip down memory lane with its dark fruit/berry notes (bag says dark cherry, I can see that, maybe blackcurrant too?) a hint of sweet lemon. Nice intensity. Average subjective liking score 7.5/9.0 and my preferred coffee over the last couple of months.

          Last cup brewed in Kalita Wave 185 with can strainer, 13.8g ground at 12% 400Kruve on a Feldgrind, 50g of brew water poured every 40s in spirals, to 200g total.

            Kenya KII AA, roasted to 14% WL for espresso. Pulled to 1:2.5 @ 93 C. Sweet orange acidity and almond finish.

            "Coborn "Sunset Decaf Colombia from Dog & Hat ,now sold out but still available on Coburn website. I was disappointed when I received these as they had been roasted a good three weeks previously and didn’t have much expectation but I was completely wrong. Roasted light despite the deceptive darker outer , really lovely & fruity with good acidity which I find quite hard to find in a decaf, I could actually pinpoint the tropical fruit notes. Coarser grind and faster flow seems to suit these much better , grinding finer seems to knock out the tropical flavours. Only tried as an Americano so far.

            https://www.coborncoffee.com/shop/p/sunset

            I call today’s elixir the WTF Blend as it was a bit of this, handful of that as I blend the jar ends (no bags here) to get a full daily batch so no waste. Only issue is no matter how good/memorable it might be it can never be completely duplicated.

            MWJB Foundry, Kenya, Karimikui AA washed SL14 SL28 - A solid Kenyan, a bit like a trip down memory lane with its dark fruit/berry notes (bag says dark cherry, I can see that, maybe blackcurrant too?) a hint of sweet lemon. Nice intensity. Average subjective liking score 7.5/9.0 and my preferred coffee over the last couple of months.

            Follow up brew, a tad finer than 12% 400Kruve, with 13.8g, using a regular kettle and the OXO pour over water tank with Kalita 185 brewer & 155 paper. Bloom 30g for 60s, slowly rotating the OXO tank, then at 1:00 add the remaining water (215g, plus 10g that gets ‘lost’ in the kettle), again slowly rotate the water tank during the brew to ensure even coverage.

            Slightly less body, a shade more tart acidity, but overall no better, nor worse, than the previous brew.

              4 days later

              Idido Yirgacheffe, roasted to 16% WL, which is darker than I would normally go, but came out surprisingly good. Retained the boozy flavor, but with less of the fruit and more of the chocolate. Pulled only one day after roasting, so it spritzed a bit. Was a bit slow getting to the camera, which resulted in some of the crema dissipating. Still, a wonderfully tasty shot.

              Falcon Micro sent me 5KG of this and the KII AA greens, even though I only ordered 1KG of each. A year’s supply to get through, and certain plenty to play with for development profiling.

              8 days later

              Really been impressed with these guys

              Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

              Crank house La Chumeca 777

              6 days later

              Arboretum from Darkwoods.

              19g in, 38g out. I remember back in the day one can tell an espresso is good when the spoon can stay afloat on top of the crema.