Ethiopian Sidamo and Medium / Medium Dark Roast. 20g, 1.4 turns in Jx Pro, 46.4g out and took a little longer at almost a minute. The group was set 93C and the brew was set at 99C. Took 18s for the first drop into the cup. This is too long. I thought the cup isn’t going to be good. It was so good, I drank straight as an espresso. Fruity citrus and lemon grass for me. It will definitely benefit from loosening the grind. This bag will be very good for brewing for sure, which is what I will do later today. https://imgur.com/a/vTgy8Be

@"LMSC"#p1024 The beans look well roasted for a medium dark roast….who was the roaster?

@"DavecUK"#p1035 Clumsy Goat. They stated both the Peru and this Ethiopian are medium roast. I did not think so. I reckoned the Peru was medium dark / dark. That bag was ok; I was never happy with that Peruvian Bag. This Ethiopian is very good and sweet. I was erring more on the medium dark; I didn’t think it’s a dark roast, looking at the dark yellow / light brown colours at the crevice of the beans; I thought they may have been taken out just before the second crack, not at the second. Obviously, I lack a roasting experience and still learning to differentiate the roasts. 😊 You won’t call it as a dark roast, would you ? Thx

> @"LMSC"#p1039 You won’t call it as a dark roast, would you ? Thx I would call that medium dark…it's about as dark as I like to go, normally I'm in the medium or medium light camps. as my personal preference and that of my roast sharers. That roast was nowhere near 2nd crack and I would guess it's about 30-50 seconds after first…not roasted too fast because I can't see any oil and no charred chaff lines, indicating the burners going off before 1st crack and the roast allowed to coast into it. My guess for what it's worth…anyway, they did a good job.

Crown and canvas - first light Brazilian and colombian blend. Bag states dark chocolate, hazelnut and red berry and I have to say it delivers! Espresso 16g in 32g out: really rich dark chocolate and hazelnut (think greene and blacks) and a gentle acidity to finish. Lovely mouthfeel and long lasting. As a flat white everything’s sweetened up and it really pushes the hazelnut flavour. Delicious. Off to make another 😉

@"Baldrick"#p1770 Hadn't heard of Crown and Canvas before. Having looked at their website and following your positive recommendation I think I will be giving them a try.

@"Dumnorix"#p1793 very popular roaster and some great coffees by all accounts. If you check our commercial directory, you will find some good and reliable companies to use. https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/52-commercial-members-list

@"DavecUK"#p1796 Many thanks for the link.

Origin Colombia Estate Café Granja La Esperanza Farm Potosi Varietal San Juan Process Natural Altitude 1,800-2,000 masl Harvest January - April I got it from my local shop. It's got a really nice sultana smooth taste. Currently brewing it in a Aeropress 1:15 and diluting up to around a 320g cup. Really enjoying it at cooler temps.

Crankhouse, Cordillera de Fuego, anaerobic natural Caturra & Catuai - Initially hesitant & bracing myself due to the pungent, farmyard aroma off the beans, but absolutely delivers in every aspect on the flavour in cup. Complex, good perception of sweetness. Delicious! Like a coffee equivalent to mulled wine. I'm not big fan of naturals, nor Cost a Ricans generally, but I love this. 13\.6g ground at 32 on Wilfa flat, V60 02 with can strainer, 40g every 40s (each pour taking about 13s), 1st 2 pours direct on to the coffee bed, last 3 via can strainer. Dry bed 3:15 for this brew.

Mikari AA (Washed) (Kenya) from Coffee by the Casuals - two ways. Moka Pot - really rich, lots of peach. Very smooth. Pre-boiled water and AP filter, but no 'bloom'. CCD - 18g + 300g - 32 on Niche. Still steeping, but based on brews this week, flavour is more balanced, not as in your face (as expected) - not much pineapple, but more acitidty alongside the peach.

What’s in your cup this morning ?

Knluk

Hi, note sure if this question is appropriate here. I learnt that it is good to aim for single region bean. But I saw many good feedback on the blend bean. Is it not always good with single region?

LMSC

Knluk

You can’t go wrong starting with @BlackCatCoffee’s Chocolate Point or North Star’s The Docks Blend. Both give lovely cups with and without milk. The North Star’s Brazil is fantastic; The Smith Street’s Dark Peak and White Peak blends are also very good and comfortable to deal with.

You can use FORUM15 discount code for Blackcat.

Knluk

Thanks. Are they suitable for manual espresso machine?

Currently subscribed with Pact but their choice for espresso seems narrow (only one choice is non-dark roast).

LMSC

Knluk Please get a small Chocolate Point bag from Blackcat. They are medium dark. You will be ok.

If you want a darker roast, you can buy their Twilight Blend. I don’t drink dark roasts. My daughter liked, although she said the CP Is the best.

Knluk

LMSC just ordered the cP but no beans left at home. Is union beans considered okay? It is the only one with brew date written, May 31.

Knluk

LMSC the CP has arrived. Brew date was Jul 6th. I am excited to try but should I wait till 7days after brew like other beans? What’s your recipe for good expresso? Thanks!

LMSC

Knluk . Is union beans considered okay?

No, if you don’t find a roast date.

Do you have any local roaster or a roaster nearby? Where do you live?

Normally, I won’t drink coffee if we run out of beans. We never buy coffee beans from stores. We also don’t drink coffee from high street coffee shops.

If you are desperate, please go to Waitrose and find a small coffee bag, which has a roast date that is ideally 2 -3 weeks old and a month at the max.

LMSC

PortafilterProcrastinator How was Smith Street’s Luna please?

PortafilterProcrastinator

LMSC A lighter roast than we are used to, so I did find it difficult to extract well as espresso. I wouldn’t trust my CD at the moment.

I liked it as straight up espresso, but could taste I wasn’t getting the best out of it.

Flavour was fruity, more towards the strawberry type of fruit - I wasn’t getting the tartness of pineapple type fruit at all.

Quite thin in body, my wife liked it but was far from her fav given she only drinks latte. More discerning milk drink drinkers may not be so satisfied.

Overall I enjoyed it, but would hesitate to buy again because I don’t think I can get the best from a light roast at the moment. The flavour was the upside, the lack of body the downside.

LMSC

PortafilterProcrastinator Thank you! I have seen lemon and lime flavours give a bland milk-based coffee. They are good as a black!

LMSC

Knluk I will wait for at least 2 weeks. I have seen it gets better after 3 weeks. I will wait until then. It is one of the easier to dial in coffee. It is a medium dark. I preferred 1:1.5. Please feel free to experiment based on what you prefer. 😊

Knluk

LMSC sorry two more questions😊. I need to buy three bags of 250g to qualify for shipping. Do you have any recommendation besides the Dock and the Brazil?

I am dailing my first espresso manual lever (also my first machine). I am using a JX-Pro grinder and no luck to producing something nice. I fixed the parameter as 1:2, 15s preinfusion, 30s pull time, and try to experience the best grind size but kind of stuck for two weeks. Do you think I can try prefround for the dock blend. I am thinking although it is not ideal but may be able to sort out whether I got the grind size totally wrong or it is something else? Can grounded coffee make nice espresso? For grounded, do I still need to wait for 3 weeks? Thanks.

Knluk

LMSC hi, may I check the recommended rest life for North Star’s Dock Blend and Brazil (mine are 4 days old)? Still out of beans and tempted to start using one of these or the CP (5 days after roasted). I watched Hoffmann and his recommended is relatively aggressive for 7-14 days for medium; longer for light but asap for dark roast(?). Would I still be able to get 70% of the favour if I start using any of them now?

I am also due to order others for stocking. Is there any recommended bean option for easy dial in?

thanks a lot.

dutchy101

LMSC

Knluk

First no ground coffee. They will start going south the moment you open them. No point buying good coffee as pre-ground.
Jx Pr, try 1.4 for CP and go from there. The Docks blend 1.3-1.35.
I only tried the Docks Blend. I have heard good things about Brazil from Cuprajake. Jake can tell you if anything else is good from Northstar for milk-based drinks.
I ordered the Docks Blend, Brazil and Costa Rica for my daughter. She likes less fruity coffees. She loved all the three as long blacks. You may look at Costa Rica. Please give them a call and ask.

Edit:

If you are still struggling, you may create a new post, add videos of the shot and puck prep, and post. Please post the videos as unpublished youtube videos.

We have a lot of experts here, who will gladly help you.

Cuprajake

sorry @PortafilterProcrastinator i missed the tag,

i didnt try that one, but i did like smith street,

i need to do an order soon, anyone had anything nice and sweet recently?

PortafilterProcrastinator

Cuprajake I think smith Street are really good. A few of their roasts are lighter than I’m used to and I think I struggle to get the best of them. It’ll be next year before I can contemplate a flow control paddle

Cuprajake

I don’t know if a paddle is necessary, you could always bump the temp or pull longer.

LMSC

Knluk I check the recommended rest life for North Star’s Dock Blend and Brazil (mine are 4 days old)? Still out of beans and tempted to start using one of these or the CP (5 days after roasted)

No idea mate. Some open it within a few days and very are happy with it. If you don’t have any more beans left, you may give one of the bags a go! You can try Brazil first. Is it 250g ? You may open one of them, if you like.

Please give them a call and ask. They are very helpful.

CoyoteOldMan

Knluk I (and @MediumRoastSteam) opened a bag of Docks Blend with a week resting last week. It was OK, but it did improve (lost acidity) over the next 3-4 days. Then it was gone! 😁

Knluk

CoyoteOldMan

LMSC

Thanks both! I was trying to reference to Hoffmann’s advice but Northstar doesn’t mention type of roast on the package. Good to learn that it actually varies by experience and good to learn your experience.

I have email to black cat and NS to check if there is any official advice. Will share here if I hear anything.

p.s. yes. Mine are all 250g. Don’t want to commit higher volume in case it is something I can never dial in.

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