• Beans

  • What’s in your cup this morning ?

Not another Guatemalan….. 🙄
Coffee mongers, finca Bremen, Guatemala
Nectarine, dark choc, hazelnut.
Now technically I didn’t pick this one - I went to the roaster and told him what I didn’t want (another fruit bomb) and for him to pick 2 bags of what he’d been enjoying.
This is the first.
Have to say I’m really enjoying it. Just nicely balanced shot of espresso. The roast seems far more consistent than the last bag (from a different roaster) and was half the price!
Lovely acidity at the start, dark chocolate brings just the right amount of bitter and a long lingering hazelnut finish. Lovely mouthfeel without being too cloying.
I’d better line up another to make sure it wasn’t a fluke 😉

    Baldrick From the picture, looks like a well-roasted medium to me.

    What’s the other bag, which he picked for you ? Thx

      Coffee compass sweet bourbon blend

      Ethiopian Rocko Mountain from Cofeee Compass. Naturally Processed. Got nice strawberry and peach notes; dark chocolate after taste for me.

      The cup was rich, smooth and had a nice crisp acidity; they were just right. More importantly, unlike the Goats’ Peru and Ethiopian, there were no beehives and lingering negative bitterness. Very nice cup indeed.

      1.4 JX turns, 20.1g:44.8g:28s; the group was at 90C and the boiler was set at 97C. The extraction looked even with no visible signs of dark patches in the puck. I used the IMS32 basket.

      I am tempted to drop the temperature by 0.5C-1C to see what happens.

      My observations of the beans looking at them under both LED and natural lights - the photo was taken under the LED light.

      • Unless the the bag was from two separate batches of roasts, I would say it wasn’t evenly roasted - not significantly. Perhaps, the heating was turned off after the first crack.
      • The colour of chaffs and chaff lines are not uniform, which support this. The surface colour of the beans look a bit uneven - more under natural light to me.
      • I would still call this as a medium-dark roast not dark; I am struggling to see how this could be a medium roast. Perhaps, @DavecUK can throw some light to make a medium-roast case!

        LMSC It’s very difficult to tell from a photo, especially one under LED light which has a poor CRI compared to natural light. It’s why I use an incandescent halogen light source at my roaster. On my monitor it looks on the darker side of medium, but again, it depends on camera white balance and monitor settings etc..

        I would certainly think (and hope) the heating was turned off or reduced to “idle” after first crack, as the beans require little further heat input once 1st crack begins…if fact I give myself a fist bump if I get the heating off a little before first starts and move to a good and not overly vigorous first crack.

        Contact me

          LMSC - Interesting! As a comparison, one day try the Rocko Mountain from Foundry. Although not as good as it used to be, it beats the CoffeeCompass version hands down, in my opinion, if you like coffee roasted on the lighter side.

          Today, I have some Ethiopia Guji, roasted by the MediumRoastERYSteam & Co. ;-)

              @DavecUK - Thanks Dave. Comments like yours’ help improve not only my understanding of beans, but also others here. I am pleased my learning of beans is on the right track.

              However, roasts were definitely uneven looking at the bag in natural light. Unless the bag was a mix of more than one roast, my thinking is : “the batch may have benefit if the heating element were to be turned off just before the first crack to ensure even roasting.” May be, not necessarily, as the same could be achieved by other methods . 😊

              MediumRoastSteam Will definitely pencil it for our next order. Your cup and the latte look awesome! Please share a photo of the roast and describe it.

              Tbh, I am reminding myself , when I see these lovely latte arts,

              Giphy - jealous queen b GIF

                  MediumRoastSteam Would you suggest 250g bag or straightaway grab a KG of Rocko from Foundry? I will be freezing for months after tasting a few cups side by side with Compass’. The trouble is I already have 3 KG in the post. I definitely like light and medium light. 😊

                      LMSC Your cup and the latte look awesome

                      There’s nothing to write home about the coffee inside the cup. It’s my own roast, and I’m still learning. I wouldn’t serve it to my guests. 😊

                      Ps: there’s a reason why I don’t post many pictures: my latte art is often rubbish. There’s the odd occasion, like today, where it looked somewhat presentable.

                        LMSC - get a 250g. It might not be your cup of tea at all. If you don’t like fruity, or delicate coffee, then I wouldn’t worry. For me, coffee compass is way too dark in general.

                        • LMSC replied to this.

                            MediumRoastSteam I grabbed 4 × 0.5 Kg from them; all of them are medium dark / dark for me as well. This is the only one I appreciated, though on the darker side. My family don’t mind medium dark / dark as they are less acidic. I clearly prefer light to medium at the best.

                            That cup looked awesome. I would very happily drink that. 😊

                            Thx mate.

                                Just dialling in this morning for some monsoon mailbar…. Something I found difficult in the past to contend with with “lesser” grinders, I tend to ease off the brew temp a bit, delicious…

                                LMSC That cup looked awesome. I would very happily drink that

                                Made an espresso just and thought… why not take a couple of pictures for you…

                                My own roast, with the Gene Cafe. I’d say this a medium dark roast. My goal is to get a lighter roast. One day. 😊

                                Roasted on new year’s Eve. 18g in, 36g out.

                                  @“MediumRoastSteam” Thanks mate. Looks nicely roasted, looking at the picture. 👏

                                  The yellowish/light brown chaffs, chaff lines, the nature of the crack and the angles at the apex suggests this is a medium roast and is not quite there to be called a medium dark to me. No?

                                  The colour does look a little darker, which may have been influenced by external factors.

                                  How long did you coast it after the first crack please ? Thx

                                    LMSC - that was approx. 1 minute after first crack, and then the Gene cool down cycle. It’s a medium dark to me. It’s a natural process, so there’s more chaff than the Colombian washed I roasted before. It’s all subjective after all.

                                      MediumRoastSteam get a 250g

                                      Do you have any other recommendations, which you think worth considering on the subscription list, from Foundry? Thx

                                          LMSC - I’m not sure. For me, to my taste, Foundry is one of the roasters where you can’t go wrong.