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 ?

LMSC

Cupping

The same coffee (Dora Mendez) was grounded at the middle of the drip brewer range, which is significantly finer than V60 and a lot coarser than for my Clever.

10g, 154.5g water, 4 mins to break crust.

10 mins - caramelised sugar comes on top with hints of a low fruit acidity.

15 mins - fruit acidity improves leaving nice some nice after taste sweetness. Caramelised sugar is still on top.

20 mins - the low fruity acidity becomes a lot sweater. The caramalised sugar taste recedes a bit leaving a plenty of sweet after taste that lingers on.

30 mins - 40.9C. The sweetness of the coffee comes to the front. It’s still a gentle fruity acidity that one may liken to fruits like peach, grapes, nectarine. I can’t really say it is actually grapes.

The cupping was a lot lighter and sweeter than V60 and Clever. Both V60 and Clever produced a stronger cup and muddled taste. I have had disappointing experience in the case a few bags but never like this bag.

Normally, the clever would brewed at 88.9g/l (20g powder, 225g water, steep for 30-45 mins). The V60 would be 65g/l to get a dry bed in 4:40 mins.

So, going back to Clever and V60, I wonder if I should be brewing at longer ratios; say 60g/l than the usual 65g/l for V60 and perhaps at 70g/75g a litre in the case of Clever keeping their grind size unchanged.

Thx

MWJB

LMSC So, going back to Clever and V60, I wonder if I should be brewing at longer ratios; say 60g/l than the usual 65g/l for V60 and perhaps at 70g/75g a litre in the case of Clever keeping their grind size unchanged.

But you brewed the cupping at 65g/L? I guarantee you that the cupping was weaker than the V60 at the same ratio. So, it suggests to me that it’s not the ratio that is the issue. First off I’d brew the Clever at the same ratio as the cupping, same grind, leave it 30min.

V60 relies on flow through the bed to brew, so there is always some particulate making its way through the filter, so I’d try going coarser on V60 and see if the muddled flavour improves, before everything turns green/underdeveloped/sour.

You say the grind is mid way in the drip range, but we don’t actually know what this is in any objective sense.

MWJB

LMSC The V60 would be 65g/l to get a dry bed in 4:40 mins.

Just noticed this, why is dry bed at 4:40 a target?

Systemic

MWJB

MWJB Do you mean 30-31g to 500ml?

Indeed 🤣

Systemic

MWJB I have not experienced a properly working grinder drastically changing the basic nature of a coffee)

That would be alchemy. That said, for the roast levels I prefer, for me, flat burrs (bigger the better) work best as opposed to conical.

LMSC

MWJB But you brewed the cupping at 65g/L? I guarantee you that the cupping was weaker than the V60 at the same ratio.

Yes at 65g/l. It was far lighter than both V60 and Clever; although their ratios were different, both of them gave a stronger cup with no noticeable differences. Of course, I don’t know their EY!

Thx for the suggestions for Clever and V60. I will come back with I find.

LMSC

MWJB It’s not a target. I have normally seen my 18g completing at 4:40 mins. :-)

MWJB

LMSC Hard to say for sure that this is down to grind size but the longest dialled in V60 brew I have had at 18:270g was 4:14, longest ever 4:24 and it was a touch over.

LMSC

MWJB Wouldn’t know either. That’s kind of time, which I have seen most of the time. Considering your time lime, it might be that the grind size for my V60 brews compared yours’ aren’t far off. If I do either of JH’s, it is normally in the 3 mins handle.

MWJB

As there is seemingly no overlap in your times and mine, I’d look into the possibility that you are somewhat finer?

LMSC

MWJB JH’s pour is faster and is consistent with his’,
I think.

I am a bit off on the time scale following your method. For 18:270, 9 swirls x 30g x 30s take me to 4:40s, unless I pour a bit more than 30g?

MWJB

LMSC I do 8 pours of 33g/30s, (last pour is 36g) no swirling.

LMSC

MWJB Ah. That’s the difference in time. With mine at 278g,
the last one is 38g. As a pour, do you just pour all the 8 at the centre or it doesn’t matter if you are using a drip assist?

MWJB

LMSC I haven’t used the Drip Assist with brews this big, my 18:270g brews so far are poured direct.

Maybe try 6×45g/40s, with the first 2 or 3 in the centre with Drip Assist. Yes, it matters how many pours in the centre, use the least amount in the centre to start with to get a full extraction then the rest around the ring, otherwise you will over-agitate.

LeefromFoundryCR

MWJB No, sorry - it’s the standard dial on the newer models, so somewhere around 7:30 on a clock face if that makes sense.

shaun__

in the cup today:

guatemala el xalum natural from django

this is good, there’s some fruit and a little bit of funkiness in there. there’s something a bit nutty, maybe more in the aroma, that’s not got a mention in the tasting notes. i think apricot and red apple describe the fruity acidity quite well, also tastes of coffee. :)

*edit to correct typo!

SurreyAlan

Don’t all laugh, Cafe Nero bought in Waitrose 20% off. Nicer than the M&S beans I usually drink.

DavecUK

SurreyAlan Setting yourself a high bar there…..

Waitforme

This morning I had the pleasure of two very different coffees.

My first was day 16 of my Pact Advent calendar coffee, a light roast washed Kenyan brewed in the cafetière, light on mouthfeel but big on taste, a lovely mug of coffee.

But ….. the pièce de résistance of my morning libation was BlackCat’s Colombia - La Esperanza Mandela.

Quite a different coffee than I’ve had recently but probably my favourite of the year so far …. It’s certainly between that and an anaerobic Colombian from Django.

dutchy101

Waitforme But ….. the pièce de résistance of my morning libation was BlackCat’s Colombia - La Esperanza Mandela.

This is so good I have ordered a 2nd kilo of it. I have only got through 250g of the first kilo (have 250g defrosting as I type). My wife says its the best coffee she has ever had - I think I agree..

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