We have been brewing Goat’s Ethiopian Sidemo medium-dark roasts for the last two days. 20g power : 225g of water : \~170g - 172g into the cup. We use the paper filter and swiss gold, which ensure a clean cup every time. The grind size was at the lower-end of the espresso range. We drink this as a black coffee. This morning, we brewed a couple of times. For the first cup, we poured 75% water in first, added the coffee, did a quick stir, added the remaining 25% water in a quick circle, covered and brewed for 30 mins. There was no change in the second cup except that we added all the water in first. Both cups were light and sweet marked with fruity citrus-cum-lemon grass for us. We can’t pick both of them apart except the first cup had a tiny bitter taste; despite the tiny bitter notes, the first cup was also excellent. One thing, which I had learnt from Mark @"MWJB"#139 was the brews can’t possibly give an over-extracted coffee. Therefore, the tad bitter note might have been the result of adding a quarter of the water after sinking the crust. In short, we definitely prefer the second cup.

I keep on playing with brewed, but feel I never really get the most from it somehow. I have a Clever, a cafetière, a Moka pot, a Trinity One https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trinity-Coffee-Company-TCC0002-Brewer/dp/B077YDZ6X3 although mine was the original Kickstarter one which was in walnut and a lot more expensive! At some point, I must get to grips with this system!

Don't stir - this can cause bitterness without causing over extraction. (Guess where/ who I learned that from!) For my CCD I pour most of the water in first, then add the coffee (32 on Niche), then wet all the coffee with the remaining water. I then cover and leave for 30mins - 1hr 30mins (longest I can get away with depending on size of brew and it be a decent temp to drink in a pre-heated cup.)

@"LMSC"#p1100 On a side note, I've just received an email from Clumsy Goat asking about my experience with these beans, just wondered if you had too. I told them I enjoyed the beans but was a little disappointed that the "roasted on" date was hidden in the batch number and that they were over a month old when I received them. There are plenty of roasters out there who do better so I would have to think twice before placing another order with them!

@"PortafilterProcrastinator"#p1110 You are correct; we should not stir. Thx. My bad. I should have been careful with my choice of words. Stirring is not a correct expression; I meant, just sinking / wetting the coffee. I do not bother dissolving clumps. It’s a long brew anyway. @"Flat_Eric"#p1111 No. we have not received any emails. They might not as we have had a few email exchanges. We thanked their frankness / openness re-the roast date and also shown a deep appreciation of their willingness to refund or send replacements. We firmly rejected their generosity as it’s not fair and appropriate to take advantage of their kindness. We didn’t like the Peru for reasons set out earlier and the Ethiopian is very good. We will move on once the current bag is exhausted. @"dfk41"#p1105 I find clever brewing is easier than any other brews - Aero Press, French Press and Indian filter,… With a SwissGold on top of the paper filter, we can do as fine as possible until we get silts into the cup. 😊

@"LMSC"#p1114 I put the paper filter inside the Swiss Gold! Please explain

@"dfk41"#p1115 I put the paper filter in the Clever first, the SwissGold on top, fill with water right off the boil and drain it just before I am ready to brew.

@"dfk41"#p1115 The SwissGold on top lets the liquid run off and around the coffee bed, the paper catches the finer particles, which will give us a cleaner cup. The SwissGold alone will result in a cup of mud :-) I learnt these from Mark.

@"LMSC"#p1117 Well, thats what I will try, next time I dust it off! Compared to an espresso shot, what grind lever would you aim for matey?

@"dfk41"#p1119 Earlier, I had started at the upper end of the espresso grind; I then realised we can grind really finer and go towards the lower end. The JX pro espresso range is 1.2-1.6. On my JX pro, my current brew setting is at 1.3 rotations within my preferred 1.3-1.4 range for the brews. The silts start kicking-in mostly below 1.3 for me. My espresso typical start point for a new bag of beans is at 1.4; I settle a few clicks plus or minus with a few shots. The clever, using a combo of paper filter and SwissGold, really surprised me how fine we can go. One tip, while brewing, I wrap the clever with something like the image below. It keeps the brew warmer at around \~56C. https://imgur.com/a/wC9YbzC

@"LMSC"#16 - Your CCD wrapping is funkier than mine! I also put a cork trivet top and bottom. I do think the one on top helps a little bit. I also made a template for a proper wrap, but then life happened. If I am doing a long steep I am at 32 on the Niche, which is a long way north of espresso. I find people's different grind settings fascinating. Would like to do a side-by-side one day, taste the difference. I find the CCD the simplest in a comparison between aeropress and french press, although I don't have an insulated press. Do you find the swiss gold makes a marked difference over just a paper filter? I have not got one yet, but if there are gains to be had in the cup, I'll put it on the list!

Clever brew

MWJB

LMSC The really ‘good’ ones taste of wet air! 😁

LMSC

MWJB ah. Wet air! That’s what the roasters’ have been omitting this vital information all these years! 😂

MWJB

Did a 6 hour cold Clever brew today, hot bloom with 3x dose, 45s, then in with rest of the water cold. Extraction was in typical pour over range…beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t be making all my coffee cold, then microwaving it.

12% 400 Kruve, 69g/L.

LMSC

MWJB beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t be making all my coffee cold, then microwaving it.

How does it work please? It’s 6 hours cold brew? :-)

MWJB

LMSC Today’s was 13.8g coffee, poured 40g of water right off boil, waited 45s, then topped up to 200g with cold water, draw down 6 hours later. Anything up to 20g dose will probably work fine?

Less intense than the hot V60 I made to drink at the same time, but lacking the salty notes & tea like tannins that came to the fore when the V60 cooled (V60 was a balanced and representative cup when hot).

I’d probably go more like 100g/L if I was drinking it cold.

One important tip, if doing a long, cold steep, best to leave the Clever on a draining board, or I have a brew stand that I put it on, with a cup underneath…I don’t know how, but they can leak.

I drank the last half a cup after 9 hours, still good, longer than 6 hour steep shouldn’t be an issue.

I don’t have a microwave, I’ll borrow one later in the week and see how heating it goes.

LMSC

MWJB Today’s was 13.8g coffee, poured 40g of water right off boil, waited 45s, then topped up to 200g with cold water, draw down 6 hours later. Anything up to 20g dose will probably work fine?

Would these be V60 grind or the usual Clever as this is a long steep? Thx

MWJB

MWJB I don’t have a microwave, I’ll borrow one later in the week and see how heating it goes.

13.8g coffee, 30g/30s bloom with hot water twice (60g total), then cold water added up to 199g at 1:00, all in by 1:30, steeped 18.5 hours (for no particular reason), then reheated for 50s in the microwave - resulted in a very pleasant cup, maybe lacking a bit of edge/intensity (borderline too cool, so I could go longer on the reheat next time), but extremely low in bitterness.

I wouldn’t say it was miles ‘better’, compared to the hot brews from this coffee, but it was still juicy and I personally preferred it, due to the lack of bitterness.

MWJB

LMSC Finer side of my V60 grind 12% 400Kruve. You get a little kick-start in extraction from the hot percolation at bloom.

Coarser might work for longer steep, but I was comparing to same grind size percolation brews.

LMSC

MWJB Did you measure the yield ? If yes, would that be cold or room temperature? What the yield is? Thx

MWJB

LMSC It doesn’t matter much whether beverage mass is cold or hot, 19.6%EY by drip formula. (Average so far for this coffee is 19.9%EY, within the range of what I’m getting with those.)

I’ll update as I go here:

Clever brew log

MWJB

Hot brewed Clever Dripper 1 mug (not large Clever) method for typical extractions (most Clever methods result in low extractions):

Grind 12% 400 Kruve/17% 500 Kruve.

I used 13.8g but I don’t see why a little more would be an issue. The 1 mug Clever only holds about 260g of water max.

1:15 ratio. Coffee in first.

0:00 Pour 30g of water in about 15s

0:30 Pour up to 60g of water in about 15s

1:00 Pour all remaining water (209g in my case), all in around 1:30. Cover.

5:30 start draw down (for about 175g in the cup in my case).

Extractions are on par with pour over brews (avg 20.7%EY drip formula) and higher than my longer steep (20min) fine grind immersion Clever brews.

I’ll try and do a video at the weekend.

The large Clever has a larger volume well under the paper, so I’d anticipate doubling up weights & pulses, maybe time them 40-45s apart?

LMSC

MWJB Hot brewed Clever Dripper 1 mug (not large Clever) method for typical extractions (most Clever methods result in low extractions):

Grind 12% 400 Kruve/17% 500 Kruve.

Thanks for helping us with these as we are able to blindly follow you. 😀

I guess, we can still use the bigger clever to make 1 cup. If that’s the case, does it matter if we use both Paper Filter and Swiss Gold?

MWJB The large Clever has a larger volume well under the paper, so I’d anticipate doubling up weights & pulses, maybe time them 40-45s apart?

What would be starting drawdown time be please? Shall we say, 6:00 mins? Thx

MWJB

LMSC I guess, we can still use the bigger clever to make 1 cup. If that’s the case, does it matter if we use both Paper Filter and Swiss Gold?

I’m not sure there’s any benefit to the Swissgold in this method, you’re not grinding as fine as long steep, and drawdowns won’t be overly long (45-90s).

The thing to be aware is the large Clever holds about 120ml of liquid under the paper, compared to 60ml for the small Clever. So there will be more effect from the percolation in the early pours, you might not need to steep so long?

LMSC What would be starting drawdown time be please? Shall we say, 6:00 mins? Thx

Sure, 5:30 to 6:00 shouldn’t make a big deal of difference. The bigger thermal mass might even things out at 5:30?

LMSC

Decided to Clever brew MWJB’s hybrid Clever approach. I only had the standard Clever. So, doubled the dosage to make a cup for two.

27.6g powder, ground at the 12% Kruve 400 grind reference at #17 on the Duo. The sifting yielded 12% at Kruve 400. The water weight was 420.6g, the liquid was 359.2g.

I added 90g at 0:00 in 20s, another 90 at 40s for about 20s; the rest at 1:20 mins finishing at 2:00 mins; and, the drawdown starting at 6:00 mins.

I opened Crankhouse’s Mexico Maricela Esperanto El Sotano Natural. The notes on the bag are Strawberry, Jasmine and Bon Bons. I got the first two. God knows what constitutes the Bon Bons candy. The acidity at the middle was elevated to medium level, which was more like in oranges. It was nice, although it fell on the darker side for my brews.

I will give this brew 7.5/9 for this. I haven’t brewed on V60 or pulled a shot yet.

LMSC

MWJB

Hot brewed Clever Dripper 1 mug (not large Clever) method for typical extractions (most Clever methods result in low extractions) - video now up:

MWJB

Clever (small) & Hario Drip Assist 02 percolation brew video now up.

13.8g of coffee ground so that:

12% passes through a 400Kruve sieve, or 17% passes through a 500 Kruve sieve, or 29% passes through ASTM/ISO 600um sieve, after 2 minutes of hand sifting.

210g brew water in total. Start by pouring 35g of water, in 10-15sec. via the centre of the Drip Assist.

0min 20sec place the brewer on the cup/server to open the valve. All subsequent pours are via the outer ring of the Drip Assist.

0min 30sec. add up to 70g of water in total, again the pour takes 10-15sec.

1min 00sec. add up to 105g of water in total, pour takes 10-15sec.

1min 30sec. add up to 140g of water in total, pour takes 10-15sec.

2min 00sec. add up to 175g of water in total, pour takes 10-15sec.

2min 30sec. add up to 210g of water in total, pour takes 10-15sec.

Averages over 10 brews each with a different coffee: Total brew time: 3min 16sec., std dev. 9sec. Extraction yield: 20.4%, std dev. 0.6%. Subjective overall liking score: 7.6/9.

There’s also a variation for a coarser grind in the video description, but on this run of 10 brews I had a slight preference for the finer setting.

LMSC

Blossom Coffee La Reforma short steep

26g coffee and 12% Kruve 400 on Duo at #17. All coffee in, metal strainer, 45g x 40s x 2 each taking about 20s. The rest of the water in 80s. Drained on two pre-heated cup at 6:00 mins. One of the sweetest coffee I have had recently. Full of sweet Mango taste and acidity with plenty of sugar after taste. Will score 8/9.

Edit :

Total water in 392.3g; about 1:15 ratio

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