HarveyMushman Bag #1 was scored 12/7/22. Over the last 8 months 7/ 20 bags have scored below average. 5/ 20 bags scored below average in the first 20 bags.
In previous logging excercises, over many years the average score has been higher, 550 brews scoring 7.5/ 9.0 (81%), the average for all logged drip brews (2198 brews, since April 2016) is 7.4/ 9.0 (80%). The average for the chart shown is 7.2/ 9.0, or 78%.
It’s not unfair to compare accross different coffee, we expect different coffees to taste different, but not to be poorer in taste quality, especially if we are choosing the coffee based on notes, rather than receiving blind bags from subscriptions. Whilst you may be familiar with a certain bean, different roast batches of that bean will taste different, also decline as the greens age. The overall subjective liking score is ‘stand alone’, it doesn’t interlock with any other specific qualities/flavours.
My experience has been that in the last few years it has been harder & harder to find good light roasts. Some companies like Roundhill, Colonna & Workshop seem to have basically given up on light roasting. An increase in roasting dogma may also play a part. Several roasters have told me that their coffee has performed great in cupping, but that I shouldn’t drink it for 2, or more, weeks after roast! How can both be true? Roasting & posting before any QC of the actual beans is a problem, as roast curve comparisons clearly can’t be trusted.
I’m open to the idea that tasting fatigue may also play a part, ten years ago when drip brewing was still a bit hit & miss for me, it’s possible I may have exaggerated scores for good brews, as they actually represented notes…whereas my brewing is more consistent now and what was previously ‘good’ might have shifted closer to revised expectation/average.
These days I mostly rotate between Taith, Zennor (most receptive to feedback & engagement, best customer service), Dark Woods for interesting processes (less so for regular washed/natural), occasionally Spaceboy, or other less frequent options if the coffees from my main roasters don’t inspire me (e.g. Ethiopian) at the time of purchase.
