Beans that please you

dfk41

I fully accept that my skills are not extraordinary…….my equipment is not either and my taste buds certainly are not (although I know what I like and do not). One thing that constantly annoys me is the fact that vary rarely do I buy a bag based on the overall tasting notes then duplicate that experience back home. I was gifted a seemingly expensive 200 gm bag of filter coffee from a pal on here from a roaster I did not know. I rested it as per the advice and the first cup I brewed on the Aiden, I just went wow! I immediately visited the website and bought a kilo. I rested it for 14 days I think which was longer than the first bag and I could get absolutely nothing from it. At one point the taste I thought I wanted made an appearance but it was on the horizon miles away!

And so the hunt continues. I am on a decaf purge at the moment working my way through a kilo of Cworks. The first black americano was not good, strong and slightly bitter yet my guests all drinking milk based said how nice it was. So I started to add a dash of milk and it absolutely transforms it for me.

I have yet to decide if I am going to start trying decafs from all over the place or just put up with my 3 month sabbatical. But it made me wonder if looking back, and I am not referring to beans you know and buy regularly but to new stuff. You read the description, think I will try that…..you either get the notes or you do not…….I am not saying you cannot still enjoy the coffee but many times I think that tastes like a dark red plum, refer back to the notes who promise me clementines!
What are your findings?

Sprofucius745

My go-to green is dry process Brazil and Yemen… all other origins are simply boring for espresso. The bold notes/heavy texture from these generally speaking is mind blowing for my preference. Notes tend to be mid-dark chocolate, molasses, sugar cane, various nut notes… I stretch out development time/temp to mute any noticeable fruit fwd notes as that’s not my thing.

No clue on decaf as I’ve never felt the need to stray away from caffeine and never plan to.

HarveyMushman

I must admit I think I’ve been disappointed by coffee that doesn’t taste like I expect it to over the past couple of years more than coffee I’ve been impressed by. However those I have been impressed by have been some of the best coffee I’ve had.

I’ve also had the same coffee from the same roaster a short while later and it’s not been as good, despite rest times and brewing process being the same.

I’m only drinking/making pour-over these days but roasters that have impressed me consistently are Scenery, Taith and Sweven.

Also Rave’s rare range but obviously they’re very well known and a lot of us have been buying from them for years.

I will say that although it may just be coincidental, I find I recognise state taste notes and enjoy the cups more consistently from pour-over coffee now than I did with espresso and it’s trending towards more consistently being pleased with beans I buy rather than disappointing.

So long story short, Scenery, Taith and Sweven are probably the top three roasters I’ve purchased from in the last 6 months.

crimson89

These three are top roasters. I’m currently enjoying the Facility Blend from Scenery and I have another single origin of theirs planned for next. These are delicately roasted coffees and I find fast 1:2.5-3 ratios work better for my tastebuds and sanity.

Kennt

I’ve had this experience several times. For example, a washed Ethiopian from Square Mile can taste really citrusy and floral one day, then much more tea-like or sweet with a small grind change. I tend to treat tasty notes as a general direction rather than something I should taste literally. And some coffees just seemed to come alive for me with a splash of milk.

Dusk

I’d been having difficulty recently with a particular bean (can’t remember where it was from now), but switching back to an IMS basket seems to have helped. I’d previously “upgraded” from IMS to Pullman and was most recently using a step down basket.