Not sure, if we have a thread for this. I couldn’t find. This is one of my favourite brews. It’s faster, easier and always give a lovely cup - be it @"MWJB"#139’s or Hoffman’s method. Mostly, I use Mark’s as I find the cup is a little cleaner than Hoffman’s. Yesterday, I opened the [Ethiopian Haru Washed](https://www.thomsonscoffee.com/products/ethiopia-haru?_pos=2&_sid=4420db8ae&_ss=r&variant=39311835398231). Pulled a few shots and brewed on Clever. The cups were ok. I wasn’t impressed, given the cup score of 87.25. I bought this as a light roast. It’s a medium light for me. I am drinking a cup from V60 now after brewing this. The dosage details are: 3.9 Jx Pro rotations, 16.3g powder, 272g water and got 237g liquid. I used Mark’s method, 30g every 30s pouring in circles. The each pour lasted 8-11s. The last pour was at the centre. The total time was 5:01 mins. The cup was very clean, light, very smooth, full of citrus flavours and sweet citrus notes, which are Bergamot orange. As a result, there is a little bit of fruity bitterness, which also creeps in disturbing what is otherwise a good bag. I am therefore not a great fan of this bag. If one is brewing this exclusively or drinking it as a long black, it is good as long as one is aware of the tiny fruity bitter aftertaste. It won’t cut with milk! We buy beans, which can be a very good milk-based coffee and also pull a nice brew. I don’t think I will buy this bag again. It is not for us. It was good buy considering I paid about £23 for a KG vs the full price of £33 and has a cup score of 87.25. If you want to buy, please try a smaller bag and see if this is for you.

I do enjoy a V60 from time to time as well.

@"DavecUK"#p15221 How clean, easy and very good the cup has become, thanks to a lot of hard work and contributions by @"MWJB"#139 and Hoffman. I don’t even have to wonder what my grind size is. Just start with the same settings and a few clicks change are all required.

Blackcat El Salvador Los Luchadores with a cup score of 86.5 Mark’s method. 16.4g, 275g water, 4:44 mins, 242g liquid. Cranberry and chocolate after taste for me. Very nice black coffee.

@"MWJB"#139 Thanks to all your research work on various brew types and Hoffman’s on V60, the pour overs have become easier. It’s very difficult to get the brews wrong. Many thanks mate!

Thanks & you're most welcome :-) It warms my heart to see folk getting pleasing brews. When I first started making brewed coffee, pour over seemed seemed unfathomable, driven by luck/beneficial spirits and I, like many others, sought 'safety' in immersion brews, where you could at least dictate brew time & not be reliant on things outside of your control like flow rate. But, as I built a better understanding, I realised that pour over is certainly as predictable & repeatable as any brew method, reasonably quick too. Of course, I still enjoy immersions, but 95% (just a guess) of my brews are pour overs. Sure, I come a little unstuck every now & then, but usually due to trying a new regime/brew weight/grinder or setting.

Can imagine how hard the journey to where you are now would have been. May have taken you months, if not years, of dedicated research and hard work to achieve the expected outcome. Minions like us can now use your template and make a damn good coffee. The beauty is I haven’t seen the need to change my grind settings for different beans. 😊 It hardly requires any major adjustments except a click or two on either side. > @"MWJB"#p16943 Of course, I still enjoy immersions, but 95% (just a guess) of my brews are pour overs. Sure, I come a little unstuck every now & then, but usually due to trying a new regime/brew weight/grinder or setting. We hardly take out our Indian (immersion filter), unless some one gifts a bag of ground coffee. 😂 Many thanks and best of luck for keep pushing the boundaries. Please do post regularly so that we get to read and learn from your brewings. I also think you may want to consider sharing your journey so far on this forum. 😊 Cheers mate!

Blackcat’s Ethiopian medium 20.1g, 335g water, Mark’s method, 284g liquid and 6:02 mins in total. Another balanced, fruity and sweet cup; had a tiny lingering orange bitterness after taste, which I think is the impact of the orange peel. I am grinding coarser than I normally would. I brewed this coffee for the first time. Perhaps, I will grind a tad coarser next time. Clever would be interesting, although I doubt it would make a difference to the cup. https://i.imgur.com/aCaNR9W.jpg Edit : Please ignore the espresso shot.

**Django Santa Ana** Brewed 16g on 270g of boiling water using Marks method. Got 231.3g liquid. The blueberry, mild sweet blackberry and vanilla taste come out clearly. Considering I ground this at the lower end of the pour over range at 3.6 turns on my grinder, it did produce a slight raw fruit bitter after taste; the cup was very good though. There were no silts, although the mild bitterness call for a coarse grind; I wondered if the water was too hot >100C that resulted in bitterness. Perhaps, I will grind at the normal setting of 3.8-3.9 and see. https://imgur.com/a/c4uOhlz

@"MWJB"#139 Given the tasting notes (blueberry, blackberry, vanilla), I thought the bitterness seeps through the grind size. Considering the other person also got it but only at the first sip, could you explain how does it creep in? I can understand notes like Rhubarb, fruit peel, dark chocolate, etc., producing the (sweet) bitterness. I wonder if Anaerobic natural process is contributing to the tiny bitterness. It is tiny sweet bitter. I felt it in the espresso as well. IMO, it doesn’t alter the taste profile, although does brighten up the coffee a bit. Thx mate!

If it's around the first 2 sips and a generic bitterness, it's likely fine particles suspended at the surface of the brew. Sometimes this just comes with the territory and I don't worry too much if the rest of the cup tastes OK. If it isdtracting from your enjoyment & happening all the time, grind a tad coarser and/or tray and agitate less. To me sweet & bitter tend to be poles apart, I understand a mix, but I'm not sure I grasp sweet bitterness?

V60

MWJB

LMSC Brewed Darkwoods Panama La Huella Gesha Anaerobic Natural for lunch.

Berry, Floral and Jammy are the notes, and they were spot on, especially the berries and floral. It was a nice cup of coffee brewed at 12% (11.7%) 400 Kruve. It had the usual enjoyable tart edge (as in gin) and a sweet finish, which I consistently find on floral notes. I wondered if this were a cup of coffee or a bright fruit juice! The score is 7.5/9.

Darkwoods have been a bit of a godsend over the last couple of months, in lieu of the scarcity of really good filter roasts, I even went back for a 2nd tin of the El Placer yellow fruit, I don’t often make 2nd purchases of a coffee.

The Huella is a little darker than my interpretation of light, nevertheless the coffee is delicious. Not getting so much in the way of berry, but sweet, syrupy more tropical fruit. 7.8/9 so far.

Last brew was Switch 02 with Drip Assist. 13.6g ground 3.67 on Ode v1.1.

40g every 40s in 15s per pour to 200g total, first 2 in centre, last 3 in ring.

LMSC

MWJB Agree. Their coffee is very good. I did find their Huella darker. Not sure, if you grabbed their Wush Wush. Today’s espresso was very good, but that savoury spices didn’t impress me. I am looking forward to brewing it next week. :-)

whinmoor85

MWJB Darkwoods have been a bit of a godsend over the last couple of months, in lieu of the scarcity of really good filter roasts, I even went back for a 2nd tin of the El Placer yellow fruit

I’m drinking the yellow fruits now but I prefer the red fruits, both very decent still.

LMSC

Darkwoods Colombia Finca El Placer Wush Wush Dark Honey

Brewed the above for morning coffee on V60. If espresso was good at 16.5g at 94/100 at 6 Duo, the brew was great. Every thing remained the same (flavour, aroma and taste) as in espresso except the savoury spices profile was noticeably absent on V60. This made the coffee enjoyable. The brew had a slightly enjoyable sugary tart edge (as in fizzy drink or tea) at the finish and as an after taste.

18g, 272.5g water, 4:00 brew time, 227.6g liquid and 8/9 at 12% (12.2%) 400 Kruve. I seldom brew my coffee at 9% 400 Kruve. I think I will also brew this at 9%.

I think @MediumRoastSteam might be wondering. As I said yesterday, the best is to try. Pl let me know if you want me to send you some. Otherwise, if you end up buying and do not like it, I will happily buy the left over from you. 😁

MediumRoastSteam

LMSC - thank you. Don’t worry about it - and it’s very kind of you to offer. 🙏

LMSC

Brewed the same Darkwoods Wush Wush, this time at 9% (9%) 400 Kruve. I often find 9% on the lighter side requiring at least 1:14 ratio. This coffee at 1:15 ratio was perfect. I enjoyed drinking the 9% brew as much as 12%. It is such a lovely coffee for filter scoring 8/9.

LMSC

whinmoor85 Both are very nice, but my favourite is yellow fruit.

HarveyMushman

Gesha day.

I’ll be honest I didn’t have high hopes for this. It roasted way darker than I’d expected it to and definitely didn’t smell as I’d expected in the bag. Aroma was muted and nutty.

However, I’m pleasantly surprised. This is a week off roast so I’ll be tasting it over the coming days as it rests further.

Strong black-tea notes on first drinking and then a very very smooth finish, almost tasted peach like to me.

I wouldn’t rush to pay £25 for 300g green again, but I might be tempted to try other Gesha in future. Definitely keen to try a natural.

I also put the Ode in storage when we moved house recently so this was on the C40, I may need to go and retrieve the Ode as I think this coffee would shine more from a flat.

LMSC

Brewing and drinking this ! Scored 5/9 for me. 😳

I have had good coffee from them before, though!

HarveyMushman

Day 7 on the Gesha and it’s already a totally different coffee. Also tightened up the grind on the C40 (now at the 21).

The floral notes are intensified, it actually works really well with the body typical with a conical. I’m not even sure I’d enjoy it as much with a flat as it could very easily become too tea-like.

LMSC

Brewed a few cups of Django El Salvador at 12% 400 Kruve. Shame I couldn’t find anything except dry, woody and earthy taste. 4-5 out of 9.

DavecUK

LMSC Brewed a few cups of Django El Salvador at 12% 400 Kruve. Shame I couldn’t find anything except dry, woody and earthy taste. 4-5 out of 9.

Huge difference from Rasberry, Cranberry and Stone Fruit (whatever that is). In fact it seems an unusual set of taste notes for El Salvador? I suppose the Anaerobic process was meant to add those flavours?

LMSC

I brewed this El Salvador at 75g/L to get a decent strength at 12% 400 Kruve and yet still weaker in strength. There was a bit of acidity with no noticeable notes, and not so desired after taste. Perhaps, I would score at 6/9.

A 0.5 KG of their Colombian sugarcane decaf, which appears very lightly roasted, is being rested. I hope I get as good an experience as Foundry’s. 😊

The last decaf outing 2-3 years ago was a similarly roasted Mexican, which I couldn’t even hand grind. That didn’t go well.

MWJB

Darkwoods, Colombia, El Placer IPA pink Bourbon - Interesting, complex & tasty, though I can imagine it being a bit ‘out there’ for some. Juicy, bright acidity with a dry, hoppy underpinning that’s enough to be an attribute without dominating the cup & remains in the aftertaste. A little more distinct tart berry notes than yesterday’s Kalita 185 brew.

13.8g ground at 3.67 on Ode V1.1, Hario Switch 02 with 01 loose bagged white tabbed paper, plus Hario drip assist, 40g poured every 40s (each pour taking 15s), first two in the centre, remaining 3 in the ring, up to 200g total. Score 8/9.

LMSC

Square Mile Peru Clever Acosta Wush-Wush Gesha varieties

Lovely coffee to brew. A delicate floral bright fruity taste as in stone fruit tea. The orange comes throughout the background with its’ tangy character (bergamot) with a gentle sweet (sugar) finish scoring 8/9.

The 12% 400 Kruve fines surprisingly came at 9.7%. I sifted 2-3 times and it is consistent at this percentage of fines under 400. A first time as an outlier perhaps, as the lowest fines so far is 11.3%, with an average of 11.8% with 0.29% StdDev.

Already reaching for an espresso. Will certainly make a flat white for my wife and see if she likes it as well.

LMSC

DavecUK Yeah! Varying acidity / taste notes from roasters can be a challenge. I never understood multiple fruity notes, where a dominant note is likely to over power the softer notes.

If we see notes like berries or tropical, it is more likely to over power stone fruit or softer acidity / tasting notes. At least, I won’t be able to differentiate.

I think the Anerobic was used during the fermentation stage to enhance the taste profile, perhaps. 😊

LMSC

Darkwoods Brazil Ipanema Premier Cru Geisha

Brewed 15g coffee at 12% 400 Kruve. 224.6g water, 193.4g liquid and dry bed ar 4:02 mins.

What can I say except that it was a very weak disappointing cup. It had no flavour, no aroma and a bit of a taste. The espresso was miles better. I will score the brew 6/9. I will try brewing at 75g/L and see.

LMSC

LMSC Darkwoods Brazil Ipanema Premier Cru Geisha

75g/L did the job. Like tea and it was nice to drink although no notes came through prominently. I scored this cup at 7.5/9.

The second successive bag had lower % of fines at 10.5% at the 12% 400 Kruve grind size. I will see if this becomes a pattern requiring changes to the grind size. Until then, the #32 on the Duo for 12% remains intact.

LMSC

Crankhouse Colombia El Placer CM Pink Bourbon Washed

Notes: Pink grapefruit, raspberries and light honey

Nice coffee and it tastes better as it cools down. Grapefruit with its’ sweet tartness shines at the start and slowly disappears as gentle flavour, acidity and fruitiness become prominent. It has a pleasant aroma and a mild sugar taste at the finish, which might be the honey, along with a sugar after taste.

Brewed 20g, 301.8g water, 257.7g liquid, 6 × 50g x 45s with a total brew time of 4:42s. I do think it lacked a bit punch for me, which I had observed in some of their recent offerings. Hence, the cup loses at least 0.5 point and I still scored 7.5/9.

Edit:

Sifting this coffee at 12% 400 Kruve yielded 11.91%.

LMSC

Darkwoods Colombia El Placer Pink Bourbon IPA

https://shop.darkwoodscoffee.co.uk/products/reserve-series-colombia-el-placer-pink-bourbon-ipa?variant=43673024430305

First, this isn’t for every one. It is like Marmite, IMO.

The aroma stays through from ground to drinking; rose and ripe mangoes are the aromas; the rose aroma surprised me; and, I believe Bramble is part of the rose family.

The coffee itself has a gentle ripe mango acidity with a sweet bitter (like gin) finish and after taste. I had no idea what hops are. I wasn’t sure of the source of the slightly bitter taste. I know it is not a brew malfunction.

Brewed 15g at 12% 400 Kruve (12.02%), 227.3g water, 195.8g liquid, 3:05 mins and a score of 8/9.

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