V60

Finally managed to brew Django’s Kisinga. I used 20g coffee, 334g of water, 5:55 of total brewing time and got 295g of liquid. Ground a little outside the pour over range, which is my V60 sweet spot. As usual, the brew method was @MWJB ’s!

What can say! Like espresso, the coffee was ok; it wasn’t as good as Santa Ana or the other bags I had brewed so far. If at all, the cup was decent because of the brew method. If I were to choose between espresso and pour over, I would perhaps stick to V60 for this bag.

There was a bit of fruity notes. Noting specific, other wise. It’s an Ugandan coffee, which is less soluble. This may be reason the coffee was on the blander side. It also had a lingering bitterness, despite grinding above the pour over range.

Perhaps, I will grind coarser to see if I can lose the bitterness and then try to brew at 65g or 70g (may be at the mid 67.5g) a litre.

As things stand now, it’s been more than a week since I shared my feedback to Django for the second time. It’s hardly a surprise that they never responded as they didn’t do it the first time around. These guys remind me of a lack of response from Thompson Coffee. It’s a shame a roaster doesn’t bother responding! Perhaps, they are too busy to reply. 😉

I won’t recommend this beans either for espresso or for brewing.

DavecUK It seems to have gone down well and viewers
want more like this! 😉

Brewed the Santa Ana a few times in the last 2 weeks. I had steadily ground finer to the lower end of the pour over range. Today, I had settled at the familiar and trusted coarse setting.

The dosage was 16.8g, 280 water, 236.4g of liquid. The Ana is fantastic as a brew. So sweet and clean compared to espresso.

Although, the Ana was great as espresso and also with milk, I never felt it was there. There was something it looked incomplete, which I didn’t feel even with Kenyan. Perhaps, it is the characteristics of the Ugandan beans.

I have tried grinding the espresso range with temp settings from 89/96 to 93/99. The cup was very good on the whole. The notes were consistent with the bag. The cup reminded some what brighter and also retained a little bitter after taste.

Perhaps, @DavecUK may be able to shed some light. I only have another 150g-175g. I am going to keep it for V60 and Clever as the bag is awesome as a brew.

Brewed Northstar’s The Docks Blend on V60. The intent was to satisfy my curiosity. I read the roaster’s web site on this bag to understand what their flavour would be for a black coffee. They had written “…bittersweet chocolate and a twist of orange peel on the finish”.

I dosed 16g, 244g water and a total brew time of 3:45 mins. I wasn’t expecting anything outstanding. The coffee was ok and did get the chocolate notes or what they call as a bitter sweet chocolate. There were no traces of orange peel. Won’t brew this again!

Don’t have any beans to brew except a Kenyan, which is being rested for 2 weeks. I think I will open this tomorrow.

Foundry Columbian Natural with a cup score of 88.

IMO, it is darker than the medium.

13.9g powder, the same grind setting, 213g of water on V60 using @MWJB’s method; got 188g liquid with a dry bed @3:20 mins.

I referred the roaster notes before brewing :

“Expect a fruity, floral explosion of flavour. We get intense notes of rose water and cherry balsam, along with lychee acidity and a blood orange sweetness”

My observations :

• You get a strong and an intense aroma of cherry balsam when the bag is opened. The aroma is herbal and spicy to me. I checked with the roaster, who said it is a little hard to explain But the flavour would be like herbal cough sweet flavour ( https://mollysmixtures.co.uk/cherry-balsams-jar-2-2kg/). So, the intense aroma of the beans is consistent.
• Upon brewing, this aroma is still there.
• It is a very good cup of coffee to drink as a long black, if one were to like this taste.
• The fruity acidity is mild to moderate with orange sweetness
• There are no silts or bitterness or sourness in the cup.
• The Cherry Balsam taste and aroma are so strong, I did not get any floral (rose water) notes. Perhaps, it was there but over powered by the Cherry Balsam.
• Overall, another very good coffee but it is not a standout bag, IMO. This underlines, at least for me, the score should give confidence of a lovely coffee but not necessarily a great or an outstanding coffee.
• I will see what does brewing this bag at 60g/l or on Clever may show. I don’t think they will be any different. I will post my observations in any case.

Edit :

@65.5g/l, the cup from this bag is a tad stronger for me. I think this is specific to this bag, as I have liked this strength elsewhere.

Horsham Peruvian Washed Medium Light

https://www.horshamcoffeeroaster.co.uk/products/peru-ge-washed?variant=40095432081477

Roasters description

This is a fantastic clean washed coffee that showcases the best of washed coffees produced in Peru. Tasting notes include cherry, dried fig, toffee and a hint of strawberry. All brews

The Cup:

17.8g, 271g water, 40g every 40s and the last pour was 30g. Got 227.4g of liquid. The coffee was good to drink, as usual very clean, sweet but thought a tad sour. The coffee was still enjoyably sweeter like Cherry with a mild acidity and Fig and Toffee at the back of the tongue. I would score this 7 and will grind coarser for the next cup.

Foundry Roasters Columbian Luis Anibal

It is darker than expected. They did say their adventure beans would work as a brew / black than with milk. I wonder why they should roast to this profile than keeping it below the medium. I do intend asking them.

Description

Light/medium body with strong florals that remind us of juniper. Smooth, yet complex craft chocolate and strawberry flavours are balanced by a juicy ripe pineapple acidity. 

V60 and my thoughts

13.8 g, 212g water, 30g every 30s, the last 2 pours at the centre.

As usual, it is hard to mess up the brew. Ground 4 clicks finer than the default coarse settings. Got a very clean, strong, sweet and a lovely coffee. I would score this 7.5 out of 9. It losses a half point out of the max I would score any coffee as I am not sure if today’s brew is the sweet spot. I would loosen the grind to default settings and see what happens to the cup. I would definitely take out my Clever for this.

One is greeted with strong juniper (think Gin) floral and cocoa aroma when the bag is opened. The floral and cocoa aroma does stay in the brew but the aroma is somewhat subdued in the cup but clearly present as one drinks it.

The mild tartness (as one drinks and as an after taste) and in my view is typical of Juniper and Craft Chocolate. The acidity and fruitiness emanate mostly from pineapple. I can’t say I had a strawberry flavour. The chocolate flavour continues to linger as an after taste even after finishing the cup.

DavecUK Yeah! It is indeed. Their Columbian Jairo, Anibal and Rwandan have a cup score of 88 to 88.5! Grabbed 0.5 KG each. The Jairo and Anibal expensive though.

I haven’t pulled a shot yet on Anibal. The Evo pulls Jairo a lot brighter but it’s good as a flat white. A lot of fruity notes even with milk but the Cherry Balsam does leave some tartness in the cup. I don’t think it’s a bag for every one. It’s like Marmite!

I had a very interesting conversation with Lee from foundry re-the roasts becoming darker than expected in recent times. ! I asked them why the roasts are darker than their description. He said it is a tricky question to answer, although he observed the following :

• They take colour readings of all coffees to check consistency between batches. However, their recent experimental processing methods may have influenced the impact on colour by 2-3 numbers on Tonino scale. They don’t have enough data to support it yet. They also roast a little more recently to address the unsatisfactory solubility levels or unpleasantly dominant acidity, or both to balance sweetness and acidity.

I wonder some times whether the characteristics of the green beans have changed in recent years over the period of time. If correct, this might explain why they had to roast a bit more to make it even.