• Beans
  • What are you drinking?

Baldrick A lot of roasters send you a similar amount of crap as you get when you shake out a magazine before reading it….It would be nice if they sent something useful like a business card colour chart with their roast levels on it.

    DavecUK RAL number? Anything really. They could even have a bit of fun naming the shades like a farrow and ball paint chart. “Elephants breath” and the like.

    Baldrick This is interesting… more shots throughout the day without having to change to full decaf or tea

    Every single person I have trained on the Amazon Dalian ever since I started doing it, I give them the advice to make a Half Caf blend…. Simple, makes sense doesn’t it….flavour and less caffeine.

    I saw that Rave email and was tempted to try it as I do wonder if I would be better off with less caffeine (I typically only drink 3 or 4 × 18g a day, morning, cutoff 3pm). I like my coffee light to medium though and always worry that decaf or half caf might be a bit roasty for my taste. Maybe I should just try some.

    So Dave, do you get them to roast a charge of full fat and then another roast of unleaded and post-blend, or roast a blend of greens? I’m guessing roast each separately and blend after, as the decaf would want to go a bit farther? (Idle curiosity as I don’t roast my own as you know).

      Hotmetal So Dave, do you get them to roast a charge of full fat and then another roast of unleaded and post-blend,

      Yes, it has to be done that way, because decaff roasts a little differently….really though with any Blend, they should be roasted separately.

      I would actually recommend (for variety, from any roasters you use who don’t do a half caf), select a bean you really like and then their decaf and blend it yourself. If they do 2 decafs, then select the one you think will complement the full fat coffee most.

      Dunno why I never thought of that myself hahaha! I could hide the decaf behind 50% of some mega ridiculous farmyard funky fruit bomb and forget it has decaf in the mix. Good tip, albeit it would need a little commitment to at least 10 shots at a time cos the E37S isn’t ideal for SD and I generally bung 150-200g in the hopper so there’s weight on the beans.

      Baldrick Literally got this arriving tomorrow as the wife is quite sensitive to my usual cups and says her latte had her ‘wired’ for hours 🤣

        Baldrick so had a cup and both the wife (milky drinks) and myself with a black aeropress of the Rave ‘half caf’ have been very impressed by both the flavour. Ground medium fine in the X54 12g 1:16 in aeropress gives a sweet, clean cup with a distinct caramel note, which is very pleasant. Would highly recommend if looking for a drink that doesn’t sacrifice flavour for less caffiene.

          The first natural for some time. Friedhats Columbian La Maria. It has the booziness with hints of tropical fruit but not the madness that some naturals have. Really enjoying it but will probably be ready for a change once I get to the end of the beans

          LMSC It is definitely a medium roast mixed with the decaf. Whatever the ratios its a very good bag and well designed for its use, very drinkable low caf flavourful drink.

          The package does not come with any further details regarding the bean from Rave.

          2 months later

          Just enjoyed a wonderful V60 from this Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from Long & Short. Pricey but stunning. Looking forward to trying the Guatemalan.

          2 years later

          Jolly Bean Bermudez Colombia ( thermal shock)

          Wonderful flavours coming through using Hario Switch (Ole Kristian Bóen brewers cup recipe).

          The lime & “skittles” flavour notes really prominent, very well roasted and delicious.

          • MWJB replied to this.