What’s that? Matcha pound cake?
A slice of matcha roll cake–from a local convenience store.
Do they sell those at 7-11s?
That’s where it’s from.
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FINALLY
as mentioned a couple of weeks ago I haven’t been running bad but I haven’t been running good either, just had my first real yahtzee since January. Bourbon and Mibirizi field blend from Burundi. I’ve got about half the bag left so hopefully I can pop another one.
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I went all the down to 4E on this Elida and still can’t hit 3:00 brew. One of the fastest draining coffees I’ve ever seen and is now really popping at this grind size.
had an absolutely off-the-wall espresso this afternoon
just a fantastic shot, amazing strawberry aroma, very smooth and clear tropical fruit and floral notes, not a hint of bitterness or sourness, expertly pulled and probably the most satisfying shot I’ve had this year.
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Well I did a thing. Been lazy about brewing lately and
figured I’d give some automatic pourover a try.
Had one cup so far using the default custom recipe and some beans I had on hand. The package with some of their pods arrives tomorrow. The machine is pretty nifty. That cup was ok, grind probably needs to go a bit finer. I’m looking forward to tweaking the settings.
There was an insane amount of static causing retention on the grind chute. We’ll see if that improves with use or if I need to start using rdt
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Father’s Day follow-up…
I have options now with this Breville Barista Express. When I get some beans that aren’t great or just having problems with the V60, this can put out a decent cup. I haven’t made room on the right counter for it yet and only have just barely set it up, but it’s pretty easy to operate even for a novice like me.
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So I usually don’t try new techniques unless I have at least an idea of why I’m doing it, but I watched Lance Hedrick’s video about using the switch and I’ve done a few cups.
Previously I was just holding the switch closed during the bloom, and leaving it open for the rest of the pour. I thought this was getting more gas out during the bloom, I think my brews have been maybe slightly more consistent.
What I’ve been doing:
- pour 3x water with switch closed
- agitate slightly to get everything wet
- bloom 60 seconds, open the swtch
- continue the rest of the pour normally
What I’ve been trying now:
- pour 3x water with switch closed
- agitate slightly to get everything wet
- bloom 60 seconds,
- pour 3x more
- hold 60 more seconds, open the swtch
- continue the rest of the pour normally
what I’ve seen is during that 2nd 60 seconds, there is a LOT of additional gas released. So much that it seems to be turning the bed over. It seems to be increasing the overall extraction since I’ve noticed more bitterness at the same overall water ratio and I’m backing that off a bit.
Honestly at this point I’m not really sure any of this ultimately is going to make any difference. E.g. column brewers seem to make sense from the “bypass bad, column should eliminate (most) bypass” line of thought, but bypass isn’t fatal, it seems you can adjust for it IF it’s consistent, right? That’s what it comes down to, if something is unpredictable, we should try to eliminate it. If it can be measured and controlled, then it’s fine.
On the other hand, if we eliminate something that we have to compensate for, then in theory the brew should be easier to reproduce (less to think about). So I guess what I’m doing is talking myself into buying more stuff.
IDK just thinking out loud here
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I’ve been loving the xBloom. I’ve been drinking 2 or 3 cups a day instead of my normal 1.
I’ve only brewed my own beans with their reusable dripper a few times and it’s turned out pretty well.
Their pods have been really nice though. I’ve had a few really good cups, lots of good ones, and a couple bad ones. The bad ones have all been from the same box so I think it’s the beans/roast though some of those pods have still turned out ok.
It’s just so convenient to just scan a pod and go do something else for a few minutes while it brews.
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Yeah this machine seems really cool and definitely a huge step up for someone who wants to try some high quality beans but isn’t a total psycho moron like me. A lot of people with money to spend just want good coffee and don’t want to spend countless hours tinkering to chase the dragon. It’s a niche product but the target market is ok with a little spend and it’s got a huge cool factor.
What beans have you tried so far?
So far most of what I’ve had has been blends. Regalia Eucalipto has been the best so far, Onyx Southern Weather has also been good, and then Boxx Ethiopia Nano Challa is the one that has had some bad brews.
I’ve got this on the way that is all single origin and two are geshas https://xbloom.com/products/andreas-coffee-collection
Also if anyone was already looking at getting one I have referral links that get $250 off. I get $50 off coffee orders if you use it apparently but I swear I didn’t know before I started this post
Don’t think I’ll ever get tired of drinking Elida. I finally opened this washed I had in the freezer and it might be my favorite. Less fruit, more nuance and more of the iced tea flavor. None of them have the red cream soda profile I got with the Klatch roast but different batches and roasters.
Had a guy come in today for business who apparently spent a lot of time in Panama. So of course I have to serve this and he has no idea what it is or what good coffee is, instead expecting the civet cat dung coffee. His reaction wasn’t even good or bad, it was like, “WTF? How is this even coffee?”
I’ve noticed this before when cupping, although in an unusual way: an initial offgassing phase, a quiescent phase, and then another offgassing phase starting at around the 3:00 mark. That’s when I started to think that maybe hybrid immersion / percolation was the theoretically optimal brewing method. I’m on a good run of coffee that brews easily so haven’t worried too much about this stuff in a while.
A few more weeks of xBloom use and I’m really happy. It’s so convenient and consistent with the pods it’s insane.
The two Andrea Allen collection varieties I’ve had so far have been fantastic. I’m hoping they continue to grow the selection of pods because this is great.
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We’ve lost to the robots.
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Moccamaster brewers on sale for prime day. Looks like prices around 220 so it seems like a pretty decent discount
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I’m just bad at time management. Somehow finding that 5 minutes to brew myself means I end up not drinking as much coffee as I’d like.
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