Pretty sure #2 is the assumption everyone is making. In Scott Rao’s blog he says it wasn’t that different when measured with the refractometer, but I think tasting is a better test. I’ll try partitioning the brew. If the bloom water is noticeably different from the rest then the extraction isn’t even over time.
I’m out of the proper beans for Vietnamese coffee. I’m experimenting with a lighter roast now.
Last time, I was committed to getting 100% robusta coffee from a Vietnamese coffee company to get the dark roast that Vietnamese coffee requires. To stretch the robusta coffee more, I would mix it a bit of arabica beans from a blend I have. It lowered the intensity while giving it a bit more flavor.
Now, I’m going a different route. Instead of dark roast 100% robusta, I bought 70% robusta, 30% arabica medium roast beans. Given that these beans are roasted in Italy, it doesn’t use the additional ingredients a Vietnamese roast does. It will probably taste more like espresso. However, using a phin filter with these beans will probably allow more oils to get through due to the lack of pressure being applied. Based on my research, it’ll taste more like mesh pour over coffee rather than espresso made in a moka pot.
Looking forward to the experiment tomorrow morning.
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I had a nearly identical experience with my previous glass French presses - one broke in the sink (I think my ferret may have knocked it in back the day, he’s been gone a while now) and the other one just kind of broke (I had also purposely bought the most durable one per several reviews). I’ve since bought a stainless steel one and it’s perfectly fine although I do feel like the coffee isn’t quite as good as I would get from the glass ones. Come to think of it the difference is more likely the beans than the material of the press.
While I’m here, www.tectoniccoffee.com announced that they are doing wholesale prices for life for people who buy from them through July 31. I’ve been getting my decaf to make half caff from them and the Drift blend we got was quite good though they also carry single origins. They roast freshly on Sundays and ship Monday (so I posted this at the worst possible time) and in my experience the coffee arrives pretty quickly.
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I have four coffees from Sunergos. Nearly finished with the Brazilian and Colombian. Nothing too crazy, these are just solid all-around coffees.
Brazil Legender
Varietal: mundo novo, catuai
Process: natural
Tasting notes: malt, hazelnut, raisin
Darker flavor profile than the bright coffees I usually drink as expected, especially the open which is difficult to describe. I’m gonna go with chocolate-covered cherry or raisin. From there it is nutty and chocolaty, then some slight acidity on the finish. Silky smooth mouthfeel, not too wild, very drinkable. Probably a good coffee for someone getting into specialty. I feel like the acidity increased a week or two past roast. Even though this is a natural process, I didn’t find any weird flavors running it through V60, although arguably the thicker Chemex paper is a better match.
Colombia Huila La Suiza
Varietal: colombia, castillo
Process: washed
Tasting notes: pineapple, citrus, pear
Darker flavor profile up front than other Colombians I’ve had. I was able to grind this one finer than normal so I suspect it’s on my end. Dark chocolate open that shifts into a juicy acidity which is what I love about Colombians; they can have more of an apple quality that is very balanced, not tart or overwhelming. Only a slight hint of the tasting notes toward the end for me. I was getting some of the medicinal finish (think Tylenol) that seems to pop up in single origins more than you’d imagine. Not bad but I’ve had better Colombians.
Oh, I definitely believe that the extraction changes over time. there are different compounds in the beans, some of them will be easier to extract and some will be harder.
Everyone agrees that there is some point where you’ve only extracted the easiest stuff and the coffee is not yet “good” (i.e. under extracted) and there is also some point where you’ve gotten all of the good stuff and are starting to extract some gross stuff (maybe “all of the good stuff” is wrong here, but “all of the good stuff you can get without getting significant amounts of gross stuff” would be better?) (i.e. over-extracted).
also, I think there may be some conflation of terms at work here. Weak coffee is not (necessarily) under extracted and strong coffee is not necessarily over extracted.
In any case, it seems to me that for Hoffman’s theory to be correct, either his pour-overs are significantly under extracted (in which case, the fix should be to make the cone … steeper or increase the water temp (not sure what the terminology would be here, but to make the cone narrower so that the same volume of grounds is “deeper” and hence slows the brew down)) or his aero press is over extracted (in which case the fix is to decrease the steeping time or possibly lower the water temp)
The brew being too strong or too weak is purely a matter of taste IMO, and can be fixed by adding water after the brew.
I pretty much agree with this and will also point out that refractometers for coffee don’t capture everything that’s actually extracted and also that the dissolved solids in perc aren’t even the same solids found in immersion. I’m skeptical of refractometers anyway because of all the bullshit involved just in prepping and capturing an unbiased sample.
Abandoning the phin filter temporarily.
Got some single origin coffee from Guatemala that I’ll french press.
I’ve got some catching up and contributing to do, but I did buy some Sunergos based on Lawnmowerman’s rec and their Costa Rica may be my new favorite coffee. Ordering from Verve Roasters in San Diego next, a frequent recommendation from my sister; though she recently seems to have gone off the qanon deep-end so I’m not sure her jdugment is worth much these days.
Verve is good. I am having the Costa Rica right now as well.
Time to reload but wasn’t sure what to go with. Chose S&W even though they were out of my favorite. There are a half dozen or so coffee experiences I remember vividly by the flavors just blowing me away and S&W has delivered two or three of them. The others I can remember are the Elida from Klatch, CM Gesha from B&W, a Colombian from Fathom Coffee, and an Ethiopian blueberry bomb I got locally. I think there was a Kenyan in there too, maybe from S&W as well.
Tried some single origin from Ethiopia. Way more diverse taste. Guatemalan stuff was pretty single note chocolaty.
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Question from a coffee drinker of many years - is it considered heresy to drink milk with your coffee as it is to have ice in your whiskey?
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Man that Lavazza is some good shit
my guess is that with some of the coffees people have reviewed here, it will be more like using a 30 year old single malt for a whiskey sour.
with other coffees it’s perfectly fine (i just assume they would rather drink light roasted stuff which don’t go well with milk).
Not always. Had café con leche in Spain regularly.
That said, I’d never add milk to high quality coffee.
Update: Not bad. Not sure how you could beat it at that price point. Better than the other TJ small lot I’ve tried.
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I try every small lot I can and most of them are pretty good. Which was the last one you had? I really liked the Brazil they had recently, the other ones have been decent (drinking the Burundi now, have an unopened bag of Santa Ana) but don’t necessarily have me clamoring to get back for another bag. This one sounds right up my alley but I’ve got a lot of other stuff to drink before I get to it, including a bag of beans I bought from my favorite local coffee shop that only recently started roasting.
Edit wow ninja ponied
Second edit I think I mentioned it upthread but once they had an Ethiopian peaberry that was unreal, one of the best coffees I’ve ever had. It of course sold out super quickly, never to return.
I can’t remember the last one I tried. I was looking for a pic upthread but couldn’t find it. I know it wasnt the peaberry you guys discussed earlier. This is my 3rd one and my favorite so far. But I still prefer a local roast from Tulsa over it (maybe $13 at WF). Posted it upthread.
I enjoy trying the small lots because they tend to be fairly interesting for supemarket coffee as well as a solid value but yeah I’m planning on getting back to sourcing my coffee locally as much as possible. The limiting factor for me lately has just not been visiting places that I used to frequent due to COVID.
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