https://tectoniccoffee.com/collections/wholesale
Just going to post this again, wholesale prices available during quarantine, haven’t dug into mine yet but came recommended from my brother who probably drinks better coffee than I do.
I took my own advice and grabbed a few from them I hadn’t tried yet including a light roast Sumatran. It’s very interesting. The tasting notes are “cedar, grapefruit, clean.” I mostly agree with that, especially the cedar. That’s the first note I get which turns into a mild acidity and then a lingering, distinct finish that I can’t quite place. Potpourri maybe? Brewed on the V60.
I’ve tried two more since the Sumatra. One is an Ecuador with tasting notes of rose, grape, wine in that order. Sidra varietal which I’ve never had before. I’m not really getting much out of this one. Did the V60 with three different grind settings then ran it back with the Chemex. Nothing exceptional for my palette.
Next up is a Malawi peaberry with tasting notes of caramel, peach, and sweet. Did not experience any of those through V60 on medium grind. It was more interesting up front, had a bit of a finish but nothing too crazy.
Still have a fourth one frozen that I’ll hit in a week or two but so far the light Sumatra is the best by far.
I feel like potpourri = cedar so that makes sense? That Malawi sounds good, I think my latest small batch from Trader Joe’s (Brazil origin) is supposed to have a similar profile, although I don’t generally look for tasting notes.
I’ve found the tasting notes to either be way different from what I experience or it’s like the first note is there but then there’s a huge drop off and the others are muted or missing. I don’t have the same kind of taste bank to draw from as these professional tasting people so I’m not even sure I could identify the flavor if I was served it straight up. Rose? There’s rose water that was used in old time desserts and some drinks but I haven’t had it since my bartending days and couldn’t place it now.
“Cedar” is a very interesting and distinct opening note and it contrasts really well with fruity acidic flavors. I think I’m starting to prefer that kind of profile to ones that are fruit acidity everywhere.
Have you tried the stuff that tastes like berry or fruit juice?
I drink different coffees but I mostly like it when they have a strong, dark flavor and don’t really pay much attention to tasting notes. I like “oily” coffees but I haven’t been able to find one I like since the roaster I liked closed up shop.
Not sure if we’re on the same page or not but I’m talking about straight up black coffee, not flavored coffee. So it still has a primarily coffee flavor but the sugars and oils can mimic tastes in other foods, most notably fruits and berries but other things as well. I recently reviewed one that tasted like bubble gum from the best coffee estate in the world. That composition is unique to the bean and depends on many factors like bean type, soil composition, altitude, process, and roast profile. Dark coffee usually means dark roasted which practically eliminates those flavors by carbonizing the bean.
I love all things sour and I didnt enjoy most of the highly regarded coffee I tried cause it tasted sour to me…
Mostly enjoy cold brews but too lazy to learn how to make it at home.
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Well, not necessarily. People have different tastes. Some of it is based on your genetics (like papillae per cm^2 on your tongue) and some of it is acquired. Most coffee drinkers in America prefer “dark” coffee and flavors they describe as chocolaty or nutty.
In Ethiopia–the birthplace of coffee–they drink Ethiopian coffee which is some of the wildest tasting shit known to man and the kind of stuff connoisseurs gush over. But I wouldn’t claim that Ethiopians are, in general, sophisticated coffee drinkers. They just drink what is available and develop a preference for it.
The problem is that it’s pretty difficult to get that amazing cup of Ethiopian to your table in Kansas. Not really a cost issue, but it requires a bit of skill at every step of the process to make it come out right: farming, processing, storing + transporting, roasting, grinding, and brewing. It also has to be fresh and coffee goes stale very quickly. If you blow any one of these steps you’re likely gonna get mediocre coffee.
Since you already appreciate beers, I’d be surprised if you didn’t also have the same appreciation for coffee if you were exposed to a wide variety of high-quality stuff over time. Like I doubt you went from drinking your first beer straight into the hoppiest IPAs.
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Of all the coffees I’ve tried, the Ethiopian ones most often have a distinct flavor profile. It’s not always for me but I can see why people like it.
Common and valid complaint. Sourness is almost always low extraction level. I’m hesitant to say underextracted because I like it sour, but you can only push it so far before it starts losing other characteristics like sweetness, secondary flavors, and body. Do you have any idea how it was prepared for you?
V(number that ends with 0)
My progression was Cheap Beer → Blue Moon → Blanche de Chambly → Wittekerk → anything and everything including lambics → Champagne but I don’t real drink alcohol anymore except special occasions.
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V60 should really not come out too sour. If I think a coffee is too thin or too sour in the Chemex I pull out the V60. I would guess (1) the water wasn’t hot enough (2) the grind was too coarse (3) channeling / bad technique in that order.
Not to break this out into an extreme detail nerd post, but I think a lot of people aren’t doing water temperature correctly from what I’ve seen. I’ve measured my slurry temps a lot recently with a Thermapen and that shit loses heat very quickly. I adjust by pouring directly off boil, reheating the kettle to boil (a few seconds), and then finishing the pour.
This is one area where the V60 is clearly better than the Chemex. The water filters much faster and doesn’t have as much time to lose heat, plus the surface area of the top of the slurry is much smaller. Chemex is a heat-losing machine even if preheated and I find myself doing more of balancing act trying to pour in stages while keeping the water boiling and the slurry temperature somewhat constant.
The best one I’ve had tasted like hot blueberry juice with some other weird notes. The strangest one I’ve had I can’t even describe. The worst I’ve had tasted like saltwater. There are thousands of different varietals of Ethiopian and maybe a few dozen of them are even documented.
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Too technical for me. I’ll take a cold brew for now.
A friend of mine just told me how he spent a small fortune of Geisha coffee (i think?) and wasted like half of cause it turned out undrinkable sour. Then he got the hang of how to make it because <nerdy explanation i didn’t pay attention to>.
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Yeah you don’t wanna waste that lol. That’s why I’m all about having a repeatable process you could do blindfolded for pour over.
They do an Ethiopian gesha at the end of this vid:
I love how the guy at the very end says “To be honest, it smells and tastes like Fruit Loops. Does anybody else feel that?” before backing off. I feel you, dude.
And another from Klatch where I got the Elida from:
Blueberry is one of the few notes that I can consistently pick out and enjoy. I usually buy darker coffees but will make an exception for ones that have hints of blueberry.