What's Brewing - 2011

[Jasonian]

SoCal, near Del Mar. I checked the coffeegeek website for suggestions. I might need to go on a quest and look into the suggested spots. I am definitely not an espresso drinker, so this could either be good times or a waste of time and money

The most promising looking place the closest to you would be Bird Rock Coffee Roasters in La Jolla. I haven't tried it. I kind of wish I had.

http://www.birdrockcoffeeroasters.com/

 

[EmptyB]

Well, yesterday I tried what the barista said was a double ristretto yesterday, and the volume of liquid was nowhere near the volume that is shown in Joel's video. I can't say that I liked what I tasted, so perhaps I'm just not an espresso person. It seemed overwhelmingly tart/sour to me. Perhaps ristretto is not ideal for straight espresso?

Meh, maybe I should just stick with Aeropress and Hario V60 brewed coffee and my green tea.

Which reminds me, today's cup was Gyokuro Kin from Den's Tea.

 

[Jasonian]

Well, yesterday I tried what the barista said was a double ristretto yesterday, and the volume of liquid was nowhere near the volume that is shown in Joel's video. I can't say that I liked what I tasted, so perhaps I'm just not an espresso person. It seemed overwhelmingly tart/sour to me. Perhaps ristretto is not ideal for straight espresso?

Meh, maybe I should just stick with Aeropress and Hario V60 brewed coffee and my green tea.

Which reminds me, today's cup was Gyokuro Kin from Den's Tea.

There is no standard of what espresso should taste like. It is possible that it was overdosed and the temp was too low. It is possible that it was cut too early in the poor. It is also possible that you are used to dark roasted coffees and that a concentrated shot of a lighter roasted coffee with a pronounced acidity is too much for your personal tastes to handle.

I'm not fond of updosed ristretti for a variety of reasons. Namely, they tend to produce and under-extracted shot of coffee that lacks the rest of what the coffee never gave up due either to an early saturation of water due to the amount of coffee dosed, or due to the barista's keen eye to avoid a yellow streak in the mousetail or naked pour at all costs.

In other words, it doesn't allow the coffee to show its true colors in the cup. I would start with a traditional cappuccino. If that gets to be too milky, move on to a double cappuccino (still 5.5oz. ceramic cup). Once that gets to be too milky, move on to an espresso macchiato.

Of course, you could also ask the barista to pull a non-ristretto for you to try.

 

[doesnotcompute]

I think you may be confused about some of the terminology - let's see if we can help:

Well, yesterday I tried what the barista said was a double ristretto yesterday, and the volume of liquid was nowhere near the volume that is shown in Joel's video.

A ristretto should be a very short (low liquid volume) shot of espresso. If it helps to think of it as a half shot, pulled through the same amount of grind for the same amount of time, then keep that in mind as an approximate indicator.

The point of a ristretto is to have a very small amount of liquid with an intense (massively intense) amount of flavour and texture.

I can't say that I liked what I tasted, so perhaps I'm just not an espresso person. It seemed overwhelmingly tart/sour to me. Perhaps ristretto is not ideal for straight espresso?

If you are used to brewed coffee (nothing wrong with this, I use a French press every day) and tea, I'm not at all surprised that you didn't like the ristretto. I imagine that it might have felt like an attack on the tastebuds - but please don't confuse this one experience with drinking espresso in general.

Firstly, the coffee beans themselves make a huge, and I mean enormous difference to how a coffee will taste/feel in the mouth. Comparing an espresso of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe against something like Bourbon varietal out of El Salvador could be like trying to compare hot and cold.

Second to the beans themselves is the roast time/colour. Unfortunately, Starbucks seems to have made it 'normal' in the US* to roast beans until darkness and beyond, regardless of what's actually best for the bean in question.

Then there's the grind (fineness and age), pull time and water (both volume and mineral content) which all make a difference too.

All of these elements make it really difficult to find a consistently good cup of coffee.

Meh, maybe I should just stick with Aeropress and Hario V60 brewed coffee and my green tea.

If the Aeropress works for you and gives you a pleasing cup of coffee then absolutely stick with it

If you want to experiment a bit, find a good roaster and a good barista. If that happens to be the same person, even better. They will be able to open your eyes to a whole new world of coffee enjoyment.


This morning I have been drinking something a little bit unusual - a washed, biodynamic coffee out of Brazil.




*I lived in SoCal for 2.5 years and have seen 47 states.

 

[EmptyB]

Seattle's Best from the bagel shop airpot, taste masked with a ton of half and half, and then zapped in the microwave to warm it up. Good times.

PS - both of the previous posts will help with my EAD

 

[doesnotcompute]

Seattle's Best from the bagel shop airpot, taste masked with a ton of half and half, and then zapped in the microwave to warm it up. Good times.

It's coffee jim, but not as we know it....

PS - both of the previous posts will help with my EAD

 

[joel]

Maybe it was me and I did a poor job roasting it - but BLECH - nothing but sour vinegar. Awful stuff...

 

[Jasonian]

Maybe it was me and I did a poor job roasting it - but BLECH - nothing but sour vinegar. Awful stuff...

You roasted it too light, and probably too fast.

Stretch out the yellowing stage, and drop the temp after 1st crack to help develop the body and sweetness. For that coffee, I would take it close, but not to the edge of, 2nd crack.

 

[Jasonian]

Black Torpedo Espresso. Taken earlier today.

 

[joel]

You roasted it too light, and probably too fast.

Stretch out the yellowing stage, and drop the temp after 1st crack to help develop the body and sweetness. For that coffee, I would take it close, but not to the edge of, 2nd crack.

8 oz rode for roughly 14 minutes on the Behmor so it got a pretty good toast. I did have it on P1 (I roast everything on P1, as I find most of the other behmor modes deliver inferior results). With 50 or so roasts under my belt with the Behmor, this is only the second "bad" one i've had, so it certainly came as a shock. With the remaining 1.5lbs i've got, i'll play around with P2, P3 and P4 on the Behmor and see if I can manage better results.

 

[Jasonian]

8 oz rode for roughly 14 minutes on the Behmor so it got a pretty good toast. I did have it on P1 (I roast everything on P1, as I find most of the other behmor modes deliver inferior results). With 50 or so roasts under my belt with the Behmor, this is only the second "bad" one i've had, so it certainly came as a shock. With the remaining 1.5lbs i've got, i'll play around with P2, P3 and P4 on the Behmor and see if I can manage better results.

14 minutes is total roast time and doesn't tell me anything at all about the pace of development. Any other details on the batch? I rarely go short of 16 min. on a shg guat, but that's still dependent on the roaster and how the roast developed.

 

[JPDyson]

14 minutes is total roast time and doesn't tell me anything at all about the pace of development. Any other details on the batch? I rarely go short of 16 min. on a shg guat, but that's still dependent on the roaster and how the roast developed.

Behmor roast curves:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.behmor3_roast_quality.php

 

[Jasonian]

Behmor roast curves:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.behmor3_roast_quality.php

That makes me never want a Behmor. (go Hot Top!)

Anyway, I would start with a P4 and go from there.

 

[Jim]

Kenya Nyeri Tegu AB

Fruit bowl explosion!

 

[joel]

Turned out LOVELY roasted to FC+ on P4.

 

[Jim]

Papua New Guinea Wahgi Peaberry-FC, Buckwheat and cherrys, sweet.

 

[StillShaving]

Kenya Peaberry - Muthunzuuni Estate. Great Aroma and a smooth cup.

 

[shah8]

Not a coffee drinker, but coffee porn is just as sexy.

 

[Jim]

Papua New Guinea Wahgi Peaberry-FC, Buckwheat and cherrys, sweet.

Rerun today- some of the nicest coffee I have ever roasted.

 

[Jasonian]

My own (AJ Coffee Co) Brasil Cerrado Fazenda Rodomunho - Bourbon Vareitals.

Pressed.