Lets talk about COFFEE

[Knowledge is King]

Speaking of Counter Culture, their Ethiopian Kesher Buna is awesome (in season right now) . The amount of berry coming out of this coffee is unbelievable. It's practically like berry juice.

In a Clever, I'm using a slightly coarser than filter grind, about 1.6 to 1.8 grams of coffee per ounce of water, steep time anywhere from 2m 30s to 3m

 

[A Y]

I'm in the 1.8 g range (22g/360g coffee/water), but with a finer than filter grind. Have you found that higher quality beans have a wider latitude than lower quality beans? That is, you can push the extraction of a good bean much further than a bad one, and the bad ones have a very narrow range where they're OK.

That also reminds me of Peet's Ethiopian Super Natural, a naturally processed bean from the Yirgacheffe region. In a Clever, the smell that hits you is like a blueberry, chocolate chip muffin, but the taste is pure blueberries. That was one of the most delicious beans I've ever had.

Another recent favorite bean from a local roaster is an Ethiopian too, and I'd put it up against any Gesha --- it's that good. It has a floral, tea-like first note, with a citrusy/grapey acidity, finishing with a coconut macaroon sweetness. The Coffee Shrub write-up of the green bean is here: http://www.coffeeshrub.com/shrub/coffee/ethiopia-kochere-teklu-dembel It's not for people who like coffee-coffee: it's quite a bit lighter than that.

The local roaster I use is http://handlebarcoffeeroasters.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/ethiopia-gera-jimma

 

[MattR]



DC - no Stumptown or Intelligentsia near me.. who would you recommend?

They serve Stumptown and Intelligentsia in Georgetown (Baked & Wired). I wasn't too happy with the one they served me, and I haven't been back yet. But I'd give them another shot. Only place I've seen around here serving them.

I was working on a project recently and I was away from my usual work coffee setup. I got a clover coffee from Starbucks every day. I thought it was pretty good. Better than the rest of the menu. The exotic single origins were not bad at all.

I had the clover recently, too. I like the pour-over better, actually. But the clover wasn't bad. It seems that the Starbucks around here have one or the other, but not both.

 

[A Y]

FYI, it's La Esmeralda Gesha season. Sweet Maria's has the green beans:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.central.panama.php#3587

Other roasters are getting theirs, too. I just ordered the Leon from Klatch. Very pricey ... proceed with care.

I also got the Indian Peaberry from Peet's, which is a special offering that's around until the end of this month. Very smooth, mellow character with a bit of caramel sweetness and some dark spice, and seems to be roasted slightly lighter (though it's still dark) than their usual style. It's also low acidity. It's a very nice coffee for people who don't like the acid fruit bombs sold by 3rd wave roasters. You can sample it in the store before buying.

Also, I can't believe I'm typing this, but this week's Bunheads had a hilarious (and mostly accurate) send-up of 3rd wave baristas. You can watch the whole episode below.

http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/bunhe...-guide-no-one-takes-khaleesis-dragons/1005300

 

[lefty]

I'm in the land of Peet's and all I ever see is their over-roasted house shite. Do all the shops carry this?

lefty

 

[A Y]

All two of them in my small California town do. The first roast was on Tuesday, so maybe some shops haven't received it yet?

 

[lefty]

I haven't been inside one for months as that burnt smell is a little off putting to me, but what you're describing is my kind of coffee so I'll check it out.

lefty

 

[Parker]

lol, I can't believe I watched a clip of Bunheads.

Peet's always tastes a little burned to me, even though they say they don't overroast their beans. They do have a couple seasonal medium roasts that I really like, though. I'll look out for the Peaberry.

My favorite Bay Area beans are from Equator Coffee. I think they're in San Rafael, but I get them at my local market.

 

[A Y]

I like the Peet's seasonal offerings, too, and that's the main stuff I buy from them. Peet's is still an old-school coffee roaster that offers high quality beans, isn't nearly as trendy as many of the 3rd wave roasters, and they offer really interesting stuff. Among their regular offerings, the Arabian Mocha Sanani is very good --- the aroma alone is amazingly complex. Their Arabian Mocha-Java blend is also very good and traditional, but I'd get the Sanani as they are fairly similar and AMS is more interesting. A seasonal offering that I've really liked is their Ethiopian Supernatural: it smells like a chocolate chip blueberry muffin, but tastes like pure blueberries. I like Peet's best through a paper filter. I think the roast notes are too strong with a mesh, like in a French press. The Peet's stores around here are very good about giving you small samples of beans to try at home.

Equator is one of the roasters that offers La Esmeralda Gesha, in case you feel like blowing $50 on a half pound of coffee.

 

[Parker]

awesome. thanks for the tips, A Y. I always get Mocha Java when I go to Peets, so I'll look for the Sanani for a change next time. I always use a gold filter, but trying paper for the bold stuff sounds like a good call.

Maybe one day I'll splurge for some Esmeralda

 

[Rambo]

The Hario slim grinder is a flaming *************.

 

[lefty]

Y, I picked up the Indian Peaberry. Good call, thanks. It hit all the right flavour notes for me. Also nice to buy an actual pound of coffee.

lefty

 

[A Y]

Lefty, glad that worked well for you.

Rambo, what's going on with the Hario?

 

[Rambo]

It jams up. Constantly. The beans basically get stuck in the grinder when doing a fine grind. To clear it, you have to take apart the whole mechanism (which admittedly only takes a few minutes) and put it back together again. Its a huge pain ********** for very little payoff. I haven't used it once without it getting stuck several times.

 

[A Y]

Weird. That's never happened to me. Have you tried pushing harder? If you can get some dark roasted beans (eg. Peet's), they will feel much easier to grind. That may be a way to gauge how much force to use on the handle.

Also backing off on the grind size will make it easier to crank.