Coffee Blog
It's been a while since my last entry!
I thought I'd post about the way I like to brew coffee. I call it microwave cowboy coffee. Cowboy coffee is a term used for when brewing coffee over a campfire where just grounds and hot water are used.
This is best if you are a one cup at a time drinker like I am. It could be modified for 12 oz. in a 2 cup measuring cup.
I use 7 ounces water with 10.3g* coffee in a pyrex measuring cup. It's ground about as fine as typical drip or slightly finer. Add cold water. Put in microwave for 45 seconds at a power of 6. Stir. 45 seconds at power of 8. Stir. 30-35 seconds full power and stop it just when the first boiling bubble appears. Stir. Wait 45 seconds for grounds to settle. Remove grinds floating on top (shouldn't be very many) by using two spoons--one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise until they come together. Flatten out one spoon to catch the grinds. Pour slowly into a mug until sediment appears, without filtering.
This is like French press without the press and easier clean up. It gives me fruit and acidity than drip.
*I use a jeweler's scale because I'm anal retentive and this gives me consitent results. It's also better to brew by weight rather than volume. A blue coffee scoop is somewhere around 9g. You'll need to play around with it and adjust for taste in any case.
January 24, 2006
I tried Monsooned Malabar for the first time today. It tastes like old sweaty socks
soaked in caramel and peanut oil. Revolting yet enticing. Bleck,
this tastes good. The ambivalence will be reduced when it's used
in a blend. But it will call me back for one more masochistic
cup by itself before this batch is gone. Quite a quandary the palate
is put into.
November 22, 2005
Wake up and sell the coffee
October 15, 2005
When a blend is just right, you know it. It's fascinating how some combinations of beans can taste blah and some
work so well together.
I've been experimenting with Sulawesi/Papua New Guinea - Kimel and liking it so much I decided to offer it. The two go so well together you'd think they were made for each other. They are both Indonesian beans but I don't think that necessarily means they will go well together.
I've learned that a very heavy bodied bean like Sulawesi works better at a smaller percentage of the blend if put together with lighter bodied beans, like Yemen, where I use it at only 20%. With a heavy bodied bean like Brazil it can be up to as much as 45%. The latter blend is great if you like an extremely heavy bodied cup with very low acidity.
I've also found that when blending beans that are similar, like Harar and Yemen, it's good to have more of one than the other as opposed to using them half and half. A blend of 20% Sulawesi, 50% Harar and 30% Yemen has worked extremely well. That way they don't compete too much and one complements the other.
September 25, 2005
Drip Feed for Coffee Fans is an article about
receiving regular shipments of coffee. The more interesting part of the article is about roast levels. "Dark roasts are popular these days. But our expert believes that going too dark can hide the coffee's character, like cooking meat to well-done."
September 8, 2005
What Specialty Coffee can learn from Wine
http://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/cafestage/08-31-2005
August 25, 2005
Sometimes I can't believe how much I love coffee. What is it about it? I don't know. Part of it could be
it has even more flavor components than wine. And to me, drinking a good Yemen or Harar is equal
to drinking a great $50 bottle of wine.
The great thing about coffee is it costs less than forty cents per cup. I'm very thankful for this because I don't make a lot of money (yet)! I can drink two cups of regular, one cup of decaf and one double espresso everyday and not go broke. And each time I can have something different.
Blending is one of the most enjoyable aspects of having different beans on hand. This seems to be pretty easy and effective with coffee. I can't think of any other beverages where this is the case. To me, blending coffee is like combining musical voices. I like to have a low note like Sulawesi, Sumatra or Java and build up to the higher notes from there with beans that have more acidity. There is always something new to try. As the business grows I would like to offer more blends.
August 11, 2005
Trying a new bean, even if just a new crop of the same bean type, is like opening a gift. This is one of the great things
about coffee. There is always something new around the corner. Sometimes you know what you're getting but not
quite sure until you actually taste it, sometimes there is disappointment and sometimes there is total shock and surprise.
I tried a couple of new Brazils for a Brazil blend talked about in the July 25 entry. I was somewhat disappointed at how the two I tried turned out as drip coffee. Both of them are really nice as drip but the flavor of each bean really comes out in espresso. I don't sell espresso blends yet, so the Brazil blend will be on hold.
A new Mexico Chiapas is very good. It has some sort of brown sugar taste to it that I can't quite put my finger on. This is another great thing about coffee. There are somewhat familiar tastes/flavors in some, but they are different enough that you can't taste them anywhere else. The non-distinct berry flavor in Yemen is my favorite example of this. What do you call it? Yemen berry?
July 25, 2005
I'm experimenting with Brazil blends. There are two basic methods used for processing these beans.
Most of the more generic Brazils you see out there are Natural Dry Process where the whole unpeeled coffee cherry is laid out to dry intact on patios.
This traditional method leaves the bean with a lot of body, some huskiness and very low acidity.
Then there are those that use the Pulped Natural process where the pulp is removed before drying. This leaves them with a lighter body and often taste cleaner and sweeter. Many of them are higher grown and have fruit and mild acidity that's unlike the typical Brazils.
The latest experiment is a medium roast of 1/3 Brazil Fazenda Ipanema "Dulce", a Natural Dry Process bean, and a Pulped Natural bean that was third place in the Brazil 2004 Cerrado Coffee Competition. This bean has a sweet blackberry fruit and is lighter bodied. The Dulce adds body and makes it a very complete cup. This is one of my all-time favorite combos.
One problem is the Natural Process bean is long gone, so I have to find another. And will customers like it as much as I do and buy it? I don't see many other roasters offering unusual Brazils. I think it could be a niche if there is interest.
July 15, 2005
I roasted and sampled the Papua New Guinea - Kimel mentioned on June 30. It's similar to the Arokara but with
marmalade/tangerine type fruit. It's not quite as special as the Arokara. So do I hold off and hope a good crop
of Arokara comes back this summer/fall? The Kimel is a great bean but for now I only want to offer what I
consider very special coffee. However, business may get to the point where I'm offering beans that others
like that I don't care as much for myself. I suppose these are growing pains that everyone goes through.
I tried some terrific Mexico Chiapas beans. The Chiapas region is close to Guatemala. The bean is like a cross between a Guatemalan and a Mexican. A very nicely fruited, sweet, lighter bodied cup.
July 5, 2005
There are a few ideas as to why dark roasts are so popular. From a business perspective of the large chains who do the
dark roasting, it makes sense to mask the bean flavor with (dark) roast flavor so that beans will taste consistent year to
year. Some don't like change, even if it's from mediocre to better. Here, there are no claims to consistency, only claims
to finding the best beans available at the time, roasting them to their best and sending them out fresh without letting
them sit on a shelf.
I used to be in the dark roast camp. When I started roasting my own beans and didn't take them to a super dark roast, I started noticing all of the great flavor that is naturally in high quality beans. I still don't like very light roasted beans or anything with a light roast taste. And some beans really do taste great at a very dark (but not charred and burned) roast.
If you've only had dark roasted whole bean coffee, give some medium roasted coffee a try. You may be surprised.
June 30, 2005
I roasted some Papua New Guinea - Arokara this week. This has become one of my top five beans. I only bought a pound
of it a few weeks ago to sample it, and before I could order more from the supplier, it was gone. The first roast I did was pretty light and
it tasted great. It has ripe blackberry with moderate acidity, medium body, slight woodiness and is very sweet. The next roast was darker
with a slower profile and that didn't work for me at all. I thought it would bring out more complexity and body, but it changed the fruit from ripe to dried and
it didn't taste as sweet. The opposite of what I thought would happen. This current roast is back to light and is better than ever. It has no
"light roast" taste at all. If it
ever comes back, which it might in August, I'll know just how to roast it. A Papua New Guinea - Kimel is coming to try for
a test run.
