Random Brew Recipe:  84g coffee / 1 kg water, 2 minute brew time.

Brew Method: Chemex
Actual Recipe: 42g coffee, 500g water at 201F
Coffee: Honduras Las Flores from New Harvest Coffee Roasters

Notes notes notes: Trying to get 500g of water through 42g of coffee takes the kind of rapidity that does not usually show itself with the slow-brew enthusiast. I will admit; the water level in my Chemex was, at times, uncomfortably high.

I really do like this coffee an awful lot. These higher-than-usual doses tend to go either one way or the other, and in an effort to (selfishly) create a more enjoyable cup, I coarsened the grind quite a bit – as well as upping the temperature just a touch, in search of a little more brightness, a bit more of the sweet aroma that was so alluring in the last session. The grinder smelled just as sweet this time – and the brew itself was overly fragrant, reminiscent of ripe blackberries.

The body is pleasant, hearty but not oily, which I would have expected with this dosage. It’s jammy and juicy, but not anywhere near the winey-fermenty notes you sometimes get with these really fruity-heavy coffees. The finish is quick and soft, belying the (flagrant!) underextraction. But, it’s a really pleasant cup.

In a brew method with a less aggressive filtration, I imagine this brew would not have been as nice. Using a Kone or French Press would have probably yielded an intensely oily body, which is a huge turn-off for me. I have my suspicions about the idea that certain coffees being better with certain brew methods – but I definitely think that different brew recipes lend themselves better or worse to certain brew methods.

I’d give it an 8/10. Not as good as a straight 60g/L for 4:00, but much more aromatic and still a nice cup.

Random Brew Recipe:  76g coffee / 1 kg water, 5 minute brew time.

Brew Method: French Press
Actual Recipe: 38g coffee, 500g water at 198F
Coffee: Honduras Las Flores from New Harvest Coffee Roasters

Notes notes notes: This coffee is good. Really, really good. New Harvest was nice enough to give the Providence Coffee Society a bag to use at an event today, so I figured I would draw out of it for the RBR. As a non-tasting note, New Harvest has been bringing in a lot of new and interesting microlots lately, so that’s exciting!

Flores has that aroma that always makes me think about cupping – that creamy, sweet berry smell you sometimes find during the dry aroma that immediately makes you look forward to that set of cups? It’s got it. Even with the little updose and the longish brew time, the subtleties and sweetness in the cup are very promising. It’s a bit muddy, and I think the choice of Chemex for the event today will produce a much more compelling cup – but even this, via French Press, has me very excited to try this coffee later today! Sweet and round and a bit punchy toward the end without edging into sourness. Lovely!

I’d give this coffee a 8/10.

If you’re in Providence today, the Providence Coffee Society has a booth at the JWU mock trade show, come by!

Random Brew Recipe:  89g coffee / 1 kg water, 4 minute brew time.

Brew Method: Aeropress
Actual Recipe: 18g coffee, 200g water at 198F
Coffee: Seven Stars Bakery Espresso Blend from New Harvest Coffee Roasters

Notes notes notes: Let me begin by saying I did not alter the grind setting for this coffee from my usual Aeropress setting. If you are familiar with the Aeropress, you probably have a scrunched-up face right now. This reaction is appropriate, and was my reaction as well.

Four minutes plus a serious brew time with the Aeropress made our espresso, which is usually sweet and full-bodied, with a little berry hanging around the background, into a serious sour-face pucker. It was the kind of sour that made the edges of my tongue hurt. It was oily and heavy and is definitely not in the running to become a regular Aeropress application.

I’d give it a 2/10. Not my favorite.

Random Brew Recipe:  53g coffee / 1 kg water, 6 minute brew time.

Brew Method: French Press
Actual Recipe: 53g coffee, 1 kg water at 202F
Coffee: Costa Rica Tarrazu, in-house fluid air bed roasted (aka popcorn popper)

Notes notes notes: Unimpressive! The IHFABR is challenging. Could it be the air flow? The quantity of green coffee? The open window? The closed window? It is just not well roasted coffee, and as such the brew can only be ok. I suspect that it’s time to crack open the IHFABR and bypass the thermostat – because usually whencoffee isn’t all it could be, side-stepping a safety feature is the first move.

If this is my final entry, know I died as I lived – dangerously.

It’s a bit nutty, a little cocoa at the finish, but mostly it tastes bready and vegetal. Definitely under-roasted. The brew recipe itself does not seem to have provided any negative affects – which is a little surprising, given the 50% longer brew time than I’d usually use. My brew times have been a little long lately from the RBG, and I’ve been surprised at how little negative impact it has been having. Perhaps I’ve been speeding through brews that just needed a little more time to open up.

I’d give it a 5/10. Tastes of too-light a roast and shame. The recipe would be closer to 7/10 with better coffee, I suspect.

Random Brew Recipe:  100g coffee / 1 kg water, 3 minute brew time.

Brew Method: Aeropress
Actual Recipe: 20g coffee, 200g water at 198F
Coffee: Crema Coffee  El Salvador Finca Suiza

Notes notes notes: WHOA 100g per kg! We’re into triple digit doses, folks.

This is a big big dose and a longer brew time than I’d usually go for with the Aeropress – but the Aeropress is a mystery, and its ways can be strange and interesting. Huge thanks to our barista Kate who brought this coffee back from her recent tour, from a shop called Crema (a “brewtique,” continuing coffee’s long love affair with punnery), down in Nashville.

First, even with kind of out-there parameters, this coffee is solid. I am excited to try it again closer to where I think it will shine, but even at almost twice the coffee I’d usually use, this was no joke. It was the kind of coffee that had folks curious – in a good way – as the aroma hung around the grinder. Monster citrus right up front, toeing that sour line but not quite crossing it. It had the kind of quick, aggressive body I associate with underextraction, but it still pulled it off. I finished the cup. It was a really, really nice brew, hoenstly more enjoyable than I anticipated when I pulled up the RBG.

If nothing else, this random brew has proved 1.) Nashville is no joke and 2.) Good coffees are good even when brewed out of spec – if there even is a spec! I can’t wait to try it tomorrow.

I’d give it a 9/10.