Tag: coffee

6/27/2012 Brew

Random Brew Recipe:   67g coffee / 1 kg water, 3 minute brew time.

Brew Method: Clever
Actual Recipe: 20g coffee, 300g water at 198F
Coffee: Costa Rica Los Mangos from New Harvest Coffee Roasters

Notes notes notes: This is the first time the RBG has come up with my actual, standard brew parameters. Putting Los Mangos through the Clever yielded a nice cup; round, with some stonefruit sweetness as it cooled. I’ve had great success with this coffee as a double-brew over ice through the Chemex – it is probably the nicest iced coffee I’ve had so far this summer. As a Clever brew it probably could have been ground a bit coarser (or perhaps the grinder burrs need replacement), as the draw down was almost two minutes.

I’d give it an 7/10. I would be pleased to have been served it in a shop.

Tim Wendelboe in Colombia

Tim Wendelboe has posted what I hope is the first of many blog posts regarding his new venture in Colombia; this level of roaster/farmer interaction is bleeding-edge, and frankly, awfully exciting. I definitely think that this has a place in the future of Specialty Coffee, at least for folks like Tim and Counter Culture. That is, folks with the access and the budget – and those of us who do not have access or budget will still benefit, on the long view, as best practices at origin will continue to improve, and we  can free-ride these advances all the way to a delicious cup.

Here’s the link.

Nick Cho Kalita Brewing Video

If you’re reading this you’ve probably seen this already. I’ve watched it twice, I think a third viewing is called for. 

Initial thoughts: 

– 207F seems hot! I’m curious about slurry temp. 

– I’m surprised to see NC filling the brewer so high; my approach (admittedly using V60, Chemex, not Kalita) has been to keep the coffee bed about the same size as the final bloom, pour slowly and carefully, and allow internal water currents to wet the full bed. This is to reduce the pour agitation. It looks like NC has taken the opposite approach; rather than reduce agitation to combat its effect, he tries to create it in an intentional way. 

– A coarser grind does not alone usually yield a much deeper bed; is NC suggesting that a coarser grind and a higher dose is generally preferable to a finer grind and a smaller dose, at least with the Kalita? Could the increased agitation of the pour shown work better with a coarser grind? 

– At what point does the quality of the grinder come into play when thinking about quantity of fines? I’m especially curious about conical vs. flat burr grinders, especially given the double-bump of some grinders.