GoodShave's Coffee Journal

I had a good brew this morning with Longneck Coffee Roasters (Williamsburg, VA) - Haitian Blue Norde Organic beans with the Timemore B75 brewer with a Timemore filter using the Wide Awake PH 3-pour recipe.

I think I finally found parity grind wise between the my JX (previous grinder which had history with these beans) and K-Ultra grinder (current grinder for which I don't have history with these beans) for the same beans and same recipe. I will use those setting to try the Longneck Coffee Roasters (Williamsburg, VA) - Columbia Huila Pitalito bean sample that the roaster sent me. Once I find a really good recipe and grind setting for a given roast level, it tends to work well for the same roast level for other beans from the same roaster.

I did two brews today with Longneck Coffee Roasters (Williamsburg, VA) - Columbia Huila Pitalito beans. These beans were a free sample I received from Longneck Coffee Roasters and I am not sure the roast date on them. I had these beans for a few months before I got to them. The beans were roasted to a medium roast. The tasting notes were listed as stone fruit, medium body, with bright acidity. The smell of the ground beans reminded me of a savory beef vegetable soup which I thought rather odd.

The first round was with the Timemore B75 brewer with a Timemore filter using the Wide Awake PH 3-pour recipe.

That savory beef vegetable soup flavor was prominent in the brew. The acidity was bright and hit you when the coffee was its hottest but fortunately that died down as it cooled. As it cooled further, it took on a burnt sort of flavor at the back of my tongue. There was a slightly metallic flavor that emerged at one point later in the cooling. 

The second round was with my glass Hario V60-01 with a Cafec Abaca filter using the Lance Hedrick Two-Pour recipe (with Tales Coffee stir after final pour). I  put the V60 cone in my Hario Switch base and closed the switch so that could better heat the glass without wasting a lot of water. This brew had a good mouth feel from the start and became even better as the brew cooled. A hint of fruit appeared as it cooled. This cup was very tasty. This was so much better than the first round brew in flavor, mouth feel, and acidity.

I have avoided Columbian coffee for the longest times as I never managed to brew good cups in the past, but my brewing skills have improved over time and these beans have changed my perspective on beans from that country.

Great description of the beans, David, I could smell it here! Not sure I want my coffee to smell like soup, but someday, a cup of soup sounds wonderful. I opened a new bag of a favorite coffee, Wonderbrew from Jim's Organic Coffee. The Wonderful WonderBrew I had found this coffee while trying to find a good coffee to replace the Starbucks coffee I had been drinking. This was the "gateway" roast that started my slide into coffee snobbery!!

Great description of the beans, David, I could smell it here! Not sure I want my coffee to smell like soup, but someday, a cup of soup sounds wonderful. I opened a new bag of a favorite coffee, Wonderbrew from Jim's Organic Coffee. The Wonderful WonderBrew I had found this coffee while trying to find a good coffee to replace the Starbucks coffee I had been drinking. This was the "gateway" roast that started my slide into coffee snobbery!!

Hey Eric,
I did a second brew of those beans with a V60 and a different recipe, and the brew was delicious. It just goes to show that a different brewer/recipe can totally change how the coffee tastes. I plan to update my post with the second brew.

Thanks for the link for the 'The Wonderful WonderBrew' beans! I will have to check that out.

It is not coffee snobbery, it is a discerning palate.

Today I thought I would work on finishing the very last of a free bag of Happy Mug Coffee (Erie, PA) - Comforting Rwanda beans.

I had an influx of coffee twice in the last few months (once thanks to MaineYooper ) where I had multiple bags of beans going at one time and the last two doses of these beans were set aside so I could work through newer bags of beans that were already opened.

Today I brewed the next to last dose of this bag with a glass Hario V60-01 and a Cafec Abaca filter using the Lance Hedrick Two-Pour recipe (with Tales Coffee stir after final pour).  The overall flavor was pretty muted and I think it has to due with the age of the beans. I drank that cup but decided to toss out the last dose of beans in that bag. I figure I still have three bags going right now (two full size bags and one sample bag) that need tending to.

Today's brew was Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabdy, MA) - Simple Summer beans using the plastic 2.0 April Brewer with an April filter using the regular April Coffee Recipe. This was the first time using this recipe with my current grinder and I was pleased with the results.

I have a few videos and notes stashed away on cupping, but I saw this video today and enjoyed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsBNjhErxt0

Thanks for the easy cupping video! I may do this some day, but I don't often have even 2 bags open. Sounds like fun, though, and something to try.

Thanks for the easy cupping video! I may do this some day, but I don't often have even 2 bags open. Sounds like fun, though, and something to try.

You are welcome.

I don't normally have more than one bag open at a time, but I will take advantage of the extra beans I have now and give this video's instructions a try.
It is supposed to help you learn to identify tasting notes in coffees.

What I really plan to do with coffee cupping is to cup a new bag of beans before I try any other brewer/recipe to get an idea of what the beans could/should taste like if I brew them properly. That way I have a target to shoot for when I brew those beans with another brewer/recipe instead of guessing if a bad brew was from my technique or how the beans were roasted. I have recently learned that poorly roasted beans can cause weird taste shifts in your cup (including flavors similar to channeling issues).

I know different brewers/recipes can bring out different flavors/aspects of the beans, but with cupping I would have a ballpark idea of what flavors are possible from a given set of beans. I figure it will also use less beans than if I used my smallest French press (Planetary Designs Double Shot French press mug).

Today's brew was with Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabody, MA) - Simple Summer beans using the Varia FLO with the optional 'Fast 1' screen and a Kalita 185 filter using the Alternative Brewing 4:6 recipe with a target of balanced acidity and sweetness, medium body, with 2nd bloom.

I did not get any of the tasting notes with the settings I used but in the end, it was OK coffee. I have had much better results with the same settings/recipe but with the 'Medium 1' screen.

What I really plan to do with coffee cupping is to cup a new bag of beans before I try any other brewer/recipe to get an idea of what the beans could/should taste like if I brew them properly. That way I have a target to shoot for when I brew those beans with another brewer/recipe instead of guessing if a bad brew was from my technique or how the beans were roasted. I have recently learned that poorly roasted beans can cause weird taste shifts in your cup (including flavors similar to channeling issues).

I know different brewers/recipes can bring out different flavors/aspects of the beans, but with cupping I would have a ballpark idea of what flavors are possible from a given set of beans. I figure it will also use less beans than if I used my smallest French press (Planetary Designs Double Shot French press mug).

Yes, this is what I want to do as well. I didn't do it this morning and will try to tomorrow. I'll have to get the instructions from the video, as I've got times and amounts jumbled in my gray matter!