GoodShave's Coffee Journal

Great to hear! Looks like you enjoyed experimenting.

Great to hear! Looks like you enjoyed experimenting.

I definitely enjoy experimenting with brews. I find it fascinating that a small change in pour, a change in recipe or a change in brewer can make the same beans generate a different flavor. That not only comes in handy with enhancing the flavors you like, it also helps to de-emphasize the flavors you do not like.

Thanks again for the recommendation!

Experimenting is fun, and it as a bonus/benefit, I love discovering that a roast I didn't care for by one method is redeemed by another. Add in the tweaks you mentioned, David, and it has been enough to make me keep a notebook in the coffee cabinet to jot down what I did, so that I can repeat it or not, depending on the results.

I

Experimenting is fun, and it as a bonus/benefit, I love discovering that a roast I didn't care for by one method is redeemed by another. Add in the tweaks you mentioned, David, and it has been enough to make me keep a notebook in the coffee cabinet to jot down what I did, so that I can repeat it or not, depending on the results.

Eric,

I am so glad you are enjoying your coffee journey and that you have found my random notes helpful.

I overshot one pour with the Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabdy, MA) - Costa Rica La Pastora yesterday and had an excellent cup with slightly different tasting notes. I hit the pours today with those beans and had a different cup that was also excellent (and hit almost all the tasting notes). I am not sure which cup I enjoyed more. Maybe my overshot from yesterday!

You have to love delicious mistakes.

Today's brew was Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabdy, MA) - Costa Rica La Pastora using the glass Kalita Wave 155 with Kalita 155 filter and the Kurasu 4-Pour recipe. It was a good cup especially for the first time using this recipe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcKtGV7pRzM

I came across this video from a Dutch (?) YouTuber, regarding sour coffee, which I battle with on medium-light to light roasts. What I pulled from it is that maybe, using the very filtered water that I have, I don't have enough KH? I always heard that you need the best water for good coffee, and I assumed that meant pure, filtered, not hard, water. We have a whole house water filter, and then the refrigerator has a built-in filter, so we have delicious, cold water from the fridge dispenser. But what if I tried just from the tap?

Unbelievably, the first two cups, using different roasters, tasted different than I remembered. Even better. So I am about to try a lighter roasted coffee and see if it is improved by this idea of needing some "hardness" in the water. 

One of the suggestions was to find out the hardness where the roaster works, as that is most likely the water they use to taste-test the roasts, and then adjust your water to match. That is too much for me. But this video states that making some of these changes allowed him to taste the notes that the roaster listed on the bag!

I came across this video from a Dutch (?) YouTuber, regarding sour coffee, which I battle with on medium-light to light roasts. What I pulled from it is that maybe, using the very filtered water that I have, I don't have enough KH? I always heard that you need the best water for good coffee, and I assumed that meant pure, filtered, not hard, water. We have a whole house water filter, and then the refrigerator has a built-in filter, so we have delicious, cold water from the fridge dispenser. But what if I tried just from the tap?

Unbelievably, the first two cups, using different roasters, tasted different than I remembered. Even better. So I am about to try a lighter roasted coffee and see if it is improved by this idea of needing some "hardness" in the water. 

One of the suggestions was to find out the hardness where the roaster works, as that is most likely the water they use to taste-test the roasts, and then adjust your water to match. That is too much for me. But this video states that making some of these changes allowed him to taste the notes that the roaster listed on the bag!

Thanks Eric!
I will have to try that as well.
I currently use Zero Water filters since I like the flavor of the water they make, but I will have to do a comparison with tap and see which I prefer.

Lately, I have been trying the James Perry Coffee - 4 Pour Recipe with my glass April brewer. For the beans I am currently using (Atomic Coffee Roasters (Peabdy, MA) - Costa Rica La Pastora) I have hit at least one good setting for these beans. I am still dialing in the grind size for this recipe/bean combination but all of the brews have been drinkable and one has been really good.

https://jamesperrycoffee.com/blog/demyst...rt-version

I also saw that Sibarist now makes filters specifically for the April brewer. I have plenty of April filters as well as Kalita filters, so I don't know if I will invest in Sibarist filters or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqSzCipl0ik

celestino I ran across this pair of recipes for the Hario Switch and thought I would post them for you.
It is by Kurasu Kyoto. I have enjoyed their Kalita Wave and Varia FLO recipes so I thought I would try the Hario Switch recipes as well.
The video is in Japanese but if you turn on the closed captions, you can read the English translation.
I like that that the recipe only calls for 10g of beans. This is the smallest dose for any recipe that I have ever tried. That will come in handy when I get towards the end of a bag.
I am trying the hybrid recipe at the moment but plant to try the immersion recipe as well.
Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ9dfJIn9wQ

I finished up all the coffees I had going except for the Bridge City Fell & Fair (maybe halfway through that. I am liking it, especially for work!). So I was digging through the box from Jim's Organic that came earlier in the summer. It should have two bags in it, but it had 4! I forgot that I bought 2 bags of Wicked Joe Coffee last month. And I found the last bag from Trade Coffee, which is a Limited Release from Atomic Coffee Roasters, Guatemala Union Cantinil! So after I read your post above, I opened it up and am enjoying a cup now! It is a medium-light roast, described as having notes of blood orange, vanilla buttercream, and round. I like it better than any lighter medium roast to date! 

And I may start another bag, as one of the Wicked Joe roasts is Guatemala Huehuetenango, medium roast, described as Tropical Fruit, Caramel, Chocolate. https://www.wickedjoe.com/guatemalan-coffee

I already of Jim's Organic Guatemala on subscription, I like it that much!

Hey Eric,

I just ordered a bag of Wicked Joe Guatemala Huehuetenango. How did it work for you?