Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

Today's Shave



Oliblade set to 3
Personna Comfort Coated (3)
Ethos unscented cream
Trotter Quasar handle with AP 24mm UHD Independent knot
CaYuen Dark Nebula bowl

Yesterday I had lots of micro knicks after the ATG (razor set at 3.5). Alum stick and a cold-water splash solved the issue but had me debating using an Overlander this morning. When the time came, I girded my loins and got back up in the saddle (how's that for mixing metaphors or whatever?!!). I set the razor to 3 and was determined to only use the straight edge for the shave.

This razor shaved so mildly at 3 (and even a tad above as the knob turned when I was pressing on the collar and I forgot the setting doesn't "lock in") that I found myself using both sides, even as I was trying to stay with the straight side! Guess I need to check myself more, ha ha! But my point is that I can detect a bit more blade when on the scalloped side, which is what made me look to see what side I just use. But not enough blade to make me stop and say Whoa, Nellie!

For the curious, my spell checker had no problem with "knick" but my brain (after I submitted the post) made me check to make sure that it wasn't nick, which I was thinking as a man's name. Well, the interwebs are on both sides, but the majority seem to say "knick" is incorrect. Ah well, I imagine we can all deal with this!

FWIW Eric, it does knot matter to me won weigh oar the other.

  <groan>

I always thought it was nick, probably because of this

Fluffy Industries 86 S handle with an AP 24mm Cashmere knot
Murphy & McNeil Nil
Karve Overlander
Personna Comfort Coated (4)

A wonderful lather and shave. Have a good day!

Since I had a long weekend, and a new bag of coffee from Trade Coffee (Honduras Angel BBs from Gimmie Coffee, Ithica, NY), I decided to do some experimenting. This coffee had flavor notes that made my wife and I smile, as one was "baked apple crumb cake!" That could be a lot of things, sweet, cinnamon, tangy, vanilla, etc. Sadly, I cannot taste it. And why BBs? Well, apparently, these are small beans that often get rejected, so this roaster "With careful sorting we create a future for this often overlooked part of the coffee harvest, which means producers are able to receive the revenue they deserve." 

The struggle I am having (And Good Shave please feel free to weigh in, and any other coffee aficionados) is getting a cup that doesn't hit my tongue as being too acidic. I have tried the 4:6 method, doing the bloom that enhances sweetness over acidity, and only note a minor improvement. The best cup this weekend was a French press done with 2/3 Angel BBs and 1/3 left over Midnight Oil, another medium roast, one from Anodyne Coffee Roasters in Milwaukee. That cup was almost perfect as far as flavor and smoothness and mouthfeel. I tried to repeat it this morning with all Angel BBs, and had a more acidic cup. 

I will have to look at extraction, as under extracted coffee can be acidic or sour tasting. Maybe I need to pour slower? Or grind finer? 

For comparison, I am drinking from 2 cups now (no, I won't finish both as I don't need to be that caffeinated!), done one after the other, and trying to hold all the variables constant. One cup is Angel BBs and the other is Colombian from Jim's Organic Coffee (West Wareham, MA). Jim's is my main source of coffee, and I like a good half dozen or more of his roasts, so I knew this would be good. What was emphasized to my tasting was the sourness of the Angel BBs. Not a horrible, spit it out, sourness. Just more than I like sourness. 

Similar to starting wet shaving, I am tempted to change all the variables all the time! But I am trying diligently to only change 1 thing at a time. If I hadn't had my allotment of coffee already, I'd probably try another Angel BBs but go with a finer grind in order to slow down the pour. I could try pouring slower, but I can get distracted while pouring and go too fast, so I think making the grounds finer would work. 

As for shaving, I have been using the Karve razors this weekend, aluminum and stainless Overlander, and the Bison this morning. All with a Personna Comfort Coated blade, and mostly with the AP UHD Independent knot. Soaps have been different each morning, but if I recall, they were Aspen Parkland (MacDuff), Denton Majick Unscented, and Sensitive Skin (Mystic Water Soap). No red, no leaking, and smooth finishes. Only issue, my upper lip has a pimple trying to appear, so it is a red mound that tempts the blade to just slice it open!! (TMI, I know. Sorry!)

Since I had a long weekend, and a new bag of coffee from Trade Coffee (Honduras Angel BBs from Gimmie Coffee, Ithica, NY), I decided to do some experimenting. This coffee had flavor notes that made my wife and I smile, as one was "baked apple crumb cake!" That could be a lot of things, sweet, cinnamon, tangy, vanilla, etc. Sadly, I cannot taste it. And why BBs? Well, apparently, these are small beans that often get rejected, so this roaster "With careful sorting we create a future for this often overlooked part of the coffee harvest, which means producers are able to receive the revenue they deserve." 

The struggle I am having (And Good Shave please feel free to weigh in, and any other coffee aficionados) is getting a cup that doesn't hit my tongue as being too acidic. I have tried the 4:6 method, doing the bloom that enhances sweetness over acidity, and only note a minor improvement. The best cup this weekend was a French press done with 2/3 Angel BBs and 1/3 left over Midnight Oil, another medium roast, one from Anodyne Coffee Roasters in Milwaukee. That cup was almost perfect as far as flavor and smoothness and mouthfeel. I tried to repeat it this morning with all Angel BBs, and had a more acidic cup. 

I will have to look at extraction, as under extracted coffee can be acidic or sour tasting. Maybe I need to pour slower? Or grind finer? 

For comparison, I am drinking from 2 cups now (no, I won't finish both as I don't need to be that caffeinated!), done one after the other, and trying to hold all the variables constant. One cup is Angel BBs and the other is Colombian from Jim's Organic Coffee (West Wareham, MA). Jim's is my main source of coffee, and I like a good half dozen or more of his roasts, so I knew this would be good. What was emphasized to my tasting was the sourness of the Angel BBs. Not a horrible, spit it out, sourness. Just more than I like sourness. 

Similar to starting wet shaving, I am tempted to change all the variables all the time! But I am trying diligently to only change 1 thing at a time. If I hadn't had my allotment of coffee already, I'd probably try another Angel BBs but go with a finer grind in order to slow down the pour. I could try pouring slower, but I can get distracted while pouring and go too fast, so I think making the grounds finer would work.

Hey Eric, I am sorry this one coffee is being a challenge. I know it can be very frustrating not getting a good cup of coffee from a bag of beans no matter what you try. I will through some random thoughts your way to see if they are helpful.

I went digging through my coffee notes looking for tips about acidity. 

I think you are on the right track about under extraction as this site mentioned that under extraction could create unbearably acidic brews. If you are hitting sourness as well, that would lead me to think under extracted as beans as well. I followed your link to the page for these beans and they really don't tell you about the acidity level for the beans. I also wonder what the size of these beans do to the flavor of the beans. I think of 'pea berry' coffee beans that have a distinctive taste if I remember correctly.

Some coffees are higher in acidity than other. I looked through Hoffmann's 'How to make the best coffee at home' and on page 32 (at least in my Kindle app), he said that coffees that mention pome fruit (apple, pears, etc) tasting notes would have relatively high acidity. From one of his videos, he said that cooked fruit descriptions would be less acidic than non-cooked flavors but you would still expect them to a little acidic. This page mentioned that Costa Rican and Guatemalan coffees are known for their acidity. Honduras is right next door to Guatemala, so maybe their coffees have a lot of acidity as well.

Using a V60 can pull out more acidity of a coffee. If I am brewing a coffee that is very acidic, I would go for a flat bottom brewer instead. Going with the French Press was a good call as well. You could try cupping the beans and see if the acidity is there as well. I saw a video a long time ago that mentioned hotter water brings out sweetness while cooler water brings out acidity. So maybe increase your water temperature. You could also try playing with your coffee to water ratio. I saw a Tales Coffee video mentioning adjusting the ratio in relation to acidity but he did not expound enough on the topic to understand what he meant.

One thing I do with coffees that just don't brew well for me is to make cold brew concentrate using my French Press and serve it a mug at a time with 50% milk.
Here is my favorite recipe of cold brew with the French Press.

Here is Hoffmann's video that mentioned coffees with cooked fruits in the tasting notes being less acidic than coffees with non-cooked fruit tasting notes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9YnLFrM7Fs

Thank you so much for the tips, Good Shave !! I will be trying them out soon. I did try a finer grind, and while it had less of acidity, it was also too heavy or thick. I kept all variables constant except grind size.

I really like the idea of a flat bottom dripper. I have a Bee House flat bottom that I will try next.

Again, thanks for the help!

Love your signature Eric

Love your signature Eric 

Not too many know of the "chimes" of the modem any more, unless they can hear a fax machine!