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What's Brewing - 2011

I don't usually do coffee on weekday mornings, but the stars aligned for this one. The iRoast is boxed up (for a buyer that fell through - still available) and the Behmor isn't landing until Thursday (no time to roast and rest for the weekend). We were out at our local Earth Fare (hippy food store) and needed to spend $10 to score some free local/organic chicken salad (which the wifey loves). There it was - a 12oz bag of locally-roasted coffee I'd been wanting to sample, date on the bag - April 5. Edit: Did I mention the $1 coupon beside it? That'll do nicely.

Good cuppa, thanks to Chemex + Kone. It's mostly body and spice, no brightness or acidity to speak of - yet clean. Very nice.

Edit 2 (thanks Jasonian): Counter Culture 1922 Mocha & Java is the coffee, btw...
 
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I don't usually do coffee on weekday mornings, but the stars aligned for this one. The iRoast is boxed up (for a buyer that fell through - still available) and the Behmor isn't landing until Thursday (no time to roast and rest for the weekend). We were out at our local Earth Fare (hippy food store) and needed to spend $10 to score some free local/organic chicken salad (which the wifey loves). There it was - a 12oz bag of locally-roasted coffee I'd been wanting to sample, date on the bag - April 5. Edit: Did I mention the $1 coupon beside it? That'll do nicely.

Good cuppa, thanks to Chemex + Kone. It's mostly body and spice, no brightness or acidity to speak of - yet clean. Very nice.
You didn't tell us what the coffee is. :blink:
 
I know it's not premium enough for some of you connoisseurs, but I just ground some Eight O'Clock arabica beans and pumped through my Keurig. Works for me. A delightful afternoon drink. cheers. :thumbup1:
 
Ethiopia Shakiso, to a roast I'm going to call Full City-ish on average (it's notoriously uneven). Delicious, though! Not very sharp or acidic, but there's some citrus to go with sweetness and good body (this is NOT a Sidamo) and even some spice. I bet if I through in about 30% Java with this to boost body and earth tones, I'd have a super Mocha/Java type blend.
 
Roasted some Ethiopia FTO Sidama - Shilcho Cooperative last night. Had a mug from the Clever Coffee Dripper this morning and then a french press a little later. A nice WP Ethiopia. Especially good because I haven't roasted in almost 2 months.

Ben
 
Today (and yesterday):
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I just can't get enough of this coffee. I loved it at first because it was so different. I continue to love it because of its continuous flavor evolution from serving to room temp. :thumbup:
 
Costa Rica (El Vapor farm) from Kean Coffee, located deep behind the Orange Curtain as they say. Brewed at work in my cheapo Mellita filter cone. One of the best cups I've had in a long while. It's just a raging party of flavors and aftertastes. Very nice.
 
Organic Uganda Bugisu - green beans were left over from 2010 Harvest. I roasted them to near Full City. The aroma and auto-drip brew was very enjoyable.

As a side note, I cleaned the burrs on my KitchenAid coffee grinder
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and did a measurement to see how much ground coffee was retained in the burrs/mechanism before reaching the bottom glass bin. Result was quite good:

Input: 46 grams beans --> Output: 45 grams ground coffee.
 
Ethiopia Harrar Longberry got me through the weekend. Went to FC+ per the recommendations on SM, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a crowd pleaser with enough nuance to be interesting, though it could use a blend with something more bodied.
 
What do the French call French Press? Just wonderin' ...

Starbucks East Africa blend. Tannic & over-roasted.
Not something I would've purchased (SWMBO picked it up at the local grocery),
but adequate for the morning brew when properly prepared.

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Cheers,

- Richard
 
They call it a cafetiere, I think.
I'm regaining an affection for mine, but in very limited quantities (not every day, and only one cup on any given day I drink coffee).
 
I've left out a lot of the coffee I've roasted or bought recently, but two really impressed me and I thought I'd share:

1. Counter Culture "Gemelos" - Candied ginger and general Guatemalan yumminess. It's a microlot, so snatch it while you can.
2. Sweet Maria's Brazil Fazenda Colina, roasted to Full City. It's already "too late" for this one (it came with a sampler when I got my Behmor back in April, I think it was). Tom's tasting notes suggested roasted nuts at lighter roasts, and bittersweet chocolate at darker ones. Somehow I ended up with both at Full City (though the Chemex seemed to highlight the peanut buttery flavor the most). For some reason, I got the idea in my head that Brazils were, at best, "OK" but rarely ever exceptional as a SO drip. This one was super enjoyable.
 
Three coffees this weekend; I'm roasting off of a different outlet (less voltage drop) so I'm evaluating the results. Coffee taste seems to be improved with slightly shorter roast times (yet the same target roast level) in the Behmor.

El Salvador Finca La Florida with Costa Rica Manantiales Finca Fidel - Fruit bowl underscored by mixed nuts. Really tasty. This was roasted on the new outlet, and the brightness/acidity is clearer, while the cup overall is sweeter (at City+). Very nice.

El Salvador Molina de Santa Rita - Decent, well-rounded cup, but doesn't really sparkle like the above (roasted on the old outlet to City+). No sign of the supposed orange notes, but it's certainly not bad.

I don't think the outlet made all the difference, but I think it's helping.
 
Papua New Guinea, Baroida Plantation, FC/FC+, pour-over.

This is a surprisingly sweet and fruity cup at this roast level. Yes, you can tell it's been roasted, and there's ample spice notes to be found as well - but it's all in balance. I would call this a brilliant Fall coffee, so I'm vac-packing what I have left for then.

A great example of a "common" coffee that makes you wonder why you pay so much more for anything else.
 
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