6/19/15
Brewed a cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from Red House Coffee Roasters in Union City, NJ. This coffee was roasted quite dark and was about a week old. Typically, I like drinking fresh, lighter roasted coffee that accentuate and celebrate brightness, but I trust this roaster and went for it. However, I did have to adjust my usual brewing method to accommodate the dark, and, therefore, quick extracting coffee. I did 5 things to accomplish this: cooler water temp, updosing, coarse grounds, quick extraction time, dilution post brew. Â
There’s a stark difference in extraction speed between light roasted coffee from say, Blue Bottle Coffee, versus dark coffee that is of the more traditional roast profile. Typically, I’d brew 24g/380mL in 3 minutes at 200 water temp. But doing that with this level of dark roast resulted in severely bitter flavors. So I took to experimenting, and I think I found the sweet spot today.
Brewer: Beehouse with Melitta #2 white filter Coffee: 26g Grind: Coarse, aka 1.5 turns on Lido 2 (~24 on baratza)Â Water: 340mL @ 190 Brew Length: 45mL bloom for 45 sec, 100mL until 1:15, filled up to 340mL by 1:30. Drawdown complete at 2:15 Dilution: 265mL finished yield, diluted to 310mL
Tasting notes Nose: Characteristic blueberry, hints of vanilla, caramel fudge. Really nice. In the cup: Clear blueberry acidity, velvety smooth sweetness, milk chocolate on the finish I’ve tasted this same coffee roasted lighter. I think the guys at Red House made a great decision in roasting it a shade darker. It really mellowed out some of the sharp fermented notes and coaxed out more chocolate. Beautifully done!Â