Thanks for the lead. Currently overstocked but couldn’t resist to order Campo Hermoso (pink burbon). Any suggestion for resting?
Picked these up at Whole Foods Brea. On sale for $13 with prime. Roasted 4 days ago. Very happy. La Mill and Espresso Republic are our favorite beans at Whole Foods. If we’re driving around and can get Keans or Portola that makes us happy too.
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I just got a bag of beans from a roaster I usually like that have been super super disappointing. I don’t know what happened, exactly, but I can’t coax a single bit of flavor out of them, they’re totally bland. Anyone have any tips for things I could play with to maybe salvage something?
I’ve tried all sorts of grinds, messed with temperature and time, and used both a chemex and an aeropress with a few different methods on each.
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Maybe try a cold brew with them instead? Maybe send a nicely worded email to the roaster saying you normally love their coffee but this batch is flat AF.
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Sorry, I just had to laugh out loud reading that b/c I could totally see that on a T-shirt: “Flat AF.” And then people asking me what the hell it’s referring to.
Back on topic.
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have you tried doubling the amount of beans you’re using per batch brewed?
I got some espresso recently that was just too acidic/harsh for me and I had to experiment with my coffee prep to get it to where it was drinkable for me (I did all the things that you did also, except change brewing method). I found that using less beans worked, so maybe in your case more beans might be better?
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It’s always good to do a reference check i do 18:1 so i often do 45g of grounds and 810g water
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Thanks all, great suggestions! Think I’ll try to go stronger next time, and then do cold brew if that doesn’t work.
My go to brew is pretty strong already, using a chemex recipe that I got from Luminous coffee that has worked pretty well for beans of similar origin and roast level. The ratio is about 14.5:1, 350g water for 24g coffee.
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What’s the roast date of the beans? Water, process and varietals can also make a difference.
Curious, any suggestions where I can donate a few lbs of freshly ground coffee (likely from cheapest bulk beans I can find at Costco)?
Btw are you using chemex filters? Totally un scientific but sometimes I think that filter kills the aroma of more delicate coffee. On one bean i switched to regular drip with a good quality filter and it brought back the aromatics of the coffee i had been hoping for
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Well, this got as close to working as I think I’m going to get - thanks! I ended up brewing about 1.5x strength, ~10:1 water:beans, and finally got some acceptable flavor.
I don’t know precisely the science of caffeine extraction, but I definitely found myself buzzing. Psychosomatic or not, I think I will retreat to cold brew with these next.
@aaqjr very interesting to hear about chemex filters! I am using them, I wonder if that could be a factor with this coffee. I don’t think I’m going to go to that length for these beans at this point, but if I run into this again in the future it’s something I’ll definitely investigate. Thanks!
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glad to hear it’s closer to drinkable! hopefully the cold brew will work as well.
It can be frustrating and disappointing when your tried and true method can’t be dialed in after a couple pots of coffee with new beans. Plus who wants to throw away a bag of coffee if you can make it work in some way.
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It’s been a while since some of my favorite African coffees have been available. Can’t wait to brew this one.
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Back to Maru for the first time in awhile, specifically their Arts District location.
The single origin Ethiopia blend they have now is outstanding. Beans are on the upper end price wise but they give a free drip coffee or cold brew in store.
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how is the line there? the one in los feliz seems to have an interminable line…
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It was about 10 people deep when I arrived, so not quite Los Feliz levels but be prepared to wait a bit!
Whole Foods in Brea has a great local selection and keeps mixing it up. They started carrying Tectonic recently which we ordered many times during the early days of the pandemic. There is a new roaster Laguna Coffee I’ve yet to try. One of the newer beans that we enjoy are Sir Owlvericks from Anaheim. Female and minority owned
These two guys are also in the rotation.
whoever runs the Brea WF coffee bean section is killing it
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I’ve seen a very similar selection at WFs in West LA. We really are spoiled.
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Anybody ever have an egg coffee? Looks good but maybe on the sweet side. Might drive down one weekend to try if anybody has a recommendation.
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