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What coffee are you drinking just now?

I just had some Taylor's Sunday Morning something or other, it was all I could find when we ran out. It's really weak and pissy so I won't be drinking much coffee until the Waitrose Monsoon Malabar beans arrive.
We tend not to change our coffee as we both really like the Waitrose one.
 
Dominican Republic Pico Duarte - gorgeous, almost chocolate-y...a sort of (slightly budget) Blue Mountain

In truth, not really as fussed about coffee as I only usually have one a day....unlike tea, which I am fantastically snotty about.
 
I don't think I have much of a palate to be honest - I think I may have lost it over time.

I've been drinking exactly the same blend of tea all day at work for the best part of 30 years now and I mistreat it hugely so it isn't at all consistent - multiply-infused, left overnight, hot, cold ....

I struggle to understand how for years before that I used to drink pure Oolong, I always mix it with Keemun these days to give it some guts.

I only drink coffee twice a week - Saturday and Sunday and take some care, but I have a recollection in my head of coffees I drank in the past - poorly-ground, stored and made, but distinctive and I just can't find that these days.
 
zenie said:
Percol americano...
Click to expand...
That's my current supermarket fave!

I've just bought some coffee from Climpson's though, from Kiunyu, Kenya. Forgetting the price, omfg. Just the smell of it in my pannier made me want to snog strangers in the street. It's gorgeous. They gave me a taste of their Ethiopian beans in the shop too and it was interesting. Nice but not one for every day at home. Climpson's is the only place nearby that roasts light enough for my taste. Shame my mate doesn't do the roasting any more though (£7 :oops:).
 
I've just ordered some Xmas coffee from Hasbean.
"El Bosque" was my staple from my local supplier, but they only do decaf nowadays.

Guatemala El Bosque Amatitlan Washed Red Bourbon.
£6.00

Guatemala Finca San Sebastian Natural Bourbon.
£5.00

The speculative one - all the other Nicaraguans are more than twice the price ...

Nicaragua Finca Limoncillo Natural Red Pacamara 'Funky'.
£5.50
 
First day of my 3 week Hasbean coffee fest and I go for the joker.

Nicaragua Finca Limoncillo Natural Red Pacamara 'Funky'.
£5.50
In the cup straight away there's that funk, BOOM right in your face! Then you find the booziness coming through, a lot like the boozy you get from a good red wine and the same fantastic silky mouthfeel that just coats your tongue in flavour. Finally there's a soft strawberry that continues on to finish the cup and provide a delicately sweet end to the rollercoaster ride.
Click to expand...

I struggle to apply the word "fruity" because I can never honestly say I taste the fruits they describe, but this is definitely close to the Nicaraguan I used to buy - sort of a "beefy" bouillon (though I haven't actually tasted beef for 33 years ...)

I reckon this will lend itself to blending with something with a little more body and "chocolate" ...
 
Day 2 and it's the turn of my old favourite.

Guatemala El Bosque Amatitlan Washed Red Bourbon.
£6.00

This coffee is a world exclusive; we buy every single Bourbon bean from this farm. The rest of the coffee we also bought this year and after the success of last year sent most of it for decaffeination. We are the only people you can get this current crop of coffee from.
Click to expand...
:hmm:
This explains why I haven't been able to get it locally for years. :p

In the cup expect sweetness; smooth milk chocolate with a grape acidity that's very pleasing, with hints of cherry and apple, and a spicy blast on the back end. Delicious espresso, delightful brewed coffee, and a real all rounder.
Click to expand...

I didn't get any of that, but it's instantly back to being my reference coffee.
Well balanced, no hint of bitterness.

--------------------
All the beans are being freshly hand-ground in the same way. Perhaps I ought to ask a favour from a microscopist or earth-scientist and work out the grain size ...

Then approx 30 seconds in an inverted aeropress with plenty of stirring - the boiling water probably spoils it.
 
Currently we are using Lavazza Rosso, it seems to be one the very few that I can drink without it giving me a bad stomach.
 
It seems a bit unlikely that coffees could have different effects like that ... :hmm:
I'm guessing that it's only caffeine that would have a physiological effect ..
My coffees are probably rather strong - I would never drink coffee at work.

EDIT :- in retrospect I'm guessing it's a gross assumption to assume it's only caffeine that gives the bitter flavour ... I may have to go and google a bit.
 
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Day 3 and it's time for :-

Guatemala Finca San Sebastian Natural Bourbon.
£5.00

Today's test possibly a little skewed by having it with low sugar beans on toast made from 2 day old wholemeal and tahini instead of butter ...which ordinarily I would only have with tea - but I neglected to bring any home and don't feel like cycling all the way there just to collect some ....

In the cup expect a huge body. This is full of raisins and dark chocolate. It's a clean natural with a chewy body and great balance.
Click to expand...

This one is somewhere in between the previous two - very much at the beef bouillon end of the spectrum, but definitely masses of dark chocolate - in a blind test I might almost have believed it was cocoa - with just the teeniest suggestion that if I'd brewed it longer it might have developed some bitterness - though nowhere near the Finca La Fany level of bitterness - I struggled to make a pleasant cup from that - or rather I wasn't prepared to change the grind and water temperature to find out.

So let me see ... I have 4 coffees including the remains of the nice but bland Brazilian - so how many two way blends is that ? (I'm barely numerate these days)
 
@ gentlegree

When were the beans roasted? Most coffee from hasbean is best 2-4 weeks in as a rule of thumb.

Also how are you storing and what method/machine are you preping with?
 
superfly101 said:
@ gentlegree

When were the beans roasted? Most coffee from hasbean is best 2-4 weeks in as a rule of thumb.

Also how are you storing and what method/machine are you preping with?
Click to expand...
They claim to roast to order .... though I have to say it didn't exactly froth volcanically ...
My usual supplier literally never has coffee more than two days old but they've disappointed me recently.

Since I can't get good coffee locally and I only drink it when I'm home it inevitably hangs around for several weeks.

The Hasbeans come in resealable ziploks ...

We'll see how the flavour changes over the next three weeks.

As I said before - hand-ground in a burr grinder then 30 seconds in an inverted Aeropress - stirred, with water that's probably a few degrees too hot.
 
Day 4 and the first of the blends.

I suspect this will be a very brief period of experimentation.
Having decided straight away that the Guatemala El Bosque is near-perfect, I won't be blending it and will instead be having it every two or three days as a reference.

Given I have 500g of less than perfect coffee and only 250g of good, I may well have to order some more of whatever facilitates the best blend so it gets me through the next three weeks and isn't wasted.

1 scoop each of :-

Cup Of Excellence- Fazenda Sertaozinho £8.75 per 250g

Nicaragua Finca Limoncillo Natural Red Pacamara 'Funky'.
£5.50

The Brazilian lacked high notes and the Nicaraguan was all top notes - I should have stressed that it made a fairly thin "beef bouillon" . When I had it decades ago I was probably making it very unscientifically in a cafetiere and it seemed a bit more "chewy".

This makes a very good blend - if a little full-on.
Super-rich, super-chocolatey, but with the fruity acidity added back in.
I may dilute it a bit next time.
 
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Depends on your aeropress technique.

I'm using a De'Longhi Magnifica ECAM22.320.S Bean-to-Cup Coffee Machine which makes a dam fine coffee.

I mentioned roasting date as coffee can actually be too freshly roasted! It needs a few days to settle. It's one of the reasons most chains serve okay but not brilliant coffee.

For storage I use 750 ml Le Parfait glass jam jars (holds 250g on beans) and keep them in a dark cupboard.

I in year 4 now of hasbeans weekly In My Mug subscription and currently have/am drinking

CHRISTMAS ESPRESSO BLEND 2014
50% Costa Rica El Pedregal,
30% El Sal La Gloria Red Pacas and Bourbon Washed,
20% Kenya Othaya Chinga Natural SL28 and SL34 NH

&

EL SALVADOR FINCA LA ILUSION NATURAL BOURBON

This is next up and in the post so might get here today???

CHRISTMAS FILTER BLEND 2014
40% Kenya Karugiro AB Washed SL28,
40% Guatemala Finca El Libano Typica and Caturra,
20% Guatemala Finca San Sebastian Pacamara Washed
 
Funny that - my localish shop (several miles and a couple of hundred feet to climb) refuses to stock beans that were roasted more than 2 days previously - so ironically tasting the coffee in the shop probably isn't ideal ...
I'm not keen on the first wine from a new bottle - perhaps it's because I buy cheap wine (blended French pinot noir)
Recently I've taken to decanting some of the new bottle into the previous one and shaking it about to lose that "New World" ribena overkill ...

I don't treat my beans well - I don't actually drink much coffee so by the time I get a fresh batch, the beans have been in a twisted laminated pack for several weeks - I can tell the difference, but my palate isn't amazing - I'm only a borderline coffee drinker.
 
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Anyway, day 4 and it's blend number 2.

Cup Of Excellence- Fazenda Sertaozinho £8.75 per 250g

Guatemala Finca San Sebastian Natural Bourbon.
£5.00 per 250g

This is quite a surprise. I didn't credit the Nicaraguan with having much body at all, but it seemed to make the Brazilian even more rich.
Adding the slightly acidic natural medium-body Guatemalan has lightened the Brazilian while it in turn has masked the hint of bitterness in the Guatemalan - bringing it closer to the reference El Bosque - though I will have to alternate the two to be sure.

The Brazilian is certainly a good base for blending - so I'd better get my order in - and get some jars organised because I'm going to have coffee hanging around for a bit.

I almost took a punt on some Aldi coffee yesterday to blend with, but they only had ground. I learned my lesson with my local Deli - all their beans are hideously stale.
Marks and Sparks is an option though - I've had quite pleasant coffee from them ...I was meaning to get into town at some point - mainly for Waitrose ...
 
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