What coffee are you drinking just now?

[platinumsage]

 

[gentlegreen]

Just ordered 500g more of the El Borbollon - so good for 31 days neat, 45 days blended.

 

[Chz]

Ana Sora from Hasbean.
Classic Ethiopian, big orange blossom and blueberry notes. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have for a change, even though I wouldn't want it all month long.

 

[gentlegreen]

Coffee situation is distinctly precarious and my local supplier isn't letterbox-friendly, so I may go for the only chocolatey coffee currently listed on Hasbean ...

Guatemala San Patricio El Limon Washed Pache

This coffee is a washed lot of Pache grown by Beto Reyes on his farm San Patricio El Limon in Palencia, Guatemala. It has tasting notes of Bourbon biscuit, brown sugar, green apple and walnut. Hasbean - freshly roasted coffee from our roastery in Staffordshire.

www.hasbean.co.uk

Hopefully I won't have to resort to my emergency stash - postal deliveries are patchy here because of the pestilence...

 

[gentlegreen]

First impressions are a bit disappointing - but the beans are only just roasted...
The freshly-opened bag had a promising midrange funk.
At the same grind setting, the grinds felt a bit gritty when I stirred - as if they shattered more coarsely ... though I brewed for a reasonably long time - perhaps less than usual because it was hot bread from the machine, not toast ...

The balance is interesting - slightly lacking in chocolate, but just enough acidity, and a touch of the Indonesian "bong water" complexity - quite a lot going on in the midrange.

Perfectly drinkable .

I'll give it a few days before ordering some more El Borbollon to blend - I have a few of those beans left so I can experiment.


EDIT:- reinfused the grounds and there's a fair bit of acidity and maybe some of the missing bass notes ..so a longer brew tomorrow.

 

[gentlegreen]

On impulse I ran my grounds through the grinder a second time and I got a much more even grind and a fair bit more flavour out - and my head is spinning ... perhaps I need to pack out the spring in my grinder a bit after 10 years ...

Quite pleasant - not very chocolatey, but it may yet grow on me.

 

[gentlegreen]

An extra two clicks tighter on my grinder and a generous brew time and two days running this coffee is going down very well - it's within a gnat's crotchet of optimal.
I'll see if anything super-chocolatey turns up over the next couple of weeks ...

 

[gentlegreen]

I've left it rather late again so ordered from Hasbean again for coffee that will fit through my letterbox.
A Bolivian. but this one stewed anaerobically in a barrel ... if it turns out to lack chocolate I'll order more from my local roaster.

An elegant and complex coffee, there's a dark chocolate but with delicate berry notes throughout and a hint of pink grapefruit, before a softly floral finish.

Bolivia Finca Floripondio Anaerobic Washed Typica

An anaerobic washed processed Typica grown by the Rodriguez Family at Finca Floripondio in Samaipata, Bolivia. This coffee has tasting notes of dark chocolate, berry, pink grapefruit and florals. Hasbean - freshly roasted coffee from our roastery in Staffordshire.

www.hasbean.co.uk

 

[twistedAM]

Lavazza Instant - two teaspoons

 

[weltweit]

Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino, cold from the fridge.

Ridiculously expensive, but lush.

 

[gentlegreen]

Scraping my jars while I wait for the new delivery.
50/50 of the Guatemalan and the Twoday El Salvador El Borbollon.
For some reason I didn't try this earlier and it's very nice indeed - super-rich.

I'm definitely going to order some more El Borbollon this week and if the Bolivian doesn't work out I may order some more of the Guatemalan.

 

[gentlegreen]

Day 2 of Jar scraping and it was 5 month old disappointing Brazilian, plus 1/3 of the Indonesian...
Distinctly meh - starting with the grinding - definitely at the chewy end of the spectrum..

Not much to say really .. it was still preferable to "posh instant"
The yeast extract on my toast helped to mask the staleness.

 

[gentlegreen]

I couldn't face any more of the stale Brazilian, so today it was the last 8 grammes of the Guatemala, the last 2 grammes of the El Borbollon, plus 6 grammes of the Indonesian bong water.
Very acceptable - would try again ...

If the new beans don't come today, tomorrow I will probably do something with the 9 month old Guatemala El Bosque emergency beans.

 

[DaphneM]

Gold Blend

 

[gentlegreen]

9 month old Guatemala El Bosque plus 1/3 Indonesian bong water.
Not quite as nice as yesterday's but distinctly less awful than Monday's effort.
My umami breakfast hides a multitude of sins.

 

[gentlegreen]

Day 1 of the "stewed in a barrel" Bolivian Typica beans.
A slight funky note to the un-ground beans.

Moderate acidity and a well-rounded unidentifiable fruityness - not like the mineral "bong water" of the Indonesian.
At this early stage it is a midrange-heavy bean - somewhat light on the chocolate, so I've ordered some El Borbollon to blend.

 

[gentlegreen]

Well that worked out very well.
My chocolatey El Salvador beans have arrived much sooner than expected and I was here to receive them.
They do indeed smell exactly like chocolate, but I've had my caffeine limit for the day so it will have to wait until tomorrow - when I should also have a fresh loaf of bread to go with it
So I'm OK for coffee until mid-November.

 

[gentlegreen]

I had the fresh El Borbollon yesterday.

Dark roast, very rich - but still not a repeat of the amazing pure chocolate batch I had in 2020.
Today I added 1/3 of the funky Bolivian and it's a winning combo - seriously well-rounded - though it's early days yet for both beans so difficult to describe - and my palate is a variable too ...

I probably should tighten the grinder back a notch or two as these beans grind very easily - though I'm a peasant and actually like a bit of grit at the end.

Now that I've finally got around to keeping my beans in preserving jars, 250g won't quite fit, so the first few brews are from beans left in the bags - so able to breathe.
Perhaps I should formally extend this to a week - or maybe even leave the lid open on the jar for a bit ...

 

[weltweit]

My corner shop has Starbucks Frappuccino for £1.00 so I just had a Mocha and a Vanilla .. very nice too .. must get back into the habit of making my own iced coffee, well worth the effort. Need to find a source of vanilla though.

 

[gentlegreen]

I tried blending with less of the funky Bolivian today and was very happy with that.
I need to resist buying another pack of the Hasbean Guatemalan because the combination with the El Borbollon was so good ... what usually happens it that by the time I'm running low on beans, the particular coffee has sold out ...

 

[gentlegreen]

I just ordered another 250g of the Guatemalan so there will be multiple combos to try.
I will have nearly 1 kilo of coffee beans - so I'm OK for 2 months.
It's more than I usually like to have hanging around, but it's getting cooler and I store my beans well these days.

 

[gentlegreen]

50/50 El Salvador El Borbollon washed Red Bourbon and the Guatemala San Patricio El Limon Washed Pache that arrived yesterday.

Yum - massive amounts of deep chocolatey "finish"
I think I'd better order some more of the Guatemala so I can have this for a long time to come.

Since I have the Bolivian, I suppose I may try a 3-way blend - if only to use it up - but it will serve very well as my new "emergency" beans.

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm half way through my stocks of the latest yummy blend and am good for another month, but I have a jar of "stewed in a barrel" Bolivian Typica beans to use up - to add a high note to something chocolatey ...

It's been a long time since I had beans from Costa Rica so I'm taking a punt on these...

Costa Rica ARBAR El Oasis

A White Honey processed mix of Caturra + Catuai grown by Carlos Arietta at El Oasis in the Western Valley of Costa Rica. This coffee has tasting notes of milk chocolate, orange, hazelnut, raisin and nougat. Hasbean - freshly roasted coffee from our roastery in Staffordshire.

www.hasbean.co.uk

"When you sip this coffee it's a little bit like someone melted the whole chocolate bar section at the shop and you're tasting your way through a range of delicious treats! Right away you'll immediately get milk chocolate and orange with just a little hazelnut and raisin too, this is a very creamy coffee that finishes with nougat."

 

[killer b]

I finished my last cup this morning of some beans from Dark Wood Coffee, which gets a big thumbs up from me - these ones: Deer Hill

 

[gentlegreen]

I finished my last cup this morning of some beans from Dark Wood Coffee, which gets a big thumbs up from me - these ones: Deer Hill

That sounds like the sort of crazy blend I might try myself

"Notes of hazelnut and chocolate"

Colombia El Ata, India Kalladavarapura, India Harley Estate, Brazil Passeio
Process: Washed, Washed, Washed, Pulped Natural
Variety: Specialty grade arabica and robusta

 

[Elpenor]

I’ve finally bought a cheapo filter coffee machine. Bought this ground coffee from Aldi to start off with, but open to other recommendations. I only drink coffee black if that’s any use.
What should I be storing the coffee in? Kilner jars? I think it may be getting damp / exposed to air in the packet now it’s been opened.

 

[MBV]

What machine did you go with? Considering getting one myself.

 

[gentlegreen]

I’ve finally bought a cheapo filter coffee machine. Bought this ground coffee from Aldi to start off with, but open to other recommendations. I only drink coffee black if that’s any use. View attachment 295675
What should I be storing the coffee in? Kilner jars? I think it may be getting damp / exposed to air in the packet now it’s been opened.

I finally got around to keeping mine in Kilners - you're FAR better off buying and storing whole beans - even if you grind them (just before use) using a nasty whizzy grinder rather than one with burrs.

 

[Elpenor]

What machine did you go with? Considering getting one myself.

I just bought the cheapest one from Argos. I didn't want to outlay too much money in case I rarely use it and I'm on a bit of a budget. This one seemed to do the same as all the other filter machines.

Here

I finally got around to keeping mine in Kilners - you're FAR better off buying and storing whole beans - even if you grind them (just before use) using a nasty whizzy grinder rather than one with burrs.

My friend told me that, beans and electric grinder. If I keep using the machine I will suss out a grinder.

 

[Des Kinvig]

it will serve very well as my new "emergency" beans.

do you keep your emergency beans in the freezer? just take a new, unopened 250g bag, squeeze as much gas out as possible then tape the valve with duct tape and stick them in the freezer. just let them come to room temperature before opening once you take them out, so they don’t get condensation on them.

i’m drinking this one at the minute. it’s pretty good, nice balance of fruity acidity and creamy chocolate-ness.