Hairbender and Ethiopian Wondo

This morning was my attempt to fix whatever went wrong with yesterday’s bitter Ethiopian Wondo which I had brewed via the Aeropress – using Sweet Maria’s brewing instructions rather than the instructions that came with the Aeropress. The Aeropress calls for brew temps at 175F and that just seems a bit too low.

First, I had to be properly caffeinated, so I decided that I’d pull myself a double of Hairbender and make a cappa for my wife. I dosed 18grams of the hairbender and pulled 2oz in 22secs. My espresso machine is a FrancisFrancis X5 and not being PID’d, I just have to trust that the boiler is heating the water to the right temp. I don’t follow the lights on the machine to tell me when the water is ready. Rather, I let it heat up for 15mins. Previous experiments have already told me that the temp is hot enough, I just can’t dial it in to a precise temp – say i want to pull a shot at 197F instead of 199F – tough luck for me, I just have to go with what the boiler gives me unless I feel like temp surfing – a method by which one flips the steam switch to heat the boiler up even more, then pulls blank shots to cool to a certain temp. Nonetheless, I was pleased with the pulls this morning. The coloring was beautiful with amazing tiger striping as it poured. Nice head of crema sitting on top. The espresso was delicious – sweet, chocolatey and of course a hint of citrus sitting in there. My wife enjoyed her cappa so much that I joined her and made a cappa for myself – that’s 4 shots of espresso for me to start the day.

Now, for redemption of the Ethiopina Wondo. I used 44 grams and heated the water to 200F. Initially, I bring the water to a boil, then I pre-wet the filter and pour out the excess water from the pre-wetting. I start the grinder, grinding at the last moment to keep it as fresh as possible, and in the meantime take temps using a K-type thermocouple. At 200F, I pour in just enough to prewet the grounds and let it form a head on the coffee. Then I pour in just enough to cover the grounds. As the coffee is brewing, I keep the water temp at 200F and keep pouring in just enough to keep the level above the grounds. When the coffee reaches the “bump” on the front of brewer I’m done. Voila! Some delicious brew this morning. The bitterness was gone and the coffee was delicious.

Tomorrow I will try a ristretto style shot with the Hairbender. I’m going to updose from 18grams to 22grams and stop the shot at 20 secs and see if I can get an even sweeter shot.