Obsessive Compulsive Coffee Disorder

Tampabay.com recently published several articles on coffee. Learn the lingo of coffee tasting is a great article that I wanted to quickly blog about because it offers some basic descriptions on tasting coffee. These fundamentals are easy to read and when utilized will allow a novice to begin to discern the differences – sometimes vast and other times subtle – between varietals. I have summarized some of the main points below. For the full article, follow this link.

Coffee is assessed much like wine and below are some of the attributes.

• aroma – how intense and pleasurable is the smell?
• acidity – not about how it feels in your stomach or sourness; bright dry sensation that brings the coffee to life.
• body – sensation of weight – how it feels on the tongue
• varietals and place of origin – provides clues to their flavors.
• finish – the after taste and sensations left after swallowing.

An article published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Effect of Coffee and Green Tea Consumption on the Risk of Liver Cancer: Cohort Analysis by Hepatitis Virus Infection Status, suggessts that coffee consumption may reduce the risk of liver cancer, regardless of a Hepatitis infection, while green tea may not. Interesting, very interesting.

Is coffee the next Acai berry? Will natural food stores start bidding on auction lots of Brazillian CoE and sell it in frozen pulp form while praising it’s health benefit? Perhaps a 3-berry anti-oxidant shake with a teaspoon of spirulina and a double pull of espresso will be the next health rage!

I’m close to finishing my bag of Ethiopian Wondo. I’ve had a lot more success with the taste of the Wondo using the Aeropress. I think my previous disappointment had stemmed from too long a brew time. I shortened the process from 30 secs to 15 secs and I’ve been pleased with the results. This morning’s brew was a cappa using Hairbender and a cup of Wondo via the Aeropress.

It’s been fun with Stumptown, but looking forward to getting back to Intelligentsia and tearing into a bag of Yummy Espresso blend.

I’ve noticed a new trend recently that I’m not pleased about. Why is it that if I buy a bag of beans from a local cafe or store, the good stuff is sold in 12oz bags instead of a true 1lb. bag? I’m paying on average $13/12oz. That’s 4oz (120grams) less which means that if I dose at say ~ 20grams/double, I’m getting shorted 6 less doubles from a bag. What gives? If I order it directly from the roaster, I get a full 16oz bag, but then I have to pay shipping costs AND wait for it to arrive, so in the end, it’s more economical to get it from the cafe. BUT, if you drink as much coffee as we do in my househould, then it means we’re blowing through a 12oz bag in under a week. Maybe I should start a petition to bring back the 16oz bags in the local cafes.  Don’t pinch from my bag! I guess it’s not all bad though. I enjoy visiting local cafe’s and having shots pulled from a La Marzocco instead of my X5.

According to a recent article on Reuters.com, coffee does not raise the risk of heart disease for men with type 2 diabetes. Even for those who consume a large amount of coffee daily. Type 2 diabetic men can drink up!

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5515AV20090602

Yesterday morning I stopped by my favorite cafe – South Side – with my wife. South Side is a great coffee shop located in the southern section of Park Slope on 6th Ave and 18th St. The decor inside is very simple – couches, tables and chairs. The shelves are not adorned in syrups and flavorings, rather french presses, a chemex brewer, and bags of Intelligentsia. The focus is on coffee, pure and simple. The baristas are great. Hands down, the best coffee served in Brooklyn.

Joshua was the barista for the morning. My wife ordered a cappa and I ordered a double espresso. I picked up a bag of Black Cat to purchase and as I was checking the roast date, which was 6/2, I decided to check the varietals that were in the blend. I know that Intelligentsia likes to switch it up sometimes in their quest for the perfect espresso. The last batch I had, which was last week, was a blend of a Brazilians and a Rwanda varietal. This was a very delicious blend. This batch, roasted on 6/2 is comprised of Brazilians and a Bolivian. As I sipped the double that Joshua had pulled, I tasted bittersweet chocolate and got a bit of some smokey, earth notes that I believe came from the Bolivian. It was tastey – different from their blend with the Rwandan, but tastey nonetheless. I’ll have to do some experimentation at home now and see if I can get close to what Joshua had pulled. I felt as if I had the Brazillian/Rwandan blend dialed in pretty well on the home machine, so we’ll have to see how this version of The Cat tastes at home. With such a fresh roast date, I’m going to let it rest for a few more days and then start pulling shots with it.

A new auctioning system setup by the Ethiopian government makes it difficult for exporters to buy coffee from their supplier of choice. Unhappy with the new acutioning system, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has proposed setting up a group to develop a specialty coffee trading strategy. More here…

Keep the quality Yirg coming please.

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.

This morning I had a disappointment. After pulling a glorious double of Intelligentsia’s Classic Black Cat, I decided to bust out the Aeropress and break into a new bag of Stumptown’s Ethiopian Wondo. The Ethiopian Wondo is a washed coffee from Yirgacheffe, the birth place of coffee. It tastes great as a single origin espresso or as drip. When used for drip, it often times is characterized as having tea-like qualities. It’s delicious.

Today, i brewed some using my Aeropress. Water temp was 195F via a K-type thermocouple, and I used a fine grid somewhere between an auto-drip and espresso. Dosage was two scoop fulls (didn’t weigh it this morning, but found this amount to be ideal with Intelligentsia’s Ethiopian Yirgacheffe). I poured the water in, stirred for 10sec, let it sit for 10sec, and then pressed for 10 secs. It was a bit flat in the cup and had a slightly burnt flavor. As it cooled however, some citrus notes were there. I was disappointed to say the least. My wife immediately noticed it in her cup as well and commented.

I have yet to make up my mind whether to alter the variables – is it grind size and/or amount, water temp, brew time? Was it due to the two week old roast date? – or just maybe, just maybe this is one for the chemex pot. I find Stumptown coffee on a whole to be delicious and I’m gonna chalk this one up to an off day. I think I’ll try it in the chemex tomorrow.

It’s an interesting time to be a coffee geek in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The third wave of coffee is spreading as we see the proliferation of higher end coffee shops. Intelligentsia has set up a coffee lab in Soho and we are seeing the beginnings of coffee education to the public. Stumptown is setting up a roasterie in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Cafe Grumpy is coming to the Park Slope, South Side is in full effect in the South Slope, Cafe Pedlar is set up in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, Ninth Street Espresso is now serving Intelligentsia, City Girl upgraded to Stumptown. The list goes on. The press has taken note and apparently taken sides as is evidenced in the most recent showdown between the NY Press and NY Magazine. It will definitely be interesting to see how this all plays out.