GoodShave's Coffee Journal

Today, I decided to explore my recipe 'mistake' from a few days ago. I made some tweaks to the ratio and dose. The coffee came out well but I think I am going to tweak it more to get closer to the pour targets of my initial mistake brew and see if I can pull out more tasting notes.

I used the Hario Switch with a white tabbed Hario filter (from Japan) and Rare Bird Coffee Roasters (Falls Church, VA) - Colombia - Ticuna beans.

Today, I decided to explore my recipe 'mistake' again from a few days ago. I used the pour structure of the original 'mistake' brew combined with the coffee to water ratio change from yesterday's brew and had an even better cup of coffee. I am glad I recorded my 'mistake' brew so I could explore it further!

I used the Hario Switch with a white tabbed Hario filter (from Japan) and Rare Bird Coffee Roasters (Falls Church, VA) - Colombia - Ticuna beans.

Talk about learning from our mistakes!! Great work!

Talk about learning from our mistakes!! Great work!

Thank you!

Today's brew was the first brew with Bean & Bean Coffee Roasters (Little Neck, NY) - Kenya Peaberry.
https://beannbeancoffee.com/collections/...a-peaberry

Here are my brew notes from today:

K-Ultra 7.0 @ 92C (197.6F) 15g 225ml (1:15): Kalita 185 filter (unsmooshed): Bean & Bean Coffee Roasters (Little Neck, NY) - Kenya Peaberry. I used the Oxo kettle. I brewed into the Hario V60 range server. I inserted the Flair Pro Dispersion screen. I inserted the filter. I warmed the brewer and wet the filter. I used the AeroPress funnel to add the coffee, then flattened the bed with the WDT tool. I added 45ml for bloom. At 45 seconds, I poured in circles slowly to fill to 225ml. All water in by 1:29. Draw down was 1:48. From the start, I tasted some berry/fruit hints. As it cooled further, it developed a nice mouth feel and developed a more complex taste. It was very tasty. As it cooled further, it had notes like fruit cocktail and had an amazing mouth feel. This is a good setting for these beans. I would buy these again just from the first cup.

I ran across this video today and thought I would give this a try in the near future.
It is a modification of Hoffmann's Better 1 Cup recipe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRr0y8mCC_M

I also watched parts of this video by the same author that appeared to have some good tips on fine tuning the 4:6 method. I will have to go back and watch the whole video when I have time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHR9XqUCUuM

Today's brew was Bean & Bean Coffee Roasters (Little Neck, NY) - Kenya Peaberry beans using my glass Hario V60-01 with a Cafec Abaca filter using the David Likes Coffee modified "A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique" recipe. As per the issue mentioned in the video, I still do not get effective swirls for any but the last swirl when all the water is in and the grounds are thoroughly saturated. Swirls in general throw off the auto timer of my scale as well, so I may use stirs instead of swirls or stick to recipes that require neither.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRr0y8mCC_M

I made two brews this morning with Bean & Bean Coffee Roasters (Little Neck, NY) - Kenya Peaberry beans.

The first brew was with the Hario Switch using the Lance Hedrick Two-Pour recipe (with Tales Coffee stir after final pour). That brew did not turn out well with the settings I used so made a second brew.

The second brew was with the glass Kalita Wave 155 using the Project Barista 155 recipe. That one turned out pretty well. I think I will dial in this recipe and see if I can pull out more tasting notes.

I have been enjoying various coffees and methods recently. I had a new bag of beans from Trade that were right on the edge of that sourness I fight with. But trying that tip in the video by David Likes Coffee, about struggling with Hoffmann's method, it did the trick and got me over that hurdle. While not a great cup, it was drinkable. What I am doing with it now is mixing it 50:50 with a roast I know I prefer. Thanks for finding and posting that video! I have watched a few of his now.

Also, the other grocery store in town now carries several artisan roasters! There were 2 to 3 different roasts each from Atomic Coffee in Peabody, MA, Counter Culture from CA or NC, seems they have locations in both places, and a third that didn't seem to have a coffee roast I thought I'd like. But I bought a couple of bags to test out.

My last two Trade coffees arrived, Verve's Street Level (mentioned above as being used 50:50) and yesterday Atomic Coffee's seasonal arrived (I can't remember the roast). And after seeing some more videos (Hoffmann, Daddy Got Coffee, and the Australian guy) I got interested in the Aeropress again. I had one several years back but sold it on B&B after deciding that at work it was easier to either bring a Thermos or use the Keurig. I found a like new on eBay of the new Aeropress Clear and it should be arriving next week. So more coffee experiments to conduct!

I have been enjoying various coffees and methods recently. I had a new bag of beans from Trade that were right on the edge of that sourness I fight with. But trying that tip in the video by David Likes Coffee, about struggling with Hoffmann's method, it did the trick and got me over that hurdle. While not a great cup, it was drinkable. What I am doing with it now is mixing it 50:50 with a roast I know I prefer. Thanks for finding and posting that video! I have watched a few of his now.

Also, the other grocery store in town now carries several artisan roasters! There were 2 to 3 different roasts each from Atomic Coffee in Peabody, MA, Counter Culture from CA or NC, seems they have locations in both places, and a third that didn't seem to have a coffee roast I thought I'd like. But I bought a couple of bags to test out.

My last two Trade coffees arrived, Verve's Street Level (mentioned above as being used 50:50) and yesterday Atomic Coffee's seasonal arrived (I can't remember the roast). And after seeing some more videos (Hoffmann, Daddy Got Coffee, and the Australian guy) I got interested in the Aeropress again. I had one several years back but sold it on B&B after deciding that at work it was easier to either bring a Thermos or use the Keurig. I found a like new on eBay of the new Aeropress Clear and it should be arriving next week. So more coffee experiments to conduct!

You are very welcome! I have found some of my 'mistake' recipes tend to have a much larger second pour (pour after the bloom) than in the original recipe. For example with the Hoffmann Ultimate V60 recipe, instead of the second pour taking the total water to %60, I took poured to 72% (and skipped all the swirls and stirs except a final swirl when all the water was in).

I am glad you found a solution in making your own blend to make the other coffee drinkable. Great idea!

That is great your grocery store carries those brands! I am looking at some of the single origin offerings from Atomic Coffee roasters after trying the coffee you sent me. Counter Culture has been on my try list for a few years. I look forward to seeing what you think about the coffees you picked up!

Is Verve's Street Level the coffee you like or is it the coffee you are improving by adding other beans to it?

I have the AeroPress Go and the original (non-clear, normal size) version of the AeroPress. I use the silicone cap from the Go as my dosing tray for coffees (you can buy that separately if you want one) and  I use the funnel from my original AeroPress for adding coffee to narrow brewers like my Stagg XF. I was just going to buy the funnel but thought it was a good percentage of the purchase price of the whole AeroPress, so I bought the AeroPress that came with the funnel (and the zipper case). 

I also have the AeroPress stainless steel filter and the Flow Control Cap (which comes in handy as I can use an inverted recipe without inverting the AeroPress since the cap keeps the coffee from draining out until you push the pluger). I use the stainless steel filter on top of the Flo Control Cap and then add a paper filter on top of that to mimic recipes that call for the Fellow Prismo attachment. 

I have had some nice brews with the AeroPress and it has been a staple for travel. I don't use the Go very much these days, but I do use the small filter holder to house my stainless steel filter (as well as using the silicone cap mentioned above). My original AeroPress came with a plastic filter hold and I found a 3D printed cover to put over the holder to keep out dust and water. It also allows me to stack the AeroPress tube/plunger on top of it to take up less counter space.

Here is one of my favorite AeroPress recipes:
https://wonderstate.com/pages/aeropress

Jonathan Gagné's article about his recipe and his own video (scroll down the page to get to the video of his recipe or to the text of the recipe):
https://coffeeadastra.com/2021/09/07/rea...aeropress/

Here is a website with lots of recipes:
https://aeroprecipe.com/

James Hoffman made at least three videos about the AeroPress (I only have three in my AeroPress notes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aidvrssMSGo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBXm8fCW...vl&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6VlT_jU...nvl&index=

Let me know if you find a recipe you enjoy!