Stovetop Blend

Seeya_Latte

Hi all
As you know, I'm still on my roasting L-plates but this Christmas I want to make up a "safe" blend to hand out to a few close people who aren't gonna be too hard on me if I fluff things up.

Only a couple have decent enough machines but all of them have stovetops so I figured I could give them something to try in their Bialetti's

So from my existing stash I'm thinking:

Colombian Bachue Supremo - 50%
Costa Rican Tarrazu - 25%
Indo Sumatran - Kuda Mas 25%

I also want to give a SO for espresso to one or two of them that have machines - which one would you go with?

I've also got some Kenyan Dorman AA and Indian Elk Hill Estate robusta

I'll now throw it open for your thoughts - don't hold back either

Seeya

mycuppa

SL. Leave the Kenyan and the Robusta for another day - they are too complicated for what you need right now and you run the risk of unbalanced blending. Yes, do the 50/25/25 Supremo/CRT/Kuda - take them into the first snaps of 2C. Give it plenty of heat early and taper back towards the end. For the SO - go with the Supremo as a standalone, it's a more rounded, balanced coffee than any of the others and likely to be easier to generate a consistent roast depth.

Seeya_Latte

Thanks for that Jeff Im comfortable with what you suggest and gives me a bit of confidence that I was thinking in the right lines

Brett_H

I only had reasonable results from my stovetop on a couple of occasions. The other brews tasted either metallic or burnt! Let us know how ou go SL!

Seeya_Latte

No probs

UNM

the tarazzu is also nice as a single origin. not too dark, but be sure to get into second crack. Despite what mycuppa said, a smidge of robusta (no more than 5%) might give it a bit of kick and crema. I have only done stove top a couple of times though, so don't know how it would work brewed specifically that way.

mycuppa

A stovetop blend should be close to an espresso blend as it's a similar brew/extraction process. I favor the use of more "rounded" and "forgiving/safe" beans in such blends as those people using stovetops tend to be somewhat "less precise" with the grind and dose compared to those highly focused individuals operating espresso machines (in general). A good stovetop produces an exceptional cup that in my mind surpasses most sub $600 espresso machines. When people ask me for a machine recommendation within a tight budget, I always suggest a grinder and a stovetop. I am literally placing my stovetop coffees into my suitcase as I type this message. Can't wait till tomorrow morning - El Salvador red bourbon, Tanzania AA North and Yirgacheffe natural.

Seeya_Latte

@MC - Tanzanian Uru is on my to buy list because of its chocolatey flavour apparently....how different to the Tanz AA is it? I remember buying roasted Tanzania Mawambi there for a while and really liked it

mycuppa

Seeya Latte wrote:

@MC - Tanzanian Uru is on my to buy list because of its chocolatey flavour apparently....how different to the Tanz AA is it? I remember buying roasted Tanzania Mawambi there for a while and really liked it

Sorry SL - can't say I've tried Mawambi - unable to compare. My AA is not generally available and cups more like a bright, wild PNG than traditional Tanza's.

Seeya_Latte

Update In the end I chose to throw in 5% Robusta because I found out that most of the people I was gifting to have their stovetop brews with a dash of milk Feedback so far is that there's a nice aftertaste and even the ones who typically put 2 sugars in before tasting have actually said they only felt the need to put in 1 sugar - that's good at least it tells me that the blend works well together Still might need tweaking - now that the Christmas rush is over , I'll do one for me without the robusta and see what it comes out like