August 2012 Bean Swap

madpierre · August 2012

on 1344817722:

Thanks! I tried the blend this morning. Interesting. Not much acid at all for me. I remember it was distinctively "fat". Although I had it after the coffees from Jonty. I haven't created this blend before and one of the beans I hadn't roasted before. Bit of a "thought" blend and the "fat" was what I was after. I sent some to SS, will be good to see what she gets out of it.

Hmmm....would you expect any differences which might occur through technique to account for such a difference?

Ronin · August 2012

on 1344830218:

Hmmm....would you expect any differences which might occur through technique to account for such a difference?

I would think that is the case MP. Dose, grind size, temp, shot time etc are all variables that effect flavor in the cup

Ronin · August 2012

on 1344751893:

Tried a couple of shots with Bag 1 (pic in post #74 above) of my beans this morning. First was a semi-ristretto -- nicely rounded, very nice. For the second I made the grind a touch coarser for a normal espresso shot. This "opened up" the flavour profile considerably. At first some fleeting and pronounced fruity notes, settling down to very pleasant dark fruit wineyness ("winey" meaning complementary fruitiness and acidity, complexity and depth of flavour ie that can be appeciated in the way a good wine can). Earlier I said I thought this might be a post blend. Not so sure now. My two bags had no information with them (not that I mind, it's fun trying to guess) so could be SO + blend, two blends, two batches of one blend etc. Anyway I think there is a good chance this is an SO. If so, I suspect a Kenyan, Tanzanian, something like that. More work needed though. All in all, I think this is a very high quality coffee, and roasted with respect for its qualities. I'll also try it brewed. At first, judging by appearances, I thought it would be espresso only, but after this I think it might brew very nicely.

Just let me know when you want some more info Hazbean. But neither bag is an SO :stir

hazbean · August 2012

Ronin wrote: "Just let me know when you want some more info Hazbean" Not yet! It's too much fun making wild guesses. And looking forward to finding out how far off bean the guesses are

I took Bag 1 into work today and it was the subject of some discussion over lunch. Unfortunately most of it disappeared in the process. First point of consensus was (as you say) that it is not a SO. One thing that stands out a lot more in the glass cups we use at work is the amount of crema, not consistent with eg a Kenya as I surmised earlier. All the shots today emphasized roast characteristics, in fact the consensus was that they were a touch over prominent. One person mentioned "marzipan" notes and suggested an African bean (maybe Rwanda) contributing to the middle palate. Another commented on the low acidity and suggested mostly South American with some African (Kenya, Tanzania but not Ethiopia). Possibly Brazil for the body. So you can see lots of opinions. Personally I'm still going for mostly African as above with something else to give crema and body. Personally I quite like it. Interesting, the different results with different extraction techniques. Bag 2 hopefully will get a similar treatment tomorrow. Everyone is enjoying the exercise, it's not often a coffee puzzle lands on the desk. I tried bag 2 yesterday on the grounds cupping style: I found low acidity, slightly earthy overtones, overall very pleasant. Espresso I'm sure will be quite different.

Koffee_Kosmo · August 2012

on 1344860083:

You might notice I included pics of my bean swap beans as whole beans and ground coffee, alongside one of my roasts for reference. See - some of us do pay attention.

Any more comment on my Swap blend and the SO as espresso and with milk KK

UNM · August 2012

on 1344900288:

Any more comment on my Swap blend and the SO as espresso and with milk KK

Older daughter has now been weaned and drinks coffee black. That only leaves younger daughter whose only feedback was that she finished her flat white. She is not very communicative about her coffee likes and dislikes and the best I ever get is either 'good' or a shrug if I enquire closely. The blend was not to my liking as aeropress, but plenty of chocolate came through as SB which was why I guessed the PNG beans - didn't pick any of the others though. A good one for espresso and it probably would work well for those that like milk. Both were evenly roasted (evenly throughout beans as well as all beans same colour) and chaff free. Oh - there was one huge defect I spotted in the SO. Photo attached

on 1344466420:

day two of bean swap SO roasted 29th July. Enjoyed my short double ristretto just before heading out to walk the dog and the flavour lingered nicely. some citrus to this one and sharper than the blend, low sweetness. It reminds me of the Los Volcanes beans I got from mycuppa a while back.

I have one light filter roast of the Volcanes maturing right now in fact and will try a few more roasted darker to see if I can approximate your roast. One reason I guessed the Volcanes might have been that the bag was sitting where I can see it in my study, who can say.

Ronin · August 2012

Got a chance to play with the cold brew I made on the weekend. Initial results were that it was not to my taste. I decided to find out why and went through the brainstorming thingy. Came to the conclusion that it was not what my brain was use to. Usually a darker roast with choc flavors & milk is my cold brew, slightly sweetened. Tried the brew straight cold, with milk (adjusted by taste) both with some sugar and without. as it turns out, after some drinking and remembering to listen to my taste buds, not my brain (those with an aroma kit will know what I mean here) I ended up enjoying the brew both black, and with milk and some sugar. I pictured myself with a cold glass reading a book. Would be a most enjoyable way to spend some time one summer afternoon. Thanks again WotB. Most enjoyable

Koffee_Kosmo · August 2012

on 1344904533:

Older daughter has now been weaned and drinks coffee black. That only leaves younger daughter whose only feedback was that she finished her flat white. She is not very communicative about her coffee likes and dislikes and the best I ever get is either 'good' or a shrug if I enquire closely. The blend was not to my liking as aeropress, but plenty of chocolate came through as SB which was why I guessed the PNG beans - didn't pick any of the others though. A good one for espresso and it probably would work well for those that like milk. Both were evenly roasted (evenly throughout beans as well as all beans same colour) and chaff free. I have one light filter roast of the Volcanes maturing right now in fact and will try a few more roasted darker to see if I can approximate your roast. One reason I guessed the Volcanes might have been that the bag was sitting where I can see it in my study, who can say.

Thanks for the finishing summary Its my goal to try and achieve a chocolate and caramel toffee flavour

Oh - there was one huge defect I spotted in the SO. Photo attached

The one way valve dislodged or something that looks like one KK

UNM · August 2012

Yep, KK, one way valve it was. If ya like caramel and choc, try my blend of 50% brazil, 13% PNG highlands, 13%Java and 24%Yirg. Worked well for me. Maybe slightly more PNG and less of one of the others, but I was happy for a first roast of a new blend. I have run out of the Brazil Monte Alegre blend and trying the Opus 1 exotic now, will see how that goes.

mycuppa · August 2012

Fear not UNM - I have tasted your cleverly disguised samples a few days ago and made the obligatory notes. Just need to find said notes (of the physical kind) so I can post comments - relying on memory is not safe.

lemoo · August 2012

reason why i love the bean swap :

double ristretto cheers galumay! PS: photo was taken after awhile to give the crema some time to settle but as you can see, its not going anywhere lol

WotB · August 2012

on 1344923823:

Got a chance to play with the cold brew I made on the weekend. Initial results were that it was not to my taste. I decided to find out why and went through the brainstorming thingy. Came to the conclusion that it was not what my brain was use to. Usually a darker roast with choc flavors & milk is my cold brew, slightly sweetened. Tried the brew straight cold, with milk (adjusted by taste) both with some sugar and without. as it turns out, after some drinking and remembering to listen to my taste buds, not my brain (those with an aroma kit will know what I mean here) I ended up enjoying the brew both black, and with milk and some sugar. I pictured myself with a cold glass reading a book. Would be a most enjoyable way to spend some time one summer afternoon. Thanks again WotB. Most enjoyable

I've never quite understood darker roasts and cold brew. It's not that pleasant without any additions. If you really want to do both your head and tastebuds in, try the cold brew both at room temp, then toss a single ice cube in and swirl.

UNM · August 2012

I enjoy a strong cold brew with added hot water. Nice to experience the flavour gradually changing as it cools towards room temp. Will give the ice cube thing a go sometime.

beanflying · August 2012

Cracked the bag of SSSO this morning (13 days post roast), first shot a little fast but tasty and shame to say better over milk than the blend was :-| Dialed in a bit better for the next one

Re the CP/COld Brew lighter roasts are better and forget about milk with it :thumb:

Bottom Line · August 2012

Tried in plunger yesterday. Blend - Fruit, vanilla and light milk chocolate on the nose. Chocolate on the palate but not much else. Roasted too dark for plunger but still good. SO - Strawberry and some spice on the nose. Hint of fruit and then nothing. Again the smell didn't translate to the palate. Ferment came through a bit more.

galumay · August 2012

on 1344944290:

reason why i love the bean swap : double ristretto cheers galumay! PS: photo was taken after awhile to give the crema some time to settle but as you can see, its not going anywhere lol

Really happy you are enjoying the beans mate, suspect there is more than a little barista skill at play there!

madpierre · August 2012

My blend has really hit the sweet spot now at 13 days....the acidity has eased off and sweetness increased in the SB, and there is a beautiful full body of malt in the milk. Very nice!!! My wife is most impressed also.

mycuppa · August 2012

UNM's blend in luxurious gold bag with a very large B delicately and artistically positioned off-centre. Roasted as espresso style on 2/8 I decided to take a peekaboo earlier this week and sneaked a shot but thought it was a tad gassy at the time. Today we cracked it open again on day 15. Well roasted with a slightly lighter depth to my own style but that was only because there were the odd lighter colored bean. Perhaps if was post roast blended. I did not have time to look at the beans in detail, just threw it in the hopper and pulled 4 shots for the team. Initial impression was delightful. I detected the punch of robusta and I wish I looked at the beans first to confirm my suspicion. The espresso was bold with a nice sharp rise in back palate fruit and sweetness. Some gas still on the beans. In milk it had a wonderful flavor. Very smooth with a syrupy front palate and a beautiful rising mid-palate that climbed to and beautiful clean finish. If there was robusta, it was very clean and did not drop the blend down. For 2 of my staff, it was a little strong for them ( suppose 21g baskets don't help) and they are both small people. I was left with the impression of a very interesting coffee. Quite out threre actually. The punchy, thick mid palate was at contrast with the sharp bright finish in a totally integrated and pleasant way. An Indonesian robusta with a Guatemala or Honduras perhaps ?

UNM · August 2012

many thanks for the feedback. I know I can be a bit of an SOB at times and tried to make things difficult for you by giving minimal information and putting someone else's return address on the package. Then SS 'spilled the beans' so to speak before you had a chance to try them. Anyway, the blend was 50% Java Ijen sundried, 40% Yirgacheffe Special Prep (both from CS), 10% Indian Elk Hill Arabica. Roasted approx 16 min to first snaps 2C, with approx 4 min between start of first and start of second crack. I very nearly sent a different blend, but decided to send something similar to my normal roasting style and blends. Only thing is I received the elk hill from Bean green same day I roasted this, so took a chance on it being a good substitute for the Tiger Mountain I previously used. just had a shot of elk hill as SO this morning and I am happy with it. The unevenness was probably the yirg sp , they never seem to come out looking right. Taste fine though. Glad it worked OK with milk. As the only milk drinkers in the family give one syllable feedback at best, that is useful. I know it is important to many people that a blend cuts through milk.

Jonty · August 2012

Well I got one big bag of a blend and trust me I'm no good at talking notes or writing notes ::) Here are my thoughts\misconceptions: The blend was definitely roasted for espresso, on the edges of 2C but not a deep roast - very pleasant I suspect that it is a 3 bean blend based on sizes. We drank this solely as a latte as that is 90% of our consumption in household. The coffee was sweet, almost mallow in taste with hints of choccy and a nice linger on the palate after consuming - no hints of citrus. I would say this would be a good broad espresso blend that would appeal to the wider public as it's not in your face or over powering in any direction. My guess on the beans..... Central with either Ethiopian\PNG and some Indo? For bottomline - impressive comments!! Blend was: 50:25:25 Brazil Yellow Bourbon:Guatemala Huehuetenango:Sumantran Blue Batak SO which spilt!!!! : Ethiopia Guji Sidamo OCR - Natural Special Preparation

shape_shifter · August 2012

I tell you, Bottomline sure knows his stuff, I'm loving his blend, I'm really no good at trying to pick flavours, my OH said definitely malty. The shots are thick and creamy, we normally have 25 second shots but I left mine going a little longer and even at 29 seconds there was no sign of blonding :thumb: I'll take some video and try it as a black shortly

Oh and it's something I'll try a little later over ice cream, ice cream in a glass and the shot over the stop. Lacehims SO is still going good, I don't particularly like the SO itself but that is just personal taste, I've been blending it with the Peru and it's definitely better in taste

I have to say that I'm loving these swaps, learning a lot from both ends.

Brett H · August 2012

Okay, today I cracked the Ethiopian Sidiamo Organic and OMGosh... Lots of chocolate...seriously. My wife thought she was having a mocha that was light on coffee!!! The accompanying berry taste takes this coffee from great to epiphanic! Thank you Jeff from MyCuppa... I had no idea that a single origin could be so idiomatically complete: Liquid Cherry Ripe!

madpierre · August 2012

on 1345266238:

Well I got one big bag of a blend and trust me I'm no good at talking notes or writing notes ::) Here are my thoughts\misconceptions: The blend was definitely roasted for espresso, on the edges of 2C but not a deep roast - very pleasant I suspect that it is a 3 bean blend based on sizes. We drank this solely as a latte as that is 90% of our consumption in household. The coffee was sweet, almost mallow in taste with hints of choccy and a nice linger on the palate after consuming - no hints of citrus. I would say this would be a good broad espresso blend that would appeal to the wider public as it's not in your face or over powering in any direction. My guess on the beans..... Central with either Ethiopian\PNG and some Indo?

Glad you liked it Jonty...I usually put together any blends intentionally based purely on instinct regarding previous tastes and what they may give me when applied through a blend as I have little knowledge on looking to get any specific desired results. You are right about the SC as I usually go there with most of my roasts as I enjoy primarily espresso based drinks. Nice pick on the Ethiopian and Central, as in the mix was 150gm Ethiopian Sidamo Naturals taken to just into rolling SC (this was a crazy roast, with it accelerating straight into SC from 1st). Thankfully I was standing right next to it and the change in pitch alerted me to the fact that this may have happened. Also in the blend were 150gm Brazil Toffee Cerrado also taken to the start of rolling SC, and 100gm of Costa Rica La Pira Geisha taken to just through rolling FC. So to pinch a line, "Two out of three ain't bad".

shape_shifter · August 2012

I have photos and video (just waiting for it to upload) of Bottomline's swap blend. Beans Attachment not found.Attachment not found.Attachment not found.Attachment not found.

Bottom Line · August 2012

Nice one SS! And thanks for organising this bean swap. The blend was equal parts of: Costa Rica SHB Terrazu Yemen Beni Ismail Sulawesi Bukit Maranti Sidamo FTO Oromia CO-OP

hazbean · August 2012

A somewhat belated followup on the beans sent by Ronin. This time bag 2. This one certainly changed a lot over time. My first impression was of rather prominent acidity with something quite nice underneath but a bit difficult to figure out what it was. So I decided this was best left for a few days to give these distinct "layers" a chance to integrate and get to like each other. So after a few days I took it into work where it was favourably received. Definitely mucg better integrated and nicely rounded. One comment was "some floral notes", "I could drink this all day", possibly Indonesian, some S American. The crema on this coffee is enormous and the mouthfeel big and buttery, prompting another viewpoint that there is Daterra in there with a lot of S American. Personally I liked this one a lot as it matured, although it was a little intimidating at stages along the way. IMHO the Daterra (or similar) is a distinct possibility, but at times I had a suspicion of Robusta (a fleeting underlying note occasionally) or even MM (the lighter coloured beans I noticed at the beginning). Now that it's gone we'd be interested to know what was in it .... I had a last try a couple of days ago of the blend I sent to RichardM (managed to keep a small amount back). This had changed quite a bit in week 3 (eg the dry aroma was now slightly honeyed rather than quite sharp as it was at first) and ended up pretty close to what I had hoped for it. Just a week later than I thought. So it goes.

Ronin · August 2012

on 1345964806:

Now that it's gone we'd be interested to know what was in it ....

My wife says that's my IP and shouldn't be shared :rofl: Bag 1- 66.6% Peru Ceja de Selve Estate 33.3% Kenyan Kagunyu AA Bag 2- 40% Ethiopian Gembella Sundried 40%Sumatran Danau Toba 20% Costa Rica Tarrazu SHB No MM or Robusta, I have never roasted Robusta and am mot a fan of the MM. No Brazil either. The Gembella and the Indo make a great combo IMOP, had some cracking blends with these as a base. Both blends are roasted together, all in roast style (cause I'm a little lazy sometimes) Glad you enjoyed them, it's always nerve racking waiting for feedback, hoping the roasts were enjoyed. Thanks for the feedback, any tips for improvement?

hazbean · August 2012

Thanks for sharing! Interesting, some of our guesses were vaguely on track. That Kenyan definitely came through. Which reminds me, I need to buy some. Bag 2 was certainly enigmatic. What does the Tarrazu contribute? Is that where the mouthfeel comes from? The robusta was a long shot guess -- I know that there are people out there who can make good use of it, but I'm not one of them, and I don't use it anymore. Both roasts I thought were technically fine so any suggested "improvement" is relative only to my preference. The only thing I would do differently would be to roast bag 1 a little lighter, to my taste it was (on most but not all shots) a little on the "roast flavour" side. But maybe you've tried that and don't like it

galumay · September 2012

on 1344690034:

I'm expecting them to be one congealed mass of oil upon G's return :rofl:

Not quite! Sal picked up the mail today and i opened up the parcels tonite, the aroma of coffee was strong from your package! The beans are not nearly as bad looking as one might expect, tried the blend tonite, took a couple of shots to dial the Pharos into the bean, pulled a nice shot from 14g of the blend, 28g of coffee at about 28 secs. Flavour was very good, i suspect it might be a two bean blend, perhaps African and Central American? I had thought maybe African and Indo, but the chocolate/earthy flavours seemed a bit muted for a Indo. It still produced a nice crema and i am still enjoying the after taste 5 minutes later. Its a better coffee than the commercially roasted blend i bought back from NZ, roasted some 3 weeks later! So your blend is just about 6 weeks post roast and holding up remarkably well, i will certainly drink the rest of it, and looking forward to trying the single origin. Here is a pic of the beans, plenty of light reflecting off the oil on the beans, as i had to use the flash tonite, but hopefully it gives an indication of what good nick they are in!

derrilex · September 2012

Amazing . I'll have to go back a page or two to refresh my memory. Definitely some Mt.Elton

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