Lucky Find

I did some experimenting this afternoon with some one month old Iskandar Sumatra from Gimme! Coffee. I forgot that I had this pound of beans in my suitcase and was excited to brew some coffee. The beans were a little past their due date, but I knew a cup brewed with these beans would be a thousand times better than the beans from the Dutch coffeeshop, Brandmeesters, that I was currently brewing with (more on these beans in a future post).

I undertook the following brewing experiments over the course of a hot and humid Friday afternoon:

Hario v60 – 13g of finely ground coffee, 5oz of bottled mineral water, brew temperature of 85°C – Dry aroma was like wet soil. The taste was of a paper bag at back sides of tongue, smoke flavor as if inhaled smoke from a smoke machine at a concert. The aftertaste was of wet soil. But drinking it created feelings coziness and warmth that transported me to the cold, autumn days back in the States. The after-aroma is of a wood stove or fireplace.

Hario v60 – 10g, 5oz, 90°C – Wet aroma of pumpkin pie. Body similar to that of French press: syrupy, oily, and can almost feel the coffee grains in the mouth.

Aeropress – 15g, 5oz, 85°C – Did this 2 times and each time, it produced a weak and watery brew similar to that of a Krups machine brew. No distinguishing characteristics whatsoever. I think what works best is to make an “espresso” (15g, 2oz, 85°C) and then dilute with water.