Hip Drip in Prime TIme

I have been sucked into the television show Grey's Anatomy lately, mainly because Iron Chef isn't broadcast 24 hours a day but more so because my wife checked the entire first and second season out of the library and since you only get a week or so to view 40 episodes it has been on all the time. It really is quite good, a little whine-y at times but the stories do suck you in. And let me tell you what, they drink buckets of coffee. Every episode at least two people can be spotted with a cup in their hands. I happened to catch one specific episode that I paused and zoomed in only to find that the cup that was being passed from Dr. Burk to intern O'Malley was in fact a steaming cup of Hip Drip...it's a little fuzzy but you can make it out. I have finally made it prime-time.

P.S. my photoshop work really needs work.

Mexican Oaxaca Pluma Tres Oros Reviewed

I just received this coffee in the hopes of using it as a great base for blending, especially as an alternative to Brazilian in espresso. So I gave it a shot, boy oh boy, this is a great origin. Pluma Tres Oros is a collection of small producers who band together from the Oaxaca region, high grown ( Pluma ) and use a common mill ( Tres Oros ). The operation is very well run and the end result is a meticulously prepped ( wet processed) high grown Mexican coffee. You can even find out more on their website... www.tresoros.com.mx.

Now for the cup...it is wicked clean, due mainly from the well run wet processing milling operation ( never been there but you can find out a lot from the internet and your importer :) ) I roasted it first to thermo-probed 445 degrees. I wanted to test it a little darker into an espresso or Vienna style since I would be using it as a base. I let it rest 24 hours and the thing I like the most about it is that the aftertaste is so lingering that 20 minutes later I still crave it. Taking the beans this far into the roast eliminates any nutty notes that may be there in lighter roasts but the natural sweetness and chocolaty richness really takes center stage. Nothing is overpowering, its just a balanced sweet cup with a hint of vanilla and an enduring aftertaste. It takes a light roast just fine and is clean and a bit nutty, you really can't go wrong. I like this coffee. Its a keeper.

Trying to Understand Roast Styles...

When roasting coffee, the moment you stop your roast defines what kind of flavors you'll experience from those beans. In actuality it's a little more complicated than that but for the most part what defines the characteristics of a given coffee is by what temperature or how far into the roasting process you choose to take the beans. You'll notice, when roasting at home that coffee progresses through stages during roasting, The first part is rather uneventful, moisture exits as the beans warm up, further in, the beans are changing colors from greenish gray to yellow and spotty maybe beige, then as they approach the early tan and brown stages ( looking a little more like roasted coffee) strange events occur, popping starts, the beans sound like pencils breaking, it swells and the popping gets crazy. After you hear the "first crack" coffee is actually drinkable, it may not be very desirable but its drinkable. Every moment and every degree that the roast progress's presents the roast with different qualities. After roasting for a while you get to know certain coffee's and when they taste the best and you get to know our own tastes and how you like your coffee to taste. With that knowledge you stop the roast at that very second and you have your perfect cup of coffee. That's the beauty of home roasting, your in control.
So now, a little about what all this means. The nomenclature for roast degree's exist a few different ways, there is some older and regional ways of naming roasts, there are some more traditional ways and there are also the roasting communities very scientific color naming system that relies on a machine that measures the color density of beans and assigns it a number, its extremely accurate and consistent, ensuring that a light brown roast from Brooklyn is the same as a light brown roast from Poughkeepsie.
Anyways here is a pretty standard description that you'll find out there:

Cinnamon this is right after first crack begins, if your reading a thermometer the bean mass would read around 400 degree's. The taste is probably grassy, bread-like. The bean surface is dry and light brown maybe spotted depending on the origin.

City Roast is next, this roast starts around 410 degrees to 415. Here is where the origin flavor of the coffee is at its peak. The acidity is usually high, the body is developed and the aroma is peaking. The bean surface is almost completely uniform in its light brown-ness and the surface is dry. If your tasting for origin, this is where you'd stop.

Full City is a very nice place to stop because at 425-430, even 435 degree's, the coffee still retains a good bit of its origin distinction but starts to take on some of the sweetness from caramelizing sugars. Aroma and body are well developed. The beans are dark brown, smooth with perhaps a spot or two of oil.

Vienna and Espresso roasts are next, around 445 to 455 degree. Espresso really depends on region but if you want an espresso roast anywhere in this window would be good, origin flavor is diminishing and being replaced by heavy sugar caramelization. This is where roast flavor is starting to take center stage. The surface is shinny more oil and dark brown in color.

French roast is around 460-470 degree's F. We are talking pungent dark dark bean color, oily surface, all origin flavor is gone, sugars are developed and the coffee tastes bitter sweet. the body thins at this point in the roast and the aroma is very distinctive.

Dark French/Spanish 470 degree's and above, if your at this point, you probably can't see the beans in your kitchen from all the smoke and it doesn't matter cause you'll be reaching for the fire extinguisher. Fire is close. Even if you did choose to roast to this degree, the coffee would taste burnt and industrial, thin body, oily. It can be done right and many people will drink their coffee in this style however as a home roaster, it could be dangerous.

"Give me the high test" the dark roast myth

How many times have I heard people say to me "give the high test" I want it strong! Generally what a customer means is give me the darkest stuff you got because I need some serious caffeine and some high powered coffee! Granted a french roast or any dark roast has the stigma of power because of its dark surface and oily bean surface and the sensation that the bittersweet or burnt flavor gives however the chemistry is quite the contrary. A dark roast has less caffeine in it than a light roast. The reason is simple, when coffee is roasted there is a serious of complex chemical reactions that take place in stages throughout the roast duration. As coffee is brought along methodically through these stages and the heat is raised certain chemicals are burned off. Caffeine is one of them. Just as the sugar caramelizes during longer roasts, hence the sweetness increase in a dark roast, the caffeine is also burned out. So if you want to really get a "buzz" and if caffeine is what you look for, then try a lighter roast. The lighter the roast the more caffeine.

Hip Drip Night French Roast Blend

I just roasted a small batch of my french roast blend, I call it Night, I know very clever, what can I say. After many tries and a bundle of cuppings I had a revelation about the blend, I have been getting some great caramel or butterscotch notes out of the Organic Sumatra Gayoland when I roasted to a dark Viennese, roughly 445-450 degrees on the thermo-probe. So I thought that since the Night blend is made up of a percentage of the Sumatran that if I did a post roast blend and used the slightly lighter caramel-y Sumatran that the blend would benefit. So as I sit here with the cup, I am pleasantly surprised. We have all the normal French roast characteristics, deep rich and bittersweet, however there is a hint of caramel sweetness coming through that really compliments the chocolaty french Peruvian roast ( still roasted to about 460-465 degree's on the thermo-probe). It works well together, I feel like it is the Whitman's Sampler of a blend, I find a very fruity aroma and even hints of fruit in the cup but it turns to a sweet caramel and bittersweet chocolate classic french taste in the finish. Not bad.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

I got some new coffees yesterday and I with the exception of a short visit with the tax man, spent most of the day roasting. The delivery man hadn't yet pulled the pallet jack from the fresh drop and I was already slicing open the top of the bags to get a whiff of my new babies. I think I told the driver to just write himself a check from my book to cover shipping, I was too busy weighing out my greenies and watching the temperature creep up on the roaster. The first bag I cracked open was the Yirgacheffe. I admit I have been out of the washed Ethiopian game for a while since I have been carrying exclusively Harrar's. Something told me to go for the Yirg, I needed a change and I wanted to expand my offerings. Plus I have been doing a lot of reading about the crazy bright complexity of washed Ethiopians and I wanted to get my hands on some. I sourced a really great lot from some samples I tried and I couldn't be more pleased. When I opened the bag even the green's were overly aromatic, I mean like I opened a bag of stargazer lily's. I chose to roast to a full city, 430 degree's on the thermo-probe. With a Yirgacheffe, the lighter the better is what I find. This coffee is meant to be bright, citrus-y, even floral. I only hope I could pull a roast to do this fine bean justice. I feel like it roasted faster than I expected, Ethiopians I suppose are less dense than high grown south or central American coffee.

Now for the cup, Wow....this is amazing, after a few months with my winter coffee offerings this was a delight. Really this lot lived up to its reputation. Unlike anything I have in my bins right now...Flowers, citrus, bright, bright, refreshing full bodied complex coffee. Even as it cools the flavor changes, funny the wet aroma is almost like smarties! I really recommend it, www.hipdrip.com....try some of it, roasted by me or green and try it yourself. Get it quick or i might just drink it all up.

Brewing Great Coffee at the Office

Everyone wants to be promoted, right? I think the sure fire way to do so is to accentuate your refined taste in coffee at the office. To hell with all those dirty lime deposited 10 dollar plastic drip brewers that so many use at their desks or communal work areas. You can create drama and intrigue at work by brewing a fresh cup of coffee like many at those really fancy dimly lit stainless steel table topped minimal techno music playing restaurants. Yes, press pot coffee at work is possible and with only a few simple tools.

Press pot coffee is known for its purity in brewing and producing a great cup of coffee. Mainly due to its simplicity of direct water to coffee steeping and complete control over length of brew and water temperature. The principle of press-pot is simple and traditional, coffee grounds mixed with water and instead of straining or drinking "cowboy" style with the grounds still swirling around in the cup, there is a strainer like plunger that is pushed down through the pot after the proper steeping time is achieved that separates the grounds from the coffee. French press tends to retain more of the coffee ground residue than filter methods so for some that sensation is not well received, however it can be a great way to maximize the flavor potential in coffee, so try it at least once. Here's what you'll need:

12 ounce coffee cup filled with water
small personal press pot (10-12 ounce capacity)
1 level tablespoon of coarse ground coffee per 4 ounces of water
for this exercise that would be three scoops to 12 ounces
a microwave
and an optional thermal mug to put the coffee into once steeped. (or you can use the mug used to portion out and heat the water.

The process is simple, put the grounds in the bottom of the french press, heat the water in the mug for around one minute or until boiling. Wait a few seconds for the water to cool slightly. Add water to the press pot, the coffee will "bloom" a bit and a crust will form at the top. Sit and do some work now for about 4 minutes. Now push the plunger down through the coffee. Push straight down, if there is a ton of resistance, adjust the plunger and try again, too much pressure can force the coffee through the top and you'll have coffee explosion(trust me I just did it last week, I had coffee and grounds everywhere, I achieved the drama of the brew but no one was really impressed). At this point, your done, just pour into what ever vessel you have and enjoy one of the best cups of coffee you've ever had at work. If the boss seems to be put off by this show, make him/her a cup...let the coffee speak for itself.

enjoy.