Barista Bitch Dialing In

Roasted 11/26/22  A Blend composed of Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia. Washed & Natural  Cranberry, Carmel, fudge & pecan. Surprisingly delicate. Good for both espresso and filter, I think it shines as an espresso. I wasn't expecting much since I tend to find holiday blends to be dark and heavy on the brown spice notes. 

Roasted on 10/22/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 36. Peach, orange, chocolate and lemon.  Loved it and would probably be good as a daily espresso.  75% Washed Ethiopian Guji Archia  25% Colombia Honey / Yeast Peach  

Roasted on 09/05/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours.  46. Evidently this mix is a Colombia Natural and Ethiopia Honey 65%-35%. Another one that I forgot to post, but I tasted a lot of berry, sweet milk chocolate, with a nice body and very sweet. Felt like a classic Ethiopian, but with a little more body I am assuming from the Colombian. 

Roasted on 06/06/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 40. Strawberry very briefly at the front, followed by flat chocolate and complex brandy. I really loved this at the first sip, but not so much afterwards. I think this would be a good espresso though. 

Roasted on 06/06/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 40. Interesting. Very mild. Watermelon at the front, sweet lemon, and very light honey. I feel like it is both realitively light and on the medium side, but at the same time neither. 

Roasted on 05/22/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 40. Black tea, lemon peel with pith and a little melon at the end. Nowhere close to as delicate as I thought it would be. Like most coffees with tea tasting notes it a little astringent. It does surprisingly well with a little milk and darker than I thought it would be. Probably my least favorite of the May 2022 mixes. I am surprised at how much I liked the Moka Java compared to the other three.  I think the four Lumi Mixes made me appreciate how much I enjoy their single origins, even the ones I wish they roasted lighter.  30% Colombia Koji Natural 30% Ethiopia Sidama Honey 40% Hounduras Honey Melon, cherry, lemon tea like.

Roasted on 05/22/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 42. Another coffee that I prefer with a small amount of milk and might be really good as an espresso. I am surprised at how muted this was black, but when I added about an ounce of milk suddenly everything became clear. Lots of strawberry, orange soda, sweet red grape and ever so slightly floral.  40% Costa Rica Natural 60% Hounduras Honey Strawberry, Orange, Grape & Floral

Roasted on 05/22/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 40.  Another interesting coffee, I honestly was expecting these Lumi Mixes to be on the lighter side, but this is closer to what I expect of a medium roast. Lots of chocolate, something similar to roasted barley, blueberry, bright lemon and tropical notes. According to the tasting notes dragon fruit, but I am not sure if it is quite that and I don't have enough to do more than two tries, maybe if I went a little coarser and sped it up I could get more tropical notes.  50% Colombia Natural Ice Fermentation 30% Kenya Washed 20% Hounduras Washed

Roasted on 05/22/22 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 40. This is something of a strange one. As a Moka Java I don't enjoy it, drinking it black I found it a little lacking getting mostly chocolate notes and the barest hint that there are some fruit notes. However adding a little milk, it improved significantly. Lots of red wine, blackberry, milk chocolate and something like orange, but not quite.  Again I think I prefer a normal moka java, that has only chocolate and berry notes (like Counter Cultures), but this is super interesting and I was not prepared for it. When I think of moka javas I think of African South American blends, maybe the absence of an African and presence of a Yemen is throwing me for a loop....

I've had a lot of coffee samples recently since I am setting up a cafe, hopefully as a multi-roaster. The owner of Tico Coffee Roasters brought some preground coffee as for a coffee tasting so these are a little different than how I normally write these.  Her recipe was 24g coffee with a 75g bloom at 205°F water for thirty seconds with an additional 300g pour in the clever and then start the pour down at 2:30 finishing roughly at three and a half minutes.  Again I love this as an espresso and a pour over even rhough it is on the orthodox side. Lots of sweet cherry at the front followed by dark chocolate and a little nutty. 

I've had a lot of coffee samples recently since I am setting up a cafe, hopefully as a multi-roaster. The owner of Tico Coffee Roasters brought some preground coffee as for a coffee tasting so these are a little different than how I normally write these.  Her recipe was 24g coffee with a 75g bloom at 205°F water for thirty seconds with an additional 300g pour in the clever and then start the pour down at 2:30 finishing roughly at three and a half minutes.  Honestly my least favorite, it is just too dark for me, it handles well by itself or milk, but It's not for me. Very earthy, with very dark chocolate notes, a full body and a very silky finish. 

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 22, 20.1g in, 16 seconds and 26g out. Chocolate and orange. Another very good basic espresso, inoffensive in a good way and very balanced. 

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 19, 19.0g in, 20 seconds and 26g out. Peanut shell, followed by a lot of red fruit and slight orangesicle notes at the end. This is a nice bright inexpensive daily drinker. 

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 22, 19.2g in, 24 seconds and 30g out. Chocolate, lots of cloves, brief fleeting blueberry and very smooth. I did not enjoy this, unfortunately I am not a fan of spice or herb notes in most coffees. I think this was an Ethiopian Sumatran and Brazil blend, if it was just an Ethiopian Brazil blend (I suspect the cloves originate in the Sumatran portion) that it could be a mediocre if not daily drinker. 

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 17, 18.6g in, 24 seconds and 24g out. Milk chocolate and the barest hint of citrus. Bit of a daily drinker, it won't wow you, but it is serviceable.

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 23, 19.8g in, 34 seconds and 24g out. Very bright. Some grape at the front followed by apricot and some sweetness. While I did enjoy this it was a little washed out as a gibraltar. 

Roasted on 04/21/2021 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Niche Zero grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 38. Very sweet and bright! Lots of Mango notes at the front, some  brief pineapple, some peach throughout and just a hint floral. I loved it. 

Using a Niche Zero Grinder and an Anza espresso machine at 22, 18.0g in, 24 seconds and 30g out. Lots of sharp grapefruit notes, a fair bit of sweetness, faint floral notes and cherry. A little lighter than I thought it would be as an espresso, but it was perfectly serviceable. 

Roasted on 03/04/20 I brewed this in a Kalita wave using notneutral filters with a Ditting KR1203 grinder. My recipe is 28g coffee, 400g hot water not necessarily aiming for any particular time, but somewhere between four and five and half minutes. I try to do a 50g bloom in the first 45 seconds then three or four more pours. 6.75. Another one of those coffees that I liked at pretty much anything I tried it at. 6.5 and above were jucy, everything below 6.5 was a tad too dark. Strong dark chocolate notes with some light stone fruit (peach or light cherry) and very sweet. It was pretty good for a blend, but I think it would do very well as a drip coffee.