GroundLevelCoffee

… of coffee cupping.

It’s one of those things that you wish you could do, but don’t know the best place to begin.

Perhaps it’s best left up to the experts - but they may be wrong. And we each taste differently and enjoy different aromas and flavours.

Another thing with aromas and flavours is that they allow or encourage us to reminisce - they hint at something in our memories - maybe a place, or an occasion where we smelt or tasted that before.

But at the end of the day I think it’s important when trying coffee to know if it’s good and if it’s worth drinking (or buying), and how something better may be able to be coaxed from the bean through a different roast.

In recent weeks I’ve had a bit of a search over the net for information about coffee cupping. There’s a Beginner’s Guide to Cupping on CoffeeGeek. Fortune Elkins often speaks of cupping on her bread coffee chocolate yoga blog. (Like here for example). Tom Owen from Sweet Maria’s has a monochrome copy of the SCAA’s flavour wheels available.

I’ve tried cupping only a few times. The first time was at a coffee geek gathering early last year. The second time was at the OzGreens gathering at Toby’s Estate a few weeks ago. That again piqued my curiosity and so I’ve sprung for a copy of Ted Lingle’s Coffee Cupper’s Handbook from Sweet Maria’s.

It arrived today and so I’ll commence a deeper journey in the future into cupping. The mysterious art may lose some if its mystery.

I’ve had a few other things on my plate for the past few months and haven’t had much ‘head space’ for coffee-related posts…

But there are some new coffees starting to flow into my stocks from OzGreens and The Green Guys and so more will be forthcoming from me soon.

The beans I’m particularly looking forward to are all Arabian/North African namely an Ethiopian Harar and two Yemen beans - the Mattari and Ismaili. All are renowned for their fruitiness. They’re all dry-processed and so can roast unevenly, but all should be distinct as a plunge (or blended with something with a base or mid flavour like a Sumatran or Kenyan). I’ve also got some Balinese beans on the way and so may try a blend of Yemen and Balinese. Previously I’ve blended Yemen’s in a ratio of around 15-30% for machine use (cappa or latte style), but with a reasonable quantity on the way, I can try a few different ideas over the next few months.

As mentioned, I roasted up a batch of Indian arabica ‘Catimore’ last week. The roast hit the beginning of second crack. I rarely take my roasts far into second - early snaps for a few beans is the usual maximum.

I’ve sampled the Catimore as a plunger and in my standard latte-style drink since then. As expected the plunged lot was a little over-roasted for my taste and I lost a fair bit of the varietal character of the bean. A subsequent roast to a full city (well clear of first, but second nowhere in sight) brought out some of that character. The shots I pulled from the first roast were a bit odd. The pour from the Macap on its standard grind setting was too fast - maybe 15 seconds for 50ml and blonding into the bargain. Next time I dialled in a dent finer and the pour was about right. A touch of brightness, perhaps, which I thought the longer roast would burn off. Haven’t tried it since, but I’ve got a couple of kilos on the way.

I received a sample of the Arabica plantation ‘Catimore’ greens from Neil today. After a quick Google, I discovered that Catimore is a variety of arabica bean, and that region of India has produced some good greens over the years. The sample was around 300 grams and so I figured on two Imex roasts rather than one SC/TO roast.

Total roast time was 8 1/2 minutes at an ambient temp of around 26C. The roast is a full city+ with some beans hitting second crack. I had intended to roast to a full city, but some beans got a little ahead of me.

Roast aroma was very good, and the aroma of the just-roasted beans is promising. The roasting beans let go of a fair bit of chaff - suggestive of a dry-processed bean rather than wet-processed.

I’ll let them rest for 24-36 hours before first sample. With the roast just hitting second crack, the beans should be suitable for plunging and espresso.

Based on the roast aromas, it’s a bean I’d be happy to grab some of. Further reports to follow.

Having returned from holidays earlier this week, that first evening I fired up the Diadema, bunged some Dominican beans in the Macap and proceeded to pull two “15 second blonde gushers”. Was it the beans? The grind? Problems dialling in the grinder? A machine that had sat unattended for a week? Poor dosing, distribution and tamping? I didn’t know.

The next day was a similar story even with a finer grind - blonde, fast, gushing.

Day three saw an improvement. I’d roasted some 1-1-1 blend a day earlier and, though it hadn’t rested enough, it was my bean of choice for that evening’s lattes. The time was better - around 22 seconds; the colour was OK - browny-red rather than blonde; and the stream was OK - about 50 ml.

Day four was a repeat of day three - “must have been the beans”. Maybe.

Day five - today - saw a slightly larger dose and harder tamp. Shots were in the vicinity of 28 seconds for the doubles, and the quantity was a tad on the small size: Ristrettos. Not bad as lattes.

The moral? Stick to basics: Beans, grind, dose, distribution, tamp. In this case it was predominantly the beans: The Dominicans were roasted for plunger and were around 9 days old. I would have eventually pulled a decent shot from them at a finer grind, but it would have taken a couple more days.

Further to the other day’s post about the Yemen Ismaili, I can almost guarantee it’s underroasted. Ground some this morning in the Zassenhaus, and it was difficult due to the hardness of the bean.

Aroma-wise there is a little of the blueberry, but not much; and not much flavour, either.

It’ll keep me in plunger coffee for the remainder of the week, and I won’t be sorry to see it finished. It’s a pity and a waste. Just need to remember to let the roast progress a little further next time. I think the factor that tricked me this time is that the chaff was pretty dark around the beans.

There are a number of competing thoughts in my head about buying, storing and managing a coffee stash. These include:

• Buy a reasonable quantity of whatever you may like so you have enough of it to last 12+ months.
• Buy a smaller quantity to be able to sample and enjoy the beans for around 6-12 months before they go baggy since coffee is a seasonal crop.
• Have enough to last around 12 months at any point in time.
• Don’t keep more than 6 months supply around since good coffees come around frequently enough and you’d prefer to be able to buy 5 kilos of a good coffee without wondering where to keep it or what else won’t be used as a result.
• Don’t have so much that it’s hard to store and locate coffees.

My stash currently runs to around 35 kilograms - which, at my latest calculation of around 48 kilos used a year, works out to around 9 months supply. I think I’m aiming at around 6 months supply; or around 25 kilos. More than that and some coffees get relegated to the bottom of the pile and don’t get used often. That creates its own problem since I then feel compelled to reduce my holding of ‘older’ cofee and so use them whilst ignoring the latest purchases.

But not only the total quantity of coffee in the stash, but also what sort of quantity of each bean, and from what region or country? My initial purchases were in 5 kilo lots, but more recently I’ve gone to 2.5 kilo (and even a few 1 kilo bags). My current thinking is to go for a maximum 2.5 kilo unless there is a compelling reason to go higher (Yemen Ismaili, for example). I also try to maintain a balance of coffees from the different regions: Centrals, South Americans, Asian, African.

Additionally there is the expected or intended usage of that particular coffee. Is it for plunging or espresso machine use? Is it for me or to give away?

Lots of questions and issues, but for the moment my approach is to aim for:

• 25 kilos of coffee
• its age doesn’t exceed 12 months from purchase.
• of which at least a third is suitable for plunging
• the remainder is suitable for espresso machine use
• of that coffee for the machine, I hold stock of coffees that are suited to my low-medium-high blending approach.

One of my favourite coffees is the Yemen Ismaili. I’ve had 7.5 kilograms move through my stash over the past couple of years - and I’m down to my last couple of kilos.

It’s been a part of my standard espresso blend for the past 12-or-so months either in equal thirds or as the minor highlight bean. It’s a fantastic bean for flavour, but can be difficult to roast well due to its small size and dry-processing. I’ve had some lots with an overwhelming bluberry aroma in the roasted, unground bean; and the flavour in a plunger can be very pastoral and floral.

I roasted a batch yesterday and perhaps underdid it a bit. Cleared first crack, but no hint of second - probably a ‘city plus’. It’s for plunging so brightness isn’t an issue. I haven’t got any of that blueberry aroma yet. Tried some today in a plunge and it’s fairly bland. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops as it rests and whether those blueberries come through. I’ve had this lot of beans for about 15 months and I’m trying to run it out soon. I haven’t detected any baginess or off-notes in it, and I’d really prefer not to.

It’s a hard bean to come by. Few bags make it to us and it’s much more expensive when it does get through. For comparison, the usual price/kilo for a good quality arabica bean from the broker is around $6 (but ranging from $4-10) whereas the Yemen is around $20. Still cheaper than buying any bean from a roastery, and good for what it brings to a blend.

I’m not sure how I’ll manage when my current stock is depleted. A Harrar can be a good replacement, but in my limited experience the Yemen brings a floral punch that almost defies description.

For the past few days we’ve been drinking some Ethiopian Harrar as a single origin (SO) bean through the espresso machine.

The bean was roasted in the SC/TO on Christmas eve. That’s eleven days ago. This bean is exhibiting a huge chocolate aroma and flavour as whole beans, ground beans and in our standard doppio latte style drink.

My previous experience with this bean has shown a fairly fruity aroma, but that’s nowhere to be seen in this batch. I’ve previously described Harrar as being ‘pastoral’, but not this roast in this brew method. I’d say the roast is full city - taken to the edge of second. The chocolate flavour is perhaps diminishing - being strongest on the weekend at around 7 days rest. I tried this bean when it was two days old, but there was no chocolate evident. I then let it rest for another 5 days and so I can ‘t comment on how the flavour has changed or developed over time.

Given all of the above, the next time I roast for espresso (every week - usually on a weekend) I’ll try some more Harrar but this time I’ll track its progress from a day or two out of the roaster through to around a week old.

Tried the Harrar this morning after a two-day rest. It was roasted on Saturday morning to the edge of second crack with a wonky profile. I was expecting it to be a bit bright since it seemed a touch under-roasted to me.

Pulled a shot in the machine and thought I’d sample it straight. Not bad. A fairly intense drop with a lot of flavour and only an edge of bitterness. I’m not sure that I like straight espresso, but this was fine. I then steamed some milk for my standard flat white/latte style drink. It was OK, but a little lacking in flavour - surprisingly enough!

Roasted a batch of Ethiopian Harrar this morning. It’ll be used primarily (exclusively?) for cappuccino/flat white style coffees.

The roast was a 320 gram batch in the SC/TO in air temperatures around 38C. The profile was all over the place. I started off with the standard ramp of 165C but had to lower and raise the temperature throughout the roast. I had to lift the lid a few times to reseat the foil cap before reaching first crack and so that phase of the roast lasted around 12 minutes. I bumped the temperature up to over 165C to complete first and then the roast seemed to start to come into second. Total roast was probably around 18-or-so minutes.
Dry-processed beans such as the Harrar usually roast unevenly and today’s was no exception. I tossed a few light-brown beans in the garden and the remainder of the roast looks OK. I’ll rest it until early next week and give it a whirl. I hope it’s not the best roast I’ve ever done because the profile will be almost impossible to re-create.

Roasted up a batch of the Ugandan Okoro ‘White Nile’ this evening. It was the first batch in the SC/TO and so the profile is anyone’s guess.

The roast was performed without a spacer between the Turbo Oven and the Stir Crazy, and I haven’t disconnected the heating element in the SC yet. As a result the roast was probably too fast and it is somewhat uneven.

The roast of 300 grams took about 11 minutes with first being reached at about 8 minutes. The roast is something of a melange, but some beans hit second and the remainder weren’t too far off. Probably a Full City or FC+ overall.

The initial aroma was somewhat grassy (reminiscent of the Bugisu), but it had changed to a very peanutty aroma around 1 1/2 hours after roasting.

By most accounts the Bugisu benefits from a three-day-rest and so these should be sampled on Saturday afternoon/evening.

Roasted up a couple of batches in the Imex last evening. That’s one of the good things about summer and daylight saving - an opportunity to roast coffee after work and still see the results.

My current blend is based on a ‘low - medium - high’ philosophy, or a base (usually Brazilian, or a Sumatran), a middle bean that rounds out the blend (usually a Central American or Asian bean), and a highlight bean (a flavoursome dry-processed hit from Ethiopia or Yemen).

The specific beans at the moment are Brazil Yellow Bourbon Pocos de Caldas, Kenya Masai and Yemen Ismaili. The Masai doesn’t fit my standard profile of a Central or Asian bean, but I’ve got a bit of Masai that I need to finish up and it adds a big meaty, winey backdrop to the blend. The proportions are 1-1-1 to make it easy. The name is just as easy ‘1-1-1′.