fredk01 Senior Member Joined: 20 Feb 2012 Posts: 116 Location: Canada Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Saeco Aroma Grinder: OE Pharos
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 12:56pm Subject: Its the beans?
... or the roaster?
I tried an espresso blend and 4 of the varieties that were in it from a local roaster. I was underwhelmed, but did not want to say anything. I was not tasting any of the things I have seen others here describe in fresh roasted coffee. I thought maybe I just don't have the taste buds or something like that.
Yesterday I picked up some samples from another local roaster: A Sumatra full city+ roast, an Etheopian medium roast, a Peru medium roast. All are 4-5 days post roast.
I tried the Sumatra last night. Now that's better! It was full bodied (as advertised) with a hint of spice and some other things I could not identify. Yum. Very tasty with chocolate mixed in.
This moring I tried the Etheopian. It is described as medium bodied with winey acidity. I tasted fruit: something like blackberry or black current. The flavour came through in spades, even with milk and sugar added. Again, quite tasty.
So, that leaves me wondering about the other roaster. Is it the quality of the beans they use? Could it be the way they roast?
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 3:55pm Subject: Re: Its the beans?
It's pretty hard to determine from the information you've given. Did they give the date the beans were roasted on? If they were stale, that'd definitely explain it. Just because they're local doesn't necessarily mean they're good.
Joel_B Senior Member Joined: 9 Oct 2007 Posts: 1,823 Location: Pacific NW Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Astra Mega II Grinder: Mazzer SJ, Virtuoso Vac Pot: Yama 5 cup Drip: nope, french press Roaster: Behmor, WP, BBQ drum
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 4:06pm Subject: Re: Its the beans?
Yeah, like kenny said, it's too difficult to tell. Could be stale coffee (either green, roasted or both), roasting process, low quality beans, etc. It's possible the coffee needed specific parameters but seeing it was with 4 different coffees, that's really unlikely. I've gotten stale coffee from a reputable roaster before (didn't check the date til later), so this could just be a mishap. But again, with all four coffees?
germantownrob Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2007 Posts: 2,017 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Duetto 3, A Dead Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Preciso w/Esatto,... Drip: Brazen Roaster: Diedrich IR-1, HT B
Posted Thu Apr 19, 2012, 6:43pm Subject: Re: Its the beans?
It's very posiable the one local roaster just doesn't know how to roast well, I have had plenty of fresh roasted beans that miss the mark by a mile. I myself was producing sub par roasts with my new machine for a few months until I figured out how it wanted me to roast beans instead of me trying to do what I successfully had done on my old machine.
fredk01 Senior Member Joined: 20 Feb 2012 Posts: 116 Location: Canada Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Saeco Aroma Grinder: OE Pharos
Posted Fri Apr 20, 2012, 3:24pm Subject: Re: Its the beans?
The beans from both roasters are fresh. The ones I picked up from the first roaster were 1-2 days post roast and I let them rest for two more days before the first brewing.
I tried the Peru beans from the second roaster today. They were to a similar roast level of the ones from the first roaster (which also included a sample from Peru), and had similar flavour, so maybe its the beans/origin.
I'm finishing another cup of the Ethiopian as I type this. Maybe I just really like this particular bean. OK, I really like this particular bean.
If I had to rate the 3 from the current supplier it would be:
Ethiopian - love the extra fruity/winey flavour that comes through in spades
Sumatra - good, like the full body. It is quite taste with chocolate added. The chocolate seems to complement really well
Peru - decent, but a little bland compared to the other two. Maybe I should try a stronger dose?
It could still be my taste since its been a while since I saw 20...
bittersweet101 Senior Member Joined: 14 Apr 2012 Posts: 35 Location: Philippines Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Thu Apr 26, 2012, 12:21pm Subject: Re: Its the beans?
It could be that you just have a different preference when it comes to what tastes good in an espresso blend. It wasn't that the first beans you ordered were particularly bad, right? You were just underwhelmed. Maybe it just didn't suit your taste buds' preferences.
That, and that those were followed by extremely flavorful beans. I mean, probably the contrast was just so stark it was difficult to set aside. Oh I wonder what those first samples were?
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