New York Coffee Festival

I was really looking forward to the New York Coffee Festival ever since I saw an alert for it in my Google news feed.  I was not disappointed.   The coffee samples were plentiful, and representation was there from giants in the industry to the small folks just starting out.  It was great to see even footing for all, and New York has one hell of a coffee scene going on right now.  Yes, Starbucks had the largest display in the event, but their display was not even close to the most visited.

The barrista challenges were quite fun to watch, although I wish the announcers would have talked less, and the barrista mics were on more.  I could see them talking to the judges and wanted to hear what they were saying.

A highlight for me was the La Marzocco booth.  They had a bar where different roasters took turns showcasing their signature coffees.  But the real fun was the demos of the new Linea Mini machine.  This is a “home” machine, but really it’s just a scaled down version of their signature cafe machine…it’s even NSF rated.  But, what good is a home machine if you can’t try it?  So, they had 3 machines out there and let anyone interested pull shots and steam some milk.  The machine really is quite amazing, but the price tag is pretty steep at $4495 (given the price of a GS3, this is a steal).  It’s not as programmable as the full commercial version, but it’s more than up to the task.  It was a blast playing with it.

This was the first time the event has been held in the US after several turns in London and Amsterdam.  I have to believe this will be back next year, and if so, you should go.  You don’t have to be in the industry to have fun.  You just need to be a fan of coffee.

Preground Coffee in Starbucks!

The only drink in Starbucks that isn’t just downright awful is a Blonde Roast pour over.  But, guess what?  They pre-grind the coffee and store it in a little container.  So, yep, when you ask for a Blonde pour over, you are getting stale crap.  That’s just really pathetic.  They fresh grind all the espresso based drinks, but they screw those beans up in the roaster.  The one chance they have left to redeem themselves, and they screw that up too.  At least all those iced teas I got (unsweetened) got me a free food item.

A perfect shot of espresso

A perfect shot of espresso
A perfect shot

A perfect shot of espresso with my “Trunch” blend.  This blend is Brazil, Mexico, Sumatra and Costa Rica, and it is exactly what I want in a shot.  There’s abundant bittersweet chocolate and roasty nuttiness, and the Costa Rica gives it a nice little kick at the end.

The roast profile is a Diedrich style slow start/fast finish with 1st crack hitting at about 11min, and roast finishing just at the start of 2nd crack at about 14min.

Yes, you can do this at home too.  Screw Starbucks.

AeroClover – Clover Style Brewing with the AeroPress

So, you like the result of a Clover brewed cup, but you don’t want to spend $6000 on a machine?  Oh yeah, Starbucks bought Clover and you can’t buy one anyway.  Well, you are in luck because you can replicate the process with a sub $30 device.

Chances are you have an AeroPress, or at least have heard of it.  It’s probably the cheapest coffee brewing device out there and it makes a seriously good cup of coffee.  If you don’t have you really can’t loose much by picking one up.  There’s many different ways to use the AeroPress.  The “inverted” method is quite the rage right now.  I happen to use the inverted method because it makes less of a mess.  According to the latest stats on the World Aeropress Championships, about 50% of the people use the device the way it was intended…so you can make a great cup either way.

But, there’s another way you can use the AeroPress, and it simulates the Clover style brewing method.  So, if you are willing to possibly make a mess, watch this.

FreshRoast SR700 and Roastero

When I started home roasting with the FreshRoast SR700, it was for two reasons.  First, I realized that even though I had started to buy really great beans from local roasters, it was expensive.  I looked, and a pound of very good green coffee is about $5, and a pound of good roasted is anywhere from $15 to $20.  So, by roasting myself, I save big bucks.  Second, I am able to get exactly the coffee I want when I want it.  I roast on demand, and never have any wasted coffee.

So, I decided on the FreshRoast SR700.   It’s computer controlled, and that’s too geeky to pass up.  But, a friend had an SR500 and recommended that.  So, after some research, it really did look like a great way to start at home.

Now, enter Roastero.  After I started roasting, I joined the FreshRoast Facebook group.  There’s over 100 people there comparing recipes and sharing advice on the FreshRoast SR700 and SR500.  Then, I see a post from 2 college kids that are writing an open source program to control the SR700.  You better believe I jumped on that invite.

The stock SR700 software lets you save lots of steps, but you still only have control over 3 heat levels, and 9 fan speeds.  It’s pretty flexible, and produces fine roasts, but it’s still sort of limiting.  Roastero on the other hand uses temperature targets for each step.  You can actually build a real roast profile.  This software takes a really good machine and makes it a great machine.  The roasts you can do with this level of control are incredible.  The only nit is that the software is still using those 3 heat levels, so it toggles back and forth between them to maintain a given temperature.  That is a limitation of the hardware.  So, the resulting curve is not smooth.  But, the average of the result works out fine.

I am able to create profiles that put 1st crack anywhere I want it.  I can produce nice even light roasts, or dark roasts with a roaring 2nd crack, and they are all nice and even.

Here’s a quick video.

We’ve Got Gear!

julg-coffee-black

We’ve created our own brand called Jumped Up Little Germ.  It’s shirts and mugs for true coffee geeks.

 

Not an Espresso Fan?

I know, some people don’t like espresso? What’s up with that?!  Well, what are you supposed to do if someone is visiting and want’s coffee but just wants “a cup of coffee”.  I humbly suggest Guatemala Volcan at Full City roast.

I roasted this batch with my Fresh Roast SR700 at 2min past 1st Crack.  This is one of, if not the best, “cup of coffee” I’ve ever had.  I brewed it in an Aeropress at 185F.  It was spectacular.

Guatemala Volcan
Guatemala Volcan 2min after 1st Crack

Home Roast Sumatra

Sumatra Iskandar won some awards this year.  So I picked up a few pounds to home roast.

Roasted with FreshRoast SR700 to Full City+
Roasted with FreshRoast SR700 to Full City+

This batch was roasted 20 sec into a rolling second crack.  It came out excellent.  Brewed as a single origin espresso, it had all the body you would expect.  It was thick and syrupy, with mild sweetness and a touch of acidic tang to wake up the mouth.  I regularly use 25% Sumatra in my “go-to” espresso blend, and this bean again showed me why I do it.

As an Aeropress brew, this was also outstanding.  The cup was exceptionally smooth and not bitter at all.  The sweetness was perhaps more pronounced than in the espresso preparation and the aroma had chocolate notes to it.  The thickness of the body noted in the espresso preparation was also very noticeable.

#starbuckssucks

Arabica and Robusta?

So, what is the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee exactly?  Everyone says Arabica tastes better, and it’s likely because of it’s lower caffeine content.  Caffeine is actually bitter tasting, so more of it means a more bitter cup.  But, there’s actually a bit more to it.  This article makes it short a sweet.

10 differences Between Robusta & Arabica Coffee | The Roasters Pack

Of course, that’s not all on the subject of Arabica and Robusta.  Just do a Google search, and you’ll see what I mean…of course you probably already know that because that’s how you probably got here.

Demystifying espresso for the average Joe