- Beans: “Festivus Roast” (Indonesia/Central America/South America)
- Dark roast (7/8)
- Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
- Roast date: 11/27/2023
- 18g coffee / 250g water (1:13.9)
- JX: 2 rotations + 9 clicks (23 on the grind chart / 69 total clicks)
- Bloom water at 99°C, brew water between 81°C and 85°C
- Recipe: A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique (see below)
- Heat water; preheat V60 and mug
- Pre-moisten filter, add coffee, and tare scale
- Shake V60 to level coffee bed; make small indentation in center of grounds
- Start timer and do the following, finishing between 0:45 and 1:15:
- Pour 50g of water to bloom
- Return kettle to base
- Lower kettle temperature by 20° or so by adding room temperature water
- Bring kettle water back up to 81°-85°C
- Reset timer
- 0:00 – 0:10: Pour up to 100g total (40% total weight)
- Hold kettle for the remainder of the brewing process
- 0:20 – 0:30: Pour up to 150g total (60% total weight)
- 0:40 – 0:50: Pour up to 200g total (80% total weight)
- 1:00 – 1:10: Pour up to 250g total (100% total weight)
- Wait for drawdown (30-60 seconds)
I’ve been buying mostly light- to medium-roasted beans for the past several months, and I decided that it was time to try something dark again. This was my first time brewing a dark roast using the pourover method, and I used the same recipe that I used with Zeke’s Market Blend (actually a medium roast, but on the darker side of medium). The result was a perfectly drinkable cup, but it could have been a little bit stronger. Tomorrow, I think I am going to try 20 grams of coffee, which will give me a ratio of 1:12.5. I may also try making the grind finer little by little, until I notice any unpleasant flavors. At some point, I’ll also likely try brewing the beans with the AeroPress and/or the French Press.
12/1: Grind setting 22 with 20g (1:12.5) was an improvement over yesterday. The beans don’t seem to visibly out-gas during the initial high-temperature bloom step, so I may try skipping that tomorrow and doing the entire brew at 80-82°. I’m curious if I’ll notice any difference.
12/3: Didn’t seem like much difference doing the entire brew at either 82° or 84° at grind setting 22. Might go back to blooming one more time just to confirm… otherwise, I think I’ve got a baseline recipe dialed in. Next up will be to try AeroPress or French press.
12/21: I started brewing these beans with the AeroPress a couple of weeks ago, and I feel like once I dialed it in, it’s been easier to get consistently good cups using that method. I predict that going forward, I’ll end up brewing most light to medium roasts using the pourover method, and medium to dark roasts with the AeroPress. I’m curious to check back in a year or so and see if I was correct.