Month: December 2024

Bean Alchemy Temptation Blend

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: “Temptation Blend”
    • Roaster: Bean Alchemy Roasters (New Market, MD)
    • Origins: Central America, Indonesia
    • Roast level: Medium/Dark
    • Roast date: 11/21/2024
    • Purchase date: 11/30/2024 at Sykesville Holiday Mart in Westminster, MD
    • Process: Washed
  • V60:
    • 19.5g to 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15 to 1:15.4)
    • Ode: 5
    • Water at 90°C
    • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with 40g bloom water – finishes 03:10-03:15
  • AeroPress:
    • 17.5g coffee / 250g water (1:14.3)
    • Ode: 5
    • Water at 95°C
    • Prismo with metal + 1 paper filter (not rinsed)
    • Pour all water at once / Stir back to front 7x / Steep until 02:45 / Stir 7x again / Press slowly
  • Hotel Room AeroPress:
    • 1 heaping scoop beans + (optionally) several more for a stronger cup
    • JX: 25
    • Hot water from single-dose pod brewer machine in room
    • Put Prismo + filters on, do not rinse, add grounds, and fill to 1/4″ from top of cylinder
    • Same brewing process as above

These beans are very dark and oily, so I’d say more on the side of a dark roast than medium. For V60, I brewed them with the same settings as my last bag of medium/dark roasted beans. The draw-down finished a little faster than those beans, but even given the (relatively) coarse grind, still slower than a typical light or medium roast. The result was a pretty good cup of dark-roasted coffee — robust and smooth, not bitter, and not all that complex.

My first attempts with the AeroPress were on the bitter side. I probably need to use a coarser grind and/or lower water temperature. I’ll get some more practice next week, as I’ll be brewing a few cups in a hotel room.

In the hotel, I filled the Keurig up to the “fill here” line using whatever water I had on hand (typically either tap or water cooler water). This produced just about the right amount of hot water for the AeroPress- with the Prismo, it filled the AeroPress cylinder to about 1/4″ from the top. The Prismo makes it possible to use a single paper coffee cup without the need to invert the AeroPress (which would also reduce the capacity). I used my JX hand grinder, initially at setting 20, but 25 ended up producing a smoother cup. I brewed 5 or 6 cups like this, and they were all consistently pretty good.