• Beans: Beans of Summer (blend)
  • Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
  • Origin: Indonesia, South and Central America
  • Roast level: Medium/Light (3/8)
  • Roast date: unknown
  • Purchase date: 6/15/2025 from Zeke’s at Baltimore Farmer’s Market
    Freeze date: TBD; Thaw date: TBD
    First cup: 6/17/2025; Last cup: TBD
  • Process: n/a (blend)
  • Tasting notes: none noted on bag
• V60:
  • 19g coffee / 300g water (1:15.8)
  • Ode: 4
  • Water at 100°C
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 2 cone, 40g bloom water and 50g pulses – finishes 02:40-02:45
• Previous bag: late July 2024

Wow, I guess it’s summer again. On one hand, it doesn’t seem like that long ago that I had my first bag of these. On the other hand, it was before I had my Ode grinder, and it seems like I’ve had that for a long time. I bought the Ode last September, and a lot has happened in life (both good and bad) since then.

We bought these beans (as well as a bag of Zeke’s Tell-Tale Decaf) at the Baltimore Farmer’s Market, directly from the roaster. Strangely, while the bags of Zeke’s I get at the grocery store have roast dates printed on them, these bags didn’t. Typically, though, when buying directly from the roaster, I just kind of assume the bags are fresh. Of course, the $50,000 question is, would I be able to tell the difference between freshly-roasted beans and 6-month-old beans? I’d like to think I would, but you never know. 😀

According to my notes from last year, I had a hard time getting a good cup with the V60. Different story this time around, as my first two cups have been excellent. Granted, I have only brewed two cups so far, and I noted last year that the first two cups were also good, after which I started having issues. We will see how it goes with the rest of the bag. The differences so far have been: different grinder, much lower ratio (1:16 vs 1:14), and 50g pulses instead of 60g. The 50g pulse technique does tend to keep water in the cone longer, which probably helps with extraction. My technique is probably a little better and more consistent now, as well, but who knows.

I am probably not going to use this entire bag up before heading to Delaware next week, so I think I may take some with me to brew in the AeroPress, and freeze the rest to brew after I get back. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in taste between the frozen/thawed beans and the non-frozen beans. Stay tuned!