Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Brewing Good Bolivia

Written on

in

  • Beans: Bolivia (Cooperativia Agropecuaria)
    • Roaster: Brewing Good Coffee Company (Savage, MD)
    • Origin: Bolivia (Caranavi, La Paz)
    • Roast level: Light
    • Roast date: 7/15/2025
    • Purchase date: 8/3/2025 from BGCC in Savage Mill
      Freeze date: n/a; Thaw date: n/a
      First cup: 8/11/2025; Last cup: 8/27/2025 (AeroPress)
    • Process: washed; Elevation: 1200 to 1850 MASL; Varietals: Catuai, Caturra, Typica; Certifications: Fair trade, organic
    • Tasting notes: Raisin cookie, apple, grape, toffee
  • Switch with Ode grinder (1 cup):
    • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
    • Ode: 2+2 to 3
    • Water at 100°C
    • Single Cup V60 Pourover with 50-60g bloom and 60g pulses – keep drain closed until end of bloom – Finishes around 03:00
  • Switch with Ode grinder (immersion method):
    • 21 to 22g coffee / 300g water
    • Ode: 2
    • Water at 100°C
    • Close drain / pour 50-60g bloom and agitate / at 0:45, pour to 300g / swirl / steep until 02:00-02:10 / swirl again and open drain / should finish around 03:00-03:10
  • AeroPress with JX grinder (best cup so far):
    • 18g beans, weighed out at home
    • JX: 16
    • Water at 100°C (BonaVita electric gooseneck kettle)
    • Travel AeroPress Recipe (no scale)

I don’t run across Bolivian coffee beans all that often. As a matter of fact, I’ve only ever had them as part of a blend that I had last fall/winter. This is the first time I’ve ever brewed single-origin Bolivian beans. My first cup, at grind setting 3, was pretty good, with a nice balance of body and acidity. Grind 2+2 was similar, but the draw-down took several seconds longer, and I felt the caffeine a lot more. Both cups were better than the pour-over I got at the shop (same beans), so I must be doing something right. 😀 I might go back to setting 3 for the next few cups.

8/19: After getting inconsistent results with pour-over for a few days, I switched to an immersion-style brew per above. Grind 3 was a little bit lacking, but grind 2 seems to produce a pretty good, well-balanced cup. I’m curious what would happen if I steeped it, say, a minute or so longer.

8/20: Steeping an extra 30 seconds in the Switch produced no marked improvement in flavor, but did seem to extract more caffeine, so I think 2 minutes is probably the better bet. Later in the day, I tried AeroPress (per above) and it produced a really nice cup — probably the best I’ve brewed so far. Seems that immersion might be the ticket with this particular roast.

More posts