Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Zeke’s Holiday Roast MMXXV

Written on

in

  • Beans: Holiday Roast MMXXV
    • Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
    • Origin: Mexico, Honduras
    • Roast level: Says medium (4/8) but beans look dark roasted
    • Roast date: 12/15/2025
    • Purchase date: 12/20/2025 from Green Valley Marketplace in Elkridge, MD
      First cup: 12/30/2025; Last cup:
    • Process: n/a (blend)
    • Tasting notes: Chocolate, almond, lemon
  • V60 with Ode grinder:
    • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
    • Ode: 6
    • Water at 95°C
    • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with size 1 cone, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses – finishes 02:30-02:40
  • AeroPress with JX grinder:
    • 17g coffee / 250g water (1:14.7)
    • JX: 16
    • Water at 95°C
    • Travel AeroPress Recipe with 50g/45s bloom; steep until 02:45
  • AeroPress with Ode grinder:
    • 17g to 19g coffee / 250g water (1:13 to 1:15)
    • Ode: 3
    • Water at 99°C
    • Same recipe as above (3x coffee weight to bloom)

This one is a little confusing. The web site shows two versions of this blend: “Naughty” with roast level 4/8, and “Nice” with roast level 3/8. The bag I bought is labeled “Nice”, but shows roast level 4/8. The beans themselves are dark roasted and oily. I’m almost wondering if the bag is mislabeled (it was the last bag on the shelf at the grocery store, not that that really means anything). It brews like a dark roast (coarse grind, fast draw-down, lots of fine bubbles) and tastes like a dark roast (perfectly fine; could maybe stand a tiny bit more tweaking).

1/5: AeroPress (see above) was the best cup I’ve had so far. It was quite tasty at JX grind 16, which tells me it might be good with a finer pour-over grind as well. It didn’t have that burnt/ashy flavor that turns me off to a lot of dark roasts. I brought enough to the office to make 6 cups, and I’m wondering if I should just make this my “office coffee” for a while (if I do, I’d need to freeze some of it).

1/27: I still have quite a bit of this, and never got around to freezing any, so I’m going to be looking to use it up. I tried brewing a cup in the Switch with my usual immersion method, using (I think) grind size 4 and steeping until 02:30, and it was reminiscent of my earlier pour-overs: OK, but lacking something. I had brought my AeroPress home ahead of last weekend’s snow/ice storm and ensuing cold snap, so this morning, I went back to that. It had been quite a while since I last used the AP at home (I’m thinking it might have been December 2024). I brewed 19g/250g and used grind setting 3, and the cup had the flavor I was looking for. 1:13 was a tad stronger than I like, but it worked on a cold morning. If I end up taking the AP back to the office, I’ll probably work on tweaking the method I use with the Switch, so that I can keep brewing it at home as well as at work.

More posts