Category: Coffee

Late Run

lpaulriddle

I went to the Orioles game last night, and didn’t get back until after 11. As a result, I slept until 7:30, and didn’t get out for my run until almost 10, which is really late for this time of year. Luckily, while it was humid as ever, the thick cloud cover kept the temperatures cooler than they ordinarily would be by late morning in August. So, I could have picked a worse day to get a late start. I set out to run 10K. About 3.5 miles in, I started feeling a tiny bit under the weather, and thought I might have to cut it short. Luckily, it was just a brief abdominal issue that went away after a few minutes, and I was able to complete the full distance. It was not a bad run for mid August.

Coffee: I’m still using up the last of my “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark blend. I brewed this recipe twice today. I’d rate cup #1 a 3.5 out of 5, and cup #2 a 4.5 out of 5. The only difference was that in between the cups, I put a new water filter in our Brita pitcher, and I reused the same AeroPress filter for cup #2. I wonder if some of the taste variation between cups is because I’m brewing a blend of two different roasts, and with each cup, I’m getting a slightly different ratio of medium-roasted beans to dark-roasted beans. The way to test that theory would be to use single-origin beans and see if the results are any more consistent from cup to cup (assuming all other variables stay the same). This will be interesting to try.

Morning ride

lpaulriddle

Nice morning for a ride today, even if it was just a garden-variety commute to work. It’s my second day in the office this week, which has been the exception more so than the rule this summer, in spite of intentions. Weather, holidays, and vacations (mainly weather) have kept me home on a lot of Mondays. Weather once again threatened this past Monday, but held off until I got home, and I made it to the climbing gym in time to ride out the crazy storms. Different story today, with pleasant weather (for August) and no storms predicted. Both of my commutes this week have been on the road, as the trails have been a little too wet for mountain biking.

On the coffee front, I brewed yesterday’s recipe with the same beans this morning, and the cup was fine, but not quite as good as yesterday’s. I noticed some dripping while it was steeping, and when I flipped the AeroPress, I saw that it was because I had inserted the plunger a little bit crooked. Also, the filter paper was used once (for yesterday’s cup). I can’t really see where either of those things would affect the finished product. All the same, I’ll eliminate those variables the next time I brew this, which will be either late this afternoon, or tomorrow morning. I have enough of the beans left to make 4 more cups, and I’m hoping at least one of them is as good as yesterday’s.

Bloom

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: Lost Dog “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark blend
  • JX: 2.5 turns (75 total clicks, or 25 on the grind chart)
  • 90°C water
  • 15 grams coffee / 180 grams water (1:12)
  • One new paper filter (pre-moistened)
  • Recipe: 13g that makes you happy (inverted: add 35g water, stir to moisten grounds, top up to 180g at 0:30, stir gently 10x, flip at 1:30 and press very slowly, finishing at 2:30)

I thought I could get cute and eliminate the bloom phase of this recipe, but the result was two very bitter cups of coffee. For my afternoon cup today, I went back to following the recipe, again using 2 additional grams of coffee (as I’ve been doing with these beans) and proportionally more bloom water. The result was an almost perfect cup. I kind of get why the bloom is so important with pour-over, but I’m surprised that it made such a big difference with an AeroPress recipe, given that it doesn’t seem to matter much with the French press, and they’re both immersion brewing methods. Well, you learn something new every day. At any rate, I probably have enough of these beans left for 5 or 6 more cups, and I’ll probably stick with this recipe until they’re gone.

Tomorrow’s Brew

lpaulriddle

Thinking about trying this:

  • Beans: Lost Dog “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark blend
  • JX: 2 turns less 6 clicks (54 total clicks, or 18 on the grind chart)
  • 90°C water
  • 15 grams coffee / 180 grams water (1:12)
  • One new paper filter (pre-moistened)
  • Inverted: Add water and make sure all grounds get wet as quickly as possible / steep until :30 / stir for 5s / steep until 1:30 / slow press

This keeps the same ratio and water temperature as last time, but uses a finer grind and simplifies the recipe by eliminating the separate bloom. I’m trying to aim for a French press style cup that doesn’t take as long to brew. We’ll see how it turns out..

Verdict: I have finally managed to brew bitter coffee with the AeroPress! At least I now know that it’s possible. I think my first modification will be to try grinding a little bit coarser.

8/8 update: Brewed again with a coarser setting: 2.5 turns/25 on the grind chart, and it did not make any noticeable difference. The cup was still very bitter tasting. At this grind setting, I’m brewing essentially the same thing as two days ago, minus the initial 30g pour and bloom step. So, apparently, that step must make a big difference.

Morning Brew

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: Lost Dog “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark blend
  • JX: 2.5 turns less 3 clicks (72 total clicks, or 24 on the grind chart)
  • 90°C water
  • 15 grams coffee / 180 grams water (about 1:12)
  • One new paper filter (pre-moistened)
  • Recipe: 13g that makes you happy (inverted: add 30g water, stir 5x, top up to 180g at 0:35, stir 10x, flip at 1:40 and press very slowly, finishing at 2:40)

This is the same recipe I had been using with the German St Coffee & Candlery beans for the past week or two, with a little bit more coffee by weight. The flavor was just fine, but the cup seemed slightly weak, which I’ve noticed a lot recently with these darker beans. Next time, I’ll try 16 grams of coffee, with 35-36 grams of initial “bloom” water. I figure I’ll eventually either get it to the strength I like, or reach a point of diminishing returns where it will start tasting under-extracted.

I’ve been pre-moistening the filter recently (with water from the insta-hot tap) because it helps to keep it in place when putting the cap on in the inverted orientation. I don’t think it makes much difference in the finished product.

I found an interesting article that explains that darker roast beans have a somewhat short shelf life. That might explain why my recent cups have tasted weak — maybe the beans are just starting to go stale. If that’s the case, then I need to start buying darker roasts in smaller quantities that I can use up quickly, and also make sure the bag shows the roast date. Live and learn!

More Cold Brew

lpaulriddle

I’ve been making a cup of cold brew, using this recipe, almost every day that I’m at home in the afternoon. Somehow, though, my bag of Wellsley Farms pre-ground breakfast blend never seems to run out. I still have a ton of it left. Today, though, I decided to shake things up:

  • 15 grams Lost Dog “La Esparanza” medium/medium dark roast blend beans
  • JX: 2 rotations minus 6 clicks (54 total clicks or 18 on the grind chart) for a medium to slightly fine grind
  1. Set AeroPress up in inverted orientation with plunger inserted about 1cm, and add coffee.
  2. Fill AeroPress to within about 1cm of the top with room temperature, filtered water.
  3. Start timer and stir vigorously for 1 minute.
  4. Flip AeroPress and press gently into an 8-ounce tumbler.
  5. Add a drop or two of stevia and stir.
  6. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes to chill.

This turned out pretty good. I think I like it a little bit better than the cold brew that I make with the pre-ground coffee, but it does seem slightly stronger. It would probably be fine with 13 to 14 grams of coffee, although I’d need to be careful playing around with the ratio since I’m measuring the water by volume and not weight. I’ve been using the stevia for a while now with this recipe, as I’ve found that I like a tiny hint of sweetness with cold brew. A little definitely goes a long way — a couple of drops is plenty.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try making a hot cup with these beans for the first time in a week or two. I figure I’ve got 9 or 10 cups worth of beans left, so I’ll see if I can get a good, repeatable recipe dialed in before I run out of them.

Niner

lpaulriddle

I ran 9 miles this morning, for the first time since June 15. I was surprised that it had been that long, especially given the cool weather we had during the second half of June. Today, the temperature at 8:00am was around 70, and the weather was overcast and muggy. I got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, and had a smoothie, cup of coffee, and some water before heading out. I ran at a relaxed pace of 11 minutes/mile on average, and my form felt really good throughout. All things considered, it was a great run. I expect that my pace will pick up a bit as we get into cooler weather, and I am looking forward to taking some longer runs this fall.

I used up the last of my “private house blend” coffee beans from German St Coffee and Candlery this morning. I bought these beans back in May. I used a bunch of them for cold brew, and also tried them in the French press, with pretty good results both times. After some initial failures, I eventually found an AeroPress recipe that produced a really nice cup with them, and I’ve been brewing this recipe exclusively for the past week or so, just in an effort to use up my older beans (plus, it was cool to be brewing consistently good cups of coffee with the AeroPress — maybe I’m getting better at this). Next on the list are the two bags of Lost Dog beans that I also bought in Shepherdstown in May.

Climb/Brew

lpaulriddle

Today is day two of our predicted 3-day heat wave. In lieu of pool running, I headed to Movement for my usual Friday morning climbing. I climbed 7 routes, all on TR, with grades ranging from 5.10b to 5.11a. It was a reasonably good climbing session with some challenging routes, particularly the 5.11a, which was very crimpy at the top. I’ll probably swim in the late afternoon again.

I had a $20 bonus card from REI that was only good for a week, so I ordered another pair of REI Swiftland running short tights. I bought my first pair back in May. I like the fit as well as the pockets, and they also seem to be pretty resistant to odors, at least in typical late-spring and early-summer running conditions. I’m thinking about also trying them for climbing, as I’ve had some chafing issues recently with looser athletic shorts.

I’ve gotten fairly predictable with my morning brews lately, as I’m working on using up some of the beans I’ve had for a couple of months. I brewed this recipe again this morning, with the only change being that I ground the beans ever so slightly finer (2.5 turns – 3 clicks). To be totally honest, I didn’t notice much difference. It was a good cup — not the best I’ve ever had — but I do like that this recipe seems to produce fairly predictable results. Yesterday’s (exact same beans and recipe) was maybe a tiny bit more acidic than I have been used to, but not overly so. Next week I’m hoping to try pour-over for the first time, as I have a Hario V60 dripper on order. The first one arrived broken, so I’m just waiting on the replacement.

Run/Brew Notes

lpaulriddle

I got out this morning and ran into Patapsco Valley State Park via River Rd., out to the swinging bridge, and back via the Grist Mill Trail. Although I bike through PVSP all the time, I had not run there in probably 15 years. It’s a route I had been wanting to try for a while, but it is 8.5 miles round trip, requires cutting through a school, and starts and ends along a road which is both hilly (downhill outbound and uphill inbound) and not pedestrian-friendly. On the plus side, 95% of the route is shaded, and over half of it is in the park. It’s not a bad route for summer, when school is out and there’s less traffic on the roads. Today, I cut it short at 8 miles, and walked the remaining 0.5 mile home. The uphill finish was not all that fun, but other than that, it was a pretty nice run. Once school starts, there’s always the option of taking the car, parking along Levering Ave., and just running the park portion, but that would only be 4 to 5 miles (unless I do it twice, which is an option).

I brewed the same coffee beans and recipe this morning as I did four days ago, and as I was hoping, the cup tasted about the same. I’m looking for a recipe that gives me consistent results with a wide variety of beans, and this bodes well. I am wondering if I can scale the recipe for a slightly larger cup (say, 200 to 210 grams) without having to resort to using a bypass. A 210-gram cup would call for roughly 15 grams of coffee for a 1:14 ratio, and 35 grams of water for the bloom. I guess I can try it and see if there’s enough room for all of that in the inverted AeroPress.

Brew Notes

lpaulriddle
  • Beans: Local Coffee Roasting Co. Breakfast Blend (light roast)
  • Grind: Medium-coarse – 2.5 turns on the JX
  • 100°C water (full boil)
  • 13 grams coffee / 180 grams water (about 1:14)
  • One new paper filter (dry)
  • Recipe: 13g that makes you happy (inverted: add 30g water, stir 5x, top up to 180g at 0:35, stir 10x, flip at 1:35 and press very slowly, finishing at 2:35)

Another in my continuing efforts to see if I can use this recipe as my “daily driver”. Two modifications for these beans: boiling water (vs 90°C), and 5 seconds longer initial “bloom”. This produced a pleasant, nicely-balanced cup which I would definitely brew again. It was slightly cleaner and milder than the cup I brewed with the French press a few days ago, with more flavor than my earlier attempts with the AeroPress. While it’s just fine as-is, I might try a finer grind some time just to see how, if at all, it affects the flavor.