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Gracefully Papua New Guinea
I first brewed these with pretty typical settings: grind 3, 95C water, 60g pulses. The first couple of cups were good, but then I started getting sour/under-extracted cups. The beans draw down pretty quickly, finishing up at 2:30-2:35, which I’ve often found isn’t enough time to get everything fully extracted. In the past, when I’ve…
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Gracefully Clumsy Girl
This was my first time visiting this small local roaster. I first had their coffee at Evergrain Bread Co. in Chestertown, and enjoyed it. I think it was this one, but there’s a small chance it was Jamberry, one of their other popular roasts. They don’t classify this in terms of “light, medium, or dark…
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Brewing Good Decaf Ethiopia
This is very different from the Ethiopian light roast that I bought at BG at the same time. It is a smooth medium roast with no hint of acidity. Definitely not as complex as the light roast, but nice body and overall a very drinkable decaf. The beans have one of the slowest draw-down times…
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Brewing Good Ethiopia Tega & Tula
I’m finally getting around to checking out some of the smaller roasters around home. Savage Mill is only around 10 minutes away by car, and I occasionally bike right past it on my Sunday morning rides. Going forward, I’m going to try to put a few of these places into my rotation and return every…
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PJ’s Maple Street Blend
PJ’s apparently started out in NOLA in the late ’70s, but has evolved into a large chain (not on the scale of Starbucks, but they have multiple locations in several states). I’m not sure where or when the beans were roasted. The bag had a lot of husks and bean fragments in it — I…
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Orinoco Old Man Winter
I bought a bag of this on a whim, not realizing that it was flavored. I got the best cups at grind setting 3 after initially starting at 5. This was OK black, but the maple/butter/cinnamon flavoring didn’t really work for me. It would probably be better with sweetener and/or creamer, but that’s not how…
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Zeke’s Snow Day Blend #2
This is my second bag, and my first time grinding the beans with the Ode. Last March, I ended up using a very coarse grind with 95°C water, with good results. With this bag, I again started with 95°C water, but couldn’t quite get it dialed in. Grind settings 5, 6, and even 7 all…
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Rise Up Winter Warmer #2
This is Rise Up’s winter seasonal blend, and I last had it in December 2023. The big difference this time is that I’m grinding the beans with the Ode instead of my hand grinder. I started off at setting 3+2 with 95°C water, which was a little bitter. 4+2 (this afternoon) was much better. With…
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Tree House El Mirador
This is the most expensive 12oz bag of coffee I have bought to date. I think it was more expensive than any 16oz bag I’ve bought, as well. It likes a fine grind, and has a long draw-down time. Taste-wise, it has a good bit of fruity acidity and a rather complex mouthfeel, with some…
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Bean Alchemy Elysian Morning Blend
I started this bag on 12/14, which is a little longer past roast date than I typically like, but that’s how the timing worked out with travel, etc. this month. It’s only a 10oz bag, so I’ll likely use it up within a week to 10 days. I brewed my first cup using grind setting…