been adding some dark roast back into daily grind (pun intended) to have some lower acidity in my midday/afternoon drink. i did Old Bisbee Bali Blue last order and yeah, it's just too dark and unruly to work with in pour-over and challenging even on aeropress.

i decided this time to try Bisbee's current El Salvador and it is absolutely a better brew for the v60. it's a pinch too dark still, but has a ton less overt bitterness and more balanced tartness. this is close to ideal for a light roast counterpart in the morning.

Nice, Aura!

I've gone back to DoubleShot and am enjoying a Panamanian El Bambito (or something like that) and a Costa Rican La Minita in my Chemex.  Delish...

I did notice they seem to be roasting a tad bit darker on these two, but still a medium roast I'd say.

HS

So I tried the WhistlePig barrel-aged coffee that comes in their seasonal gift pack.

MISTAKE!  Lollers

I've taken to throwing one or two beans in with whatever else I'm brewing, because I do enjoy a small amount of that flavour, but a pot made entirely out of that is just way too overwhelming.

1 or 2 beans of WhistlePig barrel aged (doesn't even have a roast date)

1/2 Zeke's Mexico Chiapas

1/2 Mom's Organic Market Nicaraguan

...is pretty darn delicious.

https://momsorganicmarket.com/moms-coffee/

https://zekescoffee.com/products/mexican-chiapas-z-cup

it’s not clear if our good friend @grawk has actually started his roasting service but when i received this today it sure felt on-par with any current roaster i use (and i have used quite a few in 2020)...

starting with the Brazil. this is a clean, clean cup on the v60, lesser acidity (above room temp) in favor of nutty and spicy and tea-like attributes. i find this stupidly drinkable.

i appreciate the commentary. i’m not commercial yet, but I’m about to take the next step. Once I’m comfortable with the new roaster i haven’t ordered yet I’ll be able to do about 20 lbs a week for sale. 

I'd happily buy some Mysore beans, Dan, when you get to that point. I haven't seen those available thru OBR for quite a while. 

Agreed, I'd help keep Dan in business.

On a related note, any thoughts on the Orphan Espresso Apex grinder?

I don't make espresso at home, but I do drip through a Bonavita machine as well as siphon and pourover.  Through my Baratza Encore grinder many coffees taste pleasant but similar.  I'm not getting the same flavor notes I am reading about, and as with all other pursuits in my life I believe it is because I've not yet spent enough money.

On 2/2/2021 at 4:42 AM, Sherwood said:

Agreed, I'd help keep Dan in business.

On a related note, any thoughts on the Orphan Espresso Apex grinder?

I own an Orphan Espresso Lido E; the Apex promises to grind faster due to its gear box, so it may circumvent the central issue of using a manual grinder (namely that day to day can be a bit of a hassle). Orphan seems pretty solid in terms of grind quality, I just think it'll be good to know what you're signing up for in terms of manual vs. electric.

On 2/2/2021 at 4:42 AM, Sherwood said:

Agreed, I'd help keep Dan in business.

On a related note, any thoughts on the Orphan Espresso Apex grinder?

I don't make espresso at home, but I do drip through a Bonavita machine as well as siphon and pourover.  Through my Baratza Encore grinder many coffees taste pleasant but similar.  I'm not getting the same flavor notes I am reading about, and as with all other pursuits in my life I believe it is because I've not yet spent enough money.

Is that hand grind? Doug would love that, as he doesn't like electricity. 

It has some gearing to get a little extra out of each turn, but it is manual. I’d love to see a video showing how long it takes to grind through 60g of fine ground beans, but no dice so far.

Manual grinders are fun for the first two days.  

I'm still a fan of my niche grinder.  Tho occasionally I have to pull the K30 back out of storage, for particularly hard light roasted coffee.

Those niche grinders are going for a mint now that Hoffman has talked them up.

Considering this one. Seems very Head-Case. 
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ceado-e37z-hero-single-dose-espresso-grinder-110v/385CDE37Z.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9_Pyt6nQ7gIVyFPVCh2_eQcYEAQYAiABEgI0ufD_BwE

https://levercraftcoffee.com/products/levercraft-ultra-grinder

For the budget minded version of that.

The Niche has been a nice addition to my coffee routine.  I have mixed feelings about the addition of the plexiglass disc when it comes to large sized Latin American beans, but that's a small thing and easy to remove.

Nice to look at as well as I keep it on our counter.

HS

My pick for true HC grinder is probably the Kafatek Monolith MAX, which while cheaper than the Ceado is maybe also better.

Nice try Tyler, but I know a Jewish Space Laser when I see one.

LeverCraft coffee in Austin got hurt by the recent freeze and needs to raise money. As a result, they’re selling a fantastic coffee for significantly less than they normally would. Please consider buying some:

https://levercraftcoffee.com/products/single-origin-colombia-las-perlitas

Thanks, Dan, I grabbed some fancy coffee. The two week shipping time to Moldova can’t be good, but local roasters are not killing it.

In other news, just got a clever dripper in the mail and I’m in love. Great balance of good flavor and simplicity.

I finally found a local roaster that in my humble opinion is at the top of the coffee I have enjoyed.  Memli and the gent does a nice job not only of sourcing and roasting but also attempting to educate his patrons systematically.  

Anyhoo, posting because I purchased something special...for me at least.  It was about as much as I've paid for coffee and it reminded me of the Yemeni very cherry forward coffee grawk recommend from Levercraft in Austin.  It is so fricken rich. A more progressive process to get to the final product (see below if curious).

One thing I very much like is the information included with each bag.

HS

that's some good marketing.  I'm lucky if I put the name on the bags

 

On 3/3/2021 at 7:02 AM, Sherwood said:

Thanks, Dan, I grabbed some fancy coffee. The two week shipping time to Moldova can’t be good, but local roasters are not killing it.

In other news, just got a clever dripper in the mail and I’m in love. Great balance of good flavor and simplicity.

I was interested in the clever because I can't get my French press to work without some sludge at the bottom. The clever is immersion also, so I figure it'll maintain some of the oil unlike my pour over. I may pick one up after your impressions, thanks.

I'd think you'd still lose the oils because it's still a paper filter

Oh you're right.