GB5 is in the house

Just acquired this lovely 2006 GB5 EE. I found it on Craigslist and did the same thing I do with everything on craigslist, I brought it home and took it apart. A lot of cleaning, a lot of adjustment, and then without incident it fires up. I'll comment a bit as I get used to it. Doesn't La Marzocco make a beautiful espresso machine?

First of a couple catch up posts

First, let me express much love to Sean at Houndstooth here in Austin. Sean talks about trying with his shop to "weave the pattern of coffee and people," and is starting, in my estimation, to do a great job of that. His first major outreach is a weekly free public cupping. Every Monday at 130, Houndstooth opens its doors, its grinders, and its coffee bags to all comers. I've run into no less than 2 independent roasters, as well as a dozen random new coffee fans. Its a great way for people to become acquainted with specialty coffee, but also to begin to build a lay-community of coffee lovers.

But I was actually onto something here that associates back my last message on the Yirgacheffe from Intelligentsia. Last week, we cupped 3 different Yirgacheffes, one of which was the Adado from Intelli. There was also a Yirgacheffe from Verve and one from Dallis Coffee (being repped by all-around coffee geek and good guy Dan Streetman). No doubt these were all great coffees, very fun to drink. But this quick comparo really reinforced my previous notes about the Adado. For whatever reason, be it Terroir, roast, processing, the Adado really distinguished itself from the others. The Yirgacheffe from Dallis and Verve lacked the amazing lime forwardness that the Adado showcases.

This prompted a discussion about what exactly effects flavor more, the bean, the processing, or the roasting. Dan made the point that Intelligentsia's faster roasting methods may cause the internal bean temperature, and there for roast level, to be inherently lower for a given degree of roast than Verve's low heat ultra-slow roasting method. This lower degree of roast would have the effect of increasing acidic tastes, and therefor lead to a brighter cup in general. I'm not sure I'm one hundred percent convinced, but I'm certainly interested in cupping another same region group from the same roasters against one another.

Intelligentsia's Ethiopea Yirgacheffe Adodo

Photo (c) IntelligentiaCoffee
Few coffees have just completely changed my mind about a region, and I have a hard time paying over $15 a lb for coffee, but hurray for the Adodo from Intelligentsia. I've had quite a few Yirg's over the years, and it's one of those coffees that everyone (even 3rd and 4th tier roasters) get all excited about. I don't disagree that in general its fun, fruity and yummy, but I've never got the WOW factor. Until last Sunday that is.

Cupping the Yirg Adodo:
The first thing you notice is that these beans are very small and compact. The varietal is listed as "indigenous" which means very little. To put it in perspective, the beans are approximately 1/4 the size of the Geisha beans.

The dry aroma is very particular. First in the nose is bitter herbs, followed by the distinct scent of grape soda.

The break and wet smell is classic African: berries, dried cherries, with the distinct and interesting smell of candied fruit.

The first sip lets you know this is an extremely acidic coffee, a citrus bomb. The first flavor to show up is fruity pebbles, followed by lime, like a popsicle. This coffee cools into dark cherry pie and chocolate mousse. How lovely!

This coffee has been the first to benefit from my new Hario V60 pourover and Range Server. So much of coffee is coffee jewelry, but I really have enjoyed this V60, and Alyssa says its "really pretty." Here it is pressed into service Wednesday morning. This coffee really shines as pourover. I'm coming around to the pourover as a method for making coffee, though I've learned it takes a very steady hand and care in production. My current method is this: Grind 30g of coffee to fine, use my espresso machine to wet the filter, use water slightly off a boil. Carefully cover the coffee and once fully saturated allow it to bloom for 25 seconds. Once 25s passes, slowly pour around the edge and towards the center, I believe this helps to even out top/bottom extraction. I need to find an extractmojo in Austin to see if there is any accuracy to this theory.

As a pourover, the lime forward flavor remains, but is accompanied and followed by a substantially more mellow caramel and toasted marshmallow flavor. I loved this coffee so much as a pourover in fact, that I never got around to making it as a siphon. I did, however, make it as an espresso. As an espresso, that lime wasn't just forward, it was explosive, overpowering and downright shocking. It was smooth, but frankly, hard to drink. Not so with milk however. Accompanied with 3.5 oz of carefully stretched milk, this lime-forward yirg made a fantastic cappuccino. Chocolate and velvety, with a creamy flavor and aftertaste of the fruity pebbles that showed in the cupping.

Overall, this was a really fantastic coffee that changed my opinion about how exciting the world's favorite coffee is. This has been the best summer for coffee in a very long time!

Linea, ugly name beautiful coffee

Let me introduce you to my espresso machine. This particular machine was built in Fiorenze,
Italy in April of 2004. It served 2 miserable years in a "Jumpin Juice and Java" from 05-07 where then sat dormant until I rescued it in April of 08. Upon bringing it home, I learned that it had not been descaled since new, and had not had a water softener attached to it ever. I disassembled the entire machine down to the frame, soaked the boilers and all metal parts in citric acid and reassembled it. At the same time I upgraded the 2 group heads to the same technology used in Marzocco's GB5 which was the state of the art at the time. The advantage of the so called "Piero" group caps is that roughly 14 inches of tubing is removed, thus dramatically increasing thermal stability. Its also very cool to say you upgraded your group heads. I then replaced the machines temperature control devices with "PID" controllers. Unlike the stock thermostat, which controlled temperature in a 10-15 degree swing, the PID uses advanced industrial algorithms to control temperature down to about 1 degree Fahrenheit. This dramatically improves shot to shot consistency and makes it easier to control other aspects of coffee production. More coffee toys to come!

An introduction to one of my devices, and a gift from the coffee gods

This arrived, kindly, by Fedex last week. A box full of fantastic coffee goodies. On the bottom are two replacement bowls for a Yama 5-cup siphon brewer. These are exceptionally delicate, and with a cramped kitchen they fall victim to simple mistakes. Also included are a new 2-serving Hario v60 pour-over brewer and a 2 serving v-60 range server. This Japanese glass company goes a long way towards making coffee chic, love it! Also are a side taste of some paper pour-over filters, and more exciting a FLANNEL filter! This lets a lot of the yummy oils that paper filters remove make it into the cup. Very excited to try this.

A new coffee today. Cuvee Coffee's Laguna Las Ranas from El Salvador. This coffee has a special place in the Austin coffee community's heart because its producer, Jose Antonio has a deep relationship with Cuvee and is sending his son to college here at St Eds. But to the coffee. We cupped this last night, using the formula that we'll continue to use going forward 8.4g of coffee 4.5 oz water, in rocks glass. As a cupped coffee, (and I confess I've only cupped this one selection of this one roast) the primary notes are ashiness and a bit of toasted caramel. It was not the floral bomb that the Geisha presented. As it cooled it became more caramel, but mostly distinguished itself with tremendous body and smoothness. No citrus.

This morning I brewed up 2 pour-overs of the Laguna, both slightly different. The first was 20g of coffee to 10oz water, the second 19g coffee to 10oz water, with a slightly finer grind. Overall, this coffee came to life as a pourover. I was still bothered by a slight ashy taste at the very first sip, but as it cooled slightly, its tremendously thick body became more apparent. Mike and the boys suggest honeydew. I don't think honeydew is appropriate, because that flavor is very particular and recognizable, but the creaminess certainly has a smooth semi-sweet hollow flavor that is reminiscent of melon. This coffee really draws out again the brilliance of a coffee which presented me with very little to go on in the cupping process with a tremendously satisfying cup of coffee. Is it ok to say here that it has a very thick and enjoyable "coffee" taste? I'm not sure coffee is on the "Le Nez Du Cafe" chart, but certainly I think its appropriate. Tomorrow we siphon, and I'll report back.

Geisha: A first, a let-down, an exciting new frontier

I had the opportunity over the last week to sample and enjoy one of the world's most coveted and exclusive coffees: 8 oz of Hacienda Esmerlda's Geisha Varietal "Mario San Jose microlot" from Boquete, Panama, roasted by Counter Culture Coffee. This coffee is famous for revolutionizing the wholesale value of coffee, and is the first coffee of all time to sell for over $100 a pound, unroasted. As such, it commands the full attention and respect of the entire coffee community.

Local Austin coffeehome Houndstooth Coffee invited their customers to sign up for an exclusive candlelight cupping of the Geisha along with eight freshly roasted ounces of the prized coffee. Thus began a week-long adventure of careful conservation and experimentation with the Geisha. In the process, I started using brewing tools long relegated to my display shelf: a 5-cup Yama siphon brewer, a vintage hand grinder, a vintage Melitta ceramic 1-cup pour-over brewer, and my rarely used Bodum french press. I kept TRYING to find the best way to enjoy this coffee, and in the process, opened my eyes to a new plan: I'm going to cup and prepare each and every coffee I purchase/roast/get in as many ways as possible and catalogue the experience here. And so it begins. Thank you for reading.

The initial impression of the Geisha is that it is a peculiar looking roasted bean, its large and has a distinct caramel color. It retains a tremendous amount of its pulp/skin in the center of the bean, which shows up like large flakes of skin in the ground coffee. My suspicion is that to the more refined and trained palate, this coffee is a blissful change from the expected. I understand the coffee to be a cupper's delight. We cupped the Geisha against another Counter Culture specialty "El Puente" with the goal of referencing against a very different coffee. Our reference coffee was standard coffee fare for the aficionado: berries, chocolates, almond, fresh bread. Not to poo-poo, as a matter of fact, this is exactly what we're often looking for in an exciting coffee. The Geisha on the other hand is totally different. We get lemon zest, but not lemon. Honeysuckle, but NOT honey. Jasmine. These are simply not flavors common to coffee.

And herein lies the rub my friends: does a coffee which is utterly unique in its taste palate deserve a special place in our hearts if it doesn't bear itself in the cup as something we'd want to drink? This became the quintessential nature of my exploration of the Geisha. This is something special, but nothing I can bring myself to care about. Without question, there is a moment as the coffee cools where it begins to sweeten and will fill your mouth with a taste that is only possible to describe as honeysuckle. If you've ever plucked a bright white honeysuckle flower from the vine, and tasted it's nectar, then you'll know that semi-sweet, cloying taste that is honeysuckle dew. Special, unique, sweet, but not exactly good, just different. Moments later it becomes intensely floral, and fills your nose with the taste of full bloom jasmine flowers. It is beautiful. But does it taste good?

At home I prepared the Geisha first as a siphon. Hand ground to slightly finer than drip, 38g for 20 fluid oz of water, 90second infusion before drawdown, semi-continual agitation. The resulting cup was certainly clean. Cleaner than any coffee I have ever tasted. A very very slight hint of lemon, and a very clean back of the mouth taste. I drank and savored every sip. To no end. The only truly enjoyable part was a Despicable Me like "clink" of my and my wife's demitasse cup, the rest was a confused look on my face.

Next, French press. 32g for 15oz of water just off a boil (thermocouple says 206, I'd say its 200 once its gone the 3 inches from kettle to coffee). This time the jasmine and lemon peel appear earlier, accompanied by a mild jam taste. Coffee remains remarkably clean, considering the french press brewing method. The Honeysuckle effect shows back up, and we still keep asking, but will it taste "good"?

Next, a french press 41.7 g for 21 fl oz of water, agitate immediately, again at 1min, total brew time 4 mins. More body this time, more floral, slight berry flavor joins the lemon flavor, and the cup becomes decidedly more "citrus" like as it cools. It is this brewing method that shows the moste dramatic honeysuckle and honey and jasmine flavor. The experience about 5-8 minutes into cooling is like a walk in a garden outside a south Indian temple in the early morning at the beginning of the monsoon. But again. I just don't enjoy the flavor. Special. But I just don't get it.

This morning 22g are placed CAREFULLY into my La Marzocco's portafilter, and extracted at 201f. Slightly too fast. But without question, this espresso is completely unlike anything i've ever had. Sort of like a lemon tart. Not like any espresso, at all. Don't like it, but I'm sure I couldn't recreate it. And this is the 4th SOE (single origin espresso) from Boquete that has been in my machine.

I have 16.2g left. What to do? POUR OVER! I have a mid 40's ceramic Mellita that I purchased long before the Hario V60 took over the counters of every third-wave coffee bar in the US. After a positive experience with some Kenya Karamekui in the pourover this morning, I decided that this last 16g had a home in the paper filter. WOW. How completely different. Chocolate, lots of it. Cream. Cookies. FULL BODY. And no citrus. Perhaps that lemon peel that was so forward before was stripped away by my bleached paper filter, and left behind the coffee that had always been hiding. I suppose we'll never really know, because that is truly the end of the Geisha. But perhaps the beginning of our new adventure together. Welcome!