Coffee Like ?- Improve your Coffee Part 2

I wanted to come up with a snappy metaphor for coffee grind that worked but I just couldn't think of one this morning.  I'm sure that I will think of one later in the afternoon but for now - I have nothing...


Another key to improving your coffee at home is to understand the grind that you use.  If you use a process of brewing that steeps or washes your grounds with hot water then you may use a grind that is more course.  However, if the hot water that you use is simply running through the grounds once then you want a grind that is finer.  And further still, if you use a brewing process that mostly blasts steam through your grounds you want to go with a grind that is more akin to dust.


Most people who grind their own coffee at home use a hand-held blade grinder.  The problem with this type of grinder is that the final grind is not very consistent and the blades tend to heat the beans and further cook them. However, if you would have further control over the grind that results then you will want to look into a burr-mill grinder.  These are a few dollars more but certainly worth it if you are seeking a better cup of coffee.

Peaberry Showdown

Papua New Guinea - Kimel Peaberry
Kenya - Kahura Peabery
Tanzania - Kigoma Peaberry

When only one can be the best, I am on the job, and I put the coffee to the test. The other day my wife suggested that we do a taste test and explore the three types of Peaberry coffees that I currently have. So we did. She and I both sampled all three types, and we rated them according to Aroma, Flavor, Body, Complexity, and Uniqueness. Here were the results.

*****Kimel Peaberry*****

Aroma: John- 7 Megan- 8
Flavor: John- 8 Megan- 8
Body: John- 6 Megan- 4
Complexity: John- 4 Megan- 4
Uniqueness: John- 10 Megan- 10
TOTALS: John- 35 Megan- 26 (61)

*****Kahura Peaberry*****
Aroma: John- 7 Megan- 6
Flavor: John- 8 Megan- 6
Body: John- 5 Megan- 7
Complexity: John- 4 Megan- 8
Uniqueness: John- 10 Megan- 6
TOTALS: John- 34 Megan- 35 (69)

*****Kigoma Peaberry*****
Aroma: John- 9 Megan- 5
Flavor: John- 7 Megan- 7
Body: John- 4 Megan- 8
Complexity: John- 7 Megan- 7
Uniqueness: John- 10 Megan- 7
TOTALS: John- 37 Megan- 34 (71)

Since I am writing this I will describe my experience as my wife will have to speak for herself.

As I roasted these beans I had a tough time hearing them crack and so I ended up with 3 different levels of roast with each batch. The Kimel was Dark Roasted, the Kahura was darker roasted, and the Kigoma was sweating oil when I was finished with it. (Mmmmmm - French Roasted coffee)

I liked the Kigoma best for its Aroma. This one jumped out at me but It is completely possible that it had the best aroma because it was the darkest roasted. But, for whatever reason, it was a great Aroma.

The Kimel and the Kahura were the best tasting as they both demonstrated a complex Flavor that made you happy to be alive. This is not to say that the Kigoma made you wish for death but either my palatte was tired by time I got to it or it was not as good as the rest as far as Flavor went.

The Kimel seemed to have the best Body but then after loking at how the Body numbers dropped with the progress of the sampling I suspect that my subjectivity may have been in question.

With Complexity I was looking for definite taste attributes like floral, woody, and nutty. In this arena the Kigoma stood out as it had a definite nutty/woody attribute in its flavor.

I scored each of the 3 coffees with a 10 for Uniqueness because each of them are wholly unique from regular Arabica or Robusta coffees. I did not compare them against one another but with coffee in general.

By the end of our testing my favorite wound up being Kigoma with a combined score of 37 points. I attribute this to it having the best Aroma and only being one point below the rest in Flavor. So there you have it, if you are ever at the coffee shop and the person behind the counter ever asks you what type of Peaberry you would like, look then straigt in the eye and proudly proclaim that you would like a cup od Kigoma Peaberry... (snort) I'm only kidding, none of the coffee shops around you are sophisticated enough to actually serve anything but the swill that you are used to. (snort, snort)

Moving on... Upon completion of the testing I simply blended all three types of the Peaberry together and made a super tasting brew with an awesome body. When blending coffees it will ussually combine the good and the bad and the resultant coffee is either one or the other but since none of these three was ever bad the result of the blend is that the strengths of each Peaberry strengthened the experience of the whole cup.

Until next time - Happy Roasting!!!

You know? If I were to start a coffee shop I would sell coffees by individual type, roast the green beans while you wait, grind it in a fancy-shmantcy Burr grinder, and serve it to you in a one cup French Press as you sit in an over-stuffed chair with your favorite book. Aww, who'm I kidding? That sort of coffee shop would be too expensive to own and operate. Oh well, one can dream can't he?

Mocca Matari - 4

Yemen

The Mocca Matari is my favorite bean (so far) but this batch seems to have the least amount of distinguishing flavor of all the times that I have made it. I think the problem with this pot was that I used my new burr grinder to grind the beans and I think it is just too strong. The body is very good and the mouth-feel is quite pleasant but the flavor is lacking. I suspect that when I learn to make grounds that don't make such strong coffee - the flavor will be back.

Burr Mill Grinder

I am as giddy as a school-girl at her senior prom! I finally got a Burr grinder and ever since I have been learning about coffee everything that I read states that it improves the flavor of coffee. This unit is as pictured but it was refurbished and only cost $19.99 plus shipping. That is a lot less costly than new and I will get the experience of it before it dies on me in a year or two.

The burr made its maiden voyage by grinding the Pastoral Gold blend that I had roasted yesterday. While the grounds were indeed uniformly ground and they smelled great the coffee did not taste any better than they did yesterday - in fact they tasted worse as the bitterness that I noted in them came out in full force. I will have to write an addendum when I finally ground a good bean.