It’s All Connected
“The correlation between resting time and grind size changed my perception completely.”
Over the past few months, I got into the habit of recording all brews, whether it’s batch filter or hand brews at home. This started off as a way to be consistent, but ultimately became a great learning experience. Before going into further detail, there is a bit of insight into production which I think is helpful so bear with me.
At the roastery, coffee rotates depending on season, meaning origins on the coffee menu changes. We receive green samples which are sample roasted, cupped, assessed and, eventually, a batch (dependent on the size of the roaster) is test roasted. Roast profiles are designed, then improved before reaching the production team to package, dispatch to the shops and online retail. Coffees that are not roasted to said profile is referred to as ‘blown’, which unfortunately does not go through to production. It is important to note that ‘blown’ batch coffees does not necessarily mean the coffees are not tasty or undrinkable so we often give these coffees ourselves or give them away. I am VERY fortunate in the sense I get my hands on some coffee that I can play around with, and this is where things get interesting (for me anyway).
Most, if not all the time, the production team drink batch brewed coffee as it is the easiest, least time-consuming coffee to make. Often choosing our own coffees, we use this as a way to assess how our filters and onmi-roasted coffees taste (‘omni’ meaning roasted to be brewed with many methods, espresso and filter being the most common). I began logging the brews for consistency and repetition, particularly useful when a coffee is brewed well (or not) so changes can be made if necessary. I log key information such as dose/yield (60g - 1l), grinder/grind setting, brew temperature (93°c being the benchmark) and feedback from colleagues and myself. The feedback includes acidity, sweetness, bitterness, body, aftertaste and flavour notes. We had one production coffee roasted (Guji, Ethiopa from Birbirsa) two days prior (yep, quite fresh), ground on the Ditting KF1203 and brewed at 93°c. The result was a bright cup, sweet and juicy with red berry notes, with a tad of roastiness at the end (due to lack of resting time) - all, to me, a good sign of a well-roasted coffee which has loads to offer once rested for another week or two. We continued to drink the same coffee in the afternoons during the week using the same settings as before. However, coming into the week after, I noticed a difference with the coffee. I brewed using the same settings as the previous week but, the coffee did not taste the same. It was more intense, the brightness over-powered by bitterness with dry finish in my mouth. After discussing with my colleagues, who had the experienced the same taste, I learned there wasn’t an error in the brew recipe. The one variable I did not consider was rest time (keep in mind the coffee is now more than a week rested since roast date). I brewed the same coffee again, this time grinding a tad coarser than before to reduce extraction, resulting in that bright, sweet and juicy cup like before without the roastiness and dry finish.
For my home brews, I logged the same key information, including additional notes such as the number of clicks on my Comandante, pouring technique and type of brewer - the Orea V3, plastic V60, Hario Switch and Mugen. I was fortunate to take 1kg of test batch coffee home, same Guji, Ethiopia to brew (a more developed roast than production batch, however) Using standard 64 clicks (with Red Clix), I noticed as weeks went by, brew times increased resulting to over-extracted brews. Each time, I added two additional clicks which decreased the brew time (bigger particle size so water passes through quicker) and resulted in more well-balanced cup. Temperature played a huge part in these findings as I would increase/decrease temperature before adjusting grind size. Lighter roasts require higher temperature for extraction as they are more dense than brittle, darker roasted coffees. Using high temperature on darker roasts can cause over-extraction increasing unpleasant bitterness and taste. The opposite is also true - suing lower temperature on lighter roasts can leave coffees tasting weak, bland and hollow.
It was fascinating to notice these patterns and has changed my perception of coffee completely. It is important to note that this is only based on my own recordings and experience and your experience may be different to mine. It goes without mention that my experience with coffee brewing has elevated because of my colleagues and fellow coffee friends who share their own experiences and learnings with me so huge thank you to them!
As always, I am keen to know more about other people’s experience. Do you log your brews? Have you noticed a difference in your brew the more coffee is rested? Have you had the same experience? If not, what is different? I am interested to know so feel free to comment, contact me or PM on Instagram.
