My year in coffee - Jan 14

Ethiopian Harrar today - black in an almost delicate china cup.

Kinda spicy, not overly bold.  Really too sweet for me to add anything to it.  Just enjoyed the natural taste without any cream.  I roasted it towards the dark side, but not quite as dark as the photo shows.  Lighting was not my friend today.   You can tell from the coffee itself that it's a bit lighter.  It was warm spicy fruity cup that kind of lingered around after I swallowed.  

My year in coffee - Jan 12

Almost two weeks into the new year!  That's hard to believe.  Time passes quickly - unless you are waiting for something of course.

I put a dark roast in the mug.  It's a rustic mug and seemed to just call for a strong coffee.  It was the dark Papua New Guinea that I used for cappuccino the other day.  This time I brewed it in a pour over.

Very tasty, but I did add some cream and sugar to it.  Not a lot.  As I drink more black coffee I want the sugar stuff less and less. I love the blue flowers on this mug and how they stand out against the earth tones.

My year in coffee - Jan 10

It was a cappuccino kind of morning!

I started with some beans that I roasted. From Papua New Guinea.  I went dark because I knew I was going to make espresso.  They did come out a bit uneven, but the taste was still good.  I'm playing with the so espressos right now.  It was strong and rich and deep with some remaining sweetness.  I didn't taste roast.  I hate to get carbon coffee, so sometimes I'm a little leery of dark beans.  For the milk I used unpasteurized, non-homogenized whole milk from a local farmer.

There is something very satisfying about a warm foamy cappuccino.  

My year in Coffee Jan. 4 - Papua New Guinea Kogure

Today's Coffee is one I roasted myself.  It's Papua New Guinea Kogure. that I got from Burman Coffee Traders

It was a very smooth, nice cup of coffee.  Mellow.  I did probably roast it darker than what I've read is recommended, but it worked well for me.   I did something unusual for this one.  I have several popcorn poppers I use.  I identify each with a letter.  Machine C has a hard time getting to second crack.  Machine D is one of those with the mesh at the bottom - the kind everyone says not to use.  It' gets way to hot and gets to second crack before the coffee is developed.  I did this batch in C until just after 1st crack and then moved to D.  I didn't take it quite to 2nd crack, but it got much darker.    I like the result. 

Like I said, the taste was mellow and kind of like rich chocolate.  It made for a great breakfast coffee black.  The 2nd cup (pictured in my mug) was one I added cream too.  The coffee taste was too diluted even with only a tablespoon for 10oz and I don't think I'll be adding milk to future cups of this one.  

I'm making a couple of  puzzles from pictures of this batch.  Look for future posts.

my year in coffee Jan 2

For my afternoon cup I used some of my home roasted brands.

I went darker with this one.  Just at second crack on the poppery.  No taste of burn or carbon.  A little bitter up front, but not overly so.  Full feeling.  I didn't notice a minty smell but I'm congested today so no aromas really summer to me on anything.  Overall the cup was nice and clear with a sweeter aftertaste which was nice.  I used the pour over method to brew. About 30 grams of coffee and 600 grams of water. Have a pot over with a metal filter but I use a chemex filter instead.  I just like it better.