Coffee Talk: Decaf Project: S&W Roasting
This is a followup to my previous cupping; this time around I evaluated the Decaf Project samples for S&W Roasting.| beesbuzz.biz
This is a followup to my previous cupping; this time around I evaluated the Decaf Project samples for S&W Roasting.| beesbuzz.biz
Quite some time ago, James Hoffmann stated his interest in doing a broad decaf test where he would get one set of bulk single-origin beans, split it in four, and process it four different ways. It took a while for this to happen, but finally he was able to make it happen, in the form of The Decaf Project.| beesbuzz.biz
I finally tried out a roast I’d been looking forward to, a medium-light roast of Burman Colombian Las Montanas, an EA-decaf natural process coffee. This is one of those coffees that tasted so good I just had to record my notes for later.| busybee
I’ve been experimenting with coffee-based sodas again. Unlike last time, I decided to experiment based on the espresso kola idea.| beesbuzz.biz
As much as I was enjoying my cheap home-roasting setup, the coffee I was getting out of it was a bit one-note, especially when doing processes which were easily-replicable. The best coffee I’d gotten was when I didn’t know what I was doing and was trying all sorts of random things.| beesbuzz.biz
As much as I appreciated my Sette 270, there were a few things I didn’t like about it:| beesbuzz.biz
When I first started on my home espresso journey, I had an ancient hand-me-down Krups, but it made awful coffee. I donated that to a charity shop, as I thought my Aeropress and its “espresso-style coffee” was sufficient. Then I added a Fellow Prismo to the mix to add a bit more pressure (and cleanliness), but this still wasn’t espresso. Then my eye got caught by the Flair Classic, which was much better at making espresso but also much fussier. So I started investigating a bunch...| beesbuzz.biz
I recently bought some Colombian EA decaf from S&W Craft Roasting, as well as their sampler pack and a bag of cascara tea. The order shipped immediately and got to me within just a few days, and I am pretty happy with the decaf.| beesbuzz.biz
9 months ago I posted my then-current espresso process. As this is a constant experiment and processes change over time, I figure it’s time for an update:| beesbuzz.biz
Okay, so, a lot has been said about espresso tonic. But there are other interesting combinations of espresso with carbonated beverages.| beesbuzz.biz
A pretty simple recipe for a very nice cold drink.| beesbuzz.biz
The Caffe Pompeii Circe (which is labeled as “Gusto” on the pod envelope) is one of the pods that Podhead sent me as a sample. Being fully-caffeinated I was hesitant to drink it (as caffeine hecks me up something fierce), so for the sake of this review I only did a single 16g shot.| beesbuzz.biz
When I ordered a bunch of ESE pods for this ongoing ESE pod experiment, PODhead sent me a few samples of a few other pods. This is one of them. Oddly, I couldn’t find this particular one anywhere on their website, although a websearch turned it up, so it’s probably just something weird about their site navigation.| beesbuzz.biz
The fourth ESE pod up for review is the decaf arabica espresso by Cremissimo.| beesbuzz.biz
The next ESE pod on my agenda is Bristot decaffeinato.| beesbuzz.biz
During the COVID-19 lockdown, my favorite local roaster had temporarily closed their retail shops, and being unwilling to spend $8 to get a bag of coffee shipped literally across the street, I decided to try to find other local roasters who made decaf that I could buy at the grocery store, with the hopes of finding something espresso-suitable. I failed.| beesbuzz.biz
I love the flavor of coffee, but don’t really care much for caffeine. Unfortunately, finding good roasters that treat decaffeinated coffee with respect is difficult, and the ones which are out there tend to either default to a dark roast, or cost enormous amounts.| beesbuzz.biz
Update: See the update to this post.| beesbuzz.biz
For the last few months (since mid-July) I’ve been going through a lot of upgrades and troubleshooting on my coffee setup, especially as far as espresso is involved. I’m finally at the point where I’m happy with both the equipment and technique I have… or at least I think I am.| beesbuzz.biz
Recently I’ve been infatuated with espresso-type brewing, and have been on a quixotic quest to get the perfect decaf shot. In doing so, I bought a bottomless portafilter for my Gaggia Classic Pro, which very quickly revealed that the biggest problem in my brewing is that my Baratza Encore simply isn’t up to the task, even with the modifications I made to it; all of my shots were channeling and making a mess, regardless of grind size or tamp pressure. The only fix was to grind ultra-fine a...| beesbuzz.biz
I haven’t talked about coffee in a while, but I’ve been getting very into better espresso as of late.| beesbuzz.biz
