Or expressed as: "New horizons in string theory: bubble babble in search of darkness" - and what it has to do with coffee - Suvendu Giri's PhD thesis and the road to his dissertation.
Suvendu is a researcher in Physics, Astronomy and Theoretical Physics. His repertoire of studies and research know no boundaries. They stretch out to space and further than so. One can say it is limitless. There are hidden qualities of Suvendu that the world should know about. He knows his coffee just as well he knows his universe. Suvendu is currently a postdoc at Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca in Italy.
Over time, Suvendu and Ivica have had multiple interactions where details about coffee and brewing parameters have been dissected. In a series of articles, we will publish a condensed amount of material where readers are able to gain more knowledge and understanding of specific parameters and how they affect the final result. Across time, various findings were made with several conclusions.
Using this as a simplified template, one can assert what to focus on in the brewing. We start by looking at how using various allegedly known brewing formulas affect the perception of the coffees using Suvendu's own words.
"I had some time to play with, and understand the coffees that you sent. Below is a summary of some of my very crude impressions."
- Water: 15ppm (3.6ppm Ca2+, 0.6ppm Mg2+, 0.5ppm K+, 10ppm HCO3-) at 94°C.
- Grind size: Set to approx. 600-800µm, not sieved.
- Brewing method: V60, with a ratio of 1:16.67 (12g coffee to 200g water) using Methods:
- Continuous pour: 50g bloom (stirred to saturate evenly), at 30s pour to 130g center pour in 20-30s, pour to 200g gentle off-center pour in 20-30s. Gentle stir to release grinds from the side, gentle swirl for flat bed. This is based on James Hoffman's "ultimate V60 recipe".
- 3 stage pour flat bed: 65g center pour (no stir) conical bed, at 30s center pour up to 130g (no stir) conical bed, at 1 min center pour up to 200g, Gentle stir to release grinds and gentle swirl for flat bed.
- 3 stage pour conical bed: 65g center pour (no stir), at 30s center pour up to 130g (no stir), at 1 min center pour up to 200g (no stir). Maintain conical bed throughout. Methods (2) and (3) are based on your "One" / "1:1:1" V60 recipe. I adapted them to have conical vs flat beds in the course of my experimentation.
- Total drain time was 2:00-2:15.
- Measurements: TDS was around 1.4-1.45 for method (3), and slightly higher around 1.45-1.50 for method (1). Extraction yield was between 19-22%
- Tasting method: I brewed 2 coffees side by side using the same method, and the same coffee using 2 different methods. This resulted in several combinations and I tried to repeat some of these combinations to arrive at some general feeling about the coffees.
- General trends:
- Method (1) produced a lot of sweetness with every bean, but masked many of the nuances between them. The in-cup TDS and the extraction yield was generally higher with this method.
- Method (3) produced the most dramatic and exciting cups - and by far my favorite. The aroma and acidity was enhanced compared to method (1).
- Method (2) was kind of intermediate between the two. There was definitely more sweetness than (3), but less than (1). There was less nuance of flavors than (3), but more than (1)
- The coffees from Kenya and Ecuador responded incredibly well to the changes between methods (2) and (3).
- I struggled quite a bit with the Ethiopian coffee. In the first 3 weeks, I barely got any fruits out of it. However, after the 4th week, I noticed a pronounced raspberry aroma.
- Taste and impressions:
- Origo NHX
- Sweetness 2/5, Acidity 3/5
- Pronounced cascara taste
- Slight cacao when cold
- Oxyco CCX
- Sweetness 3/5, Acidity 3/5
- Sweeter when cold
- Slight mango at room temperature
- Ecuador Wave NX
- Sweetnes 5/5, Acidity 3/5
- Intense sweetness - Honey, Mango
- Very prominent honey aroma
- Ethiopia Hamasho NX
- Milk chocolate aroma
- Raspberry (and maybe bubble gum?) aroma prominent after the beans had rested for 4 weeks
- Overall impressions:
- I am extremely happy with all of the coffees.
- I struggled with the Ethiopian for a long time, but after letting it rest for a while, it finally opened up to me.
- I am blown away with the Ecuador Wave NX. I have never tasted such pronounced honey in a cup before. It was insanely good!
- Origo NHX caught be by surprise! I have had a lot of washed SL28 before, mostly in a blend with SL34 and Ruiru 11, but it never tasted like this. I guess it is the processing which brings out this interesting flavor profile.
- The Oxygo CCX was also very interesting. It was quite unfamiliar, but also very inviting at the same time. I will definitely want to spend more time with it to understand it better.
Thank you so much for sending me such a wonderful experience. Your project in Kenya has really turned into something beautiful and very unique. Congratulations on the excellent results!
If you would like to learn more about Suvendu and his research, please visit Suvendu's Researchgate page found here.
