Coffee chronicles from the city that never sleeps: New York. Meet Philip Jacob.
The coffee arrived with no damage, etc to it. Upon opening the bags, the first thing that hit me was the aroma! It was so beautiful, each bag in their own individual way! Now, I only order coffee from Europe, and those roasters that practice the Nordic profiling. I just new from the aroma, and roast, that these beans were like none other I had ordered!
My water recipe is 4ml calcium chloride, 4ml epsom salt, 2ml baking soda, 2ml potassium bicarbonate. In a gallon jug, this comes out to 120ppm when measured. There are times when I do dilute the water to bring the ppm down to 100 etc, depending on the beans etc. Being that you recommended a water 50-60ppm, I diluted this water in half so that it was in line with what your recommendation.
I brewed two cups of each bean to compare. The first cup was with the water that was 60ppm, and the 2nd was 100ppm. I used 15g beans to 240g water at a 1-16 ratio. First pour is 50g bloom, wait a minute, then next pour is to 100 or so, then the next pours are 2-3 depending, pouring the rest in equal amounts, keeping the water nice and even with the coffee line, so that when its finished the brew bed is even/flat. The pours are very soft and precise, starting from the middle, pouring in a outward circle, then to the center so there isn’t to much agitation. Just enough to keep the bed saturated equally but finishing in the center to the end. I want to add, sometimes, if I feel I need a bit more, I will add the SOFTEST of spins. I cant even call it a spin, more like a SOFT massage. However, in these brews, I chose not to do that.
The TDS/ExtY% when the 60ppm brew was done, came out to 1.33 TDS, & a EXTy of %20. The brews aroma was stunning, with great taste, mouthfeel, etc, as you described on the bag! The 2nd brew with the 100ppm came out a bit higher in TDS/EXTy% but still a good cup. I felt that the notes were a bit muddled, and not separated, and easy to identify as in the 60ppm.
I was surprised at how well the lower ppm water accentuated these beans! It seems that in the Coffee World people are looking for an extremely clean cup of coffee. This in my opinion takes away a lot of the beautiful characteristics of the coffee, such as its mouthfeel. After all, we are drinking coffee, not tea! Not to say that you cant have a clean cup with all the beautiful characteristics of coffee. But sometimes I feel as if people push it too far, and it tends to get away from how the coffee was intended to be when brewed.
I will continue to use this lower ppm water on other beans, and see how it fairs. However, as far a Coffea Circular beans, it was perfect! I am looking forward to ordering, and brewing more of your beautiful beans! I would appreciate any recommendations.
I hope this helps, if you have anymore questions, I am more than happy to answer, and help out!
Sincerely,
Philip