A bit of background:

So two weeks ago, I had the best experience I've ever had with coffee.

I went about my normal, day to day process. I started off with grinding my home-roasted (Air popper. Cringe, I know.) to city + Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans. I strained out all of the fines I could (this was before my Baratza Preciso came in), heated up my water, wet my Chemex filter, etc. You know the process.

I did the normal, 30 second bloom, and kept adding water to keep the filter at about half/3 quarters full to avoid over extraction. The whole process finished at about 3:45 and produced 16 oz. of coffee.

But when I drank it, I was surprised with what was by far the best cup of coffee I ever had. I could clearly taste the beautiful floral notes (it was as if I put flowers in with the grinds while I was brewing), a hint of lemon, and a dark berry aftertaste, all the while giving me the coffee taste I've come to know and love.

Alas, my friend. The next day, I was able to recreate the exact same cup, and it was beautiful to say the least. However, those two cups were short lived. I'm sitting here now trying to figure out what the heck I did right those two days. For the life of me I can't do it.

Look, I'm hooked on the subtle flavors now, and I plan to do whatever I feasibly can to consistently make a cup that highlights every one of those flavors.

If I'm honest, I don't have the faintest idea how I'm supposed to go about it. I've read and read about all of the notes I should taste in coffee, and on occasion I'd get a dull aftertaste that I've attributed as one of those flavors. But I never imagined that they were so real, so beautiful, and so strong.

I typically use a Chemex, so that's what I'm willing to say I'm best at and what I'd most like to get good at, but the longer I'm on this forum, the more I'm tempted to pick up a Hario v60 and give it a shot.

What has worked for you guys? Can you walk me through the process you use to achieve such flavors? I love to read, so the more you can share, the merrier! Or maybe you have a book suggestion? Thank you for your help!

P.S. - On a post that contained a faint parallel to this one, I saw a comment that mentioned a Nordic style roast being a huge factor in achieving those flavors. Can anyone explain what this means/how I can do it myself?

first of all, I'd recommend selecting a coffee from a reputable roaster. grab something from mountain air, heart, or madcap and you really can't go wrong. this will eliminate the beans as a possible variable. I'd also strongly suggest grabbing a scale if you don't already own one. next, you'll want to start with a 1:16 or 1:17 ratio of coffee to water. from there, adjust your grind while keeping all other variables the same. my guess is that your method is fine as is, although chemex can be less consistent than some other brewers. if after all of this you still aren't getting any clear flavors, you can try adjusting your pouring/stirring method, but I think you'll find yourself with a very decent cup of coffee. from there, you can go back to using your own roasts and adjusting the profile.

If that Yirge is a natural, I have found that some of them fall off a cliff quickly. How many days rest/post roast did you have on the bean when it failed you?

I find that many beans can change noticeably in the first few days after roasting. With floral Ethiopian coffees, it's not uncommon for the floral notes to be at their peak early on and drop off fairly quickly.

Just echoing what others have said; I personally find that Yirgs display their peak florals straight out of the roaster, up to maybe three days post roast. Whenever I roast them I always brew up a cup immediately after the beans have cooled, and it's usually the best cup of the batch.

Setting aside Gesha, which tends to have a signature floral flavor, I find the most dramatic floral notes in coffees from southern Ethiopia (especially Yirgacheffe). The higher the elevation, the better (2000m+). Washed process, light roast.

With a properly-developed light roast, more rest is better, i.e. 7-15 days out of the roaster. Use good filtered water with TDS between 40 and 140 ppm (or find a good spring water). Try a brewing ratio of 16:1 water to coffee, for example 320g : 20g. Water temp between 201-205F as measured in your pouring kettle.

If your roast, your water, and your grind are all working well, you should have good flavor clarity and a juicy sweetness. (If the cup is dry, heavy, dull at this point, try reducing your brew time -- my pourovers generally run 2:30-2:50 total contact time).

Now, assuming all of these factors are working together, allow the coffee to cool for a few minutes after brewing. Stir well before tasting. Focus on the lingering retronasal aromatics as you taste. Think about the smells of fresh cut honeysuckle, jasmine, or even lemongrass. In more developed roasts, the fresh floral aromas may take on more of a spiced character.

I'm thirsty now.

portamento wrote:With a properly-developed light roast, more rest is better, i.e. 7-15 days out of the roaster.

Interesting, as I have observed the exact opposite. My most floral light roasts tend to take on a more grainy, uninteresting taste at 7-10 days, and I would never even think of brewing them at 15. I feel pretty confident that I develop my roasts thoroughly (20% dev, declining ROR after 1st), so I'm wondering if this is a matter of differing taste or different technique.

Edit: I'm specifically referring to brewed coffee. I tend to let my beans rest longer for espresso.

In my roasting experience, what you are describing here sounds like your roasts are not as developed as they could be. I am not referring specifically to your post first crack % which should be fine and can be even lower with proper development. I would examine your OVERALL roast developement.

Again in my experience with my own roasts as well as those from well known roasters here, well developed light roasts should age well and generally for me peak anywhere from 5 to 12 days and then slowly decline from there. Obviously, first thing to go is high notes and the desirable volatile floral / fruit aromatics, but one should still be able to brew a sweet and full cup that tastes delicious from an unopened bag 3 to 4 weeks later or even longer.

Cheers

WilliamB wrote:I'm sitting here now trying to figure out what the heck I did right those two days. For the life of me I can't do it.

It's possible you had a change in your diet. What you eat greatly influences your taste buds. If there really was no other change, I'm betting it was your diet.

Maybe you laid off on the sugar for those two days.

I tell you this--when my diet consists of sugary things, my coffee tastes terrible. When I lay off on the sugar, everything is great. I taste all of the subtleties that would otherwise go undetected on a sugar-loaded diet.

Either way, I suggest you cut out or greatly reduce your sugar intake and try your coffee again. Trust me, you will taste things you've been missing out on.

Weebit_nutty, that's a fascinating proposition. I recently cane back from a two week Vietnamese adventure ahs could not understand why my shots tasted so... Different... For the next few weeks.

I'm going to try to keep in mind what I've eaten when assessing my coffee. Thanks!