First impressions of Mountain Air, a micro roaster in Asheville, NC - Page 3

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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[creative nickname]
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#21: Post by [creative nickname] »

Try a finer grind of the same dose, and (for lever users) pre-heat the group with a warming flush before starting the shot. Pull a bit longer, closer to 45-50 seconds, targeting a normale brew ratio. In my experience, an approach like that gets killer shots out of the Black Balsam blend.
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LukeFlynn (original poster)
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#22: Post by LukeFlynn (original poster) »

[creative nickname] wrote:Try a finer grind of the same dose, and pre-heat the group with a warming flush before starting the shot. Pull a bit longer, closer to 45-50 seconds, targeting a normale brew ratio. In my experience, an approach like that gets killer shots out of the Black Balsam blend.
This produces some great espresso. I pulled a little too long for my liking.. I would say 35 seconds would be my preference. However, temperature will kill this blend.. I've been flushing WAY too much out of my Oscar.. I realized I only need a small flush-n-go, nothing elaborate. Speaking of "elaborate", I've picked up the nutating tamp that Marshall recommends.. it works.

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Balthazar_B
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#23: Post by Balthazar_B »

Caddderly, try this. Let us know if that makes a positive difference with your lever machine. You need a pretty fine grind if you don't tamp the hell out of your coffee.

More discussion here.
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LukeFlynn (original poster)
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#24: Post by LukeFlynn (original poster) »

brianl wrote:The dry processed coffees from them are always exquisite for espresso.
What are all of the dry processed coffees he offers? I can't seem to find any information on his site. I'm interested!

day
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#25: Post by day »

I suggest making it a 1min 45 second pull for about 25-30grams with steady 20ish lb pressure on the lever. Then work backward till you get what you want. However i am new to levers...and just found some very interesting shots in those ranges that set a good baseline to work back from and avoid sour shots
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LukeFlynn (original poster)
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#26: Post by LukeFlynn (original poster) »

This coffee makes a KILLER macchiato.. and I rarely enjoy straight espresso... I pulled a 40 second shot 26 grams out with an ounce of steamed milk.

This is what's left of it:


brianl
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#27: Post by brianl »

LukeFlynn wrote:What are all of the dry processed coffees he offers? I can't seem to find any information on his site. I'm interested!
He usually puts DP after the name. These usually go faster than the normal coffees though.

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LukeFlynn (original poster)
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#28: Post by LukeFlynn (original poster) replying to brianl »

Ahh, I'll have to check them out. I wish he offered a 12oz/1lb option.

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caldwa
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#29: Post by caldwa replying to LukeFlynn »

If you buy 4x 250g bags, there's a $5 discount on each bag, so it works out to ~$30 for 1kg of coffee, and you can try 4 different ones. Pretty nice deal.

caddderly
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#30: Post by caddderly »

Tried again today with much better results. Day 8 post roast. Settings were pretty much the same, but the taste was much better than when tried earlier.