I am not feeling very well, got a nasty cold. I pulled out the scace to double check my temperature. I wanted to make sure I was hitting the mark. 201.9 for 26 seconds with a two tenth of a degree up-tick, one at around 28 another at 30 seconds before I stoped the run. I can live with that. No coffee for me today, I would not be able to taste it anyway so it will get another day or two before I go back at it. I still have a half pound in a sealed jar so it should be prime when I start pulling.

cannonfodder wrote:I am not feeling very well, got a nasty cold. I pulled out the scace to double check my temperature. I wanted to make sure I was hitting the mark. 201.9 for 26 seconds with a two tenth of a degree up-tick, one at around 28 another at 30 seconds before I stoped the run. I can live with that. No coffee for me today, I would not be able to taste it anyway so it will get another day or two before I go back at it. I still have a half pound in a sealed jar so it should be prime when I start pulling.

Slightly OT...Dave, have you , (or anyone) ever had that flu where coffee smells absolutely stomach turning, and the taste has the most peculiar...taste?
Takes me at least a week to get back with it.
Brrrr.

IMAWriter wrote:Slightly OT...Dave, have you , (or anyone) ever had that flu where coffee smells absolutely stomach turning, and the taste has the most peculiar...taste?
Takes me at least a week to get back with it.
Brrrr.

Unfortunately, that's the very reason that I put the Gaggia Factory back and brought out the SBUX Barista. I'd been fighting a VERY BAD cold or the flu for about a month and between the taste I was getting and the obvious foobars I was doing (sour, burnt, etc...) I just decided to go with the Barista for the time being. Probably going to bring the Factory back out this week as I seem to FINALLY be getting over this (taste buds appear to have returned and I seem to be able to pay more attention to the shot than I could last month!)...

Ok, 9 days post roast, bingo. I am getting some dark chocolate in the shot but it is a background note. The acidity and citrus of the African push it to the background. In a cappa where the milk mutes the high notes the dark chocolate comes out. Still getting a little bitter-sweet grapefruit in the cup with a shot. That could still be a side effect of the cold and drugs but my taster is pretty much back. I am getting an almost broth/stock mouth-feel probably from the African beans. It was much more predominant in the first version of the blend. I am still trying to put my finger on the flavours, the citrus is diminished and something deeper is taking its place. Almost a little nutty, like a walnut. Dark chocolate covered walnuts and Mandarin orange?

OK. OT for just a second or 3.
With the help of the rental Cremina Boiler pressure gauge/calibration thing from Orphan Espresso created by Richard (espressme), I was able to absolutely dial in my temps. Now I'm .9 at the resting end, and 1.0 when the boiler is at it's peak!
This device is a MUST for anyone who wants to dial in. I marked this spot, so that in the future if i want to increase or decrease, I'll know where my "sweet spot is." A great suggestion from Doug.
Back on topic.
After 8 days with MVP, one thing is clear. THIS AIN'T YOUR MAMA'S espresso blend.
As Dave mentioned above, I'm still getting that high toned citrus thing, though now it's more like a mandarin orange, but on steroids.
Interestingly, there is an essence of a peachy sort of thing. Wish there was more of that.
No cocoa straight, Some in milk.
The one thing that I'm not getting that others have mentioned is body. Not a whole lot. I pulled several shots of a full city home roasted Ethiopian Dale Yirga I purchased green from Sweet Maria's.
Way more body.
I still think this blend is eluding me somewhat from a grind standpoint, though the shots are 25 seconds, 1 oz.
Including crema.
I do like that 2nd flavor that has emerged. I will see if Dave's "nutty" taste impression(that didn't come out quite right) is what I'm getting, though the power of suggestion may make my observations totally bogus!!

FWW.
I am now out of the blend and enjoyed it very much. It seems to change day by day and would be a good answer to the "same old, same old" that I get from time to time. Last shot today 11 days since roast, machiatto from the Cremina. Grapefruit, tobacco, some peach. Grapefruit/tobacco finish.
Many thanks to all who put this learning experience together.
I hope that SWeaners "MVP" roast becomes a regular at "Paradise"
Cheers to all!
-Richard / espressme

espressme wrote:FWW.
I am now out of the blend and enjoyed it very much. It seems to change day by day and would be a good answer to the "same old, same old" that I get from time to time. Last shot today 11 days since roast, machiatto from the Cremina. Grapefruit, tobacco, some peach. Grapefruit/tobacco finish.
Many thanks to all who put this learning experience together.
I hope that SWeaners "MVP" roast becomes a regular at "Paradise"
Cheers to all!
-Richard / espressme

Yes,Richard, the peach-like thing spoke a bit more yesterday.