Redbird Sweet Blue - Page 2

September 28th, 2015, 2:21 pm

JohnB. wrote:The past few days I've been mixing the Sweet Blue 50/50 with the Paradise Nuevo. The combination produces a very nice fudge brownie shot. 3 Days ago I roasted some of the Ethiopia Konga Yirgacheffe Mike distributed a while back. Makes a great shot by itself but it will be interesting to see how/if it works with the Sweet Blue.

I made some cold brew with the Nuevo I had left over, didn't even think of mixing it with the Sweet Blue.

#12: Post by F1 » October 1st, 2015, 12:56 am

So today 5 days post roast I decided to open the bag of Sweet Blue. Big mistake

While I get an even beautiful extraction I can tell that the beans are not ready. I can see the extraction cone getting really thick(not big) and towards the end when I cut the extraction it deflates/explodes like a balloon. Also the cup had a lot of mid size bubbles. I'll give it another 5 days for a total of 10 like all the other Red Bird offerings. I did try the shots of course, and I could immediately taste dark chocolate. Unfortunately it wasn't a pleasant flavor. It was incredibly strong and bitter, but I do see the potential. Hopefully in another 5 days the flavors have mellowed towards sweet. I was using 18gin and 32-36gout in 25-30secs. Someone mentioned in here that they start using their sweet blue 4 days post roast and I can't imagine

. I also got a bag of the Blue Jaguar with the same roast date and that one I will not touch for another 5 days.

#13: Post by **Seed65** » October 1st, 2015, 5:52 am

Glad that someone had the same experiencing as me ....with the Sweet Blue I have a bag of Blue Jaguar that I received last week and now I will wait a bit more before using it.

October 1st, 2015, 6:06 am

Did you try to pull shots too early too?

#15: Post by **JohnB.** » October 1st, 2015, 7:50 am

I get very nice shots from both the Sweet Blue & Blue Jaguar by day 6. Actually I'd consider both on their way out by day 10. Your inability to get a decent shot with less then 10 days rest may have more to do with the way you are pulling the shot then the age of the bean.

#16: Post by **Seed65** » October 1st, 2015, 8:03 am

F1 wrote:Did you try to pull shots too early too?

I was using it for pour-over which in itself may not bring out the best from the beans. The issue could be technique, could be the bean...or a combo of both. I purchased an Europiccola and will give it a go this weekend. Got nothing to lose I guess!

#17: Post by **JohnB.** » October 1st, 2015, 8:23 am

I've made a few Americanos with the Sweet Blue but prefer it as a Ristretto shot pulled in the 199°-200°F temp range. FWIW my shots run long & yield 25g-28g from 18g-20g doses. No 25 second 2 ounce shots here.

October 1st, 2015, 9:20 am

JohnB. wrote:I've made a few Americanos with the Sweet Blue but prefer it as a Ristretto shot pulled in the 199°-200°F temp range. FWIW my shots run long & yield 25g-28g from 18g-20g doses. No 25 second 2 ounce shots here.

Yeah 36g in 25-30 seconds is too fast, that's in the verge of gushing IMO. I've been pulling it at 26-30 grams or so at about 35 seconds from 18.5g dose.

F1 wrote:So today 5 days post roast I decided to open the bag of Sweet Blue. Big mistake While I get an even beautiful extraction I can tell that the beans are not ready. I can see the extraction cone getting really thick(not big) and towards the end when I cut the extraction it deflates/explodes like a balloon. Also the cup had a lot of mid size bubbles. I'll give it another 5 days for a total of 10 like all the other Red Bird offerings. I did try the shots of course, and I could immediately taste dark chocolate. Unfortunately it wasn't a pleasant flavor. It was incredibly strong and bitter, but I do see the potential. Hopefully in another 5 days the flavors have mellowed towards sweet. I was using 18gin and 32-36gout in 25-30secs. Someone mentioned in here that they start using their sweet blue 4 days post roast and I can't imagine . I also got a bag of the Blue Jaguar with the same roast date and that one I will not touch for another 5 days.

tighten up the grind, try to pull what we mentioned above

#19: Post by F1 » October 1st, 2015, 5:16 pm

So tighten the grind a bit and getting 26-28g from 18g in 32-35secs. Unfortunately it is still behaving like extremely fresh beans. Even after I swirl the shot it feels like foam in the mouth. Waaaaaaaaaaay too many bubbles. I am going to try reducing the pressure next, but I am almost out of beans.

#20: Post by F1 » October 1st, 2015, 11:34 pm

Finished the whole bag(1lb). Unfortunately even after lowering the pressure nothing changed. I am pretty sure the beans weren't ready. The amount of foam in the cup I was getting was insane. To get 28g weight in the cup in 35secs my 3oz cup was almost overflowing. I have three scales. This is 6 days post roast. I never tasted any sweetness or smelled any descent aroma. I have had/tasted bitter in the past, but this was overwhelming. I have an unopened bag of Blue Jaguar that I am not going to touch till 10 days post roast. If the experience is the same then I am done with redbird.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of any aroma when I opened the bad. That is always the first thing I do when I open any bag of beans. It just smelled like cheap grocery store coffee. Even after grinding the beans the only aroma I could smell was that of new tire(Think tire shop). It could be down to the darker roast. I tried on a K10 and a Super Jolly. Both were clean.