KarlSchneider wrote:It ended like a violin closing a Mozart string quartet with the softest pure note. The flavor was amazingly complex and complete.

Karl,

Last night I had a complementary synesthetic experience. Listening to music evoked the taste of espresso! Simon Rattle was conducting the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Bruckner's Seventh Symphony. To me, the most compelling aspect of the performance was the especially beautiful sound of the orchestra and the emotion present in that sound last night. Of the many sensations I experienced, a new and notable one for me was the distinct taste memory of a rich, lush espresso when the orchestra was playing ensemble. I've experienced wine and cognac tastes before but this was the first I recall of espresso. Weird, but enjoyable.

Since we ate out before the concert, the meal was closed with my usual restaurant hot drink, herbal tea .

espressoperson wrote:Wow! Does that bring back memories. I had my first cup of Peet's in September 1979.

These days I think I appreciate my infrequent experiences with that dark, oily Peet's roast taste more for the nostalgia they evoke rather than for their actual coffee taste.

The Terroir Daterra experience is progressing very well. The grind and dose are still so different that going on 3 days of drinking I still don't have it perfectly dialed or dosed.

. But I will wait until I get more familiar with this coffee and can reliably grind and dose just right before attempting the comparison.

Michael,

Yes, today one enjoys Peets for nostalgia more than actual taste. And thanks them for putting us on this path.

Getting familiar with a coffee is a long process. And fun. This evening i had three more of the Yemen Ismaili Hrazi's. The first had a flow too fast. It still had more of that wonderful flavor I got in the morning Americano but I missed it.

The second had a finer grinder setting and flowed too slowly. Actually had a good show of the flavor but it was muddled by the slow flow rate. Tried a third at a still coarser setting and still too slow. As you know, to reliably grind and dose is no small achievement.

Finally tried one Sumatra. The flow was just right for a single pull but alas on this coffee I got the bitter end I usually get. Have to go back to the "Fellini" to get this right.

KS

espressoperson wrote:Karl,

Last night I had a complementary synesthetic experience. Listening to music evoked the taste of espresso! Simon Rattle was conducting the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Bruckner's Seventh Symphony. To me, the most compelling aspect of the performance was the especially beautiful sound of the orchestra and the emotion present in that sound last night. Of the many sensations I experienced, a new and notable one for me was the distinct taste memory of a rich, lush espresso when the orchestra was playing ensemble. I've experienced wine and cognac tastes before but this was the first I recall of espresso. Weird, but enjoyable.

Since we ate out before the concert, the meal was closed with my usual restaurant hot drink, herbal tea .

Michael,

I can follow youu exactly on the Bruckner. I think he is a perfect match to your Daterra. Both have a weightiness that is special.

I know what you mean about espresso in Philadelphia restaurants. The greatest meal I have had was at your Le Bec Fin and though it did cost a bit I would gladly pay as much again for that quality. But their espresso was by far the weakest element of the whole thing.

You said you are now working in Boston. The second best meal I ever had was at Le Espalier and it was also worth the $$$ which were also many. I found it a bit stuffy but that is Boston (I went to grad school there). The coffee was again the weakest element but no reason not to go there.

KS

I can finally get back to reporting on the Yemen ismaili Hirazi first discussed on a Sunday post. Tonight I had three standards for me -- single basket / single pull. Now the wonderful flavor I first noted in the Americano of Sunday morning is in full bloom in these espressi. I think the best word here is complete. I would also add balanced. By complete I mean there is a clear opening taste of delicate chocolate followed by a different middle that is of the classic Yemeni unique earthy-stony and then followed by a finish of great length and very gradual and graceful decline -- like that Mozart violin note I mentioned. All of this is now at 4 days from roast and in the peak expressiveness of espresso more emphatic than in the Americano but not really different in basic taste.It is the same taste writ large as some might say. Both time and method add to this intensity. Balanced also. No part is singing too loudly. It is as if each understands it is part of a larger whole. This ensemble singing is one version of the best one can imagine - Bjussi Bjorling and Leonard Warren singing Bizet's Pearlfisher duets.

KS

This week I roasted two Ethiopians -- a DP Ghimbi taken a full minute into 2nd crack (= 18.3% weight reduction) and a FT Organic Harar Horse roasted into 2nd as well but not as dark ( 16.5% reduction).

Last night I tried the Ghimbi as espresso after only 6 hours of rest. I had a very similar experience to last week's with the Yemen Ismaili Hirazi. I expected a very undeveloped flavor profile but what I tasted was really quite wonderful. It had a beautiful round complete taste framed in chocolate and that earth turning into fruit of Ethiopians.

I find myself wondering if SO's when made on a lever with the goal of maximizing individual character do not let us taste a progression similar to age-worthy red wines. Such wines have an initial delightfulness and then enter a closed stage before emerging in full complexity sometimes years later if one allows them to age (and they were made to be aged). Some speak of this as similar to human growth with a bloom of youth followed by a difficult adolescence and completed in adult maturity.

I would say that these two recent SO's started out with a youthful bloom of real beauty. I will be watching for a closing before final maturity and try to not let technique interfere.

This morning I had two Americani made from the Harar and it too had a beautiful freshness even more fruity than the Ghimbi.

Always new things to watch.

KS

Tonight I had 3 more Ghimbi espressi now 30 hours old and all three were "good" pulls in that the flow was in the right time window, there was good distribution of coffee in the basket and a dry puck after. The basic report is that these were indeed noticeably inferior to the ones yesterday. All the flavors were much more muted. The same flavors but now they are less strong and less intense. Also more out of focus. Cannot really taste chocolate or earthy-fruit. More like tasting "coffee" with hints of "Middle East" that are not really Ethiopian as opposed to Yemen.

How long will the flavors take to come back? And will they be more clear?

KS

This has not been a good week for reporting on coffee evolutions. Too many obligations of a dean. Tonight I did pull 3 shots of the Eth. Ghimbi. All were within desired parameters of technique and basically disappointing. I never got any fine flavors. The best flavor was in the mouth long after swallowing. The immediate flavors were lacking any richness. They were angular and that is all. This has happened before with Ethiopians. Strong start and wire-y finish after a few days.

Yemeni seem to hold better. Also Brazilian.

More observation needed.

KS

Hello Karl, glad to see you're back posting. Perhaps you should consider a second lever machine for the office! - I pack my PV up on the weekends and bring it home. I always look forward to this, because I have more time for experimenting. Its at the office all week, where time efficiency counts. I must say I have been enjoying work more since I got it, however!

If you have the chance please try one doppio with the Ghimbi. I recently created a solo vs. doppio topic because I am beginning to sense that different beans/ages perform better in one of these than they do in the other. I haven't developed any hypotheses as to why this is, but I'm hoping others will chime in.

Cheers!

peacecup wrote:Hello Karl, glad to see you're back posting.

If you have the chance please try one doppio with the Ghimbi. I recently created a solo vs. doppio topic because I am beginning to sense that different beans/ages perform better in one of these than they do in the other. I haven't developed any hypotheses as to why this is, but I'm hoping others will chime in.

Cheers!

Hi peacecup,

I am glad to be able to post here again. The closest i have come to your doppio with the Ghimbi is a morning Americano and I will agree that it was fine. I will in fact try one tomorrow am. I distinctly recall being in the shower and suddenly realizing (as in a "Car Guys" dope slap) that I had this wonderful taste lingering in my mouth. It was a Ghimbi Americano after-taste probably 10 minutes later.

KS

I have to return to this week's Ethiopians one more time. This morning I had Americano's from both the Harar and the Ghimbi. What was again the most conspicuous element was their finish. Those flavors just sang and sang long after the liquid was gone from my mouth. I cannot recall any coffees that lingered so fully as these.

This evening I had two more Ghimbi shots. These were both far better than last night's mysterious failures. In these two Ghimbi's I varied only the tamp going for more extraction in the second shot and getting more color in the crema plus darker flicks plus less good flavor. I find myself thinking of the term equilibrium which I learned in college chemistry just about 40 years ago. I would suggest an extraction equilibrium that has flavor on one side and extractoion on the other. As extraction increases flavor individuality diminishes. This equilibrium will shift as the beans mature over time from roast. One can aim for various points on this continuum.

KS