Intelligentsia Birthday Cat... Anyone tried it? - Page 2

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
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canuckcoffeeguy (original poster)
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#11: Post by canuckcoffeeguy (original poster) »

brianl wrote:any updates? I got a bag and im at 4 days post roast and getting some early blonding. hopefully clears up in a day or two

It sounds like this might require higher doses than normal due to the high density beans. 18g in my 18g vst looks under dosed
I haven't tried updosing yet. I'm using an 18g VST and have been dosing 18.5g. I've tried aiming for 200F (I have an E61 HX with Eric's thermometer, so I can get close)...and I've also tried super low temps, based on a tip I got from a roaster recently who suggested I drop down to 180-185F with a lighter roast.

The really low temp tamed the bright, sour notes quite a bit. Although I still liked the taste at 200F. They were just different and highlighted different flavours.
coffeemmichael wrote:I originally tried pulling shots the day I got my bag (4 days post roast) and had tons of blonding and excessive crema-- to the point where I won't hit my target weight without overflowing my demitasse. Still had this on day 6, day 7 it was noticeably less. I always get this issue when pulling black cat as well.
I experienced much better results once rested for 7 days. I'm now into day 9, and extractions are still good. Although I don't have any fancy TDS technology to measure this. But I'm clearly getting a much better extraction based on visual cues and taste.

To be honest, most espresso blends need at least 5 days rest, and most don't reach peak until the 7 to 10 day range. Many roasters I speak with say this explicitly. And the Black Cat Classic I'm also trying confirms this. Nowadays, I don't even bother opening a blend until at least 5 days post roast. I think it's clear that excessive Co2 interferes with optimal extraction.

Here's a pic I took of a Birthday Cat shot:

brianl
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#12: Post by brianl »

The really low temp tamed the bright, sour notes quite a bit. Although I still liked the taste at 200F. They were just different and highlighted different flavours.
This is so counter intuitive it blows my mind (I'd expect this to tame the bright 'wood' taste I was having with the early blonding but intrigued by your results). I haven't gotten anything too bad at 200F but it's just been a bit thin due to the early blonding (I have never really been a fan of short shots so I've been pressing on). I've also been pulling around 19/29 (28s) in a 18g vst and i'm slowly inching towards 19/38 as it can take it.

I just love when a group of us get a coffee to try out. Should definitely happen more often! :mrgreen:

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canuckcoffeeguy (original poster)
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#13: Post by canuckcoffeeguy (original poster) replying to brianl »

I've only tried the really low temp thing a few times, only with two different coffees. One of them being a SO Ethiopian. So I haven't experimented enough with it to get a full picture. But the low temps, below 190F seem to soften acidic notes. This seems to jive with what I used to experience with my Mypressi Twist and what others have posted about the EspressForge.

I should also mention my other parameters. As mentioned I've been dosing 18.5g. In the cup I've ranged from 29g all the way up to 40g. I liked the ones closer to ristretto range better, but that's what I typically like. I've also only been using my ceramic Vario for Birthday Cat. My K10PB is currently dialed in for the Black Cat classic bag I also have.

But I've been busy with work and haven't had much time to play around and pull successive shots.

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