Anyone using Northbound Coffee Roasters?

They look reasonably priced (for a daily driver) but most of the posts are pretty old. If you are using, do you have blend recommendations for Americano (usually) or milk-based (occasionally). My wife and I typically drink 2-3 cups each in the morning made from Rao's filter 2.1 profile.

Right now my go-to is Onyx Monarch but it gets a tad pricey for as much as we drink.

American Beauty a few months back was superb for both espresso and drip.

Northbound is on the shortlist of repeat orders.

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Northbound
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coupon - BREWITYOURSELF
American Beauty
9 days post roast
Niche 17.5
IMS Double
16.2g, 216°F, 8.25bar, ≈30s fpo [from pump on]

Long time fan of Keith & Jen's Northbound Coffee. Coffee Lover, which is one of their seasonal roast blends, is a favorite each mid-winter and one of my favorites. Just finishing up their Uganda, from their Headstash offerings: Delicious.

We just stopped in to see Keith & Jen while camping near Shasta...super nice folks. I had never tried Prana before but grabbed a bag to use while camping and using the EspressoForge & Bellman steamer to make our morning cappas and wow what a wonderfully tasty Northern Italian style bean blend, but better IMHO, that is now on our regular list for at home & camping alike for straight espresso as well as cappuccinos.

I'm a purchase from them frequently. Reliably good. Sometimes outstanding. Coffee Lover from Feb 2022 was pretty darn special. I bought 6 lbs of that blend this year and while not as great as I remember the 22, I am still enjoying it as pour over at work. I have had Prana, American Beauty (AB), Lamp Lighter and Coffee Lover. AB is the only one that I have had exclusively as espresso. The others I have gravitated to using them for poor over. Don't really know why. I think I just tried them first as pour over and was just really satisfied - didn't wanna waste any trying to dial-in for espresso. IDK...

I've only had their SO's for pour overs, but they were always very good. Try 'BREWITYOURSELF' for 15% off.

Thanks for the information. I ended up ordering American Beauty and ran (2 lbs each). Recommended rest time before pulling 1st shot or popping into freezer?

Update:

I bought 2 Lbs of American Beauty and 2 Lbs of Prana

After 7 days rest, I vacuum sealed and froze American Beauty

After 7 Days rest, I measured out 18 gram servings of the Prana and transferred them to sealed test tubes. I kept 8 servings out and place the rest of the test tubes in the freezer.

Dialed in the Prana using recommended guidelines. Coffee was very good.

Dialed in the Prana using the Cremina profile /(18 in 36 out 45-50sec target). The coffee was better with a few more flavor notes pulled out.

I started with Prana because I am more old school (flavor-wise) and like a chocolatey, more traditional flavor and drink mostly Americano and occasionally milked-based drinks. My biggest issue with Prana is how humidity affects the shot timing. Typically I mist the beans, shake, grind, WDT, tamp (force tamper) and add a puck screen. Once when I forgot to spray, I noticed that the timing for 36 grams was much slower. So after experimenting a bit, I observed that how you mist the beans (0,1,2,3 and half mists 1/2 mist) has a relatively big impact on timing. For the same grinder setting, shot timing could differ by 10 sec depending on the mist (more mist, shorter shots. I have seen this before but never this pronounced. Could it be other aspects of puck prep .... maybe, but I have never seen this much variation with others.

Regardless, The Prana was good and wife approved. After I finish the Prana, I will switch to the AB.

Petraidm wrote:I started with Prana because I am more old school (flavor-wise) and like a chocolatey, more traditional flavor and drink mostly Americano and occasionally milked-based drinks. My biggest issue with Prana is how humidity affects the shot timing. Typically I mist the beans, shake, grind, WDT, tamp (force tamper) and add a puck screen. Once when I forgot to spray, I noticed that the timing for 36 grams was much slower. So after experimenting a bit, I observed that how you mist the beans (0,1,2,3 and half mists 1/2 mist) has a relatively big impact on timing. For the same grinder setting, shot timing could differ by 10 sec depending on the mist (more mist, shorter shots. I have seen this before but never this pronounced. Could it be other aspects of puck prep .... maybe, but I have never seen this much variation with others.

That's not humidity (moisture in the air). It's most likely that the dampness of the beans slows feeding in your grinder which in turn can coarsen the grind. Interesting that RDT matters so much more with that particular blend. I wonder why? What kind of grinder do you have?

I have tried Northbound a few times in past years and those bags all ended up in the compost bin. I recall a natural Ethiopian that just stank of blueberries and not in a nice way. Understandably I have been hesitant to gamble with them again even though all I ever see are positive reports. But I think it's time for me to give them another go. I can't remember if the local market still carries them or not but their prices and $5 flat rate shipping makes ordering a bag or two to try a lot less painful than with some places.