Ultrafiche wrote:Just received 2lb bags of The Natural and the Birthday Blend. Enjoyed the first 12oz bag of The Natural that I purchased and excited to try the Birthday Blend.

For those of you who order 2lb bags and freeze some of it, do you let the beans rest before you freeze it, or freeze immediately upon receipt?

For example, if I normally use The Natural one week post-roast and I receive it 3 days post-roast, does it make more sense to freeze immediately and let it rest for 4 more days after I pull it out of the freezer later before using, or wait 4 days and then freeze?

I freeze the day I receive them and then use them as I pull them out of the freezer.

Interesting... how do you approximate the equivalent "rest period" using this method, or do you find that it doesn't really matter?

Mostly I just don't care lol

Got 2# Birthday in on the 11th. Froze half.

On my steel Forte, the touch point is 1D. I did 18g at 1K.

On the BDB I set the group temp to 205F. For the shot, I used manual PI until 25s, pulled 50g total, dropping to 6Bar halfway through the shot with the "slayer" valve mod.

This was only the 3rd attempt at pulling it as espresso - all previous shots were 1:2's. This was MUCH better! Definitely got the bergamot and sweet candy, jolly rancher came to mind. A very nice sweet, floral espresso at higher heat and a longer ratio.

I don't remember my total extraction time unfortunately - my BDB does't show the shot time for very long, nor does it have a way on my particular unit to make the time reappear.

Hope this is helpful.

nameisjoey wrote:Mostly I just don't care lol

Haha fair enough!

cccpu wrote:Got 2# Birthday in on the 11th. Froze half.

On my steel Forte, the touch point is 1D. I did 18g at 1K.

On the BDB I set the group temp to 205F. For the shot, I used manual PI until 25s, pulled 50g total, dropping to 6Bar halfway through the shot with the "slayer" valve mod.

This was only the 3rd attempt at pulling it as espresso - all previous shots were 1:2's. This was MUCH better! Definitely got the bergamot and sweet candy, jolly rancher came to mind. A very nice sweet, floral espresso at higher heat and a longer ratio.

I don't remember my total extraction time unfortunately - my BDB does't show the shot time for very long, nor does it have a way on my particular unit to make the time reappear.

Hope this is helpful.

Super helpful! Going to break open my bag of Birthday today and give it a shot.

I'm enjoying the Birthday blend on V60. Haven't tried pulling any shots, but my Gaggia can basically only handle comfort blends so I probably won't bother. It's good; maybe not as tropical as the Future but I like all the fruitiness it brings.

cccpu wrote:Just ordered:

El Eden - Gesha sample
El Vergel - Anaerobic Natural sample
Don Carlos Natural sample
Worka Sakaro - Natural sample
La Cometa sample

Aaand... Happy Birthday - 2020 - 2lb

:crosses fingers:

Hope it's good!

I am not seeing "samples" on their website. Did you mean 12 oz bags?

How was Worka Sakaro? Roast level?

TIA!

The Birthday blend is one of the best coffees I've had this year. I'm hesitant to even dial it in on the robot as the v60 is just so crazy good! The strawberry comes through really clear and the sweetness is outstanding. B&W has quickly become my "go to" roaster over the past 6 months, and I don't see that changing...now I just need to refrain from ordering 5 more pounds of it....

M60smurf wrote:B&W has quickly become my "go to" roaster over the past 6 months, and I don't see that changing...

Same here. Also, their 5lb bags are an incredible value. Especially on the year around stuff, but even their seasonal SO's are priced on par with other roasters year around blends. Hard to not love them especially with the incredible beans they put out!

Made first 2 shots of Birthday today, 10 days post roast. B & W recommended 199 degrees, 19g in 44-45 out in 25 sec. I tried 199 degrees 18g in 45g yield in 23-25 seconds. I was impressed with the smooth unique flavors. I was surprised they suggested such a low temp for what was described as a light roast, until I opened the bag. It appeared to be more like a medium roast. Glad I took a chance with this, may reorder soon. May modify some of the parameters next time, but pretty satisfied with the results today.