PIXIllate wrote:Update - Working on the 49th Parallel coffee's that were lost in the mail. They've been in my freezer with the one way valves taped over. Before starting I tried reaching out to 49th to get some more specific brewing parameters than they have on the web site. After a few emails back and forth I got this information from Sasa:

I like 49th Parallel a lot, so thanks for your recommendation on this thread. Surprisingly my most favourite from them in terms of taste is Decaf. It is just so sweet and aromatics that I can't stop going back to it. Add a drop of good bourbon and it is like a liquid chocolate cake in a cup. Of course I am more into traditional coffee tastes, not the light medium roasts novelties.

That is quite a meticulous process you have to go through. All those variables, how to do remember them when you change beans? Do you keep notes for every brand and product or something? I am using the Robot and I am starting to see what people mean when they say it is very forgiving. I don't find it necessary to follow any guidelines to pull a very tasty shot. But again, I am more into Old School Espresso category than anything else. Lighter beans might requires more attention to details to make it right.

VoidedTea wrote:That is quite a meticulous process you have to go through. All those variables, how to do remember them when you change beans? Do you keep notes for every brand and product or something? I am using the Robot and I am starting to see what people mean when they say it is very forgiving. I don't find it necessary to follow any guidelines to pull a very tasty shot. But again, I am more into Old School Espresso category than anything else. Lighter beans might requires more attention to details to make it right.

I have a notebook and I write down temperature, dose in, weight out, time and grind setting for each shot as well as brief tasting notes for each of my two shots every morning. Every few days I'll copy that information into a basic spreadsheet. I don't imagine I'll keep this up forever but for the first year or so I think it's a good discipline to have while learning how to dial in and taste espresso. I did the same thing with wine for years and then I just stopped taking all notes. Then I stopped putting most of it into my mouth and just went by the nose alone. It's a skill and an experiential database that you build.

Of course most people think this is nuts but then again most people drink horrible coffee, and don't even get me started on the "wine" people drink.

I started out logging on a small notebook for the first few months of all the various parameters but eventually grew to dial in my work flow, getting to know my equipment better, and the beans I am getting from my roaster to the point where it just became muscle memory. Not only that, I found the constant logging to take the fun out of espresso, which drove me to stop logging altogether. I haven't logged anything in over 10 years.

I always took the roaster's guidelines as a general starting point, and drilled down to my personal preferences, with taste in the cup being the determining factor. I used to obsess over what the roaster's tasting notes were, and almost always sticking by their parameters until it drove me nuts, and I learned (the hard way) that they are just general parameters. Good shops will adjust multiple time throughout the business day.

Was suspecting 49th updoses, but had a long break from going to their cafes and they usually do old school there anyways. What I noticed I had to stop slightly below 1:2 as coffee aged due to bitterness starting to creep in. 49th is definitely a darker roast than palette, so I found thicker and goopier is what I liked the most, even for their washed Ethiopia epic. But I don't have kees with spring preinfusion.... Yet going to dial in that Costa Rica now last time I remember it being complex with sweet aftertaste.

Hehe took me 5 days to finish Costa Rica Don Mayo and coincidentally 49th had it on the tap today when I was restocking on epic. Their interpretation was 20 grams which added more acidity but reduced the body... my 18/34 in 35 had more smoothness and complexity and less brightness. Picked up washed ephiopia chelbesa from palette. Tiny light roasted beans, like really tiny. Gonna be interesting.

Interesting. I would tend to agree with you here about the 49th roast level and the potential for bitter flavours for higher dose/ratio shots. I'm back to Phil & Sebastian with a Pacamara. Getting good results once again from this roaster. Nice Strawberries and a backing of coco and caramel. Speaking of bean size, these are HUGE! Next up is a bag of their Chelbesa from them. Should be an interesting shift according to your experience.

After that my order from Palette should be here. I ordered the Top Shelf and two of the tiny bags. Including a Geisha.

melnik wrote: Picked up washed ephiopia chelbesa from palette. Tiny light roasted beans, like really tiny. Gonna be interesting.

I opened my bag of Chelbesa from Phil & Sebastian tonight. You were right, they ARE tiny. Especially coming from the Pacamara. It'll be an interesting dial in tomorrow morning.

I have to give credit where credit is due and so far Palette is impressing me. The order showed up about 3-4 days faster than when I expected and there was something unexpected inside. I had emailed asking about starting recipes when I placed the order and was told someone would get back to me. No one did. I figured I'd just email again once the coffee showed up. No need. There were three hand written postcards inside, one for each coffee. Now THIS is what customers love. I really hope the coffee is good because it's businesses like this that I'd love to support.

Haha, palette is top notch, but i have to get my hands on their slightly darker roasts to try due to household preferences. They just released 2 more washed ephiopians as well.... Yum. Funny though how they say floral, tea and apple for top shelf. For me it was raspberry smell , and then very floral raspberry taste. 30 seconds at around 1:2.25. Had worka chelbesa today, floral smell and then like biting in potpourri, very floral, slightly longer ratio dialed it down a notch and brought vanilla and slight acidity. Strangely the way I do espressos at home is very different from how palette serves them. Many times it vas very forward acidity, while mine is more of an lingering juiciness.

I've been working with 49th Parallel Old School Espresso for the last week or so with my europiccola. I'd say it's a bit boring, but also hands down it's been the easiest to work with in my setup that I've tried yet - I've don't think I've pulled a single sink shot. Feels very forgiving, and boring is kind of okay sometimes, especially when making milk drinks.

For those in the GTA who want traditional Italian blends freshly-roasted: I've been pulling Barocco Forte for the past little while. Forte is Southern Italian blend, but they also have Centrale (for Roman espresso) and Alto (Northern Italian).

The Forte is the classic Brazil + Central (Colombian in this case) + Indian (robusta) blend. Great for milk drinks, although I'm drinking it as a plain espresso. Very easy to extract. https://baroccocoffee.com/collections/w ... ucts/forte