I most thankfully received a sample of Mamuto AB espresso from George Howell. I am still a little green on origins and differences in regions and so I am not quite sure how to pull this. Any suggestions?

I'm thinking higher temp due to higher altitude beans being more acidic? Not from experience, watched a George Howell video on YouTube.

Looking for dose, time, temp, Brew Ratio Suggestions.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks.

1st attempt:

17g in
34g out
:33sec
202 f

Taste is... like wine. I enjoyed it. Like I brewed espresso dry red wine. I've had other espressos taste sourish, like red wine before and was initially put off by it but this tasted interesting to me...maybe I'm getting used to it.

Is this what people describe as "fruity" when describing flavor notes? I'm trying to understand and you are all the only ones I have to seek guidance and understanding from.

Body was thin, Crema was a milky and very uniform in color, the color of a peanut shell or light peanut butter.

There was an underlying "coffee" flavor that lingered and I think I still taste it.

Thoughts? Does this coffee highlight the acidic side of espresso or should I try to eliminate the "red wine" flavor?

Brew it as drip. Don't $#*&Q% it up with an espresso machine.

Isn't this intended as espresso?

I would try it as drip but unfortunately I do not have a grinder capable for drip. I was thinking this might be great for an americano though??

TomC wrote:Brew it as drip. Don't $#*&Q% it up with an espresso machine.

Really,Tom? I think half the fun of espresso is these types of coffee/roasts. Surely you can do this with your EG1.

Don't stomp on the poor man's buzz!

TomC wrote:Brew it as drip. Don't $#*&Q% it up with an espresso machine.

It's roasted for espresso. Maybe you are thinking of the AA which is only drip, and outstanding.

I had the AB espresso about a month ago and had good results with 1: 1.66 to 2 ratios. For me it was very grape like, so yes red wine ish but not in a sour way. Also oddly a bit of a phosphoric snap and sometimes peppery and tomato like. More the later on drip but all in a good complex way rather than bad.... For some reason when I start to get into 1:2 ratios and longer on most coffees at home it's too harsh? Right now I have honey badger from intelli and it's straight lemon juice no matter how I pull it. Eek.

The thing about the Howell coffees I had (4 different beans) was that I noticed they were hard to screw up. The windows for good taste were very wide on both drip and espresso. Some coffees I get from other roasters feel like they are impossible to get exactly what I want out of..

I asked Howell for brew parameters for the bags I bought but they never responded, the coffees were all great tho!

How much time does it take for your 1:2 and beyond? When my fav cafe does 1:3 with an EK it's still under 25s.

mivanitsky wrote:Really,Tom? I think half the fun of espresso is these types of coffee/roasts. Surely you can do this with your EG1.

Don't stomp on the poor man's buzz!

The EG-1 was only a review unit, I don't own one. I suppose I could use the R120 if I was motivated though.

Yes, this coffee can likely be extracted ok with an espresso machine, but dollars to donuts, the best extraction of it is probably on the lines of a lungo extraction that would still be beat by a well crafted pour over.

I've had lots of Mamuto and count it amongst the very best coffees we can buy. I wouldn't want to try to compact all those flavor notes into a more concentrated hit. It's beautiful when brewed. Just my opinion. One of the very few roasters in this country who know how to roast, who also procures the finest coffees, I'd want to open up every flavor note and accent with a proper extraction.

Does this hold true for most Kenya beans? What I'm gathering is most acidic, fruity coffees are better for drip/pour over. This was my first single origin espresso. What type of flavors in espresso would washed Kenya beans bring if added to an "espresso blend"?

Trying to get an idea of differences between different origin or varietals in taste, body etc.

Kenyan coffees are amongst my absolute favorites in the world. Probably even over the finest Ethiopians That being said, they're not that easy to extract well, with their often times lopsided acidity, it's not well suited for espresso IMO.