Malabar Gold Parameters

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
kinda-niche
Posts: 61
Joined: 2 years ago

#1: Post by kinda-niche »

I finally received a much anticipated 5-pounder Malabar Gold from Josuma last week (roast date is for last week's batch, so May 9th). Even though it has many fans here, I could not find a good place where people's extraction parameters/thoughts/experiments on MG were consolidated. I think it'd be valuable to start a focused thread, so if you could, please answer any/all of the following (and add more questions that I missed):

1. some good recipes (whether a standard double or extreme ristretto, we'd like to hear about it all!),
2. resting periods that have worked for you**,
3. machine specific quirks*,
4. flavor notes you managed to get out of it (chocolate? and what else?),
5. freezing tips, e.g. when's a good time to throw it in? how long does it stay fresh? if I throw it in as soon as I receive it, does it need additional few days of resting after taking out from the freezer?

*I have a Niche Zero and Breville Dual Boiler, so I'm mainly looking for temperature and pre-infusion settings for BDB that seemed to work best for you. But feel free to mention quirks on other machines also. I'm sure someone or the other would like to know about it.


**I have read that it requires some solid 2-3 weeks of resting, but since I could not contain the excitement, I tried pulling a couple of experimental shots with a friend. Impressions: 1. it had good acidity for a darker roast (even at 95 deg C on the BDB); 2. it's just so WOODY in both the smell and the taste. Are both of these just artifacts of the roast being too fresh?



I had ordered GH Alchemy to use while waiting for MG to ship. Lo and behold, both arrived on the same day!

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slybarman
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Joined: 12 years ago

#2: Post by slybarman »

Do NOT so much as make eye contact with Malabar Gold until it is at least 3 weeks post roast. It will taste disgusting until it had adequate time to off- gas. After that it will be completely different and delicious.

ronner
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#3: Post by ronner »

I am a Malabar Gold fan. I find post 7 days roast appeases my taste. Anything before, not so. the roaster posts their extraction params here:
https://josuma.com/extraction-parameters/
the temp is a key component. their recipe works well for me.
Ron

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slybarman
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#4: Post by slybarman »

I have not been able to make that "banana peel" or "woody" funk go away anywhere near that quickly. If you have a secret, I'd love to know it.

toolate
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#5: Post by toolate »

this seems really extreme.I find it great at day 5 or 6

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slybarman
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#6: Post by slybarman »

Putting the flavor aside, it doesn't even pull well for me at that point.

kinda-niche (original poster)
Posts: 61
Joined: 2 years ago

#7: Post by kinda-niche (original poster) »

To be fair, it started tasting seriously good only after I opened the second and third bags. The third one had been in the freezer for several months! Overall, I'd say at least 2-3 weeks of resting time required. I am curious what you mean by "doesn't even pull well".

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slybarman
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#8: Post by slybarman »

kinda-niche wrote:. I am curious what you mean by "doesn't even pull well".
i find that when coffee is still off-gassing the shot just does not pull well. it is hard to dial in. you get very uneven extraction - like it was channeling. It can be overcome somewhat with pre-infusion and a slower pressure ramp up, but that's not something this coffee requires when it has been given time to off-gas.

Goldscalpel
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Joined: 4 years ago

#9: Post by Goldscalpel »

I have been using Mahabar Au for the last several years almost exclusively. I really have no problem with pulling shots.
I have both the Bianca and a Londinium paired with Kafatek. The Bianca predictably needs a few marks tighter grind than the Londinium. I pull a shot each every morning. Whenever I change coffee, my wife notices immediately.

I can use all three Kafatek grinder but prefer the MC4.

I must add I am quite surprised how well they continue to pull weeks after the roast date