Sey Coffee

#1: Post by **ShotClock** » January 28th, 2023, 4:14 pm

Having just tried Sey for the first time, I'm wondering if i got a bad bag, or of this is just the style. The coffee is a washed Colombian, 3 weeks off roasting.

The whole beans smelled vegetal, the grounds smelled vegetal. After cooling, in the cup is a prominent citrus acidity, decent sweetness, very thin body and a persistent vegetal note. I'm not sure I'd say that it was grassy, but it certainly tasted under developed to me. Overall, it was fairly pleasant, but pretty one dimensional, and with the persistent vegetal note no matter the temperature.

Is this just the style, or did i get a bad bag? Would be interested to hear others experience.

#2: Post by **Milligan** » January 28th, 2023, 4:33 pm

I tend to get that note with a lot of coffees that are super light from commercial roasters. There are a few exceptions. I did a roast vision 29 Ethiopian recently that tasted very floral and tea-like without any notes of underdevelopment. I know Sey is known for very light coffees so maybe that note comes with the territory. Everything I've gotten from B&W has been 20-23 roast vision. From Onyx it is more like 19-23. The few I've gotten from Sey have been 25+, so they are quite a bit lighter than some other big names.

Personally I'm more of a fan of 18-23 Roast vision for most coffees.

FWIW a 17 roast vision is considered an Agtron Gourmet Light...

#3: Post by **Quester** » January 28th, 2023, 5:51 pm

ShotClock wrote:Having just tried Sey for the first time, I'm wondering if i got a bad bag, or of this is just the style. The coffee is a washed Colombian, 3 weeks off roasting.

The whole beans smelled vegetal, the grounds smelled vegetal. After cooling, in the cup is a prominent citrus acidity, decent sweetness, very thin body and a persistent vegetal note. I'm not sure I'd say that it was grassy, but it certainly tasted under developed to me. Overall, it was fairly pleasant, but pretty one dimensional, and with the persistent vegetal note no matter the temperature.

Is this just the style, or did i get a bad bag? Would be interested to hear others experience.

SEY can be amazing, but also frustrating as espresso. What shot ratio are you using? What profile? Can you post a Visualizer link?

I assume you were using the flat and not the Niche.

January 28th, 2023, 6:06 pm

Try cupping it at a few different grind settings.

My overall impressions with this style of roasting over the years and my own attempts at replicating using small commercial gas drum roaster.

It is a very gentle style of roasting which aims to preserve the most delicate attributes of high quality green. Unfortunately, it is very easy to stray into brothy vegetable soup realm and or the roast may drag on a little too long in attempt to get rid of the vegetable, resulting in flattening of these delicate desired attributes so your left with savoury soup.

This avoid any roast at all cost style will generally be asking for long rest times anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks. When it turns out right it can be novel and interesting with the right green.

More aggressive roast styles can promote more snappy acidity, sweetness and clarity if done in such a way that minimise potential roast character.

#5: Post by **Acavia** » January 28th, 2023, 6:50 pm

This is only for pour-over: I have had a two bag a month Sey subscription since May. I also have a 1 bag a month Passenger subscription. In a blind test I could not tell them apart. I use very soft water, 50Gh and 15 Kh, matching the profile that Sey has told me it uses, to promote bright coffee. So my coffee should be brighter than most people would get with harder water. None of the Sey coffees I have had tasted vegetable or like a soup. They are bright but tend to taste of tart sharp fruit punch like coffee to more traditional tasting coffee, ranging between those two.

#6: Post by **Quester** » January 28th, 2023, 7:12 pm

So sorry about the espresso assumption! I used to pull SEY shots with a big flat and profile on my DE1, so that was an assumption about my struggle and not yours. We did lots of pour-over with our subscription too.

SEY is a quality roaster, in my experience, but there are always exceptions. I once got an award-winning lighter blend (different roaster) that's often mentioned on this forum, and it was so under-roasted it jammed all of my grinders.

With SEY pour-overs, there were a few we got that needed a finer grind, hotter water, and more time. But if it's that far off and you are used to SEY coffees, it could be the roast. You might send them a note and ask. I've found them delightfully responsive.

January 28th, 2023, 7:46 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't really got a feeling for the roasting color scales - this is a fair bit lighter than the lightest filter roasts from George Howell, maybe even lighter than Manhattan and the couple of Nordics that I've tried. Actually, i found that Tim Wendelboe had a similar vegetal finish on the one occasion that I had it.

This was brewed with an aeropress with prismo, 98C water, 2 minute step, and monolith with the grind a bit finer than a pour over grind. I've found this to be a fairly forgiving brew method, and can do a good job extracting pretty much anything.

Honestly, i wouldn't be using this for espresso. The lightest that I would normally go with espresso would be many notches darker than this - probably best described as medium light. My taste in brewed coffee is considerably lighter so I'd thought Sey would be good to try. The coffee is Efren Guzman Colombia.

Is this the kind of thing that might get better with resting?

#8: Post by **michael** » January 29th, 2023, 6:28 pm

I drink a lot of sey coffee as 1:1 ristrettos, generally let the coffee rest around 2 weeks

It appears to be the lightest of the light roasts I've tried

haven't had the flavor profile you describe but it almost sounds sour, maybe you might try a little more temp

#9: Post by **Chert** » January 30th, 2023, 12:49 am

Here is a Vista al Bosque offered by Appollon's Gold. Note the rest period recommended. I don't know if they offer that advice for all of their coffees. I have not seen another roaster recommend weeks of rest for a roasted coffee to reach it's full potential. And that begs the question, what is "less than full potential". When I've inquired with folks who love the lightest of roasts, I haven't gotten a real clear picture, but grassy, and underdeveloped is not how they describe such coffees, still needing "to rest".

For the roaster, how do you perform quality control on a coffee if it peaks after 45-70 days?

January 30th, 2023, 4:10 am

Opinions vary, but something that light I'd consider toasted and certainly not roasted to any real degree of development!