Thanks very much for the pointers. I will call around and place an order.

belegnole wrote:Glad to hear that. I just finished up a five pound purchase of GMC. I got a bit of an ashy flavor on a few shots, but most were that nutty with a touch of the chocolate bitter that I belive is expected from the roast.

I would have written it off as just "not my jam" but the flavor was so different from what I got from the 12 oz sample.

I'm enjoying this year's Holiday Blend from Velton's Coffee Roasting Company. It is a medium roast blend of 50% Honduras Finca La Cruz and 50% Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu (natural), and the tasting notes are "silky chocolate body with citrus, berries, and candied grape." About a week post roast, the parameters on my Olympia Cremina are about 200 deg. F., 15 grams in, 30 grams out, with a pull time of about 30 seconds. Straight shots are very good, and I find it especially delicious in cappuccinos.

Rocky

cmin wrote:wonder if this is a roaster issue as a whole. I have never had thr amount of issues that I have this last year or so with numerous off/poor quality bags of the same exact bags I've ordered before even few weeks before next order. Friends having the same issues. I had two completely off bags of Cat&Cloud, like you would have thought they sat somewhere months before opening vs two previous orders. Honestly frustrating and annoying, never seen issues like this in the last 10 years or so vs orders past 1-2 years. Ordered a couple bags from Klatch, all were terrible even thr single origins, I use to order Belle, and last two Belles tasted like cigarettes was so nasty. Their natural Ethiopian I had right before Northbounds Worka and you would have thought the Klatch came from Starbucks it was so bad in comparison to Northbound Worka at the time (which was probably the best natural I've ever had all these years). They actually followed up and said they've been having issues but didn't clarify, so who knows if it's crap greens or roasting. Never heard back.

Maybe so. I received a replacement bag from Lusso yesterday. Brewed this morning and much better flavor. Did not get the unpleasant aftertaste that dominated the last bag. There was a very minor hint of that flavor, but it is was way in the background and was not unpleasant. Something that happened to the prior batch brought that flavor to the forefront and it stomped all over everything else. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

Huge thanks to Sean at Lusso for helping me out so quickly.

https://www.sweetmarias.com/ethiopia-or ... -6289.html

I've gone through about 20 lbs of this organic natural Ethiopia Shantawene (SM 93 pt score) coffee in the past two weeks and thought I'd share with everyone as I'm considering picking up another batch.

I'm not typically a huge fan of naturals, but this is one of the best coffees I've had all year. It's also a very easy bean to control the ROR on. I'm doing medium-light roast which showcases flavor notes of Strawberry, Dried Fruits, a Watermelon candy finish, good sweetness, and pleasant Floral aromas. I don't typically like naturals but this is one of the best lots I've had all year. I've roasted it Rao style and gave it a shot at a Nordic approach both dropping at 400F 18% DTR and 403F 9% DTR respectively. For relative comparison, with this bean, on my 500g MCR, I hit 1C at 391F and Dry at 329F. I've never been one to use the trier much, but this bean really lets you know when the sweetness and aroma peaks so get on that trier. Roasting this up to 403F Rao-style seems to introduce some of the darker roast characteristics and burnt sugar notes, but my take on the nordic approach with this bean did not show that at 403F. If anyone has been roasting this, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thanks @RockyIII for reminding me about Velton's! Its been a year or more since I ordered from them...just forgot about them I guess. Order placed for the Holiday Blend you recommended, et al.

I noticed SCG stopped pimping them all the time in their videos. Had been wondering why.

Here is my post from the Counter Culture Coffee La Golondrina group tasting thread in early 2017:
Counter Culture La Golondrina (group tasting)

La Golondrina is seasonal, and I purchased it several more times in 2017 until it was no longer available, always with the same delicious results. I've tried it each year since then, and it has never been as good. I've tried changing the brew temperature slightly but haven't gone very far. Brew temperature on the Cremina is not precise like it is on the Strietman CT1, which is what I used with the La Golondrina in 2017. However, I haven't experienced the same flavor decline with my favorites from other roasters, which tends to make me shrug my shoulders and just stick to what continues to taste great rather than struggling with an unknown.

If anybody here is familiar with La Golondrina over the same time period, please let me know if you have had the same experience as I have or if your shots taste just as good now as they used to. If others say it still tastes great with strong flavors of chocolate and cherries, I may give it another try.

Rocky

slybarman wrote:Maybe so. I received a replacement bag from Lusso yesterday. Brewed this morning and much better flavor. Did not get the unpleasant aftertaste that dominated the last bag. There was a very minor hint of that flavor, but it is was way in the background and was not unpleasant. Something that happened to the prior batch brought that flavor to the forefront and it stomped all over everything else. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

Huge thanks to Sean at Lusso for helping me out so quickly.

Just following up on my own post. The replacement bag I got from Sean at Lusso is pulling beautifully. It is absolutely delicious again. Good chocolate notes and nothing bitter, burnt or harsh. I am really enjoying it again now. I am pulling 18g in a VST. 203 degrees. 4 second preinfusion with 5 second rest and then running the rest of the shot until it blondes at around 34 seconds or so. All at full pressure. I was pulling longer shots on the prior sample bag (around 43 seconds total), but I am getting better flavor out of this bag with a bit shorter time.

right now the rotation has been
George Howell - alchemy
Big Creek Coffee Roasters - Winter Blend
Montana Coffee Traders - Espresso 81
Stumptown - Hair Bender