Sunday, July 31, 2022

Our pour over recipe, first coffee from Honduras of the year, single estate Kenyans.

Real quick, we will be closed for a few days while we sort out some electrical issues as well as deep clean the space. We’ll absolutely be back soon and there will be some exciting things to look forward to coming on the menu.

This little break in service feels like a good reason to go over our house pour over recipe. I have come to really favor flat bottom brewers for the clear and even extractions they tend to produce. The brightness isn’t too spikey like I often find in v60 style brews.

We’re going to start with 22g of coffee ground slightly finer than where an automatic drip pot would be. If you have a Baratza Encore, I’ve had good luck starting out in the 16/17 range.

We’ll start brewing with a 70g pour and a soft swirl to ensure our bed is completely saturated. This will soak for a full minute. Even after resting coffee at least two weeks, there’s still CO2 that can impede our extraction that we want to fully clear out.

At 1:00, we’re going to pour 150g of water and softly swirl again. This should bring our brew weight up to 220g.

Now our last pour will be another 150g and another soft swirl at 2:00. By this point, the water level should be nearly cleared through the bed. Having a low slurry height allows for more agitation with our stream of water. This final pour should clear our bed of coffee by 3:15-3:30.

So we’re at 22g coffee and 370g water with a total brew time of around 3:30.

Onto our new menu offerings!

The first coffee I’m thrilled to have in the shop is the Pedro Moreno El Mango microlot from Sey. Pedro has been producing really vibrant coffees in Santa Barbara, one of my personal favorite producing regions in Central America. Coffees from this area tend to embody a quiet excellence and this is definitely in that camp. It’s super sugary and round with a subtle acidity that never pokes out above the rest of the cup. There’s something about coffees from this area that remind me of a blueberry scone.  This microlot, like a lot of my favorite Honduras selections, is 100% Pacas. Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon mainly found in El Salvador and Honduras. Similar to other Bourbon mutants, Pacas has a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller (dwarfism). Unlike the hybrid varieties, Pacas is very susceptible to disease, making it riskier to grow. That risk is rewarded with an exceedingly clean cup that highlights the best of what this region can produce.

Our second addition will be a single estate pure SL28 lot from Kenya. Guchienda Estate is situated in Embu County and operated by brothers Edwin and Benson. Traditionally, one has to purchase Kenyan coffee through larger washing stations where transparency is difficult at best. Working directly with a single estate allows for better transparency, opportunities for variety separations, and potential work on soil health. This SL28 separation is a great example. I’ve personally never seen the SL28 variety without its sibling SL34 along for the ride. Like the Pacas, SL28 is a bred offshoot in the Bourbon family. I’m finding a really refreshing mix of hibiscus, tangerine, and dark brown sugar in the cup.

Can’t wait to share these with y’all once the doors are back open. Keep an eye on the Instagram for updates!

Thank You Thank You,

-Cody