I really am in my washed coffee era. Washed coffee, so far, as I have brewed at home, has not been as bright as the natural coffees that intrigued me into the depths of specialty coffee. We went to a "home espresso" class, and as part of the experience, we got to take a bag of coffee home. When the owner took us to the shelf to pick what we wanted, this Honduras coffee spoke right into my soul, with a beautiful blue label advertising notes of "watermelon" and "hibiscus."
The hibiscus is present. If you want hibiscus, though, you should probably just drink hibiscus. Coffee will not taste like hibiscus. Coffee will always taste like coffee. I need to remind myself of that. My expectations need to match the reality of the situation. I was expecting a very watery coffee, but this is not that, it is just a tasty coffee.
This coffee is really tasty. AeroPress is a fantastic way to brew. It is smooth and thick and really fills the mouth. This coffee had a very smooth mouthfeel, and perhaps that is because of the AeroPress. I also brewed it as a pour over, and the flavors were more pronounced. However, I used 26 grams to create that 375ml (? I forgot) pour over and this AeroPress only required 11 grams. A pour over is definitely more fun, though, and it is harder to get distracted and forget about the coffee in the AeroPress if you have to stand in front of the funnel and pour every few seconds.
Our poor espresso machine continues to sit there, dejected. I honestly think that if I had a cafe, I'd serve Craig's Motown Blend for milk drinks - it is so good. But I would love to have an exploration of coffee. Washed coffee is no worse than natural or honey processed coffee. In fact, this coffee is much more normal and drinkable than something funky and winey. But I am excited to try the other bag we grabbed from the roaster's shelf, an Ariel Funez anaerobic natural. The natural counterpart of that coffee is my romantic coffee memory.
A learning from that home espresso class, and a learning that powers my ability to feel content after drinking a pour over or AeroPress or just regular old drip, is that espresso is truly just a brewing method. A complex, finicky one, that generates unique results, but a brewing method like any other. And there is something decidedly fascist about a coffee brewing method named "fast," asking you to drink your coffee in about 5 seconds. I like drinking my coffee slowly. And what can you do about it?
No comments:
Post a Comment