The Bar Towel

what are tasting notes, looks sweet

whereas the Bourbon series looks very unique - we should split the beans!

northyorksammy wrote:what are tasting notes, looks sweet

whereas the Bourbon series looks very unique - we should split the beans!

The bourbon series looks great, I had the red bourbon twice now as espresso and it blew me away. I picked up some Guatamala La Bolsa and it is like nothing they have had yet. Almost reminds me of Rochefort with its fig/raisin/rum component.

They have a Gesha pack on the site too.

blow me away in tasting notes...

AugustusRex wrote:

atomeyes wrote:from what i understand:

sourness is from lack of contact time with water and grind i.e. you pour too fast.
bitterness/astringency is from too hot of water
vegetal? no idea

Sourness comes from under-extraction, bitterness from over-extraction. Temperature and time are two variables but there are many.

Surface area (grind size)
Temerature
Pressure
Pouring over vs steeping
Freshness
Brew time

The worst flaw is rancidity and staleness. Thats that body odor smell and oniony taste that most coffee has and turns people off from being regular coffee drinkers. Lemony underextracted coffee is ok by me some of the time, as long as its not too bad. I'd rather go under rather than over.

I've enjoyed lurking this thread and have learned a lot from the coffee experts on here. Have also been taking some of your reco's when I can and checking out various coffee bars, Cortado being my go-to order.

I had no idea what you meant by "vegetal", until today, when I got one that tasted exactly like hot celery-tomato juice. Yuck! (But, as Belgian says, I paid $3.75 for it so I drank it anyway). What's with that? So far my coffee journey has been a bit like getting into cask ale, when it's good it's sublime, but when it's not it can be pretty bad.

midlife crisis wrote:

AugustusRex wrote:

atomeyes wrote:from what i understand:

sourness is from lack of contact time with water and grind i.e. you pour too fast.
bitterness/astringency is from too hot of water
vegetal? no idea

Sourness comes from under-extraction, bitterness from over-extraction. Temperature and time are two variables but there are many.

Surface area (grind size)
Temerature
Pressure
Pouring over vs steeping
Freshness
Brew time

The worst flaw is rancidity and staleness. Thats that body odor smell and oniony taste that most coffee has and turns people off from being regular coffee drinkers. Lemony underextracted coffee is ok by me some of the time, as long as its not too bad. I'd rather go under rather than over.

I've enjoyed lurking this thread and have learned a lot from the coffee experts on here. Have also been taking some of your reco's when I can and checking out various coffee bars, Cortado being my go-to order.

I had no idea what you meant by "vegetal", until today, when I got one that tasted exactly like hot celery-tomato juice. Yuck! (But, as Belgian says, I paid $3.75 for it so I drank it anyway). What's with that? So far my coffee journey has been a bit like getting into cask ale, when it's good it's sublime, but when it's not it can be pretty bad.

something you should know about a coffee joint - if they take pride in their product and you aren't satisfied, ANY of their staff will want to know and should re-pour you one for free. if they don't offer you a re-pour, find a new coffee shop. plain and simple.

something you should know about a coffee joint - if they take pride in their product and you aren't satisfied, ANY of their staff will want to know and should re-pour you one for free. if they don't offer you a re-pour, find a new coffee shop. plain and simple.

I ordered an espresso at Pilot's tasting room, and instead of serving the shot the guy dumped it down the sink. When I asked him what was wrong with it he said, "it pulled too fast, it was under-extracted". A good coffee place will even preemptively re-pour your coffee. They should be embarrassed about serving a sub-par product.

AugustusRex wrote:

something you should know about a coffee joint - if they take pride in their product and you aren't satisfied, ANY of their staff will want to know and should re-pour you one for free. if they don't offer you a re-pour, find a new coffee shop. plain and simple.

I ordered an espresso at Pilot's tasting room, and instead of serving the shot the guy dumped it down the sink. When I asked him what was wrong with it he said, "it pulled too fast, it was under-extracted". A good coffee place will even preemptively re-pour your coffee. They should be embarrassed about serving a sub-par product.

I would like to see more of this

I too have seen the guys at Bud's in the Beach dump one or two (maybe three?) shots that were poorly-extracted, even apologizing for the delay. If something's up with the grind or the machine, they don't fob it off on the customer as good.

At least they are trying! The guys/ladies at Remarkable Bean have a very decent batting average and yet I never in twenty years have seen them dump a shot for any reason including occasional flaws.

it's like going to a restaurant and getting something that's subpar or offensive. say something politely to the staff and any good restaurant will rectify it.

the thing about a poorly pulled shot of espresso is that it actually tastes offensive. sour, acidic coffee's gross. or a burnt shot is also gross. overdrawing also tastes bad.


my wife was at a wedding that had an independent coffee food truck pouring coffees. she had one and it tasted bad. she said something to the baristas, they poured a shot and then shut down their coffee service for 30 minutes.

(if only some Ontario brewers did this with their crappy beer)

Rainhard new batch of imperial stout is without coffee

atomeyes wrote:...(if only some Ontario brewers did this with their crappy beer)

Sorry, not coffee related but...
The amount of "off" Ontario craft beer I've been served over the last year is shameful. I think the main issue is inexperience, whether it's the people making the beer or those serving/selling it. I understand that for a lot of producers in this province they're still working out the kinks, breaking in equipment, tweaking recipes. And for most bars/restaurants craft beer is new to them, but...

What I'd most like to see from Ontario is: from producers, better consistency and technical proficiency (meaning quality control and stylistic accuracy); and from vendors, offer higher quality beer rather than emphasizing 'small, local' for the sake of it. Also, bar owners need to be more honest with their suppliers when it comes to "off" products.

Maybe it's just me, but what is with Pilot's 8:30-3pm M-F hours? They are closed weekends too. How do people get their coffee, just from the cafes?

Just go down the road to Te Aro, though I think they close pretty early too, they're at least open on weekends.

Made my first order from Dark Coffee. Got $2 off shipping as first order. Very knowledgeable and high quality coffee, got something I would have had to send away from the States for. They sent me much more than the 1 lb advertised- closer to 1.5 lbs. Very enjoyable, and got it very quickly.

JJ Bean just opened up a roastery on Burmondsey around the corner from Muddy York.

Got their single origin Kenya, really really nice. Been aeropressing a cup at least twice a day.