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The TSC Coffee Shop

MarkB said:
When I used to roast my beans I found that letting them rest for a week before brewing allowed them to develop more complexity and improved overall taste. May want to try that.
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I made an esspresso with some freshly ground 3 day old roast this morning. The flavor is a little less flat but not necessarliy more complex. What I think is tripping me up is how the flavor profile seems less like a regular roased coffee and more like one that has been purposefully flavored. I have had some Jim Beam or Southern Comfort flavored coffee (the kind you get for christmas) and this leans really heavy in that direction only WAY less articficial. Fortunately I enjoy the taste but I think its a bit self limitting, I can see enjoying some occasionally but not as an everyday all day thing.
 
Spent the weekend drinking Kopi Luwak I had roasted last weekend. I've had these green beans for quite some time so they weren't really all that "fresh", but then again, how fresh can a bean collected from scat be. At least they were fresh roasted. @BarberDave may remember these beans because they are from the same bag I shared with him years ago. For anyone wondering if Kopi Luwak coffee is worth the price or the hype, my take is NO. I tried it as an expresso, a pour over and using the AeroPress (both strong and light). The result is pretty consistent...a decent coffee forward cup that is somehow a little milder in presentation kind of like a tea or maybe a cold brew (hmm, maybe I'll do a cold brew with some beans). For the most part I found the cup to be pretty similar to any other cup of home brew. I gave my sons and daughter in law some with our dessert as a blind test, they enjoyed the coffee but didn't feel it was stand out in any particular way. When told what they were drinking they went back to try to find something special to say but all agreed it was "just coffee". If I recall correctly @BarberDave shared a similar "it's good, it's smooth, it's like tea" kind of feeling.

A little disclaimer here, I don't posses the finest pallet and MOST things I eat, drink, smell or feel fall into one of two categories "I like it" or "I don't like it". Occasionally I find something the excites me enough to say I REALLY like it or disgusts me enough to require a more explicit expression of dislike.
 
CBLindsay said:
Spent the weekend drinking Kopi Luwak I had roasted last weekend. I've had these green beans for quite some time so they weren't really all that "fresh", but then again, how fresh can a bean collected from scat be. At least they were fresh roasted. @BarberDave may remember these beans because they are from the same bag I shared with him years ago. For anyone wondering if Kopi Luwak coffee is worth the price or the hype, my take is NO. I tried it as an expresso, a pour over and using the AeroPress (both strong and light). The result is pretty consistent...a decent coffee forward cup that is somehow a little milder in presentation kind of like a tea or maybe a cold brew (hmm, maybe I'll do a cold brew with some beans). For the most part I found the cup to be pretty similar to any other cup of home brew. I gave my sons and daughter in law some with our dessert as a blind test, they enjoyed the coffee but didn't feel it was stand out in any particular way. When told what they were drinking they went back to try to find something special to say but all agreed it was "just coffee". If I recall correctly @BarberDave shared a similar "it's good, it's smooth, it's like tea" kind of feeling.

A little disclaimer here, I don't posses the finest pallet and MOST things I eat, drink, smell or feel fall into one of two categories "I like it" or "I don't like it". Occasionally I find something the excites me enough to say I REALLY like it or disgusts me enough to require a more explicit expression of dislike.
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I read an article a while back that in a blind tasting, experts (whoever they were) ranked Kopi Luwak the lowest in every category when compared to decent coffee.
 
richgem said:
Interesting I would have expected something more like a sumatra type taste.
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I thought the same, but with the fact the Civet cat eats tons of fruits and leave, I think the bean gets infused in the gastric path before getting to the .... ummmm distribution point, LOL
 
I suspect in regards to the Kopi Luwak beans there are a few important things going on. One of which I am sure is that while most beans undergo some form of natural fermentation as the cherry is removed from the bean these were probably fed fresh to the Civit and "processed" accordgingly. I would guess in the wild Civitt might eat a variety of fresh and fermenting beans along with other foods and that may result in a different flavor profile that was once highly prized.
For me the most notable difference might have been the relative lack of obvious acidity (which I don't object to) that may be why I percieved it as being ligher to tea like. The overall flavor was just coffee with no depth (again, my perception).

Comparing these beans to the Kenyan beans I fermented for 2 days with blend of active dry yeast and honey and tea, the fermented beans had a definate change on flavor and more depth. Granted, the flavor change and added depth aren't necessarily an improvement, but the chnage was highly obvious where as the Kopi Luwak didn't present any obvious anything.

All of this said, I suppos if I were presented an opportunity to try some fancy or expensive bean in the future I would do so. I figure life is about exposing ourselves to new things and adventures. worse case I pay extra for something tha underwhelms (as the Kopi did for me). I have bought several of the highly prized more expensive beans and enjoyed them all, some more than others.
 
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