El Salvador La Fany

[dsc]

Hi everyone,

I've ordered some La Fany around 10 days ago and I'm still struggling to get anything nice from it. At first I thought it had something to do with the coffee being too fresh, so I switched to something else and gave this one a rest. I came back to it after a week and it's still giving me a hard time. It starts nice, dripping, brown/black, the way it should look but after only 10s it goes fairly light and keeps going even lighter as the extraction proceeds.

I tired various tamps, grinds and distribution methods but it didn't change anything in the pour. Anyone else had problems with this coffee?

Cheers,
dsc.

[Bombcup]

Hey Tom, have you tried a naked pf?

I'll try pulling some shots with it tomorrow, of course I'll have to slum it on the Robur / Linea combo. Life's a bitch!

[Bertie_Doe]

Both myself and slimboy found the coffee a bit to bright and acidic. This would be an earlier harvest than the one you tried. Seems to work in a blend. The lightness may be a characteristic of the roast or coffee.

Unfortunately I have nothing in my notes other than bright/acidic. I only bought 250gr and I guess I would need to roast 10kg, to get the best out of a coffee.

Bertie

[dsc]

Hi guys,

I'm using an NPF and it all blonds really quickly. Don't know what's the cause of that, but I'm just finishing my last pack and so will be unable to test it more.

It's a really weird coffee in my opinion as it behaved entirely like old coffee and no matter what I did (doses from 13g-17g) nothing changed. Nice brown start and pale blond finish after a short time.

Cheers,
dsc.

[JonS]

I roasted the remnants of a 2kg bag of an older crop (bought early-ish 2007) of this just into 2C a while back and it was simply divine for the short while the batch lasted. Previously, before 5 days post roast, it was bright and acidic, but at 5 days, it calmed down really well. A bit fruity and oh so sweet. A real defining moment for me.

From memory, ~13g ground to pull in ~17s before cutting the shot, gave me the goods. Volume was probably around 1oz, give or take. That's a bit vague, I admit.

I have some of the current crop greens, unopened, so I'm not in a position to comment on those as yet. It's on my rotation, but I've a few more greens to look at before I come back to it.

Jon

[dsc]

Hi Jon,

was that 1oz, 17s with a double basket? I'm getting pretty similar timings, anything longer and it blonds for no apparent reason.

Cheers,
dsc.

[CakeBoy]

I remember La Fany being very acidic in our superauto days. Everyone was talking about this lovely coffee with a creamy mouthfeel and we couldn't get it at all. Things changed dramatically when Anna arrived. I think La Fany is quite picky in some ways and a tight ristretto type shot seems to work best for us and avoids the blonding being mentioned. I think it is also very temperature dependent coffee too. Stick with it though, the rewards when you eventually crack the pour are amazing


Edit: Typo

[kingseven]

I've only had a few brewed cups of the new crop, but based on those and previous expreriences it really is a delicious coffee this year. Capable of great sweetness, though the brew might be tricky. Don't be afraid of running a little hotter and tighter to fight the natural acidity.

[JonS]

Hi Jon,

was that 1oz, 17s with a double basket? I'm getting pretty similar timings, anything longer and it blonds for no apparent reason.

Cheers,
dsc.

Yes, it was. But a very small double basket ~13g dose when filled and levelled, Schomer-style. Didn't get as far as trying more coffee in a bigger basket, was too bowled over and didn't want to change anything !

[EspressoSquirrel]

i had a really nice couple of espressos despite the coffee not being given time to de gas. it will be interesting to taste it when its ready, i did grind it super fine to hit 25 seconds without blondeing

[dsc]

Hi guys,

so I'm back again, same coffee but this time I got it from Monmouth. Still the same problems with extractions, bloody hard to get a nice clean not blonding shot. Tried it a lot of times, going from 13g to 17.5g and various grinder settings. The last one, 17.5g went into a cuppa and it was quite nice showing some awesome cherry after taste. As espresso I can't seem to find any of the caramel notes people are talking about. Will go lower on the dose again and report back.

Regards,
dsc.

[kingseven]

Recently I have found it to be wonderfully floral and interesting as an espresso, a good bright acidity but plenty of sweetness. I wouldn't say it has been overtlly caramelly for me recently but am tasting another roast tomorrow.

[dsc]

Hi James,

well maybe you'll be able to bless me with your tasting abilities during the cupping session, because it looks like my tongue is numb like a stick;)

Regards,
dsc.

[CakeBoy]

We just had a bag of this year's crop arrive this morning dsc, though we have not tried it yet.

[Steve]

This is a stunning so shot one of my best this year. Complex sweet( sorry James) lots of big caramel tones with a floral hint on the back end. Top top coffee.