Too Much Coffee

Hi guys,

was curious if anyone here tried it. I've opened two packs yesterday and I have to say I can't get rid of the intense bitterness I'm getting in all the shots. Currently I'm brewing it at around 17g/90*C, looks good but can't say the same about taste. As it's a seasonal coffee I couldn't find any reviews for it on Steve's website, so I thought I would ask.

Regards,
dsc.

EDIT: I should probably add that's it's fairly fresh which might be causing most of the problems.

We have a bag. My estimate is that our brew temp is probably nearer 91-92C. No bitter discerned in ours. It comes out a decent, robust espresso with nice crema and it cuts milk wonderfully. I thought it was the best HB Christmas Blend we've had for a while.

Ours is just over a week old (been open since day 6). I think Steve mentioned it was best rested a week, so your idea may be right if it's displaying harshness. If it continues, I would drop Steve a line.

Hi,

thanks for the info Cakey, I will give it a bit of a rest and switch to something else for now. Are the beans in your blend very dark as well?

Regards,
dsc.

Darker than the HB average as is often the base for the Christmas Blend, but not very dark. I thought they were a tad lighter than the previous year. I'll have another look in a minute

Hi Cakes,

well mine is dark, I would say Vienna roast according to this pictorial:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php

with oils visible. The odd thing is the smell which is not great. Do you think freezing the coffee straight as it came could've caused something bad?

Regards,
dsc.

Checked ours, generally it looks medium dark to me, with the Los Amates component appearing more medium. I am fairly sure it is a post blend. Some of the beans have very slight oil showing and I would think they are the Sumatra Raja Batak. There is more of a nip with this blend than regular HB coffees, but I'm not getting bitter from it.

Maybe the freezing did do something? Perhaps some moisure got in? The smell is making me think that way. There are people who know loads more about the chemistry of it all than me, hopefully they will chime in with a view. Steve might also be able to help.

I bought two bags and froze one.

The first bag was fine, definitely slightly darker than Hasbean's usual roast but no bitterness just very rich, big flavours.

I regularly freeze beans and sometimes find oils will come to the surface after thawing even if it's a lighter roast, but the coffee usually always works well unless it's been frozen for far too long. I once found a bag of HB Xmas blend around Easter that I'd accidentally left in the freezer at work in December and it still pulled ok.

I'll let you know how my frozen bag goes when I use it this week sometime.