Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

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Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby qwerty69 » Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:30 am

Sorry but it's all questions this week.

I purchased some coffee from Hasbeen (roasted 03-FEB-2010, delivered 05-FEB-2010) and have tried a couple of doubles which have tasted quite nice, however the crema broke down very quickly.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the beans could be "too fresh" and may need to de-gas before I'll get thick crema that will stay on top of the coffee?!?

Is this correct or have I got the wrong end of the stick and this is simply down to the type of beans purchased and/or my technique?

--

For info. the first shot choked my machine, but after dialing back the MC2 the next two shots poured fine.
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RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby RisingPower » Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:36 am

I've found that leaving beans in the hopper for a few days after roasting led to a much thicker crema, probably because they were going stale more quickly :D

I wouldn't rate a thick crema as the most important feature of espresso.
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RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby bruceb » Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:03 pm

For espresso most beans need to "degas" or lose some of the CO2 that was set free in roasting. This process usually takes between 2 and 4 days post roast. Freshly roasted beans tend to froth with CO2 and have a "soda-water" acidity that most people don't find pleasant. This is true for espresso, not for other methods of extraction. I don't know whether the breakdown of crema is related to this. Usually fresh coffee shows an exaggerated "Guiness effect" with lots of foam that breaks down quickly, leaving the crema.
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Re: Hasbean - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby Beanie » Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:39 pm

qwerty69 wrote:coffee from Hasbeen
uh, ahem, I know the problem EXACTLY!! You should try coffee from Hasbean instead next time ;)

OK, ok, I know... but I just COULDN'T help myself :oops:
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Postby aselby99 » Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:39 pm

nicest blend i've had in ages...every shot is win :)
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Re: RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby Jasonscheltus » Sat Feb 06, 2010 11:28 pm

bruceb wrote: This is true for espresso, not for other methods of extraction.


The flavour of our coffees improve with more time after roasting, to a certain extent. Some taste best 4 days from roast, some less, some more. We have found this in brewing them through pour over, french press, and obviously espresso too.

We found that generally the clarity of flavour improves. There is a certain "roast taste" that lingers in the coffee for a couple of days. Immediately after roasting brewed coffee has quite a distinctive "cooling tray" note - a smell reminiscent of the dust accumulated in a cooling tray from roasted coffee.

Roasters are familiar with this, and this is one of the reasons that it is difficult to cup or taste the coffee (for quality control reasons) immediately after the roast has finished.
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RE: Re: RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby bruceb » Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:29 am

Sorry, Jason, I didn't mean to imply that coffees don't improve in general. I just meant that the "soda water" note isn't noticeable when brewing with other methods. Using a simple pour-over filter or cupping directly I know that my own coffees improve over the first few days.
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RE: Re: RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby GeorgeW » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:05 pm

True that.^^^^^^
Better to leave for a while and especially with Monsooned Malabar. Use this straight away and you'll be up to your armpits in crema which is entertaining but messy.
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RE: Re: RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby qwerty69 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:36 pm

Really liking this one, the beans seem to have aged a little and are now tasting superb (and the crema is more consistent).

I'm sure there are people who drink way more espresso than me, but I've nearly made it through 250g since Friday 5th which I suppose speaks volumes for this blend of beans.

I assure you that if it wasn't 11:30pm, I'd go and have another but I'd really like to get some sleep tonight.

I'm always shocked with the different flavour profiles that come through when I change beans. This one is quite fruity with a little lingering acidity which I really like.
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RE: Re: RE: Hasbeen - "Frosty" Espresso Blend

Postby Hugo » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:53 pm

Anyone wondering what the odd 'soda water' flavour is, get a fresh bag of unopenend beans and suck gas straight through the valve onto your tongue (not in front of customers...they find it off-putting). The flavour is, I believe, carbonic acid, the unstable lovechild of Carbon Dioxide and Water.

I was lucky enough to get a few days in Dublin at 3FE and drank a lot of Frosty... it's frickin delicious!
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Postby Jem_Bean » Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:12 pm

Roasters are familiar with this, and this is one of the reasons that it is difficult to cup or taste the coffee (for quality control reasons) immediately after the roast has finished.


We definitely have this problem. A lot of the coffee we taste is straight out of the roaster and the carbonic acid flavour is definitely present, although i'm not so sure about the crema issue. I tend to find that, if anything, there tends to be a much bigger head on it (like pouring a bad Guiness). It's not the same thick oily crema though, more like it's pumped full of gas that settles down after a minute or two.

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Postby darrensandford » Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:22 pm

It's so gassy that the crema is over-inflated, and it can't sustain the large bubbles.

Buy a small bottle of the same mineral water - one still and one carbonated - and compare the two. The hard tart flavour of the carbonated one is the carbonic acid.
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Postby dsc » Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:54 pm

Hi guys,

re soda effect is it something between an air'y taste and a bit like CO2 from a fizzy drink (slightly 'tastes' like ozone as well)? I've tasted that before loads of times and I thought it might have to do something with the beans being a bit too fresh.

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Postby EspressoSquirrel » Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:14 pm

after going to see yesterdays ukbc heat i was really in the mood for a nice coffee this morning, luckily i had a bag of frosty just nicely rested, its been a little longer than normal since i had any hasbean, thanks to few nice bags as presents.

It was a complete disaster, (at first) i had to bin about 6 shots, as everything choked or channeled or ran nearly clear. (its a good job i wasn't competing yesterday it took me 30 minutes to make a single shot)

but eventually i got the grind right, it was quite a long way from everything i have had recently, which is odd as the beans didn't look too different.

but it came out really well in the end, in fact it was really really nice, i need another one.
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Postby Rujir » Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:52 pm

EspressoSquirrel wrote:but it came out really well in the end, in fact it was really really nice, i need another one.


My "Frosty" is on its way to me, so I'm really looking forward to it and am really excited about it. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day. :)
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