by Chris » Sat Jul 18, 2015 6:06 pm
Hey!
Interesting topic.
I feel like if you select and roast coffee specifically for this method of production you can get excellent results. If you aren't roasting yourself then I feel you would have to be very selective about which coffees you use.
If you are brewing the longer "coffee shot" e.g. 18/19g of coffee to give 285/300ml yield at a low pressure then again it really depends on the coffee you are using. I felt like my favourite results with an EK43/Strada combination came from using a Square Mile Githiga from Kenya, which produced a very clean and sweet example of this method with all the enjoyment coming after allowing it to cool. I really didn't enjoy this method with Cental Americans. The aromatics were incredible but the resulting drink would be a bit of a let down and I would often experience dryness and woodiness which reduced my enjoyment.
Overall, whilst drinking I actually longed for an aeropress, chemex or other filter method like Clever simply because the longer coffee shots felt one dimensional, lacked mouthfeel and often exhibited dryness.
When extracting lighter roast Africans e.g. Kenyan and Rwandan as espresso e.g. 18.5/19g to give 40g or more with a lever profile I enjoyed this very much sweetness was present and I felt the origin charachteristics you'd hope for presented themselves very well. I say Kudos to Matt Perger and Ben Kaminsky for their hard work and creativity.
The workflow is painful and I experienced retention with the EK43 which didn't help matters. I feel that the grinder is excellent for guest espresso, decaf, cupping and as a unique filter-like "coffee shot" with the right coffee.