Lets talk coffee

So this blog is about my journey into specialty coffee and it must include more of my failures. This morning I used the last of my coffee beans to brew up a 1 liter Chemex for my co-workers. I was grinding with a Hario Skerton Grinder and did a “grounds test” before I fully ground the coffee. The grind setting was a bit fine for a 1 liter, so I decided to mix it up. I must note that the Hario Skerton for all of its wonderful attributes is a pain when changing the grind setting. It is also very hard to manipulate accurately. I gave the grinder a few turns to loosen it up, but unfortunately this was far too much. After grinding the coffee I took a good look at my grounds and thought that they were a bit coarse. I decided to try it anyway. Bad idea. The water went through the grounds like a hot knife through butter. I was already through half of my water by 1:15 on the clock. I tried pouring slower but due to the fact that, the grounds were less compacted and the water had more area to flow through,  my potential coffee was slipping through the grounds seemly unhindered. The final result? A under extracted chemex of coffee. I have always worried about having an over extracted cup, but never an under extracted.

The cup wasn’t so bad after it had cooled. In fact the flavors still came out, even with my mistake. I was still upset with myself, and I learned a valuable lesson. The grind matters. This also led me to thinking of different ways to make coffee. I need to be really careful with my grind settings, and I look forward to experimenting.

Despite my failures the guys at work were very kind, and who could really refuse free coffee. Also Chris from www.smellthesmoke.net dropped off some free Ethiopian guji sidamo and we have already brewed 2 pots today. That coffee is the junk! It definitely made my day all better.