Zest Geisha

Zest Geisha

I went to the Melbourne International Coffee Expo on Saturday and it was an amazing. So many roasters, some new and the usual ones as well. It was worth a visit but i will try my best to do a blog about that this weekend.

While i was at the expo i got some amazing coffee and the beans i am using for filter is the Geisha La Pradera from Zest. Geisha beans are meant to be the beast beans available.
With beans there are 3 ways of processing them.

Natural or Unwashed

Its the oldest preparation method where , first the coffee cherries are washed and then they are dried in the sun. Once the drying process is complete, they remove the green seed from the fermented, dried cherry.

Semi - Washed

The semi-washed method, both the washed and unwashed methods are combined. In this process, the out skins are removed, but they leave the pulp and let it dry in the sun. Once the outside is dried the pulp is sometimes wet and they then the beans are removed just like they do with the natural process.

Washed

Washed coffee is  referred to as the wet process, the coffee cherry is pulped by a machine referred to as a pulper. They remove the outer layer of the beans, then the bean is fermented in water for at least one to two days and sometimes longer. After the fermentation process, the bean is then washed to release its aroma.

Here is a link about coffee bean and the flavours you get from different elevations.

I have had a fun week trying different grinds with different methods to see what flavours i can get.

Monday Morning i did it in the Clever Dripper.

I haven't done a clever dripper in a while and the recipe i used 22grams to 400mls with 5 minute brewing created a strong coffee with a lemon sort of taste. It was good but not what i tasted at the Show.

Tuesday Morning i did a Pour over with a coarser grind.

The brew i got was much better 13grams 200mls at 3min, it was a lot lighter and fruitier.

Today i did the Aeropress. I changed the grind again so it was even more coarse.

The 13gram brew with a filter time of 60secs with 180ml water. The coffee it made was perfect and i could taste peach, apricot and other fruits. It was light and had a beautiful body to it.
Have you been to Zest lately?
How do you have your filter coffee?
Kind E-gards
Dale Stewart
 

Wise Old Goat Latte Coffee

Wise Old Goat Latte Coffee

Time has now become a valuable necessity, i don't have much spare time anymore so i have been getting my coffee from North East Precinct. They are about 15 minutes from our place and they roast onsite. I love supporting my local roasters as it usually fresher and tastier, It is more expensive but worth it. I saw a new roaster on Instagram a few months ago and wanted to give it a try. I ran out my coffee and had a chat to Andy from Wise Old Goat and i asked if he could deliver it to me. He roasts the next suburb from where i work. I ordered the coffee online and started work on Tuesday, he delivered it on Wednesday. I am so happy with the strength of the coffee and the flavours, it has a beautiful cocoa/ chocolate flavour. No bitterness which is great as well. I highly recommend giving it ago. Have a look at his Instagram account.
I get to try his filter coffee today so i hope that is just as amazing.
Kind E-gards
Dale    

Killer Coffee

Killer Coffee

I have been using killer coffee for the last few weeks and the website and Facebook seem to want you to use a Aeropress. I used the aeropress firstly with 2 different metal filters and the coffee was bitter but super strong. I then tried the paper filter which actually helped with the bitterness but I was still not happy with the flavors. I moved onto the pourover and that did the job, the coffee had no bitterness but was still strong but very smooth. I thought while I have this week off I will make a clever dripper. I use the chemex paper instead of the melitta paper filters and I am happy with its results.

First you put the paper in the clever dripper then fill it half way with hot water. Swirl it around the rinse the rest of the paper. I just leave the hot water in there to heat it up.

I used 13grams of coffee. I  empty out the water then grind the coffee.

I put the coffee in the clever dripper and slowly pour in about 60mls of hot water (90 degrees) and put on the timer, give it soft stir then pour in about 80mls give it one more stir.

I fill it up with 300mls of water.

At about 2min 50 I put it on the Hario glass pourer

It was a great coffee and I really enjoy the coffee more with paper filters. I need to start trying different coffees and that was what this blog was about right Coffee :)

Kind E-gards

Dale Stewart

Life In The Fast Lane

Life In The Fast Lane

I have been at my job now for just over two months and it has been crazy, at my last job I had a couple of hours a day to do what I want. I would be able to do Youtube, Ebay and blog but now I have not much time even though I spend less time traveling I have struggled to find time to do this blog. Over the last few weekends we have been renovating again and replacing furniture to make the house look less cluttered. We have been looking for a T.V Unit for nearly 2 years and we finally found the right one. We got the unit from Holy Funk Furniture in Moorabbin. I also added an I.r Extender so I can turn the amp on and off with out opening the sliding doors.

 I hated the wall mount that the other T.V was so I replaced it with a $20 bracket that sits a few centimeters off the wall.

Last weekend we installed adjustable shelves into a  cupboard and readjusted the rail because whoever built it was a Muppet and it gives us more flexibility with storage.

I hated my modem sitting out in the open so I got a Cube frame and ran all my cables up the wall and into the cube. We need to print a picture off  to cover the front but it will look good when completed but we have not had time to print off the pic so hopefully we will do that in the next few days.

Those who know me know that I love doing Latte art but I have upgraded my coffee machine and sad to say no more art but I got my new machine at an amazing price and could not refuse it. The coffee is pretty close to a fully manual machine but makes coffee from start to finish in 60 seconds.

I hope the terrible weather passes so we can go take photos, until then we have two more cupboards to fix and a lot of painting.
What do you think?
Kind E-gards
Dale

Getting back to life.

Getting back to life.

As I get towards the last week of work this cloud has lifted and I feel like a new person, my attitude and sense of humor has come back and I feel that I can now return back to blogging. Next week we will be going away for a few days before I start at the new company.

We have been on the hunt for waffles recently and I came across this place in Oakleigh called Pagoto. Its mainly a gelato place but i saw pics on Instagram and it looked amazing. It opens at 12pm and closes late so we went in for lunch. It was fairly quiet when we arrived and the two girls serving behind the counter seemed fairly relaxed until we ordered 9 waffles and a bunch of crazyshakes. They did a great job at serving our food with having to serve gelato at the same time.

You could choose any gelato flavor and they had a awesome range. The waffles are large but the batter was light and sweet inside yet slight crispy on the outside. They had random flavors of the crazy shakes.

We had so much sugar I almost had an overdose. We loved it so much we went a week later and got gelato and coffee. The coffee is smooth and has great flavor which is not what I expected.

We will go back as we had a great time.
Kind E-gards
Dale

Latte Art

Latte Art

I know i have not done any blogs in ages and i have been preoccupied with other things, over the last few years i have been practicing Latte Art, for people that think its super easy trust me its not. You need to have a steady hand and consistency in the milk and the correct temperature.  But i enjoy waking up in the morning turning on my machine and then having a go.

 

 

 This is what latte art is and can look like if you have the skills.
For amazing Latte art follow Caleb Tiger 
These Pics are Caleb's work

Does your favourite Cafe' do Latte Art?
What do you think?
Kind E-gards
Dale