Tag: cup2

Context

Second cup, first pass at Guatemala.

Beans came from the freezer before grinding. Purified water again.

While loading grounds into the preheated cone, I paused to smell. Heat from the cone lifted everything upward and made it feel more immediate, almost amplified. 🦄 said it smelled darker than cup one this morning. That felt true.

Also notable: all 308 g of preheat water went into the Switch in one movement, leaving the kettle empty. One body of water, fully accounted for.

Brew Notes

Held grind at 1.8.3 to keep first-expression baseline clean.

RTT with three spritzes.

Dose came in a little low (15.7 g vs 16 g target). Brew water landed at 255.6 g against a 256 g target.

Bloom expansion was moderate. Surface tension held without aggressive bubbling. Drawdown stayed steady.

Spent bed again showed the same pattern as cup one: faint high-water mark around the perimeter, then a slide toward center with a slight wall cling before the interior cleared.

No obvious channel holes. More of a wash-to-center shape than a flat immersion bed.

Observe

Dry aroma from the heated cone read darker: cocoa, faint toasted sugar, less fruit-forward than earlier coffee.

Wet aroma was rounder and a little earthy.

First sip came in with softer acidity and a darker entry. Mid-palate leaned cocoa-first with muted fruit. Sweetness sat in brown-sugar territory rather than bright fruit. Bitterness stayed gentle and integrated. Body felt medium, slightly fuller than cup one. Finish was short cocoa.

There was an accidental 0.8 g inclusion of Mocha Java (roughly 5%). Small, but possibly enough to deepen the chocolate edge.

Grounds still showed small white flecks, which I have seen before in some Parable coffees and some Ruby coffees. Not universal. Possible chaff fragments or lighter inner material exposed by fracture.

Reflect

The darker smell profile matched both the visual read and the cup structure.

The repeated slide-to-center bed pattern across two different coffees now feels less bean-specific and more like something systematic in drawdown flow.

The 0.3 g dose miss likely mattered little by itself, but it belongs in the record.

A living “Current Recipe” note, preheat protocol, pour consolidation, grind baseline, agitation philosophy, feels like the right next move for separating technique drift from bean expression.

[ cup2 · sunday · water/purified · workflow/baseline-hold ]

i. grind

Second cup started with a small calibration puzzle: measured 15.9 g because there was about 0.1 g lingering in the Timemore grinder from earlier.

Ground at 1.8.3 again, which has been the stable home setting lately.

Used the RDT aerosolizer again (same as cup one). There was still a little clumping at the bottom, but noticeably less stubborn than the first cup of the day.

When the catchment came off, the aroma rose deeper and more complex than expected. The moment felt like a seance for language: attentive, waiting, seeing what words might precipitate out.

ii. brew

Used purified water and the new brown filters.

Tried a slight process update for preheat: poured the full 300 ml into the Hario Switch, then let that drain into the Patagonia mug.

Previous preheat runs used only 200 ml to match gooseneck capacity; this time skipped the gooseneck for preheat entirely.

Also wiped down the Maestri House timer with a microfiber cloth. It had become stained. Care in cleaning.

iii. observe

The grinder still has not had a deep clean.

It raised the cast-iron question: once something is seasoned, what should be left alone versus scrubbed back to neutral?

Soap-and-water cleaning on the Switch, mug, and small grounds cups seems to preserve cup clarity. Grinder maintenance is less obvious and worth proper research.

iv. action items

• Look up grinder-cleaning cadence and whether retained oils can ever be beneficial.
• Add a possible research-entry type to the beans log for standalone notes and mini essays.
• Add terminology entries (for example, RDT) so recurring brew terms have a canonical home.

Final grounds check: output landed at 15.8 g, so the retained amount was slightly overestimated.

v. tasing

bitter first and second sips.
it’s a corkscrew shaped taste.

[ cup2 · sunday · water/purified · workflow/rdt · research-thread ]

Context

🦄 made a coffee robot poster for the kitchen brew nook for Valentine’s day! Adoration.

Haven’t been outside much yet. February air wasn’t quite as cold in my tshirt as normal when taking out the garbage. Cloudy.

Listened to Peter Steinberger talk about OpenClaw on Lex Friedman while working on some laundry:

Did a few flashcards for tmux keyboard shortcuts.

Listening

Brendel playing Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” again this morning. Brings me back.

Brew Notes

Preheated 209 g purified water and burned off a bit too much.

New Gear RDT Atomizer

It was easy to put together, very slick. Purified water goes in through a tiny metal funnel by squeezing a plastic bellows synringe. Looks like lipstick when compacted.

Two aerosol sprays on the dose before grinding. Unscrewed the Timemore catchment … this RDT aerosolizer works well! Grounds could be tossed and shifted about the grinder catchment cleanly, with little cling on the cup walls.

Ground texture landed right in the workable range: loose enough to move cleanly, tight enough to stay uniform.

Groundsniff

I think the RDT changed the character of the smell of the grounds. It made the particulate matter speak. A tunnel to a vibrant underworld, filed with black purple velvet hairs that are glowing.

New Gear - Hario 03 Brown Cone Filters

Finally ran out of the filters that came with the Hario Switch. After a day or two using Melissa O2 “conical” filters (really more of a prism shape), which worked okay, my new Hario 03 brown cone filters came.

Somehow the brown filters feel more compostable, as the white filters were likely bleeched to achieve its gleam.

Observe

RDT with the aerosolizer reduced winter static significantly.

Setup was quick and low-cost, and the technique felt repeatable.

Tasty

First, sparkled with acidity and caramel.
Second, enjoyable, and at a sideways tilt,
whirling around.
Third, mohagonay veneer.
Some wet splash with bright light glare;
the edge of the tongue with its oils
like a creme brulee film.
n, finer things of life unlocked.

Reflect

Using this aerosolizer is worth it. Cheap and respectful. Ideal in a way. Default going forwards.

[ cup2 · saturday · listening · equipment/new · water/purified ]

Context

Feeling groggy after insomnia, then a second sleep.

Listening

Talkie Walkie by Air (2004)

Brew Notes

• Grind: 1.8.3 on Timemore C5 ESP Pro
• Recipe: Easy Immersion
• Coffee: Ruby Colorful Coffees Organic August blend
• Dose: 16.0 g
• Water: 159.9 g (tap)

Observations

Using cream, it is a bold cup. At the same time, a bit of a hollow ring. Like a wooden hall where the wind causes a standing wave.

[ cup2 · thursday · water/tap · cream · insomnia ]

Context

Out on a walk: wet sidewalks after overnight snow, pink morning light, and a little less cold than recent mornings.

A bit warmer than normal lately; carried the mug bare-handed comfortably, just barely.

Wore ice walkers, but did not need them.

Listening

Valeria Szervansky and Robert Cavaye playing Schubert’s “Characteristic March” piano duo. Jaunty, steady, almost horse-like in its rhythmic click.

Brew Notes

• Added cream (continuing the cream habit for this older roast).

Observations

First sips brought little ticklish waves on the tongue, like tiny pulses moving in and out.

The mouthfeel felt shape-driven and physical: little pyramids and egg-like forms bumbling around on the taste buds, as if a heterogeneous mixture were rolling through the sip.

The listening and walking synced with the cup. The march’s jaunty click helped pace each step and sip.

Reflection

I keep reaching for the word complex and feel frustrated by it.

Right now, the better task is focus: narrowing the language lens so each note names one concrete sensation instead of collapsing everything into that one broad word.

[ cup2 · wednesday · walking · weather · cream · listening ]

Context

• Walking out the door a little early.
• About 17°F, clean cold air, sidewalks well scooped.

Listening

Isaac Albéniz, Iberia Suite, played by Claudio Arrau on piano.

That opening space in Evocación landed well. One sip, one breath, one phrase.

Brew Notes

Measured 300 g of water before preheat. Preheat draw ran high and left the brew short of target.

Timer start was nearly missed again, like cup one, but caught within about two seconds.

Simulated RDT this time: a few water droplets on the beans, then a quick shake before grinding.

Observations

Grounds aroma report

earthy, like a chicken coop —🦄

Tasting

First sip was delicious and dense, with a perfume-like aromatic note reminiscent of those old potpourri pine cones in mall gift shops.

Third sip was deeply satisfying. Complex bitterness in the aftertaste, balanced by a gentle sweetness.

A bit of a small pucker sensation at one point near the back of the tongue, and it feels structured, not harsh.

Still reaching for the word cinnamony, but it is not quite right.

Reflections

Cold, still morning air through the nose, then a warm sip in presence. Arrau playing Albéniz brought a deep belly relaxation on exhale.

A wider tasting vocabulary would help. Sometimes biochemistry language would fit what is happening in the cup, but plain language may be better when the notes stay honest and specific.

[ cup2 · water/purified · walking ]

Context

• Early morning, second cup of the day.
• Sparkling water with apple cider vinegar and electrolytes prep the pallette.

Plan

Easy Immersion with a 16 g dose and ~256 g target water, repeating prior August brews while testing two variables: frozen beans and simulated RDT.

Technique notes

• Grounds weighed before pre-warming the Switch (noticed late).
• Grounds transferred to the unicorn espresso cup to preserve the measured dose.
• Some fines likely entered the filter during pre-warm, tinting the rinse.
• Realization mid-process: pre-warm pour was not clockwise, contrary to usual habit.
• Kettle heat-management experiment: pre-warm water poured into the gooseneck kettle to retain heat, reducing available brew water.
• Patagonia mug washed between cups to reduce residual oils.
• Dose correction sequence: grounds clung to unicorn mug (~15.9 g), retained grounds in grinder catchment, over-adjusted to ~16.2 g, excess removed back to 16.0 g.
• Chronic variability acknowledged RDT introduces moisture, which gets weighed with the grounds, adding an indestinct amount of extra mass.

Brew notes (timed)

• Scale not properly zeroed at pour start.
• At ~40 s, apparent reading of ~5 g caused confusion.
• Improvised pour of ~60 g without knowing true cumulative total.
• Total brew water unknown.
• Drawdown complete at 3:40.
• Precision effectively abandoned mid-brew, attempt made to allow the immersion to continue without agitation, nonetheless.

Observations

• Dry aroma (grounds): spicy, slightly bitter; improved clarity vs prior brews, still not expressing advertised sweetness or fruit.
• Visual: recurring milky-looking film during pour, consistent with prior August cups; bed coloration appeared uneven, possibly related.
• First sip: clearly bitter, more than preferred.
• Second sip: fleeting soapy note with the coffee still present underneath.
• Third sip: fuller body; aftertaste indistinct, muddy rather than expressive.
• Language note: spurl — a personal tasting word for the combined sensation of sour, slightly turning cream and bitter coffee; not clean acidity, not rot; a thin, sharp, spoilage-adjacent edge riding on bitterness.
• Lid-off sipping subtly shifted how the coffee entered the mouth.
• With cream: cream slightly sour/beginning to turn; added funk compounded bitterness into spurl.
• Overall: plain, muddy, unremarkable; not bad, but dulled.

Reflection

This cup is a study in irony. No multitasking or distraction; attention held and still more mistakes than in a while. It suggests attention alone is not enough. Presence without rhythm can still fragment. The bitterness likely came from a stack of small imprecisions rather than any single variable. The coffee does not punish those slips; it simply becomes ordinary. That ordinariness is instructive. If there are no bad cuts now and then, what do good cuts mean? Presence can hold even with a botched, muddy cup, letting it remind what steadiness feels like when it returns.

[ cup2 · cream · mistakes ]

Listening

Album - Double Infinity by Big Thief

Brew Notes

Early morning, second cup. The kitchen was quiet with daylight settling in, and I paused for a brief moment of levity while sniffing the unicorn mug before pouring.

Pre-warmed the Switch and filter, then stuck with the Easy Immersion routine: a predictable 1.8.3 grind and no intentional changes. I only realized after the cup that the brewer or my Patagonia mug may not have been fully cleaned between the first and second brew, as the water was a bit brown in the pan.

This coffee tends to produce milky swirls during the pour-in before immersion.

In the 2nd pour (200-256 mL), an even foam ring with very fine bubbles formed; a darker central island remained visible as I topped it off.

Spent bed showed slight stickiness at the bottom, with a few patchy holes consistent with prior brews of this coffee.

Observations

• Aroma (dry grounds): unexpectedly complex; layered, but difficult to separate into distinct notes.
• Aroma (cup): distinctly wet and subdued rather than aromatic.
• First sip (black): light and easy drinking; caramel-forward.
• Second sip: gentle sweetness; impressionistic, kaleidoscopic rather than sharply defined.
• Chocolate note: closer to milk chocolate than dark.
• With cream: significantly fuller and more integrated; flavors enter smoothly rather than striking.
• Acidity: restrained; possible hint of orange zest without brightness.
• Sweetness: soft, caramel-like.
• Body/mouthfeel: increases notably with cream; flowing rather than coating.
• Visual extraction read: calm center with an even perimeter suggests localized channeling rather than global over-agitation.
• Overall gestalt: friendly, coherent, quietly expressive.

Reflection

This cup reinforced how well the coffee accommodates cream, gaining body and dimensionality without losing its gentle character. The aged roast and visually calm extraction traded brightness for flow and cohesion. The faint brown tinge in the pre-warm water leaves an open question about between-cup cleanliness subtly shaping the cup more than grind or timing.

[ ruby · organic-august · switch · immersion · cup2 · morning · reflective ]

Observations

• Context: second cup of the day, late morning edging into commute; walking in ~6F cold with gloves, phone, and mug.
• Mood: a little tired from yesterday’s caffeine and a late night, but settled and receptive.
• Music: DOVS - muted, textural, 1990s Autechre-adjacent; steadying and inward-facing.
• Aroma: earthy, grounded, slightly muted but inviting.
• First sip: earthy and bold; immediately reassuring.
• Subsequent sips: full-bodied and easy drinking, especially with cream.
• Acidity: low but present; adds roundness rather than brightness.
• Sweetness: chocolate-adjacent; softened by cream but still legible.
• Bitterness: nutty, cocoa-like; restrained, functioning as weight rather than edge.
• Body/mouthfeel: full; engaging across roof, surface, and sides of the tongue.
• Aftertaste: nutty, chocolatey, lingering without dryness.
• Overall: comforting, integrated, forgiving; a cup that supports thought rather than demanding attention.
• Reflection: enjoyment and attentiveness matter more than purity. The cream lowers temperature and contrast without erasing character; in the cold and fatigue it reads as a stabilizing field rather than something to optimize.

Brew log

• Easy Immersion plan with the switch closed for a ~2:30 steep.
• Dose and water matched earlier cup; grind unchanged at 1.8.3 as baseline.
• 0:00 pour to full volume, valve closed.
• 2:30 valve opened; ~3:30 drawdown complete.
• Straightforward drawdown with no stalling or channeling observed.
• Added a small amount of cream after brew, softening edges and cooling the cup slightly.

[ parable · sojourner · cup2 · walking · cold · dovs · switch · immersion ]

Observations

• Early morning second cup in a quiet kitchen with pre-dawn light.
• The lingering mood of Doves — “Psychic Geography” sat in the background.
• Aroma: mild and restrained.
• First sip (black): less bitter than cup one, noticeable nuttiness, more rounded.
• Mid-cup: acidity dominates and the cup feels thin and muted.
• Bitterness: present but controlled, not drying or harsh.
• Sweetness: subtle and secondary.
• Body: light, bordering on thin.
• Temperature: notably “just right” throughout the cup.
• With half & half: acidity softens and the cup becomes smoother and more cohesive.
• Coarser grind improved balance, but bean age feels like the limiting factor.

Brew log

• Coarser grind than cup one to reduce bitterness and improve roundness.
• Grind accidentally started at 1.8.0, then adjusted up to 1.8.3 to finish.
• Standard rinse and placement with a conical paper filter.

[ pre-dawn · quiet · cup2 · analysis · switch ]

Observations

• Tasting notes — cup 2 (walking tasting).
• Overall impression: subtle, gentle, well-balanced; quieter than expected.
• Intensity: low–medium; noticeably paler than Parable Mocha Java.
• Sweetness: soft, diffuse sweetness that lives on the edges of the tongue rather than the center.
• Bitterness: present but restrained; slightly elevated by late-contact drips after drawdown.
• Acidity: muted; no sharp point or spark.
• Body: light, a bit airy; no weighty mid-palate.
• Finish: clean, slightly dry; fades rather than resolves.
• Temperature effects: held warmth well due to preheated mug/brewer; flavors opened gently as it cooled.
• Contextual perception: tasted while walking in deep snow just after sunrise (~6°F); crisp air sharpened awareness but did not amplify flavor.
• Comparison anchor: less assertive and less directional than Parable Coffee Co. Mocha Java.
• Meta-note: palate feels unvectored — no clear axis to push sweetness, acidity, or bitterness along.

Brew log

• Preheated the Patagonia mug and brewer to hold warmth for the walk.
• Allowed late-contact drips after drawdown to finish before heading out.

[ walking · quiet · snow · cup2 · morning · tasting ]