While brewing, I used a technique kind of like RDT where I put a few drops of water on the beans after weighing them before putting them in the grinder and shake them up. In the past I have called this “Simulated RDT.”
Observations
Setting
I’m listening to the album Psychic Geography by DOVS (spotify link).
It’s a cold morning. First thing in the morning I was able to turn on the heaters to start to warm the place up.
Tasting
First sip was taken with the plastic lid on the Patagonia mug. The first thing I noticed was the bitterness. In the next two sips, some gentle hints of sweetness and roundness appeared.
At the back of my throat, there was a lingering sweetness that balanced the initial bitterness.
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.
First sip: more bitter than yesterday, consistent with the finer grind; still enjoyable and not overwhelming for the morning.
Second sip: cinnamony notes; with focus, a hint of dried orange zest becomes perceptible.
Acidity: on the sides of the tongue; reads as malic.
Sweetness: honey notes largely absent; sweetness is muted.
Bitterness: not bold; compared to Parable Coffee Co. Mocha Java, this lacks backbone. Bitterness presents as dry rather than structural.
Body/mouthfeel: thin, aligning with the roaster’s medium to light body.
Aftertaste: lingers toward the back/roof of the mouth.
Overall: restrained, calm, easy-drinking; a slight creaminess visible when pouring into the mug.
Reflection: the uneven bed—clear patches where grounds didn’t cling to the filter wall—made me wonder how much under-extracted coffee was effectively missing from the cup, contributing to thinness and dry bitterness rather than sweetness.
Brew log
Preheated mug and dripper with the gooseneck before grinding/measuring.
Kept a spoon out during dosing; removed a tiny fraction of grounds to hit target weight.
Initial pour used a clockwise motion, fairly quick, aiming to finish by ~1:00–1:10.
By 1:20: 256.4 g water in.
2:30: dropped the switch.
During agitation, noticed a milky, frothy, light-colored layer on the surface—more pronounced than yesterday.
3:30: bed fully drained; bed looked chunkier and less uniform, with small clear patches along the filter wall.
