Tag: immersion

Settings

Listening

Jorge Bolet, Jorge Bolet at Carnegie Hall, New York City, February 25, 1947 (Remastered)

Brew Notes

Beans came out of the freezer.

Standard Easy immersion recipe on the Hario Switch. No multitasking.

Observation

Sniffed the grounds with my pet 🦄. It’s like a pipeline smell.

First sip reminded me of burnt coffee, but this coffee wasn’t burnt. Even so, should I be backing off the temperature of the water? It’s not a rolling boil, it’s not even steaming. I bring it up until it steams, preheat, put water back in, bring back up for a few seconds, then brew.

Wonder what others do for measuring water temp.

Almost didn’t write this morning; sometimes consistency is friction.

It’s a delicious juicyness. I love this bag of coffee. Need to order more soon.

[ parable · mocha-java · switch · immersion · timer ]

Set

Setting an intention to be present. These brews are about maximizing the integral over the moment in brew and in sip. Waited about 20-40 min before first cup of day.

Listen

Claudio Arrau playing “Chopin: 26 Preludes, 4 Impromptus”

Find the low A♭ bass note at the end of Op 28, No. 17. That piano has a magnificent tone under Arrau’s weight:

Consider the neck-shivering parallel chord descent at 1:39, summon the winter wind:

Brew

Standard execution.

Multitasking at the time, watching some YouTube videos about the ZimaBoard 2.

Observe

GroundsSniff

“deep and woody, like a dried out stack of wood” — 🦄

There’s a difference with the mocha java:

“not quite as purple-smelling” — 🦄

Sip

Aroma of the coffee through the lid is appetizing.
First sip is just a bit cooler than expected.
A bit of sweetness.
Taking the lid off, cannot smell it better.
The steam is certainly hot.
Second sip brings sawtooth to foreground.
Rugged balance.
Sip three, breathe through nose in and out, presence.
Oils.
Childhood memory of coffee candy, back throat.
Two flavors on a seasaw, playing with each other mid-tongue.
Well-balanced.

Dis-tractaction

• nice, <prefix> ? brings up tmux keyshorts
• fix the blockquote style
• how does one delete with copy mode visual seletion in tmux? vim keyshort d doesn’t work
• figuring out how to get Codex CLI to “find” the Playwright skill available in Codex Desktop

Reflect

The glass is clearest when the hands are free.
Set things down to see farther.

[ cup-1 · switch · immersion ]

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 ]

Setting

Early Sunday and a calm start, settled into a small routine while a Nix tutorial played in the background.

Brew Notes

The Switch stayed closed for the full steep, with a centered pour and a deliberately quiet bed.

I filled the gooseneck in two stages to reach the full target, then poured straight down the middle and avoided agitation. The bed finished even and unblemished. I think this rather new detail in the recipe is worth updating.

Observations

• Aroma felt clean and open rather than wet.
• First sip brought a bright spark that read as small, quick bursts of acidity.
• Mid-sips turned layered and oily, with a cinnamon-like edge.
• Acidity stayed lively but composed, and the sweetness tucked in underneath.
• Bitterness was earthy and steady, not drying.
• Body was full and balanced, with a lingering earthy finish.

Reflection

This cup felt like a quiet confirmation. The restrained, centered immersion technique is starting to feel reliable even when my attention is split, and this coffee rewards that composure with clarity and depth.

[ parable · mocha-java · switch · immersion · 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

• Context: early, pre-dawn quiet; calm and grounded; no music noted.
• Bag notes: balanced, sweet dark fruits, earthy chocolate.
• Blend components: Ethiopian, Sumatran, Guatemalan.
• Aroma: sweet, muted.
• First sip: gentle, immediately flavorful.
• Second sip: full-bodied and satisfying.
• Acidity: low overall, mostly felt at the back of the tongue.
• Sweetness: thin in quality, reads as dark chocolate.
• Bitterness: an edge, cocoa-like rather than roasty.
• Body/mouthfeel: round weight with a watery texture.
• Finish: short, sides of the tongue; overall expressive.
• Overall: present and coherent without heaviness; flavor feels broad rather than pointed.
• Reflection: less earthy than expected, anchored by dark chocolate. The uneven bed suggests late dribbles disturbed the surface; tightening the final pour toward center may help even extraction without losing the cup’s breadth.

Brew log

• Easy Immersion plan with the switch closed for a 2:30 steep.
• Dose split: 14.3 g Sojourner + ~1.7 g residual August blend.
• Full preheat for brewer and mug via filter rinse.
• Grind unchanged from yesterday; one bean dropped and replaced (~0.1 g correction).
• Pouring stayed consistent, though late-stage dribbles likely disturbed the bed.
• 0:00 water in, 2:30 switch opened, ~3:30 drawdown complete.
• Bed looked uneven with larger holes forming during drawdown.

[ parable · sojourner · pre-dawn · quiet · switch · immersion ]

Observations

• Context: 4:38 a.m. pre-dawn; listening to Psychic Geography — DOVS.
• Bag notes: honey, berries, orange zest, milk chocolate.
• Roaster profile: easy-drinking, emphasis on bright sweetness; medium to light body.
• Components: Organic Ethiopia Worka Chelbessa; Organic Guatemala COIPEC.
• Roasted on: 11-06-2025 (MM-DD-YYYY on bag).
• Aroma (wet): sweet, nutty.
• 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.
• Filter: conical paper.

[ pre-dawn · dovs · ruby · switch · first-cup · immersion ]