# How to get the best from over roasted beans?



## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

I opened a bag of beans today that in my opinion has been over roasted, or at least roasted too dark for my taste - they're not oily but pretty black. I'm reluctant just to chuck the whole bag away - at a push I guess I could grind it all and call it new burr seasoning - but when there's so much good coffee to be drunk, going through a whole bag that I'm not enjoying for sheer parsimony seems nuts. So I wondered if there's a particular method or way to brew a cup (non espresso) that'll reduce any roast flavours and enhance any nuance of fruit that has been smoked out.

So far I've tried chemex, french press, and aeropress all of which were pretty gross. I'm not suggesting I've got the grind size nailed, but you can tell when it's the roast rather than the brew.

Any thoughts?


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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

Lowering the temperature seems to make the biggest difference. Still not particularly nice coffee, but drinkable at least. Maybe I should just save the beans for visitors


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Milk always saves the day when that occurs in our house, most of the time for visitors who arent fussed


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

Intentionally underextract? You could try using double the normal mass of ground coffee and then diluting with hot water or ice (serving it cold would also help make the bitterness less prominent).


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

I'd have a crack at going the other way, less coffee vs brew water, to reduce the pungency & to also aim to get a slightly larger % extraction, hopefully tap into more sweetness? Not sure about restoring fruityness...if there isn't much there now...but it may balance the roasty flavours with a more generic sweetness?


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## Jez W (Jul 2, 2012)

As well as being a great fertilizer, ground coffee is a great slug repellent so you could just skip the "bad coffee" bit and go straight for some positive use in the garden! Last time I was in this situation I just had to pass the beans on to a friend who insisted that they were OK with milk and liked the strong burnt taste.


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